I've heard it said...

I've been listening to the Wicked soundtrack since senior year of high school.  As seniors, we are able to audition for the annual Fashion Show which is a show full of dancing, singing and fashion.  The theme my year was "From Broadway to Runway" - so the show was packed with Broadway hits.  


I danced to the song "Fame" - outfitted in spandex, a cut-off sweatshirt, side ponytail, leg warmers and bright lipstick.  It was so much fun!


I remember two of the girls in our class sang a song called "For Good."  I had never heard it before then, had no idea where it came from but knew that the lyrics were hard to forget.

  "I've heard it said
That people come into our lives,
For a reason
Bringing something we must learn.
And we are led to those
Who help us most to grow
If we let them and we help them in return.
Well. I don't know if I believe that's true,
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you."

I remember looking up the song on the Internet and found out that it was from the musical called Wicked.  Soon after, I bought the soundtrack and quickly learned the words to each song!

From car rides to the shore to bus rides in Ireland - I have played the songs on my iPod for years!

This past weekend, Tom and I celebrated Christmas together since we will be at our own families' homes on Christmas day.  Tom gave me the most amazing presents!  I got Modern Family Season 1 on DVD, the game Rummikub, a crossbody bag from Aldo, Michael Kors leather gloves (with a bow on them!), a pearl necklace and then...

I unwrapped The Wizard of Oz DVD.  He said that he got it online and it was the two disc version and that he wanted to make sure that both discs were in there.  When I opened up the DVD case there were tickets to Wicked on Broadway!  I couldn't believe it!  

When I looked at the tickets again, I saw that the show was for Sunday!  As if the surprise wasn't good enough that we were going to the show - it was even better that we were going the very next day!

So for the matinée Sunday show, Tom and I saw one of the best shows I have ever seen!  It was such a special gift and a wonderful memory for us!  

Wicked on Broadway - who would have thought!?!

This is take #10 - the sunlight kept messing up the sign in the back of us.
We are laughing because the guy who we asked to take the picture
literally got about 10 inches from our faces and took the picture! 

In front of one of the signs - right after the show!
(That's my new bag! Love it!)  

So - about two weeks ago I was wondering which show I was going to see next and never did I think that I would be lucky enough to see Wicked!  And the more I hear the words to the song "For Good," the more I truly believe that people come to our lives for a reason.  Thank you for making my Christmas so special!

I got all my sisters with me!

So, we know that my grandparents passed down the dancing gene, I brought my moves with me overseas,  my brother, mom and I love to get down at weddings and well - surprise, surprise - my sisters and I are known to cut some rug at parties as well!

Nothing like having a sister - and I'm lucky to have two sisters who I consider my very best friends!  

My 21st birthday party - dancing with my sisters!

Taking a break from dancing at one of the weddings this past year
with my sister-in-law, Karen

I am also very lucky to have a wonderful sister-in-law who feels more like the older sister I never had! 

Now, go ahead - shake ya grove thing! 

From the entire city of Philadelphia...

Jersey Boys? Spectacular!

I have been fortunate enough to have been able to go to quite a few shows in the last year and a half.  Most recently I went to see Jersey Boys and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular!

My Mom coordinated a night out for about 25 women - including my aunts, Grandmom, sister-in-law and many friends to go into Philadelphia to see Jersey Boys at the Forest Theatre.  Everyone went to my house before the show for apps and drinks and then went to the show in a limo bus!  After hopping on a train from NYC to Philadelphia, I got in a cab and went to the theatre to meet up with the group!

It was an amazing show and it really lived up to all the hype that I had heard about it!  It was so fun to meet up with everyone in the city and see the show!  Almost too good to be true... :)

Then a few days later my Mom, Victoria and Sean came up to New York for a day trip that ended with us going to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular - which was really awesome!  I had never seen the show before but the Rockettes are very entertaining!  It really helped me to get in the Christmas spirit and I enjoyed watching famous Christmas stories being told by the singers and dancers.  What was even nicer was the fact that they also included the Nativity - which I didn't expect at all.  It is true what they say about Christmas in New York - quite spectacular!

I have been so lucky to see all these amazing shows and I can't wait to go see another show sometime soon!

Shall we dance?

As we have discussed before, Noonans like to dance.  Any excuse for a good dance party, we're all in!  

I was lucky enough to be my Mom's date to a few weddings over the last year and half for a few of Patrick's friends.  And - as we all know - I am a sucker for anything romantic - and obviously weddings are the epitome romance... 

