Sweet 16: Look at me! I'm the King of New York!

Sixteen years ago I went to New York City for the first time (that I remember).  I was a junior in high school, and I really didn't want to go.  (At the time, I was not too fond of big cities.)  My cousin Vanessa always wanted to go to NYC so she talked my grandma into planning a girls trip to the Big Apple.  Every girl in the family over the age of sixteen was invited to go to NYC.  The only takers were grandma, my aunt Caren, my cousin Va and her mom, and me and my mom.  We set out and conquered the Big Apple in a week (so we thought at the time).  And so the love affair began....  (Actually, if we want to start at the VERY beginning of my love affair with the Big Apple, we would have to rewind the clock 34 years, and the story would begin with, "I went to the Big Apple and I had to stay in the womb the whole time...")  Now you know where it truly began.  Let's fast forward 34 years to April 2012.

Mom and I flew to New York City.  Our plane actually left on time and arrived on time!  Surprising!  My aunt Caren picked us up from the airport and drove us to the Crowne Plaza hotel in Times Square.  Mom and I put our stuff in our room and went to TKTS.  We bought half price tickets to the play The Best Man.  Mom and I grabbed a slice of pizza from Patzeria's Pizza and ate it in the Marriott Marquis alley on our way to the theatre.  Delicious!  I really enjoyed The Best Man.  It had a lot of great actors: James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, Candice Bergen, Eric McCormack, and Kerry Butler.  When we got back to our room, we realized it was a corner room so we could see to the east to the East River and the north to Central Park.  We were on the 40th floor of 42 floors.  Let's just say we had an awesome view! 

We began the next day at TKTS to buy Mom a ticket to War Horse, but it wasn’t listed on the board so we went back to the hotel room and she bought a ticket over the phone.

Mom and I rode the subway to 66th St and Columbus Ave.  I met up with my friend Jason in a plaza in front of the Manhattan temple.  Mom, Jason, and I talked for a few hours.  I hadn't seen Jason for over a year (which is the longest it's been since I met him seven years ago)!  It was so good to visit with him.

Me and Jason

Mom and I shared a Philly steak sandwich off a cart in front of Lincoln Center.  It was the first time we had eaten food off of a cart in the street and we lived to tell about it!  I was grateful we didn’t get food poisoning!  I’d say it was a success.

Mom and I walked to the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center.  We saw the play War Horse.  I sat on the first row!  Mom was about ten rows behind me.  The horses were amazing!  It was a great story.  (I highly recommend it!)  My friend Leah was the puppeteer for the main horse, Joey's, head.  She was so good that I forgot she was there!  (It takes three people to make each of the main horses move-one in the hind legs, one in the front legs, and one for the head.)  After the show, Mom and I went backstage and visited with Leah.  Leah showed us around backstage.  It was so good to see her!

Me and Mom in front of the Vivian Beaumont Theatre

Me and Leah backstage at War Horse

Lincoln Center

Our evening show was the musical Newsies.  I feel that it was the complete musical-great music, great dancing, great acting!  The dancing was truly amazing!  The tricks the guys could do were awesome!  I loved it!  Mom and I got autographs and pictures with the performers at the stage door afterwards.  They were all very nice.

Me and Thayne Jasperson-the Utah kids

Me and Jeremy Jordan

Mom and I started the day by waiting for the box office to open for Million Dollar Quartet so we could buy rush tickets to that evening's performance.  Then we rode the subway downtown.  We walked from the subway to the Doughnut Plant.  Mom bought a black-out donut while I bought a tres leches doughnut.  We ate the doughnuts while we rode the subway to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  The tres leches doughnut has been cataloged as one of the best things I have ever eaten!

We took a tour of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  We got our own private tour because the other 23 people that had signed up for the tour didn't show up on time.  (Ha ha!)  We learned about the role of the Federal Reserve and got to go in the vault where the gold is stored.  The vault was located five stories underground.  (For reference, the subway is only two stories underground.)  The vault only held gold that belonged to other countries.  Each gold bar was worth half a million dollars.  There were A LOT of gold bars!  I enjoyed the tour.

