The Jersey Shore

So it's been a super busy week!!  Since you last heard from us we have been to the shore, gone on some auditions, and caught up with new and old friends.  We'll start with our day trip to the Jersey Shore!  No we didn't see Snooki or The Situation.  We were in Point Pleasant, unlike Sea Side where Snooki chills.    We hung out at Jon's friend's house and then spent some time on the beach.  It was so relaxing and fun!  The waves were huge, the sand had tons of shells and the water was chilly.  We walked along the shore and the boardwalk.  I think we both have decided to buy a beach house when we become rich lol!!!!  We had dinner with our friends and then headed back to the city.  It was seriously one of the most relaxing days ever!!  The rest of the weekend entailed a bit of work, church and the Emmy's.  Nothing too big!  This week we've been going out for auditions, having meetings, and crashing at night.  Nothing too big!  I'm sure we'll have more to report after our weekend.  We seem to have lots of things to do!  Check out our new video below...it's our own Jersey Shore episode!  

A little bit of this... And a little bit of that

Hey All!!

This is a video blog that will recap the week.  Enjoy!

PS.  Keep watching until the very end.  We had some funny bloopers...

The Louisville "Connection"

t’s been a whole week since you last heard from us, which means we have a lot to tell you!  First off we need to thank the lovely Carolyn Brooks for sending Jill a book entitled “The Cheap Bastards Guide to New York City.” It’s amazing!!!  It has free/cheap things to do around the city.   It’s given us lots of ideas for things to do for low to no cost.  Our first adventure with “the book” was on Thursday.  We ended up at the Astor Wine Shop for a free wine tasting.  Nice store and delicious wine for free!!!!!  Thanks so much Carolyn, we both really appreciate the gift! 

Labor Day weekend was a whirlwind of craziness to say the least.  It started Friday night with a little pizza and wine.  We decided to stay in, act silly, and make funny videos.  You can watch some of those edited below. Saturday Jill got up early to get Rush tickets for Catch Me If You Can.  We were lucky enough to get cheap tickets and see this amazing show before it closed on Sunday.  It was such a special night.  Not only did we get to witness brilliant performances by Norbert Leo Butz and Aaron Tveit, but there was a special appearance by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (writers of Catch Me and Hairspray).  Needless to say we were extremely excited!  Afterwards we met up with some new and old friends at The Frying Pan.  It was a cool dock/boat on the Hudson River where some good bar food and libations are served.  We also hit up Surf Bar for a drink or two.  As if that wasn’t enough for the weekend, we decided on Sunday to have some friends over for a small cookout.   We spent the evening grilling out, playing cards, hearing hilarious PATH train stories from Ali, and hearing what people miss most about the ville.  The weekend ended with us crashing most of the day on Monday.

So all in all the weekend was a success.  We made new friends, caught up with old ones, discovered new places and are exhausted today to tell the story!  Ahhh the life of New Yorkers!   

Showtunes, Hurricanes, and Cakes

So, since you last heard from us we have seen Broadway stars, made it through a hurricane, and even walked into Carlo's Bakery from TLC's the Cake Boss!  Let's start with Friday before our little friend "Irene."  Friday we were supposed to go out for our friend's birthday, but because of evacuations in certain parts of the city for the hurricane, our friends rented a car and headed to Jersey.  So we had a brilliant idea...let's go see a show!!!  We headed to Midtown, ate a little meal at Blockheads (famous for their cheap Margarita's), and then put our names into the lottery for $25 tickets to see Rent.  We really were not thinking we would get pulled at all, but Jillian Norris Sullivan was the third name drawn.  If you talk to us, ask us about the full name...it's a humorous story.  Rent was amazing!  It is a little different from the original since it is the "revival."  Costumes were similar but different, some better and some not.  The talent though was truly impressive. We were particularly impressed with Maureen, Collins, Roger, and the woman who sang the lead on Seasons of Love.  She was AMAZING!!!  Sitting in the front row let us see all the emotion these performers were giving to their characters.  As Chad said after the show, "this is why we do this."  Needless to say we left the city Friday night on a musical theater high, ready to face Hurricane Irene for the weekend.

We spent the weekend at home in Jersey City with our roomies and some of Jon Brown's friends.  Jon had already scheduled a little welcoming cook out, so it went on as planned.  Not everyone could come, but those who did enjoyed hamburgers, chicken kebabs, corn on the cob, and chocolate fondue!  Hurricane Irene passed through our area not doing too much damage.  A little flooding in the basement, a slight leak in the roof, and some branches down outside.  We only lost power for a second throughout the night so overall, we had it pretty easy compared to other parts of the state.

Once Monday hit, we were ready to get out of the house.  Jon Brown took us to a little dive that reminded us of Lynn's Paradise Cafe called Cowgirl Hall of Fame.  It was a quirky little place that was quite tasty.  Afterwards, our friend Blake made arrangements for all of us to join him at Broadway Rhythm and Booze at Tillman's.  OMG!!!!!!  This is an event his friends have once a month where Broadway stars come and sing live, even if they aren't scheduled to sing in the show!  Last night we saw Doug Lyons, Rebecca Naomi Jones, and Darren Lorenzo.  We also saw some others from Sister Act and the tour of Dream Girls who improvised with Darren.  It was seriously amazing!  We couldn't stop smiling!  We were also introduced to Musical Monday's at Splash.  It's like Showtune Night at Q times 10.  The bar was packed and everyone was singing along.  We even saw a little live performance by Ellen Marie Marsh who is a swing in Priscilla Queen of the Desert.  So all is all, we're staying busy and being shown around the city by friends frequently.  Sorry for such a long post, but we wanted to share with you part of the "biggest adventure of our lives."  Nighty night!!

Vinyl and Vernon

Hey friends!!  So life in Jersey has been pretty low key.  We've been exploring part-time job options online and then cooking dinner (yes moms...we are eating at home...aren't you proud?).  Yesterday however, we went into the city to visit our friend Carly Vernon.  For those of you who saw Hairspray at your local Derby Dinner Playhouse or Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre, she played Tracy's bestie, Penny Pingleton!  Carly took us to one of our her favorite hot spots for lunch, Vinyl.  It's a cute little place decorated with beach balls, CD disks, and colored glass.  Not only was it super cute, but also pretty tasty too!  We have a little video to give you a tour of the place with an appearance from Carly of course.  Today we are chilling out, watching the news on Hurricane Irene.  We are are supposed to have lots of rain Saturday and Sunday when it reaches the tri-state area.  So in our first week here we will have been through an earthquake and hurricane.  What a way to be welcomed to the big apple!!!  

The Jersey House

So we aren't "The Situation" or "Snookie" but we do live in Jersey, now.  We have been asked about the house and what it looks like so we wanted to post a couple of pics.  Jon Brown has been gracious enough for us to stay with him at the Bergen House so we cannot take credit for the decor. :)

Starting @ Ground Zero

Hello Again!

So yesterday, as we have talked about already, we went to explore the city for the day.  We started our day at the new World Trade Center building (which is only about half way built at this point).  When we take the path train into the city from Jersey, we come out right at the World Trade Center.  We had a look at the new building being constructed and then walked across the street to St. Paul's.  That is a chapel where 9/11 rescue workers received round the clock care.  Inside, they have memorials set up with flags, banners, photos, etc.  It was surreal to walk in there and see/read these "exhibits" they have set up.  Emotions were definitely flying high in there yesterday.  We put together a short video of the sights from the morning.  Enjoy!