I didn’t go to sleep until 2:00am last night. It wasn’t that I was laying there watching TV. Oh, no! I was busy!
After I finished decoupaging, I sat down at the computer to blog. It took me a long time, and then, when I was almost done I went to Greg Jbara’s website to download his picture (isn’t he a handsome boy?). That’s when I saw that he will be starring in BILLY ELLIOT on Broadway this fall – as Billy’s father! I had no idea! It’s so funny, because when we saw him in MONK on Friday night, Eric said, “Don’t you think Greg will go back on Broadway again?” and I said I didn’t think so, because he has two school-age sons and I thought he was now pretty settled in L.A. and seemed to be getting a lot of work. Boy, was I wrong!
I spent the next 45 minutes getting tickets. The show goes into previews in October and opens in November. We will be in NY in November – at Thanksgiving – to attend Jessica and Ken’s wedding. I got two tickets for the Monday before Thanksgiving. I figure we’ll see the show Monday night, see friends on Tuesday and probably go up to New Paltz on Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving with my sisters. Then, we’ll come back down on Friday morning and the wedding is Friday night.
We had already planned to get to New York way before Thanksgiving, because we don’t want to deal with the craziness of travel at that time. They say it is the worst time of the year to fly, so we figured we’d get there before and leave afterward. Actually, now, we think we’ll drive to Charlotte after the wedding and fly home from Charlotte. So, we’re working in a trip to NC along with the wedding!
Anyway, after I bought the tickets, I looked at the entire cast list and we actually know someone else in the show! Merle Louise, who we ALSO befriended through Dick Gallagher! What a small world! Eric and I worked for Merle for a long time in the early 90s, because he and Billy did a lot of carpentry and painting work in her apartment and I did some faux painting and organizing for her.
We also babysat for her 5 ½ foot red-tailed boa constrictor for 18 months. Those of you who remember us having a snake for a while may not have known to whom it belonged. Well, it was Merle's! She’s back on Broadway and we couldn’t be happier!
We saw her in KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN – she originated the role of Molina’s mother. She was also in the original casts of LA CAGE AUX FAUX (Mme. Dindon), COMPANY (Susan), SWEENEY TODD (the Beggar Woman), and INTO THE WOODS (multiple roles). She is one of those great actresses that you may never have heard of, but who has been working steadily in the theatre for the last 50 years! She started on Broadway in 1959 in GYPSY, eventually moving up to play Dainty June.
Anyway, I could not be more thrilled to see BILLY ELLIOT, because I loved the movie, it’s Elton John’s music, and we know two people in the cast. I want to see at least one other show when we’re there, but we’ll probably just go to TKTS!
So, by the time I was done with all that, it was after 1:00am and I watched the newest episode of PROJECT RUNWAY before going to sleep. The good news is I actually managed to sleep until 9:30am this morning! Eric and I both got up and took showers and got dressed, because we had someplace to go! We had picked up a flyer on Friday night at the STUDIO DINER about the 2nd Annual Charity Chili Cookoff to benefit the San Diego Marine Corps League’s “Injured Marine Fund.” It was being held right next door to the STUDIO DINER. We had been to a chili cookoff about 20 years ago in New Paltz and we had a great time.
This one had 31 different chefs cooking up chili, but we were disappointed to find out that not only wasn’t there any vegetarian chili, but there was only beef and pork – no chicken chili or turkey chili. When we were in New Paltz, they had chili made of everything – from deer to snake to turkey, along with vegetarian, but I think there were a lot more than 30 vendors.
At first, we were trying to eat more beans and less meat, but then we just gave up and tried each one. They give you the tiniest cups in the world and you’re eating about a tablespoon of each one. They gave us a green sheet with ten circles on it and each chef puts his booth number in one of the ten circles. You’re supposed to get to taste only 10 for $5, but we were very sneaky. We’d each go to different booths and taste each others (so we were only eating a tablespoon of each one), but we got to taste a lot more -- about 20 of the 31!
There were a few we really loved – they had a real kick to them – and others that were kind of watery, or tasted too much like ketchup! After we tasted 20 (10 each on our sheets) we filled out our ballots with our 1st, 2nd and 3rd favorites and put them in the ballot box. The winner only gets $100, but they also get bragging rights and get a great ribbon!
It was pretty hot out today and eating the spicy chili had us both sweating up a storm. We bought a bottled water, but when that was gone and we had voted for our favorites, we walked next door to the STUDIO DINER to get something more refreshing.
The place was packed. It’s definitely a gold mine! We sat at the counter and each got a chocolate egg cream (haven’t had one of those in a while and it was so sweet and cold!) and we shared a piece of hot apple pie with ice cream.
The had a classic car show outside the diner, but they were mostly 1950s custom hotrods (they looked like trucks to me). They were FORDS and CHEVYS. There was also a CORVETTE and a MUSTANG, and that’s what Eric much prefers, so we spent some time looking at them. I was SO mad at myself because, for a change, I forgot my camera!!!!!
We decided to drive down to MISSION BAY and lay out by the water under a tree for a while on a blanket. There was such a nice breeze blowing and we watched all the people out on their waverunners and small motor boats.
When we got back to the apartment we immediately got the laundry together and put two loads in and walked to KEIL’S (prounounced “Kyle’s”) with the little cart. We did a fast food shopping and were back with 15 minutes to spare before the laundry had to go in the dryer!
I put everything in the dryer for my “quick steam spin” and then Eric carried it all upstairs and we put it all on the line. I then finished my book (FINALLY!) and then took a nap. When I woke up at 6:30pm I cleaned out Conrad’s cage – finally. Eric held him on his finger the whole time I was cleaning it and vacuuming. I think he likes Eric better than me!
When that was done I started dinner. We had corn dogs and a big salad. Yummy! I bought us a nice piece of Mahi Mahi today at KEIL’S, but Eric had a hankering for corn dogs and you know if he wants a vegetarian corn dog, I’m going to make him one!
My phone hasn’t been working since Saturday afternoon. I couldn’t make or receive calls! I tried charging it and I tried calling for assistance, but AT&T support is only available during the week! Then, I emailed Jimmy and told him my phone was broken and he emailed back: “Did you try turning it off and on?” Well, I hadn’t, but I did and it was fixed. Yay, Jimmy! He’s my genius!
Eric was watching some BEATLES tribute band called RAIN on TV and I watched GHOST WHISPERER and some other shows in the bedroom. I finished up my file folder and pendaflex labels project during commercials.
Then, I watched the season finale of DESIGN STAR. Jennifer, my favorite designer, won – she’s the next DESIGN STAR and will have her own HGTV design show in the fall. The winners of season one and two – David Bromstead (COLOR SPLASH) and Kim Myles (MYLES OF STYLE) are both doing very well, so it seems like winning this contest really gets your TV design career started!
Some of the contestants were very snobby because they have a degree in design. They mentioned that if you don’t have a degree in design you’re merely a decorator, rather than a designer. I always thought of myself more as a decorator than a designer anyway, so I guess I was right!
I worked on my decoupaged vase a little more and it’s finally finished, although I’m not thrilled with the results. When you do custom work you sometimes have to add something you might not have used if you were doing it all on your own. My friend wanted some vines on the vase, which I had in my package of floral cuttings. I wasn’t sure they would work, but you do what the client wants and – as Tim Gunn on PROJECT RUNWAY always says, “Make it work!” I think the result if fine, and I just hope she’s happy!
Eric and I had a great weekend. We did a lot of fun things, but also got everything accomplished that we wanted to – including cleaning Conrad’s cage, food shopping, laundry, and my decoupage project. It’s a good feeling!