August Reads in Review

August was the month I finished my Book Depository order (except for the Christmas book that will of course be read at Christmas : ) and Harry Potter. It was also a month of indecision, seeing as I started 3 other books and abandoned them before choosing the ones I actually finished.  Sometimes it "be's" that way.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling: LOVED it!  My only complaint after reading it is that it wasn't written in novel form so it could have been longer.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel: Seeing as the show on Broadway is closing, I won't get the chance to see it live.  So I thought the book was the next best thing.  It was my first graphic novel, and that part was pretty cool.  It was the story itself that's fairly depressing and very, very strange.  I was definitely not a fan.

The Little Shop of Happy Ever After by Jenny Colgan: Also LOVED it! I'm dreaming of owning a book bus now and I'm anxiously awaiting Christmas at the Little Shop of Happy Ever After which is coming out in just a few months. Yay!

The Good, The Bad, and The Dumped by Jenny Colgan: Cute story but not my favorite Colgan book.  

Vivien's Heavenly Ice Cream Shop by Abby Clements: This book would have been so much better had the Ice Cream Shop portion of the story would have started a bit earlier than 100 pages in... 

Trivia Tuesday

~ This was not a good trivia night.  It would seem that in the very last round of the 11 week session, the trivia powers that be decide to make the questions about 150 times harder than usual.  That can be the only excuse for how badly we played.  Yet somehow me were in 3rd place at the end of the night - how exactly did that happen?

~ There was - in the midst of answering questions terribly - a lively discussion of tighty whities vs. boxers vs. boxer briefs.  One of the girls on the team had questions...

~ Pepsi Cola is an anagram of Episcopal.  Who in the world was sitting their enjoying a nice cold pepsi when they realized this?

~ My foodie knowledge let me and the team down terribly in not one but 2 different questions - Sirloin is between the loin and the top round (I thought flank...) and Sri Lanka exports 90% of Cinnamon (My Saigon cinnamon was of no use seeing as Saigon is a city not a nation and the question asked for an island nation...) I must have gotten too cocky after last week's Farfalle question : )

~ In fact the only answer I helped with tonight was a question about "Springtime for Hitler" appearing in what classic movie.  Love me some Producers!  

~ Things I now know from getting questions wrong: A league is 3 feet while a fathom is 6 feet. Things I don't understand: Since 3 feet also equals a yard, why the heck didn't sailors just stick with that term instead?

~ Being a logger is more deadly than being a fisherman.  Why then is their a show on Discovery called The Deadliest Catch?  Shouldn't there be a show called The Deadliest - whatever you call the log you chop up, instead?

~ Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan not one of the other 20 "-stans" we thought of.

So Long Willy Wonka

            
I love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I must have watched the movie dozens of times when I was little.  And in that particular movie, I can't imagine any one but Gene Wilder playing Willy Wonka.  He was just so good.  He could change his moods on a dime - terrifying to kind in a split second.  It's just such a classic part played by such an amazing actor.

What's even more amazing about him is that this wasn't his only "classic" part. He was in dozens of other films over the course of his career and played at least 4-5 other unforgettable roles.  None of which I loved as much as Willy Wonka - though I do admit to having a bit of a soft spot for Franken-steen.  Finally - I hated the movie for years, but he finally won me over.  

His death is such a loss and he will be sorely missed. It's good to know though that he'll live on in so many others hearts.  Based on the outpouring of love he's received since his death was announced earlier today, he'll live in for a very, very long time.

A Trip to the Theatre

A few weeks ago I heard a song - The Streets of Dublin - sung by Steven Pasquale on YouTube.  I loved it.  It was beautiful!  So I did some research and learned it was from a show called "A Man of No Importance." I also learned that it would be playing at the Oxford MD community center this weekend and was quite excited to see what it was all about.  A show that contained the beautiful "Streets of Dublin" would have to be chock full of other beautiful music. 

Was it?  Well yes and no...

I'm able to confirm that yes, "The Streets of Dublin" is a gorgeous song.  I'm also able to confirm that the Tred Avon Players is quite a talented acting troupe.  For a show playing at a community center, there was a lot of talent on that stage.  The major problem I had was the show itself.  I was thoroughly confused by the plot line.  The first half was pretty good - taking place in Ireland in 1964, it was sweet and simple.  Somewhere around the beginning of act 2 it went off the rails, and I'm not entirely sure what the heck happened.  

