The One About Sarahs...in NYC!

i wish every month was friend month!

(and so far our odds have been looking pretty good)

Sooo November was the month of visitors, and it was da BOMB. Having little pieces of home in NYC was so wonderful, and our teeny living room didn't even mind. At the beginning of November, we got to have Rachel's BFF Allie stay with us - which was a blast & a half - and then the week after, it was my turn. And SARAH GOTCHER came to the big apple! For real!

tada!

Soo Sarah's mom works for an airline, so she gets to travel da globe. for free. and as jealous as that makes me, I'm glad I get the pay off - Sarah in my new hood! ALSO, Sarah had almost never been to new york before, which made this weekend that much more exciting. the world was our oyster! So Sarah's flight got in early while i was still sitting in a show ("Family Furniture" at The Flea Theater - which was a great show. Peter Scolari & Andrew Keenan-Bolger killed it.), so I sped out, met her in the UES & we didn't waste any time in gettin' on dat subway! Then we had a bit of an Alekzas-locked-out-with-no-keys-and-our-phones-are-dead saga, but that saga led us back to Hell's Kitchen over to YUM YUM THAI (surprised?) so we didn't mind. ;) Two bowls of Pad Woonsen & 1 Schmackary's cookie later, Sarah finally got to see our cozy little city apartment!

Even though it now felt like a holiday, I remembered I still had to go to work ;) So while I slaved away at the office, Sarah explored Rockefeller Center, did some shopping, and - oh yeah - got to be in the studio audience that Jimmy Fallon tests his jokes on before his show that evening. (Which, if you're in NYC, you've gotta do it. It's the easiest and most hassle-free way to have hilarious FREE afternoon plans!) We also nommed some pizza from Patzeria for lunch (per Mr. Gotcher's suggestion) and that was a REAL good idea. So I pretty much burst out of the office at 6pm, ran home to grab a hat & a bandaid (& a Rachel), & we all headed over to Madison Square Park for some... SHAKE FLIPPING SHACK.

FINALLY! IT HAD BEEN SO LONG!

(And also it was so fun to be eating dinner with my college roomie & my nyc roomies - so crazy, but so fun.) So after taking down some burgers, fries & shakes, we headed down to Union Square! It was fun - but slightly overwhelming - to decide WHERE you take someone who has practically never experienced NY before, but we did our best. After walking around for awhile, we headed over to Pop Pub & unwound. A little while later we realized how actually tired we were, so Rach & Alekza headed home while Gotch (Sarah Gotcher) & I jetted over to see Times Square at night, and then hit. the. hay.

We slept in a little Saturday morning and then had BIG PLANS to hurry on over to Ess-A-Bagel for some bagels & schmear per everyone's suggestion, and, oh my gosh. People. I'm not even a bagel person (or wasn't, until it became a $1.50 meal...) but when the "schmear" options are cinnamon apple, chocolate chip, and cinnamon raisin, among others, your morning turns out alright, kno what i'm sayin? Also ran into Mrs. Boren - a mom from my old high school who now lives in New York with her ballerina daughter - (so fun!) who apparently gets Ess-A-Bagel every Saturday. And now I know why. And now you'll know why:

apparently a few other people knew about this place too... 

CHOCOLATE CHIP CREAM CHEESE. Like, what.

Then we headed over to Central Park where we planned to spend the better part of our afternoon. And we did. No regretz. We saw the "Imagine" tribute to John Lennon, the (water-less) fountain, the row of wintry trees and the "show-of-your-dreams" street show. And I was just kinda like, "WHY DON'T I COME HERE MORE OFTEN."

Oh & most importantly, we paid a little visit to the bridge that has seen many movie scenes & most excitingly (to us), it has also seen Brandon & Sarah Brooks' engagement! Can't believe that was a year & a half ago! Wish I'd had a blog then, cuz that would've been a pretty amazing planning period/event to blog about. ;) (But you know where you CAN read about it? Mallory - Sarah's sister - wrote a beautiful post about it here: "The Best Engagement Story Ever") Anyway, so we got to see their proposal cabin/shelter/huppa thing! Here, I'll just show you a picture:

There it is! Ah, so beautiful.

if you hate pictures of magical things, then just scroll down quickly til you see more text.

 are you ready for "THE SHOW. OF. YO. DREAMS."

