Broadway week with Sweet Ang

Every theater nerd looks forward to Broadway Week where one can see shows at the rare discount of ‘buy one get one free’ and ultimately 50% off of full price. Angie and I jumped at the occasion for a bargain and saw Peter and the Starcatcher as a final wrap up to summer and it was DELIGHTFUL!

Angie had her pager with her as she was on call… for 1996.

From everyone I knew who had seen it, I had heard the show was great! Then it swept all the Tony awards and I made it next on my list to see.

Being as I’m an idiot who didn’t prepare at all, I was pleasantly surprised when it proved to be a prequel to Peter Pan (before and how he gets to Never Never Land). I was probably the only one in the audience unaware beforehand.

Like most theaters in NYC, this theater was very small. There was only one female in the entire cast (most of whom were pirates). The wardrobe and scenery were as if you’re wildest, yet most modest, industrial, and innovative, childhood dress-up dreams had come to life. It was charming, funny, creative, and all-in-all AH-dorable. All that good stuff aside, my most favorite thing about the show was the creativity in the staging/choreography. They made use of the small space and got creative using their bodies to create scenery, props, and transitions between stories. It was also very impressive when the cast of pirates (read: men) also played the mermaids (read: women). Very versatile actors, those guys!

Seriously, who doesn’t love men in drag? It’s almost always funny. Especially when those men are beer-belly, burly, bearded pirates!

Captain Black Stache (the villainous Captain Hook character) was the main source of comic relief through out the show, but I must say, Wendy held her own in the hilarity category. She was a FANTASTIC female roll to land in 2012 as she was girly, with blonde curls, wearing a frock, but she wasn’t one to be tested. She had a quick whip and truly was the leader of her cast and pack of “lost boys”. I loved her.

There was one song in the show. It was simple, harmonious, and accopella. It needed nothing else.

Angie might be the most perfect definition of a friend I’ve ever known. She’d hate me for using the “P” word, but it’s true. She’s the most genuine person; as giving as she is appreciative, hilarious, and just plain true. I want to be like her more than anyone else I know, but boy do I have a long way to go.

I love our time together and I can’t wait for her sweet little baby girl, Lilly, to get here next year! Angie’s married to my friend Greg and the sister (& sister in law) of my also soon-to-be-parent friends, Dave and Emily.

Ang when she was still a Waterfall... 2009, the beginning of our friendship.

 Ang with her now husband, Greg.

Dave and Em Waterfall (Angie's brother and SIL)

I'm thankful to have known all of these beautiful people because ultimately, they lead me to my "Sweet Ang!"

Love,

~Kare*

U.S. Open 2012

Another NYC experience, that solidifies your residency here in the Big Apple, is the annual US Open tennis tournament, taking place each year in Queens. It took me 6 Septembers, but I finally made it to my first match!

I bought tickets to attend last year and, sadly, it got rained out. This year, we braved the drizzly weather, and finally cashed them in.

I went with Brett, Bryndee, Dancey-Pants and her cutie boy, Elijah. Thankfully Brett gave me my first lesson in how the game is played… who knew there were rules?! Brett and I missed the Serena Williams/Ana Ivanovic match as we were way too hungry to enter the stadium just yet and instead watched from the pavilion outside while we dined.

We did however, witness the Federer/Berdych match and boy was it a good one!

I didn’t realize how good it was until Brett broke it down for me, rule by rule, play by play… only then did it get more than interesting!

Come to find out, KBIII was there with Mercedes Benz (read: he’s a fancy pants) and had box seats next to this little gem…

Ladies and gentlemen, Pippa.

I said, PIPPA!

You cant tell? 

She’s that sunshiney little yellow dot (little ray of sunshine) in the center of the frame - taken from my nosebleeds.

I mean, guys… this deserves a round of applause at the least. She has quite possibly the most famous tush of 2011 (beat out in 2012 only by Honey Boo-Boo... maybe. No one can be sure, but Honey did make it on Barbara Walter’s list of most interesting people… and isn’t that list always tush related? 

No? 

Well, Babs, it should be!)

Also, she's practically royalty. So thats' cool too. 

Anyway, I alerted Kent of her proximity to him and he snapped these glorious pics of the semi-royal goddess during and after the match ended in her good friend, Federer’s, loss.

Sorry for the loss Pipps, but at least you were a vision!

Also spotted, Anna Wintour (a surprisingly good friend of Federer's).

And that’s exciting because she's the closest thing we have to 'A Royal' here in New York City!

All hail Queen Anna!

It was a great time - despite Kent taunting me with his seat location. I can check one more thing off of my NY bucket list.

Kindly,

~Kare*

When girlfriends stop by NYC

When you're a New Yorker and your hs girlfriend calls and says she's gonna be in town, you go giddy with the thought of showing her a good time! In my world that's a dinner date followed by a romantic walk around your beautiful city. 

In my case, I got this phone call from two different gf's within a one week period and their visits overlapped. It doesn't get more glorious. Unfortunately for me, I had to work on the one day their trips overlapped so I missed the triple play date. I did however, get them each to myself separately. 