In the end, the actors and actresses were fabulous, and I still love the song, but maybe the next time I hear a song I like, I'll at least listen to the whole album first before committing to seeing the show...At least the drive itself and the day in Oxford was lovely!  Thank goodness for that, or I think my friend Jennifer would have killed me for the waste of a perfectly good 2.5 hours.

Sunsets and Sunflowers

I'm friends with many photog-moms on Facebook.  And for the last few years, at this time I start to see photos of beautiful sunflowers and yummy ice cream appearing on my timeline. Well this year I decided I wasn't going to be left out.  I was going to get to see the same gorgeous sunflowers and enjoy the same delish ice cream, so to Broom's Bloom Dairy I headed.

Broom's Bloom Dairy is a huge dairy farm in Harford County MD where they have fields of corn and big, bright and beautiful sunflowers.  And of course they make all sorts of yummy ice cream too.  They also sell meats, and milk and fresh cheeses, but I'm all about the ice cream really.

Since I've been waiting for so long, you could say I was pretty excited. I adore sunflowers. They are my most favorite flower.  They're just so big and happy looking.  And we all know how I feel about ice cream. All of that being said, Broom's Bloom did not disappoint.  Unfortunately we got there a little late in the day so the sun was starting to go down.  That means I didn't get the perfect photos I was hoping for, but some turned out really well.  My friends may now think I'm a little nuts due to how excited I got to "commune with the sunflowers", but who cares?  They were everywhere!

Then we headed to the barn to stand in a very long line to wait for some totally perfect ice cream!  I had brownie in a waffle cone.  And it was so darn delicious!  There's also something about sitting outside in the country on a warm summer night that makes everything taste that much better.  

Such a fun night!

Friday Five

1. Sunflowers! (More on that tomorrow... : )

2. Love that Katie Ledecky - one of the standouts at this year's Olympics - is a Marylander.  Love even more that she's showing little ones what it looks like to "play like a girl."  This video of her throwing out the first pitch at the Nationals - Orioles game this week is just the cutest! 

3. This baby has got to be the best-dressed and well-rested baby out there.  And I kinda want to be this mom.  Her idea is so creative and so fun!  I foresee loads of photog-moms stealing her idea.

4. I'm so not ready for summer to end.  I don't like fall and I don't like winter.  And I'd really like to live somewhere where I didn't have to worry about snow.  But for now, I'm enjoying the heck out of the last few days of this gorgeous summer!  It was one of the best!

5. I was a huge West Wing fan, and this video - which is so darn perfect! - is exactly why I don't meet famous people.  This is totally what would happen to me...
              

The Last Summer Concert - And I Mean it this Time

Remember when I said I saw Kristin Chenoweth last week and she was my last summer concert?  So I lied.  I somehow got roped into my last summer concert tonight. This time it was Kip Moore, some other band I've never heard of and Miranda Lambert at Merriweather. It was a beautiful night but seeing as it was a country concert, it wasn't nearly as tame and civilized as the K Cheno concert.  However hanging out with good friends and chatting between sets is always a fun way to spend an evening.  

So long summer concerts!  See you again in 9 months : )

Life Lately

Singing: The Hamilton cast album is on a constant loop in my head pretty much every day. It's just so good!

Photographing: I'm on this kick where I take lots of artsy photos of my bedazzled toes on pretty floors.  It's really ridiculous, but sometimes you just need an artsy photo of your feet. 

Wearing: Loads of dresses to beat the heat.  It's been super hot here - so hot that I've even been uncomfortable.  Outside that is, inside it's the temperature of Antarctica.

Loving: A lovely dinner out with my dad enjoying some yummy Mexican food.  Great food and even better company!

Planning: There is always a trip planned in my head, though I'm fairly stuck on a big Europe adventure for next summer.

Crafting and Creating: At this point it's just plans, but I do have a fair amount of Christmas tackled in my head.  I just need to get the ingredients for the gifts and get making.

Eating: Eastern Shore peaches that are so HUGE and so juicy that I'll still be dreaming of them come January.  I love summer fruit!

Watching: I hate myself a little but I've somehow gotten hooked on Brain Dead - I'm fairly sure it has something to do with Aaron Tveit and Danny Pino.  So, so, - and I can't say this enough - weird.

