February!

Oh, February, historically my least favorite month of the year due to illness (thanks allergies), and general cabin fever. Thank goodness I found ways to amuse myself, and others once in awhile. It helps I had a great trip to New York City to look forward to and then muse upon after I returned home!

Food!

I'm trying to photograph less of my food (it's more difficult than I would have thought), but here are a few things:

I've been making good use of the waffle maker I received for my birthday. Here it is topped with Nutella AND Biscoff cookie butter. Try it. You'll like it!

On a particularly rough Sunday, I had an interview with a member of the Stake Presidency to renew my temple recommend. After a short conversation and commiserating over my unemployed status, he offered me as many Jelly Bellies as I liked -- pear and sour apple. Weirdly, they cheered me up. It's the little things!

CPT's Hats Off party

Since I wasn't in any of the plays at CenterPoint Legacy last year (though I did sing at the Fairytale Festival), Chantryce was sweet enough to invite me as her date for the Hats Off "Thank You" party. Even better, Larissa and Jamie gifted me a new/vintage dress that fit me perfectly, so I'd have something new to wear. I felt so pretty, and I enjoyed spending time with a ton of dear friends. I hope to do a show there sometime this year.

Before

After.
The hair didn't work out the way I'd hoped, but it was nice to try something new.
I had a ton of compliments on both the dress and the hair. My friends are the sweetest.

It cracks me up that my hair looks pink in this light. I wish!

Natalie got to wear her gown from The King and I when she sang at the party.
The dress rightly had its own applause -- it's spectacular! 

Jason and me

A few crazies

A small group at Chili's after the party

Galentine's Day

Kate had the brilliant idea to commandeer Parks and Recreations' "Galentine's Day" party idea, and celebrate the women she loves most (or as many as she can gather together on a busy Saturday). I was honored to be included. Kate invited us all to Auntie Annie's Dessert Island, and made sure we all got to talk with one another, and play some fun get-to-know-you-better games, and my peach tart and "Princess Milk" was delicious. Kate's friends are my friends and I adore them all. It was wonderful having them all in one place. I'm already looking forward to next year!

These women are amazing

Valentine's Day

Since I had no official sweetheart this year, my Valentine's Day weekend was low-key. I liked it -- no sour grapes, I promise :)

One of my girlfriends hand-drew her own cards, and thoughtfully sent one to me.
It's the coolest Valentine I've ever received.
It now lives on my bookshelf; I display it proudly.

Valentine's Day was on a Sunday, and I spent it with my parents and little PJ. My nephew is my most adorable Valentine ever. I love this happy little boy!

Here he is squirting himself in the face with a water gun. He enjoys it so much. Almost as much as getting squirted by me - bwahahahaha!

My parents gifted me two lovely and warm sweaters. I wore them both in NYC :)

A belated Valentine's gift from Theresa. I can't imagine why she thought I'd like it.

Fun fact: I LOVE IT!

Evenings out

My friends continued to invite me out to try to cheer me up with the whole job loss thing. It's nice to be thought of. It's even nicer that they took action. I have such generous friends.  They love me for who I am and support me no matter what. I am grateful for every one and sorry that I don't have more photos!

I was lucky to win two free tickets to see one of the "Best of the Best" movies at the Sundance Film Festival. Gina and I didn't know until we arrived that we'd been viewing  Birth of a Nation, based on the true story of Nat Turner, a slave who lead a revolt against white slavers in the early 1800s. It was a beautiful, heartbreaking film. The distribution rights were sold for the highest bid in Sundance history. I'll be very disappointed if it doesn't receive a Best Actor (for Nate Parker) and Best Film nomination at the Oscars next year.

Liz and I happened to go to the Jordan River Temple on the anniversary of my endowment.
The temple was closed the next week so they could start renovating it. I'm sad they're going to make changes -- I was fond of it the way it was -- and looking forward to attending again next year when it's ready.

Chantryce invited the four of us to see a play at Weber State. Afterwards we had dinner at Chili's. These people make me think and they make me laugh.

Aaron called me up out of the blue and asked to take me out to dinner. Have I mentioned how much I adore this man? It's not very often I get him all to myself for a few hours. He gives terrific advice and is one of the people I trust most. Plus, he goes out of his way to have fun and it's fun to watch and play along. I'm lucky that one of my best friends is my brother.

Solitary entertainment

In the last year, I have had no less than four young men recommend The Way of Kings to me. I finally had a break in my ridiculously-full reading list and picked it up. I'm about a third of the way through now and it's awesome!

I have quite the collection of bookmarks. It seems wrong to use a bookmark that doesn't match whatever genre of book I'm reading.

I finally finished my book of Florida adventures. I did some heavy editing on my blog posts and finessed the text into the photo book. I'm quite proud of the result. It won't be the last such memory book I create.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary and donate to charity, Disney sponsored a "Show Your Ears" campaign, encouraging Disney fans to Instagram photos wearing mouse ears. I own many tiaras, but no ears, so I had to dig around to find this from my trip in 2010.

