Kodak moments

In the age of digital pictures, I think more often than not we take tons of pictures and they remain on our cameras or computers and never really get to be seen by friends or family. 

I can remember taking pictures at dances or events in grade school and bringing a disposable camera and begging my parents to take me to the store so I could have them printed.  I can even remember being so excited that I didn't have to wait days for the prints to be done - with you know, high tech 1-hour photos. 

Now, we take a picture and immediately can decide if another picture needs to be taken 'cause the first try wasn't so great (a head is cut off, your eyes were closed...we all know the drill!) 

So I thought it would be nice to revisit some of the pictures I have on my computer from the past and share some of the stories behind them.

Ireland was by far one of the best decisions I have made in my life.  Going abroad really helped to shape the person I am today.  From my days in Cork (as well as my trips all over Ireland and 7 other countries in Europe - which you will now see pictures from due to posts such as these - like where I'm going with this?...) I have come to appreciate many things.

For example, I learned to appreciate my home and it was a great lesson to learn.  It sank in when I realized well, I can't go home for a weekend when I was in Ireland to get a good home-cooked meal with the family or eat an amazing Philadelphia pretzel.  I couldn't take Misty for a walk or drive a car or sleep in my own bed.  After 4 months abroad, it became very apparent that there really is no place like home. 

Ireland also taught me to appreciate a sunny day.  Irish people don't get too many of them with all the rain they experience throughout the year - so every time the sun was up, I said a prayer of thanks!

I think one of the most wonderful things Ireland exposed to me, though, was the idea of traveling and seeing all that this world has to offer.  In doing so, I think my faith got stronger because when you visit beautiful places it is hard for me to understand how anyone could question God's existence.

While I was abroad, my family came over for 10 days right around the mid-way point of my trip.  It was exactly what I needed to get through the rest of my trip and we had such an amazing time.  We were on a tour bus and traveled the entire perimeter of Ireland - starting in Dublin and traveling all around the beautiful Emerald Isle.  

One of the "must sees" in Ireland are the Cliffs of Moher.  They are the most impressive cliffs I have ever seen and it really just takes your breath away when you finally reach the top...  

Allow me to tell another famous Noonan story (which actually has evolved into two parts) - that has been told as many times as the "you pig" incident goes a little something like this:

For my parents' 25th wedding anniversary, they took my brothers and sisters and I to San Fransico for an awesome vacation.  We rented a car and drove along the California coast to various points of interest.  We saw Fisherman's Wharf in San Fransico and went to Alcatraz to see the famous old prison.  Throughout the trip my Mom insisted that we needed to see the famous, giantic Redwood trees.  If she mentioned Redwoods once, she must have said it 100 times those first few days. Finally the day came when we would be going to see the Redwood forest.  

We travelled down this windy road - literally down a mountain - and reached the parking area for the forest.  We pile out of the car (remember there are 7 of us - nothing is done at a particularly swift pace) and head into the forest on the designated trail.  The trees were huge and I remember Victoria and Sean were running through holes in the tree trunks that were big enough for our whole family to fit in. 

I continue to walk along the trail and catch up with my Mom who, in the most non-chalant manner says while looking at her watch, "Alright, it's about 1:10 right now so we can probably leave here by 1:30.  I mean, if you seen one Redwood, you've seen 'em all."

WHAT!??! We had been hearing about the extravegance of these trees for days now and after 20 minutes, my Mom was over it!? We all lost it!  I mean, technically she is 100% correct and none of us are really "nature people" by any means, so yes - every tree looked just as giganticly cool as the next BUT really, 20 minutes!  It was priceless!

Fast forward about 4 years to the Cliffs of Moher on the beautiful west coast of Ireland.  After the 8 of us (with the addition of Karen on this trip) treck up the trail to see this amazing site, again I walk over to my Mom after about 10-15 minutes of seeing these most beautiful cliffs and she says, "I mean this is beautiful and all, but is this it?"  

I just started laughing.  It brought me right back to the Redwood forest in California.  My Mom absolutely appreciates these wonders but as the "Mother Hen" I think it is in her nature to keep the ducklings moving and she just wanted to fit everything into each trip as possible so that we all would get the most out if it!  

Luckily, she let us stay long enough in each spot to prove that we really did go to these places and that these stories are true.  Gotta love her. :) 



Redwood Forest, June 2004

Cliffs of Moher, Fall 2007

I hope you will enjoy many more posts like this one.  I am my father's daughter and I love taking pictures so I have many to share! :)

Another weekend of "I Do's!"

