Dreamgirls at the Apollo

Joy and I went to see the musical Dreamgirls at the Apollo one night last week.  I was SO excited as I'd been hearing great things about the musical and I had always wanted to go see something at the Apollo.  Since we were heading to Harlem, we decided to stop at Amy Ruth's for some good soul food.  We split salmon, collard greens, grits, and a piece of Rum cake.  It was all good, but I loved the collard greens!

Dreamgirls was great.  Good costumes, great features, amazing singing, fun dancing, etc...  I really enjoyed it and am glad I finally made it up to see it.

The theatre was so pretty!

There were chandeliers lining the lobby

and this big one inside.  Loved them!

A great show!

Another night last week I decided to stop by after work to watch the lighting of the big star on 5th Avenue that is there every year for the Christmas season.  Lucy Liu was there to light it.  There were not too many people there, so I basically had a front row spot on the red carpet.  Lucy spoke briefly about Unicef, which supports the star.

These kids sang Christmas Carols - they're in a group

called B'way Kids Care.  They've all been in Broadway

shows at some time and they were excellent singers!

The pretty star!

On the way home, I passed Columbus Circle

which was also already lit for the Holidays

I also had Mindy's birthday party last week.  We went to a Mexican restaurant near her apartment - I had really good chicken!  Afterwards, we all went to her place where we had cake bites and champagne that I brought.  It was my first time to make triple chocolate cake bites (per Mindy's request) and they were amazing!!

On Saturday, I got to help pass out Thanksgiving boxes to the families of the Kids Club program I do on Saturday mornings a couple times a month.  It was a really neat experience.  It is the only time we actually go in the kids' homes.  I have never been inside government housing before and really didn't know what to expect.  I had heard horror stories about the filth some of these kids live in.  I went with another volunteer to deliver 5 boxes.  We only really got to go in 2 of the 5 homes as others weren't there and we just left the boxes.  The first home we went in was a super sweet family.  They have 3 kids who are very regular at Kids Club and they are so sweet.  Their mom was sweet, too.  They apartment was well kept and they even had nice furniture.  I was happy to see these three kids live in a home that seemed clean and loving.  The other home was of 2 boys who are semi-regular on Saturdays.  Their apartment was fine, too.  Their mom was really great to talk to.  One of the boys read us a prayer he had written and it was amazing!  It was a really fun afternoon...I love getting to know these kids!

Flea Market Finds

There is a great flea market on the weekends just a short walk from my apartment. I don't go there often enough, but went this past weekend with some very specific things in mind I wanted to try to find. I lucked out and found 2 of the things on my list! I got my first pair of cowboy boots! I have lived 14 years of my life in Texas and never owned cowboy boots, but I move to NYC for 4 years and can't live without a pair :) I also got some much needed shelves for my kitchen. I had some shelves in there from the previous tenant, but had all kinds of problems with keeping them on the walls. So, I had a bunch of stuff that's been sitting on my kitchen floor since last spring just waiting for a home. I finally found them one. So excited!

I kept pretty busy the rest of last weekend. Friday night I went to see David Crowder band with Kim. A Baylor/Texas/Christian boy band playing in NYC...of course we had to go! I'd never seen them live and was SHOCKED at Crowder's accent when he talks. I never would have expected such a thick Texas twang out of him.

Saturday morning we had our Member's Brunch for church. It was a good time hearing the future vision for our church community. Lots of changes expected, but I hope it's all good!

Saturday night, I went to Robyn's birthday party. A couple of her girlfriends threw her an Italian bash at their apartment. We had wine, cheese, Italian meats, and a delicious chocolate tort. We also had lots of fun talking and laughing together.

I've done much better with my 10k training last week and officially made it to 4-miles last Sunday. Yea! Three more weeks to get up to 6 miles - I think I can do that.

Home Tour : Living Area

Okay, when I said I would drag out the tour of my apartment, this is not at all what I meant!!  This has become ridiculous...I just can't seem to get to all the posting I'd like to do.  We're almost done with this little tour and I hope to finish by the end of Thanksgiving weekend!  Y'all hold me to it!

I love my living room.  It is so cozy and comfortable.  Of course, it's in the same room as my bedroom, but it feels separate to me. 

Here is kind of a general overview picture of my living area.  I love that there is a pretty good amount of floor space where I can spread out working on a project or do yoga or a workout DVD or something.

