Really? You don’t want Marilyn?

Day three of the Kari Saga:

Well, I had to go back to work today, but my boss let me go home early to spend time with Kari. She had an easy morning and then met me at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Kari had wanted to go there the past two times that she has come to visit, but never got the chance. I have never been either, so we thought it would be a fun activity.

This is the perfect outing for hardcore scrap bookers such as ourselves. Can you say photo op? We took a lot of pics with our favorite celebrities. We really had a great time. When we walked into the first room, we were a little creeped out. Some of the statues looked so lifelike.

We then made out way down to Canal Street. Kari bought a way cute hat and I bought some more scarves. This was our one and only none show day. Tomorrow I have to work the full day, but we get to see Hairspray! This is my favorite show, so I’m way excited to see it again.

Broadway: Spamalot - Find Your Male, That's Your Grail!

Day two of the Kari Saga: When Kari told me that she was coming out, she said she wanted to see a lot of plays and relax. Well, that is just what we did on day two. We spent most of the day at home. We slept in (Kari slept in until 12), watched movies, and played on the computer. Then we finished the day with Spamalot!

I have to admit that I love this show! After I saw if for the first time I went right home and downloaded the soundtrack. Kari really liked it too. We both think Clay is the best! He just does such a great job. He really is made for the stage. I just hope that he continues with a Broadway career, because I will go see any play that he’s in.

Kari was really impressed with the Lady of the Lake. She thought she was the cats meow. She is one of my favorite characters as well. “Find Your Grail” is one of my favorite songs and she does such a good job with it.

We then went home and Kari went shopping on my computer for Broadway music. Sounds like the perfect day to me! Sleep, movies, and a great show!

Broadway: Young Frankenstein and Legally Blonde - Hello Fellow Lottery Winners!

Day one of the Kari saga:

After a long subway ride from the airport, Kari arrived at about 8:30 in the morning. The game plan was to have her take a nap before our long day. We started talking and totally forgot about the whole nap idea. We had tickets for Legally Blonde that night, but we didn’t really have any set plans for the rest of our day.

We decided that we would try to win tickets to the matinee showing of Young Frankenstein. I didn’t think we would win, but I thought we might as well try. We had a backup plan if we didn’t win. We decided that we would just put our names in for the lottery and then go get a salad while we wait. There weren’t very many people at the lottery, but I have the most horrible luck at these things. I wouldn’t have been surprised if we didn’t win. To my great surprise I was the fifth name called! I screamed and ran up the stares. I was just so excited. We walked over to the theater to get our tickets and the man running the lottery said I was his favorite winner! Our tickets were front row and just two seats off of center! We then had two hours to waste until the show. I have to admit that it was the longest two hours of my life. We went to the Virgin Megastore and Toys’R’Us for candy!

The show was great! It was very much like the movie – dirty! I really enjoy the cast. We then went to dinner and awaited our next show.

Kari has been waiting to see Legally Blonde for a long time. It was important that she saw it now because she wanted to see it with as much of the original cast as possible, especially Emmet (her favorite). Kari was even more excited by the fact that the actor that plays Emmet got a haircut and looked cuter than usual. We had a good time! It’s a fun show.

Two shows in one day! Not bad! Two shows down, three more to go!

Free Online Photoshop?

The Creative’s that sit near me were in an uproar this morning about the new free online Photoshop. I'm not sure I found what they were upset about but the new Photoshop Express is kinda cool. It’s not as amazing as Photoshop, but I like all the photo editing options that are available. Maybe I found the wrong thing. You only get 2G of space. I have about 10G of pictures, so this doesn’t help me much. It does have a way to pull in your pics from facebook or picasa. I haven’t had time to play with it much today, but I’m going to try and upload pics to it tonight.

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https://www.photoshop.com/express/index.html

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Here's My Gallary! I'll try and put pics in tonight.

So Now All The Sudden I'm Starting To Get Interested?

I get a company email everyday called, The Stage. It’s really cool because it provides articles about the company, about our clients, and other interesting sites and designs that are out there. I always look forward to it.

There’s one section of the newsletter called, You See That @#$%!. That’s what’s it’s called, symbols and all. It’s my favorite part! The guy that writes it is really funny. Basically he showcases videos on YouTube. I’m not a real big YouTuber, so I like being linked in.

You See that @#$%! for March 27th was a little shout out to Kinetic Typography. These are my favorites of what he featured. I think I like the one from “Wedding Crashers” best, because that’s how I feel about a first dates.



This is a classic!



Sorry for all the videos! I promise I will not post anymore for a week! My word is my bond!

My Better Is Better Than Your Better!

