NYC Break 2: Day 3

Alrighty... Day 3 of 4. Let's begin, shall we?

Woke up all by myself this morning! Aren't you all proud of me? But this was because I was meeting Erik and Jeff at the stairs so we could go explore the South end of Manhattan. Got up, waited to use the shower, didn't get to use the shower, raced downstairs for a bagel and coffee, raced back upstairs, explained to my father what my plan for the day was, raced back downstairs, explained to my mother what my plan for the day was, and then I was late. Like, 10 minutes late. I felt horrible, but it's a good thing our hotel was only 2 blocks away from the red stairs. Raced to the stairs... and voila! We headed out on our adventure.
Our first stop was the Bodies Exhibit by the South Street Seaport. I had visited it during my first New York trip in 2009, but because I'm me, I didn't remember much, if any, of the things that I had learned. So I went back. The fact that those are real human bodies on display astounds me, and the intricate workings of our bodies are amazing. WE are amazing. Especially us ladies. WE GOT LIFE INSIDE US, BROTHAS!
Moving on... All of us had food on us to save on food costs, so we decided to head to the port to sit and have a bite. The boats there are beautiful! So beautiful, in fact, that I took out my camera to take a picture... and realized that I had left my memory card in my computer at the hotel. Way to go, Cat. So, unfortunately, no pictures today, on a very, VERY photogenic day.
After eating, we walked to the World Trade Center. The construction walls were still up, we we noticed that you could get tickets to go to the memorial site! So we walked BACK the way we had come, got tickets for 3:30, and then walked away...
To the Staten Island Ferry! For those of you who don't know what the big deal about the Staten Island Ferry is, well, it gives the best view of the Statue of Liberty from the water for free. Yes, for free! And it really does get close, close enough to get a great photo of and/or with the Lady! Unfortunately for us, it was cold and windy on the ferry, but we stuck it out for some awesome photos! Except for Jeff. He chickened out and went inside... once. But it was really nice to get off our feet and do that, especially since all of us had been walking A LOT.
After we got off the Ferry, it was time to walk back up to the Memorial site. I was surprised by all the checkpoints and security things that we had to go through, but it makes sense. But the site itself was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. They have two square fountains, or rather pools, that were sunk into the ground in the two locations where the towers were. Around the fountain pool waterfall things were the names of all those who died either accidentally or trying to help others, separated by flight number or fire squadron, or if they were just a civilian. It was a really touching sight. I was a little disappointed as to how little respect people seemed to be giving the memorials, though. People were sitting around, taking pictures left and right, and even running around. You came to see a memorial to people who died, not to play in a playground. Maybe I'm just being picky. Maybe I'm not.
I had to say goodbye to Jeff and Erik after that so I could head to Times Square to meet up with Mama, Papa... and Landon! It had been a while since I'd seen Landon (since he's living in NYC now and I didn't join the rest of the drama dept. during their Fall trip), so it was wonderful to see him. It's so fun to get together and chat with him like nothing had changed. :) I missed that boy. The four of us went to the Olive Garden to eat and there were BREAD STICKS. I LOVE BREAD STICKS!
Also, look! A picture!

After a lovely meal, it was time to go to our show for the day... "Death of a Salesman" featuring Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield. Um... holy shit, you guys. This was by far the most powerful piece of theatre I have ever seen. Seriously. Mr. Hoffman was phenomenal, and I believed every single thing that he did on stage. Andrew Garfield, too! He is a fantastic dramatic actor. I feel like it would be weird to see him perform a comedy... but I got to talk to him and get an autograph, and everything was rainbows and sunshine. The interesting thing is that they've only been open for a week prior to us seeing the show, so they were still doing notes after the performances. This meant that for autographs, we waited an hour and half and it was SO cold. The joys of previews, I guess!
But that was my glorious Monday in New York City!

