Super Update

Hello! So it has been over a year since I've last updated...life has been so crazy and busy! Lets do a quick recap! So since the 5.8.13 Sox game, the Sox (obviously) won the 2013 World Series! Of course, I was at their parade! But more on that later. In May I saw Stomp for Leah's Birthday at PPAC, and in Boston Alaina and I went to see In The Heights, by the Speakeasy Stage Company in Boston(had never seen that group before, and I was impressed!) So in June, I went to Block Island in RI for the first time with my friend Jes. We were not impressed, and do not get the hype. My friend Alaina and I participated in the Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl, which was fun. For just $10, it was all you could eat ice cream from about 20 different venues. I ate 13 cups of ice cream, she ate 16. Not bad, considering we went for a HUGE lunch before hand! I saw War Horse at PPac, which I surprisingly liked, and Kristin had her annual Tony Party in June, with Kinky Boots being crowned Best New Musical of 2013. Alaina and I dressed up as Elder Cunningham and Elder Price from Book of Mormon...cuz you know, rule 72 states you can not leave your mission companion! I saw Billy Elliot for the first time at the Bushnell theater in CT with Sarah, and LOVED it...Oh Sir Elton John, you do create wonderful musicals! I am sorry I boycotted this one for awhile...lesson learned! I also went to the Boston Children's Museum for the first time since I was 10, with Leah and her son, Kason. It was fun! I really enjoyed reliving my childhood! July brought me to another Sox game on July 2, plenty of fireworks, both at Mccoy Stadium and at Pierce Field, for the 4th, Back to Governor's Island in NYC to see my beloved Figment with Jes, (and this year they had vintage amusement park rides, which were awesome!) We saw Rock of Ages at night, and Jes found one of the guitar picks they throw out at the audience, and let me have it! We also went to Art of the Brick, which was an INCREDIBLE lego exhibit at Discovery Center Times Square. My Auntie Rea celebrated her 95th Birthday on July 14!! Imagine...95 years old! I visited Colt State Park several times this summer, and Boston many more times-including Boston's Figment-which doesn't impress me as much as NYC's, and something called Outside the Box, which was more art, performance art, street art, and free concerts-Including the Mighty Mighty Bosstones! I look forward to 2015's Outside the Box! I went to the WWII Memorial Park in North Attleboro, which had a little zoo. It was free, not super impressive, but had more animals than Slater Park! I also visited Fort Wetherell, which is an abandoned fort in Jamestown, and even scaled the cliffs to get down to the breathtaking water views...Me...scaling cliffs...Jes and Justin at their best lol It took some coercing, but they got me down there in one piece! Will I do it again? Not on your life! But I am glad I did it!! We also went to Beavertail in Jamestown, right on the water...the breaker rocks I am much more comfortable with! I'd go back there! :) August brought my annual trip to Martha's Vineyard, which was beautiful as always! Buttonwood Zoo with Brandon was fun, even though it was in the rain! Trinity Rep Celebrated 50 years, and had a Block Party, which was really fun, complete with performances, both inside the theater and out, food, costumes, walking tours of behind the scenes...nothing was off limits! Definitely a fun experience, one I am glad I got to enjoy! Went to Water Wizz for the first time in years, it was fun but definitely lost something since my childhood! I went to see Dropkick Murphys at the Newport Celtic Rock Festival, which was fun! Hung out with my friend Brigid and her son, and DKM were awesome! The end of August brought another Boston Adventure, with the Stone Zoo(They had a koala on loan, I HAD to see him!)not to mention the beautiful, upclose Jaguar!! and Shake Shack in Newton after that! I also started nursing school in August(but learned it wasn't for me after the first semester!) September I was back in NYC for the Broadway Flea Market, where I scored 25 tshirts for $12, my snowglobe of course, amongst other things! I also saw First Date as my matinee...SUCH a great show!! Very applicable to my life! lol October brought a Salem Adventure with Alaina, where we did the Salem Vintage Photos I love so much! The Jack O Lantern Spectacular at the Roger Williams Zoo, and of course my NYC bday trip with Pam...we saw How 2 B A New Yorker, and Big Fish, both which were fantastic, and spent the rest of the day at various stores and in Central Park! November the Sox had their World Series parade, and of course I was in my spot at Copley, and wormed my way right to the front! DKM were also in the parade as always! Afterwards Brandon and I met up and walked around Boston, to Fenway in time to watch the players drive away, and then to BU as he wanted to check it out. Later in November we also went back to Boston for the opening of the new Hall of Human Life exhibit at the Museum of Science, and to the Frost Ice Bar in Faneuil Hall...that was an experience! I would go back...it was fun. The whole room was made of ice-tables, benches, even the glasses you drank from! They give you big parkas to