After months and months, I finally finished watching all 10 seasons of Supernatural on Netflix. I plan to watch the first 10 episodes of season 11 on Amazon, then finish up on Hulu. I'm so excited to be caught up!
To celebrate finishing season 10, I watched The Hillywood Show's spoof. I'm glad I waited, since it's basically the plot of season 10.

*SPOILERS*


And there you have it. Now that I've returned from New York, I need to focus on the job search. Hopefully there's some fun in there, too. Guess we'll see.

Low and, uh, less low

"It's always darkest before the dawn."

My dad said those well-meaning, totally cliche words to me on a dark night in Murray when I was the most stressed and depressed during my unemployment. I was running out of money and in the beginning stages of looking for work. My self-esteem was shot. Every bad piece of luck felt like a huge blow. In my unhappy state of mind, nothing was going my way.

And then I hit a curb on the way to get fries at Wendy's after a Friday-night movie, and one of my tires blew. I calmly pulled into a well-lit parking lot and called my dad for advice. He found me within minutes, and he and a generous passerby put my dad's spare tire on my car (our cars are close in make and model). My tires were less than a year old! They weren't supposed to give out so quickly! I couldn't afford another new tire right then! Dad gave me a huge hug and said those kind words while I cried. I could feel his love and his helplessness; his desire to do or say anything that would give comfort. I love that man.

He went home, and I decided to continue to Wendy's. They were out of fries. I asked how long ago they'd sold out, and it had been about half an hour. I would have been in time if I hadn't blown that tire.

I had to laugh.

And you know what? Dad was right. That was the very worst; the darkest day. After that, things seemed to pick up for me. Or maybe it was my attitude.

The next morning, I auditioned for Big River at Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley. I didn't end up being cast, but I belted "I'll Fly Away" and scored a callback where I know I did well and had a good time.

Later that same morning, I headed to a price club for tires and learned that since they were still under warranty all I had to pay for was installation. A brand-new tire for $17? Yes, please!

I stopped to eat a slice of pizza, and a buff, young guy ditched his friends to chat me up for about ten minutes before giving me his phone number. Based on the conversation and some other indicators, I ended up not calling him, but it's been so long since a man made a move on his own that I took that for a sign of good things to come. It's nice to feel admired and desired. A nice change.

The day was such a stark contrast to the night before, I knew that it had to be a tender mercy from God. He'd prompted Dad to say those words, encouraging me to look for the good and hope for the best. Life seemed to get better from then on, and it continues every day. I am grateful!

The next week, Dad bought me my own spare tire. When I went to the dealership to pick it up, the cashier joked that now I have one I'll probably never need it. I told her that would be just fine with me!

New York for Carrie's birthday, part 2

Carrie invited me to join her on her first trip to New York City. I'm thrilled I said, "Yes!"
NYC trip part 1

Day 3 - Friday

Friday was Carrie's 35th birthday! 

The Statue of Liberty

I hadn't been to the Statue of Liberty since I was about 14 years old. I forgot how majestic and lovely the statue is, and how cool the view of the NYC skyline is. I walked up about 6 flights of stairs to get to her feet -- my knees will never forgive me. The good news it is wasn't as cold a day as the previous days had been. Plus, since it wasn't tourist season the lines were ridiculously short and we pretty much walked onto the ferry at every stop. Hooray!

Ellis Island was very cool. It was inspiring to be in the same room as the immigrants whose lives were changed in every way.

We had a bit of an adventure looking for someplace to eat lunch. I'd intended taking Carrie to Black Tap for burgers and some crazy milkshakes. The line was so big there were two lines. We stood in the back for about 10 minutes, and when the line hadn't moved I asked the people at the front of the second line how long they'd been waiting. They'd waited and hour and a half and moved 10 feet. We left, of course. It took half an hour to walk to Venieros and ate some dessert. It was pretty good, but I'm not going to lie: I felt like a HUGE failure that Carrie didn't get a proper lunch.

911 Memorial Museum

By the time we found the 911 Museum we only had about 45 minutes to look around. Here's a tip: You're going to want MORE than 45 minutes to look around. There were artifacts from the day, pieces of the building, and stories of survivors. It was all very respectful and hopeful and somehow not depressing. I want to go back and spend more time there.

Musical #4 - She Loves Me

The catalyst for the trip was Carrie's desire to see Zachary Levi in She Loves Me. She lucked out that the first preview happened to fall ON her birthday. The production was delightful! The cast was perfect, the set deserves a Tony on it's own, the story (basically a musical version of You've Got Mail set int he 1950s) is sweet, and the music is charming. Zachary was darling, but Laura Benanti stole the show. I could not get enough of her facial expressions and glorious voice. Throw in Jane Krakowski and Gavin Creel and I was enchanted. Just so cute. The quintessential old-school musical. 