My first big project! Ok, I didn’t design the site but I was an important part of the team! I was so excited when I saw the commercial for it while watching American Idol! (I don't think American Idol watchers are the right demographic for SPARQ, but what can you do!)

So Long, Bucky…You Served Me Well!

My little iPod nano has been giving me trouble the past few months. Sometimes it won’t turn on, and then other times it won’t turn off. It will just play until the battery dies. This was just too inconvenient for me. I decided to get a new iPod to replace Bucky (yes I named my iPod Bucky) until it decided to behave. I love my new iPod, Satchel. I’m going to keep Bucky around just incase I decide to invest in a Nike plus. I would only need it for running so I think it would work well for that.

I was moving my music to the new iPod and found it interesting the songs I had on my little nano. Some of them I never listened to. Then there were a lot of songs that I only listened to once. Even though they had such a low play count I still put them on Satchel. You never know. The most interesting thing was my top 10 songs listened to. If you would have asked me what songs I thought I listened to the most, I might have gotten four out of ten. I never realized how much I listen to the others. What does this playlist say about me?

Written in the Stars – Elton John & LeAnn Rimes (152 times)
Take Me or Leave Me – RENT Soundtrack (144 times)
Listen – Dreamgirls (Motion Picture Soundtrack) (137 times)
Walk Away – Kelly Clarkson (129 times)
Holding Out For A Hero – Jennifer Saunders (120 times)
Bad Day – Daniel Powter (109 times)
Seasons of Love – Original Broadway Cast "Rent" (109 times)
Because of You – Kelly Clarkson (105 times)
Go the Distance – Unknown (105 times)
Buttons – The Pussycat Dolls featuring Big Snoop Dogg (97 times)

I Have Been Told I'm Charismatic and That People Respect My Opinions

I was introduced to Get Fuzzy my freshman year of college. My roommate really liked it and had a wall calendar that she put on our door. I remember coming back from class and finding it. This was the comic for the month.
I don’t know why I thought it was so funny, but I couldn’t stop laughing. I started reading get fuzzy everyday and I still do! I look forward to it every morning. I have several memories that revolve around this comic and the people that I have shared it with. Thanks Darby Conley! You make my day brighter!

Rockin’ Ronnie!

My dad called me during the fall and informed me that he was turning my room into a music room. He had just purchased a drum set and Kari, my sister, was going to start giving him lessons. I wondered how long this littler music phase was going to last and if my room would be back to normal when I returned this summer. I should have never underestimated my dad. Not only has he been practicing on the drums everyday, but he has also started taking saxophone lessons as well. I can’t help but laugh. How cute is that!?

I remember him telling me when I was in middle school that he had always wanted to learn to play the drums, but never did anything about it. Since Kari will be home for a little while and could teach him, he thought this would be the perfect time to live his dream.

They have now moved the drum set out into his work shop so he wouldn’t be causing too much noise. He called a month ago and asked if he could bring my stereo out there so he could “jam.”

My sister tells me he’s the perfect student because he practices all the time and wants to learn so bad. She says his doing well! She has a video of him playing that she’s going to show me when she comes out to visit. I can’t wait.

Over the past few years my dad has started taking up things that he has always wanted to do, but never had the time or money. My mom has started doing this too. I love this about them. They have the time, so they are starting to devote more time to doing the things they have always wanted to do. Good for them!

Side Note: The saxophone pictures were taken in my room. I really should have my sisters take more pics of my room to show you. It’s a bright blue and yellow, with a small mural I painted on the wall. It’s really out of control! I hear that my mom wanted to repaint it and turn it into a guest room, but my dad refuses to paint over my mural. Thanks DAD!

Pillow Fights...A Sleepover Staple or Worldwide Activity?

If you don’t have any plans for the weekend, fear no more. This Saturday is World Pillow Fight Day! You can see where the fights are taking place here. For those New Yorkers who don't have anything better to do, there will be one at Union Square at 3pm.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this.

All that's left....

9 days until my sister comes to play!

20 days until I go to Texas to visit Sarah!

32 days until my 6 month anniversary at R/GA and an amazing discount!

34 days until the next episode of LOST!

40 days until my one year anniversary of living in New York!

I guess I do have a few things to look forward to. Wow, my life isn’t that exciting! Maybe my second year in New York I will step it up a notch. Will I?...probably not.

Two Sisters = A lot of Broadway and Trouble!

I’m a pleased to announce the upcoming arrival of my sister to this great city! Kari is coming to play with me on March 29th for five days. I’m so excited. It’s always fun to hang with Kari. She’s an easygoing house guest and is always fun. The only thing she wanted to do on this trip to New York was to go and see some Broadway plays. She wanted to see four to be exact. Yes, four! She had a personal budget of $200 and she didn’t want to do lotteries. She knows my troubles with lotteries. I thought I could scrounge up $200 so I could go with her.

