Men, Shows & Books...

Lovelies,  I was doing a little stalking today on Ye Olde Google and found NEW PICTURES of Kevin McCollum, my future husband.  (Some of you may remember the previous post I did declaring my feelings for him...)  What can I say?!  I'm a producer groupie!  

Well, he looks just smashing in the opening night pictures for Title of Show - not to mention that the rest of the cast looks great too! (He's the one in the grey suit standing between the two women.) These were taken a few months back, but I think that Kevin looks fantastic!  

Oh, and I'm also starting a book club with my good girlfriend H.Co.  Won't that be fun?!  Our first book is Heyday: A Novel by Kurt Andersen.  I'm only on the 2nd chapter, but it's proving to be an interesting read thus far!  (I love a good historical novel, don't you?!)

So I will be doing a lot of this over the next month until our first book club meeting on October 22nd!  Hooray for reading!

Race for the Cure, Tenement Museum and Family Times ROCK!

Well, lovelies - what a GREAT weekend it was!  Mama Musical was in town this weekend to Race for the Cure.  We spent all day shopping on Saturday (I introduced mom to the wonders of Bare Minerals make up!)  AND mom bought me a new dress from Banana Republic!  Hooray!  Here's a pic of the lovely purchase:

I found out that my dress went on sale from $150 down to $99, so I went & got a price adjustment yesterday!  Love that!

So mom & I did Race for the Cure on Sunday morning - Cynthia Nixon was there and she was the Grand Marshall!  Was fun to hear "Miranda's voice" doing the countdown before the race started!  I might even try & run it next year - but I just love walking it so much!  It's for such a good cause!

Sunday afternoon we met up with my little brother (who really isn't that little - he's 24) and we all went to the Tenement Museum!  It was FANTASTIC!  We did the "Piecing it Together" tour about working in the Garment Industry in the 1800's and early 1900's.  I love that historical stuff!  (AND I asked the guide if there had ever been any ghost sightings at the Tenement house and he said they weren't allowed to disclose that information.  WHAT?!  I want some ghost stories - there must be some old spirits that haunt that place...)

This was one of the little apartments that we saw on the tour.  I think I'm going to become a member of the museum - it's only $45 and you get unlimited tours.  I love history and I love a good tour - and the membership fee goes to preserving the museum!  

If you should ever visit NYC, dear reader, make SURE that you visit this museum if the history is your thing...  It's just so interesting to see how our ancestors coped & lived when they first immigrated to the United States!  What a struggle to get to where we are today!  (It makes my struggles acting in NYC look like small cookies compared to what they had to do to get by!)

I heart Weight Watchers!

Lovelies, I love Weight Watchers - not gonna lie!  

I'm 10 pounds thinner than I was 1 month ago and I'm totally looking forward to loosing the next 12.  It's really a wonderful program and I figured that if I could loose 30 pounds in college, I can sure as hell loose 30 pounds now!  (and I'm 10 pounds closer to my goal of 130!)

Here are some of the foods (other than fruits & veggies & weight watchers bread and cheeses) that I love:

Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop:  It's 94 % Fat Free AND it's super tasty!  (and filling!)  For a little 100 calorie bag it's only 1 point!  AWESOME!!!

And then there's Sugar Free Jell-o & Fat Free Cool Whip - ZERO points!  Best of all - the Jell-O is actually really good for your nails!  

We all knew I loved Diet Coke, but I also love Crystal Light Peach Iced Tea.  It Rocks my world!

Finally, last but not least, I LOVE my Quaker Crunchy Corn Bran Cereal with 8th Continent Light Vanilla Soy Milk.  Mmmm.... All that breakfast-y goodness for only a mere 3 points!

Speak-a some ENGLISH!!!

Lovelies, I get SOOO frustrated with non-English speakers... Or poor speakers with terrible accents.

I'm currently on the phone with people from HP - they actually have some English speaking folks, but the other day I was on the phone with the Belkin people. Where was there support office located out of?

Oh that's right, India.

Helping me. Where, you might ask, was I?

In America.

Outsourcing is a frustrating bitch. I want some po-dunk-e-dunk English speaking telephone operator who GREW UP in AMERICA with NO ACCENT! I couldn't understand the Belkin guy to save my soul & asked him to transfer me to a non-accented person. The next guy was even worse! Uugh!