(are you ready to lose "THE NEXT 20 MINUTES. OF. YO. LIFE.")

the ice skating rink of dreams! and of john cusack & kate beckinsale

 in the movie Serendipity! (aka the first date of our dreams)

Then we grabbed a starbucks & pranced around town (also witnessing a possible bike-by theft that was actually a lot more violent and potentially life-threatening than it sounds) before ending up at the meatball shop & yes i'm addicted. i will say i was disappointed that on this particular night washington square park was less than exhilarating, BUT nyc redeemed itself by the fact that Gotch & I were dying to go ice skating & Bryant Park delivered. We were so overcome by holiday cheer and other forms of adrenaline that we even bought a fast pass. LIKE AT SIX FLAGS, YES. And we skated our hearts away & felt just like kate beckinsale, & yes, maybe even the british part too.

don't worry, i gave proper assistance to the small child

wahooooo! (cell phones were illegal & we were under the ice 

patrolman's vocally watchful eye. & by that i mean, Gotch 

probably could've ended up with a date had there been an interest.)

 Then it was Sarah's last full day! Ahh. So we initially departed in hopes of ending up in Greenwich Village, but made a last minute subway decision to go to Soho! We explored in the rain (you know, barber shops, children's apparel, the usual stops), grabbed some coffee, and then made our way over to Wafels & Dinges (holy cow), but on the way over we got ambushed by a giant dog and by that i mean we could not go on until we stalked a dog & his owners all the way into the dog park so sarah could meet him. She will deny this sentence & even now is probably saying, "oh my gosh, that is NOT what happened" BUT IT MOST CERTAINLY IS. Photographed proof to come. (He really was the cutest dog ever/had the coolest "city apt. on the weekends, connecticut home during the week" owners ever.) Then after eating some DANG GOOD waffles, i forced Sarah to relive my first magical day in Greenwich Village involving a glasses store, some random boutiques, but most importantly - Magnolia Bakery. (Which we then decided to box up & wait to eat in front of Rockefeller Center. Despite the existence of another Magnolia Bakery right next to Rockefeller Center.) OK SO PHOTOS:

check out that sweet bond in the top left corner.

wafels & dinges, NOM!

so what if we split a $9 cheesecake just so we could

afford to eat in the cafe that overlooks the rink?

So after one of the best, most action-packed weekends I've had in the city so far, I was devastated that the weekend we'd looked forward to for so long was over. So it was fitting that at the crack of dawn the next morning, Gotch jumped into her taxi on a somber, rainy morn :( I was so glad she came!

Then (skip ahead 2 or 3 weeks) SARAH BROOKS arrived with the rest of the Staats ladies!!!! Well, my silly job kept me from seeing them for their entire first 1.5 days in the city which was crazy, but well worth the sweet, sweet reunion & delish, delish dinner at Cara Mia. (omg. see my blog post from earlier this summer on my top restaurants. and Cara Mia is so there.) And what a blessing it ALWAYS is to spend time with the precious women in that family! They're so full of joy and hilarity and love, and I just love 'em! After an amazing night of catching up and nommin', we obviously made a stop at Schmackary's. (Only the 2nd of 3 Schmackary's stops I made in a 5-day period... I wasn't necessarily embarrassed, but liiiiike a little bit.) I also got to finally show Sarah & her mama my place! They graciously climbed all flights of stairs, & I was so excited to show them the 'hood I've been trying to describe for the past 4 months. Then we strolled around Times Square, bonded, did a little shopping & called it a NIGHT. 

ahhhhh these are my people 

The next day I woke up just in time to catch the tail end of breakfast with them at COSI. Ohhhh, it had been way too long since I ate that oatmeal. Then the Staats introduced me to the most beautiful of all the little Christmas stores - "Christmas Cottage." No I do not have $30 to spend on a pie ornament, but yes I sure do like looking at it. So then we kinda said our final goodbyes as they went off into another full day of snow-filled shopping/shows/food/etc, etc :) (And I had a "First Date" broadway ticket rush to go to! Omg. More on that on a later date.) But after this crazy bowl season at work, this was the perfect Christmas weekend I needed with some of my favorite people in the world! (+ a new favorite - Amy & Austin's soon-to-be-in-this-world baby!) Spending time in NYC is fun, but there's nothing quite like spending time in NYC with the people you'd have the best time with anywhere. And hopefully it's not too painfully long until it happens again :)

 ah, there's nothing quite like watching these two interact. 

