Pam’s Thoughtful Spot

The Broadway show we saw in NYC was Shrek the Musical.   I’m not a huge fan of Shrek but Sutton Foster and John Tartaglia were scheduled to be in it so I got my hands on some tickets.

The show had trouble after its Seattle previews – they changed the actor that played Donkey and re-thought the Dragon.   I didn’t expect too much from the show as I knew that the performances wouldn’t suck.

Shrek is playing at the Broadway Theater which is the best of the theaters that I’ve personally seen in NYC.  It holds a ton of people but you never felt crowded.  A big issue is that the restrooms are down a really steep set of stairs – a problem for the handicapped.  NYC isn’t terribly handicapped friendly anyway.

Our seats were odd.  I was on the aisle in the front row – literally touching the stage.  It was strange when the cast would come to the very front of the stage and sing and spit on me.  I did get a great view of the costumes and the sets – that was cool.

Overall, the show was good.  Nothing phenomenal/life changing but worth seeing and very kid friendly.  The performances,as I expected, were OUTSTANDING.  I would go back to see this cast and I’m pretty much going to be seeing anything they are in in the future.  Sutton Foster played Princess Fiona to a T – totally sweet yet asskicking princess.  Daniel Breaker was a scream as the Donkey – played it a bit Eddie Murphyish but put his own style on the character.  John Tartaglia was cute as Pinocchio but his part could have been larger.  Christopher Sieber should get at least a Tony nom for Lord Farquaad – he was fantastic.

Last but not least, Brian d’arcy James.  He was just wonderful as Shrek – you totally felt for the character.  So warm yet a little offensive :).

Go see it.  There are some parts to the show that aren’t great, but the cast is worth seeing.

(Me & Sutton Foster after the show)

(Me & Brian d’arcy James after the show – it takes two hours for him to get out of costume and come outside)

Playbill with signatures from entire main cast.  They were all so nice to take pictures & sign autographs!

Today was a completely free - no shows to go to, nowhere to be..nada.

We bought tickets to the ¨CitySights, NYC¨ hop on hop off bus tour.  This isn´t the red double decker bus, it´s the yellow jacket double decker buses.  Our tour took us through all the sights from Times Square, down to  Ground Zero, through the financial district, Greenwich Village, NoHo, SoHo, East Village, Tribeca, Chinatown, Little Italy and then back up to Times Square.

We got out at Herald Square and went to Macys.  The inside of that store is gorgeous and chock full of designer duds.  Makes our local Macys look pretty white trash.  The windows were decorated as scenes from¨Miracle on 34th St¨

Then we walked over to the Empire State Building and wandered around the lobby. Since we did Top of the Rock yesterday, we decided not to go up. Then we hopped back on our bus.

Next stop was Greenwich Village and the Arch at Washington Square. We walked down Broadway to the Arch and then over to 9^th and down to Bleeker St. Greenwich Village was awesome with a ton of cute little restaurants and parks. I am sure it costs a bundle to live there but I fell in love with it.

After that we hopped back on the bus and got off the bus at Canal Street in Chinatown. The first thing we did was get into the back of a van and buy knockoff purses. Then we wandered down Canal st and did some serious shopping. It was the most fun ever. Four blocks down Canal and you hit Mulberry Street – aka Little Italy. Italian restaurants as far as the eyes could see – OMG the food was so good. Then we got back on the bus.

We did the rest of the tour from Chinatown down to the South Sea, up to the Chrysler building and then back to Times Square.

Mom pooped out at this point, so I went for a two hour walk from 52^nd & Broadway to 41^st & Broadway and back. It was crazy crowded and so cool. When I got back to the hotel, I picked up Mom and we went to Stage Deli. I had Pastrami that melted in my mouth. Then we went to Lindys and had the best Cheesecake EVER!

Now we are back and getting ready to come home tomorrow. Im so bummed.

The high today was 29F.

The HIGH.

Plus it was incredibly windy.

We started off today with our first rude waitress experience. At a place called ¨Cosmic Diner¨. The food was good but the server got in a bit of good eyerolling when we couldn´t holler out our order on command.

After our scary breakfast, we mosied down a few blocks to Rockefeller Center and went up to the ¨Top of the Rock¨ - Basically the 66th, 69th and 70th floors. Other than being freezing, it was totally worth the $20. It was so clear we could see all the bridges and the Statue of Liberty.