Reading: Jenny Colgan's entire canon.  Only one left - guess Book Depository will be getting more of my money soon.

Counting down the days to: September 10 when I will finally see Hamilton in person!

Pondering: Does Trump actually want to be President or does he just say the most insane things possible so he won't be elected?

Trivia Tuesday

~ Apparently a "coincidence" is not a type of fish yet a "fluke" is.

~ Finally my love for all things Sherlock paid off.  Though it was thoroughly disheartening to hear the English teacher at the table compare Doyle to Nicholas Sparks.  Doyle was so much better than that tear-jerker writer!

~ Those ridiculous click-bait headlines on Facebook were a huge advantage this week.  Daryl Strawberry is attempting to get Doc Gooden off of cocaine.  Why was this a headline and more importantly why was it even a question?

~ Coin Rub is an anagram of Rubicon which is a river - however, I'm sticking to my guns on it sounding much more like a clever computer game...

~ Things you don't hear every day - a 767 sucks up enough air during takeoff to fill the Goodyear Blimp in 7 seconds.  I suppose the air traffic people stationed on the runways just got a lot more appreciated.

~ Paul McCartney sings the words "Let it Be" 36 times in the song "Let it Be."  I've listened to A LOT of live albums and I have to say - I could have sworn it was 3 times that at least. 

~ Even though we won shots tonight, it was not an appropriate time for the bartender to bring out some crazy Kahlua concoction that he used to drink in high school that should be downed with a straw.  I had a teeny tiny sip - as is the rule - then downed my Iced Tea chaser.  Oh dear god it was awful!

~ Why, oh why is the half time question always about some sport?  This time it was which QBs had the most passing yards.  I'm not sure I could tell you what that exactly meant, let alone who had them.

~ My very favorite thing is when you see the category is pasta and before the question is answered you assume the answer will be Farfalle because that seems like a pretty good question.  And you're absolutely right.  Yay carbs!

Back to School

In my little neck of the woods, today was the day every single kid has been dreading since June - Back to School!  In my world, that doesn't mean much now a days - other than the extra traffic from the school buses in the morning of course.  But it once did.  I was never the kid that hated going back. Don't get me wrong, I loved my summer, but by August, I was ready to go back.  I wanted to buy new fun school supplies, and see who my teacher was going to be.  

And when I was a teacher, I was even more excited, until about 2:00 on the first day.  Then I was over it : )  But I loved having a classroom to set up, and developing lessons and learning about my new students.  I don't miss the paycheck at all. And I love having the chance to still be creative in my current job.  But I most definitely miss interacting with kids all day. They're just so much more fun than adults.  

One of these days, I'll hit the lottery or marry someone lovely and rich, and I'll get back in the classroom - or move to England and teach in small village school (a girl can dream, can't she?!) But until then, I'll wish everyone going back to school - teachers and students and parents alike - a fabulous, not stressful at all, super exciting and super informative 2016-2017 school year! Enjoy every last minute of it!

Last Concert of the Summer

This summer has been full of so many fun things like travel, and Broadway, and Foodie fun, but not a lot of concerts.  So I believe tonight was my first and last concert of the summer. And thankfully it was a fantastic one!  I got to see Kristin Chenoweth at Wolf Trap in VA. I've never seen her in concert and had never been to Wolf Trap.  Both were fabulous! 

The venue was tucked away back in the woods and made of beautiful wood.  It had been raining all day so I was super happy to learn we wouldn't be sitting  in the grass, and once I saw how great our seats were, I was even happier.

And of course, Kristin Chenoweth was perfect.  She sang mostly songs I didn't know.  I was slightly hoping she'd sing a bit more Wicked but she did sing Popular so I suppose that made up for it.  She's very funny and very grateful for her fans.  All in all it was a wonderful evening to mark the end of summer - Boo!

Lovely Little Havre de Grace

For some reason it's taken me this long to get to Havre de Grace in Harford County, MD. And this time we weren't even going to see the cute little town.  We were actually going to a craft festival.  However, the craft festival was tiny which left us time to explore.  It didn't take long as Havre de Grace is the very definition of Small Town America.  But it's also a beautiful little town on the water.

We had the chance to see the Concord Point Lighthouse, the Lafayette Trail, Rochambeau Plaza and the statue of Marquis de Lafayette (aka "America's Favorite Fightn' Frenchman.") And the answer is yes, I've been silently singing Hamilton all the darn day.  Love having the chance to explore these great little parts of Maryland that I haven't made time to see before. 