In front of the Federal Reserve Bank

I love to watch the progress of the new World Trade Towers

Mom and I rode the subway back to Times Square.  We ate dinner at Lime Jungle.  The food tasted delicious and was actually reasonably priced.  Great recommendation, Leah!

Mom and I saw Million Dollar Quartet.  Our seats were on the far left side behind the piano so we couldn't see everything going on onstage, but it was fun watching the piano player.  He was very entertaining!  I really enjoyed the music!  Since there wasn't an intermission, the musical got over relatively early.

I waited outside the stage door at Wicked for my friend Colby to come out.  (He was performing in Wicked.)  I visited with him for a little while after the show.  It was so good to see him!

Me and Colby

I started the day buying some postcards from a souvenir shop as Mom and I walked to the subway.  We rode the subway to the Manhattan Temple.  Since a lot of people had the day off (for Good Friday) the temple was busier than we had ever seen it.

Beautiful Manhattan Temple

We rode the subway to Serendipity 3.  We shared seafood pasta, frozen hot chocolate, and a caramel sundae with cinnamon ice cream.  Yum!  Mom and I walked the mile back to the hotel.  (We had a few calories to burn off!)  Then I laid on the bed to digest.

Serendipity-We love you!

No, we did not trade places.  The picture is taken from the opposite angle.

Mom and I saw the musical Leap of Faith that night.  I really enjoyed it.  It was the third night of previews so there were a few technical difficulties.  Kendra Kassebaum was so good!  It was fun to see her in a different role from Glinda in Wicked.  Mom and I waited at the stage door for the actors to come out afterwards.  It was fun to see Kendra again.  She remembered me from a few years ago after Wicked in San Francisco.

Me and Kendra-Mom thinks we look like sisters

Raul Esparza-Sorry it's blurry

Another day begins at TKTS so Mom could buy a ticket to Ghost the Musical for the matinee.  We checked out of the Times Square Crowne Plaza hotel and hauled our suitcases across Times Square almost to 5th Avenue.  We checked into the Holiday Inn Express near 5th Avenue.  Then we walked to Macy's at Herald Square (sans suitcases).  Mom wanted to see the flowers they had displayed in a tent but the line was too long to get in, and we didn't have enough time to wait.  The first floor of Macy's was under construction.  It was a mess!  We were able to see all the flowers in the display windows outside of Macy’s though.

Mom walked me to the theater where Anything Goes was performing.  I saw the AMAZING Stephanie J. Block in Anything Goes!  She was THE BEST.  I don't have any words to express the joy Stephanie's performances bring into my life.  She has so much talent.  I met up with Mom after it was over, and we waited at the stage door for Stephanie.  When she saw me she gave me a wave. She signed everyone's playbills and took pictures and saved me for last so she had time to talk with me.  She asked me how my family was, how long I was visiting, and the other shows I had seen.  She told me she was going to run errands and then go to physical therapy.  We took a few pictures and off we went in separate directions.

Me and the Amazing Stephanie J. Block

Because I love her, she gets two pictures!

Mom and I ate dinner at Virgil's Barbecue.  We loved that place!  We shared a turkey and pork barbecue sandwich and trainwreck fries.  It tasted delicious!

Our evening performance was the musical Nice Work If You Can Get It starring Matthew Broderick and Kellie O’Hara.  The musical was so funny!  Matthew Broderick was onstage the entire show and danced up a storm!  He was amazing!  He was 50 years old!  I loved Kellie O’Hara’s singing.  It was the first time I had seen her perform live.  Jennifer Laura Thompson (who was the first Glinda I had ever seen in Wicked) was also very funny in the show.  It was a great show!  Mom and I went to the stage door after it was over.  While we were waiting for the actors to come out, someone shouted, “That’s Megan Hilty!”  (Megan Hilty was in the NBC show, “Smash”.)  The camera flashes went off like crazy.  Megan was just walking down the street with a few men.  It was fun to see her just walking down the street.  I wasn’t fast enough to get her picture as she was walking quite quickly down the street.  We got autographs and pictures from Matthew Broderick and Kellie O’Hara.  Matthew was very quiet.  He was probably exhausted!  He was very gracious and signed everyone’s playbills and took pictures with everyone who requested them.