i consider it a unique privilege. also, that's not Mother Abbess in 

the photo on the right. that's our very own Diane.

i love her very much

so that was A LOT, i know. but i still feel frantically behind in these posts. so much to say, so little space in this box! (actually the space is essentially limitless, so you can thank me for my remarkable restraint.) next up - Christmas! and 2014! Holy smokes. Get ready, peeps. There's a lot to come & I have a feeling it's gonna be GOOD.

But until then...

HAPPY 7 DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS!

         that's crazy.

Thanking, Giving, Thanksgiving-ing, Etc!

happy december, everybody!

i cannot believe how long it's been since my last post! and if you've really been pining for an update, then i apologize. there's oh. so. much.  to report on, & it's going to take a couple posts over the next few weeks! but first up:

thanksgiving! ... in texas!

let's take some time to re-thanksgiving, shall we? so you may or may not know that i had full intentions of spending my first out-of-college thanksgiving away from home. it made me incredibly sad, but i was prepared to do it! a mark of adulthood it was! i had started preparing in october, trying to make plans to see the parade, go to trinity grace's thanksgiving meal, etc., and it was going to be just fine. i already knew roommate #1 (rachel) would be out of town, but then...roommate #2 (alekza)'s sweet momma surprised her with tickets home! and the following thought of being alone in my home on thanksgiving was a VERY sad one indeed. i hesitated to tell the 'rents, because i still wanted to stick it out in nyc. but once they found out, i received a few miss calls during bible study, and then the following text: "you might wanna call...your dad bought you a ticket!" well, i spent a few moments in panic over the possible price of this surprise, my "dwindling" adulthood, etc, etc, til my bible study leader Mariette said, "Kelsey, they want to give you this gift - and it's awesome! RECEIVE THIS GIFT!" to which i replied, "OK YOU'RE RIGHT" and freaked out to my parents because they are the most wonderful, generous parents of all time!

then, a "nor'easter storm" decided to sweep in, causing delta to transfer wednesday flights to tuesday - for free! and causing my awesomely awesome boss to let me go home a day early! WHAT. so those 5 full days at home were the sweetest thanksgiving days i coulda asked for. some pics:

andrew's only request was that we ice skate for an hour.

& trust me, grapevine mills is almost as magical as rockefeller itself.

she might have grown up on new jersey skating rinks...

but she's still more comfortable when at rest.

so that was fun! followed by some fun in the food court (what truly great holidays are made of?), sonic dranks, and a non-sensical amount of time spent shopping (aka roaming around) in Sun & Ski. the poor lady following us around surely thought she was going to get mega commission out of us. but alas...we were a pretty big let down. (bought ski pants, though! & chapstick!) and about 74 glorious hallmark movies later (i don't get that channel in nyc), it was finally thanksgiving day!

sisters, sisters...

wahoo, the gang's all here! ah, still can't get over how happy i was to be spending the day with them! and glad i still haven't had to have a thanksgiving without 'em. maybe next year ;) and so weird to be watching the Macy's Parade with my fam per usual, but to live there now! and to like...take my lunch breaks RIGHT there. i watched the parade last thanksgiving & had no clue...so crazy. but i digress. so usually we have most of our extended family over to our house for thanksgiving, and even though our numbers were a little smaller this year, it was still some dang good Rhodes food & some dang good Rhodes company. it was so fun to catch up on everyone's lives & get to fill them in on what's been going on in mine! and even though sharing the details of my apartment layout with relatives suddenly makes it sound that much smaller...i felt pretty proud just the same ;)

the cousin table via andrew's fish eye lens. love these cuzzins.

a couple that pianos together...is a couple that makes for some precious photos:)

the expression permanently affixed to dad's face when he does anything involving a remote amount of effort;)