What a gorgeous summer day and a beautiful town!

Fun Night at Camden Yards

Our first and last Oriole's game of the summer - Sun, Baseball, Friends, Fun, and Fireworks all combined for a wonderful evening!  And it also explains why I don't have any brain cells left to compose a coherent Friday Five post. 

The Story of Story

Before my trip to NYC last weekend, I read a post on In a Creative Bubble about her trip to NYC.  She mentioned a super cool store called "Story."  As luck would have it, it was located in Chelsea which was where we were planning to be since our goal was to walk the High Line.  I definitely decided that I wanted to see it.

The cool thing about Story is that they don't sell the same things all the time.  It's called a curated shop.  Every few weeks they decide on a theme, and then all the items in the store change to fit the theme. When In a Creative Bubble was there, the theme was "The F Word" so everything in the store started with the letter F - Fun, Friends, Film, etc.  When we were there the theme was "Remember When" and all the items in the store were from the 80s and 90s with some back to school thrown in for good measure.

I loved it!  It was so cleverly decorated and just such a fun space.  I didn't buy anything, but there were tons of things I could have.  I'm not sure if the whole idea is even profitable or feasible, but it's definitely cool.  And I can almost guarantee the hipsters just love it.  

Word-less

In the world of computers - i.e. the world I live in at work - I know next to nothing technical. I listen.  I research.  I try to absorb.  But in the end I'm pretty much clueless in comparison to the people I work with.  However, I do know Microsoft Office.  Now, I know you're saying that everyone knows Microsoft Office.  And you'd totally be right. But it's a personal point of pride with me that I'm very good at making Office - PowerPoint, Word, Outlook - do things I want it to do.  

I can make pretty presentations, and teach others how to set up documents.  I can create specific forms of documents and make them look professional and polished.  I can create beautiful templates in PowerPoint with great graphics - perfect for teaching classes (which is good since that's sort of my job in a nutshell.) But today I've met my match.  Today was the day I set out to create a template in Microsoft Word.

Yeah, it didn't go well to say the least.  It's about 9:00 pm and I still haven't cracked it. You'd think this would be a fairly easy process.  You'd think a few google searches would get me there.  But you'd be wrong.  A few google searches showed me how to save a template as a template.  Newsflash google, I got that.  That's small potatoes!  It's the actual template itself I'm finding so impossible.  I need sections, and sub-titles.  I need numbered headings and graphic titles.  I need figures and appendices.  And yet, I've got nothing.  

Why oh why is Word so darn difficult?  After hours upon hours, I thought about moving over to Publisher or even Adobe.  But Publisher had squat and I remembered I don't actually have a license for Adobe.  So there's that. 

That was my day...Hope yours was a little more productive.

Trivia Tuesday

~ I've been waiting weeks and weeks to get a Shakespeare question - and we finally get one.  And they ask who the star crossed lovers are.  Seriously!?  Everyone knew it was Romeo and Juliet.  I mean everyone in that we had a 9 way tie for first place at that point.  That's just no fun!

~ My trivia team was shocked and amazed by Hot Mess Kristen this evening - i.e. I wore running shorts, a tee shirt and had my hair in a pony tail (aka what normal people wear on a normal basis - but what I never wear, because I think it's way too dressed down.)  This ridiculous heat has finally taken me down with it...

~ The first named hurricane was Bob.  We have 2 questions about this: 1. What happened to "A"? and 2. Why was the hurricane namer so unimaginative?

~ Due fourteen different Olympic events being on 14 different stations in the bar, we've decided that we do not want to meet the greco roman wrestlers, the boxers or the weight-lifters in a dark alley.  And just because you're pretty or handsome doesn't mean you're not going to knock over every single hurdle.

~ The opposite and more positive form of the statement "Don't be an idiot." is "Be a non-idiot."

~ Hearing "Leather" when the MC actually says "Weather" changes the possible answers in your head quite drastically.

~Inspector Clouisseau is not the only inspector in movies or television, apparently.  Though his introduction into Les Miserables would make that show so much more interesting! (The inspector they were looking for was Javert.)

~ The NFL commissioner that preceded Roger Goodell is not Roger Goodell Sr., no matter how hard we hoped it would be.