NYC Break 2: Day 2

I can't believe I'm already on day 3 of my adventure... but you don't want to hear about that right now (because I just got up and what I've done so far isn't blog worthy)(hint: I took OFF my glasses... then put them on again). Now it's time to recap my yesterday!
It was a mother-daughter day! Mama and I had the day all to ourselves, leaving Papa to fend for himself in the big bad city. Word is, he went to the Staten Island Ferry, Ground Zero, and probably a couple of other places.
But enough about that lovely man. On to my day with my mama!
We started off by going to a flea market! It was called the Antiques Flea Market and Garage Sale... or something. I don't really remember. But it was HUGE. It was literally a garage, but one of those parking garages. In short, I've never seen so many vendors in one place. And it was 2 stories!
The first person I met was a man named Ziggy. He looked like your typical Hell's Angel, really butch, with a scraggly white beard, bald head, and sunglasses on inside the building. When I was going through his lot, he was selling polyester blazers with incredible patterns on them to an extremely flamboyant man. When the man wanted to pay by cheque and no one could find a pen, I stepped in to save the day! That's when conversation started. Ziggy started to spell his name for Louis (the man) and explained how difficult it is for people to spell Polish names.
"People spell anything polish wrong," he said, "For instance, say your name was Cat..."
"My name is Cat!" I responded, in shock and awe.
And that's where the friendship of the century started. But it didn't last long. He was a character, though. I couldn't stop staring at the veins in his nose... they were so prevalent! He was also name dropping left, right, and center, which was really interesting. However, uninterested by his wares (and the prices of them), I moved on.
I roamed around the stalls, going around and around, until I got to the very back of the garage. There there was a lot that was EXTREMELY laid out. This woman knew what she was doing. And looking through her clothing showed me that she knew how to shop vintage. The dresses were impeccable, the jackets were to die for, and the blouses were gorgeous. I pulled a couple of things and even got to try them on!
The first was a dress from the 70s which was honestly the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen. Warm enough to be worn in the late fall without leggings or anything, the print was your typical psychedelic 70s. Needless to say, I was in love, but I decided not to get it. What I DID get, however, was a short, party dress from the 50s. We're talking a green, subtle peacock print dress that sits just above the knee and has a off the shoulder sweetheart neckline. Photos to come, obvs.
Content with my purchase, I moved on. Suddenly, Cat spotted a wild PERIOD TAIL COAT.
CAT DROOLS
CAT MISSED
PERIOD TAIL COAT USED I'M TOO EXPENSIVE FOR YOU
IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE
CAT MOVES ON... Sadly...
But it WAS gorgeous! Grey with black accents... uuuh... but the vendor told us about a friend of hers selling just down the row that had a tail coat, too. Not grey or black, but a camel one with black velvet accents. Mama and I decided to check it out. On the way to that vendor, she got a lamp base FILLED with blue, turquoise, and green sea glass, and I saw a dress from the Victorian era. No shit. And she had multiple pieces of clothing from that era...
Finally we got to the vendor with the tail coat... and it was Ziggy! Fancy that! He was, once again, a sweetheart, and I ended up getting the jacket.
After that, my mom and I began making our way towards the subway to get to War Horse... and found a cute little Vintage store that was having a sale! We walked in, and it was just colour as far as the eye could see.

I didn't get anything because I'm cheap, but I did see this beautiful lamp before I headed out the doors, and HAD to get a picture of it.

Isn't she beautiful? Anyway, we left and hopped on the nearest subway to take us to the Lincoln Center.
Let me tell you all something. "War Horse" was the most amazing marriage of sound, lights, set, acting and puppetry I have ever seen. I was SO blown away by what I had seen. I was on the edge of my seat at every moment, cried like a baby multiple times, and was scared to death on many occasions. I have nothing but amazing things to say about this beautiful, beautiful show.
Since the show started at 3, was two hours and 45 minutes long, and our next show started at 7, mama and I booked it out of the theatre (after I used the bathroom, of course) and skedaddled downtown to the Eugene O'Neil! After a quick pizza, we were finally in the theatre with Papa, front row Mezzanine, to watch "The Book of Mormon!" It as a fun, fun show, but not the best musical I have seen. However, aside from that fact, the spectacle of it all was phenomenal. The singing was spot on, the dancing was fantastic, and the set... well... the set was just something else. But I was a little disappointed that what I saw wasn't what I was expecting. Because of its controversial subject matter and because it won the Tony for Best Musical, there has been all this hype surrounding it, and in my eyes, it did not live up to that hype. Would I see it again? Maybe. Will I listen to the soundtrack over and over and remember each and every scene that happened around those songs? Definitely.
We got out late and wandered back to our hotel, but I wasn't there long. Jeff and Erik are also spending their break in NYC, so we decided to meet up and just chat. We ended up in Erik's hotel room in the Yotel Hotel... which is basically a futuristic rave. You can see the purple neon from the front of the building reflecting on the building in front of it for a couple of blocks. And the inside is SUPER futuristic! His bed slid out with the push of a button, there was a seat with a buckle (you know, just in case) and the bathroom was made of glass! At least, the walls were. Overall, a really neat room. We played Sociables with REALLY shitty beer, and some gorgeous pictures were taken...

They stole my camera. It's their own fault.

Eventually, it was time for me to go home, but before stopping by my place. we got a quick bit to eat at a fancy McDonalds! It's so fancy, in fact, that even their ketchup packets are fancy. 

The packaging doesn't lie. It NEVER lies.

But then they dropped me off at home and I passed out, exhausted.

But that was my Day 2! Stay tuned for Day 3 (which will be documented when I have an ample amount of time. These things take a while to write.

NYC Break 2: Day 1

Well, after one day in NYC, all I can say is that I missed this place SO much, but it really feels like I never left. I kinda really love NYC.
Anyway, on to my day. We arrived in Newark around 6:30 and my mama had been holding back a surprise from me. She told me as we waited for a bus into Manhattan... it was tickets to Behind the Emerald Curtain, the backstage "tour" of Wicked! I was SO EXCITED! But we had to get into Mangattan first.
So we got into the city, checked in to our hotel (fun fact: Hotel @ Time's Square is NOT at Time's Square) and then went to get standby tickets to SNL for the show last night. Our chances of getting in were slim, but we wanted to try anyway. Then we roamed around Rockafeller Center for a bit, tried to find the Nintendo Store, and eventually made our way to the Gershwin Theatre where Behind the Emerald Curtain was.
As a huge fan of Wicked AND of the creative aspects of building a show, this was PHENOMENAL! There were original costume designs being displayed AS WELL AS a few costumes from a few pretty well known characters...