^^ ken ;)

so, when crock pot chicken & gourmet oatmeals define your "homemade food" portfolio, anything served in a pyrex dish will do. but man, WAS I SPOILED. that turkey. those rolls. that stuffing. the corn. and those SWEET TATERS! it was some kind of joke. and then i really don't want to bring up the desserts except to say i only got away with eating my extensive portions of pecan pie/carrot bundt cake/pumpkin rolls through andrew's agreement to share a plate with me. which of course meant he wasn't actually hungry enough for dessert because he has this odd disorder called "i stop eating when i'm full."

finally, there were family photos. our family always seems to get one large family photo every thanksgiving even though we've never actually sent out christmas cards. but for some reason this year we turned it into a major production...we included the animals! an outdoor photo, animals roaming nearby...we're just your average everyday farmhouse family;) (in the middle of colleyville). but we must be country people cuz we're from texas. or at least that's how i'm told it works by northerners. but anyway, the picture actually turned out really well & i really really love this photo!:

THE ANIMALS!

then we said our goodbyes, actually found some room for a dinner of sorts, & mulled over a late night movie. (just kidding, we decided on elf & it took us like 2 seconds.) 

the next day i was a little hesitant to go into dallas on black friday (i'm always hesitant to spend time driving into dallas when i'm only home for a few days! also...our family doesn't love black friday.) but i gotta say, my mom, kristen & i had a pretty successful & good day of christmas errands! primarily thanks to gap & west elm, but also thanks to ITALIAN FOOD. & because spending time with my mom & sis #2 (& sis #1, had she been there!) is a really refreshing way to spend a day. And if that weren't enough, I got to sneak in a quick late night coffee with honorary sister #4, little caylala chastain!

gosh, it was good to see this cute lady. but so weird that she's already close enough to graduation to start talking about the future & where she might end up. i'm not old enough for this yet! turn back time! i liked it when all that was on our to-do list was eating brownie batter out of the mixing bowl & watching high school musical. but at the same time...it's pretty exciting to hang onto these friendships while watching each other start to do the things we've always said we wanted to do. i hope that's ^ one reunion i'll keep having for a really long time.

and also, them:

Even when I saw these people everyday, it was never enough. But every teeny reunion I get with them fills me up just enough to make it to the next one. I'm so thankful for these people...and the ones who aren't in this picture that I wish could have been :( I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but it is weird, the process of developing friendships in new york. I've met some rather awesome people so far that I hope stick around in my life for awhile, but NYC is just known to be an "oh, I spent a year or two in NYC right out of college" kind of place, so it's hard to know how long you might have with any given friendship. People all come here for different reasons, and thus, people all leave for different reasons at different times. You might develop an amazing friendship your first year in the city, but wait, it's their fourth year in the city. And they just got engaged. So they want to settle down & relocate the next year. Or they're about to graduate from grad school & they're heading south after graduation. Etc. etc. It's just weird! It's something you don't often think about being an issue! Isn't the issue of rent & employment & feeding-of-self ENOUGH? ;) anyway, all this nonsense to say, I'm so thankful to have ^ these friendships as a sort of platform to step back on no matter the status of new friendships that come & go. because they ain't going nowhere. i just wish that if they were...that'd it be to new york city, preferably on my doorstep. so anyway, we had a good time at Corner Bakery. caught up on job status, marriage status, birthdays, family, highs, lows, light-up toy chickens and mature stuff like 'at. ;) and i soaked. up. every. minute!

then i got to:
decorate the tree with my family!  

my favorite day of the calendar YEAR. we drank eggnog, we ate pie, we played Amy Grant/Avalon/the Carpenters Christmas cds, we played a board game, and we were M-E-R-R-Y. So then I took enough mental pictures to be able to pretend all of the decorations were following me home to my apartment for appx. the next 25 days. Anyway, it was really hard to leave, but i guess new york at christmas time ain't that bad. ;) So now i'm back in the big apple, and it's actually pretty magical! Trying to balance Bowl Game season at work with Christmas party season with freezing season with I want time to enjoy Christmas in New York season. And then a few auditions added in like little early-mornings-man-im-tired sprinkles on top. WHEW. it's been crazy. but i'm infinitely grateful for it! God has blessed me & blessed me & then when I think surely I'm undeserving of more gifts, He's back at it again. This city, this family, these roommates, this job, in the words of Bing "iiii've got plenty to be thankful for." Yeah, it's been a giant learning season, and sometimes growing hurts, but I'm so thankful for the final product God has planned through that growth. He's teaching me patience, selfessness, trust, gentleness & just a whole lot of other fruits of the Spirit I've been needing, and I could write a whole blog post on it. And i probably will. ;) and thus i leave you, with a few more pics:

love that momma of mine :)

that time when the horse wanted to be the star of the family photo

we like to call this: "Andrew & Kelsey's engagement photo"

and "a girl and her dog"

love these people so much!!

aaaand Quelf ;)

Merry 13 days til Christmas to YOU!

