Bale, Ben, and Broadway, Baby!

It's Tuesday morning, and I have nothing to do. All of the senior bankers are attending a conference in London this week, so it's a ghost town here in the office. Everyone around me is either catching up on past episodes of network TV (which I will most likely do a bit later) or chattering away about religion or men. Rest assured RELIGION won't be creeping into my daily repertoire.


So in lieu of having forced conversations or turning my computer into a network television with "limited" commercials, I thought I'd take this opportunity to write a little bit about my weekend!


Let's start at the beginning. I hear it's a "very good place to start" *If you were in my head right now, you would be hearing Julie Andrews circa The Sound Of Music*


The weekend kicked off with a little "Friday at Five" action. "Friday at Five" is something that my group does at work every now and then, where our bosses turn the big conference room on our floor into a happy hour - complete with cheap wine and cheap beer! It's good times. So I knocked down a few and then went out with one of my co-workers. We hit up CILANTRO (UWS) for the last 10 minutes of their happy hour: $4 Margaritas - and they are large, unlike a certain outdoor courtyard in Midtown that calls their tiny frozen versions a "good deal"...


After a few drinks we went to the AMC at Lincoln Center to catch "3:10 to Yuma", which was sold out. Instead of going to another theater (I blatantly refuse to go to the ones on 42nd Street) we purchased tickets to the 11:00 pm show, and went to kill the 2+ hours at Barnes and Noble.


The movie rocked. I didn't grow up on westerns, but I've kinda got a thing for cowboys. Especially when said cowboys are the likes of Ben Foster, Russell Crowe, and Christian Bale! The movie has something for everyone: violent action sequences for the straight guys, western themes for the older crowds, and hot men for the women and not-so-straight guys. I guess that just leaves out lesbians, except I'm pretty sure that even they would enjoy it regardless!


Saturday morning I ventured down to Chinatown to catch the bus to Philly, PA. First off, Chinatown is scary ya'll. It was the most uncomfortable I've been in this city to date. Between the constant barrage of little women trying to sell me stuff, the complete lack of English signs, and the disturbing absence of all things Starbucks, I was horrified. I can't even begin to describe the feeling. I would imagine it is what being lost in a foreign country is like, if that country was poor and chalk-full of desperate street vendors.


I finally boarded the bus to PA. It was surprisingly clean, quick, and only cost $10 each way! It was actually cheaper for me to get to Philly than it is to go out to the country on the weekends. The other surprising thing was how clean Philly is. I was expecting to be dropped off in the same sort of smelly urban 'hood that I left from, but arrived in a quaint area just north of what I learned is called "City Center". The day was great. I went straight to the theater where I was seeing the premiere of a new dance company (one of my college peers is the Artistic Director). After the show, my friend gave me a walking tour of the city. I saw the City Hall topped with the enormous Ben Franklin statue (pictured), the Liberty Bell, and Museum row. The architecture there is really impressive, and feels much more authentically colonial than anything here in NYC. I finally got back home at about 11:00 pm. So it was a quick day trip, but totally worth it. I highly recommend a day in Philly to anyone who has never been!


Sunday was the Broadway on Broadway concert. I overslept, so didn't get quite as good a spot as I had hoped. But I wasn't far from the stage, and all the big screens in Times Square were streaming live footage, so that was awesome. Highlights were the ever-adorable Howie Michael Smith (le sigh), Julia Murney (who sounded way better than I've heard her in a while), Adrienne Lenox (whose "Good to Mama" was more R&B than usual - and I loved it!), and the huge confetti storm at the end (while all the performers butchered a karaoke-esque version of "New York, New York" - more rehearsal next time, ok kids?!)


After the concert I spent the day doing my wash, taking a nap, and watching the Emmy Awards (PS- how hilarious was Elaine Stritch?!)


I love that Sally Field won. Brothers & Sisters was by far my favorite program last season, and I'm so excited to get it back next Sunday (or a week from Sunday as it may be...)


So anyway, that was my weekend. I got in some great film, great exploring, and great live entertainment! Have I mentioned lately how much I really like my life?