This past weekend I went to another wedding - this time as my Mom's date!  The wedding was for my brother, Patrick's, good friend from college - Christina.  She and her new husband, Brent, exchanged vows in Georgetown and had the most beautiful day as they began their new life together!

I took the train from New York and met my mom in Philadelphia.  There is nothing better than having a train buddy - it makes the ride so much more enjoyable and never seems quite as long!  Furthermore, I hadn't seen my Mom since the weekend I went home for the memorial for my friend Johnny, so it was definitely nice to actually get to be with my mom and not just talk to her on the phone.

Once we arrived in Washington, DC, we met up with Patrick and Karen and some of their friends and went for lunch at the hotel.  Then we went back to our room to get ready for the ceremony and reception! 

Here is a picture from the church - I loved her dress! 

Then after the ceremony we went back to the hotel to "freshen up" and then went to the reception at the Ronald Reagan Building in DC - it was amazing! Here are some pretty good pictures from the reception!

As per usual, Patrick was cuttin' some major rug and we all had a really great time!  My brother's friends from college are so much fun and it was really nice to see them!  There was one friend in particular that we missed very much - but not to worry, he was remembered fondly in about 10 toasts at our table as well as a very personalized rendition of "My Girl" sung by some of the Villanova boys! :) 

Then on Sunday, I said my goodbyes to my Mom, Patrick, and Karen and headed in a cab back to Union Station from a long trip back up to New York.  It was so much fun to see my Mom and brother and sister-in-law and I trip was definitely well worth it!

Once I got back to Hoboken, Tom picked me up from the train station - which was wonderful because I didn't have to carry my bags back to my apartment - and then I took a short nap before heading back into the city for a Rangers hockey game!

Before the game Tom and I went "for a slice" at Rose's pizza in Penn Station.  I'm telling ya, the reputation of New York pizza is right on point!  It was delicious!  I had a slice with chicken and broccoli and Tom had one with chicken and peppers (or peppas as we like to call them) and then we shared a margarita-esque slice.  I loved how there was minimal cheese, lots of the toppings and a thin crust on the bottom.  The crust is definitely my favorite part!   

Side note: My Dad (a true Noonan) hated cheese so he never ate pizza.  He would always ask us for the crust though, not knowing that to a pizza-eater this is why you eat the bottom of the piece!  So we would have to nibble off any speculation of cheese and pass it to him.  He would have loved the crusts on New York pizza for sure! :)

This is the third hockey game I've been to in my life - all of them have been with Tom.  Two of the games last year were Rangers vs. Flyers games (which I was instructed about 1000 times not to wear Flyers colors or gear because NY fans would just rip me apart and Tom would have to "throw some 'bows...") and the game on Sunday night was vs. the NJ Devils.  The Rangers won 3-1 with a goal at the end of the game with literally 0.5 seconds left - a Rangers player shot from the other side of the rink on an open net and it went in!  That was pretty exciting! 

I was in a total of 6 states (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C.) in a matter of two days - but it was another great weekend!  Hope your's was fun too!

Spooked

Halloween is around the corner and you know what that means...

Scary movies.  And I hate scary movies. 

Let's be serious, you are talking to the girl who brought stuffed animals with her when she moved at the tender age of 23!

"Hereafter" is a recent new release as well as "Paranormal Activity 2."  God help me if I see the trailer to either one of those movies let alone the 6th installment of "Saw."  My thought process - paying moolaaahh to be scared out of my mind? - ummm, I'd rather buy a new top, dress, skirt, or shoes!  And some people would call me crazy. 

However, sometimes it doesn't even cost the movie ticket money to be scared.  Here are two examples that are much funnier now than at the time they occured. 

Tom and his family are movie aficionados - to say the very least.  They love movies, know tons of actors/actresses names, have seen movies that I legitimately have never heard of, and can even name directors and producers of hundreds of movies.  They play "the movie game" after dinner which includes naming movies and actors and actresses that played in them and then associating those actors and actresses with other movies.

And because they are polite, I am included in this game but I know that whatever team I am on, the other members are immediately (yet silently) so sad because I offer little to this game! :)  (It's kind of like the captain of the kickball team who picks the last kid standing and realizes that the team did not get any stronger by the final addition...). 

For every 20 movies they talk about, I think it is safe to say that I have heard of maybe 5 and have seen, at best, 2. 