I actually told the Belkin guy that I was in theatre and "Look, I can do your Indian accent, See?" (which I did for the next few sentences.) Then I said "Would you mind at least pretending that you're a snotty American and TRYING to speak like us? Or British? Or Irish? Something that I can understand?"

I mean, c'mon - I don't care if the guy has to channel John Wayne to get a cowboy accent out. (As in "Well, Howdy little Lady! Let's see what all the fuss about your printer is.... I reckon it's the innards that have got you in a pinch...")

I would accommodate others if I was a telephone rep. to India & I'd try to talk like them to help out.

But I'm not. And they are.

Am I a racist? Maybe a little, but I just like it when people speak clearly & properly.

Is anyone else with me in hoping that all customer support doesn't sound like this guy?

Birthdays are fun!

Lovelies.  It's not my birthday, so don't send cards.  BUT it is T-man's birthday on the 30th of this month!  He'll be 1 year old!  

Part of my job as a personal assistant/nanny is to help plan the kiddies birthday parties.  It's a blast!  We're having T-man's in Central Park -just really low key.  But I asked his older brother Henny Penny (who is 2 1/2) whom we should invite to the party.  Henny Penny promptly responded : Curious George!  

What a fine idea, indeed...  SO, now the birthday is Curious George themed  and I'm on the Internet researching all sorts of George-related merchandise!  There's a TON of it out there!

I like these nifty gift bags myself:

I also like the pinata - it looks like George got his period.  Or shat himself.  Either or - it makes me giggle!

(Now wouldn't that be a great kids book: Curious George and the Menstrual Monster.)

You can't see the Chrysler Building from Minnesota.

Lovelies, I was having a chat with my friend Coffee Man tonight (whom wishes to be referred to as the Espresso Genius now - ah, men & their egos...) and was whining about how sad I was leaving Minnesota.  It's such a problem I have...  

I love New York, but I also love Minnesota.  I usually end up talking about Minnesota a lot of the time in NYC.  I bust out the accent to give my friends a good laugh and the occasional "Yah, you betcha" for a giggle here & there.  But seriously - I'm fiercely proud of my Minnesota roots and wear my heart on my sleeve about that issue.  

At the same time, when I'm back in MN I kinda miss being in the hustle & bustle of New York City.  I enjoy a great many things about NYC!  I love going skating at Bryant Park in the winter, I love the tall buildings and seeing Lady Liberty on a monthly basis.  I love playing "tour guide" ad it's very fun to have family and friends come out here & visit...

.... However, there's always the flip side where I miss walking around the Lakes, I miss going to my home church with my parents, I miss my cabin in the summer and I miss seeing my family on a weekly basis.  

I do want to have a career on Broadway & regional theatre.  I also want to move home and have my children (someday) in Minnesota with a husband who enjoys living there as much as I do!   (Seriously - it's a great place to raise kids!)

Garrison Keillor of "Prairie Home Companion" fame moved back from NYC to raise his daughter in Minnesota.  Can I do that too?  (He's also 65 years old and fathered his daughter at 55...  I'm on a little more of a time crunch.  My eggs have an expiration date in about 10 years...)

We shall see, my lovelies...  We shall see what the future holds for Miss Musical

What an AWESOME weekend!

Lovelies, I missed all of you this weekend.  Truly, I did.  BUT I was so BUSY in Minnesota and had a freakin' fantastic time!

Here's what my weekend was like:

THURSDAY:

- Had a car pick me up & bring me to JFK (God, I love a good car service!  I don't think I could do another train ride to JFK.  It's $32 from Actoria, but well worth every penny!)

- Got home in time to do some shopping at Southdale with Mom (Who got a new bra at Vicki's?!?  Oh, wait - I DID!  Holla!)  I'm so street, right?  (Note to self, never EVER say anything like that out loud...  Ever....)

- Ate a tasty home cooked meal & enjoyed TV time with the 'rents.

FRIDAY: (aka - 1st full day at the fair!)

- Got up at 9am to catch the bus from Southdale to the fair!  (Lovelies, believe you me - I was so excited for this fair day I was almost peeing in my pants.  Seriously.)  

- Got to the fair & promptly went to the "All you can drink for $1.00 milk booth".  

FYI: You may ask: "Miss Musical, did you keep your milk glass the whole day?!" and I may reply: "Why yes I did, bitches! - and it only cost me a buck to drink cow-udder goodness for the entire time at the fair!"

