Madonna in Concert

 

Madonna is a LEGEND, and I wanted to see her in concert before she got too old to stop touring (although the Rolling Stones are still doing it...). I originally was going to see her over Labor Day weekend (I did see Sting that weekend), but she got sick, so the show was rescheduled for yesterday. That blew my plan of wearing a sexy snakeskin mini-dress; instead I wore a velvet jacket with shoulder pads as a nod to the 80's (but Capital One Arena was so hot I barely even wore it!). At least the show did get rescheduled: I'll never see Celine Dion, whose March 2020 shows never came to pass.

My old boss and I (I've known her for, what, 10 years?) went together to this show, which made the evening even more fun. She had heard that while the concert was supposed to start around 8:00pm, Madonna never goes on stage before 10:00pm. So we spent a good two hours just wandering the halls, getting a drink, and catching up; we weren't interested in her opener, Bob the Drag Queen, either (although in the end he was more like a glorified Emcee). I think because so many people knew Madonna wouldn't start singing until later, the venue was so dead in the beginning: there were no lines, the halls weren't crowded, it was like the apocalypse had happened. We were almost wondering if Madonna was actually going to perform at all!

But perform she did. And she put on quite the show: a very weird one. But, we would expect no less of Madonna. Weird is her thing! But I think we, and many others in the crowd, were disappointed that it wasn't just a glam 80's dance party. Barely anyone was dancing! I think we were all just taking in weirdness: the gender-bending, nudity, bondage, fire... we were mesmerized (but was it in a good way?). Here are some photos to help me explain:

There was a lot of crawling/writhing from the back-up dancers (although they must have been living their best lives!).

This was during "Like a Prayer." At one point the men were hanging in their little spaces like crucifixes...

Some sort of luau ritual...?

And there was boxing. Not sure how that relates.

FIRE!

At one point she was dressed up like Willie Nelson. Hmm...

"I want to perform, but I want to lay down." She is laying on top of this big box, but the camera overhead projected her image onto the sides with a funky background, so she looked like an ameba swimming around.

Madonna wishing she were Lady Gaga (which is very strange, because I'm sure Gaga has always wished she were Madonna).

I normally don't check the set list ahead of time, but my friend did, and we were both bummed that she wasn't going to sing hits like Material Girl or Papa Don't Preach. But she did sing some of my other favorites:

Vogue

Like a Prayer

Like a Virgin

Ray of Light (I had not heard this song in forever!)

Die Another Day (great Bond theme song!)

Hung Up (This song came out when I was in high school, and I don't think I had heard it since!)

Essentially the whole show was set up in "acts," and there were seven of them. Since everything started so late, we already decided ahead of time to leave before the last act so we could get home somewhat earlier (1:00am!). But luckily those were all songs we weren't really into, so no big loss. 

I'm so glad I went to see this concert because who knows if I'll ever get another chance to see Madonna. Now I can put a check next to that name on my concert bucket list! I don't have any concert tickets lined up for the new year, but I'm sure I'll see some great shows in 2024. I can feel it!

Pretty Woman: The Musical

 

I LOVE the movie Pretty Woman. I grew up watching it (maybe even without understanding the prostitute part at first), and I must have seen this movie at least twenty times in my life. I was definitely interested in seeing the musical version at the National Theatre (which was the D.C. debut, by the way), but the tickets were a little expensive. But I won their digital raffle, so I received discounted tickets to see this show last Friday night! I invited my friend Beth to go with me, and we had such a fun time!

To set the stage (no pun intended), I thought the set and costumes were really great. Palm trees transported you to California, luxe columns and curtains brought you inside the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, and you even had the famous balcony at the end where she "rescues him right back." There were so many costume changes for the cast: hookers on Hollywood Boulevard wore next to nothing, young men wore old-timey uniforms as bellhops, and fashionistas on Rodeo Drive had the glitziest ensembles. I even appreciated when the outfits matched those from the movie, like Vivian's famous red gown or the polka-dots she wears to the polo match. I felt like all of these details made the play that much more true to the movie. 

There were really only two parts that didn't match the film. The dinner scene with David Morse is turned into a dancing scene, which works better for a theater performance, anyway. And when Stuckey visits Vivian at the hotel, instead of him slapping her, she hits HIM! The female empowerment switch-a-roo is definitely preferrable to the original!

