The city never sleeps...and neither did I!

As you may already know, I spent part of last week in New York. I was mainly there for Book Expo America (BEA), but I went in early and spent some time with friends and even got to see a family member.

I took the Peter Pan bus to the city on Tuesday afternoon and somehow ended up with a seat to myself. That was a nice surprise! When I arrived, I navigated the subway system to get to my friend's apartment on the Upper East Side. Thankfully, she told me which train to take, which direction to take it, and where to get out. I would have been totally lost otherwise. (It helped that the train I was on was modernized to light up which stop we were at each time.) Then I walked several blocks to her place and somehow managed to get a random chunk of hair stuck on one of my luggage wheels. Only in New York, right? I found my friend's place easily and we had fun catching up for a few hours. She showed me around the top level of her building too. Then it was time for my night on the town.

After getting out of the subway on 50th, I headed to the Gershwin Theater to meet up with "Will" as he was getting out of the show he was seeing (Fun Home, which he really liked). This was my first time seeing him in SIX years, but it somehow felt like no time had been lost. It's amazing how that happens! Of course, the first thing we did was take selfies in Times Square.

Then we headed over to Christopher Street and got ice cream before going to Marie's Crisis Cafe. It's a piano bar where everyone stands around and sings Broadway music. If I weren't so tired, I could have easily stayed all night. Franca, the girl playing piano that night, was so much fun. She was really good on the piano and used an iPad to access all her "sheet" music. She took requests too. That has to be an awesome job....to play Broadway songs all night for a bunch of gay men.  I got to hear (and sing along with) most of my favorites from Little Shop of Horrors, Grease, Avenue Q, A Chorus Line, Rent, Les Miz, etc. She didn't play anything from Wicked while we were there, but I wouldn't be surprised if she did at some point that night. The guys there were awesome. They were getting into the roles for each song. There was this nice woman sitting by me who kept saying that she had to leave soon but didn't want to. Then there was this other woman across from us who reminded me of my mom (who would have loved being there too). I still get show tunes in my head from that evening, as does "Will." We text each other about the songs. (I got one from him recently about "It Sucks to Be Me" from Avenue Q. And I was singing "One" from A Chorus Line while doing some housework.) Needless to say, I got back to my friend's place pretty late. I was impressed that she was still awake. 

The next morning, I headed into Times Square to meet up with "Will" again. We hung out at Shubert Alley to see "Stars in the Alley,"a free outdoor show to introduce the 2014-2015 Broadway season through various songs. It was crowded and we were pretty far back, so I had trouble getting clear pictures. However, I now know that my iPhone camera has a zoom feature. Why I didn't know this before is beyond me! I tried to get some pictures of Darren Criss (was on Glee and is currently in Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and Christian Borle (was on Smash and now is in Something Rotten).

Darren Criss as master of ceremonies

Christian Borle performing a song from Something Rotten

After the show, "Will" and I went out for lunch, where we were finally able to just sit and chat for a while. It was so wonderful to catch up with him. We went to a Broadway souvenir shop, but everything was insanely pricey. ($12.50 for a MAGNET?!?) Then we parted ways so he could go see Something Rotten and I headed to Battery Park to meet my mother-in-law at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, where she is the Chief Development Officer.

When I arrived in Battery Park, I somehow managed to get myself totally lost and Google Maps was NOT helpful at all. I felt bad because I knew my MIL had a meeting at 3:00. However, she came out to help me find my way there and told me her meeting ended up getting cancelled. Besherte! So I got a nice tour of the museum, even though it was brief because I was heading to the book parties afterward. It was still amazing though. I really liked the personable feeling of the displays. There was more to them than just a card stating some facts. Each item and picture had a whole story behind it that was captured in an emotional way. I think if I had a more in depth tour, I would have been a sobbing mess afterward! Overall, I was very impressed and can see why she is so happy there. I got to meet some of the staff she works with, and everyone was very friendly.

(Side note: Today is my MIL's birthday and she's here for the weekend so we can all celebrate together!)

For the next part of my trip, check out my BEA post. (Hey, I could have just said "yada yada yada.")

When I got back to my friend's place after a very busy Thursday morning and afternoon, we just chilled out and had our favorite kind of pizza and really good watermelon. We were in tears laughing about some funny stories about my kids. I even got to meet her boyfriend. (I always feel weird saying "boyfriend" now that we're all adults and out of college, but "significant other" sounds too stiff and "guy she's dating" sounds too casual.) He was really nice and if I weren't so exhausted, I probably would have enjoyed chatting with him even more.

With my friend (and fabulous host for the week)

The next morning, I woke up early to catch the 8:30 a.m. Peter Pan bus back home. I first went to the wrong bus terminal area, but then found the correct one. I definitely got my exercise schlepping around an extremely heavy suitcase full of books.

Overall, it was a wonderful and very memorable visit. I can't believe it's already been a week! Thanks again to everyone who made my trip so special, and that includes all the people I wrote about in my BEA post.

A view of the ball from New Year's Eve.

Times Square...I love all the Broadway signs!