~ There's a 4000 ft high mountain in KS called Mt. Sunflower.  Who knew?!  I now want to go to Kansas just to see the mountain named after my very favorite flower.  

~ Rabies is more prevalent in bats than in raccoons.  I'm so glad I know this, after I did a bat cruise on Ladybird Lake in Austin.  Though, it would have been nicer to find that information out before.

~ Finally, Finally, Finally my obsession with Tex-Mex, Mexican and South American food has paid off!  Hominy is made by treating maize with an alkaline through a process of nixtamalization.  I don't like the stuff, but don't tell me I don't know my food : )

Unexpected

The aforementioned ceiling at Hudson Yards

When I was in NYC last weekend, trucking through the city in 95 degree heat attempting to get to the MegaBus stop on time - even though the bus was ultimately 30 minutes late - the Bestie said something that surprised me.  At the time, I was attempting to take a photo with my phone of the ceiling of Hudson Yards subway stop on the escalator while also trying to juggle my luggage.  She said "I'm always surprised by your ability to find pretty stuff everywhere we go."  She was being fairly sarcastic when she said this, mostly because I looked just a wee bit ridiculous and my only excuse was that the ceiling was pretty.  But I've since taken it to heart, and decided that that's something I really like about myself.  

I like that I can find beauty and fun in the unexpected.  After all the best part of travel is the surprises you find along the way.  So in that vain, these are my favorite shots of the unexpected from this past NYC trip. After all, New York in the summer is always unexpected and surprising.

Wouldn't you just love to walk out this door everyday?

Street art right on the street

Look at the cool workmanship on these overhangs - so pretty!

For some reason this doorway was tiled over

It must be said, I have a thing for cool doors

I also have a thing for street art

A super cute garden in Chelsea - I should have taken a better picture of the sign too.  It said something about buzzing off and refraining from picking - the flowers for looking not for taking.

Scandalous

I never really got into the Criminal Minds thing - it's too dark and too violent.  But I do know Thomas Gibson because he used to be on Chicago Hope, so to say I've been fascinated by the story of his firing last week, is an understatement.  I sort of hate myself for being riveted by such a scandalous story, but oh well, here I am.  As the story goes, he was first suspended then fired for allegedly kicking a writer on set.

What first got my attention is the kick itself.  Whose first instinct is to kick?  Don't most men punch first?  Now, I'm more focused on the aftermath.  His former costar Shemar Moore is saying his firing is "karma."  What the heck does that mean?  We need more information people!  And lastly, Thomas Gibson has now lawyered up.  How exactly does he see that going?  "Sure, I kicked you, but you shouldn't have fired me for it. I'm famous."  The way Hollywood goes, that'll probably work.

It's all so strange! And yet I'm reading about the darn story at least once a day since it happened... Maybe I'll stick to books from now on - All the drama, none of the scandal.

Thoughts on Harry Potter 2.0

So I wasn't even going to read it.  I was going to wait to see the show - hopefully I'll be in England some time next year - and be surprised by it.  But then Costco had a great sale and the book was all anyone could talk about.  And basically here we are and it's been finished over the course of the last 24 hours.  So what did I think?

If you'd asked me about it last night, after I had put it down after reading about 80 pages, I would have said - Ehh.  I didn't like the play format.  I read plays all the time, but for some reason this material was difficult to read in that format.  However, now that it's through, my mind has changed.  It was marvelous!  I just loved having another Harry Potter story to read after all these years.  It was a lovely story that included almost all of the beloved characters while keeping the heart and the humor that the original books had.  

That's not to say that I don't have bones to pick.  One being that I'm still not crazy for the play format.  It would have been awesome if it was written in novel format, if for no other reason than it would have been a much more involved story.  The second issue I have is a question.  Who in the world is the kid on the front of the book?  I could guess one of 2 characters, neither one is a blondish kid about 10 years old.  

Last but not least, is more of a pondering rather than a bone to pick.  How on earth did the directors and production people manage to pull off the insane amount of magic and scenery changes?  This performance must cost a fortune, which is why I'm guessing they chose to run it in rep.  2 shows means twice the ticket sales.  Even knowing that, I'm still ridiculously excited to somehow get tickets to see it, because let's face it, it's another Harry Potter when we had heard there wouldn't be any more.  Who wouldn't be excited?