During one game, Julia Roberts was brought up.  I said that I love her movies, especially "Pretty Woman."  Tom's parents asked me if I have ever seen "Sleeping with the Enemy."  I had never heard of this movie and they said that is such a good one!  As a matter of fact (and as luck would have it), they had it on DVD.  I asked that if it is a scary movie.  I also said my worst fear is being kidnapped or chased by someone.  They said they hadn't seen the movie in quite some time but they said that they didn't think it was too scary.

After about 30 minutes into the movie - I think I about peed my pants.  It was so scary!!!  Okay, maybe suspenseful is a better word but I watched from minutes 30-60 through my fingers and then decided that it would be better for me to just go to bed.  I probably should have used better context clues given the name of the movie... HA. 

ANYWAY, when Tom came up later to say goodnight to me, (because he is a normal adult who can watch suspenseful movies and not retract back to a 5 year old) started laughing when he opened the door.  I had the light on.  He tried to turn it off and I nearly had another heart attack. 

So I slept with the light on. 

Again, I'm 23.  Oh, and I may or may not have been holding on for dear life to the stuffed animal that I had given Tom after our trip to Disney World last Thanksgiving.   

Fast forward a couple of weeks to another dinner around Tom's table where the movie game ensued.  Somehow or another a movie called, "Malice," was brought up.  His Dad had just recently got it on DVD.  So that became the movie of choice for the evening.  Again, I asked - "Is this movie scary?  Do we all remember what happened last time?"  Again the answer was that they had not seen it in a while and they didn't remember it to be too scary.

Scene 1: A young girl gets kidnapped.

I nearly died.  Then I couldn't help but laugh that we were now 2-for-2! 

The night then went like this:  I, with my eyes closed and pretty much saying every prayer I know over and over again, helped Tom to lose the circulation in his arm as I squeezed it every time I thought I heard something scary, until - by the grace of God - I fell asleep on the couch.   

Which again, now, it is much funnier now to think about how scared I can get over the course of a 2 hour movie. 

Moral of the story?  Scary movies and I do not mix well.

My Dad used to call me CutieKat but I think we all can agree that for the month of October - I might be better known as - ScaredyKat. 

Why is it..

...that some foods are so good that the saying, "if you had three hands, you'd probably choke" holds true?

An example...

Popcorn.

Salty, freshly-popped, fluffy popcorn is one of the most delicious snacks.  Especially if you make it on the stove (another trick Mamma Noons taught our family and I passed her knowledge onto my roommates).


Teaching Molly the wonders of stove-top popped popcorn! 
Thanks for taking the picture, Jess! :)

Ellen DeGeneres joked about popcorn in her HBO special, Here and Now, and her observations are dead on.  We (as a society) literally shovel handfuls of popcorn in our mouths as if we have never eaten before.  All rules of etiquette fly out the window and more often than not, we wish we our hands could be bigger, to fit more of that delicious-ness in our mouths.  Ellen jokes that if you drop a piece of popcorn in your lap, on your shirt - anywhere - you never, ever brush it to the ground.  No no, you pick it up and savor every last piece.  An entire bowl of popcorn can be finished in no time, often times before the previews are over when you are at the movie theater.

On the PATH, I (people-watching at its finest) observed a man with a bag of popcorn that he literally scoffed down in less than 15 minutes.  How do I know that?  He opened the bag when we got on the train and finished before we got to Hoboken...which is, at most, an 18 minute train ride.  So give or take a few minutes and Mr. If-I-Had-Three-Hands-I-Would-Have-Joked-Myself polished off that bag of popcorn in record time. 

And for the visual.  Me, hanging on for dear life, trying to "read" the paper as I continually glanced up from the news stories of the day to watch this man eat his after-work snack.  And I'm cracking up.  But I cannot laugh in this man's face.  So I'm biting the inside of my mouth, trying to think of something serious, focus on the paper, or read the advertisement on the wall of the train for the 1000th time...ANYTHING to keep me from looking at the man again as he eats his popcorn.

Fail.  I continued to look at him.  I then proceeded to laugh to myself the whole train ride and then continued to laugh as I walked home.

Giggle? I think so. 

And they lived happily ever after.

I love weddings -everything about them - what the wedding stands for, all of the details, the idea of family and friends coming together share in the most special day of two people in love...insert sappy love song (my personal favorite - Michael Buble's "Everything.")

