December 23

I was lucky enough to have December 23 off work this year, so we decided to do something awesome. We decided to finally take that trip to New York that we had to cancel before. We got up in the morning, made it to Chinatown to catch the bus, and before I knew it (since I slept on the bus the whole way there), we were in New York City. We began our excellent adventure on Times Square where we dined at Olive Garden (yum yum). It was the perfect lunch since it was so cold outside. We had warm soup, breadsticks, and pasta, and we were sitting up high right by the window so we had an excellent view of the goings on outside. We reluctantly left the warm restaurant to go stand in line for discount Broadway tickets. We had done some research about the various plays since you never really know what the discount booths will be selling tickets to. I had a particular preference, but it is a popular show so we weren't holding our breaths for them to be selling tickets. Well, they were. So after standing in line in the FREEZING cold (and not just by my standards, mind you), we got those tickets. We had several hours before the show started, so we headed off for Christmas festivities.

We decided to do a walking tour of the major department stores to see their window displays and the inside of the stores.

Macy's (it really was very cold)

We saw a ton of department stores (probably 8 or 9) and I won't bore you with a million pictures.

On our walking tour, we also made a little stop at the New York Public Library, which neither of us had actually been in before. All I can say is WOW. The inside was breathtaking.

We also stopped at the famous toy store FAO Schwartz.

And, of course, we saw the tree at Rockefeller Plaza... it was huge. I don't think I have ever seen a picture that does the size justice.

This little tour of ours took several hours, so when we finished, it was about time to go see our play. For years and years it has been my dream to see this play on Broadway. We saw...

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!!

When I was young, I would borrow the CD from the library and listen to the entire musical from beginning to end and read the spoken lines and some of the stage cues found in the booklet that accompanied the CD. I got a CD with some of the more well-known songs later, which I still have and listen to. My parents saw Phantom on Broadway a few years back and I was very jealous.

Once, a friend of mine wrote on her blog about seeing Wicked. She cried because she was so blown away. When I read that, I thought that maybe she is one of those people who cries over everything. Well, I guess that was pretty rude of me. I didn't cry, but I really thought I might. When the opening song started playing, I was just overwhelmed that I was actually sitting in that theatre about to see that play. Some of you have probably seen the movie adaptation that was made of it a few years ago. I like it alright, but I was disappointed by the guy who plays the Phantom in the movie. His voice is fine, but it's just not Phantom-ish enough. So I was nervous that the Phantom in the play might be mediocre too. Plus I have listened to Michael Crawford sing the Phantom on the CD for years and years, and he is pretty much awesome. Well, the guy who played the Phantom stole the show. He was excellent. So, so excellent. Everyone was very, very good. Oh my goodness. I left that theatre floating on a cloud of awe and bliss. Guys, I loved Wicked, and it's a funner storyline and such, but the Phantom of the Opera is a Broadway classic, and I am pretty much happier that I have seen it on Broadway.

After grabbing a bite, we went to our hostel and slept (or was it all tossing and turning?) on a very uncomfortable bed, but oh well. It was right in Manhattan and it was cheap. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. We got up Christmas Eve and made our way back to Philly on the bus. That trip was so fun. Oh my goodness.