I am ready to part with my couch, but don't see myself buying a new one in the near future.  My good college friend, Janet, and I spent my last semester (her 2nd to last semester) day-dreaming about the furniture we would buy after we graduated.  I wanted a denim sofa and a cute oversized chair.  I got both just a few months after graduation.  I loved them!!  In Dallas, I had become kind of tired of my crazy, loud, bright chair w/ denim accents, but thought it would someday look super cute in a children's playroom.  I gave up that thought when I moved to NYC and knew I most likely wouldn't have room for it.  It was a good call to leave it behind as I wouldn't have had space for it.  I sold it in the garage sale before I moved.  After 10 and a half years of use, my couch is getting a little worn looking, but it's still quite comfortable and serves its purpose.  I bought the flowered pillow a few years ago at Ikea to spice up the couch a bit.

The mirror above my couch was an Estate Sale find in Dallas.  Love a good deal!

The lamp to the left was a CB2 find.  I really need another one in my living area as it seems a bit dark at times.  I just haven't found a lamp I really want.  I'm considering just buying the same one again.

I do really like most of my furniture, but the bench in this next picture is probably my favorite piece.  When I moved, it was the piece I knew I might not have room for, but I wasn't willing to give up.  I found it at an Estate Sale in Dallas.  It's Ralph Lauren and they wanted $400 for it.  That was probably a good deal right there, but I didn't want to spend that at the time.  The sale, however, was dropping it's prices by 50% for the last 2 hours of the sale for anything that was left.  We went back and my bench was still there.  $200 was a STEAL!  It was August when I bought it and Beth took my Grammy shopping to get the pillows for it to give me for my birthday.

The picture above my bench is one that I took in Santorini, Greece (sorry the flash created a glare).  I found the frame on ebay and absolutely love it with my picture.

There are 3 plants on the right window sill.  I bought those on December 26th one year (day after Christmas sales)!!  They're supposed to be Christmas decor, I suppose, but I like them up all year!

I bought and hung the white blinds on my windows and didn't want to have any curtains at all.  However, the left window had too large of gaps on the side of the blinds.  Since my apartment is street level, I wanted complete coverage so people walking by can't see in!

Y'all have seen this Armoire before, as I featured it in a previous post.  A sweet family in my church gave it to me soon after I moved into my apartment (they were getting a flat screen and wanted to get rid of it).  It has been great for storing my TV and other media equipment, games, CDs, DVDs, etc...

The book shelf to the right of the armoire was another family hand-me down.  I think it came from my great-uncle Pete.  My sister has a matching one and has tried to get me to give her mine so she can have the set.  While I agree that having a set would be nice, I'm not willing to give mine up so that she can be the one with the set :)

Final home tour will be of my kitchen!

Glamour Women of the Year Awards

Okay, I know I promised this blog days ago, but I wrote it and uploaded the pics on Tuesday night and then hit a wrong button and lost all the pics :(  I'm trying not to spend as much time on the computer during the week, so I'm just now getting back to re-doing it.  Sorry for the delay (it probably makes this post a bit anti-climatic at this point) but know that I still consider my evening as FABULOUS!!  Can't wait to do it again!

The makings for my night really started back in May/June around the time of the Tony Awards. My friend, Joy, was once a seat filler at the Tony's so this year I tried to research a way to get that job for myself. Well, I came across a company that coordinates seat fillers for the Tony's and other award shows. I immediately signed up with them, even though I was too late to work the Tony's. I figured, there's always next year, right? Well, a few weeks ago, the company emailed me to see if I'd be interested in being a seat filler for the Glamour Women of the Year Awards. I replied back "YES" as quickly as possible...in case it was first come, first serve. At this point I had NO idea what the GWofYA was, but I quickly googled it and realized it was definitely something I'd be interested in attending. Last week while I was in Dallas, I got the confirmation email that I'd made the cut to be a seat filler. Let's just say there was a little jumping up and down and squealing.

At this point, I only knew that Michelle Obama was one of the 2009 Women award winners. I quickly began envisioning me filling HER seat as she accepted her award. It would be me sitting next to Barrack and their girls. Can't you just see it?

After searching several Dallas stores for a copy of the December Glamour magazine issue, we gave up and decided it just wasn't released yet. Many google searches also provided no information on who the other Women winners were for 2009. I was dying to know!  As Beth dropped me off at the airport, she reminded me that airports often seem to get magazines before anyone else. She was correct...they had my issue! And, the plane ride home was so enjoyable as I realized all the amazing women I would be in a room with just one week later and as I read their stories about the amazing things they have done.

