I'm delighted! I'm thrilled! I'm EXCTATIC! I'm overjoyed! I'm astonished! I'm jolly! I'm back from New York City and OF COURSE the trip was what I had hoped for and much more. Not only did this trip teach me quite a few things about what I want in life, but it also gave me some perspective and made me have A LOT of fun. Here we go! Sunday night, the night of Easter, I packed my bags and grabbed my hat and coat and jumped in my parent's mini van to head to town theatre. I arrived at the theatre at about 9:35 and put my bags under the bus and found my seat on the bus next to Kirby. I was so excited already and the trip hadn't even started. We set off for the city in our cramped charter bus at about 10 pm and the trip was long and seemed as if it would NEVER end. We traveled through many states and Kirby and I grew more and more bored. First, we tried to entertain ourselves by ripping heads of celebrities out of her magazine and pasting them on pictures of celebrities of the opposite race/sex and we sent them to the back of the bus where Kieth and Lori were sitting. I don't know if it was amusing for them to get the pictures, but it was quite amusing to make them. You see, Kirby didn't know any of the kids from broadway bound, so when she picked our seat, it was pretty far away from everyone else's, which ended up being alright, because we ahd fun on our own...plus, we actually were able to sleep. We slept during the night and in the morning, we arrived in rainy, dreary Baltimore where we stopped for Breakfast. Lori, Keith, Mrs. Wheat, Kirby, and I sat together in the little food court thing and I got some Starbucks. Then, we sat on the bus for a few more hours and finally entered the city! I was so anxious to just get out of the bus and explore the city on my own. But, we had to wait for Dedra to tell us all the "rules" of the trip first...that was torture. BUT FINALLY! we were able to get off the bus and put our bags up in Dedra's hotel room until we were able to check in in ours at 3. Due to the fact that we were all very hungry by this time, Kirby, Lori, Mrs. Wheat, Lou, Mrs. Miller, and I ate at the Blimpie across from our hotel. A woman/man(we weren't quite sure) sat behind us and Bleched over her chinese food VERY loudly...we laughed...haha...i'm still laughing... Then, the two groups separated and Mrs. Miller, Lou, Kirby, and I walked 10 blocks in the rain to Macy's. We just walked around and looked at the pretty flower show in there, but Kirby and I were both hesitant to buy anything, because we didn't want to spend a lot of money in the first few minutes we were in NYC, so we just looked around and then the four of us took the subway back to the hotel. ADVENTURE #1: I TOOK THE SUBWAY FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT DAY! YAY! It was very convenient, but also kinda gross...oh well. Then, that afternoon, after we checked in, Kirby, Elizabeth, Leighton, Keith, Kelsey, Lou, Savannah, Kirby, Catherine Easterby, and some other people and I went to the Broadway Dance Center to take a jazz class. The class was really basic, but the stretch was good and the teacher was nice and funny, so I was happy to be there. But here is the amazing thing...KIRBY AND I SAW A GIRL FROM OUR SCHOOL AT THE BDC!! Her name is Kate Harpootlian and we both saw her at different times and confirmed it was her. I thought that was crazy. She is a really good dancer...she must spend all her free time there or something. After the dance class, Keith, Leighton, Lou, Dedra, Jimmy, Kirby, and I met Lou's friend Rachel Broadwell at this French restaraunt called Pagelli. I had chicken caesar salad, which was relatively good and I talked to Rachel some. She goes to Circle in the Square Theatre School and I asked her a few questions about it, because I am interested in it as a school of study choice. Keith, ont he other hand, practically interrogated her to death, but I don't think she minded luckily. Rachel seemed really nice and her opinions were really developed, which I liked a lot. She also sounds a lot like Emily when she talks. I think it is the fact that they are both actresses who like to ARTICULATE words! haha. After that, all of us went back to the Milford Plaza Hotel and basically just got out of the rain. Kirby and I took showers while Lou caught up with Rachel and then Kirby and I decided to take an adventure and go into Stephen and Keith's room. That was interesting...to say the least! Stephen danced around and talked about Grease the whole time, which was somewhat entertaining...and Keith danced around being...well...Keith. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Savannah joined us in the room along with Lori. That made it a little more fun. Rachel talked to us a little more about how Sara Ramirez, the leading lady in Spamalot lives across the hall from her and we told her to tell Sara to come out and sighn autographs for us when we were to go and see it. She didn't end up doing it...:(. Then, we went to bed. The next day, Mrs. Miller, Lou, K, and I went ot McDonalds for breakfast and I had a really good sausage biscuit...haha. Then, we got ready for the day and the whole group headed to Chinatown. Chinatown was lots of fun. I hung out mostly with Kirby and Kelsey and Lori and Keith and we bargained for purses and I ended up getting an illegal knockoff Prada while Kirby got a Gucci and Lori got a Prada and Louis Vuitton. Baraining was a lot of fun! Adventure #2: Bargaining with the Chinese vender people. I also got a Puma watch that is pink and pretty! Then, we ate food at an Italian Restaurant in LIttle Italy. Kirby, Lori, and I all got Fettucini Alfredo and it was okay, but REALLY messy! We had it all over ourselves by the time we were done! The water at that resaraunt was exeptionally good though! Then, the it started drizzling again, so we went to a YUMMY looking pastry shop and got hot chocolate. We also saw this hooker-looking woman that we thought was a celebrity, but I ended up deciding she was just a whore that an old man wanted a picture with. After that adventure, we went to Times Square, where I showed off my tourist talents by taking lots of pictures of pretty signs...haha. hey, i figure, I am gonna move there someday, but I might as well be a tourist while I can, right? So, we went to the world's largest Toys R US and it was AWESOME! I never thought I would like a toy store so much! It was really cool and we rode on the ferris wheel in it and I bought Meagan some candy bubbles and a pez. Then we went to the overpriced MTV store and didn't buy anything. Then, we went to this really cool Sephora and I bought some nice mascara that makes my lashes look lucious! I like it a lot! Then, we went ot the Hal Leonord Music Store and waited for Keith to buy some music(everything in there was overpriced) and after that, we finally ventured back to the hotel to get ready for Spamalot. Spamalot was hilarious to say the least! David Hyde Pierce was hysterical and I love him so much now! Tim Curry was amazing and I hope I can go see him in it again. Sara Ramirez had impeccable timing and a wonderful, rich voice. I can't wait to buy the cd! I had never seen Monty Python, but now I don't think I will, because I don't think the movie could ever be as good as the musical they made of it! I mean, come on...they have a whole song about how you can't succeed on Broadway without Jews!! HAHA...oh yea, Christian Borle was also wonderful and I loved him as the gay prince, even though in real life he is Sutton Foster's bf and is definately NOT gay! Adventure #3: My first time at a Broadway Theatre Stage door! I had never done that before despite the fact that I've been to NYC before! SO, that evenings show was good, and we got cast autographs afterwards. AFter everyone had exited from the stage door, Lori, Mrs. Wheat, Kirby, and I went to the Jekyll and Hyde club at about 11:30 and Lori and I chickened out on going into the resaraunt the scary way, so we had to enter through the exit...haha..we're stupid. The food was okay, but it was fun going anyway. The next day, Wednesday, most of the crew went on a bus tour of NYC and it was based on where movies and films have been filmed. We went to a lot of cool places, like the SOup Nazi place from Seinfeld and the Cosby Show front steps and the Friends building and the bookstore from You've Got Mail and the apartment building from Rosemary's Baby. That was a really fun tour. AND WE SANG THEMESONGS! haha, that was awesome. This was another time when I felt like a very annoying, picture-taking, Hawaiian shirt wearing tourist. BUT WHAT THE HAY! After that, Kirby and Lou and I rushed to the Virginia Theatre to see *drumroll please*...LITTLE WOMEN! THE SHOW WAS INCREDIBLE. IT WAS AMAZING. I had never seen it and I had only listened to the music once before and I cried so hard during it. I had never even been a huge fan of Sutton Foster before I saw the show. But on the last note of Astonishing...I KNEW...KNEW that Sutton Foster is my biggest inspiration and I had to meet her. Kirby and I even noticed her make eye contact with me as I sat in my 7th row seat in the center on that very last note of Astonishing. But after the show, she didn't come out for autographs. Of course, Lori was DEVESATED. Kirby and I were sad, but we found ourselves and got over it. We tried to cheer Lori up on the way back to the hotel, but nothing helped. So, Hannah decided we would go back to the Virginia theatre that night after Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang that night was...hm...kinda strange actually. I really had no idea what the plot was about and I have yet to figure out why there was a random song about Brazil in the musical! Nobody in it was from Brazil! For heaven's sake! haha...anyway...so, I spaced out a lot during it. The fun parts were when the huge car flew out over the audience. The lighting design and set design were the two things that saved the show at all and they were absolutely amazing. Seems like they SHOULD be for the 20 million dollars or w/e that they spent on it, doesn't it? Adventure #4: I saw a Broadway Show that I didn't like and don't ever want to see again. (NOt necessarily a good adventure, but at least I have seen a flying car.) That night, we went back to get Sutton Foster's autograph and WE DID IT! I was so happy! I told her that she was my inspiration and she said "thanks, that means a lot." Wow, that made me happy! However, when Kirby and I asked for a picture with her, she said "sure" but THEN..SUDDENLY, a CHinese man jumps in the picture out of nowhere and screams "PICTURE!!" so he turned Sutton Foster around