So Excited For Breaking Dawn Part 2

Yes, I am an unabashed Twilight fan! I love love loved the books, and I willingly suspended disbelief all through each film! I cannot believe the end has arrived. Just for nostalgia's sake I dug up this picture from the very beginning - November 2008, with my sisters Ann and Rose at a kickoff party in Alabama. Note our stylin' fake tatoos that say Edward, Bella and Jacob.  The next year we had t-shirts (can't find that pic!), the year after a sign saying we missed Rose (a college freshman then). I saw the last one in London, dragging Richard with me to the Twi-athlon. And now, at last, the final midnight showing! Even though, alas, I am without both sisters this time- never fear girls, I will be swoony and hyper enough for all of us!

Yep, It's Offical, My Husband is Freakin' Adorable.

Richard is on business travel for work this week - I just checked my inbox and found this picture he emailed to me during their lunch break (apparently somewhere they serve fortune cookies.)

Smokey Joe's Cafe at Theo Ubique in Chicago!

Richard had to travel unexpected over the weekend, leaving me stuck with theatre tickets in Chicago. So my Mom hopped a train from St. Louis and joined me in Chicago and we went to see Smokey Joe's Cafe at Theatre Ubique on Thursday and Xanadu at Drury Lane Oakbrook on Friday. I was set for Xanadu, the touring Broadway show to be the unforgettable experience. However, it was merely amusing, an ok night of theatre. Smokey Joe's cafe was AMAZING!!!!! OH MY GOODNESS I LOVED IT!! Here is a copy of the review I submitted on ticketmaster
 
***I took my mother with me to the show as my husband had to travel unexpectedly for work. We were both surprised by the intimacy of the venue, such a small stage and Theatre! I was more familiar with the Chicago theatre scene, but I could tell my Mom was braced for a sub-par performance effort.  (Hilarious side note for blog readers...the shuttle from the parking lot pulled up along a small block of businesses in the Roger's Park neighborhood of Chicago and, pointing at a darkened doorway the driver said, "that's it, just through there." At which point Mom looks at me and says "I am NOT going down that dark alley!" It turned out to just be a small dark door, to an even smaller venue, but it was a hilarious start to the evening.)  From the first song the show BLEW US AWAY! Even myself, who based on critical reviews was expecting great things, was astonished at the talent Theo Ubique assembled for this show, under the direction of Brenda Didier. Perhaps most enjoyable was the absolute performance factor of every actor and musician. Small venues can often be intimidating for inexperienced actors, after all, you are performing and singing staring into people's eyeballs from two feet away at times. However, instead of turning inward to their performance, the stars on Theo Ubique's stage engaged with the audience, grinning at us through their solos, winking at my Mom in the steamy parts, and treating us like their oldest friends throughout. A special shout out to piano player extraordinaire Jeremy Ramey and his incredible music direction of the show.  He struck up a conversation with us from his piano stool a few feet away from our table, and proceeded with the evening like we were his specially invited guests. And our close up view as he proceeded to play some of the best piano I have ever seen live was a special privilege of the evening. We raved about the show to our waitress, to the people at the table next to us at dinner the next evening, and in general to anyone who would listen. Smokey Joe's is a MUST SEE event and Theo Ubique is a venue where season tickets are a BRILLIANT idea!***

I love discovering unexpected theatrical gems! Performers and performances that turn an 'amusing' night out into an unforgettable experience! I will be going back to Theo Ubique again and again!

Dallas for Emerson's 1st Birthday!

Yep folks, my nephew Emerson really is that cute. His first birthday was on Sunday, and Richard and I got to go visit Dallas for the occasion! Brace yourself for tons of cute baby pics, I just can't choose between them!

Just Back From Utah

It was a wonderful trip full of lovely adventures! It was relaxing and rejuvenating - altogether a different mode of vacation-taking for me! It was also unusually long - almost 3 weeks due to various transportation choices - which made for a devastatingly long separation from my darling man. But he held things together like a trooper, and not only was the house still standing and the kitchen not stinking...he had a dozen red roses and candlelight to greet me! I ask you - what's a girl to do? Never leave him again, I believe. At least that's how I feel right now. I just want to cling tight and never let go...I've even been following him into the bathroom. I just can' t bear to have him out of my sight just yet...

Nope, Just Busy With My Other Blogs...

Nah, nothing has happened, I just only have so many hours to blog in a day, and I have been rather busy working on the launch of my two other blogs - geez formatting can be a headache! But I think I finally have them looking good! I lost a lot of data and entry ideas for Trusting His Timing when a word file got corrupted, so I am still hoping to be able to recoup that. Otherwise, all is going well. At any time you can follow the links at the bottom of the right column to see both new blogs - but here they are for your convenience in this post as well.

Infertility Support Group for St. Louis Stake:
www.TrustingHisTiming.blogspot.com

Rose's Blog I am Updating During Her Mission in Rome, Italy
www.SorellaPreston.blogspot.com

Grateful for an Uneventful Surgery

Dear friends and family - my laprascopy went very well, and I am recovering just fine! More details on TrustingHisTiming!

http://trustinghistiming.blogspot.com/2012/06/grateful-for-uneventful-surgery.html