An update on the last 2 and a half weeks...

Sorry it has taken a while to update...it has been an interesting two weeks, but I haven't had a chance to blog about any of it yet. This could possibly be long, so grab some coffee and enjoy...

Our job searches are getting tiring! We each can't wait to find work, and of course it's taking longer than we want. A few days ago, I had a horrific moment while I was waiting to meet with someone from a temp agency. I went to sit down in one of the chairs in the waiting area and all the sudden I heard a tear. My pants pocket got caught on the arm rest of the chair and ripped. Luckily it was small enough to be covered by my jacket, but big enough that I was still extremely paranoid about it! One person saw it rip and just looked at me and went "Oh, man."

On September 11th, I went to see Juliana Hatfield play a free show at Virgin Records to promote her new cd. Very cool show for fans of hers! There were about 100 people there and she played a 45 minute solo acoustic set in the cafe. For those of you who have no idea who she is....she had two MTV singles in the 90's. "My Sister" and "Universal Heartbeat." She was a 120 Minutes and Alternative Nation staple. Her setlist went as follows:

Law of Nature
Shining on
Slow Motion
Stupid Thing
My Sister
I Don't Want To Be The One
On Your Mind
Bad Moon Rising
So Alone

Sunday, September 14th was Broadway on Broadway. Jenn and I have never been to one of these so we got up early, grabbed some bagels and some juice at Bagel Talk and headed off to Times Square at 10am so we could try and get a good spot. Well, they block off the entire front area for VIPs, so even though we were early, we were still far enough back that we had to watch most of the show on all the big screens in Times Square. All 24 shows on Broadway perform one song and it's a 2 hour outdoor concert sampling of the shows. Standout performances for me were XANADU "Don't Walk Away," WICKED "The Wizard and I," THE LION KING "Can You Feel The Love Tonight," and AVENUE Q "It Sucks To Be Me." We both enjoyed most of the other performances (until the very end where it got so hot that we couldn't take it anymore)....but those 4 especially were excellent.

From Broadway on Broadway

From Broadway on Broadway

After an interview I had on September 15th, I checked out a really good restaurant called Cafeteria for lunch. I had the tomato and basil soup and also the bacon and gouda mac and cheese and while a little overpriced, the food there was GREAT! Jenn and I have to go there since I know she wants to try it too. One of the best soups I've had besides the soups at The Lobster Place in Chelsea Market.

Alright, more food, shall we? Last week we both met Josh's girlfriend Erin for dinner at a place she used to work at called Etcetera Etcetera. Josh is in Arizona, and she was going to be moving out of NY a week later, so we wanted to meet her now while we were in the same city. She's great! She's an awesome girl and we wish them both lots of luck. Etcetera Etcetera is one of the best restaurants we've been to in NYC to date, so thanks Erin for bringing us there. We each had delicious ravioli and warm melting chocolate cake and it was all fantastic. For those of you that live in NY or are visiting here, HELL'S KITCHEN is a neighborhood that you must visit. Some of the best restaurants in the city are here and they are known for that. So far, every place we've been to there gets two thumbs up.

Well - we did not go to Boston. We thought about it up to a few days before, but in the end, it was going to be too expensive of a weekend. After the hotels, bus tickets, game tickets, etc, it wasn't in the cards, unfortunately. Since most UCF fans went to Boston, we ended up staying home and watching the game. I know it's easy to say after a loss like that, but boy am I glad that we didn't go to Boston! That second half was horrendous and UCF lost 34-7 in a blowout to a mediocre team. Not good. I would've liked to have seen friends that were there, but next time. We ordered barbeque from a place called Brother Jimmy's that was very good (and close to us).....Jenn wasn't a big fan of the sauce, but we both really liked the pulled pork.

On Sunday, September 21st, there were two events that I wanted to go to. The Columbus Ave Street Fair and the Broadway Flea Market in Times Square. Jenn and I walked the entire Columbus Ave street fair (67th to 86th St) and found out that we are addicted to Mozzarepas. Two patties of sweet ground corn with mozzarella cheese in the middle and grilled on a flat grill. WOW!!!! So bad for you, yet SO GOOD!

From The Pickard's in NYC

From The Pickard's in NYC

After walking 2 miles, Jenn went home and I headed to the Broadway Flea Market to check things out there. All the shows auction off tons of things and sell tons of unique merchandise, and all the money goes to fight AIDS. They raised $496,000 in one day! I bought a Broadway ornament and a Broadway mouse pad.

