New York, New York!

I may have mentioned to a few of you that I was going on a trip to New York City last weekend. Well, I did and it was wonderful! It all started when I was in California and friends of mine mentioned that they were going to NYC to see a former classmate and friend of ours perform as Elphba in Wicked on Broadway. Needless to say, I got a little excited about this and decided immediately that I would try and join them on the trip. I cashed in a lot of hotel and credit card points and managed to get free lodging and a free airline ticket and I was off!
This was my first trip ever flying with Jet Blue airlines and I must say that I kind of love them. The jets were clean and more roomy than others and I was able to watch the Food Network while eating my free snacks all the way to NYC. I met up with Jeff and Clara in Jet Blue's fancy new terminal in JFK and we hoped in a cab and headed to the city.
After freshening up quickly we headed out with the masses and took a peak at the tree in Rockefeller Center.
We walked past the windows at Macy's in Herald Square. They were decorated to tell the story of Miracle on 34th Street.
And we walked through Times Square where we stood in awe of the millions of lights.
It was then time for our first subway ride. We hopped on and headed to Grenwich Village to meet up with our lovely friend Amber. She and her friend Tony took us to a little English place called Tea and Sympathy. It seats approximately 23 people in a space smaller than my living room.
They had great decorations up for Christmas...
They served tea in fun pots...
And had the best macaroni and cheese I have ever had in my life!
Tony then took us on a little tour of the Upper West Side. He knew the secret knock to get us into our own private room in this little underground/Moroccan/speakeasy/early prohibition/dungeon place where we enjoyed drinks and good conversation.
Jeff and Clara... Amber and Tony...
Clara and I...
The next morning we took a walk to get some bagels and coffee and wandered past 30 Rock.
After breakfast we went and visited Ground Zero and the church across the street from it that served as a sort of base during the days following the attack.
We had a quick lunch and headed to our first show of the weekend. The fantastic Patti LuPone staring in Gypsy. SO GOOD!
That evening Jeff and Clara were heading to Connecticut to see a friend of their's so I bought a last minute ticket and enjoyed a few laughs at Spamalot where I sat next to a lovely woman from Wales and had a few giggles at the expense of Clay Aikens really bad hair.
Sunday morning found us wandering around Central Park.
Jeff had to run back to the hotel so Clara and I decided to give our feet a rest and enjoyed a carriage ride. Our driver was a lovely Irish man who was looking really good for his age!
We then walked past the windows at Bergdorf Goodman's and I think I drooled a little over them. They were fantastic!

Sunday afternoon finally brought us to the reason for the entire trip! Outside the box office we were greeted by this poster that gave us all chills. It was so exciting to see Marcie's name on the poster!
We headed to the stage door of the Wicked theater and were met by the lovely woman who helps out our friend Marcie during the show. We had to wait a bit outside the dressing room while Marcie finished her warm ups.
We sat and chatted in her dressing room while she 'went green'.
I have seen Wicked one other time but I have to say, this was so much better! It was amazing to see someone I knew up on the stage. I had always known that Marcie was talented but she blew me away. I had chills the entire time. We got to say goodbye to her after the show and were able to walk across the stage and out the stage door with her.
Me and 'Elphba' after she had been de-greenified.
Then it was on to Serendipity III for dinner and frozen hot chocolate!
For my last night, I was fortunate enough to have a room at the Hilton in Times Square.
It was fancy, they even had bathrobes in the rooms!
I took the subway to the airport on Monday morning, boarded the Jet Blue plane, watched some more Food Network while eating free snacks and arrived safe and sound in Chicago just in time for a snow storm!
I have to say, this was one of the best trips that I have ever taken. I really don't ever get the chance to take spur of the moment trips and this is one I will remember for a long time. It was a great chance to catch up with some old friends that I forget how much I miss and to meet some new friends to add to the list of people to miss and look forward to seeing again.