Home in NYC for a Week

This past summer, my mom and I headed home to New York City for a week.  We had a great time in the City and across the Hudson in New Jersey.  Here's the travelogue and pictures for those who care:
 
Wednesday:  Mom and I flew to Newark, New Jersey.  As the plane was accelerating to take off, it all of a sudden hit the brakes and turned off of the runway.  It was so weird.  That had never happened to me on a flight before.  A few minutes later, the captain got on the overhead speaker and told us there was confusion of communication from the Tower so the captain decided to not take off.  He said as soon as they worked out the miscommunication, we would be taking off.  Less than fifteen minutes later, we had taken off and actually left the ground.  My Aunt Caren picked me and Mom up at the airport in New Jersey and drove us to the Crowne Plaza in Times Square where we checked in.  All of their Times Square view rooms were full so we ended up with a north side view room.  Dang!
We walked to Times Square.  While I saved a small table at Duffy Square, Mom went around the corner and got us each a slice of pizza from Patzeria’s Pizza.  (The best pizza in NYC!)  We ate the pizza at our little table in Duffy Square while we watched all of the people.  It was fun!  It was beautiful weather!  This was the second time I had been to NYC in the summer.
Among all the billboards in Times Square, there was a billboard for mormon.org.  It was awesome to see that right next to all of the other billboards.

Mom and I walked to the Gershwin Theatre and saw Wicked.  A friend I had worked with in Radio City was listed in the playbill, but I found out he wasn’t performing that evening as he was recovering from a back injury.  I was sad I wasn’t going to see him perform.  The Wicked cast was amazing!  Truly, one of the best casts I’ve seen.  Wicked also had new costumes and lighting.
We didn’t go to the stage door afterwards because we raced over to Times Square instead to meet up with our neighbors. They were visiting NYC the same time as us.  We decided to grab some dessert at TGI Fridays in Times Square and talk.  We left TGI Fridays around 1 AM.  We had a great time visiting with them!  Times Square was still a flurry of activity as we made our way to our hotel in the wee hours of the night! 

Thursday:  We walked to the Times Square Visitor’s Center.  We asked about the free walking tour they held on Fridays.  We got our picture taken in front of the ball that drops at midnight on New Year's Eve.  The picture doesn't do it justice!

We walked to Central Park where I met up with a friend from high school on his lunch break.  It was so great to talk with him!  I hadn’t seen him for probably five years or so!  He loved living and working in New York City.  It was great to catch up with him.

Mom and I walked to the Manhattan Temple.  I ran into a girl at the temple that goes to the Singles Branch I attended in Utah.  How funny!
After we were done at the temple, we walked to Serendipity 3 for lunch/dinner and dessert!  We shared the basil seafood pasta.  It was delicious!  Mom shared her peanut butter frozen hot chocolate with me.  I shared my cinnamon ice cream with caramel sauce sundae with her.  There was so much caramel on my sundae that it was like eating homemade caramels.  Oh the food was divine!  I was so full afterwards!  

We walked back to our hotel and rested our big tummies.

We felt much better when it was time to go to the theatre.  We walked to the theatre where Anything Goes was performing.  I LOVED Anything Goes!  It was one of my favorite shows I saw this trip!  Sutton Foster (who won a Tony Award for her performance) was AMAZING!!  All of the singing and dancing she does is incredible!  The choreography was superb!  Joel Gray also gave a wonderful performance.  It was so much fun to attend the performance!  I smiled the rest of the night!  Mom and I went to the stage door to wait for the actors to come out.  While we waited, we talked with other audience members.  One of the guys had gone to BYU and two other people asked us if we had been at the temple that day because they had seen us there.  Who says you aren’t being watched??  Unfortunately, Sutton Foster and Joel Gray had another way to escape the theatre because neither of them came out the stage door afterwards.  Bummer!

