Yay! Big update time :)

Jordan and Ginnie came and visited us last week and we had a fantastic time! I don't quite recall the order we did everything in, but we saw The 39 Steps together one evening. It's a melodrama by Alfred Hitchcock and is pretty dang funny. They had a lot of sight gags that were extremely creative, and I think the two chorus guys played around 20 characters! We also went to Serendipity where we enjoyed the famous frozen hot chocolate and a variety of sundaes. Another evening we went to Dyllan's Candy Bar where we ran into Mary and John Michael (Baylor Theatre pals).
Their last day here, Ginnie decided to go see In the Heights (which won best musical at last year's Tony Awards) while Jordan and I saw Chicago. It was surprisingly a good bit different from the movie. However, Cellblock Tango and Razzle Dazzle 'Em were outstanding. I'm glad we saw it! Afterward, we met up with Artie and walked around midtown together. We randomly found a wonderful soap store that had the best scented soap I've ever smelled as well as body scrubs, perfume, etc. Everything is homemade in Israel and then shipped straight to the store. They have huge blocks of bar soap with a list of ingredients and effects. I bought a chunk made with avocado and olive oil that smells fantastic and is supposed to be an intense skin moisturizer. Christmas presents anyone? :) Anyway, afterward we got PinkBerry's (an awesome frozen yogurt place) and sat and chatted for a while about college, work, the future, etc. It was awful nice just to sit with good old friends for a while. And that was that. It was much harder to say goodbye than I thought it would be.

This past Sunday I went to All Angels, and Episcopal church my RA attends. Janelle, Sarah, and I all went and it was phenomenal. The church itself is very simple-- it has wooden floors, cream walls, diamond-paned windows and a simple cross that matches the floorboards. That's kind of how the church personality is too-- simple, clean, and pretty. They have the traditional scripture reading, old hymn, and the Lord's Supper, but also have a modern praise team intermixed. The Sunday I went, they even have a female church leader share the message. I really enjoyed it, and the people were extremely friendly without being pushy. I'll certainly go again.
When church was out, Sarah, Janelle, and I went to Central Park and ate lunch by the lake. When we finished, we walked some of the trails and saw some pretty spectacular scenery. I need to get in the habit of taking my camera more so I can post some pictures! Oh, here's one Janelle posted of facebook:

This was a tough week at work. It's hard working with some of the people there...they're just not very understanding and yet are extraordinarily driven. It's a blame game when things go wrong...Based on what I've experienced, New Yorkers are workaholics and yet most don't even enjoy their jobs. I'm ready to move on to something else. At least I'm learning what I do want from a job by being shown what I don't want though. Only 5 weeks left.

Southern Hospitality

Sorry for the long wait for an update! I'll definitely post a good long one sometime this week. However, for now I'd like to share a discovery I recently had: I'm a Southerner. I never really considered myself one, even though I was born and raised there. I don't have much of an accent, think the Confederate flag is a bit trashy for everyday use, and don't drive a pickup truck. However, now that I'm gone, I realize it was an awesome place to live. Little things like the Tex-Mex, good guacamole, fields, quiet, countryside, not waiting in a 20 minute line for everything, a more enjoyable pace to life, non-workaholics, etc. Don't get me wrong- I really enjoy NYC. However, I have come to the realization that I won't live here forever. I might come back after graduation and work for while or go to grad school, but I think home will always be the South.

To be continued...later this week.

Wake me up, before you Gogh Gogh

Quite a good weekend:
Friday night I was completely worn out from the week! However, I grabbed a dinner of pizza and frozen yogurt with some of the other girls on the trip. The venture was especially interesting because 30 Rock was filming by our favorite pizza place just a block or two down the street. They had the streets blocked off, a huge crane with lighting equipment, and a large truck for pedestrians to wait behind while they filmed. We even got to see Tina Fey! After the excitement, I hopped into bed and was asleep by 11.
Saturday, the class went to the MoMA. Special exhibits included Van Gogh and Kirchner. Going into the jam-packed Van Gogh area, I expected Starry Night to by far be the most moving peace. However, I found myself completely in awe of Starry Night over the Rhone. The paint itself is so glossy that it actually looks like the water in the harbor is rippling. Dr. Kickasola has mentioned the issue of "aura", whether there is a difference in seeing an original painting and in seeing a copy on someone's dorm room wall. I'd mentally shrugged it off, but now must admit that seeing the Van Gogh's was simply incredible!.