So, yesterday after work I ventured forth on my quest for Broadway tickets. Being such short notice, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get cheap tickets for the shows of her choosing, but I had to try. Well, as I told my sister, “the Broadway gods where with us.” I was able to get tickets to Spamalot (she really wants to see Clay), Legally Blonde, Wicked, and Hairspray for $204.75 per person. I apologized profusely to my sister for going over $4.75. She seemed to be ok with that.

I have seen all four of these plays, but I think it’s worth the $204.75 to go with my sister. She loves Broadway and she will be seeing all these plays for the first time. Hairspray is my favorite play and it will be fun to see it again with a new cast.

I can’t wait for her to come.

She’s one of my best good friends!

P.S. Best ticket purchase…amazing Hairspray seats for $65. The cheapest tickets that aren't student are $75. How did I get them? Well, that's my dirty little secret!

Power Frost!

I had a nice weekend. It wasn’t too busy and yet I felt like I got a lot accomplished. Saturday I did all of my little chores and then finished off the day helping Leah with her little cupcake mission.

Leah volunteered to make cupcakes for a work party on Tuesday. She started baking on Friday night and continued on Saturday morning. By Saturday evening there were well over a hundred cupcakes that now needed to be decorated. Leah recruited Kort, Kelly, and me to help with this sweet operation. The game plan was that we would “power frost” and she would sprinkle.

Now usually I would have fought Leah for my right to sprinkle, but “power frosting” sounded so darn cool! Who wouldn’t want to “power frost.” It didn’t really take us long to finish the cupcakes and we had a good time. We did have some violent moments, which are usual for “power frosting” parties, but we are all safe and the cupcakes look beautiful. Some cupcakes were tragically lost in the process so the frost workers had to eat them. No worries, we ended up with 161 cupcakes.

I Was In A Hearing Contest Before This Class...I Came in First and Second!

Most popular question for this week: “Did you see the SNL skit from last week?”

This is usually followed by, “Erika, you have to see this skit from SNL!”

It seemed like everyone I talk to asked me if I saw this skit. They knew I would truly appreciate it. After Kelly asked me, I decided that it was time that I watched it.



I lived it! (Not traffic school)

“Secret Of Life: Marry An Italian”

There’s this book called “Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure.” Wow! What a title! I haven’t read it but amazon.com has a little video showing some of the six-word memoirs. While some are lame, there are some fun ones that I enjoy. My favorite from is Nora Ephron. She has a good point: “Secret of Life: Marry An Italian.” New life goal – I’m going to prove this correct!

Changing It Up A Bit

You may have noticed that I changed the design of my blog a little. It’s still the same layout, but I changed the colors and theme. I think this goes with the title a little better. So, if you visit and it looks a little funky, just wait a little because I’m working on it. I still have a few things I’m trying to workout. I only work on it on the weekends. I’m not an html queen so it takes me some time, but it’s so much fun. I downloaded a 30 day trial of Adobe Photoshop. I love this program! I could play on it for hours.

Any suggestions are welcome!

A Taste of LIFE and RENT!

Last night a good friend of mine and I went to eat at Life Café down in the east village. I was very excited to go to a new part of the city and try a new restaurant. For those of you that do not know, Life Café is featured in the play Rent (which is closing on June 1). It’s the part of the play where everyone is dancing on the tables singing La Vie Boehme. The author of this Pulitzer-Prize-winning musical, Jonathan Larson, visited this café while he was writing it.

I loved this little Café. The food was really good and not expensive. The atmosphere is really cool. They have pictures of Rent all around the restaurant. I loved it. I would go again! It was nice to go to a quaint, cozy, little place and enjoy a good meal after a long day of work. The chocolate cake in a brown paper bad was really good! Not what I expected, but good.

The Guy Behind the Counter…(pause for dramatic effect)…Is Wearing Scrubs

About a month ago my roommate wiped out during a snowball fight. She landed on her knee and hurt it really bad. She has been hobbling on it for the past few weeks. Well, this morning she finally went to have someone look at it. I joined her on her quest to the emergency room as “roommate support.” It was fun traveling to the east side and everyone at the hospital was so nice.

After Kort filled out her paperwork, she handed it in to this really sweet lady that was organizing all the paperwork. I was kinda sad she didn’t hand into the amazingly cute boy behind the counter. The lady looked at the paperwork and exclaimed, “Oh you’re 20. You’re a baby! You need to go through the pediatric emergency room.” So there we were, to adult women dressed in professional apparel sitting in this little room with toys, brightly pained walls, and a cartoon playing on the TV. It was just way too funny.