Friday:  Mom and I walked to the Times Square Visitor’s Center.  We took a free Times Square walking tour.  The tour took two and a half hours and could have easily been consolidated to an hour and a half.  The tour guide talked A LOT and found a way to express herself in as many words as possible.  We did see a lot of things we had never noticed before and learned some things as well.  We learned about the Times Square building, how Times Square got its name, the shoe sculptor of famous women in the 1920s, LUTS-Light Unit Times Square, all billboards in Times Square must have lights and movement, the musical sound of the subway in front of the Marriott Marquis.  We went to the Renaissance Hotel, TKTS, St. Malachy’s Church (the actor’s church), the MTV Building, and the Lyceum Theatre.  It was a good way to spend a beautiful Friday afternoon.
Mom and I went to Shake Shack for lunch/dinner.  It was teeming with Asian people!  Before they ate their food, they would hold it up and take a picture of it.  Interesting!  Seating was at a premium in the Shake Shack.  After a few non-aggressive moves on Mom’s part, we finally found a seat.  We even found some seats for other people.  We paid it forward!  Mom and I shared a cheeseburger, fries, and a concrete shake.  They all tasted good but not worth the millions of people you had to fight for your food.
Mom and I walked to Herald’s Square to get some Garrett’s popcorn.  We got the caramel and cheese popcorn mix.  It doesn’t sound that good, but it tastes very good! 
Mom and I walked to the theatre and saw the musical Sister Act.  The row in front of us was empty until a few minutes after the performance started.  Then this group of four or five girls with one guy came in to their seats in the row in front of us.  They were so loud!  They couldn’t figure out which seats they had and the order in which they wanted to sit.  They talked to one another and then kept apologizing to us.  If you’re really sorry, then shut up!  Mom and I figured they were drunk.  Then one of the girls left quickly holding her hand over her mouth while another girl followed her out.  That confirmed our suspicions of the state of their sobriety (or lack thereof).  Then a few more girls trickled out.  Finally the boy left too.  Thank goodness!  At intermission, we noticed they were sitting in a row at the back of the orchestra level.  If we hadn’t seen them, we would have still known they were there because they were talking loudly after the second act begun.  What a bunch of idiots!  Sister Act was a good musical.  The choreography and costumes were great.  I was expecting to hear more songs like from the movie where they took popular songs and made them church-y.  That didn’t happen so I was a little disappointed.  The score was all original music.  The musical did have heart and I liked it for that.

Saturday:  Mom and I went to a street fair on the Avenue of the Americas (6^th Avenue).  I spent a lot of money there.  I bought three purses, a wallet, two eyebrow pencils, and an eyeglass case.  I so did not need any of those things!  I ate a bite of Mom’s fried Oreos and some of the donuts that came with it.  You can't go to a street fair and not eat fried foods!  (Fair=Fried Food)
Mom and I saw the musical Memphis.  It was so good!  The dancers were amazing!
Mom and I walked to Virgil’s for lunch.  We ate our usual fare of train wreck fries and banana pudding. Lunch of champions!
Mom and I walked to the theatre and saw the musical Catch Me If You Can.  I LOVED IT!!  It was my other favorite musical we saw on this trip.  The show was so much fun to watch!  The music was very catchy.  The actors (Norbert Leo Butz, Aaron Tveit, Tom Wopat, Kerry Butler, and the ensemble) were AMAZING!  After the show, we went to the stage door.  Once again, we got out of the show after a lot of the other people had so the people at the stage door were about two people deep.  The security guard saw me and let me go in front of the barrier so I could get autographs and talk with the actors.  When Norbert came out, he announced to the crowd that he didn’t have time to pose for pictures but they could take as many pictures as they wanted while he signed because he wanted to get home to his six month old baby.  I got autographs while Mom took pictures.

Just as Norbert was crossing from the barricades to his car that was waiting for him, some guy walked up to him and told him that he admired him.  Then the random guy asked for a hug from Norbert.  Norbert gave the guy an “Are you crazy?” look for a second and then said how about a handshake.  Uh yeah, crazy guy!  You just don’t ask for hugs from actors.  First of all, they smell bad because some don’t shower after the show and you KNOW they were sweating.  (I should know because that was me!)  Second of all, people just don’t hug random people.  After Norbert, Tom Wopat came out and signed our playbills.  When he was done signing he unchained his bike from a street sign, got on his bike, and rode away.  Mom and I both thought it was odd that management wouldn’t let him keep his bike in the theatre.