Last night was so great. I got to Carnegie Hall at 5:30 for the 7:00 show. Going to any event at Carnegie Hall has been on my ever growing list of "things to do in NYC" for about as long as I've lived here. There have not been too many events there I've been interested in and the few that I'd like to have gone to have been when I was out of town or something. I was SO excited to find out I'd finally be going there. And let me tell you, it is absolutely gorgeous. I have no pictures of the evening, as I was told no cameras would be allowed and I didn’t want to risk being sent home. (Next year I would take my camera and I would take pictures)! This year, I’ve ripped some off the internet to give you an idea of what I saw!

Gorgeous Carnegie Hall

Okay, now for the play-by-play!

From 5:30-7:00, I sat in a small room with about 50 other seat fillers. We received some instructions about what we'd be doing and how things would work. We were also pinned with a rose that signified we were seat fillers so that people would let us go about the theatre as needed.

Mostly, we just sat and waited. Just before 7:00, they began to escort us to the theatre. I was immediately seated in the very center on the 6th row, along with 2 other seat fillers. My row was filled with a black family...there were 2 women and 2 young girls to my immediate left then 2 seat fillers to my right and to the right of them was an elderly couple who were with the 4 people to my left. Seemed weird that we were seated right in the middle of this family and I was seriously dying to know who they were. There were celebrities ALL around me. We had Andie MacDowell in front of us, Maria Shriver over to the left, Steven Tyler behind us; Amy Poehler, Serena Williams, and Stella McCartney were just across the aisle on the right. It was fantastic people watching! I could tell the two people sitting immediately in front of me were important. It took me just a little research to realize the man is the Executive VP of Conde Nast. Since living in New York, I've kind of become obsessed with Conde Nast. If ever I should leave the NHL, I want a job there.

Eventually Rihanna showed up (quite late) and sat at the right end of my row by her grandpa. Yep, I was surrounded by her family. She even waved over me towards her mother, who was seated just to my left. After spending the first half of the show with Rihanna's family, a couple of her friends/workers showed up and wanted my seat. I was moved to a seat a little further back (after navigating the HUGE train on Rihanna's dress). I still had a great view of the show and I was right on the aisle so I could see any celebrities coming and going. I stayed there for the duration of the show.

Estelle opened the show and Amy Poehler got the crowd up on their feet. Then, the presentations started. Cindi Lieve, editor of Glamour, opened the show. She was an excellent speaker. She also presented the first award which went to Michelle Obama. Unfortunately, Michelle was the only winner who did not show up for the awards and accepted via video. Then, the rest of the show went something like this: 1) Presenter 2) Video montage of the winner and what she has done and 3) acceptance of the award by the winner. It was all very entertaining. Here is who I saw with a little commentary, along with a few of my favorite moments (although, there are many more favorites than what are listed here...it was all so amazing):

Matt Lauer presented to Marissa Mayer

(Executive VP at Google).

Marissa is a Corporate Powerhouse. I don’t

aspire to be like that, but am impressed by it.

Tyra Banks presented the award to Serena Williams.

Don’t listen to the tabloids. Tyra is VERY tiny.

Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison, and Barbara Starkey

presented to Stella McCartney.

Stella’s portion of the show brought lots of favorite moments, but I’ll share just one. Her presenters, the wives of her dad’s band mates, were a surprise to Stella. It was so very sweet. I could see Stella sitting just across the aisle and it was a great treat to watch her facial expressions as these 3 women presented her award. These ladies knew her mom well and have known Stella since she was a baby. You could tell there was deep love and friendship there. Stella was tearing up.

Katie Couric presented to Dr. Jane Aronson

(founder of Worldwide Orphans Foundation).
(I got to see Katie's cute daughter, Ellie, too)!

This winner received a surprise presentation as well…her two adopted sons as well as many other kids she has helped to coordinate the adoptions of came on to stage. They were SO excited to see Dr. Aronson. You could tell she has a real bond with many of them. As someone who has a heart for orphans and adoption, this was really touching to me.

Bill Clinton presented the award to Maya Angelou.

Maya is so tiny and frail. She was an excellent speaker.

I found her to embody the meaning of Glamour.

Lorne Michaels presented to Amy Poehler.

Amy was hilarious. Her video montage with clips

of her SNL cast mates honoring her was also hilarious.

Michael Douglas presented to Susan Rice.

(US Ambassador to the UN)

Another woman who wow’d me with her

determination and confidence.

Catherine Zeta Jones presented the

award to Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

These girls were adorable. Their desire

to end human trafficking is close at heart

with many in my church and a cause I’m

becoming more and more aware of myself.