Friday Five

1. Yay Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky!  Go Maryland!

2. I haven't the foggiest idea why Michael Phelps decided to name his son Boomer, however he is just about the cutest thing ever!  Those headphones are bigger than he is!

3. I was googling a bit yesterday trying to see if the Robber Bridegroom CD had been released yet, and happened upon Steven Pasquale singing "On the Streets of Dublin" from "A Man of No Importance."  And now I'm pretty much obsessed.  It's such a great song and he's just so talented!  I'm so crazy for it, that through a bit more googling I discovered this show is playing in Oxford MD currently and I now have tickets to it.
           

4. Is anyone up for a trip to NOLA in October?  Because seriously, a whole festival of Beignets?  I feel like that's just even more heavenly than NOLA is in my head!

5. This is my favorite photo that I took in NYC this past weekend.  It is in fact of my feet and a water stain on the sidewalk, but I happen to think it's perfect!  Sometimes, it's the little things...

Baltimore Sports Fun

It must be said, it's a very good time for sports in Baltimore.  I mean, I may be a bit biased, it's usually pretty good between the Orioles and the Ravens.  However this year, we have the added bonus of Olympics to watch.  You just gotta love Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky! We Marylanders definitely do!

I read an article earlier this week that said if Maryland had been a country, we would be second place for Olympic gold medals.  How awesome is that!?  I'm not sure what it is about the city of Baltimore that makes great swimmers, but I'm assuming it's something in the water. (See what I did there? : )  The fact that Michael and Katie have been kicking butt has been super fun to watch, if only to give the state of Maryland some good press for a change.  

My favorite part in all of it was seeing Michael Phelps getting his medal on Tuesday evening. During the National Anthem, he cracked up during the "Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave..." part.  If you're not a Baltimorean you may not know why that was cute. Since Baltimore's baseball team is the "O's", the "Oh!" is almost always yelled loudly. Apparently his friends did that in the stands which made him laugh.  I love it! 

And with all the Olympic coverage you may have missed the Orioles doing pretty darn well. Of course, they're currently making a liar out of me in their road-trip games.  But when they're home they tend to play pretty awesome-ly.  And then of course, you have the whole reason I decided to write this post tonight, after a LONG summer - it's FINALLY FOOTBALL SEASON!!  Woohoo!

And while I'm super excited about having a Ravens game tonight, I'd be much happier if they weren't currently down by 3...

Two Show Sunday

Apparently, in some NYC theatres, there are 2 show times on Sunday.  How have I never known this before?  Because of this fact, my Sunday in the Big Apple was so much more exciting than it could have been!

Matinee: An Act of God starring Sean Hayes

I had seen this basically one man show about 2 years ago when Jim Parsons was playing God and had fallen in love with it.  I laughed so hard I cried, and missed a few of the jokes because I was laughing so much at the other jokes.  It's really unbelievably funny.  The premise is simple - God's come down, taken over the body of a beloved TV actor and plans to share his 10 Commandments 2.0 with the world.  For the next 1.5 hours that's what he does, perfectly and hilariously!

This time around, it was still very, very funny, but the show was made up of pretty much the same jokes.  Don't get me wrong, if it ain't broke, I wouldn't fix it either, but because I had seen it once, they weren't as surprising. Though the added bonus of a few digs at Donald Trump was met with some very happy applause.  Sean Hayes was just as funny as Jim Parsons.  I'm fairly certain he's Jack - the character he played flawlessly in Will and Grace - in real life too.  I kept expecting him to say "Just God!" (Oh, I crack myself up!)  He was perfect in the part and nailed all the great lines, and I can't be 100% sure, but I'm fairly certain he even went off book a bit and still managed to be laugh out loud funny.  I have a feeling I'll be using "wrath management issues" in general conversation for the foreseeable future.  Definitely 5 stars in my book!

Evening Show: School of Rock starring Sierra Boggess

If you've ever seen School of Rock with Jack Black, this show is the exact same premise, only this time it has the added benefit of being written and produced by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber - which, you know, makes everything better.  This was a last minute addition, seeing as we only had 3-4 shows to choose from since most everyone goes dark on Sunday nights.  