I have often been quoted saying that my brother, Patrick's, wedding was one of the best days of my life as well as the lives of my entire family.  He and Karen had the most beautiful day and every guest could not have been happier for such two amazing people.  I can distinctly remember how proud I was to be the sister (and newly sister-in-law) as Patrick and Karen exchanged their vows, danced their first dance, posed for pictures and cut their cake. 

And, let's be serious - it's not a Noonan party until the dancing begins...including a solo rendition of Dirrrty Pop by the groom himself as well as an Irish jig by my sisters...

It was also the most amazing day as my Dad was able to be there and I remember him saying at the rehersal dinner that he was so happy to be a part of my brother's special day. He gave a small (but inspirning) speech... true Pat Noonan style... at the reception and we will forever cherish the video from my brother's wedding as the most up-to-date reminder of his wisdom and kind heart.

This past weekend I was lucky enough to go to the wedding of Tom's cousin, Stevie and his beautiful new wife, Jessica.  The wedding was on Long Island and the reception was a bit further out east on the island at an aquarium!  How fun of an idea is that!  They had a beautiful fall day for their wedding and we all had a fantastic time!  Check out these pictures!

Then on Sunday, Tom, his parents, sister, brother, brother-in-law, aunt and uncle and I went pumkpkin picking while we were out east on Long Island.  We chose some "perfect pumpkins" in record time (as the boys were hoping to get home for the Sunday afternoon football games ;) ...and we went to lunch at a really nice place before travelling back to Babylon!  Here are some shots of the pumpkin farm - it was such a beautiful day out!

So, that's my weekend recap!  Hope you had a nice weekend as well!

Happy Birthday!

To the best doggie in the world!

Look how much she has grown up!

She was such a great Christmas present! :)

She is 4 years old today!

Name that Tune

I love music.  There's nothing like a great song to pick you up during the day, help you get a job done, comfort you in times of sadness and rock out to in times of joy and victory (for example, "We are the champions?" - let's go Phils!). 

Getting to know the lyrics of songs can be awesome.  You hear a song you like and you try to hear it as many times as possible so you can sing along to it.  Back in the day, we would "tape it" and do everything you possibly could to have your radio ready for when the song came on so you could hit record and then rewind the tape 50 times a day.  Then we got to burning CDs of favorite songs and instead of waiting for the tape to rewind, so you could simply hit the seek back button and your song was on without the wait!  Now in the age of iTunes - we can have any song we want in an instant!  Oh how things change!

What does not change throughout the ages is the fact that some songs, no matter how hard we try to sing the words, we just cannot figure out what they are saying.  Aretha Franklin's R-E-S-P-E-C-T comes to mind as well as 99% of hip-hop songs.  But there are a few examples that may not be as common:

For the last two weeks I have had great difficulty trying to get the songs from Mary Poppins out of my head.  I have been watching that movie since I was little and my sister, Regina, loved it more than any of us.  We watched it over and over again and sang along to all the songs - "A Spoonful of Sugar," "Step in Time," and "Chim Chim Cher-ee."  Our favorite one, though, was "Jolly Holiday."

Scene: Regina - about 4 years old and me - about 8 years old.  We are watching Mary Poppins in the "play room" (this is the room in our house that had all the toys in it - which to this day is still called the play room though the only toys left in there are Misty's!).  The part of the movie where Mary brings Jane and Michael to meet Bert and the four of them jump into the street painting.  Bert (and Regina) begin to sing "Jolly Holiday." 

Regina:
"When Mary holds your hand, you feel so grand, your heart starts beating like a BIG BLACK MAN.  Oh, it's a jolly holiday with Mary. No wonder that it's Mary that we looooovvvvveeee!"

Fast-forward 10-15 years and we still laugh at the thought of Regina - a tiny blonde-haired, blue-eyed, little girl - dancing around our play room singing her version instead of "big brass band."  Naturally when that part of the musical came, I was giggling to myself in the theater!

I shared this story with a lot of people when we were going to the show and everyone has told me stories from their past that involve people messing up the words that are just so hard to decipher.

My favorite, however, was a story told by my roommate, Molly.  She said that one of her guy friends from school thought the lyrics to the OutKast song "Hey Ya!" were:

"Shake it, shake, shake it, shake it like a corduroy pizza"

The song actually goes "...shake it like a Polaroid Picture."  I nearly died laughing when she told me that! 

A good song can be a pick-me-up, an expression of feelings, a way to make it through - but for now, it is the source of this week's "Giggle." 

