Reason #5829 why I like going to Starbucks

Every evening, my co-worker and I run out for a treat at Starbucks to get us through the rehearsals and meetings we have to attend every night. There's usually quite a line, and we enjoy a brief break from the office bantering about the day's events and joking about the Marshmallow Dream Bars. (You see, they're really Rice Krispie treats. But if you ask for a rice krispie treat, the barista get's all huffy and explains that they're MARSHMALLOW DREAM BARS... it's hilarious!)

Anyway, as the line we were in made it's way closer to the counter, my co-worker started punching me on the arm whispering "It's DWIGHT SCHRUTE" over and over! I turned around and saw nothing. But after a few more punches, guess who I spotted?
It turns out that Rainn Wilson was standing in line just behind us. Can you believe it?
We love The Office, so we were pretty stoked! That's one exciting thing about living in the city (and just one more reason to love Starbucks)... you never know who you'll run into!

One of my guilty pleasures...

Yesterday my co-worker and I had tickets to My Big Italian Gay Wedding. Have you heard of this Off-Broadway show? It's a comedy that follows the trials and tribulations of a couple trying to throw a wedding... an Italian wedding, no less!
The show was quite funny- do you know why? (It's hard to tell, but this is a picture of the theater...)
Well, remember my hint from yesterday? (New Jersey?)
Guess who were the guest stars in the show for 4 nights?
That's right- The Real Housewives of New Jersey! The ladies, along with two of their daughters, had a limited engagement with the show as a fundraiser for Marriage Equality. As I've mentioned, I'm a Bravo junkie and TRHONJ is one of my guilty pleasures! My co-worker also loves the show, so when the opportunity arose to see the this play with our favorite housewives in the starring roles, we couldn't help ourselves! Our tickets were held for us at the box office, so last night we arrived to the theater about 45 minutes before curtain to pick them up... imagine our surprise as we exited the lobby and saw Caroline, Lauren, Ashley and Jacqueline! We were so excited, figuring that was as close as we would get to them all night.
Boy were we wrong! (Sorry for the picture quality- apparently Dina is just too pretty for my camera to photograph!)
We ended up meeting the cast after the show! The ladies were extremely nice, and we spoke to everyone for at least 5 minutes each! Dina was the show's producer, and we spoke to her at length about her work and how much we missed her on The Real Housewives of New Jersey. She couldn't have been nicer or more interested in speaking with us- no wonder we all love her! Then we talked to Lauren about how funny she was in the play we had just seen, and she told us about how on the TV show her brothers outshine her, but in real life she's hilarious- we were all laughing pretty hard at that! Then Jacqueline ran by and shook our hands before jumping into her limo (apparently Teresa was ready to go and Jacqueline was making her late). And finally we got to see Caroline. She was absolutely wonderful in the play (her hairdos were insane, as you can see)- and she couldn't have been nicer in person. She asked how we felt about the show and thanked us for supporting a cause that meant so much to her!
As you can tell, it was a really fun night! Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great weekend!

Happy Tony Night!

Last night was Tony night!
It's a big night for my friends and I! As music theater students in college, we used to get together to watch the Tonys every year... and even though we've been out of school for quite a while, we've continued the tradition. In fact, we've been doing this for so long I can't imagine not watching the show with them!

For this year's get together, the party was decidedly low key! We met at my friends' apartment and grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. Of course, I couldn't arrive empty handed, so I decided to bake some cookies. I recently saw this recipe on The Inner Harbor, and decided this would be the perfect opportunity to try it out. So, I baked up these Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies.
This recipe appealed to me because the ingredients are basic... and I happened to have everything in my pantry/fridge!
I started by combining the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla using the mixer.
In a separate container, I combined the flour, salt and cocoa powder.
The recipe suggested I put these dried goods in a plastic bag to combine.
And you know what? It worked pretty well!
(Although I made a bit of a mess when I tried dumping the flour mixture into the mixing bowl... I swear there was cocoa powder everywhere!)
Once the batter was combined, I added a bag of chocolate chips (minus the few that I personally checked for quality assurance).
Once everything was combined, I turned to my trustee cookie scoop to divide the dough.
And after just 10 minutes in the oven...
I slid these scrumptious looking morsels off the pan!
Talk about yummy, right? And this recipe makes a ton of cookies, which is always a plus!
If you'd like to try this recipe for yourself, here is the info:

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy (for 8-10 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla.
3. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in large plastic baggie. Seal bag and combine until no separate ingredients are showing.
4. Add the flour mix to the butter/sugar. Mix together until completely combined (about 3 minutes). Add the chocolate chips.
5. Drop by tablespoons onto cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for a minute or two, then remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

I must say, these cookies were very tasty- and my friends gobbled them all up in a matter of moments!
As for the Tonys, talk about one interesting night of television. And for the record, I did much better in the Tony pool than I anticipated! (You can see my score card below.)
Thank you for stopping by- I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Up at the crack of dawn

I don't have to go to work today. And yet, I woke up bright and early a few minutes ago!

You see, I got a new phone- and I'm still learning how to program it! Last night I thought I turned off the alarm... but I guess I didn't!
So now I'm awake, and I don't have to be anywhere until later in the morning! I have miraculously been given an unexpected handful of hours to waste any way I want... and the possibilities are endless! I could catch up on TiVo...
Or dive into a new book I picked up...
Or start a new crochet project with some beautiful yarn my brother bought me...
Or watch the training video for my lighthouse keeper program...
Or paint my nails...
Or I could just go back to bed!
I haven't made my decision quite yet- but with all these choices I can't go wrong! I hope you have a wonderful weekend... see you Monday!

Visiting Jack Donaghy

Do you watch 30 Rock?
I happen to think it is quite hilarious! So when I was watching the show last night, I realized I hadn't shared photos of Rockefeller Center since the holidays (you can check out that post here). As I'm sure you can imagine, things look pretty different around this time of year! So without further ado, here are some recent photos of the real 30 Rock:

This plaza area is probably familiar to those of you who watch The Today Show- it's where Matt, Meredith and Al have all their outdoor shenanigans! But during the holidays, this is where the big tree is stationed! When I first moved to NYC, my office was just a few blocks away, so my co-workers and I would walk down here and eat our lunches on those cute, little circular benches. That seems like ages ago... yikes!
If you popped back to my post from December, you'll see that this is where the ice-skating rink used to be. Now it's just a sea of patio sets for the restaurant.
Oh, and look! Now that the weather's warm, there's a fountain behind Prometheus.
But one thing that doesn't change? These flags! Come snow or shine, the flags are always there.
Isn't that right, Jack Donaghy?
(Don't worry- I know he hears me way up there!)
Thank you for stopping by- I hope you have a wonderful weekend!