Kellie O'Hara

Sorry Matthew, but this is the only picture I could get of you.  It does make me think, "Bueller, Bueller,..."

Mom and I spent Easter morning walking to Rockefeller Center and taking some pictures.  The Easter bunny was skating on the ice rink.  

Happy Easter!

Our traditional Rockefeller Center picture

We rode the subway to Columbus Circle and then walked the rest of the way to church at the Manhattan Temple.  As I was walking to church, my friend Lucy popped into my head.  I thought that was weird.  I found out a few days later that Lucy saw me near Columbus Circle so I must have saw her subconsciously but it didn’t register.  Anyway, I wished I had been able to talk with her.  When Mom and I got to church, we realized it was Stake Conference and we showed up about 45 minutes after it started.  All the seats in the chapel and cultural hall were taken so we got to sit in the “overflow” (aka cry) room.  The kids in the room were out of control!  (They were probably full of sugar from Easter candy!)

Mom and I rode the subway to Columbus Circle.  Then we walked across Central Park and down 5th Avenue.  The Easter Bonnet Parade was on 5th Avenue.  People were wearing very unique hats.  It seemed that Peeps were the popular item to put on the bonnets this year.  It was fun to see all the different hats.

I had another FABULOUS trip to NYC!  I love that place so much!

I know you want some pictures from the two previous trips I talked about at the beginning of the post so here you go.  (Remember these pictures were taken before the digital picture age so what you get is what you get.)

April 1996: The Girls Invade the Big Apple

Arriving in style: Me and Va in the limo to NYC

The girls checking out Ms. Liberty-Grandma, Margo, Caren, Va, and me

Margo, me, and Mom with the 1996 NYC skyline (taken from Ms. Liberty)

April 1978: Remember I had to stay in the womb the whole time

(Me and) Mom at the top of the Empire State Building

(Me and) My parents at Wall Street

High School Reunion

This year marks 15 years since I have graduated from high school.  Some days, it feels like high school was a LONG time ago.  Other days, it feels like it was just yesterday.  A lot of great things have happened since high school.  (It would be depressing if I couldn't say that honestly!)  BUT I have a lot of great memories from high school.

I made wonderful friends in high school and actually keep in touch with a lot of them.  (Thank you, Facebook!)  My high school had a five year and ten year reunion which I attended.  I enjoyed getting together with high school pals.  There isn't a fifteen year reunion, so I'm doing my own version.  I have been able to hang out with some high school friends on a one-on-one basis.

In March, I spent a Saturday visiting high school friends.  My first stop was in northern Utah to a couple I went to high school with, Jared and Julie.  We all went to high school together so we had a great time reminiscing of the old glory days and updating each other on what has happened since.  I told them of my travels while they told me about the kids.  They have four kids that keep them very busy.  Between the family, work, church service, etc, they have a very full and happy life.

My next stop was even more northern Utah to visit with my friend Beth.  Beth happened to have a husband- and kids-free day so we decided to splurge on some Aggie ice cream.  (See picture below.)  Her husband was away on a March madness basketball trip and the kids were sleeping over at Grandma's and Grandpa's.  We caught each other up on our lives for the past seven years or so.  She has moved a few times, has four kids with one on the way, teaches dance, and serves in the church.  We had a nice visit.  At the end of the visit, the kids came home so I got to meet them.  I had a great day.

Just recently, I spent some time with one of my other favorite people from high school, Michelle.  I hadn't seen her in five years.  It was so much fun hanging out with her!

My favorite thing I am realizing is that I can go years without seeing someone and then when I do get together with them, we pick up right where we left off and we just keep moving forward.  I love that!

Who am I going to visit next?