Needless to say, I was pretty excited.

Whatta derp.

We also got to go into the theatre and watch a couple of videos, but the costumes were my favourite part.

After that, we went to the Stardust Diner for lunch. If anyone doesn't know this place, it's a 50s style diner where the servers are all actors and actresses trying to make it big. To prove this to every single person eating in the restaurant, they sing! I've been every time I've gone to NYC because it's so fun, but this was the first time I was in their Jazz Club room. It was pretty sexy. I got their Loaded Sock Hop Fries because I'm a glutton (waffle fries, cheese, bacon and chili).

By the time we had finished our meal, I was tired. Like, falling asleep at the table tired. And I'm not 5, so that's a pretty big feat. So I headed back to the hotel for a nap. And I know some of you are all "But Cat! You're in NYC! Why are you napping, you derp?!!?!" 

Herp.

Well, I had been up since 3am New Brunswick time, which was 2am NYC time, so I was sleepy. But after a short nap of 20 minutes, it was off to Seminar featuring Alan Rickman and, my favourite, Hammish Linklater!

Not going to lie, I was absolutely blown away. The acting was superb in every way, allowing me and my father to step right into Kate's apartment and join the fiction writers in their quest for fiction-writing stardom. All the actors were beyond professional, but Hammish stole the show for me. From the minute the lights came on, he was his character, and we saw the growth that his character had throughout the play. Alan Rickman was pretty awesome too, I guess... No, he was awesome.

What ALSO astounded me was the set! HOLY SHIT! There is one set change in the entire play, and that's leading into the last scene. The set before that was Kate's apartment, but during this transition, the entire apartment FLEW up into the gallery and behind it was a studio apartment belonging to Alan Rickman's character, Leonard. Holy shit.

Got a couple of autographs from Hammish and Jerry O'Connell (yeah, he was in it too) and then it was SHOPPING TIME!!! I went to Sephora first, looking for the Kat Von D tattoo cover up. Found it, tried it, not very impressed. I could still see mine, which was NOT was advertised. Needless to say, I didn't get it. But I did go to Forever 21 and get a dress and a white blazer! Photos to come regarding those. I also went to the Disney store and resisted buying Princess dresses on countless occasions. (Yes, I KNOW they don't fit me, but I waaaaaant one!)

Finding a place to eat was hard. It was that time, right before a show, where most people were also on the hunt for dining, ESPECIALLY sit down dining, so... yeah. We ended up getting sushi (which I really wanted) at a neat little restaurant on W55th, between 8th and B'way, which was just down the street from my next show, Merrily We Roll Along!

This was being performed at the New York Center for the Arts. The inside of that building looked like the most gorgeous Mosque I've ever seen. But more than I was blown away by the building, I was blown away by the show.

If anyone knows me, they would know that I'm a huge Sondheim fan (along with the rest of the Musical Theatre community), so this was especially a treat. Unbeknownst to me, the guy who wrote and starred in In the Heights and the original Olive Ostrovsky from Spelling Bee were in the cast! I died! But the show was amazing, even if I was in the very top balcony. It just meant that I didn't see the entire band, who were on the stage.

The second the show ended and the applause died down, my mother RUSHED us to 30 Rock to get in line with our standby tickets for SNL. I had to pee SO badly, so I roamed up and down, up stairs and down stairs to find a washroom. TURNS OUT they were all closed. Assholes. But we didn't get in to the show, so I just went to the hotel, and it was wonderful.

Things you didn't want to know. Oh well.

So that was my first day. Needless to say, I'm ecstatic about the rest of my trip! Day 2 entails flea markets and a couple of shows I'm sure you've heard about... More on that later!

NYC, Here I Come!

The time has come, once again, for students at Mount Allison to forget their scholarly problems and do nothing but sit on their butts for an entire, guilt free week.

Yes, it's reading week.

I have a special week coming up! For the second time, I will be spending part of my break in the Big Apple! My parents decided that as a birthday present to myself and my mother (we share the same big day!) we'd take a short trip down (5 days) to see some shows. Our show schedule looks something like this...

Saturday 2pm - Seminar
Saturday 8pm - Merrily We Roll Along
Sunday 3 pm - War Horse
Sunday 7 pm - The Book of Mormon
Monday 8 pm - Death of a Salesman
Tuesday 7 pm - Godspell

Needless to say, I'm pretty excited.

Also, I'm so grateful to my parents. They have given me so many amazing opportunities to go places that I wouldn't have been able to on my own(NYC, Vancouver, Florida) and I know how lucky I am. I'm so thankful that I get to spend this break with them!

Now... to pack!