After the show, we waited at the stage door. Carrie's wish was a photo with Zachary -- and she got it! We were at the end of the line, but he went down (with music blasting from his car) the entire line and signed everything put in front of him. Then he went back down the line, starting with "Birthday Girl" Carrie, and took photos with everyone. There were at least 100 of us. He was such a good sport. He kept thanking everyone for coming and telling us to bring our friends. Such a doll. I was disappointed Laura didn't show, but she'd been sick so I guess I can't blame her.

Then Carrie and I finally got an actual meal. Tom's Diner is famous because of Seinfeld. It wasn't the greatest food ever, but Carrie was happy with her pancakes, and it was her birthday, so I was satisfied.

The final step total for the day. Not bad!

Day 4 - Saturday

We spent Saturday hanging out with friends of Carrie's who live in New York. It was a nice, relaxing way to end the trip.

Alice's Teacup

None of her friends had been to Alice's Teacup, and I dream of the Curious French Toast, so I dragged them there first thing in the morning. Carrie bought Adrien's brunch as a thank you for letting us stay at her apartment. Not having to pay for a hotel was a HUGE relief for both of us.

Adrien, Angela, and Kyle

Play (matinee) - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

When I walked into the theatre and saw the stage for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, I thought, "I didn't know they were going to perform on the Holodeck!" I had no idea what I was in for. Wow, was this play good. The story is about an autistic teenage boy dealing with changes in his life. The brilliant stage and storytelling was used to tell the story from his point of view. I was amazed by what they could do with the stage, and with the focus and skill of the young man playing Christopher. I can't say enough nice things about it. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes good theater and is interested in something new and a little different.

We spent the afternoon with Lee, who I previously had known only by reputation. That didn't last long as Lee is an open book! We hung out at his apartment with his huge dog, Nancy, for an hour or so, and then he joined us at Arriba Arriba for dinner. Lee is gregarious and entertaining and apparently knew everybody -- totally added to the New York experience!

Musical #4 - Something Rotten!

Dinner went a little long, and I ended up being too late to be seated right away for Something Rotten! Fortunately, I was allowed to watch the first couple of numbers while standing next to the usher, and then seated in the front row of the first balcony -- Carrie and I had seriously fantastic seats. I was about 20 feet away from the stage. The show was hilarious! The basic idea is that a duo of script-writing brothers gets frustrated that Shakespeare is more successful than they, so they decide to write the first-ever musical. It made fun of musicals and Shakespeare and I was totally up for all that. The songs were entertaining, the dancing great, and the characters lovable. Having seen both, I am surprised Fun Home won the Tony because Something Rotten! hit all the sweet spots. It was the perfect show to end the trip on.

We intended to take a photo in front of the curtain, but they raised it right as the camera snapped. And then the ushers yelled at us for taking a photo of the stage. Whoops!

We stood at the stage door again for more photos and autographs. We're officially musical-theatre fangirls -- haha!

We joked that it looks like Christian Borle is about to murder me. In reality, he was the sweetest, more humble man.
Proof that I have the worst selfie skills.

I asked the girl behind me to take a photo of me and Brian D'Arcy James. He can sing to me any time. He's so talented!

After the play, we met up with one more of Carrie's friends, Whitney, at Schmackery's bakery. I'd never been before, so I got a classic chocolate chip cookie, but Carrie's Ginger Rogers was delectable, too. Next time, I'll get that. Whitney is a dresser on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and it was cool to hear her stories about the backstage life. She's living the dream!

Day 5 - Sunday

Carrie had an early flight and left before I got up, sadly. My flight wasn't until the afternoon, so I walked around Lincoln Center and Columbus Circle a little bit, drinking in my last few hours in New York.

I attended about 20 minutes worth of Sacrament meeting at the local LDS church ward. I was in my casual clothes and too embarrassed to go into the chapel, so I sat on a comfy chair in the lobby. Visitors are welcome, after all.

I wandered all around Columbus Circle trying to find Bouchon Bakery. Who knew it was in the mall? I found it eventually, and the macaroons were as good as advertised, particularly the mango. Still not my favorite cookie, but worthwhile when made correctly!

After about 10 hours on a plane (6 of which was next to a man who sniffed and coughed through the ENTIRE FLIGHT), I made it home safely and happily. My mom and dad were kind enough to pick me up from the airport and let me prattle on about my adventures. There had been many!

An eclectic collection of magnets to go along with my theatre experiences

Not a bad week for walking.
Too bad my FitBit died two days before the trip. Thank goodness for a pedometer app I downloaded to my phone.
I do like to keep track, particularly on vacation!

I feel a little badly that we never managed to visit Central Park. We were right next to it several times but we ran out of time in the end. It was cold and leafless, anyway. Better for Carrie to return at a more verdant time of year :)

I am grateful for the trip and the break from reality for a few days. Can't wait to go back!