- Went on the barn tour with mom - here's some barns we toured with our cute cowboy guide: The Poultry Barn, the Livestock Barn, and my personal favorite the Swine Barn (partially because I enjoy the big boar - see above - HOLY BALLS!) I really can't help myself when I go in there - I just break into the song "Zuckermans Famous Pig" from Charlotte's Web.  You know "Oh, wow, look at him now! Zuckerman's Famous Pig!  Fine Swine, wish he was mine!"  .... Well I think I've embarrassed myself enough with that right now - or I could consult the picture of me with one of the "Oink booth" children's head bands on my adult sized head. (I only kept it on that morning)

- Saw the Church Basement Ladies preform songs from Church Basement Ladies: A second helping!  Those ladies did a GREAT job singing & dancing for Jesus.  And the were SO funny!   (this was the show that I originated in MN - here's a pic of the new gal who's playing my part now!)

- Saw Trombone Shorty (they were AWESOME - a modern Dixie land band!  Who doesn't love that!?) and the talent show (some bis-natch ripped off Kristin Chennoweth's version of "If you Hadn't, but You Did" complete with exact same choreography & everything.)  I was so mad I could spit - that's copyright violation.   I kinda want to get that girl in trouble - you know, just because stealing someone Else's choreography is wrong.  WRONG.  I don't care if she's in high school - that shit does not fly with me!

- Also my dad & I had the good fortune to see Garrison Keeler do his radio show "A Prairie Home Companion" live at the Grand Stand that night!  Was so much fun to see it done live!  (The movie was good, but Meryl Streep is no Sue Scott!)  They had advertisements by faux ketchup and duct tape - was quite funny!  Lots of political jokes & a very sweet song at the end about Mr. Keeler still has trouble saying goodbye to his father who passed away years ago.  I cried.  For real.  

SATURDAY:

- Up kinda early and Coffee Man came to pick me up for what proved to be awesome day #2 at the fair!

- When we got to the fair we went to the MN State Fair History Museum in Heritage Square.  It was GREAT! (Did you know that Daisy & Violet Hilton from the musical Side Show actually PERFORMED at the Fair?!  Awesome!)

 

- We ate wonderful sweet corn, mini-Cinnamon buns, deep fried cheese on a stick, chocolate covered bacon (this is the only real pic of me I will ever post on here, because it's too good to miss), ribs, foot-long Hot Dogs, lemonade, french fries, beer, strawberry smoothies, corn dogs, and MUCH more that I can't remember due to food coma..

.

- Saw the Talent show - no "choreography stealing little high school pom-pom girls" this night.

- Went on the Ye Old Mill (aka. Lovers lane - my grandparents went on this ride & made out back in the day)  It's pretty lame, but if you're with a sweetie it might be fun!  Coffee man & I just had fun screaming out obscene things like "Rape!" an "Touch me Where I pee!" in the dark.  God, I'm such a 13 year old boy.  (I'm chuckling right now thinking about it...)

- Saw the Orchid show at the Agriculture/Horticulture museum!  Was just amazing!  They also had a bonsai exhibit and a big honey exhibit!  I love learning about flowers & honey.  (and birds & bees, if you know what I mean... wink.. wink...)

-Rode the Sky Ride (I love this - I feel like I'm 5 years old on it!)  

-After a full day of eating & rides we went to see the movie Hamlet 2.  I thought it was funny!  (Not as good as Waiting for Guffman, but really, what is? )  I'd give it a Miss Musical 4 stars out of 5.  My favorite song was Rock Me Sexy Jesus.  Very catchy tune.

SUNDAY:

- Took my best buddy R.Go to birthday brunch at 20.21 in the Walker.  We had an awesome brunch of poached eggs, scrambled eggs, french toast with bananas foster in it, fruit smoothies, Bellini's, and MUCH more!  (and it's a pretty good deal for a nice brunch!)

Plus you get to be in an awesome restaurant with a GREAT view of downtown Minneapolis!

- Hung out with Mom.

- Took a Nap.

- Went out for drinks at Lucia wine bar with R. Go, Gen & Steph and the lovely soon to be lawyer: Holls.  Always a blast with those fabulous people!

Monday:

- Slept in.

- Visited Grandma.

- Visited Auntie.

- Napped again (siestas are such a beautiful thing - we gotta bring 'em back)

- Packed & got ready to come home to NYC.

And so I bid a fond adieu to the fair...  At least until next year...  :)