A Week Behind

Hello All!

Last weekend Ellena and I went to visit some of our friends in Philly. (In case I forgot to mention her, I went to school with Ellena. She was offered an apartment for a month for free in NYC so she decided to take it. And who wouldn't?!?) We left on a 2:30 bus. Two other girls we went to school with were/are in Philly. Korbi is in an internship there over the summer and Caitie was visiting her for the week. We met-up with Caitie while Korbi was working. We grabbed some food and then went to a bar where Ellena and Caitie got champagne and Pop Rocks. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen. The Pop Rocks would pop out and hit Ellena in the eye. We also played some Jenga.
We met Korbi back at the apartment where caught up a bit. It was good to hang with old friends from home. It felt like a just another evening back in AZ. Soon after we headed out on the town. We hit up a few clubs and bars and finally ended up back at home around 3am.

Since we were out so late, we slept till noon. Once up, we were starving. We grabbed a cab and went to the Italian district for some authentic Italian food. It was amazing! And, it was actually a place where the real Rocky used to eat. They had stuff all over the walls about him. We walked around for a bit, then decided to grab some coffee and french toast at a very cute local place. It was soooooooo good.
By this time, most of the day was gone. We hopped in another cab and headed back by the apartment were we met up with my friend Genevieve!

(Gen had business in Delaware and New Jersey so she decided to pick me and Ellena up and drive us back to NY and hang out with me before she needed to go to NJ)
We all went and got some cheese steaks at one of the most famous places, Jim's off of South street. We waited for 30mins then took our food on the road. Gen is now in love with cheese steaks and cheese whiz.

We went to NJ first and dropped Gen's rental car off at the hotel she was staying at on Sunday night and took the train into the city. Gen stayed with me at my place. It was fun showing her where I live and all the fun features of my place. Good to have someone new to share it with.

Next morning we went to a church that I am starting to attend and then we met her friend Sharon for brunch. We went to this very popular place off of Amsterdam. The food was amazing, but we had to wait a little while to get seated. We popped into Sharon's place then headed to Ground Zero so Gen could see it before she left. We went to St. Paul's Chapel and the walkway were you can see the construction. It was sad to finally take Gen to the train station to head back to NJ, but we had such a great time together.

My weekend, however, did not end there. Monday night, Gabe was back in town. Ellena and I went over to his brother's condo for dinner. Gabe brother is in construction is currently working on the new bulidings for Columbia University and Ground Zero. His company is paying for him and his wife to live in a condo on the 34th floor of a high rise. Great view of the Hudson and sunset from up there. For dinner, Gabe handmade lasagna. It was really really good.
Afterward, we all went to a famous jazz club called Bird Land. Many well known names have played there, like Dizzy, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Lester Young to name a few. On Monday nights they have what they call, Jim Caruso's Cast Party. This is when current or past or future Broadway singers come and sing. All you need is sheet music to give to the musicians (or just a napkin with notes on it) and you can get up on stage and sing. If you are currently on Broadway or off Broadway, this is great time to plug in your play and network with other professionals. There was incredible talent there on Monday night. One of my favorites was a man who is currently playing the chef on the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid. He was also in The Producers. He was funny.

It was such a fun night/weekend. :D

There is a slideshow of pictures from the weekend below, but you can also go here: http://www.castpartynyc.com/ and click on Pix to see more photos of Monday night's Cast Party (7/28/2008)