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!!