Rock of Ages

Mom and I got free tickets to see Rock of Ages when it came through Salt Lake City in March.  My friend Danny (who I worked with doing the Christmas Spectacular) was in the touring company of Rock of Ages.  He did a great job!  I met up with him briefly after the show.

10 Year Anniversary

It's amazing how quickly ten years can fly by!  In February, Salt Lake City celebrated the ten year anniversary of hosting the Winter Olympics.  My mom and I were involved with the Olympics.  I was able to carry the Olympic torch as it wound its way through the world from Greece to Salt Lake City.  Mom was a volunteer handling security at Little America Hotel.  She saw the IOC president Jacques Rogge, Mitt Romney, various kings and queens, etc.

Some of the events of the ten year anniversary were relighting the Olympic flame for a brief time, events at the Olympic Oval, and Stars on Ice.

I received free tickets from work to attend the Stars on Ice event at the Energy Solutions Arena so Mom and I went.  It was very good.  The ice skaters did a great job, and between the performances, they played videos from the 2002 Olympics.  Fun to be reminded of those memories!  Sorry the pictures are so blurry but our free tickets were way up high in the arena!

Kristi Yamaguchi and Mitt Romney opened the evening's festivities

Mitt Romney talking up the success of the 2002 Olympics

Scott Hamilton introducing the first skater

Sarah Hughes, 2002 Olympic Gold Medalist

Kurt Browning shedding his coat

The videos were projected on the ice as well as on the jumbotron

Derek Parra sharing some favorite Olympic memories

David Pelletier & Jamie Sale, 2002 Gold Medalists

US Premier: Zorro the Musical

The Hale Centre Theatre received the honor of having the US premier of Zorro the Musical.  (Zorro the Musical has performed in the West End, Moscow, Tokyo, Amsterdam, and Rio.)  The Theatre decided to have a nice celebration to commemorate the premier.  Unfortunately, my mom had to work in the box office that evening, so I invited my friend Michael to join me.

It was a formal event so I decided to go all out.  (I hadn't gotten this fancied up since high school prom days.)  I went to a hair salon and got my hair and make up done.  A young girl named Jade did an amazing job!  We had some miscommunication at the beginning but the final product was perfection!  She asked me what I wanted for my hair but I didn’t really have any idea.  I told her I wanted something elegant because I was attending a fancy event that evening.  She asked if I wanted a mess bun in the back of my head, and I said no!  I could have done a messy bun by myself!  Luckily, her supervisor was listening to our miscommunications and suggested a bunch of barrel curls with some pieces spiraled down and some spiral curls on the sides of my face in the front.  After an hour and ten minutes, 37 bobby pins, two elastics, a can of hairspray, and some curling iron action, the results were stunning.  It was probably the most elegant hairstyle I had ever had!  Jade did an amazing job!  Then Jade did my make-up for the evening as well.  She made my eyes look stunning!  My eyelashes actually looked long (an amazing feat)!  She was a miracle worker!  I loved the finished product!

Since I got the tickets for the premier, Michael took care of dinner.  When he picked me up, he said we had to hurry because we had reservations downtown in fifteen minutes.  I told him we had to take a picture of the two of us first.  We clean up quite nicely, if I do say so myself!

We ate dinner at a very nice restaurant.  The food was beyond delicious!  We got to the theatre just before the show began.  It was a very good production!  I loved the Flamenco dancing, the sword fighting, and the songs. After the show, I took some more pictures with Mom and Michael.

I had a fun evening getting all dressed up.  I should do this more often!

Jury Duty

January seems to be a very depressing month in Utah.  The holidays are over.  I'm back to work.  It is COLD!  There always seems to be an inversion over the city, etc.  You get the picture.  The government decided to spice things up for me and called me to jury duty.  Here is the exciting details of my civic duty.