It was a fairly short visit to the emergency room. All is well. Kort’s knee will be fine, but she is restricted to crutches - her first pair. She’s just growing up so fast.

What Rhymes With Camelot….Oh! Spamalot!

I’ve never seen Monty Python before. I tried to watch a bit a few years ago and I fell asleep. When I heard that there was a play called Spamalot I had no desire to see it. That is until I heard the Clay Aiken would be joining the cast on January 18. Clay! I love him. I remember watching him on American Idol and thinking (like everyone else) that he would be great on Broadway. I had to go see him in his Broadway debut.

He would only be playing in the part until May 4th, so I stopped by the theater and bought the cheapest ticket they had for Saturday after work on Friday. I loved it! It’s not the best play I have ever seen, but I was entertained and I loved watching Clay. He was so funny! Unfortunately I had never seen the play before so I couldn’t compare his performance to those of the past, but I thought he did a good job. The wig did take a little getting use to. Would I see it again? Sure!

One thing that I have learned about myself is that I enjoy almost every play that I go see. If I’m even slightly entertained then I am a happy customer. I have started ranking plays by if I would see them again. There are only a few plays that I would say I wouldn’t pay to see again. What can I say….I love BROADWAY!

This Is For You - Mom and DAD!

This is not for the parents, but for fun. I'm just a little concerned. I don't know where the nearest Costco is. Luckily it's a long time until Halloween and we are not near BC.

I'm Lost For the Rest of My Life! I'm OK With That!

Which Lost Character Are You?

More on Lost. Created by BuddyTV

I'm ok with this. The jury is still out on her for me, but I think she's cool.

What is Your Fate on Lost?

More on Lost. Created by BuddyTV

I'm ok with this as well. Living on a tropical island and not having to work. Go with that I say!

"Trash!...You’re Eating Trash!"

Some of you may know that my good friend Sarah left New York last Saturday. We did everything together, so you can imagine how much I miss her. She’s at home in Texas living it up with the family. I get to go see her in April. It will be my first time to Texas, so I’m way excited. Sky diving anyone?

Right after she left I went to the gym for a while, and started thinking about all the things we have done together during the past ten months. Most of my New York memories include Sarah, and I just wanted to document them. This is so when I’m old I can remember the good times with little, sweet Sarah. Don’t feel like you have to read them. Most of you won’t get most or any of them, except Sarah, and she probably won’t read them either. She struggles with the whole blog thing.

Highlights of the past 10 Months with Sarah:

• Plays/shows/ballet: the Pirate Queen, Tarzan (Yumm), The Lion King, Les Miserable, Circus Inferno (HaHa), The Drowsy Chaperone, Legally Blond, Curtains, Wicked!, Young Frankenstein, Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, the Nutcracker, and some Chinese modern dance thing. (Wow…not bad).


• Brunch! We are brunch people. Bubby’s has the best eggs benedict, but Alice’s tea cup and Nice-Matin will always hold special places in our hearts.


• Cupcakes, sweetish-fish, and cheesecake…oh my!


• Lost! It’s time to talk serious!


• “Omigosh, omigosh, you guys!” (always sung never just plainly said)


• Who’s going to order my Indian food for me? Sad Sigh!


• Museum of Natural History + America’s next top Model = Sarah’s favorite New York memory.


• Sarah: “Trash! You’re Eating Trash!” (Referring to the almond joy I was eating at lingos...it's my favorite Sarah Quote)


• The mad dash to Toys”R”Us for candy before shows.


• Sarah: “No thank you.” (Said to a homeless man that was asking for money while we were walking down 72nd).


• Watching movies in the common room of I-House. Oh, I-House.


• Toby Maguire outside of the Lion King Theater.


• Wicked lottery (Starbucks Gingerbread Steamers!)


• Serafina’s! I’ll never be able to eat there without her!


• Madagascar in the Central Park!


• Movies: There are too many to count. Sarah opened my eyes to movies I would never have seen without her.


• Dallas BBQ/Dinosaur BBQ (You bring the honey! I can’t wait to go to Texas and try real BBQ)


• Most of our time was spent eating. We went to a lot of places. I started to make a list but then it started to get way to long. Oh, well. We were always down for a cheap good meal.


• Our place! (This is in front of the Merry-go-round in Bryant Park. I can’t even remember how many times we met there)


• My first New York phone Call was from Sarah. I talked to her before I even talked to my mom.


• I have almost one hundred pics of me and Sarah. “You’re so vain…you probably think this song is about you.) Sarah is the master of taking pictures of herself. Luckily she let me in on a few. ……..
  
  
  There are many more, but I’m trying to think of all of them. This post will be one that I’m constantly updating as the memories come in.