wear. Definitely something to see! And they change the decor in there as well! The end of November brought my first visit of the Christmas season to La Salette Shrine for the lights! December I went to the Cape Codder for the Enchanted Village, and saw the Cape Pops perform their Christmas concert. I went to the Taunton Christmas Parade for the first time since Ray graduated, and it was nice to see it again! We went to Sea World Orlando and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom on a Mini-Vacation. Right before Christmas, I did my annual New York at Christmas trip...I went with Jes, Kristin went with her brother, Kevin. We all met up for lunch at Serendipity 3! Jes and I went to the NY Botanical Gardens for the Christmas Train Show, something I had always wanted to do! It was awesome! The day was amazing, too...something like 64 degrees! On Dec 21!! We saw Gentleman's Guide To Love and Murder at night...something I'd heard nothing but raves about so I took a chance...and HYSTERICAL! We were 2 rows from the front! (Good thing we saw it then, as it went on to win Best New Musical in 2014! Now tix are untouchable!) Finally, to end the year, Mandi and I went up to Boston for First Night, where we basically walked around looking at ice sculptures and doing First Night Figment, which had an awesome fire skeeball, and then eating ice cream while watching fireworks on the Harbor. A fun night! Hello 2014! Winter brought one of the coldest, snowiest winters ever. January I still managed to snag tickets to Wicked, winning the lottery at PPAC with Kristin, saw Working, a musical collaboration with Stephen Schwartz and Lin-Manuel Miranda up in Boston on a very snowy day with Alaina, managed a NYC trip to see Matilda with Kristin, and finally, got Rock of Ages tickets at PPAC with Holly! Not bad for a bad winter! February was uneventful, as it was too bad to go anywhere. March, however, I was back in business! Back to NYC with Kristin to see Bullets Over Broadway, which was hilarious and I loved it! A true Broadway show, and I got to meet Zach Braff after :) We also went to see the Beatles Exhibit at Lincoln Center. It was(FINALLY!) warm enough to go walking around Providence, go to the RISD Museum, and even a trip to Colt State Park! We also celebrated my cousin Heidi's 26th Birthday at Spumoni's with the entire family, and Alaina and I went up to Concord, went to the Old Schwamb Mill where we got a free tour, checked out a farmer's market, ate at Fuddruckers, went to Walden Pond and the Author's Cemetery, Saw Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and ended the day at Jordan's Furniture in Reading for Beantown, USA, Trapeze School, and Liquid Fireworks, then popped over to Natick for Jordan's Furniture New Orleans show! April was long coming after this winter! As a family we went up to the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, which was cute, and then we went to the National Seashore, and saw some lighthouses.We also went to Ptown, and walked around in Hyannis at the Harbor. A beautiful weekend at the Cape! For my mom's Birthday, I took her to see Stars On Ice, featuring Olympians Charlie White and Meryl Davis, amongst others. Jes and I saw Rockapella perform at the Stadium Theater in Woonsocket, and they were fantastic! Ending April took me back to NYC, where I thought I was seeing the Rockettes' Spring show, Forbidden Broadway, and Rocky the Musical. Upon arriving in NYC, on this torrentially raining day, I learned the Rockettes' show was NOT going on as expected, they had cancelled it for a year. I got refunded my money and was trying to figure out what to do with my newly opened time. I decided walking in the rain was fun, so I headed up towards Dylan's Candy Bar, with the intent of going to Roosevelt Island. I stopped at FAO Scwhartz, to dry off and check out the Lego exhibits and other things. It was nice with no people! Finally got to the Roosevelt Island tram, which was fun to take over the city! Roosevelt Island itself, however, looked like Manhattan. Was disappointed, so took the tram back, stopping in at Dylans to dry off this time, and began talking to one of the workers there who told me about the show he was currently in(Tony and Tina's Wedding) until it was time to head to Forbidden Broadway. I arrive at Forbidden Broadway with ten minutes to spare...and the doors are locked. What?? I make a split decision and head up to Les Miserables, and managed to snag $30 seats...6 rows from the front! I FINALLY dry off completely during the 3 hours I am in Les Mis...only to go outside to a continual downpour...soaked again! I had some time to kill before meeting my friend Jenny for dinner, so I popped into the Tony Pop-up store across the street and plot what I want to buy in the future. I meet Jenny for dinner, dry off some more while having great company, and then head back in the rain to Rocky. I wasn't excited for Rocky initially, but the show surprised me! I loved it, especially how the ring was literally IN the audience at the end! I headed home drenched, but happy! May...so many things happened in May! First, we had our mini cruise to Canada from San Francisco! We almost didnt make it over, but somehow things worked out! we left from San Francisco, and