snow day meal

All weekend the news predicted ridiculous amounts of snow and closures across Atlanta. A lot of times when they predict these kinds of things, nothing ends up happening. Well, not today.

I woke up to this:

Work was cancelled, MARTA buses stopped running, and the entire city basically shut down. Being the incredibly responsible employee that I am, I went to the office on Saturday morning to grab my computer in anticipation for the bad weather, so I was able to work for a better part of today. However, I ate like crap. I had conference calls around lunch time, and I made a pretty big breakfast, so I knew I wanted a yummy dinner. Only problem was, I haven't really gone to the grocery store in approximately...a long time. So while I had most of what I needed, I didn't have everything.

Someone asked me what my favorite thing to do outside was. Wanna know? Going back inside. So trekking 12 feet to Kroger was out of the question. I dug into the depths of my refrigerator and created what I think turned out pretty dang awesome.

I defrosted some chicken wings. I mixed up some honey, some soy sauce, some fresh squeezed OJ and a little bit of garlic. I put the chicken wings in the sauce, added more honey, more soy sauce, more OJ. It wasn't saucy enough before! I stuck the wings on a pan and put it in the oven at 475 for a little less than an hour. They turned out awesome! I made some rice pilaf to go with it and bam - dinner. No fresh veggies with dinner, but I also drank a carrot/celery/orange/lime juice earlier today, so I figured I was okay without veggies for dinner.

FYI, celery juiced = EW. Too bad I bought 2 giant stalks, and good thing my mom sent me 20 pounds of oranges.

No other love, no other way, no day but today.

I'm on a MAJOR musical kick, in case you haven't noticed. I blogged a couple of weeks ago about my lucky streak, and going to see Rent last week was a part of that.

The entrance to the theater!

Yes, I saw Hairspray one night and Rent the next. And I may or may not have mad a "Musicals" playlist comprised of Rent & Hairspray songs. And I might have listened to that playlist on my way to the airport this morning, home from the airport this morning, and then on my way to the airport again this evening. Thanks, AirTran, for both of the round-trip tickets! I'll put them to good use! 

All the actors/actresses pictures on display!

Anyway - on to Rent. IT WAS AWESOME. I know Hairspray was awesome. But so was Rent. After seeing it, I realized that Rent is probably a really difficult musical to put on without the funding from a major production theater. However, Fabrefaction's performances were top notch. The music was really great, the acting was well done, and the theater was small and personalized enough that I felt like I was getting an intimate performance, just me and the actors. I loved it! And, I really have listened to the soundtrack for the last 24 hours straight.

Part of the stage, with the LIVE BAND underneath the set!

The people at Fabrefaction were SO NICE (my friend Jackie is on crutches and they were super accomodating!) and even sought us out afterwards to talk about upcoming shows and whether or not we liked it. Plus, the location rocks. For you Atlanta folks, it's behind Chow Baby off Howell Mill, over in the Westside District. My new favorite place! If you aren't an Atlanta native, based on my 2 experiences last week, I highly recommend checking out local theaters for their production schedule. You can usually get tickets for less than $25 and if you aren't socially awkward like me, you could probably stick around and meet the actors.

Hats off to you, Rent performers, because that was awesome! I'll be listening to the soundtrack approximately 525,600 times.

PS - I wrote about Hairspray & Rent because I went and becuase I was really impressed, not because anybody told me I had to. Over & out.

I wish every day was negro day.

Name that musical.

If you guessed Hairspray, you guessed right. And that may be my favorite line in the whole musical mainly because of my roommates when I lived in Spain. We might have watched that movie 17 times while I was there. We didn't have internet, but we had movies, and the Tudors.

ANYWAY - I went with my sweet friend Jackie to go see Hairspray at the MJCCA because one of her friends was in it. Her friend got knocked up and got kicked off the Corny Collins show early on... 

I'm pretty sure Lauren & Lindsay over at the Q+DD discussed this musical and also had personal connections so really that is reason enough to go, but seriously - it was afro-tastic. Dudes in drag singing better than I can, a positively perfect Penny Pingleton... I was grining from ear to ear the whole time! And, the theater was small and Jacks snagged us 2nd row seats, so all the actors and actresses could see me with my giant smile and I like to think it was encouraging to them. Jury is still out on encouraging vs. creepy. I also decided against taking pictures with the actors and actresses. I think then the jury wouldn't be out and I would have just been straight creepy.

Sometimes I wish my life was a musical. Anyone else? I'm turning it into one, because next up tonight is RENT (also with Jackie... are you sensing a theme here?) Hopefully I will not be too freaked out to take pictures, because I read somewhere that they help you gain more readers. I guess my humor and wit ain't cutting it. But, in the famous words of Tracy Turnblad... You can't stop the beat!



Buckhead v. Midtown.

I live in the pleasant neighborhood known as South Buckhead, Brookwood Hills, the place where they make purple drank. Or at least get the supplies for it....

I love my 'hood. I started loving it more than 2 years ago when I convinced my then-boyfriend to move from the Lenox mall area down here. Every time we went apartment hunting he refused to consider this area, so one day when he was hungover and I was driving, clearly we made the turn and looky there... 2 months later we were movin' in! Let's not forget, however, that shortly thereafter I was movin' out. Boyfriend shmoyfriend, that's what I have to say about that. And now, we're moving on.

I freaking love this area. Its like the sweet spot. 10 minutes to Buckhead, 10 minutes to Midtown, 10 minutes to the Highlands... how does it get any better? My commute pre-new job was 20 minutes into Buckhead. I passed all the places I frequented every day on my way to/from work. Running errands on my way home was ingrained in my system.

Then, my whole world was uprooted when my new job started, because my new office is in Midtown. The land of business professionals who walk around in suits like they are important. They probably are. The land of business lunches, and happy hours, and public transportation. People in Buckhead don't transport publicly. But these Midtowners... they <3 their public transportation. Some might even go so far as to say "MARTA is SMARTA." Based on what I saw the other day, I'd beg to differ, but whatevs.

The whole point of this rambling is to tell you that Buckhead is my true love. I know the streets of Buckhead like the freaking back of my hand. But Midtown, you are growing on me. Big time. I love walking to lunch. I secretly love the people watching on MARTA. I like the whole urban feeling I get every time I step outside the building. And the men in suits walking around acting all big & important? I'll take 2 please.

Sorry non-ATL friends... I just felt like I had to get this off my chest. It was weighing me down, and you wouldn't want that now would you?!