Throughout the week, the job search continued....and we each had some interviews, but nothing has happened yet.

We met my cousin Shadow and had dinner at Harry's Burritos. Shadow, Sky, and Jesse are all GREAT and we love spending time with them.

On Thursday night we decided to take the train to Harlem and get some SOUL FOOD! We went to a place called Amy Ruth's on 116th Street just off of Malcolm X Blvd. The cornbread was fantastic! I had fried chicken wings and waffles. The chicken was good, but not as good as the chicken I had in Memphis a few months ago at Gus's Fried Chicken and Miss Polly's. Jenn had fried pork chops, baked macaroni & cheese and green beans which she liked. Then we came home and watched David Blaine hang upside down in Central Park on tv. If we had remembered that this was happening, we would've walked the 14 blocks down to the rink and watched it live!!

Last night we went to see The Marvelous Wonderettes Off Broadway. For the full show review that I wrote, please see my blog below! Before the show, we went to an EXCELLENT place that Jenn found online called Shorty's....many of you probably know that I love cheesesteaks. And this is the 4th cheesesteak I've had in NYC and by far the best one! The cheese fries were great too and the prices were reasonable. For those taking note, add this to my favorite food places in NY! Delicious.

Tonight, UCF plays UTEP in our first conference game of the season. Usually, I'm much more pumped for the games, but after last week's effort, I am much calmer today. If it's not pouring rain, we plan to go to Phebe's to watch the game with other UCF fans. :) GO KNIGHTS!

Tomorrow morning, we are having brunch with my uncle Keith and Aunt Sugi who are in town this weekend. Looking forward to seeing the both of them, as we haven't seen them since the wedding. After brunch, we have tickets to see the closing performance of XANADU at the Helen Hayes Theatre. I've never been this sad about a show closing, but this show was truly the little show that could. People expected this to be done within a week, and it ended up lasting over a year and got a Best Musical nomination at the Tonys, along with being the best performance at the Tonys. We saw it in June, and had to see the closing show. This cast is FANTASTIC and deserves it. That's all!

From The Pickard's in NYC

- B

"The Marvelous Wonderettes" Show Review

September 26, 2008

The Wonderettes Keep The Westside Rockin'

On Friday, August 29th, New York City got a wonderful addition Off Broadway. This new addition comes in the form of a musical called "The Marvelous Wonderettes" which is now taking place 8 times a week at the Westside Theatre. Featuring songs from the 50's and 60's, this show is a blast from the past that had the audience laughing throughout and singing along with the songs in their heads.

The Westside Theatre did a great job setting the mood by playing 50's music in the lobby before the show started, and also in the theatre during intermission. As a matter of fact, many people in the audience used intermission to let out the energy they had been holding inside during the first act. It was hard not to smile when you turned around to find numerous people standing up and dancing together.

"The Marvelous Wonderettes" stars Farah Alvin (Missy), Beth Malone (Betty Jean), Bets Malone (Suzy), and Victoria Matlock (Cindy Lou) who play four high school girls who have hopes and dreams and are infatuated with the idea of falling in love. They are all excellent singers and each character has their own little quirks that keep the audience entertained. The show features many songs that you will recognize such as "Lollipop," "All I Have To Do Is Dream," "It's In His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song), and many more. Beth Malone and Bets Malone were the two standout actresses and did a fantastic job playing their characters.

The first act takes place at their prom in 1958, and the second act takes place at their 10 year high school reunion in 1968 where the Marvelous Wonderettes reunite and perform for the first time in 10 years. We see the changes they went through over that time and find out how they have changed and how they have stayed the same. As a side note, I was not aware before the performance that I would be making my Off Broadway debut tonight as Missy's love interest, Mr. Lee. I was called on stage once during each act, and yes, I was quite embarrassed! But it was hard not to enjoy all four ladies singing to me.

You will have a great time at the show and judging by the crowd's reaction tonight (the woman in front of me had already seen it six times in a month), you will want to mark this one on your list of shows to see.

The Marvelous Wonderettes
Westside Theatre
407 West 43rd St
New York, NY 10036
Tickets are available at www.telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200.

New York City Fashion Week

From Fashion Week - Spring 2009

Last weekend, on Sunday, Brian and I were going to the public library near Bryant Park in Midtown. We stumbled upon a bunch of paparazzi waiting for celebs to arrive for fashion shows and such, and decided to hang out for a bit. It was pretty interesting, depending on the status of the celeb, we'd get pushed around a little, or a lot by all the paps trying to get that shot.