headed for our first port, Astoria OR. But we ended up with a day at sea, because the boat couldnt pull in to Astoria. Bummed, but I had fun on board, watching movies and playing trivia games as well as whale watching-even saw some orca spouts! Our next port was Nanaimo, which was beautiful, a quaint seaside city! We had a walking tour, and tried the Famous Nanaimo Bar-def recommend!! Our final day was Vancouver, where we had some time to kill and rode the Vancouver Skyride which was like Disney's Soarin! The end of May, Kristin and I went back to NYC and saw Violet, with Sutton Foster, which we were initially excited for...but then found extremely boring! We also ate lunch with Jenny at Serendipity 3. I was supposed to see Forbidden Broadway as my makeup day, but wouldn't you know...the theater lost power that day! Unreal, right?? So I had to reschedule YET AGAIN!! I did go on The Ride in NYC...which was fun--and covered as it was raining AGAIN...but I didn't really learn anything I didn't know. Great for tourists, though! The day after was my friend Shirley's husband Mark's surprise 30th bday which was Ghostbuster themed, and fun! :) The end of May was our annual NYC weekend, which was with Kristin, Jes, and I! We arrived on a Thursday, after an hour train delay at New Haven. We dropped our stuff off at our hotel and went on our way to use our New York Pass! First was getting tickets to the Clipper Ship Cruise for later in the afternoon. Then we went over to Ellis Island, but we were disappointed, it wasnt what we remembered as kids! We left early, and headed to the Jewish Museum, which was AWESOME...but we had to leave before we were done to make the Clipper Ship! The ship was a relaxing ride(for us...for everyone else it was essentially a booze cruise) around the Hudson, seeing downtown Manhattan, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, Governor's Island, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island. After that, we headed back to the hotel to get our bags to our room, relax for a few, then grabbed dinner at Cosi and saw our first show of the evening, Aladdin! Aladdin on Broadway was phenomenal, and James Monroe Iglehart as the Genie definitely stole the show! After Aladdin, we went to Rockefeller for Top of the Rock, which had beautiful night views! Yes, all in one day! Tired yet?? Friday we woke up early for Our Walkin Broadway Tour at 930. It was a fun tour with stops at various theaters with some information about shows, cast members, and the theaters themselves. There was some clips from shows being played on our headsets also. After that, we headed down to the Piers for the Full Island Circle Line Cruise, which was a 3 hour leisure cruise filled with information about the entire Island of Manhattan...which is the only way I will ever go to some places...such as the Bronx and Harlem! I absolutely loved this cruise. I recommend it for anyone visiting NYC for the first time...we had it on the NY Pass, but it's worth the price ticket! After that, we went on the Inside Broadway Tour, which was almost identical to the Walkin Broadway tour, but we didn't pay for it! Thank god for the pass, because I would have been upset if we had paid for essentially the same tour as the morning! After the tour, we headed to Buca di Beppo, which was ALSO on the NY Pass...Buca is a restaurant where they serve "family style" food...Jes and I split spaghetti and meatballs...and we ended up paying only $3 TOTAL...bc with the pass, Buca took $10 off your meal...PER PERSON! After dinner, Jes and I went to see the Accidental Pervert off Broadway--which was HILARIOUS! I hadn't laughed so hard in a long time! and Kristin went to see Rocky. After, Jes and I headed back uptown to do the Skyride(which is in the Empire State Building, and NOT anything like Disney's Soarin, or Vancouver's Skyride! I do NOT recommend seeing this UNLESS it is on the NY Pass... the ticket price is at a ridiculous $42 for a motion sim ride that hasnt been updated since 1995!) After that we went to the top of the Empire State Building, which essentially was the same views as Top of the Rock...I think we should have done one during the day, but maybe next time! On our way back, we stopped at Junior's Cheesecake...and then we saw a huge crowd outside the Richard Rodgers...it was IDINA!!! I managed to get a great pic of her, but no autograph, sadly! But I am happy with a pic! At this point you would think we are exhausted...and done...right? Nope. Enter Saturday!! Saturday we started the day with Serendipity 3, then headed down to see If/Then with Idina Menzel! I LOVED If/Then...don't know why it wasn't nominated for a Tony! I think we are all in consensus that If/Then was our fave show of the weekend! After If/Then Jes and I went to see 50 Shades The Musical Parody, which was funny as hell, and then we met back up with Kristin to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch with Neil Patrick Harris...who was superb! The show was fantastic! We didnt get to meet Neil, sadly, but I am glad we got to see him! Then we went home. 9 attractions(10 if you include Buca) and 5 shows in three days! Exhausting but fun! What a May!! June started out with a visit to the Museum of Science with Shirley and Nikki for