The One About Theatre

Wait, what? This blog was supposed to be about theatre? Oh yeeeaah...
So let's talk about it, yeah?

In the past couple months, we have gotten to experience some kewl theatre. And in fact, I don’t think I’ve mentioned any of them since Glass Menagerie. Who do I think I am?! So let’s travel back a few weeks…

The Magnet Theatre. I unfortunately don’t have pictures to prove it (what!), but Victoria got me to come to a show at Magnet Theatre, and this was cool…cuz it’s an improv theatre! And even cooler is that it was a musical theatre improv show! I had never even heard of that, and I believe the concept started there at the Magnet Theatre (correct?). Anyway, it was awesome. As with any improv show I watch (G-Troupe included), it’s one of those things where Victoria & I sat the whole time with our minds running, trying to think of what we’d come up with in the same scenario – meaning, could I do this & actually be funny? I think I decided – as with G-Troupe – that the answer was a little bit no. But I guess you never know til you try! (So I may never know.) But each group did an incredibly impressive job, and I’m sure I’ll be back – whether taking a class or watching a show!

"Aquarius" - one of the groups we saw that night! Hilarious.
Photo cred: The Magnet's website

Fetch Clay, Make Man. Also, did I ever mention that Rachel & I saw a play about Muhammad Ali? Cuz we did. We were able to receive comp tickets (fancy jargon for free tickets;) for New York Theatre Workshop’s "Fetch Clay, Make Man." Review here. It was our first free show in NYC, so we were already pretty giddy about that, but then we really enjoyed ourselves. The plot revolves around Ali’s relationship with actor Stepin Fetchit, their unique relationship, and how it all fit into the racial context of the time. I wasn’t sure how engaged I could be in a play about boxing, but the characters’ relationship had such deep implications & the actors’ performances (particularly Ray Fisher & K. Todd Freeman) were so compelling that we easily would’ve recommended anyone to enjoy this play themselves. Also, their use of media/video technology to build upon the play’s message almost served as a third character in a way that was both gripping & impressive. Loved it!

Fetchit & Ali -- so good! Photo cred: NYdailynews.com

Dear Mr. Rosan. So this was cool…a good friend of my sister’s from Baylor – Alex Witherow – has been doing the theatre scene in D.C. & NYC for awhile now, & I got to go see him in an Off-Broadway show called, “Dear Mr. Rosan,” for which Alex did the fight choreography & also rocked it. Niiiice. My roomie Alekza sweetly attended with me as I led her to the wrong “Roy Arias” theatre, and we proceeded to have to SPEED 4½ blocks over to the correct theatre. (Woops.) And this was another show that we thoroughly enjoyed. Set during the Great Depression, the play centered on one man & his family’s struggles, with a pretty significant sub-plot involving a man named Mr. Rosan who places an ad in the paper offering some money to families who will send him letters regarding their monetary needs. (Apparently this is based on a real article in the New York Times about a man named Mr. Samuel Stone. Pretty cool!) One of the neatest parts to me was that there were a few songs – that I liked enough to ask about – that were original pieces written for this specific production. I also loved that the theatre and atmosphere was intimate enough that the audience felt completely at home, and you were able to casually interact with the cast members in the lobby and elevator afterward…and they were kind enough to welcome the opportunity - even initiated many of the conversations themselves! Finally, I thought it was really cool that the company, Purple Threads Ensemble, prides themselves on their motivation to both imitate and ignite real conversations being had. Solid production, indeed!

Awesome job, Alex! Killed it.

