The Big Apple

Last weekend, I got on a charter bus and watched a few movies (Mad Money & Vantage point) while driving to New York City. When I collected my baggage and watched the bus drive away, I quickly came to the realization that I was standing on a street corner in NYC at 10:15 at night, all by myself. I permitted myself to have a quick panic attack, then stepped into the nearest building and called my high school friend, Connie. Soon, we were on our way back to her apartment and my New York weekend had begun.

We woke up at the unholy hour of 7 to throw on some clothes and book it to the Palace theatre and wait for student rush tickets to Legally Blonde: The Musical

Now, I know you're all thinking, "Legally Blonde is a musical? That sounds dumb." A valid thought, but if you liked the movie in the slightest, the musical is that much better. If you have any sort of intolerance for the color pink, however, stay far away. Very far away.
I happened to catch the MTV reality show to find a replacement for the original Elle Woods and fell in love with the music and immediately put it on my to-see list. The winner, and current Elle Woods, Bailey Hanks (not the one pictured above) is only 20, but she was perfect in the role and could really belt it.

We sat in front of the theatre for 2+ hours, and it paid off when we got front-row seats for $26.50.

Please don't be alarmed by my appearance in this picture. It is very early in the morning.

We came back to the theatre at 7:30 and settled into our front-row seats. I peeked over the edge into the orchestra pit and felt a little reminiscent of my high school days. The theatre was so beautiful, but it felt small and intimate. When the lights went down and the curtain went up, I got a huge smile on my face that was stuck for hours. Everything was so fun and happy and I couldn't believe how close everyone was! I could see their nude pantyhose underneath costumes, lines from their wigs on their foreheads, and how extremely spitty everyone was. I highly recommend the show, and accompanying soundtrack (which is from the original cast, not the current one).

The amazingly talented Bailey Hanks aka Elle Woods.

I went to the show with friends from high school Connie, and Anne, and Connie's boyfriend Barry. We dressed up and went to a fancy Italian restaurant before the show.

After the show, we went to BlueFin, a fancy schmancy restaurant to have some dessert. I got chocolate truffle cookies -so good!- and enjoyed peoplewatching. We left to go home at 12:45 and I couldn't believe how many people were just starting their nights! It really seemed like 8 by how many people were out and how bright it was from all the lights. I snapped this picture just before we left the theatre district.

Earlier in the day, Connie and I ventured into Chinatown, in search of a few good purses from Canal St. I kept seeing giraffe print purses, and they were so cute I had to get one. I don't really care about labels, especially because I didn't want to pay a lot of money, but we did get to go back to the special room where they have all of the brandname knockoffs.

I ended up getting a giraffe print wallet and purse, and a huge yellow bag, all for about $60! I was so excited!

This yellow bag is big enough to fit a small person inside. Seriously, I tried.

We stopped for some food at Joe's Shanghai, a somewhat authentic Chinese restaurant. Everyone sits at these big, round tables so you get to pretend like you can't hear your neighbor yelling at their kid to stop putting dumplings in their water cup. So fun. We got hot and sour soup (my favorite!), soup dumplings, and green beans. Everything was so delicious, and it was a noisy, bustling, but fun restaurant.

We shopped some more, and headed towards Madison Square Park, not to be confused with Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks play, and waited in line for a shake from the famous Shake Shack. It's a Burgerville-esque burger and fries stand where the food is all fresh and organic, and people wait in line for hours, it's that good. Recommended by Natalie, expert on all things New York.