Diane Von Furstenberg presented to Maria Shriver.

She looked wonderful. I admire her desire to

find a cure for Alzheimer’s for her

generation and pray that one is found before
it affects more members of my family.

Iman presented to Rihanna.

Rihanna seemed so young and vulnerable compared

to the other women winners. Even so, she did a

great job with her acceptance speech.

Other people who I saw in the audience, but were never on stage included:

Kerry Washington.

She was gorgeous. She created

a short film highlighting women

that was shown at the beginning

of the show.

Andie MacDowell and her actress daughter
Rainey Qualley. Andie was wearing way too much
make-up, which I assume was because she probably
was there as part of her Loreal gig since Loreal
sponsored the show.

Steven Tyler.

Big Lips! Crazy Jacket!

Patrick DeMarchelier.

Fashion Photographer

There were other celebs in attendance who I missed seeing, such as Anna Chlumsky, Padma Lakshmi, Katharine McPhee, Lisa Ling, and the Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Upon exiting Carnegie Hall, we received a fun Gift Bag along with all the other attendees. I love Gift Bags!

It was a great evening. I expected to have fun and see celebrities, but I didn't expect the presentations to touch me so much. I love women, but I wouldn't call myself a feminist by any means. These women were so inspiring and encouraging. Absolutely beautiful. They may not have all been beautiful physically, but their inner beauty really shone through so that they just radiated beauty. It reminded me of this verse, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." How can you deny God when you see such beauty in His creation?

Home Sweet Home

Have you ever wrestled with the concept of what “home” is? It’s something I’ve thought about often and I’ve actually written and re-written blog posts about what “home” means to me. I never posted any of those, but this week, I ran across a blog carnival based on this very thing. I realized that I’m not the only one who thinks about this and I also realized that it’s time to post this entry!

When I was little and would get sick and was feeling really bad, I would cry to my mom, “I just want to go home!” She would always reply, with a slight giggle, “Sweetie, you ARE at home!” I honestly never knew what I meant by it, but it was always what came out of my mouth when I was home sick.

I think the concept of “home” can be difficult to grasp sometimes and maybe it even has different definitions. After all these years, I think I have finally started to grasp the true meaning of “home”.

From the time I was 2.5 until I was 18, most people would have considered a split-foyer home on Kohler Circle in Columbia, Missouri my home. And for the most part, I would definitely agree. But, you also hear the saying “home is where the heart is” and my heart longed for a life in the Big-D all those years. Now, I have to be honest….looking back, I realize that at that age I thought Dallas was one big amusement park. I mean, my time spent there every Holiday season and every summer consisted of playing with my cousins and going to places with them like Six Flags, White Water, Penny Whistle Park, Ice Skating, and Chuck-E-Cheese…to name a few. But, I always knew in my heart that someday it would be “home”, just maybe not in the sense I thought of it as a child.

As I attended college in Waco, I still considered Columbia “home”. In fact, it may have been more “home” to me then than it ever was before. I longed for Columbia during those years…the familiarity and comfortableness of it. Waco never felt like “home”, although I did refer to my apartment as “home” because it was where I retreated at the end of every day. By the end of college, I had decided that I wasn’t sure that Texas was really for me, but I had gotten a great job offer in Dallas and didn’t see any sense in not taking it. That first year in Dallas, I thought a lot about moving back “home” to Columbia.

That all began to change in 2000 & 2001 and Dallas seemed to become “home”. I began to catch myself referring to Columbia as my “hometown”, rather than my “home”. It had become simply the place I grew up, rather than the place I felt was “home” in my heart.

I hate it when people make cheesy references to 9/11 (you know, like when Jessica Simpson says that’s when she decided to get back together with Nick and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him? Gag!). Anyway, I have to honestly say that it was during the week of 9/11 that I began to think that Dallas had become “home”. I remember my roommate, Deanna, breaking the news to me with tears in her eyes. Then, we spent the entire afternoon watching TV together-- most of the day we were lying on her bed, (which now seems so funny because in her room was a really old, tiny TV and in the living room was her bigger, nicer TV). But, that’s where we stayed for a good part of the day trying to understand what was happening and calling our family and friends. Later that evening, we went to a prayer service at our church. I went back to church the next night to work with the kids at Mission Friends like I did every Wednesday. On Thursday night, I was back at the church again for another prayer service for the people affected by 9/11, for our country and its leaders, etc… On Saturday, I was there again for the SatNight service and was back again on Sunday for Sunday School. I had gone to church 5 out of the 6 days since 9/11 and I was SO thankful that I had a place to go where I could pray with people and worship God for who He is and for His great plans and His perfection even in the midst of such a great tragedy. The fact that this place felt like “home” suddenly became very real to me. But it wasn’t just Dallas that was home and it wasn’t just my apartment. It was my church and it was Deanna and the rest of our amazing friends.