We then went through the maze that was Rockefeller Center and made our way to Saks 5th Ave. We waited in the line and saw the Holiday windows (so cute).

After Saks, we got swept up in the shoulder to shoulder crowd and made our way back across the street to the Rock Center skating rink & tree. A nightmare of humanity.

As we made our way from the tree to Radio City Music Hall, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by Santa Clauses. Apparently it is the Santa Convention and there were 2000 Santas roaming the city.

We got to Radio City Music Hall about 30 minutes before the ¨Christmas Spectacular¨ and found out that the LINE to get in the hall started 3 to 5 blocks away.   Well I pulled the ¨my mom is handicapped¨ line and we passed go, collected $200 and went to the front of the line.  The Rockettes show is something that you have to do once.  My mom loved it and everyone we met loved it.  Me, of course I was bored.  Don´t get me started on how much I detest the Radio City Music Hall.

After the show we went back to the hotel, changed and went back out into the wild.  After being thwarted by long lines at two restaurants we ended up at a pizza joint next to the Ed Sullivan Theater.  We had some real NY Pizza.  So Delish!

Then we hailed a cab (standing out in the street and everything) and went up to the Lincoln Center to see the NY Ballet in ¨The Nutcracker¨.  It was so wonderful and the New York State Theater is absolutely beautiful.

After the show, we took a cab back to the hotel and the walked a few blocks to M&M World.

It was 25F….

I heart New York.

Today was much better than yesterday.  When I woke up, there was NO RAIN!  It was still plenty wet on the ground but the sky was blue and the day was gorgeous.

After a $25 breakfast (each) at Lindys, we hopped in a cab and went to the Met.  We saw the bathroom in the egyptian exhibit, the Christmas tree with the 17th century angel ornaments, the impressionist paintings and the gift shop.

After experiencing the warm comfort of the Met,  we went outside and were met with a wind chill factor that froze our ears off.   Nevertheless, we trudged along and walked from 85th down to 60th in Central Park - visiting the Alice in Wonderland statue, the Mall and the literary walk.   That stroll dumped us off right in front of the Apple store on 5th avenue.  So of course, we had to walk down 5th, and it got cold so we had to duck into Tiffany & Co, where we had to browse and now I have a ring.

We then walked down 5th a bit more, grabbed some hot dogs and chestnuts off a cart (yes, we paid for them) and then hopped onto a rickshaw type cart pullled by a strapping guy on a bike.  Seriously thought we were going to die.

After resting for a bit, we got dressed for the show and went to the restaurant Maria Pia on 51st and 8th.  The food was good but the couple next to us that were fighting over a salad were better entertainment.  They ended up being really nice and told us about places to shop.

Then we went to see Shrek the Musical.  Some of the performances were outstanding but the show was about a 6-7 out of 10.  We then stood outside and got the cast members autographs.

And now we are in the hotel, defrosting.  So tired.

*sigh*

Well, apparently I am not quite as finished with this project as I thought I was.  I was at work tonight until 9pm with another analyst fixing things.  Little stupid things.

Which by fixing said little stupid things, brought about more little stupid things that need fixing.

So at 9, we decided that we were exhausted and starving and called it quits before we started making bigger mistakes.  Back to it in the morning although I’ll be working from home.

Word to the wise:  if you are going to release a system that involves no less than 60 import files, please make sure that you plan more than ONE DAY to test the data.

edit to add: apparently going home was a good thing because I accidentally posted this as a page in my site instead of just a post in my blog.   going to bed.  now.

There has been a reason that I’ve neglected my self-imposed blogging duties.   I’ve been heads down for the last 16 days straight working on a software implementation.   Today is the go-live date and…

It’s actually done on time!!!

I’m just a consultant and was supposed to be “helping” on this project…well you know what that means…I did almost all the work. 

Work I did - to the point of a small nervous breakdown in the restroom at work yesterday and I’m seriously exhausted.   Not to toot my horn too loudly but to say I pulled off a small miracle in software implementation is not exaggerating.

Now I’m on a new project but I just get to manage other people working this time.  Much easier. 

So, I’m back to blogging duties.

After I sleep for a few hours.