the Grossology Exhibit which was fun! We also went to Terrorcon at the Convention Center. Jes and I went up to Salem and Gloucester, for the Hammond Castle(Very cool!) The Toy Museum(it has since closed, sadly, bc it was awesome!), the Peabody Essex Museum, and Salem WIllows(which didn't impress me much...except for the sunset!) We also went to Jordan's in Reading, for Beantown USA and Trapeze school and Liquid fireworks...and I finally got to try the ice cream in there which was great! June also had a visit to the Roger Williams Zoo and Colt State Park, and my first visit to the Bronx Zoo(via bus trip!) I really liked the Bronx Zoo...its HUGE though and I didn't get to see everything! But I enjoyed what I saw...I can only go by bus trip though, as I can't get there myself in NYC...not without taking busses and that isn't happening! To end June, was my cousin Heidi's Bridal Shower at Country Gardens in Rehoboth...a Beautiful venue! It was a hectic but fun month! July...July started out great-Went to Craigville Beach for the sunset and to Four Seas for my favorite ice cream ever! Went back to NYC with my friend Melonie for Governor's Island and Figment, which we sadly didnt have a lot of time as we decided to rush Holler If You Hear Me, the Tupac musical, which sadly closed...we had front row seats and though I liked the show, I knew it's shelf life was very limited...and sure enough it closed the following week. I FINALLY got to see Forbidden Broadway, and THAT was closing the week after as well...and because he felt bad that I tried for Forbidden Broadway TWICE and couldnt see it through no fault of my own, he gave Melonie a comp ticket too! We also went to the Avengers exhibit at Discovery Center Times Square. I went walking with Shirley, Nikki, Heather, and her daughter Lily, at Borderland, which was fun. The following weekend was my friend Shirley's Surprise 40th birthday, and I had volunteered to take her. That went well, as she was not expecting it from me :) She had a nice party. But that same day, I received terrible news. My Uncle Danny, father to Heidi, who was getting married in just three weeks, had passed away. Heart Attack. That week was extremely painful...with his wake and his funeral. My heart goes out to my cousins, and his poor girlfriend, Nella. My family collaborated with a poem for him, which I will post as a separate post. After all that, I ended the month with Fabi, seeing 13 the Musical at the Stadium Theater(because we had purchased tickets way back in March.) August...what a crazy month this has been!! I took Heidi for a pedicure as a pre-wedding present, which was fun to have some cousin bonding! Our family from California came in on August 5th. August 6th was the wedding rehearsal...and my orientation during the day at Bridgewater State University, where I am entering in Sept as a senior in the Health Management field...I am very excited about this, more so than I was for nursing! Heidi's wedding rehearsal went well, it was beautiful at Ocean Cliff right by the water in Newport! Afterwards, we all had a buffet dinner at a nearby pizza place and watched the slideshow of Heidi and Fabio that she had made. (Fabio is from Verona, Italy! He had 20 people fly in for his wedding, which was incredible!) The next day started out beautiful, my family and Nella and I all took a Gansett Harbor Cruise around Newport before the wedding. We went back to the hotel where my aunt and grandma were staying, and changed into our clothes for the wedding after. We were scheduled to take a 330 Trolley to Ocean Cliff. As we were waiting for the trolley, it started to torrentially rain. There were about 24 of us waiting for the trolley. The trolley was also late. But it finally arrived, (since the groom was with us, the wedding couldn't go on anyway with out him!) Thankfully, when we got there, it had cleared up enough that the wedding could go on, outside! The harpist played beautifully, and the ceremony was nice, especially the sand ritual the parents of Heidi and Fabio did, to symbolize the joining of our families. I never had any doubt that Fabio wasn't going to be part of our family! His family and friends are lovely, as well! The reception was fun, and their cake was adorable! It ended up being a great day! The following Saturday we had a huge BBQ with the pool for my family and Fabio and his parents. It was a nice day, followed by Waterfire. Then, my cousins from Cali had to go back home, sadly. I wish they could have stayed longer! My aunt and uncle are still here, until Tuesday the 19th. Today, August 16, I am seeing Bye, Bye Birdie at the Stadium Theater, and hopefully seeing my friend Kat at her restaurant. So that is my (extremely long!) Update! Upcoming are The Irish Rovers Concert next Friday, Newport Celtic Rock Festival for Gaelic Storm next Saturday with whale watching before that, NYC Aug 30 for Cabaret, maybe a Cape trip in the middle for Martha's Vineyard, and then in Sept we are going on a 7 day cruise to the other side of Canada--Montreal, Quebec City, Prince Edward Island, Sydney, Halifax, Bar Harbor, ME, and then in Boston. Sept 21 I will be in NYC for the Broadway Flea Market! And that is far as the crazy goes, so far! I promise to keep this updated more regularly!