Now, I find myself in New York City. After all those years in Missouri longing for Dallas, I spent much of my time in Dallas wondering if I’d every buck-up and go on a long-term adventure to the big city I’d grown to love. New York has become my home in so many ways. I love my comfortable, yet itty-bitty apartment. I love my church. I love the community of Southern friends I’ve found here. I love my co-workers. It has become comfortable. It is home.

Yet, Dallas is also still home. My parent’s house is home even thought I’ve never lived there. And when people ask where I’m from, I struggle to answer…Dallas or Columbia or to tell the long version of how both have been my home.

It’s all so confusing, eh?

I gotta love this quote from “Sweet Home Alabama” about now… "I'm happy in New York, Jake. But then I come down here, and this fits, too. Since when does it have to be one or the other? You can have roots and wings" Oh, how true it is.

So, those are some very obvious ideas of what “home” has been in my life. But, there is a whole other concept of “home” that is probably my very favorite.

I attended a dinner that Jill Briscoe spoke at several years ago. At that dinner, she told her own 9/11 story. She was on a plane coming back to the U.S. from England. In the middle of the flight, the pilot announced that the borders to the U.S. had been closed and the plane would have to be re-routed. People on the plane began to worry and panic about what was going on. Sitting next to Jill was a model (she did not name the model, but something she said made me think it was probably someone famous). The model kept saying, “I just want to go HOME!” Jill turned to the model and asked, “Oh, do you have a wonderful home and family”? To which, the model replied, “Oh, no! My home is a horrible place”! Jill reminded us how on 9/11, everyone just wanted to go to the place they knew as “home”-- even if it was a place where there was anger or fighting or abuse or grief. Then Jill explained to us her belief that, “what all of us really want is to go HOME”, and she pointed heavenward as she said it.

I’m with Jill. I have a deep longing for a “home” that will never be met here on earth. I think that’s why I began to feel such a strong sense of “home” that week of 9/11...because in Dallas I had found myself in a place where I was surrounded by Christians who I was in constant fellowship with; because I spent so much time in prayer and in worship and felt the presence of God in my ordinary daily life. When we experience things like these it is the closest we can come on earth to experiencing what heaven will be like. (This also explains why I felt so far from home during my time in Waco. I was rarely going to church during that time, was not spending much time in prayer or in the Word.)

I think that God planted in each of us a deep desire to go to our heavenly home. I think that’s a desire that is with us from the time we are born and is what caused me to cry for home when I was sick as a little girl. Isn’t that where we all want to be? In a place where there is no illness, where there is only peace, where we can spend eternity rejoicing together with our closest family and friends? I know that’s where I want to be…I know that it is my Home, Sweet, Home. But, in the meantime, I will gladly settle for getting the clearest glimpses of heaven that I can and right now, for me, that’s in New York and it’s at my church and it’s serving Him and following Him to the best of my ability because that is what God has called me to and when I am in His will, I am closest to Him and when I’m closest to Him, I am closest to “home”.

Contest Reveal!

So, for the 3 of you who are dying to know, it is time to reveal where I went tonight.  Let's take a look back at the pictures....

Most of you could probably guess that I was going to a Red Carpet event

And you probably gathered that cocktail attire was in order

Maggie smartly guessed that I was going to see Sarah Palin speak.  She was not correct, but close because this SNL logo actually represented Amy Poehler, who rapped WITH Sarah P. on SNL last year.

You were right if you assumed Serena Williams would be there

But did any of you see Maria Shriver standing behind her man in this pic?  Yep, she was there, too.

Jessica, a Glamour subscriber, seems to be the only one who clued in with this most obvious of clues.

Yes, I went to the Glamour Women of the Year Awards!  But, the question that still lingers is what in the world was I going to be doing there?

Well, you see this empty seat here?

And remember these pics of someone FILLing up on gasoline and FILLing a glass of water?

Is anyone with me now??  If not, let me tell you all, I had my first gig as a Seat Filler at The Glamour Women of the Year Awards!  It was an AMAZING night and I can't wait to share more about it with you all, but I think that post is going to take a little more than I have in me tonight.  More to come tomorrow!

Guessing Game - Final Clues