NYC

It has been nearly a year since we arrived in New Jersey. Some days it feels like it- like when we went into Stop & Shop this morning and knew four families that were there- and some days it feels like we just arrived- like when I have to use Map Quest to get to a new store...

Before our moved, I promised myself that I would take advantage of our proximity to New York. Without traffic, we are truly 25 minutes away which I still find really cool. I am proud to say that we really have gone into the city a bunch- we could go more but we have done really well.

Last night, Rob and I went in for dinner and show- how cosmopolitan of us! We had dinner at a yummy Thai restaurant (recommended by our friend Vanessa and saw Phantom. I have been going to the theatre since I was really little. Mom is a big fan of theatre, musicals in particular and it certainly rubbed off... I still remember going to a local college to see almost all of their performances before I was really old enough to go the shows at the Providence Performing Arts Center.

There is a reason that Broadway is Broadway. As I sat in the theatre last night, I just couldn't take my eyes off the stage. The performance was truly remarkable.

The other piece of seeing a play on Broadway, of course, is the whole New York experience. Our trip in was much less eventful than my last trip in to Broadway , thank goodness. I was worried when I realized we had to take Rob's car which meant that I couldn't drive. We still had the roof rack on my car and we learned on our first rookey trip into the city last summer that cars with roof racks are not welcomed in city garages.

While we made it with limited car sickness, we were still late for our dinner reservation. We were not late because of car traffic but because of people traffic... you couldn't turn because pedestrians blocked your path for the duration of lights. And August is supposed to be the quietest time to go into the city...

As we walked from the car to dinner to the theatre, there were countless sights to see. A hot dog vendor, praying to Mecca on a small prayer rug placed beside his hot dog cart, people stepping over him...people taking pictures with their cell phones of M & M World- a store devoted to M & Ms., babies sleeping amidst the din.

Our seats at the theatre were high up but fortunately, the theatre was small enough that it didn't matter. It did matter though to the funny woman from Texas who sat behind us. She couldn't stop talking about how the man had said, "You are getting the best seats in the house- the second mezzanine." She must have a had a very different definition of mezzanine because sure enough we were sitting in the second mezzanine- they just weren't the best seats in the house. Fortunately, she seemed to have recovered from her disappointment by the end of the show- she high fived each of her adult sons as the curtain came down.

While I don't typically high five strangers at a Broadway show, I have to admit to being tempted. It was that kind of show and that kind of feeling...

High five to Phantom, high five to New York and high five to us for keeping our promise to take advantage of this wonderful city...