And I thought the cast did a great job. Ellie Baker was a lovely Vivian, with lots of energy and a charming, down-to-earth sense about her. And while Chase Wolfe is no Richard Gere (but who is?), I especially liked his singing voice, which reminded me of Lee Brice a little bit. I think Rae Davenport, who played Vivian's friend and roommate, Kit, had the strongest singing voice of the bunch, and Joshua Kring, one of the members of the general cast, was an amazing dancer. But I think my favorite character may have been "Happy Man," an amalgam of several characters from the film: the "What's Your Dream?" man on the street, the manager of the BW Hotel, and the store manager when they go shopping for Vivian to get new clothes. All of these roles were, ahem, rolled into one and played by Adam du Plessis; he did a fantastic job transforming into each! Of course the wardrobe changes helped, but I found him believable, and more importantly, likeable, as each character. Everyone was so talented, and they totally did justice to the film, which for me was the most important part!

Here are two video if you want to see more:

*Check out this glowing review from D.C. Theater Arts, too!

Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Muffins

 

Yet another recipe from the America's Favorite Pumpkin Recipes Centennial Kitchen magazine. I have made pumpkin muffins before (check out this blog post for pumpkin oatmeal muffins), but I hadn't tried this recipe yet. Pretty easy, which is my main criteria for trying new recipes!

Ingredients

• 1.75 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 tsps. baking powder
• 1.5 tsps. pumpkin pie spice
• .5 tsp. salt
• .25 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• .5 cup canola oil
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• .5 cups granulated sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly spray muffin cups with nonstick spray or line with paper bake cups.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and nutmeg; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs and oil. Stir in brown sugar, pumpkin, and granulated sugar until well combined. Add flour mixture; stir just until evenly incorporated.
4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Remove muffins from muffin cups; cool completely on wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I will admit that I wasn't exact with my measurements, particularly with the pumpkin, since that was just leftover from another recipe. I also should have been better about breaking down the clumps of baking powder. The recipe did give the option to top the dough with coarse sugar before baking, but I figured these have enough sugar in them to begin with. And I didn't quite gracefully remove them from the pan, but rather flipped them upside down and had them rolling on the wire rack (hence the crisscross pattern on some of them in the photo). 

These are a little dense, and not as sweet as I might like. I think they would taste better with icing, but that's pretty easy to remedy. Add some cream cheese frosting, and it'll taste just like a pumpkin roll! (Which I have made before...)

Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Crumble

I LOVE pumpkin everything, so fall is definitely a favorite season for me when it comes to food. Leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, I wanted to try making this pumpkin spice crumble recipe from America's Favorite Pumpkin Recipes Centennial Kitchen magazine. We actually cut the recipe in half because it calls for TWO cans of pumpkin! That is too much of a good thing! Listed below is the full recipe. 

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 eggs
• 2 15-ounce cans of pumpkin
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1.5 cups granulated sugar
• 2.5 tsps. pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp. salt
• .5 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• .75 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat over to 350° F. Using 1 tablespoon butter, butter bottom and sides of a 13x9-inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, half-and-half, granulated sugar, 2 tsps. pumpkin pie spice, .5 tsp. salt, and .25 tsp. ginger. Spread evenly in prepared baking dish; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine oats brown sugar, flour, and remaining pie spice, salt, and ginger. 
4. Melt remaining 7 tablespoons butter; stir into oat mixture until mixture is completely moistened and crumbly. Sprinkle oat mixture evenly on top of pumpkin mixture in baking dish.
5. Bake 50 minutes or until the pumpkin is set around the edges and center slightly jiggles when baking dish is gently shaken. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with ice cream.

I'm glad I was baking with my mom, because I would have messed up this recipe from the get-go. I was all ready to mix the butter in with the liquid mixture (i.e. the first main step), but my mom had me re-read the recipe to catch my mistake! She also helped me with the math, since we had to divide everything in half. Since we needed three eggs, and it's hard to get half an egg, we used one egg plus some banana to make up the difference there. And we used a 9x9 pan instead (like a brownie pan), otherwise the mixture would have been too thin in the larger dish; we just used cooking spray to grease the dish instead of butter. This was pretty easy to make, and when it came out of the oven, it looked PERFECT!

My dad described it as, "pumpkin pie with a crunchy top." I think that's about right! He had his with whipped cream instead of ice cream, and I just had mine plain, and it was still delicious. If you like cobblers, crisps, or crumbles in general for dessert, you'll like this one, too!

Recipe: Blueberry Banana Muffins

 

While visiting my parents for Thanksgiving, my mom and I made blueberry banana muffins for breakfast one morning. I found this recipe on Food.com, and it seemed easy enough, so we tried it. 