I drove to the courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City to report to jury duty.  There were a lot of people called for duty that day.  We were assigned to three different trials going on at the same time.  I was assigned to trial three.  The first trial group was released to go home by 9:30 AM and didn’t even have to go to a courtroom!  (Those were the lucky ones!)  The second group had to fill out a questionnaire and then was taken to a courtroom.  My group of about 26 people was led up to a courtroom last.  We sat in the juror seats while we were asked if we would be unbiased and then told about the case.  Then we were told that the prosecution and defendant get to choose three jurors each.  If we were closer to being the first juror, we would be more likely to be chosen.  Of course, I was the first juror on the list so I was selected to be a juror.  (I should have bought a lottery ticket that day since I was so lucky to be chosen!)  Besides the five other jurors, the rest of the group was released to leave.


I was grateful there was only one witness and the defendant chose not to take the witness stand.  The defendant was being charged with assault of an officer and disorderly conduct.  The witness was the officer claiming he was assaulted.  He gave a good testimony.  He was examined and cross examined.  Since the defendant waived his chance to take the stand, the court was adjourned to a lunch break of one hour.  (I would have foregone the lunch break and just got the case over!)  I sat and talked with my fellow jurors (not about the case!) for the hour in the cafeteria.

After lunch, we were read the instructions on how to be a juror and what to do in deliberation.  We were dismissed to deliberate and locked in a room.  Gratefully the people who had strong opinions agreed so the rest of us just went along with it.  We did stay in the room long enough to get the free snacks they sent us.  As soon as we had divvied up the snacks, we let the officer know we were done deliberating.  We found the defendant guilty of disorderly conduct but the prosecution did not prove without a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of assault of an officer so we found the defendant not guilty of assault of an officer.  I was done with jury duty about 2:15 PM.

All done with my civic duty for another three years.  Nice!

The Holidays: Utah Edition

As many of you know, I have spent the last six years performing in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN.  I had a blast performing in the show, met wonderful friends, and enjoyed sleeping in.  I felt last year would probably be my last year performing in the show.  I did everything I wanted to do in Nashville, enjoyed every minute I had onstage, and even got a little choked up in my last scene.  (I talked myself out of crying by saying, "Elves don't cry!")  I wasn't surprised when I didn't get a call this year from Radio City asking me if I wanted a job.  I accepted it.  To all of you who wondered why I didn't perform in the Christmas Spectacular, there was your answer.  I wasn't offered a job!  I enjoyed everyone's awkwardness when they received their answer to that question (and, boy, did I get asked that a lot!)

Since I had the pleasure of a Utah holiday season, I decided to do everything I hadn't been able to do over the past six years.  Utah has a lot of wonderful things to do during the holidays.  Here's a quick run down of the events I participated in.

Thanksgiving:  I spent Thanksgiving at home.  My work gave us Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off the week of Thanksgiving.  After six years of working on Thanksgiving, I enjoyed  having three whole days off!  On Thanksgiving, I ate as much as I wanted!  I didn't have to worry about running around a stage after the Thanksgiving feast.  My parents and I had my grandma, aunt, and uncle (on my Mom's side of the family) over for Thanksgiving.  It was nice to spend the whole day at home with my family.

Decorating the Tree:  For the first time in six years, I decorated a Christmas tree.  I got to put my own ornaments on the tree.  Growing up, I was given a Christmas ornament each year to remember an important event from that year.  I loved all the memories that came as I decorated the tree.  Here's a bad picture of the finished product.

Decorating the Office:  My coworkers were shocked that I actually decorated my desk for Christmas.  The office is very minimally decorated (especially compared to other offices at work).  Here's a picture from the pitiful (yet festive) decorations.