Highlights:

~Getting screamed at by the cops to stay out of the street.

~Watching everyone (and Brian!) run up the sidewalk (because they thought a celeb was sneaking in/out another way)...he must have chased the paps like 5 times...it was hilarious!

~Seeing Molly Sims, Jennifer Lopez, Leighton Meester, Rosario Dawson, and Michelle Trachtenberg.


~Being glad I don't have to earn my income by chasing celebs all around town.

Enjoy!

~ J

ps...Not only are there a few pictures in the slideshow below, but I also added a BUNCH MORE pictures to the Pickard's in NYC link on the right...check them out!

An eventful last few days.

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Now that the colds and being sick are behind us, and we are able to get out again....I wanted to write about all the happenings this past week.

No we do not have jobs yet. Thanks a million to everyone who has been asking and is concerned, but we PROMISE we will let you all know when we become employed again. I'll post it on here!

Let's start with Monday. We had our first visitor over to the apartment - my cousin Sky! Sky is awesome. We all went to The City Grill on 72nd and Columbus and it was actually really good. Will definitely be back soon. Had a really nice time, and love that we get to spend time with my cousins now.

Tuesday I met an old friend and guitar player from one of my favorite pop punk bands, Dynamite Boy. I haven't seen Danny in years and it was really awesome to see him and catch up. We met for lunch at a place called Chat n Chew that rocked! It's amazing how things end up and that he moved from Austin, Texas to NY and I moved from Orlando, FL to NY. Definitely hope to hang out with him regularly as he is an awesome guy.

Wednesday, we had plans to go to the Eastville Comedy Club which is half a block from Phebe's (the bar we went to last week for the UCF/C-USA get together)...on weekdays they have half price appetizers, so we figured we'd stop in and have a few for dinner. Calimari, chicken fingers, and spinach dip. Can't go wrong with that. Then we went to Max Brenner's and shared a dessert there. Yum!!!!

Off to the Eastville Comedy Club we go. I was personally really excited because we had tickets to go see BILL BURR (Who I am a huge fan of, and have never seen live), Arj Barker and Robert Schimmel were scheduled to open the show. Schimmel was in town for a Showtime taping of his new special the next day and was scheduled to stop by and "do a run through of his set"...the cool thing is that the capacity of the club is 140 people, so it would be an awesome intimate atmosphere to see him in. So we get to the place and immediately noticed it was a little bit of an "odd" vibe...but I didn't think too much of it. We sit down and overhear that Bill Burr may not show up. So I went up to the door guy and asked him about it, and he said he wasn't sure. Grrr. About 10 minutes later, he walks up to me and tells me that Bill had a family emergency and wouldn't be doing the show, but was getting replaced by Robert Schimmel. He then gave me two "Admit 2" passes that would get us each into 2 more shows, but wouldn't give us refunds. While I was frustrated, I figured.....well, $17 each to see Robert Schimmel play a tiny club would still be fun. We then find out that Arj Barker called and wasn't doing the show. They waited until the show was almost over to announce that Robert Schimmel had a last minute scheduling conflict and would not be coming either. WHAT?!?!??!!? So we wasted 2 hours watching a bunch of local amateur crap comedy for the most part. Pete Holmes and Dante Nero were pretty decent, but that's it. By that point, I went from frustrated to pissed off. I spoke with the manager and got a refund and left unhappy. Come to find out....I emailed Bill Burr and he was in Los Angeles where he lives and never had a family emergency. It was all a lie. The comedy club was very shady and I was not happy with them at all. It just opened up a month ago and this was not a good first impression to give to a huge fan of stand up.

Thursday we woke up and went to Ess-A-Bagel before going to see The Rachael Ray Show! Ess-A-Bagel to me is the best bagel place in New York City with no comparison. Jenn still likes H&H Bagels better, but they don't have air conditioning, cream cheese, tables, or anything. Ess-A has the whole deal going on. It's an excellent place and a must stop on any visit to NYC.