So needless to say, we had a great time at each of these special occasions.  Ironically - the following two pictures were taken on separate occasions yet the three of us are making the same face.  

A couple in love - check.

A beautiful wedding - check.

Delicious food - check.

Friends and family - check.

Noonans on the dance floor - check, check, check!

Baby it's cold outside!

The 19-mile weekly commute to work is - welp, how do I put this - freezing! 

And it is only the beginning of the season! 

If I won the lottery this is how I would outfit my winter outerwear...



Michael Kors coat

Burberry earmuffs



Leather gloves



Cashmere scarf



Boots with the fur! :)

A girl can dream, can't she!

An Irish jig?

One of the best parts of Ireland was - prepared to be shocked

- the pubs!

We went to a, ahem, a few pubs during our time in Eire - but our favorite, by far, was called An Brog.

We discovered it very early on in our trip and legitimately went at least 3 times/week.  I remember one of the first times I went there I was wearing my North Face jacket and (I'm scared to admit because my Dad would have killed me) but flip-flops.  (Pat Noonan did not approve of flip-flops past August and assured us we would "catch a cold" if we did...but I was 2000 miles away and hey, if that is the worst of my "disobeying"...I'm sure Papa Noons is okay with that...)

ANYWAY - the big Irish bouncer-man looked at me and said - "North Face and flippies - you must be American." (I loved that he called them flippies - but let's be honest -  he could have said anything and I would have loved it because anything an Irish person said was like Heaven to me) So I just politely nodded because I couldn't get past his glorious accent and headed right in to the place that became one of my favorite spots on Cork! 

We had many a nights at the Brog - and I honestly miss it dearly!  We often were the only ones dancing but that never seemed to phase us in the least.  The best part about the group of kids I went abroad with was the fact that we all genuinely wanted to make the most of our time there.  So if we were the only ones dancing, well then, so be it...and we were gonna have a good time!   

The one and only, Mac (creator of the name of this blog)
and me dancing at the Brog!

I cannot wait to get back to Ireland and visit where I called "home" for four months.  

DON'T JUST STAND THERE, BUST A MOVE!

It's been a while...

I apologize for the lack of posting the last few weeks!

After the very fun weekend of the bar crawl - I went to work Monday morning to find out that my work computer was stolen from my desk over the weekend.  Somehow or another, someone came in and saw my MacBook laptop and walked away with it, the power strip and a set of headphones.  I was so upset about it and felt so bad that my computer was gone!  But everyone at work assured me that it would be okay, that it wasn't my fault and that we would figure something out.

The next two days after that I had a meeting in Brooklyn - which was really great.  I learned a lot more about the company and where they are looking to go in 2011 - so it was a great few days.

Then the next weekend was the Jets tailgate that had been planned for all of the Loyola kids!  Tom sold seats to three of our friends (Anthony, Billy and Brett) who each bought two seats.  So the boys generously took a friend with them to the game and we had an awesome tailgate beforehand!  Here are some photos!

Jenelle, Frank, Brett, me, Anthony, Billy, and Liz!

J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets!

Brett grilling us some grub!

 What was really nice about the tailgate was that some of our Jets friends came - so I got to introduce them to the Loyola crew.

Then we went into the stadium and met Tom (who was working the whole day before the game) and headed to our amazing seats!  The game was another nail-biter, but the Jets pulled out the win in the end!  We had such a great time!

After such a fun weekend - it was nice to have a short work week!  I worked in the office Monday and Tuesday and then worked from home on Wednesday.

Wednesday would have been my parents' 31st wedding anniversary, so I was very happy that I was able to be at home with my Mom.  

Of all the couples I have ever known, my parents had it perfect.
Thank you for showing us how to love.

Thursday of course was Thanksgiving and my brother and sister-in-law hosted 26 guests at their beautiful home.  Karen did a great job with the dinner and everything was delicious!  

Friday is our annual Christmas-decorations day in the Noonan house (pictures are to come...) where we transform our home into what has been described as a winter wonderland.  

Saturday I went to breakfast with my friend Liz and caught up on all that is going on in our lives and then went home for lunch with my Mom, brothers and sisters.  We went to mass on Saturday night and had a delicious Momma Noons dinner.  After a HomeGoods run with Patrick, he and I went to Dairy Queen to pick up some ice cream for everyone!  Then I packed and got ready to leave early Sunday morning!

Work has been going really well and I have been assigned more projects - which is really great!  So, again I apologize for the lapse of "reporting" but I will get back to my few posts/week - promise!

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families and friends - and thank you for loyally reading along!