After the MoMA, I wandered around a street fair with Janelle and Bethany before making my way to Union Square to meet up with Mary. Haley (from Baylor Theatre) invited us over to her place in Queens for dinner and a movie. It's a great thing Mary met me, because I doubt I could have found it without her! Haley's apartment is one of the last stops in Queens, but it's well worth it because it is a gorgeous apartment-- 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms, a den, a kitchen, and hardwood floors. Wow. Haley cooked Mary, Mary's adorable dog Brooklyn, Jenny, Audra, and I a scrumptious dinner of Texas stew followed by blueberry dumplings. Yum. We watched an old Clark Gabel romance and talked about theatre, shows, pets, and how to start a life in New York. It was wonderful.
Today I slept in fairly late since I got back from Queens in the wee hours. I puttered around the apartment for a while cleaning, showering, and watching a few episodes of Freaks and Geeks. Later, Artie and I web-cam chatted with Matthew, Emily, Jordan, and Ginny for quite a bit. I'm so thankful for the techno-magic of Skype! Afterward, I tried working on my paper and succeeded in a little bit of research.

This weeks looks swell! The paper is due Tuesday and I have work all week, but Jordan and Ginny will be getting here on Wednesday. I may skip class on Wed (we get one free) and meet up with them for dinner...I'm really looking forward to showing them around!

Spellbound for horses?

Sorry about the awful title, but....

I saw Equus tonight! Meredith got us awesome tickets- only $60 for orchestra seats to Broadway's hottest play :) Richard Griffiths was fantastic and I was impressed with Daniel Radcliffe. It was definitely not an easy role, but he was quite convincing. Kate Mulgrew (aka Janeway from Voyager) was also solid. The set design and lighting designs were amazing! Also, the nudity scene was really not as big a deal as the media made it. I'm not a huge fan of nudity on stage, but I think the script definitely justified it. Anyway, I was happy to get to see it with the revival's original cast!

It is high time for an update!

I had a terrific trip home this weekend for Megan's wedding. I got in on Friday around 11am and was out running errands by 1. I did some shopping and then stopped by the theatre. That was probably the best part of my trip besides the wedding. I got so many hugs! The new seniors seem to be doing wonderfully and my professors were delighted to see me and asked about the program. I mentioned graduate school to Totie-B and she's wiling to help me with my applications. Anyway, afterward I went to the rehearsal which went quite smoothly. We had dinner afterward at Baris, but by that time I was completely zonked with exhaustion. However, after dinning I swung by the theatre and saw part of their musical Urinetown. I ended up being very glad I did, because it is extremely good. The design are very well constructed, the staging and choreography are great, and the cast could not be better. Well done.

The next morning, I woke up early and went to brunch with some work friends. It was nice catching up with all of them and getting some good home cookin' at Cracker Barrel. Eggs in a basket are divine. Then I went and ran yet more errands before showing up at the zoo to get my hair done around 1.

All of the bridesmaids and Megan just chilled out, chatted, and got ready at our leisure. Megan looked totally gorgeous in her gown and the bridesmaids dresses turned out really well. They were a warm chocolate brown, cocktail length, with bronze beading. The ceremony itself took place on one of the decks at the zoo. There was a lagoon area below with a waterfall in the background and trees hanging over. It was quite pretty.

The reception was at Red Man hall and was lots of fun. There was barbeque, margaritas, and dancing. I left around 11 to go home and pack up to go back to NY!

I think this was the first time I went home on a trip...an odd experience. It was wonderful seeing so many friends though, and I'm delighted that Megan is so happy with JD :)