Weekend Recap and Happy Surprises

FRIDAY:

• Early birthday surprise for the Bunny. Where could this cab be taking us...?

Taa Daa! "Blithe Spirit"! Angela Lansbury and cast were wonderful.

It was a delight to watch AL win a Tony only 2 days later!

SATURDAY:

• Brunch with the Bunny at Belcourt.
• Post-Brunch with TAG at Alice's Tea Cup (aka our clubhouse); yes, I ate a post-brunch.
• Stroll to Tiffany to get a new backing for my most beloved earrings. Cost of jewelry repair plus steam cleaning? Only $8.67. As I said to the customer service associate, "This is the best purchase I've ever made at Tiffany!" His response? "Yes, it IS possible!"
  

They needed a spiffying up! Don't they look great?!

These earrings are my perfect piece of jewelry. I feel like my best self when I have them on.

• Post-Tiffany stroll down 5th Avenue. I wandered into the Rock Center Anthropologie and noticed a familiar looking woman who spoke with an English accent. I quickly recognized her as an actress from "The Norman Conquests." I congratulated her on a job very well done, a compliment that she graciously accepted. I haven't enjoyed a show as much as I enjoyed "Table Manners" in a long time. Little did we know that the very next day she would be onstage with her cast at Radio City (also in Rock Center) accepting the Tony for Best Revival of a Play!
  
• Dinner at Morandi with my gorgeous friend, MBM. We shared meatballs and tagliatelle bolognese. Delicious!
  

SUNDAY:
The highlight was watching the Tonys, of course. When I was younger and an aspiring actress (I've acted since I was 5 and used to have an agent), the Tonys helped me dream. As I got older, the Tonys helped me select which shows to see on my annual trips to NYC. One of the best shows I've ever seen, "Contact", was selected as one of the shows I saw on my 16th birthday weekend celebration because I was so in awe of the Tonys performance.

Highlights from this year's awards ceremony included honors for some of the shows I most enjoyed this past season:

• Blithe Spirit: Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play (Angela Lansbury)
• Equus: Best Sound Design of a Play
• Next to Normal: Best Original Score, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley), Best Orchestrations (tied with Billy Elliot)
• The Norman Conquests: The Bunny's friend is a producer on this show, and we were particularly pleased when it was announced that he won a Tony for "Best Revival of a Play"
  
• Shrek: Best Costume Design of a Musical

(I may well be the only person in NYC who saw "Hair" and didn't like it. Ah, well.)

MONDAY (the Happy Surprise!):
After a long and exhausting day at work, I came home and found this package from mon amie Parisienne, MLPR, waiting for me:

Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Sacre Coeur, Arc de Triomphe...and Beaubourg? Or, instead, apartment buildings of the banlieue? Haha.

Back in April I mailed MLPR a pack of postcards that you can cut, fold and paste into 3-D scenes of NYC, a city that she dearly loves.

Her gift to me couldn't have been more PERFECT!
We are obviously sending propaganda to each other to inspire upcoming visits!
I can hear Paris calling my name.....
Thanks, M, for making me smile, for warming my heart, and for setting a happy tone for my week!

I do have SO SO much to be grateful for, and so many things to make me smile.

Cxx.