A couple days ago, I got an email saying that we got tickets to see Rachael Ray (Her along with Kelly Ripa are my 2 celebrity crushes!). We waited in line for an hour and a half and then we went inside. It was an awesome experience! We've only seen one other taping in person - David Letterman....but never a daytime show. Rachael's show tapes on 44th and 3rd Ave in Midtown East. We were promised that the show would have some celebrity guests that we would be happy with and we were not let down! We actually saw 2 segments of 2 different shows, and Rachael changed her wardrobe halfway through. Both shows will be airing sometime in the next week or two and will be early episodes of Season 3 of the talk show. The first segment was Rachael making some kind of sour cream and onion dip. I couldn't focus on exactly what she was making because I (and I'm sure Jenn was too) was pretty starstuck!!! I've seen a lot of episodes of $40 a Day, so this was so cool to see her in person! Then she had DR PHIL on the show along with his wife Robin and his dog Maggie. Dr. Phil was great!! I feel like I'm watching a MAD TV skit when I hear him talk, and seeing him in person cracked me up. Jenn wasn't too big of a fan. The audience got a copy of his new book along with Rachael's new dog food, Nutrish). After the wardrobe change, the next guest was NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!!! All I gotta say is that we were 7 rows from them!! Too bad they didn't sing "Step by Step" and it was just an interview....but still classic.

We had a really good time and then stopped at Dos Camino's for some homemade guacamole and black bean dip and Jenn got a Margarita. Delicious. All in all, a fun day.

Friday's plans were to do dinner at Ruby Foo's in Times Square and then see Legally Blonde on Broadway!! Ruby Foo's has to be one of the best places to eat in Times Square. They call it Pan Asian Fusion, and the food is just really good. Those sweet and sour chicken pot stickers are addicting as an appetizer. Jenn had grouper and I had Kung Pao Chicken, and it was all EXCELLENT. After that, it was on to the Palace Theater.

We have both seen "Legally Blonde" when it aired as a special on MTV and we watched the reality show for the casting of the new Elle Woods, so we knew we would love it. The show was fantastic! We had front row mezzanine seats (which I got on TDF for only $36 each) on the right hand side. Great seats. The main two people who I was hoping were on that night were Bailey Hanks and Orfeh. Luckily they both did the show. While Bailey was very good, her age and talent really showed last night. A 20 year old carrying a show on Broadway is extremely hard. These are the most talented stage actors and actresses. Legally Blonde is a tough show to carry because she barely ever leaves the stage for the entire show and it is very high energy. During "What You Want" is when it truly hit me that Bailey still has a long way to go and is missing the "it" factor. The "it" factor can't really be defined, but you know it when you see it. In my opinion, the only person in the show who truly tore it up was the amazing Orfeh! She plays the hairdresser, Paulette, and she is sooooooo incredibly good! Seeing her sing "Ireland" live was the highlight of the show for me. Anyways, we both loved the show and recommend seeing it! The songs will be stuck in your head forever. Honestly, we can't get enough of Broadway. It is the best.

Today, I met a friend of my parents and grandparents who lives by us for brunch and Jenn stayed home because she had a bad headache. It was a nasty, rainy day and I debated going to Phebe's for the UCF/ USF watch party. Well, I went. Since it was so nasty out, a lot of people didn't make it, but there were still 20 people that showed up to cheer on the Knights. I am extremely jealous of everyone who got to be a part of that incredible atmosphere tonight. It looked like so much fun on tv and seeing the place bounce like that made me proud to be a Knight. For those who didn't see it.....we took USF to overtime and lost in overtime. They are the #17 team in the country and a really talented team, but it breaks my heart to have to watch UCF lose yet again to them. We as UCF fans cannot stand anything about that team or that school from Tampa. The players hate each other. The coaches hate each other. The fans hate each other. It was a GREAT game. Too bad it ended the wrong way.

After the game, I was waiting on the subway platform to go home when a thuggish looking guy approaches me and asks me if this train stops on 14th St. I told him yes, and we ended up talking about football for a while because he saw my UCF shirt. We waited a while for the train because on weekend nights the trains run much less. About 25 mins into the conversation he tells me he just got back from California a couple weeks ago because he was filming a show called "From G's to Gentlemen" for MTV...he said he got eliminated quickly and was out there for a week and a half...the show is actually called "From G's to Gents".....well, I came home and looked the cast up - and there he was!!!! His name on the show is "The Truth"...pretty funny stuff.

Will Jenn and I end up in Boston on the weekend of September 20th for the UCF/Boston College game? Only time will tell.....I hope so!

Well, that's it. I am finally done writing. Feel free to comment and say hi and let me know that I need to stop writing this much. Have a great rest of the weekend.

- B