Anthem. Just a couple more... So, this week Rachel & I went to our second comp'ed show! We saw "Anthem" at the Baryshnikov Arts Center. We went into this play knowing little about it other than that it was an adaptation of of Ayn Rand's novel by the same name and that the four named characters were Equality, Liberty, Democracy & International. In addition to those names, the set let us know that this was going to be very unlike a traditionally staged play. The ground was covered in ERS lights faced upward, and during the show they used these lights as obstacles, enemies and representations of several different objects. They also utilized a huge movie-theatre-like screen for video clips throughout. It was pretty awesome. The basis of the plot was of a repressive government seeking to enforce equality by keeping each citizen from choosing their own career, feeling any emotion but 'happiness,' and from asserting themselves as better than anyone else - including a law against working/creating/thinking aside from the "collective group." And the main character - Equality - begins to realize that something must be wrong with this way of thinking, so he breaks off by himself every night, eventually creating electricity (by himself) which ultimately leads to the turning point of the play. And in the midst of this drama was a refreshing, forbidden love story between Equality and a girl named Liberty - and both actors played out this relationship so believably, it was so enjoyable! Anyway, as much as this play was consumed by dialogue, it did cause many interesting questions to arise such as "Do we lose some of our individuality when we're constantly consumed by fitting in with the collective?" and "Are all of the truths that society leads us to believe actually 'truth' to us?" It was a good - albeit, unique - theatrical experience, and I really hope to see Matthew Lieff Christian in more productions because he killed it!

A little glimpse at the set, so interesting!
(Those are the light instruments at the bottom.)

Romeo + Juliet. FINALLY, and MOST DYNAMICALLY - Rachel & I went to our most recent comp'ed ticket show this past Wednesday. We saw "Romeo & Juliet" at Classic Stage Company starring Julian Cihi as Romeo & Elizabeth Olsen - the sister of those twins by the same name - as Juliet. ;) It also starred T. R. Knight as an incredible Mercutio & MY favorite - Daniel Davis as Friar Laurence ... aka NILES from THE NANNY. I died!! I even surprised myself at how excited I was to be within a few feet of Niles! My dad & I are huge fans... Anyway, this production was breathtaking, modern, energetic, edgy & everything I love about Shakespeare reproductions. It reminded me of when we saw "Richard III" at the Royal Shakespeare Company during Baylor Theatre abroad last summer. That Shakespeare play with its edgy costumes and contemporary soundtrack was kiiiind of a Shakespeare game-changer for me - which I appreciated - and this play was the same way!

R & J after the Capulet's feast. It was awesome.
Photo cred: NY Times

It started out with each character walking out one-by-one and lining up with their respective families - Capulets on one side, Montagues on the other. It was awesome. And before I ramble on forever & ever, I just want to say that Elizabeth Olsen killed it. She wasn't an over-dramatic, damsel-ey Juliet. She was a quirky, energetic Juliet with a CRAZY talent at creating real, heart-wrenching tears onstage. She was the type of Juliet that would say some bold "Shakespeare-ey" statement like "Come to thy heart as that within my breast!" and would then walk off-stage with an expression like "within my breast?! that was so stupid, juliet..." Ha! It was so awesome. And then Mercutio. OH GOSH. Possibly the best I've ever seen. He was likable, hilarious, terrifying & everything else I will now ever expect to see in a Mercutio. And the set was almost bare, with just a row of chairs in the back & one table, with a bucket at the front of the set where they'd grab their "blood packets" before fights without even trying to hide it from the audience. Which just made it even cooler. It was one of those plays where when the final lights went down, the entire audience just sighed of every emotion. I couldn't recommend it more highly! If you're in NYC... DON'T DELAY. SEE THIS PLAY. ;)

T. R. Knight as Mercutio & Julian Cihi as Romeo
Photo Cred: Broadwayworld.com

So anyway, there you go. You are currently up to speed with about .03% of the shows going on in NYC right now. ;) But we still can't get over the fact that we can just go through our normal days & then casually get the chance to see some of the best theatre in the country later that night. Gosh, so lucky! But we don't take it for granted! On the contrary, we are SCROUNGING for ways to fit even half of the shows we want to see into our budget. But we'll figure it out eventually. And when that happens, I'm sure you'll see a blog post about it.

In the meantime...

Here's a pic of Rachel after she dropped her 

freshly-dishwashed retainer in the toilet... Okay bye!