New York City!
Center of the Universe...
This past weekend David and I, along with my whole immediately family and loads of Aunts and Uncles, traveled to New York to see my sister perform in Stomp! We left super early on Friday morning and meet up with my family at our hotel in the financial district. The above pic is a view from our hotel room.
The past few weeks in NC have been pretty mild so we weren't exactly prepared for the cold weather. Well, we look prepared, but still froze our butts off! Here is the gang before we head out into the city to explore.
Ahhh the subway. Such a pleasant way to travel. Our first day in New York we had no trouble navigating our way through the subways. The second day however, was another story. On the weekends they just close down certain lines and stops. What is up with that?
Friday morning we met up with Michelle at Cafe Colonial a wonderful Brazilian Restaurant. This was by far my favorite meal of the whole weekend. I got the french toast, but they also had some delicious cheese bread, and I got to taste my brother's cowboy rice and beans. So very yummy.
Next we explored the city a bit. Here we are at Rockefeller Center. I have always wanted to go at Christmas time to see the big Christmas tree all decorated and lit up. But it was kind of anti climatic. The tree ends up looking super small compared to all the monstrous buildings surrounding it.
Next stop, Grand Central Station!
The site of many famous movies scenes, including my most recent favorite from the movie, I am Legend.
MoMA.
One of my favorite places to visit in New York City is the Museum of Modern Art. Above is this cool ladder made by an artist out of wood. The ladder is 3 stories long and continues to get smaller and smaller all the way to the top. Very cool looking.
It's time for an art history lesson!It is so hard to see everything in the museum but here are some of our favorites.
Above is David's favorite work of art in MoMA...anyone know who painted this master piece?
And this is my favorite!
Can anyone guess the name of the painting or who painted it?
Just curious how many other art lover are out there...
After a day of walking around the city we went to see the dance studio where Michelle teaches tap. Because Stomp takes up so much of her time, she is down to only one class a week. Here is her photo on the wall at Broadway Dance Center.
While we were at Broadway Dance Center looking around we ran into Joanna Numata.
Anyone recognize her? She is the Alpha Female (the dark seeker Will Smith catches) in I am Legend. I was so excited to run into her! Michelle had told me before the trip that she worked with her. I was too shy to ask for a pic with her, so I stole this one off the BDC website. 
After schmoozing with celebs we headed to Le Colonial, not to be confused with Cafe Colonial, a French/Vietnamese restaurant. My friend from HS Rizzo, who lives in New York City, meet up with us. It was her birthday! Happy Birthday RizzCat #1!
The next day we slept in, then met up with relatives to grab a quick bite to eat at Katz's Deli before the show. Katz's is the deli where Harry met Sally. Well, not really, but you know what I mean. It was too crowded and chaotic for my taste, but we still had fun. Off to the show!
Here we all are hanging out before the doors open.
I wish I could have taken pictures during the show, but it was forbidden. The show was amazing! Michelle was da bomb! She is the lead female role in the show, also known as bin bitch, so she is in almost every number!
STOMP...starring Michelle!
The show was very entertaining and the props they used to make noise with were so clever. They used everything from brooms, to matches, water jugs, pipes, newspaper, basketballs, and trash bins. Their beats made me want to get up and join in! The show was fun and funny.
Stompadu also has a great cast of people and seeing Michelle up there among the best of the best made us all very proud. Her friends in the show were teasing her about us because they could easily pick us out of the crowd because not only is the theater very small, but we were about three rows full of family all grinning ear to ear. It was pretty easy to spot us!
Yay Michelle! I love you poops! You were fabulous darling, just fabulous!
Our friends Jason and Blair also joined us for the show and dinner. They came in all the way from Pennsylvania. It was fun to see them and hang out. After the show we went to a nearby restaurant called La Palapa. It is an upscale Mexican Restaurant, and my Uncle is opening up his own version of the same style food in NC. It was very tasty and my favorite part of the meal is pictured below.
Tres Leches cake. My mouth is still watering.
Michelle had to do one more show that day, but afterwards we all met up at a bar where her friend works called The Trailer Park. It was such a riot. The decor was all decked out with lawn chairs, a small camper/trailer, and other items appropriate for the atmosphere. They also served great trailer park food including sweet potato fries, Champagne in a can, and my personal favorite, tater tots!
The following day we said our goodbyes at Velselka, a quaint Ukrainian restaurant that serves the best potato pierogis I have ever had. It's all about the food isn't it? But seriously, next to seeing Michelle in Stomp, eating is one of my favorite activities. And New York has some great places to eat. I am paying for it this week, both financially and physically, but I wouldn't have it any other way :).
So Long New York City! Until next time!