Sunday:  Mom and I were awakened by lightening and thunder.  It was so weird to be in a high rise building in Manhattan and experience lightening and thunder.  Nature seemed so out of place in the urban jungle.  It rained most of the day.  Sometimes the rain was heavy and other times it was a mist.  We had planned to walk to church at the temple but since it was raining we took the subway instead.  Just before we got to the elevators in the church, I knew I was in an LDS church because the removable coat rack was out.  This coat rack was filled with rain coats, goulashes, and umbrellas.  The bishop had all the visitors stand and there were more people standing than sitting.
Forever 21 had a fun billboard in Times Square.  It took a picture of the street in front of the Marriott Marquis and then put it up on the billboard.  Here's your chance to play where's Melodie and her mom?  Hint: Mom is wearing a red shirt and I look like I'm wearing white pants.

We walked to an off-Broadway theatre that was under an Italian Restaurant across from the Marriott Marquis.  We saw the play Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating, Mating, and Marriage.  It was cute!  Joyce DeWitt (from the TV show Three’s Company) was the main character.
Mom and I ate dinner at Junior’s.  While we waited for our meals, we went to the bathroom.  When we came back from the bathroom, they had cleared our table of our drinks.  I guess the busboy thought we had left.
Mom and I walked to the Palace Theatre and saw Priscilla Queen of the Desert.  I liked the costumes.  They were very creative.
Caren picked us up and drove us to her house in New Jersey.  Mom and I stayed at her place for the last two days of our vacation.

Monday:  It was Independence Day!  Mom and I bummed around Caren’s house most of the day.  We helped her get ready for her Independence Day party.  Mom and I took a walk around Caren’s neighborhood.  We saw a few muskrats on our journey.  Caren invited some friends and neighbors over to her place.  We watched from her balcony as the barges with the fireworks for the Macy’s Fireworks Spectacular came down the Hudson River towards Caren’s place.  Then after the sun went down we watched some of the New Jersey’s towns’ fireworks.  Then we watched the Macy’s Fireworks Spectacular from her balcony.  There were fireworks shooting off from six barges synchronized to music.  It was AWESOME!!  I loved seeing it in person!  The best part was after the fireworks and watching the traffic jam of cars trying to get to their homes.  I was home!  People were reported to be in their cars for two hours trying to get home.  Not me!  I watched the Macy’s Fireworks Spectacular on TV after I watched it from the balcony.  It was so much better in person!

Tuesday:  I was a sleepy-head.  Mom and I finally ate breakfast around noon.  We went to Caren's pool.  Mom went swimming.  I read in a book while I laid out.  Caren dropped us off at the Newark Airport and we flew home.

Another wonderful trip to NYC.  I love that city!  One of these times, I will be purchasing a one-way ticket.

It's Not Easy Being Green

In June, I was selected to be part of a national advertising campaign for Marker ski bindings.  The advertising campaign would involve a still camera shoot and a video shoot.  Both shoots would take place on one day.  I had to go to auditions and costume fittings at the talent agency that got me the job before the shoot occurred.  Then the day of the shoot finally came.  Here's a day in the life of a model.  I'm sure you will find it fascinating.  (I know most of you will just scroll down to the pictures.)  Enjoy!

I drove to the McCune Mansion in Salt Lake City for the Marker ski binding photo shoot.  I was to spend the day doing whatever they wanted me to do while dressed like a green jester.  First of all, I absolutely fell in love with the McCune Mansion.  I had been there when I was a little kid for a wedding reception.  When the mansion opened, I explored the first floor before everyone else showed up.  I was grateful I took that opportunity because there wasn’t any other time to do it.  Once everyone (body painter, catering, make-up, hairdresser, wardrobe, director, camera and boom operators, etc) showed up, the photo shoot began.  I got in my costume which consisted of black leggings, black tennis shoes, black socks, a gray long sleeve shirt, a black scarf tied around my waist, and a jester hat complete with bells.

Here's a picture before going green.