It sounded slightly intriguing, but I definitely wasn't super excited to see it.  It was just a show to see to pass the time.  Oh how wrong I was!  This show was outstanding!  I've never been so impressed by a group of actors in all my life.  As you may guess from the title, the cast is full of kids learning and playing rock music.  In this case, every one of the kids played their own instrument and sang their hearts out.  In other words, they blew the roof off the place!  They definitely deserved their standing ovation at the end of the performance.  

The main adult characters were fantastic too.  You could tell they were having a blast and were just as inspired by the kids as the audience was.  What I loved even more than the music and the kids, was the message - You're part of the band. No matter how weird, or different you may think you are, you're part of a group. There's always someone that's going to accept you for being who you are, which is so awesome for the kids in the audience and in the cast to hear.   Also, the song "Stick it to the Man" has been stuck in my head for days so I suppose that message spoke to me on some level as well : )

Trivia Tuesday

~ According to City Paper, which I decided to read after I realized I had absolutely nothing to add to the first 9 questions (didn't know a single answer), I should cut a lock of my hair, put it in an envelope, recite an incantation over it for 5 nights, then burn it while reciting another incantation, then all my dreams will come true.  Also, I'm the only one that actually had homework in her horoscope.  Everyone else just got the usual horoscope schtick, meanwhile I'm having to learn witchcraft and wizadry,

~ Watching Michael Phelps win his 20th Gold Medal in a bar in Baltimore with 50 other people all screaming for him, is pretty darn exciting - so much more so than watching it alone on the sofa.  Though, why'd he have to act so arrogant after he won?  It would have been much nicer had he been just a bit gracious.

~ Blondie and Dagwood have 2 children in the comics: Alexander and Cookie.  The audio clue for this one was a song by Blondie which was pretty darn clever.  Though I misinterpreted the audio clue to mean Family Circus - One Way or Another could have referred to Billy's path when he was looking for something.  Luckily, the team stopped listening to me after I got the 3rd question wrong of the evening.

~ A team full of music-lovers and we answered none of the 5 half-time questions correctly on 2000s music.  Does that speak ill of our music knowledge or the music of that time?  I'll let you decide.

~ Most people on the team didn't know that the singer was singing the word "Doctor" in the song "Doctor My Eyes."  You'd think that one would be pretty self-explanatory.

~ Doc Rivers is the head of the LA Clippers. Pete Docter, who I swore was someone if not the head of the LA Clippers (who we also went with because it was the only answer we could come up with) is actually the screenwriter for Inside Out.  Why the heck do I know who the screenwriter for Inside Out is?  I didn't even like that movie...

~ David Brent is the name of Ricky Gervais' character in the British version of The Office.  This was the very first question I knew the answer of all evening - it was the 20th question just to give you a frame of reference on how very bad my night was.

~ Meryl Streep was nominated for her first Oscar for The Deer Hunter.  This is not the movie in which she posits that "maybe a dingo ate my baby."  Also, I still don't know what movie she says that in.

Good Night New York!

In 48 hours in NYC, we walked just over 6 miles, did the entire High Line from start to finish, saw 2 Broadway shows, may have seen a Food Network person in Washington Square Park, finally saw Greenwich Village, at 3 different types of ice cream, paid homage to the home of Hamilton (The Public theatre of course!), ate brunch in a really awesome brunch spot on the Upper East Side, and all around had a fabulous time.  

But more on all that (and more!) later.  Now it's time to go to bed.  Ugh!  Do I really have to go back to work tomorrow?

St. Michael's Fun

Before yesterday's Balloon fun, we had a slight detour to St. Michael's MD, which is small town on Maryland's Eastern Shore.  It's a tiny little city on the water full of fun little shops and restaurants.  If you're looking for lots of excitement, St. Michael's definitely isn't for you, but if you're looking for kitschy little shops and quaint little streets, St. Michael's is your dream destination.

First stop was breakfast at the Crepe cafe for Bananas Foster crepes that were delicious! Then it was some wandering and some shopping - Friday's spoils were a silver and pearl ring from Silver Linings, a hand drawn picture from The Preppy Redneck, some snowheads and a Tardis from The Christmas Shop and a MD tee shirt from Crabi Gras. It was a good day to be a shopper!  We then headed over to have lunch which was very good - even though I have no idea what the name of the restaurant was.  After that, a last ice cream treat at JoJo's before we headed to stop 2 which were the outlets.  All in all, St. Michael's is the perfect summer destination for some quaint fun in the sun!