2366

No, that is not my Brownie Troop number (ha - I hated every single part of being in Brownies in like 3rd grade) and it is not the last four digits of my social security number.  It is not the model number on a new pair of shoes that I want to buy or an address to a great restaurant that I want to try in New York City.

#2366 is my Beer Club Membership number at the Hoboken Bar & Grill (HBG). 

*Que jokes about being Irish and drinking lots of beer*

What does that mean, you ask?  Well, allow me explain!

There may or may not be over 150 beers at the HBG to "taste" and check off your list as a member.  There are beers from all over the world and here is how it works:

You sign up to be a member and fill out a form including your name (Kathryn M. Noonan), your nickname (K. Noons - this will be important 150 beers later...), your birthday (February 28th), your T-shirt size (Small - again handy after the magical number of 150) and your beer of choice (Carlsberg - from my Ireland days). 

Then, you are given "The List."  It is a sheet of paper, populated on the front and back with beer after beer after beer.  They are categorized into various groups (lagers, ales, etc).  You chose a beer and initial next to it and then have the bartender sign off that you tried that beer.  You can try as many as you want each time you go to the HBG, but you have to finish the beer for it to count.

I tried two in my first sitting.  First, I went with was brewed in Lancaster (thought it would be best to start off with a PA choice - you know, repping the hometown team...) and chose the Strawberry Wheat Beer brewed by the Lancaster Brewing Company.  It was a nice refreshing beer and obviously with how much I love fruit - it seemed like the perfect choice.

My next choice was a little aggressive. I was intrigued by "chocolate stout" and thought - hey I just had a strawberry beer - why not top it off with some chocolate.  So, I went for it - Rogue Ale Chocolate Stout - and it was 22 oz.  The only thing I could compare it to - just because how dark and heavy it was - was a Guinness.  It was very good just very heavy.  And I am happy to have one of the "big guys" knocked off the list - there are a few more 22 oz-ers and then a 40 or two as well - yikes!

And here are the perks - as a member, you get 15% off all appetizers.  Once you complete the list - you get 20% off food at HBG ...FOR LIFE..., a t-shirt and your nickname on a plaque at the bar. 

SO here's to trying all kinds of beers - some I am sure I will hate and others that will become new favorites! 

And so it happened...

"Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to 51st street?  I need to go uptown."

"Oh yeah sure, just head straight up this street in this direction - it will take you right there."

New York City Bucket List:  Help a lost person find their way in the city, with a friendly smile.

CHECK!

Giggles

I'm thinking about having a weekly post detailing happenings that I witness that leave me giggling to myself - because it happens nearly once a day. 

This week's ordeal:

So I'm walking along 33rd and was just about to cross the street when a man...or should I say -animal  (and no that is not harsh for what I saw him do/the story I'm about to tell) starts driving his car and then all of the sudden opens his car door, and he hocks a loogie.  Now even writing that makes me cringe but that is the only way to describe it!  I sincerely apologize for the visual you are getting...

Anyway, ironically enough to the normal onlooker, I immediately started laughing to myself - and here is why:

Family stories that get told over and over again but continually get funnier as you think of/retell them are priceless.  My family has so many but I think one of my favorites goes like this:

Scene: My Mom and Patrick are in the car.  Patrick is about 12-14 years old.  My Mom was obviously driving and Patrick was in the front seat.  They are driving along and come to a red light.  They are the first car in the left lane and there is a man his car in the right lane next to them.  All of the sudden, the man rolls down his window and spits something nasty out the window.

Enter comment of utter disgust by Rosie, aka Mamma Noons, aka Jack-of-all-Trades:

"There you go.  That's dis-gusting.  YOU PIG!"

Patrick doesn't know what to think - looking back and forth between "the pig" and Mom - grossed out by the man and in shock of Mom yelling.

Patrick's recollection of the story, even some 10 years later, is beyond priceless as he adds hand gestures and inflection in his voice that leave us all in hysterics.

So yes, after initially being in a state of disgust and shock, I was immediately taken to my kitchen table where that story has been told about 5,000 times and I laugh just as hard.  

So man in the white truck --- you're a PIG! 

It's off to the races and another Broadway show

Life seems to be moving at rapid speed!  I have been really enjoying my new job and everyone I work with -which certainly has added to the reasons why this has been a nice, smooth transition.  And the fact that there always seems to be something going on has also kept me very busy and has given me opportunities to continue to meet new people.