I talked with the other people in the photo shoot and read in a book I had brought while I waited for my turn to have my body painted green.  The photo shoot consisted of seven Little People-Chris, Rebekah, Kealalaua’e, Matt, Will, Mike, and me.  There was also one average sized girl, about seventeen years old, who portrayed Steezy Marie (the queen).  She was dressed in an old medieval dress with her hair straight up in the air.  I watched as Matt, Kealalaua’e, Chris, Rebekah, and Will got painted green.  I enjoyed watching the process.  Depending on whether the costume involved a hat some had to have their ears and necks painted green!  I also partook of craft services while I waited since I knew that time for eating would be nonexistent when the shoot began.

After two hours, it was finally my turn to go green.  It took about fifteen minutes for the body painter to turn me green.  I was grateful my costume had a hat that covered my ears and neck so they didn’t have to be painted.  My fingers, fingernails, hands, wrists, and face were all painted green.  It looked and felt pretty awesome!  It was fun to be green!  The paint was airbrushed on.  The paint was cold.  It always made me jump when he started because a puff of air would assault me along with the cold paint.  After I was painted green, I went to make-up.  I was also grateful my hair was covered up so I didn’t have to have my hair done.  The final part of my ensemble was a jester (puppet) head that looked like me that I carried around on a stick.  My character talked with the puppet as if it were human and I used the puppet to mesmerize people to do what I want them to do (mostly create mischief).  

When I was finally ready, I went up to the third floor in the mansion where the photo shoot was taking place.  Since I was the second to last person to get ready, the photo shoot had already begun.  They did a series of pictures with the jesters jumping on a trampoline while I was getting ready.  I was glad I missed that!  The videos consisted of an introduction of each jester, a lot of hanging out talking about Jester Marker ski bindings, and trying to win the favor of Steezy Marie.

Around 1 PM, they began setting up the shot for the print ad.  It took a LOT of time to set up!  I was put in a few different places before they decided on where I should be.  In the shot, I was mesmerizing the shy jester (who was sitting in time out with a jester hat) to get off the stool and do more mayhem.  The photographer took a LOT of pictures once the shoot was set.  My eyes were probably closed in half of them or maybe I was doing weird things with my face.  Who knows?  Thank goodness for photo shop!

We were given a thirty minute break for lunch/dinner around 4 PM.  I scarfed down a roast beef sandwich and cookies.  Then had my makeup touched up.  Then it was back to work.  They were all done with the still photos.  After dinner, we made the still photo come alive with video.  It was CRAZY!  Total MAYHEM!!  Kealalaua’e knocked the head off of my puppet with her barbell.  I just laughed and picked it up and kept going.  All of the LPs ended up in one big heap at the feet of Steezy Marie as she rolled her eyes at us.  It was so fun!

Will and Chris decided to do some sumo wrestling.  One time when they hit, they hit so hard they both fell down on the ground!  It was HILARIOUS!  I tried so hard not to pee my pants!  Then five of the LPs (Kealalaua’e and I opted to be spectators) were filmed playing musical chairs.  Once again, I laughed so HARD!  The LPs really got into it.  When the “music stopped” some were so competitive that they fought for the chairs.  At one point, a leg of a chair popped off.  The leg went one direction, the chair tipped over, and the jester was sitting on the ground wondering what happened.  So FUNNY!

The photo and video shoot finally ended around 7:30 PM.  I changed out of my costume and gave it back to the wardrobe person.  I left the green makeup on when I left so on my drive home, I made a very concerted effort not to stop directly next to another car when I had to stop at red lights.  I didn’t want anyone to freak out when they looked over and saw a green LP driving the car next to them.  They probably would have thought I was some sort of alien or something!

Surprisingly, the green body paint came off relatively easy.  The body paint artist had left each of us some cream that helped take the paint off.  It came off my hands and face pretty easily.  The paint had worn off some on the palms of my hands from holding the puppet stick all day.  The hardest parts to get the paint off were my hands and fingernails.  I had green hands and fingernails for a few days.

Here is the final product of the print ad.  I went to Barnes and Noble last week and bought the current issue of Powder Magazine because the ad is there.  It was pretty fun to see!

Here is the link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2WkwTOBzU4

Traffic Court

A week after I returned from Seattle, I had the pleasure of attending traffic court.

