Disney etc

We've received our Disneyland vacation planning DVD in the mail and I've been brainwashed big time! It looks like it will be excellent for little ones. Now I need to a) Get Pregnant and b) Get over my debilitating fear of flying so we can go! I doubt our LO will be more than a year before we go the first time. I actually cringe when people say they are waiting until their kids are "8 or 9" so they can "appreciate the vacation". I'm sure our children will be on some form of Disney vacation about 5 times by that age!
The one thing I will wait on is the Disney Cruise. D and I did this a few years ago and had a great time but I'm not going to rush back with a toddler. The schedule is hectic and I doubt we'd be able to keep a little one up for dinner let alone the after dinner show. I would want our child to be at least 6 or 7 years old before we take that vacation.

Something to see

Something to save for another day.. I've never noticed this artwork before:

What's up with that?
Keith-Haringesque art

Q I’ve noticed a few pieces of sidewalk slabs around SoHo that have some Keith-Haringesque art. The one on the corner of Broadway and Prince Street seems to be signed by “Ken ’84.” I love them and worry they’ll be destroyed/removed one day, and wonder, Who is Ken? What happened in 1984?—Michele Perez, East Village

A The man behind the masterpieces is Kenichi Hiratsuka, a native of Japan who moved to NYC in 1982. In those days, the Cold War was on everyone’s mind and Hiratsuka wondered, “What would be left over in human society, just in case humans go extinct?” So he started carving into the city’s sidewalks. Since the artist planned on his work surviving atomic warfare, you can probably quit worrying about the artsy walkways being demolished.

Hiratsuka’s newest sidewalk carving was just completed in February 2008; check it out at 25 Bond Street between Lafayette Street and Bowery. It’s based on the same concept as his earlier works: “If I start carving one continuous line, a spiral, that never crosses itself…just expanding, expanding, expanding, expanding, then I can carve all the earth into a sculpture,” he says.

Legally Blonde The Musical

First off, we are total suckers for punishment. When Legally Blonde the Musical was first announced I was one of those who was crying Broadway blasphemy (that title now goes to Shrek the Musical). However when it opened it was pink and sparkly and I love things that are pink and sparkly. I wanted to see it but not bad enough to pay even TKTS prices.
Then came the MTV show "search for the next Elle Woods". Hook. Line. Sinker. I had to see the show so naturally when I saw it was going to Shea's I thought it was a good compromise. I wouldn't be wasting valuable Broadway viewing hours but I'd still get to see it.
Well.
It was mediocre. Definitely not the worst show I've seen (that would be Disney's On the Line) or even as bad as We will rock You. It had it's moments.... however... it was pretty much what I should have expected from a movie made into a musical. I know the Broadway set was more elaborate so maybe that helped?
That said, what I didn't expect was it to have the following extremely offensive song. I know that this was part of the movie and it was stereotyped there too but it just wasn't anything like this. You have to see it, there's no description.

Fast forward to 4:14....



Anyway... pretty crazy, huh? No wonder this closed on Broadway!
D and I have decided that from now on we probably wont do tours. Most people do not see the difference but a Tour is never the same as the Broadway show. The blocking and set will almost always be different so If you want to see the Broadway show you really should go to NYC. I know that is not realistic but at the very least we stand by our rule to never ever ever see a Non-Equity production.

Buffalo

We're back from our "Shopping/Legally Blonde the Musical" trip to Buffalo.
Shopping was excellent, Legally Blonde was mediocre and slightly offensive. I'll elaborate on Legally Blonde in a separate post but as for shopping... we're almost done for Christmas and got some great deals.

For my Dad - 2 Ralph Lauren Polo shirts & C.O. Bigelow Shaving Cream and Body/Shave Gel. There was an amazing sale at Ralph Lauren, $12.99 for polo shirts. The Shaving Cream/Body wash was buy 1 get one free at Bath and Body Works. I'll buy him some lotto tickets to top this off.

For my Step-mom - 3 Yankee Candle Co. jar candles, PJ's - on sale for $4.98 at Target but quite nice and Slippers from Bath and Body Works. The slippers were also buy one get one free so I got a pair as well! My step-mom is done.

My Brother - So far only a funky hoodie with guitars on it, 50% off at J.C. Penny. I have tons left to buy for him.

My Mother-in-law - A Japanese Cherry Blossom purfume gift set from Bath and Body Works, PJ's (same as my step-mom), 3 picture frames. We have more to buy.

Nephew J - Birthday Present - Nick and Nora PJ's from Target. They look like flannel and are really soft and stretchy with a cowboy theme. Christmas Present - Football Hoodie from The Children's Place, and a Shake N Go playset (Cars).

Nephew E - Birthday Present - Nick and Nora PJ's from Target. Same as Nephew J but different pattern, sock monkey and stars. Christmas Present - Hoodie from Children's Place, and a "Bling, Bling" Lightning McQueen (also Disney Cars). I can't find it online but it's a giant car that has buttons you can press to make sounds and lots of stuff to touch like the rims which spin and and the ability to move his eyes. Nephew E is blind so we wanted to find something with lots of things to touch and buttons to press.

Niece - A - Christmas Present - A cute Hoodie from Target, leggings and a Nick and Nora nightgown. We need to buy her a toy.


Since we're banned from the kids we're buying less than last year. We don't know how my SIL will react to the presents. Hopefully she'll understand the children shouldn't suffer and not throw them out. Normally we go crazy buying clothes for them but this year we won't. When they need/want our help again they can ask.

My family is big on buying for kids, not adults. This means I have a lot of work to get my brother's gifts ready but I can finish up my Dad and step-mom quickly. D's family isn't like that so we'll need to still do some shopping for her mom.

Great...

Our dishwasher is leaking.
We just paid $88 for the repair guy to tell us it's the motor and we'd need to replace the whole thing. He thought it "wouldn't be under $300" so it would probably be cheaper to buy a new machine.
We'll have to see what he says when he calls back with our quote.
I doubt we'll be getting a new one for a few weeks since we're pretty busy and I don't feel like appliance shopping. Maybe if Sears sells Whirlpool brand we'll be able to get one there. That would be easy because it's just downtown.
Damn it. Our luck seems to have run out lately.

KD drama ended

I saw our KD yesterday and told him we would not be needing his services. He seemed very relieved. My guess is he only offered because he's known how hard this has been on me and how upset we were when D's brother was no longer an option. I don't think he fully understood the commitment he was making when he offered.
Also, I didn't want to say it but my BIL would actually be a better option at this point if we were going to use a KD but that is in no way my priority. We're just hoping he calls us back (we've been trying for 2 weeks) so we can try to patch things up. All I want from him is access to his kids. I think he'll fold soon but unfortunately the kids are old enough to report back to mom who they've seen so sneaking around is not an option. I can just see my nephew telling his mom he saw Aunt Jushie (what he calls me) and her having a fit.

Frank

Frank is feeling much better...

I found him in this position when I went upstairs to grab something. I had to run back downstairs to grab the camera and was pleased to see he hadn't moved.
You can see his shaved tail and both shaved arms. Poor boy. Clearly he hasn't been negatively impacted by the recent ordeal. He's a pretty cool cat.

Also...
My little Monster in his Halloween Costume: Frank as Frankenstein! I thought it was brilliant.
I'm sure this was intended for a dog because cats are not usually this accommodating. Frank doesn't seem to complain when I take away his dignity.