The Forgotten Carols:  The Forgotten Carols book and CD by Michael McLean played an important part of my personal Christmas traditions while I was away from home.  I loved seeing the play with Mom.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert:  This year the guests for the Christmas concert were Nathan Gunn and Jane Seymour.  Ever since Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, I have loved Jane Seymour!  I think she is the best!  When I found out she was the special guest for the MoTab Concert, I submitted my request for tickets.  Of course, I was turned away with millions of other people.  Didn't they understand I had been gone for six years and I wanted to see the concert?!  Obviously not!  My friend Michael's roommates are in the MoTab so I kept telling him I wanted to go and he should get me tickets from his roommates.  Of course, that didn't happen either.  I had pretty much written off attending the concert and seeing my Jane Seymour and, therefore, having my holidays be incomplete...until 4 PM on the day of the dress rehearsal.  My friend Michael actually came through for me with the MoTab Christmas Concert.  He said his date bailed on him so he was wondering if I wanted to go with him.  I said, "Of course!"  Traffic was a nightmare; parking was just as bad.  BUT we sat down in our seats just as the lights dimmed and the concert began!  Perfect timing!  The concert was everything I had hoped it would be.  Jane was amazing!  I had the BEST time!  Thank you Michael's date for being such a flake!  Here's a picture of us in front of the Salt Lake Temple after the concert.

A Christmas Carol:  Every year the Hale Centre Theatre performs A Christmas Carol during the holidays.  My parents have told me how wonderful the show is but it has always closed before I returned from Nashville.  My friend Chelsea and I were able to see the performance on a cold, snowy night.  It was magical!  I enjoyed having people perform for me this Christmas instead of me performing for others.

Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Concert:  Mom and I got tickets to the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Concert the day before Christmas Eve.  I loved it!  I had never been to a Mannheim Steamroller concert before.  It was great!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day:  These days were spent with my parents.  Unfortunately, my brother Chris and Allen weren't able to come to Utah for the holidays.  (They both had to work right after Christmas.)  My parents and I continued the traditions that began decades before.  

Christmas Eve:  We decorated sugar cookies, ate a nice steak dinner, drove around and saw Christmas lights, read the story of Christ's birth from the scriptures, and hung our stockings with care.

Christmas Day:  We saw what Santa brought us.  Yes, even in a home of three adults, Santa did visit us.  Since Christmas was on Sunday, we attended church.  Then we spent the rest of the day with family in Cache Valley.  It was fun to visit with cousins I hadn't seen in a few years.  It was a fun but LONG day!

Day After Christmas:  Since Christmas Day was spent mostly in Cache Valley, my parents and I opened our Christmas presents the day after Christmas.  We like to spread out the holidays as much as possible.

The Week Between Christmas and New Years:  One of the benefits of my job is having the week between Christmas and New Years off.  I enjoyed every day of it!  I spent my days getting together with friends, getting my annual haircut, etc.

Annual Haircut:  My annual haircut was nothing dramatic.  Just trim off the split ends, etc.  I wanted bangs but after consulting with my hair stylist decided not to.  Here's a picture of the new hair cut.  (I know, it looks just like it did before, just curlier.)

Olympic Oval:  Since I didn't go to Nashville this year, I got together with my friend Mindy and her family (from Nashville) at the Olympic Oval a few days after Christmas.  I didn't skate because I didn't want to show them up with my Michelle Kwan moves, but I had a great time watching them.  :)  Here's a picture of the crew that went to the Oval.

Temple Square:  Mom and I went downtown to see the lights at Temple Square.

 

Savior of the World:  Mom and I saw the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' production of the musical Savior of the World.  I loved it!  It was a nice reminder of the real reason for the season, Jesus Christ.


The Nutcracker:  Mom and I also saw the Nutty Nutcracker.  The Nutty Nutcracker is a themed version of the Nutcracker that Ballet West does for their last two performances.  Each year the theme is different, and this year it was a sports theme.  The costumes, some of the choreography, and special guests all were aligned with the sports theme.  It was very funny, but I still (kind of) got the story of the Nutcracker.  I really enjoyed it!  The Nutcracker reminded me of my childhood because Mom and I would go every year as part of our Christmas traditions.

New Year's Eve:  I'm not a huge party-goer on New Year's Eve.  I like to spend the evening at home not really doing much.  This year I brought the new year in with my friend Mark.  We had fun watching a movie and flipping TV channels until midnight.  Nothing too exciting!

Here's to 2012 with all its possibilities!