Last March, I received a citation for running a red light.  The crappy part was I didn't run a red light!  As I was in the intersection making a left turn the light changed to yellow, and then by the time I got out of the intersection, it had turned red.  That is NOT running a red light!  That's clearing an intersection!  Two VERY DIFFERENT things!  The police officer that pulled me over couldn't even see what color my light was!  So I decided to fight it.

The lovely Sandy Justice Court was the background for this lesson in the law system.  I took with me pictures from the scene showing clearly the officer could not see what color my light was.  I also took a diagram of the intersection showing where the officer's car was in relation to the traffic lights and my car.  I also took a copy of the page of the Driver's Manual showing that when there is a yellow left arrow, vehicles must clear the intersection.  I felt I was prepared.

As I walked up the stairs to the courtroom, I saw a coworker sitting in one of the chairs outside of the courtroom.  I sat down next to him and asked him why he was there.  He was fighting a red light citation that occurred at the same intersection mine did back in March on a different day.  He showed me his evidence and told me his case, and I didn’t think he had a very good case.  I didn’t tell him that, but that was what I thought.

The courtroom was finally unlocked, and we filed in.  On the list outside of the courtroom there were about seven names on the sheet for cases.  Luckily only three of us showed up!

The first guy they called up was a 17 year old boy.  He pled not guilty to running a red light at the same intersection as the rest of us.  He received it about an hour before I got mine but from a different officer, and he was turning right.  The officer gave his testimony.  Then the poor kid was asked by the judge if he wanted to testify or remain silent.  He looked at his mom because I guess he didn’t know what to do.  His mom asked the judge if she could sit next to him but the judge said, “You can sit next to him if you are a member of the Bar.”  The mom stayed put in her seat.  The kid said he wanted to testify so he took the oath and the witness stand.  His testimony consisted of, “Well, uh, I thought I, uh, stopped.  I remember that day and I wasn’t late for work so I thought I stopped.”  Sorry kid.  If you are going to plead not guilty, you’ve got to own it!  At least have some conviction!  After his testimony, the prosecution showed the dash camera from the officer that showed the kid rolling through the intersection on a red light.  Unless he stopped twenty feet before the intersection….With the kid's stellar (not!) testimony and the video, the kid was found guilty.  The judge was going to sentence him and tell him to pay the fine, when the prosecutor asked if the kid could be given a plea in abeyance instead since he had a clean record before that time.  The judge agreed so the kid had to pay court fees, attend a teen traffic class, and have a clean record for the next six months.  Then the citation would be taken off his record.

The next person the judge called up was my coworker.  He pleaded not guilty to running a red light.  I knew he didn't have a prayer but I just hoped he wouldn't make the judge mad before I had to have my time in the sun.  The officer took the stand and gave a fifteen minute testimony.  Then my coworker took the stand and gave a not-so-strong argument.  The judge found him guilty and asked if he could pay the fine.  He hmm’ed and haaa’ed over it and acted pitiful.  The officer leaned over and said something to the prosecutor.  The prosecutor broke in and told the judge that the officer would reduce the sentence to a plea in abeyance.  The judge asked if my coworker could pay the court fees.  He told a sad story about how he was saving for his daughter’s hernia operation.  She gave him 19 hours of community service that had to be completed in the next 60 days.

While my coworker’s paperwork was being completed, the prosecutor got up and sat in the empty chair next to me.  He said he was willing to offer the same “plea in abeyance” deal the other two received if I would skip the hearing.  I agreed to it.  I mainly didn’t want to listen to the officer’s testimony against me, and I didn’t want to testify.  I think I could have won my case, but I didn’t want to take the chance.  The other two were found guilty and I figured they would find me guilty as well.  The court was set up for appearances but I bet everyone walked out of their with a guilty or plea in abeyance verdict.

The judge called me to approach the bench which I did.  The prosecutor explained that he had offered me the plea in abeyance and I took it.  The judge asked me what I pled.  I didn’t know what to say (guilty or not guilty).  She knew I was confused so she explained that if I pled no contest, that would mean I was taking the plea in abeyance.  I said “No contest, your honor.”  She said to strike that from the record.  She asked me when I could pay the court fees, and I said, “Today.”  She told me I was on probation for six months so if I didn’t receive any citations in six months, the red light violation will be taken off my record.  (I'm halfway through probation.)  I waited for my paperwork.  I paid the court fees.  I was back to work in an hour.

