New York State Of Mind

Once upon a time there were two friends who shared a love of all things theatrical. They sang, they danced, they acted, and dreamed that one day they would go to New York together and see a Broadway show.

Dreams do come true, look at them now

Dagny and Jenna have been friends since Dagny was 6, and Jenna was 7. The Broadway dream began when they starred together in a production of Peter Pan. Over the years they've seen tons of great shows together, (we do live next to San Francisco, after all) but the dream of The Great White Way lived on, until this year my friend Leslie decided that this was the year to take them to New York. I wholeheartedly agreed, and it was a fantastic decision.

New York is one of the most fabulous places in the world and I loved everything about it. I do mean everything. My experiences were probably very idealized; it was warm, not crowded, clean, and people were super friendly. I can only judge New York on what it was like for me, and for me, it was perfection.

I think I was born on the wrong coast, Manhattan is my kind of place. I could spend days just walking around looking at the buildings, the architecture fascinates me. We saw lots of sights and did lots of things, but a week isn't long enough to even scratch the surface of all the city has to offer. We spent an entire day in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I'm pretty sure we didn't even see 1/4 of it. I think that if I lived in NY I just might go there every day.

The real reason for the trip was the best thing about the trip, Broadway. We saw 3 shows (Billy Elliot, Hair, Memphis) and each was beyond amazing. Now that Dagny and Jenna have seen NY and Broadway I think the dream is now to live in NY and star in a Broadway show. Leslie and I are all for it, then we would have to come visit them.

- A Peek At What We Did In The Greatest City In The World -

Explored Central Park

Watched Lots of Shows

Saw Lots of Sights

Learned How to Do New Things

Like Ride The Subway and Hail a Cab

Had a Fantastical Time Together

If you'd like to see even more pictures of Dagny standing in front of famous things, there are lots more here.

Belated Easter

Apparently I am quite powerful and amazing, I was able to bend time to my will and move an entire holiday. Due to the fact that Dagny and I were in New York (much more on that later) on the actual Easter Sunday, Easter was moved to today. The move was so successful I may try it with other holidays.

Our Easter was small and quiet. We had a lovely brunch with Grandpa, then eggs were hunted and lots of candy was eaten.

The egg hunt was a solo one this year.

Dagny is too old to run around looking for

eggs, so Dane got all the hidden loot.

She didn't hunt for them, but she still got treats

Nobody can resist a Cadbury Egg

NYC

This Is Me And Dagny

This Is New York City

In just a few hours the three of us will be together.

I imagine that it will look something like this;

Except for the part about being sailors, I think that's pretty much what it's going to be like for us. (all my fantasies of New York look like musicals, you should see the one that's set to N.Y.C from Annie)

Keep an eye on our Twitter for all the Big Apple adventures.

She Blinded Me With Science

Dagny is a science kid, always has been. She has been fascinated in the how, and why, of pretty much everything all her life. No big surprise that her favorite subject in school is Biology.

Along with enrollment in her AC Bio class is a chance to enter the Science Fair. She ended up getting a 3rd place in her category, not bad.

Her first Science Fair - 2002

A Home Run

It's opening weekend of Damn Yankees. Very exciting.

My little girl is all grown up and working for the devil.

Who knew that would make me so proud?

Lots more pictures and a re-cap when it's all over.

Live At The Fillmore

Dagny and I had the most amazing time at the Jamie Cullum concert this week. Jamie was absolutely fantastic, and it was really fun being there with Dagny. Having a teenager that appreciates all types of music is a very cool thing. (it was a school night, so taking Dagny with me either makes me the most awesome or the most irresponsible mom ever) The show was at the Fillmore, which I love. It's historic, gorgeous, intimate, and you get to stand up and dance during the show. (he played for almost 3 hours, I didn't notice how bad my feet hurt until it was all over)

Seeing Jamie Cullum live is an experience, he doesn't disappoint. He is tireless; he plays piano and guitar, dances, improvises, and always looks like he is having the time of his life. He played mostly stuff from his new album, The Pursuit, but he threw in some old favorites, and even came down into the audience and sang Cry Me A River. I am always amazed to see someone that talented, what a great night.

I don't have any video from our concert, but I found this from a show he did a few nights earlier. It's pretty much just like what we saw, and it's one of my favorites songs from the new album.

Walk On

Last week Steve decided it would be a good idea for us to start walking the dogs in the morning.

Early in the morning.

I like Steve, I like the dogs, I'm just not sure I'm cut out for early morning walks. All the people we see on the trail are smiling, happy, "isn't it great to be outside", kind of people. I don't think I have it in me to be that pleasant before 8:00 a.m. Luckily, Steve says being pleasant isn't a requirement. Isn't that nice of him.