Surprise!

I am usually such a stickler for saving all things Christmas until after Thanksgiving. So when my mom asked if I'd rather have an early Christmas 'surprise' or wait until Christmas Day and unwrap something from a box, I didn't really have an answer for her. What was this surprise? And why did it have to take place before Thanksgiving? I was really in the dark about the whole thing. I had no clue what my surprise was going to be, but I guess that's the point of a surprise, right?
My mom told me what to wear, and that we were leaving about half an hour after I got home from work on Friday. We drove to Fresno and arrived at the theatre where we had seen Wicked about a year and a half ago. But there weren't any signs outside the theatre. By the time Mom gave the tickets to the guy at the door...I still had no idea what was going on. It wasn't until we walked past a Merch table selling copies of Some Lessons Learned and Let Yourself Go that I realized that we were at a KRISTIN CHENOWETH CONCERT!!! At that point I started crying a little bit. How is it possible that a) I didn't know that Cheno was performing in Fresno, and b) I would be seeing Ms. Chenoweth perform live for the second time!!
Everything about the concert was amazing. She sang a little bit of everything, a couple of her Glee songs, some country, some jazzy, vocally stuff, Popular from Wicked (in English, Japanese and German), of course she did Taylor, the Latte Boy...and then she blew the roof off the theatre with Bring Him Home from Les Miserables...and I cried for the second time that night. She encored with I Will Always Love You, and I never wanted her to stop singing!

You can't have your pie and eat it too...

I like to bake. Baking relieves my stress, and stimulates my creativity. Mostly just cookies, because they're fairly easy and the ingredients are usually just around. But lately, I really like to bake pies. I also like to eat pies...and homemade pies are the best to eat (so I've been told). However, my father has a ridiculous sweet-tooth, and now that I'm back living with my dearest, darlingest Mumsy and Popsicle it has become increasingly more difficult to keep baked goods around. About a month ago, I made a peach and blackberry pie. Y'know...just 'cause

It was not only the best and most prettiest pie I'd ever made, but it was probably one of the tastiest pies I'd ever eaten. But I only got to eat about two slices. I made this pie on a Monday afternoon; it was gone by Tuesday evening.

Last Saturday, my parents had a friend over for a BBQ...so my mom 'commissioned' a pie. I decided to make an apple pie with a layer of pecans and brown sugar under the crust.

I won't lie...it was a really yummy pie. According to dad, it was the best pie he'd ever had. Which apparently was cause for him to eat the half that was left over the next day. Just for once I want to make a delicious pie and have it last longer than a couple of days. I would like to bake a pie and get to eat a slice for dessert every night for a week without my dad devouring the pie I'd worked so hard to make.

Something to add to the list of things to do if I ever move out of my parents' house

I like to pronounce it 'thee-ay-tor'

...theatre, that is.

I went up to visit my parents this weekend, and Friday evening, my mom and I went to the William Saroyan Theatre where the national touring company of Wicked (a New? Musical) is making a brief stop. This was my second time seeing Wicked, but before I talk too much about the show I'm going to be a snob and do a little rant on theatre etiquette. My first complaint is how people were dressed...yes, it is just Fresno, but I have always upheld that, whether it is community theatre or a professional show, people should dress for theatre. I'm not expecting ball gowns and tuxedos...but please no Uggs, flip-flops, t-shirts, sweat-shirts, shorts or ripped jeans. And when they say 'turn your cell phones off' turn them OFF, not just to silent. (I can't even count how many people I saw on their phones at intermission, because your email and Facebook are too important not to be checked for the duration of a three hour show). And for goodness sake, arrive on time. The people sitting to my left didn't come until 'The Wizard and I' was almost over, and of course they caused a disruption because their seats were in the middle of the row! If I ran a theatre, any guests that aren't in their seats by curtain would have to wait in the lobby until intermission.

Okay I'm done.

Wicked was INCREDIBLE!! Anne Brummel's Elphaba was perfect! And although I wasn't sold on Natalie Daradich's G(a)linda right away, she grew on me and ended up nailing it! The thing that I think surprised me the most was how small the cast was at the curtain call. The monkeys, students, Emerald Citizens and 'Ozians'are all portrayed by the same 15 people (who must undergo some serisouly complicated costume/make-up/wig changes several times throughout the show) but you don't really realize that until they take their bows.

The cast was so talented and the sets were just incredible. I truly think I could sit through this show every night of my life and get something different out of it!

Plus, I got another mug to add to my collection!!

How I will spend my Spring Break

How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying:
Previews: February 26; Opens: March 27
Al Hirschfeld Theatre
Directed and Choreographed by Rob Asford (Tony nominated for Promises, Promises)
Starring Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter, Equus) as J. Pierpont Finch
Anything Goes:
Previews: March 10; Opens: April 7
Stephen Sondheim Theatre
Cole Porter. The End.
Starring Sutton Foster (Les Mis, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Drowsy Chaperon, Young Frankenstein, Shrek, all together awesome)as Reno Sweeny
Catch Me If You Can:
Previews: March 7; Opens: April 10
Nederlander Theatre
Music and Lyrics by Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman (The team that made Hairspray happen)
Starring: Norbert Leo Butz (Wicked) as Carl Hanratty and the man-god Aaron Tveit (Hairspray, Wicked, Next to Normal) as Frank Abagnale Jr.

I'm not going alone, so who's with me?

"Along the Way"

Yes, it is a quarter to 1. In the A M. No, I don't have tomorrow off from work. What I DO have however, (besides insomnia) is a new imaginary boyfriend.
Dear reader(s), I would like to introduce you to Aaron Tveit!!

Seriously...I can't stop watching this.
He is way too adorable. And I realize I am gushing like a 12 year old girl at a Justin Bieber concert.
It started about a year ago as a 'voice-crush'. I get these quite often, because I listen to a lot of Broadway Cast albums. I was voice-crushing hardcore listening to the Next to Normal soundtrack without ever having seen his face. That's the beauty of the voice-crush. Faces are unnecessary.
But wait...there's more!
I was watching an episode of Ugly Betty and there was this totally adorable (in a nerdy, hipster way) playwright character. I was in face-crush mode with out knowing the name of said hipster playwright. Roll credits. Seriously. That voice belongs to that face.
Voice-crush + face-crush = yes, I am that shallow.
Then I came across this video today. I am past face-crush mode. I am past voice-crush mode. Enter imaginary boyfriend mode.
And as it turns out, Aaron has a pretty impressive theatrical resume. In addition to originating the role of Gabe in Next to Normal, he as also been a dreamy Link Larkin, a super yummy Fiyero, previewed the role of Frank Abagnale Jr.* (charmingly, of course), and recently rocked out as Roger in the Hollywood Bowl adaptation of Rent. (Alliteration alert on that last one.)
That being said, can you really blame me? How many straight 27-year-olds are there on Broadway? Especially with voices and faces like that?
(I know my sister will totally criticize me for this. She's always on my case about my delusional celebrity boy-crushes. But real boys kinda suck)

*Catch Me If You Can, The Musical workshopped/previewed in Seattle summer 2009. It is currently being nipped, tucked and tweaked for a planned Broadway opening for Spring 2011. Aaron has already signed on to reprise his role. I am already looking at plane tickets to get me there.