Ingredients

•        3 large ripe bananas
•        ¾ cup sugar
•      1 egg, slightly beaten
•      1/3 cup butter, melted
•      1 cup blueberries
•      1 tsp. baking soda
•      1 tsp. baking powder
•       ½ tsp. salt
•      1.5 cups flour

Directions

1. Mash bananas in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add sugar and egg.
3. Add butter and blueberries.
4. Combine dry ingredients and gently stir into banana mixture.
5. Pour into 12 well-greased muffin cups.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Now, this recipe isn't very well written. Nowhere does it say to preheat the oven, and it doesn't specifically say to mix all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl before adding them to the wet mixture. BUT as an experienced baker, I knew not to skip those two steps. Another thing to try is to add the blueberries LAST and gently fold them in so that they don't get squished through the whole mixing process. Also, I recommend setting the timer for a little less time and checking on the muffins then; we set our timer for 15 minutes, and that was PLENTY of time. Every oven is different!

These muffins are very easy to make and taste quite good. Nice for a light breakfast or mid-day snack!

My Dallas Vacation!

My fiancé's birthday is on Veterans Day, so for the holiday, we decided to go to Dallas to visit his best friend. Plus, his team, the Giants, were playing the Cowboys that weekend, so it was perfect timing!

 Here were the highlights of the trip:

President George W. Bush did the coin toss!

The Cowboys vs. Giants Football Game

Clearly, this was the best part of the trip! I was excited to go to "Jerry World" and take in all the chaos of a Dallas football game. It did not disappoint! There were SO many people there (they sell tons of standing-room-only spots, so there are always people milling around), and the energy was buzzing (with nowhere to escape because the roof was closed). We enjoyed chicken tenders (which were actually quite good), a couple drinks, and some Blue Bell ice cream (we still think Ben & Jerry's is better). The Giants have had a horrible season, so we already knew they would lose, but it was still fun to watch the action (we were pretty close to one end zone) and be surrounded by the whole experience. 

Lee Greenwood was there and sang the song, "God Bless the USA." I LOVE that song, so to hear him sing in live, in honor of Veterans Day, was amazing.

And the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders are INCREDIBLE. You've always heard about them, but seeing them perform in real life was so cool. Here's a video from a previous game:

The Nasher Sculpture Center

"Moonbird" by Joan Miró looks like a unicorn to me!

I always appreciate going to art museums and the like (I visited the Met just a few weeks ago in NYC), so I was happy to visit this sculpture garden in downtown Dallas, which was created from the arts collection of Nasher, the creator of the first indoor mall (which still exists!). As we were walking around, I was surprised (and proud of myself) to recognize many of the pieces as art from artists I've seen before, particularly ones that I saw when I visited the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden: Mark di Suvero (who also has a piece at Dartmouth College), Richard Serra (who has a very similar but bigger piece at Glenstone), and Tony Cragg to name a few. After our walk around the garden, we had lunch at the Henry, which was quite good. It has the perfect rooftop for brunch, too!

Pumpkins near the Henry. In Dallas, it seems like everyone does big piles of pumpkins on their front steps!

Exercising

Ok, I realize this is a pretty weird thing to put on a list of things I did on vacation. But I love to work out, and I was pumped to take both a Pure Barre class and Orangetheory Fitness class, both in Allen, Texas. The Pure Barre was within walking distance of the friend's home, and it's located in a cute little shopping center called Watters Creek. All the stores were already decked out for the holidays; I was almost feeling the Christmas spirit myself! And the coach at OTF was awesome (it was such a small studio that you got a lot of personal attention from the coach). We also went on a couple of walks, so we got to burn lots of calories even while on vacation! (which was good, since we got dessert to-go from the Cheesecake Factory...)

Eating

Behind Mi Cocina are two horse sculptures which everyone climbs on! I had to do it, too :)

Speaking of the Cheesecake Factory, we also had some other good food while we were down there. I don't eat meat, so barbeque and steaks were out (bummer!), but we went to a couple of good restaurants. We visited Mi Cocina in the same lovely shopping center, where we had delicious queso blanco and a Mambo Taxi cocktail (like a frozen margarita with sangria in it). We enjoyed the official birthday dinner at Fork & Fire, which had wonderful ambiance, delicious cocktails, and a special broccoli mash (think mashed potatoes with broccoli pureed in)*. Yum! And while less fancy, I did get to try Whattaburger for the first time at the airport for breakfast; the honey butter chicken biscuit was pretty good (as was the limited-time white chocolate raspberry shake). 

Such a fun double-date birthday dinner at Fork & Fire!