Stacy, whose nickname is "Bano" came and we dined at the lower east side's gem, Yaffa Cafe where I finished off all of my food and then hers. 

Afterwards, we walked around and grabbed ice cream at the New York staple, Mc Donald's. It's very fancy and exclusive. 

Now, I normally don't condone eating underground, but in this case, we sat proudly eating our cones on the subway, gabbing until her stop came and we parted ways. 

(Connor would've had a fit!) 

Stacy has got to be one of my most motivated and driven friends who uprooted herself all the way to LA when deciding that her career in pharmacy school wasn't fulfilling. She's been styling folks and taking names ever since she headed out west and has been incredibly successful in such a short time. I couldn't be prouder. She was here to style a Dunkin' Donuts commercial. Here's hoping her stylist ways will bring her out to NYC more often - I have a feeling it will. 

Just a few short days later, I met my 10th grade biology lab partner, and lifelong friend (actually she's my twin - one of us has a very large birthmark - we're not sure which), Carmen, for dinner. We ate at the new hot spot, Red Rooster, in Harlem.  Here we are waiting to be seated.

 She's a doll and it was great to split spicy cornbread, catch up, and laugh over where our lives have taken us. Carmen's career, like Bano's, has taken a huge twist. She's climbing up the beauty ladder in Richmond and New York styling hair with an unrelated college degree.

I love these women's creative little souls and am so lucky to live in a place that attracts them and theirs alike. 

I foresee a lot of New York Fashion Week connections in my future. 

Lastly, check out this lady Carmen and I couldn't stop laughing at in H&M.  

It was raining outside. 

Ahem... OUTSIDE. 

Close your umbrella!

Love,
~Legs*

Saying goodbye to summer in Va.

(The cab ride to the airport from my apt makes this city look good!)

Before I could round up my summer, I had to get in at least one more trip home and when your Dad's having surgery, and your Mom is due for it herself, what better excuse? 

I thought I would be needed. 

I was wrong.

So instead, I lounged by the pool with this guy...

And got creative making gifts for my girlfriends...

Or tried to get creative, rather, but this attention hog kept distracting me.

I shopped. Sans Yelz, which means many in-store pix messages and emails to get the job done. In the end, I didn't hear from her quick enough and made all the wrong decisions... Surprise, surprise.

Except for these bad boys which were on sale for a whopping $3 so I bought one in every color. Win!

Kerny and I got our hands dirty, cooking.

Long story, short: dad was fine. 

He couldn't eat very well due to some yanking and temporary rearrangement of his esophagus, but he was fine. He was not happy with his driving restrictions, but fine. 

In general, I was more helpful from NYC via phone - which is how I forced him to take his pain meds to help lower his blood pressure and get him the heck out of that hospital. He's stubborn and only in a post-general-anesthesia-fog, can I out-stubborn him. 

No photos of a post-surgery-neck-brace-Dad will be posted in order to protect the innocent.

Instead see this little critter enjoying his toy from New York City.

Like my trip, that toy didn't last long.

~Kare*

Getting "Bocce" to my summer posts...

Getting back to my end of the summer catch-up posts leaves us just after Kerny's birthday visit.

Kent's friend Jill is from Rockaway Beach (sadly, one of the areas hit hardest by hurricane Sandy) and lives within walking distance of the shore.

Jill's family was hosting a block party so Kent, Connor, and I all headed down for a beach day.

I fell in love with Jill's Momma and her Dog, Bocce.

Let the record show, Bocce loved me more than the boys.

It's a long bus ride to Jill's house and these two could barely make it.

Rockaway Beach has my kind of people!

Everyone was sporting as little clothes as possible.
Even Marcel was nekky when Connor found him

(Marcel the shell... with no shoes on).

Connor was scantily clad as per usual.

And this is the only picture I got of Kent, but really it's an incognito picture of that nekky little bum in the background.

Connor & Bocce playing tug-of-war with a toothpick

(no wonder she liked me better).

Am I right or am I right?

How cute. Bocce's a yankee's fan.

And there's KBIII making another partial appearance.

That morning, before heading to Rockaway, Sabrina Beena called me to tell me that she and her daughter-in-law, Sydnie, would be coming into the city that night.

I left my keys with a local store owner and Beena picked them up while I was away. She and Sydnie had gotten tickets to Wicked and I literally came upon them outside of my door headed to the show as I was coming home from Rockaway.

Perfect timing!

Since the boys and I had dinner plans, I left the girls to get to the theater district on the subway all by themselves and they made it there like pros just in the knick of time.

After dinner in Brooklyn, I met the girls again in midtown, we grabbed some cheesecake near my place and headed home.

1AM cheesecake, a 3AM bedtime after some girl talk, and an 8AM wake-up call and THIS is how Beena looked for her travels home. 

She's beautiful.

I, on the other hand, was barely awake, still make-up-less, and in my PJ's.

Our time was limited, but I'm so glad I got to spend some time with Beena and Sydnie! Hopefully they'll be back to see me sometime when Kerny's here and we'll make the grandest time of it!

And then the summer just kept on going...
~Legs*