NYC

Years ago when Glenn and I first started dating and talking marriage we used to dream about how fun it would be to go to New York together.  We both enjoy theatre and always wanted to see some broadway shows together.  Well, now we've finally done it.  And let me tell you, it was as wonderful as I imagined it would be.
The last time I was in New York City was a little over 10 years ago.  My mom let a friend and I go alone for my senior trip.  We spent a week there and saw a ton of shows.  The terrorist attacks on the city happened just 6 months earlier and the city still felt raw somehow.  Ground zero was especially affecting.  All the surrounding buildings still had most of their windows boarded up, the thousands of glass panes still shattered or blown out.  The huge pit where the twin towers once stood, a messy city block of dirt and debris.
That trip was my first big city adventure.  My first taste of big city electricity, energy, and pace.  My first time riding a subway train, seeing a city stuffed with culture with a capital C.  I loved it.  I left convinced that life was for me.  Turns out it wasn't.  I can't imagine living there now.  I watched people pushing single or double strollers around the city and it did not look like fun.  But I still love the feeling of being there.  London and Madrid left the same taste in my mouth when I was there.  Like something in me recognized the feel of the place and woke up.  I know it sounds weird but I don't know how else to explain it...and this is my journal of sorts after all, so judge if you must.
The last few months have been a little rough for me.  Moving so soon after Finn was born.  Trying to get my barrings with 2 kids at home.  Trying to make friends, make new routines, make my body do what I want it to do.  Trying to be patient, with Glenn, the boys, myself.  Lots of trying.  Not much success but lots of trying.  Glenn knew that I needed a break.  So about a month ago he came home with an itinerary for a trip.  He'd already cleared it with my mom and asked her to watch the boys and planned a big city getaway for what he proclaimed to be my mother's day, birthday, and anniversary gift.  I'm glad he just planned it and surprised me with it.  It's funny, we needed a little break but somehow planning it is hard.  Trying to figure out if there would be a better time to spend the money, get off of work, leave the kids, etc.  But, like my cousin Katelyn said recently on her blog, sometimes you just have to bit the bullet, and it's definitely a bullet I don't regret biting.  The only thing that was not ideal about the timing was that I'm still nursing Finn-o so it made for some uncomfortable days and runs back to the room to pump... but I just wasn't ready to stop yet so I suppose that was the compromise.
We stayed in a nice hotel just off Times Square so all our shows were just a quick walk away.

We hit four shows and tried to get Newsies tickets from the lottery but we didn't win.  Maybe next time.  Seeing broadway shows again made me so happy.  Seeing beautiful works of theatre that make me think and laugh and make connections to my life and the world around me makes me so happy.  Like a light inside got switched on again and I remembered that besides being a mom and wife I'm also really smart and experienced.  I'm well-trained in what I used to do and that part of me has been hibernating for a while, but it's not gone.  I miss it.  I sat through every show wishing that I had brought a notebook to write down great moments, lines, set ideas, transitions.  There were so many things I wanted to remember.
Our first show was "Once".

Oh, what a good first show it was.  11 Tony noms this year and they deserve every one.  It's based on the Indie film of the same name, but the show was far better than the movie.  The characters were more loveable and fully developed.  The story was deeper which made the songs mean much more, and their voices were perfect.  We have the movie soundtrack but I think we need the broadway cast recording too.  It was incredible.  The cast was the orchestra.  Every member of the cast played and instrument or two and they accompanied each song from chairs lining the sides of the stage.  Some songs they even played and danced at the same time.  Amazing.  How much practice would it take to do choreography on a crowded stage and not stab someone with your violin bow?  The story is about a man who's life is "stopped".  He's just stuck after a bad break up and a girl comes along and helps him get his life started again.  They're both musicians and help each other recover and move on by making music together.  Beautiful.  I can't stop thinking about it.
Our next show was "One Man, Two Guvnors", based on the 17th century Italian play, Servant of Two Masters.  It was a very entertaining comedy.  Light on story, heavy on physical comedy, improvisation, audience interaction, and just good fun.  The lead was played by James Corden and his interaction with the audience and comedic timing was perfect.  We laughed so hard.
That night we saw "Porgy and Bess" with Audra McDonald.

She was brilliant.  The acting was solid, the story heartbreaking.  I loved the songs that I recognized, but many of the songs I didn't were really hard to follow.  I don't know if it was because the melody was that strange, or because the singers had very wide vibratos and I couldn't find the melody, but either way, it made some of the music a little hard to connect to.
Our last show was "Peter and the Starcatchers".

This one might have been my favorite.  It had my mind reeling at the imagination of the world they created.  It was like a bunch of grown ups playing the most fun make-believe you've ever seen.  The kind of make-believe you wish you had the imagination and props to play when you were a kid.  They created ships in epic battles, an island teaming with pirates, birds, and savage indians, mermaids, and magic by using flashlights, bottles, wire, umbrellas, plastic sheets, ropes, gloves, toys, etc.  Every time they introduced a new element we were blown away by how fun and creative and fitting it was for the story.  The actors looked like they were having the time of their lives playing together.  It's based on a book and the story is a prequel to Peter Pan.  We learn how he learned to fly, how he met Tinkerbell, how he ended up in Neverland with the lost boys, etc.  It was simply brilliant storytelling.
When we weren't seeing shows we tried to make the most of our time in the big city and I think we did a pretty good job.  Here's our NYC check list for the trip:

• Go to church in the same building as the Manhattan temple.

•  Get sandwiches from Carnegie Deli and have a picnic in Central Park.

 Yep, they were huge.  Glenn liked them a bit more than I did.  I guess our expectations were different.

• Wait in line a very long time to get to the observation deck of the Empire State Building.  It was Memorial Day weekend after all and I think everyone wanted to see the view at the same time we did.  

•  Walk to Battery Park and wave to Lady Liberty.

• Walk for hours around SOHO and Chinatown and eat great pizza for lunch in Little Italy.
• Eat way too much for 2 meals every day.
• Sleep in a little more each morning.
• Visit the 9/11 memorial.  

It was touching.  When I heard about the plans and saw pictures I didn't think it would have the impact that it does.  They're building new skyscrapers all around where the twin towers stood.  But the footprints of the towers have been made into huge, square fountains that drop off twice.  The size of these fountains, and the buildings that used to stand there, are incredible.  It was heartbreaking to think of how huge they were and how many people were killed.  The fountains are lined with names of those who died.

They're listed under where or who they were when the attacks occurred.  The World Trade Center, Pentagon, flight numbers, the first responders next to their engine or ladder number.

 Thousands of names.  It was powerful.  It's been over 10 years since it happened and I left the memorial feeling the same fierce sense of patriotism and shock that I felt when I watched it happen across the country on TV.  I don't think I'll ever understand the kind of hatred that would cause such a tragedy.  I don't understand what would drive someone to kill thousands of people you'd never met.  I'm so glad we went.  It was hard but good to see that the people and events were being remembered and reverenced in such a beautiful way.

What a great trip.  We walked for hours every day and crawled into bed so tired at night.  We saw 4 broadway shows and so much of the island of Manhattan together.  We got lost, figured things out, had adventures.  We talked and talked and talked and remembered why we get along so well and why we fell in love to begin with.  Oh, we needed this getaway, and while I don't know if it was a convenient time, I'm sure there will never be a truly convenient time.  I'm glad we made us a priority this week.  I hope we can do it again soon because it was lovely.  Thanks honey for a fantastic trip.  And thanks Nana for taking such good care of our babies.  I don't know if we would have been able to handle leaving them if we didn't know someone was watching them who loved them as much as we do.