This was such a fun trip! We would like to go back to visit this friend again, maybe to go to the Texas State Fair or to see the rodeo. Either way, I can promise you this won't be my last trip to Texas!

*Read my Yelp review here.

My Chrismukkah Wish List

Image found here

Halloween is over, which mean capitalism America has jumped right into Christmas planning (sorry, Thanksgiving). So with that in mind, to make it easy for my family and friends (because you all want to buy me pretty presents, right? haha), I thought I'd write a blog post listing all the things I'd like from Santa or Hanukkah Harry.

All things Pure Barre and Orangetheory Fitness

I have been going to both of these fitness studios for a while (and now I teach PB), so I love repping them in cute clothes when I work out. I feel like a brand ambassador! And you can never have too many pairs of sticky socks :)

Top Gun: Maverick DVD

I really didn't think I would like this movie because the original is SO good; I thought a remake/sequel would ruin it! But this newer movie did not disappoint! As soon as we left the theater, I already wanted to watch it again. One of the few sequels from Hollywood that is actually nearly as good as the first film, IMHO.

Image found here

BOOKS

As a self-proclaimed nerd, I have always loved reading (even though I feel like I read magazines more often than books these days...). I am a sucker for a good bookstore or a used book sale. I have a LONG list of "want to read" books on my Goodreads list. They are in no particular order; I want to read them all!

A leather moto jacket

A leather jacket is a must-have fashion staple, and the one I have had for the past few years is past its prime (the fake leather is starting to flake and peel. Not a good look!). I usually get my (p)leather jackets from Express, but this season I didn't see any that I liked! I found the two above from Lucky Brand and Fan Jackets (never heard of them). I like some hardwear, but not too much, and I'm torn between a taller collar or the larger lapel. I have a brown-ish leather jacket I got from Stitch Fix a while back (ooh, a gift card for that would be cool!), but I feel like a black one would match more outfits. And even though I'm normally a small in most things, I like a medium in a jacket so that it can fit over sweaters and isn't too tight.

Covered Nights Romper Dress

I'm not normally into rompers (so annoying when you have to pee!), but I love how this one still looks like a shirt dress and covers up the little shorts underneath (so kinda like a skort?). And it comes in this beautiful Dartmouth green color, which I love (obvi). 

Multi-shape Vegetable Cutter Set

I thought these looked so cute and would be a great way to dress up salads (both veggie and fruit varieties). Watermelon in the shape of strawberries? So meta. 

Allen Shaw Creamy Waterproof Lip Gloss

I saw an ad for this product on Twitter. I love Maybelline's Super Stay Matte Ink, and this product looks similar, but glossier/shinier. And they have so many pretty colors; I'm not sure which one I like best! But I love the idea of it being waterproof and lasting all day. So easy!

Tiffany & Co. Sweatshirt

I randomly saw this on Twitter, but how cute is this?! I love that it connects the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's with the classic robin egg blue Tiffany color. Plus, Audrey Hepburn is one of my favorite actresses of all time.

Taylor's Version of "1989"

1989 is by far my favorite Taylor Swift album. I haven't actually listened to this newest version, but I already know I'm going to love it. Blank Space, Wildest Dreams, This Love... I mean, come on!

Chai Maintenance T-Shirt

I think this play-on-words is so funny! And it's almost like an inside joke for members of the tribe 😉 I also think a chai necklace or Star of David necklace would be nice to have as something to wear to Shabbat dinners or holiday services.

Urban Decay Eyeliner

I love Urban Decay eyeliners! They come in such pretty colors, and I especially like the ones that sparkle. I am particularly interested in the one in the "uzi" color, which is silver. It matches everything, and the one I have is almost down to a little nub!

Image found here

Shopping Gift Cards

I know giving gift cards can feel like a cop-out, but sometimes it's not only easy, it's what people want! Then they can pick out exactly what they've been looking for. I never turn down a gift card for Marshalls/TJ Maxx, Victoria's Secret, Francesca's, Kendra Scott... If you know it's a store I go to a lot, then I'll definitely be able to use a gift card there!

Restaurant Gift Cards

I have always loved eating out, but ever since COVID, I love it even more, having missed it for so long! Some favorites are the Cheesecake Factory, InKind (i.e. José Andrés restaurants), South Block... But no Starbucks, since I don't drink caffeine anymore.

