YaYa Princess

So, I’m sitting here in my sleeping room in CA and I figured what better time to write out our NYC trip.

It started off easily enough-flying out of Dulles on Jet Blue.  The boy is not the biggest fan of flying so Jet Blue is always a nice way to pass the time watching TV.  When we got to the big apple, we decided to take this bus to the city to Grand Central where shuttles would take us to the hotel.  We were only a few blocks away so thought we might even walk it.  For those of you who were at Dave and Lina’s wedding and on the bus of terror w/ us, let’s just say that we think we got the same driver   He LITTERALLY almost hit a woman standing on the sidewalk.  She had to jump out of the way.  Apparenlty he felt that the roads weaving b/w the terminals at JFK are to be treated much like the Tower of Terror at MGM Studios.  Luckily there was crazy traffic.  We arrived in one piece at Grand Central where we thought that the shuttles they referred to at Grand Centeral were hotel shuttles.  Not so.  When the boy and I started trying to walk we were promptly restricted from going anywhere.  Ooookay.  We had to cross the street to get the ’shuttle’ where my shoe slipped off.  No biggie I just decided to go bare foot.  BAD IDEA.  The bottom’s of my feet are still blackened from the NYC streets.  The boy is determined I’ve pick up syphilis or something

Anywho, we got to the hotel alive and in one piece (albiet a bit dirtier).  Friday night we just went tooling aroudn Times Square (that’s where the hotel was-yay Starwood points!).  Sat. we headed out, through Rockefellar Center, w/ a stop at Tiffany’s   Mostly I wasn’t even interested in jewlery so much as being in the Tiff’s that they filmed “Sweet Home Alabama” in.  I’m such a sucker for that kind of stuff.  Oh, and of course we stopped at the original MAC store   Then we headed into Central Park, first w/ a stop at the zoo, and then just around and about.  I love the way there’s all this green and beautiful arcitecture in the middle of the city.  There’s so much artistic energy floating through that place too, and of course just the NYC energy which is amazing.  We ended up on the Great Lawn where we dropped a blanket, did a little people watching and generally relaxed.  It was so amazing…I don’t really have another word for it.  It was also pretty cool to just people watch.  I just kept thinking how all of these people live in this crazy city but they find ways to get out and about-we were sitting right beside a game of baseball for example.  Or all these parents—they have these little kids but they still seem to manage lives.  They’re tooling around in the park, or sitting there w/ another friends, couples, families eating hummus and drinking wine.  Anyway, it gave me a lot to this about.  We decided to head back but first, I had it in my head that I wanted to see the Jackie O. reserve…you know, the one you always see on Sex in the City?  God only knows why-I mean I LIKE the show  but that’s about it.  Anyway, it turns out that we ended up walking almost the entire legnth of Central Park and my feet felt it!  We popped out on th upper east side which is way different than Times Square.  The boy and I continually wondered about the people’s lives around us there.  We decided to take the subway back where I got pooped on my an NYC bird  

Anywho, we got back to the hotel and got ready to go see Les Mis!!  WOO HOO!  When we got into the theater I was looking through the Who’s Who of the cast which I always do when I say it.  There in black and white, the most beautiful words ever…..

Lea Salonga playing Fantine

You thought it was a proposal didntcha?   Heh!  I started crying, the boy couldn’t figure out what was going on.  Finally I was able to explain that she had starred in Miss Saigon, been the voices of Mulan and Jasmine and was the original Eponine in Les Mis.  I didn’t realize she was back, but she was and OMG.  There are two Broadway stars I’ve always wanted to see perform-Bernadette Peters who I saw at Wolftrap and Lea Salonga.  I came to realize that I have pretty well closed the old “Broadway Life” I used to have and don’t really discuss it.  That’s another blog for another day but the point is that I had to explain this to the boy as best I could.  I suppose the tears of joy did a pretty good job.

The boy, who is simply amazing, sat through the entire show despite the fact that A.) he has no real interest in musical theater and B.) there was easily two inches too little leg room for him.  He didn’t even squirm around b/c he didn’t want to disturbe me! 

Afterwards we were waiting to take a photo together.  He had offered to let us stay to try to wait for the cast but I know it can sometimes take forever.  Besides, in my brian she’s this amazingly lovely woman and I didn’t want to ruin that image, nor did I want to make the boy wait anymore.  I didn’t even hear it at first, but the boy points behind me and tells me to turn around.  There’s the cast coming out.  Not only did I meet Lea but I got her autograph!!!  It’s promptly displayed at work as a little reminder that there is more to me besides meeting planner extroidnare  

As usual I don’t know that I made much sense as I said hello to her, but that’s my fortay.  When I met Harry Connick all I could say was “yay, yay, yay”  With Lea it was something about “I didn’t realize you’d be here blah blah blah”.  Needless to say I was on quite a high that night.

Sunday we went to MOMA, where the boy and I agree that we prefer Classic Art to something a 5 year old could draw.  I’d be happy to go head to head w/ the best art historian to argue that anyone can color a few blocked in squares thank you very much.  Then we went to the top of Rockafeller for amazing photos, into a fea market (it was fleet week too) and then back to the hotel to catch our flight home.

So there you have it.  An amazing weekend that was just enough fun but that you’re ready to get home at the end of it.  I’ll get picutres up soon enough, but I have to download them first.

Ok, it’s 8:30 and about 90 degrees here.  I need to move around a bit. 

In: The Boy, Travels | | #