Oh the justice system.....Add that to the life lessons learned.

Seattle-Family and Friends

Next stop on my travels is Seattle.  This trip happened two weeks after San Francisco.  My family headed back to the West Coast to visit my brother.  He recently moved from Orlando to Seattle.  Talk about opposites!  I guess they do attract.  My parents and I love that he is in Seattle because it is a lot closer to us.  Plus I love Seattle.  Ever since I graduated from High School I said I wanted to move to Seattle.  I even looked at attending the University of Washington.  Who knows?  Maybe I will end up there after all!  Enjoy the travelogue and pictures.

Mom and I met up with Dad in the Seattle airport.  He flew in from Anchorage, Alaska.  We got our awesome rental car for the weekend: a minivan!  I had two whole rows to myself!  We drove to our hotel which was very close to the Space Needle.  We got the Jacuzzi suite!  I had the pleasure of sleeping on the pull out sofa sleeper.  Lucky me!  (I guess that beats sleeping in the jacuzzi!)  This was the view from our hotel room.

 

The next morning Mom and I slept in.  Dad left before I woke up because he had to teach a class that morning in some nearby town.  While we waited for Dad to get done teaching his class, Mom and I made good use of our time.  Mom swam in the pool.  I was going to swim with her but there were three kids that seemed like 30 kids flailing about with water going everywhere but in the pool.  No thanks, I opted for the stairmaster instead.  I also sent some emails for work.  (I am such a dedicated employee!  I hope my boss reads that!)

I met up with my friend D Scott.  (D Scott and I worked together with Radio City.  The poor guy was in charge of helping me sing!  He sure earned his money trying to do that!  I am grateful we're still friends!  He was on tour with Mary Poppins which happened to be touring in Seattle.  Perfect timing!)  We grabbed some food from Dick’s Drive-In and then drove to a nearby park at Westlake.  It was a gorgeous day in Seattle.  We talked and watched the seaplanes land in Lake Washington.  I had so much fun talking with him.  At one point, he asked me if I was dipping my fries in my shake.  I said Yes.  He thought it was strange.  I figure it must be a Utah thing.

After lunch with D Scott, I met up with my parents at the hotel.  Chris didn’t get off work for a few more hours so we headed to the waterfront.  We ate clam chowder from Ivar’s outside at the tables they had set up.  We watched as people fed French fries to the seagulls.  The seagulls would get so excited and start screeching!  It was quite the sight and sound!  Ivar’s clam chowder is the BEST EVER!  (Unfortunately I was still full from my Dick’s Drive In fries and shake that I could only eat half of it.  Mom was the lucky one who got to eat the rest.)  We went in a few shops on the waterfront.

My parents and I drove past the building where my brother worked.  Then we drove to Chris’ house in West Seattle.  Chris and Allen bought a nice three-story townhouse.  It had an amazing view of downtown Seattle from their bedroom deck on the third floor.  I finally met their dog, Alis.  (They have had her for at least four years.)  She was crazy!

Allen was at work so we spent some time talking with Chris after he gave us a tour of their house.  Then we went on a short tour of West Seattle.

I spent the rest of the day with my friend Adam.  (Adam and I performed in the Christmas Spectacular together.  We had the comedy bit of our scene and, if I do say so myself, we brought the house down!  Just sayin'.  He was the best pillow a girl could have.)  He took me to a street just off of the University of Washington campus.  We ate dinner at Samir’s Kitchen, one of Adam's favorite places to eat.  After dinner, we walked up and down the street giving each other a running commentary on every thing (and everyone) we saw.  There were a lot of people out and about.  We saw some cops busting some people.  We saw the law school where Adam is about to start his third (and FINAL) year of law school.  We walked through the bookstore.  We tried on hats in a store but Adam’s big head didn’t fit in too many of them.  (See pictures below.)  Adam tried to get his hair cut but the barber was closing. 
When we got tired of walking around, we drove to Manhouse (the name he and/or his roommates gave the house where he lives).  When we pulled up to his house, I thought I was in a third world country.  We drove up to the house from a back alley.  All the houses were right next to each other and they were a little run down.  I told Adam it looked a little third worldish.  He just told me to shut up.  I forget how many men were living in the house when I visited--maybe four (?) and 1 dog.  I ended up only meeting one roommate while i was there.  We let the dog out to have some fresh air because the poor thing had been in the house all day.  Then we played Angry Birds on Adam's cell phone.  I had never played Angry Birds before but now it is my latest guilty pleasure!  We got through all the levels on one game so we started playing a different edition of Angry Birds.  Adam passed most of the levels because he had me go first.  I would show him how to do it by my trial and error and then he would get the job done!  Just before I left, I remembered I wanted a picture.  I told Adam to take some pictures of us.  This is what I got:

 

The next day, my parents and I picked up Chris and Allen.  This is where the mini-van came in handy.  I still had one row in the steerage compartment all to myself!  (Don't be jealous!)  We drove to the ferry close to their house and took the ferry to Vashon Island.  On the ferry, we got out of the van and sat in the seats upstairs.  The ferry ride seemed like it was all of fifteen minutes.  We drove all around Vashon Island.  It was a small island.  There were a lot of trees just like everywhere else in Washington!  We went to the Farmer’s Market and walked around the less than twenty booths set up.  We didn’t buy anything.  People were selling caramel, fish, flowers, and other plants.  We saw a lighthouse on the end of the island toward the ocean.  We ate lunch at a restaurant called The Hardware Store.  Why was it called The Hardware Store?  Before it was a restaurant, it was a hardware store.  The food was pretty good!  We rode the ferry back to West Seattle.  We stopped at Chris and Allen’s house and picked up Alis.  We all went to the Chittenden Locks in Ballard.  We watched boats, yachts, Kodiaks, etc go through the locks.  It was fun!  The locks are still my favorite place to go in Seattle.

  

We drove to Kerry Park.  We took a few pictures of the family at the lookout point before we were overrun by teenagers going to prom. 

We dropped off Alis at home and then went to dinner at Zeek’s Pizza.  The pizza tasted delicious!  We dropped off Chris and Allen at their house and the rest of us went back to the hotel.  Mom and I wanted to go swimming but there were a LOT of kids in the pool.  No thanks!

The next morning, my parents and I attended church near the hotel.  We spent the rest of our time in Seattle with Chris at his house.  (Allen was at work all day.)  Chris played us a song on the piano (at the insistence of Mom). He was getting annoyed with the paparazzi (Mom) at this performance.

 

I had a great time in Seattle hanging out with my family and friends.  I can't wait to go back!

Happy Mother's Day--Love, Hugh and Me!

How much do you love your mom?  Not as much as I love mine.  You might be asking me (or demanding me) to "Prove it!"  Alright, you asked for it.  Be prepared to feel like a slacker son or daughter after you get done reading this.  You have been warned.

What do you get the BEST MOM on the planet for Mother's Day?  Hugh Jackman.  That's right!  You read correctly.  It all started when I had a little down time at work the Tuesday before Mother's Day.  I was doing a little search on the internet and found out Hugh was doing a two-week concert engagement in San Francisco.  The tickets weren't outrageous, so I thought, "Why not just go see him?"  It didn't take much arm twisting or persuasion of any kind to get Mom to agree to go with me.  Before the end of the day, the concert tickets were purchased and the hotel and airplane tickets were booked.  The BEST MOM on the planet and I were heading to San Francisco to celebrate her for a quick weekend get-away!

We flew to Oakland and rode BART to downtown San Francisco.  We walked around Union Square.  We rode the elevators at the St. Francis Hotel (a tradition).  We could see all around from the top floors because the elevators were on the outside of the building.

We ate lunch at Sear’s Fine Food.  If you don't know about Sear's Fine Food, then you are sorely missing out on some AWESOME food!  We shared an order of Swedish pancakes-one order has eighteen pancakes.  The pancakes tasted delicious!  Then we worked off the calories by walking uphill for four blocks.  You've got to love a city that is one hill after another!