the other way and now there is a picture of Kirby and Me with a random Chinese man. Lord Have Mercy. haha. Well, Luckily, Mrs. Wheat did get a picture of Sutton signing our autographs. After we started walking away from the theatre, the funniest thing happened! I was so excited about my autograph, I wasn't watching where I was going and I accidentally stepped on the Subway vent in the sidewalk with my heel on! SO, naturally, my shoe got stuck. THen, being the idot I am, I put my other foot down on the grid so BOTH my shoes were stuck. I REALLY couldn't get lose. All there was left for me to do was to step out of my shoes on to the dirty, grimey sidewalk and pry my shoes up. ANd believe me..its took PRYING! haha...ADventure #?: I walked barefoot for a moment on the streets of NY...I'm such a loser! Then, we went to Planet Hollywood to meet up with the rest of the group, but they were leaving, so Mrs. Wheat took Lori, Kirby, and me to a restarunt near our hotel that was pretty yummy. They had awesome frys! The three of us really craved going on one of those carraige rides through Central Park, but Mrs. Wheat was not really up for it, so we suppressed our urges. Thursday morning, Lou, Mrs. Miller, and I changed our routine and went to Starbucks for Breakfast which was yummy. Then, the whole Broadway Bound Group went to The Apollo Theatre in Harlem, which was pretty cool. IF we wanted to, we got a chance to have our own little amateur night at the Apollo and so Kelsey and I sang a poor renition of "My Girl" but it was fun, so I don't regret it! Hopefully Dedra doesn't think that is how I really sing though! Woops! Then, we ate a pretzel for lunch which was a bit too salty for my taste and headed to the place where our Broadway workshop was held. The whole group of us took a workshop with Sally Mae Dunn from the ensemble of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and it was fun. The dance was pretty easy, but I think I had a brain fart, so I couldn't remember like any of the order of the choreography when we had to show it! OOPS! Then, Lou, Kelsey, Kirby, and I went to 5th Avenue where we went shopping at H&M and I got two skirts and a shirt for a good price! On the street, the three of us bought these HOT pink sunglasses...mine are actually hot pink and theirs are light pink...so we look like pink ladies!! I bought some presents for friends as well. We continued our journey in Saks. Adventure #5(are we on 5?): I bought something in Saks with my very own Check card! Talk about being an exciting and independant person! What did I buy, you ask? I bought a bottle of really expenisive perfume and I was so proud! It is Chanelle and I have never owned perfume before! I like it a lot. I was also quite proud to carry a Saks bag around! He he. However, this splurge also made me kinda poor. On the way back from Saks to our hotel, Kelsey, Kirby, and I were walking with our sunglasses on, linked arms and being annoying in the way tourists, when all the sudden, Cole runs out of a restaraunt that we were passing and screams me and Kirby's names. We turned around and were so shocked to see Cole standing there! What a small world! of all the odds, she happened to be in the same restaraunt we were passing by when she looked out the window! It was awesome to see her in NY and we talked to her for a little bit, but Lou and Stephen(who had joined us a little earlier) were antsy to go. SO we had to say bye to Cole, but it was so fun to see her anyway! That night we went to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels which was fantastic! The best part: JOANNA GLEASON WAS IN IT!!!! AHH! I LOVE JOANNA GLEASON MORE THAN ANYONE! I really had no idea she was in it and when I saw it in the program, I began having heart palpitations! Okay, so not really...but ALMOST! Anyway, I loved her in Into the Woods and I really wanted her autograph, but she didn't end up coming out. However, I am just glad I got to see her live on broadway. Adventure #6: I saw Joanna Gleason live on Broadway! OKay, so I think I forgot to make seeing Sutton Foster live on Broadway from teh 7th row one of my big adventures, but it should have been one. Anyway, that night, we went ot the Stardust Diner and Emily was there. She is so nice. I didn't really get to talk to her though, but maybe I will this summer or something if she visits and I am hanging arund Hannah and Cate or something..i dunno, let's hope! Anyway, so the Stardust was really yummy...I got the best oreo shake EVER IN MY LIFE...which is good, because it was worth the 6 dollars! Um, and I wanna work there, because the people are really nice and they sing and dance and I wanna do that for my waiting job! It's a really cool place. The next morning, it was time to say goodbye...and I wasn't ready. I don't think any of us were. Kelsey and Kirby and I took some last pictures before boarding the bus and headed for the long journey home. ANd here I am...after my first day back at school. I dread school tomorrow. ONly 34 more school days left til summer though! Thank the Lord! P.S. I forgot to mention going to St. Patrick's Cathedral... that was really cool. I said a prayer for the Pope the day before he died. I hope he is happy where he is now. That was a long entry. I am going to bed now! You are THE COOLEST if you read it all!!