Case and point: after a delicious dinner at the Melting Pot and my first Broadway show, Mary Poppins, last week this past weekend was just as eventful! 

On Friday night my roommates, Molly and Jess, and I ordered a pizza and watched a movie.  It was quite a gross weather week here last week so nothing seemed as glorious as getting a large pizza and watching an on-demand movie in warm sweats in the living room.  Cheers to that!

Saturday was a gorgeous day and what better way to spend it than at the race track, horse race track that is!  A group of about 15 of us, Tom's friends from work and some of their girlfriends and/or friends from home, went to the Monmouth Race Track and had an awesome time.  We all met up around 10:30 and headed to the track to bet on some horses and enjoy the beautiful day!  I don't think anyone lost too much mooolaaahhh but we all were wishing we were the lady sitting next to us who won $5,000!  She was there for her birthday - man, what a birthday gift!  After the track we went to a few bars in the area!  It was a great day with some great people!

Here are some pictures!

Picking their horses!

Seeing if their horses won!

Laura and Me

The Jets boys

A winner!? 

Then on Sunday, unfortunately, my sinuses got the best of me and I lost a battle with a sinus headache.  Yikes they can be brutal!  So - I stayed in my bed most of the day - which actually was wonderful since I love my room!

Then Monday night it was off to another Broadway play!  Tom and a few of his friends from work won a raffle for tickets to Lombardi, a show about the legendary coach, Vince Lombardi.  The show was at The Circle in the Square Theatre just off of 50th and Broadway.  It was a good one act show and we were glad to have been able to go!  Mark Sanchez, quarterback for the New York Jets, was also in the audience!  My first "star sighting" in New York City!  Ironically enough, he is my age - which is just crazy talk!  I mean, Sanchez has got it good - fame, fortune and an amazing athletic career ahead of him but...

I'm living the dream too - and I can't wait to see what is next! :)

A melting-different-date-day-spoon-full-of-sugar kind of a week!

The past few days have been full of a lot of firsts for me! 

On Tuesday night, I went to dinner at The Melting Pot for the first time.  I was in the company of some new friends - they are girls that work with Tom who I am becoming very close with!  They are a lot of fun and we had the most delicious-dip-it-yourself dinner! 

We started with the cheese course - yikes for all the Noonans out there!   We settled on the spinach and artichoke dip and it was really delish!  Ironically it was not too cheesey tasting (even though I watched the waiter drop more cheese in that bowl than I think I've eaten in my entire 23 years).  They give you tortilla chips, bread cubes, vegetables and apples (which were surprisingly good with the dip) to dunk into this first course.  We polished that off pretty quickly!

Then it was onto the salads - we all tried something different I think and I got a really good salad with walnuts and a raspberry vinagrette dressing!  Yum!

Next was the meat portion.  To my surprise, we each got our own plate of meat to dip in - I thought it was going to be a few big pieces of each type and we would cut them and share them.  No no.  We had our own portions.  So - I had chicken and shrimp and some potatoes and vegetables. They give you a few dips to go with the meat and then one to stuff the mushrooms with - that was really good!

But the best part by far was the dessert.  We chose the chocolate oreo option and dipped rice krispie treats, cake, strawberries, bananas, brownies and marshmallows into the wonderfully gooey chocolate!  (I know, just reading that makes me feel like I need to unbutton the top bottom of my jeans - luckily I wore a skirt that gave a bit of much-needed wiggle room after all that food!)

It was a great night and I really enjoyed hanging out with some new friends!

Wednesday was the first time my date night with Tom was moved a day later.  The girls from his work "stole me" for our normal date night (don't worry Tom went out with a friend from work to sushi on Tuesday so he was taken care of too!) so we moved our date night to Wednesday - just this once! ;)

We enjoyed the leftovers from Delco's finest kitchen (aka Mama Noons) with a nice bottle of Merlot and some Modern Family (hysterical!).  A perfect date night - maybe even more so because absence makes the heart grow fonder, remember?

Thursday night was best of all - I went to see Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street! 

I have never been to a Broadway show before and I had such a great time!  We went with a ton of people from Tom's work as well as our friends Liz and Anthony from Loyola.  The singing and dancing was fantastic and the two little kids who played Jane and Michael in the show were so fun to watch.  Bert beyond entertaining and Mary Poppins was as lovable as the movie! 

 Pictures thanks to http://www.broadway.com/

I'd say I had a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious "work week!"