Then we rode the bus to our hotel.  We checked in.  Our room was on the 26^th floor in the corner.  We had views out of two directions because the two outer walls were all windows!  Our views consisted of Alcatraz, Coit Tower, and the Transamerica Building.  We could have seen the Golden Gate Bridge if some buildings weren’t in the way!

Enough of enjoying our great view!  We rode the bus to Pier 39.  It was very windy all day!  We watched the sea lions for a little while.  They were noisy!  I still want to be reincarnated as a San Franciscan sea lion!  What a life!   

We walked around Pier 39 and looked in some of the shops.  We walked along the pier to Boudin’s Bakery and watched bread being made.  They made bread into so many shapes-turtles, alligators, etc.

It was time to get ready for our night with Hugh.  We ate dinner at the Boudin's Bakery in the food court in Macy’s Cellar at Union Square.  I ate clam chowder and sourdough bread.  They tasted delicious!  We walked to the Curran Theatre and picked up our tickets for the evening’s performance at the box office.  We went up the many steps to the balcony and watched the Hugh Jackman in Performance concert.  With our binoculars in hand, it was as if we had paid the hundreds of dollars that people on the front row paid!  There was a seventeen piece orchestra and two pretty girl back-up singers.  Hugh sang, danced, and told stories from his life.  He was so entertaining!  The 1 hour and 50 minutes show went by too quickly!

As is our custom after a performance, we waited at the stage door for Hugh to come out.  By the time we got to the roped off area for people waiting at the stage door, the crowd was already about three rows deep.  The security guard saw me about three rows back and invited me and Mom to go in front of the ropes to wait for him.  Otherwise, I would have never had a chance to even catch a glimpse of Hugh.  I was the first one he signed the playbill for when he came out.  I also got a quick picture with him.  (He wasn’t stopping for pictures as he walked down the line of people so I think I was the only one who got a posed picture with Hugh that night.)  I loved it!  I don’t think I’ve been that ecstatic in a long time.  Mom got some more pictures as Hugh walked down the line of people, signing playbills.  Hugh stayed at an apartment building next to the theatre so when he got to the steps of his building, he waved to everyone, and then went in.  Unfortunately, I don't even qualify for the BEST DAUGHTER on the planet award consideration because I didn't get a picture of Mom with Hugh.  Dang!

 

 

 

The next morning we opened the drapes to our AWESOME view, and we laid around in bed and were lazy.  Mom opened her Mother’s Day cards and talked with my brother, her sister, and her mom on the phone.  We walked to church that morning.  We ended up walking uphill two blocks and then went downhill two blocks to the church.  The children sang a song (as they always do on Mother's Day) but it didn’t have anything to do with mothers.  The church we went to gave me and Mom each a small bag of cookies for Mother’s Day.  That was very nice of them.  We walked back to the hotel bypassing the up and downhill course we took to church.  We quickly changed clothes because we had to check out of the hotel.  We put all of our things on our backs and rode the bus to Ghirardelli Square.  We ate sundaes at Ghirardelli’s.  My peanut butter hot fudge sundae was delicious (when it was warm)!  After it cooled, it was just a big chocolate peanut butter conglomerate!  Note to self: Eat faster!  We beat the rush at Ghirardelli’s because when we were leaving the lines upstairs and downstairs were out the doors!

 

 

 

Mom and I rode the electric bus to the BART station and rode BART to the Oakland Airport station.  Then the hotel shuttle picked us up from the station and drove us to the hotel we stayed at that evening.  Mom and I ended up with a one bedroom suite.  It was big!  Our hotel room the night before (in the city) could have fit in the bathroom at this hotel!  We ate sourdough pizza from Boudin’s Bakery for dinner.  Yum!  I went to bed early because we had to get up early. the next morning for our flight and then I had to go straight to work.

The next morning I got up at 4:30 AM.  Mom and I quickly got ready for the day and flew home.  I was to work by  9 AM.  I had quite the commute (from San Francisco) to work that day! 
Mom and I had a great quick, last minute trip to San Francisco.  We ate great food.  We rubbed shoulders with celebrities.  Who could ask for a better Mother's Day weekend?

Stay Tuned

Hugh Jackman