A Weekend of Good and Bad

The Good

Saturday was most definitely the good.  We were lucky enough to get tickets to see my fave - Billy Joel - at Nationals Park.  Unfortunately it was slated to rain - just as it has for every single outdoor activity I've had scheduled this summer.  However, for once in our lives, we got lucky and our seats were actually under cover,  completely sheltered from the rain. Which it turned out was a fabulous thing seeing as the skies opened about 15 minutes before the concert - delaying the concert by about 1.5 hours.  When he finally went on, it was still pouring down rain but we were thankfully dry and enjoyed every single minute of the almost 2 hour set!

The Bad

I've never seen 1776 before so when a friend suggested we go see it , I was completely on board.  After a 2 hour first act, my verdict was that I had never been so bored in all my life. How could about 10 songs take this long?  Luckily, as she had never seen it before either, and was hating it as much as I was, we decided to leave and grab a yummy dinner somewhere.  To continue the streak of bad luck, our lovely Cracker Barrel, carb-filled consolation prize was ruined by terrible service.  Thank goodness Rita's was there to save the day with ice cream and sprinkles for all.  

While my Sunday wasn't the most fab - I'll take a terrible Sunday (not having to go to work) over a wonderful work-day Monday any day!

Friday Five: The NYC Edition (sort of...)

1. I'm a big fan of Stephen Fry, so I was very happy to see that he was working with Heathrow on some ads.  The final video is pretty perfect for him and England.  So very true and so very cute!

2. I think I've written about Serious Eats before, but if I haven't, you must visit immediately if you love to eat and travel.  This listing of places to eat in NYC is perfect!  It's what I've been looking for all week to help with my trip this weekend.  I love the idea of organizing by neighborhood.  The only problem is now I want to eat at every single establishment in every single article... 

3. Today Tix: So here's the thing.  If you like the theatre, and you don't like spending a lot of money, this app is your new best friend.  They have discounted tickets to some of the biggest shows in the biggest cities.  The only caveat is that you have to buy them a week or less in advance.  But if you're ok with that, you can find some really great deals!

4. One of the 3 million and 32 reasons why Manhattan is one of the greatest cities in the world - they have places like 54 Below where current Broadway Stars, stop by to sing show tunes.  Do you know how poor I'd be if something like 54 Below resided in my city?  I'd be there for every show! (P.S. - This is my favorite song from Something Rotten - mine as well continue on with the theme for the week : )


5. Love me some Billy Joel!

Saturday Six

1. Emporiyum: The day started off badly (2.5 hours to get somewhere that should have only taken 1) but when I finally arrived, it was awesome!  The DC version was much bigger than Baltimore's (of course that meant so many more people!)  But there was ramen, smores pie, cheese curds, handmade oreos, and so much more.  Gotta love a whole day devoted to eating! 

2. Another week, another awesome British Christmas ad.  I'm not sure the Christmas Eve truce during WWI was quite so open and optimistic, but the ad is beautiful!
          

3. Paul McCartney mixed with Billy Joel: How can you not love this version!?
          

4. 19 British Places All Book Lovers should Visit: These have now all been added to my To-Do list.  2 down, only 17 to go.

5. Is it wrong that after reading Eat. Pray. Love. I'm a little in love with the idea of going to India and doing the whole Yoga thing?

6. Aside from the whole, he's newly engaged thing, I'm still in love with him!  After watching this video, how can you not be?

Friday Five

1. Billy Joel singing with Jimmy Fallon: These are 2 of my favorite famous people, and while the first part is a slight bit awkward (I'm not sure Billy gets Jimmy's fanboying), the song itself is awesome in every way.  Also, while I don't sing and would probably have no use for it whatsoever, and while I'm not even sure I know what "looping" actually is, I'm almost tempted to buy the darn app on iTunes just to attempt fun things like this.

              

2. I'm probably a bit late to the party on this since I think scrapbook bloggers have been extolling its virtues for at least the last few years, but Simon Says Stamp, is probably the best-stocked scrapbook online store I've ever visited.  I spent about an hour on the site today alone, and I'm pretty sure I could have added no less than 100 super-cool things to my cart.  Unfortunately, their shipping charges are astronomical, so I'm waiting to find a big-ticket item to make paying $8 worth it.  I'm just not a fan of paying $8 to ship a 3" unmounted rubber stamp that's only $4 to begin with.

3. A few years ago there was a show on ABC called Eli Stone.  At the time, I thought it was brilliant (especially in conjunction with Pushing Daisies and Life).  Unfortunately it tanked after 2 seasons (just like Pushing Daisies and Life) because of that god awful writers strike. Well, seeing as Maryland has become a hot bed of all sorts of crazy unseasonable weather that granted me a snow day on Monday (3 days before Spring officially started I might add) I chose to use the day for evil instead of good.  That is, I lounged on the couch like a slug and pulled out a DVD set I hadn't watched in a while - Eli Stone!  I had forgotten just how good the writing and acting and point was.  I'm currently loving Jonny Lee Miller in Elementary, but nothing compares to his possible prophet, George Michael hallucinating, San Francisco lawyer, with a killer American accent I might add (he's usually a posh Brit) who's using the aneurysm in his head for good instead of evil.  Yes, when I put it like that, it sounds ridiculous, but it's sweet and funny and has a great soundtrack and I only wish it could have stayed on air longer than it did!

           

Oh and there's Victor Garber too.  How can you not love Victor Garber?  He's literally a god among men : )

4. Coming from someone who's only personal experiences with owning a pet were 3 goldfish - 1 suicidal and the other 2 just plain old belly-up, I don't really buy into the whole everyone needs a pet thinking.  Don't get me wrong, I love most furry animals and will melt at the sight of a puppy.  I just don't want one waking me up at 3 am by barking at imaginary cats. But these pics are so darn cute, I can almost jump on the puppy-wagon.

5. Shopping for Spring....finally!  As I mentioned above, Maryland weather has been feeling a bit schizophrenic this year.  Now, even though we're calling for even more snow next week sometime, all the spring colors and styles are out in the stores. I can't tell you how good it felt to walk into Loft and Talbot's and buy capris and cotton tees in all sorts of bright colors instead of pants and sweaters in all sorts of grays.  Go away winter!  We're just not that into you...