Ok, I'll stop for now, but I may update this page a couple of times in the next few weeks as things come to mind... ;)

My Weekend in NYC

Two years ago, my boyfriend (now fiancé) and I visited New York City in the fall, so we were excited to take a repeat vacation to the Big Apple this year. We stayed at the Even Hotel near Grand Central, which was a cool, hip hotel with a great location; the room featured exercise equipment (yoga mat and block, foam roller, resistance bands, and a big exercise ball), and since they gave us free drink vouchers, our first night there we had a happy hour drink at the hotel bar before playing a game of ping pong (my fiancé couldn’t get over the fact that I didn’t hold the handle of the paddle…don’t worry, it’s a Dartmouth thing!). We could easily walk or take the subway from our hotel everywhere we needed to go, so the location was perfect!

We walked around everywhere (we didn’t even take the subway until our second day in town), so we definitely got our steps in! Even in the rain we were walking around getting our much-needed exercise. It’s the best way to explore a city anyway; you never know what you’ll find!

Here were the highlights from our trip:

1.     1. Visiting friends and family

Friends and ice cream is the best combination!

We know a lot of people who live in and around New York, so we made plans ahead of time to make sure to see them. We had dinner with two of my friends who moved to New York after leaving DC this summer; her cousin recommended Bistango, an Italian restaurant in the Kimberly Hotel, and it was very good. Then we stopped by Van Leeuwen for dessert, where my fiancé and I split a mini chocolate lovers sundae. Can’t beat that!

The next day we had Italian food again (this time pizza at Motorino) for lunch with my fiancé’s family. Both his niece as well as his nephew’s girlfriend are pregnant, so we got together with them and their significant others to celebrate their future babies (and our own recent engagement, too). I had met his niece and her husband before, but I had not met his nephew or his girlfriend, so it was lovely to not only meet them but get to know them a little bit. They are all really nice, so it was a very pleasant lunch. AND we went out for ice cream again, and the peanut butter brownie honeycomb is AMAZING!

 Later that night we had dinner at Sabai Thai with a frat brother of my fiancé and his wife; these are people he’s known for DECADES, so I wanted to make a good impression. They were friendly and totally welcoming, so I had nothing to worry about. We enjoyed a long, leisurely dinner of pad thai and yummy cocktails. We almost didn’t want the night to end, but they had a long trip back to New Jersey, so we parted ways late that night, but we hope to see them again soon.

2.    2. Culturing ourselves at the Met

Image found here

W  While we are spoiled with so many free museums in D.C., NYC has lot of great museums, so we figured we’d pay the fees to visit one of them. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a HUGE museum, and they have a special Manet v. Degas exhibit, so we thought we’d certainly get our money’s worth there. That exhibit was interesting, and we learned a lot about the two artists who were contemporaries and even friends. I thought it was cool to compare their art side by side, especially when the content was similar, such as dancers, bathers, or horses. We also looked at a lot of Roman and Greek statues, pottery from ancient Persia, and many paintings from the Impressionists like Monet. We could have been there all day!

3.    3. Enjoying nature

The "Imagine" mosaic in Central Park in honor of John Lennon

While you might not think of getting out in the Great Outdoors in New York City, they do have some wonderful parks. We walked through much of Central Park despite the drizzle the day we arrived, and on the morning we left, we took the subway downtown to check out the High Line and the Little Island (which only opened about two years ago). It’s always relaxing to just walk amongst trees and plants, surrounding oneself with greenery. And we had no rain on our last day, so that was even better!

The Little Island is cool from far away as well as inside the park itself!

4. Exploring Chelsea

      After we walked along the Highline, we stopped by Chelsea Market, which my fiancé had never been to before. Many of the stores weren’t open yet that early on a Sunday, but the market itself was all decked out for Halloween, and we did find a cute shop selling lots of Japanese merchandise like Hello Kitty and Tokidoki.

Vintage vibes at the Hotel Chelsea

      After the market, we walked over to the Hotel Chelsea (colloquially called the Chelsea Hotel). I had recently read an article about the hotel in the Wall Street Journal magazine, which explained the famous history of the hotel (many celebrities and artists used to live there); it had been closed for many years for renovations and only recently re-opened. I loved how they kept the old vibes of the place; you felt like you stepped back in time. And the walls were covered with artwork from former tenants who occasionally paid their rent through their artistic works. We may have stayed for a drink at the bar if it hadn’t been mid-morning!

I feel like this list doesn’t do our trip justice. We walked around so much that sometimes we would just stumble upon random things. We found yummy places to eat (we enjoyed bagel breakfast sandwiches from Ess-a-Bagel and Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company, and read my Yelp review for Clinton Hall), came across family-friendly street markets, and escaped the rain playing house in CB2 and Design within Reach. For only having been in the city for almost exactly 48 hours, we packed a lot in!