A Sunday Afternoon at the Met

As you know, Eric and I have been working hard to chip away at our NYC To-Do List for the past four years. After leaving Washington, D.C. with some regrets about things we had never done, we did not want to fall victim to the same fate in NYC, and we have learned that we are much more likely to actually do things if they are written down (thus, I am a big proponent of the bucket list theory - if you write it down, you may actually do it!). I have to say, we have made excellent progress, and the only things left on our list are museums.

The first weekend of every month, Bank of America runs a "Museums on Us" program, and your BoA card can get you free admission to a number of great museums - including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was one of the remaining museums on our list. Given that we now have a baby so didn't want to gamble that she would last long enough in a museum to make the regular $25-per-person admission charge worth it, Free Museum Weekend sounded like the way to do things. So, we took advantage this month!

We took the PATH into the city then hopped on the subway up to 81st (Ellie's first subway ride!), and walked east through Central Park (Ellie's first time in Central Park!) over to the museum.

Eric and Ellie in Central Park

The Met

Happy museum-going family

There was no line when we arrived (hooray), and our BoA cards did, in fact, get us in for free (double hooray). We started our visit in the Egyptian wing.

Ellie's first trip to a museum!

Models from the Tomb of Meketre

Admiring the Egyptian exhibits

Fun with statues!

From there it was on to Arms and Armor.

Arms and Armor

I am a bad museum-goer and forgot to make note of who the armor on the left actually belonged to, but I believe it was a French king of some sort. Maybe a Philip? Hard to say. Either way, Ellie and I are enjoying ourselves.

Then, to the American Wing.

George Washington

Eric and Washington Crossing the Delaware

Finally, we sought out the Impressionist exhibit, which is my favorite. I'm a sucker for a nice Monet.

Still happy in the museum!

Left: Monet's Sunflowers

Right: Art museums are so boring.

Van Gogh's Wheat Field

Van Gogh's self portrait, and one of the many Degas paintings I loved so much

With "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte"

Ellie really did quite well through it all - she started to get a bit fussy before we hit the Monets, but as per usual, Daddy's arms cure all and she fell asleep, which enabled us to spend a little more time perusing the paintings. Thanks, Ellie!

Museums are exhausting.

And when she woke up, she was a happy camper.

There's my happy baby!

Outside the museum with Daddy

We decided not to push our luck, however, and chose to end our museum outing. We headed out and started the journey home. We stopped for a quick "picnic lunch" for Ellie in Central Park, and made a brief detour to take her by the Alice in Wonderland statue.

Eric, Ellie and Alice

Family photo!

Flying baby!

It was really a wonderful afternoon. Ellie really impressed us with her lack of meltdowns, because we were out for quite a while. She's just getting to be such a grown-up! I would say her first museum outing was very successful. What a cultured baby!

"The Dark Knight Rises" Premiere

Tonight at midnight, my handsome husband will be making his big screen debut as one of Gotham City's finest in the long-awaited, much-anticipated new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises!

Eric on set in his Gotham PD uniform

You may remember when Eric was cast as an extra in the movie, and he was a part of the massive fight scene they filmed in NYC back in November. In honor of his big show biz break, Eric will be attending a Batman marathon in IMAX tonight, complete with a showing of the new movie at midnight. I know he'll be watching closely to see if he actually ended up on camera! If you're also going to the movie, keep your eyes peeled for him in the big fight scene that I believe is at the end of the movie, when the bad guys and the Gotham PD collide in one epic battle.

Police and bad guys, preparing to brawl

(source)

There were literally hundreds of extras, so of course we may not be able to pick Eric out of the crowd, but I sure hope we can! How cool would that be?!

Regardless of whether or not he actually made it into the movie, Eric did get to rub elbows with the cast and other celebrities at the movie premiere at the Lincoln Square theater in NYC on Monday. He saw Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, Christopher Nolan, Marion Cotillard, Chris Daughtry, Ron Howard, Russell Simmons, Cillian Murphy, Hines Ward, Bill Cowher, Michelle Trachtenberg, Hailee Steinfeld, Aziz Ansari, Jay Manuel, Pharrell, Donald Trump and more! (All will be included on our NYC Celebrity Sightings list as soon as Ellie's naptime allows!)

Christian Bale and Gary Oldman

Morgan Freeman

Anne Hathaway

Cillian Murphy

Joseph Gordon-Levitt being all mysterious behind a passing bus

Marion Cotillard, and a shot of the black carpet

Are you going to see The Dark Knight Rises this weekend? If so, keep an eye out for Eric! And don't tell me anything about it, please - I'm planning to see it during our Florida trip next week! In the meantime, I'm just basking in the glow of being married to a movie star!

Jesus Christ Superstar

Last night Eric and I enjoyed another weeknight date night for a Broadway show, and it was delightful. As the days and weeks pass on by, we're becoming more and more aware of the fact that these kinds of nights are numbered as Baby Time draws closer. So, we continue to be glad for the opportunity to take advantage of these sorts of outings until then.

A while back, Eric and I were roaming around town when we saw the marquis of a "new" show preparing to open on Broadway: Jesus Christ Superstar. I flipped out, as this is one of my favorites. When I was growing up, we watched the 70's movie version over and over and over again. My sister could seriously sit you down and sing the whole thing from top to bottom if you wanted her to. We loved it.

So when I saw it was coming back to Broadway, I crossed all my fingers and toes that it would open before Baby Time. Sure enough, preview performances began in early March! Eric was great at the whole "buying tickets to shows" thing, as per usual, and got right on it. I was so excited.

Yes! Tickets in hand!

The show was scheduled for 7:00 last night, which made me happy because I figured that meant less time to kill between work and show time, and an earlier arrival back at home afterwards. Eric and I met up shortly after 6:00 and roamed around the neighborhood for a bit (yes, I still miss living over there), then we made our way to the theater...only to find out they had changed the show time to 8:00. I was pretty frustrated, because I could have killed more time at work, or Eric and I could have had a nice dinner out, or whatever. Plus, the show has both a Facebook and Twitter account and I follow both, but there was never any mention of a changed show time there, which would have been an ideal way to get the word out. But whatever. So, we killed another hour. Finally, it was time.

Jesus Christ Superstar at the Neil Simon Theater

Eric got us perfect seats to the show. We were in the orchestra level, right on an aisle (good for a pregnant lady's bathroom-related peace of mind), and we had a great view.

The show itself was excellent. I thought they did a great job with the lighting and some of the effects, and of course the performers were wonderful. I thought Paul Nolan (Jesus) and Josh Young (Judas) were both fantastic, and I also especially liked Lee Siegel (Simon Zealotes). Tom Hewitt also did a great job as Pontius Pilate. Overall, really great. And, as I mentioned, I loved some of the electronic effects, particularly during the "lashings" and at the very end of the show - I thought it was very artfully done. Also, Eric and I both commented on how easy it was to understand the lyrics, which can sometimes be a challenge in live theater. At first I thought it probably just seemed that way to me because, well, I know all the lyrics, but Eric brought it up as well and he is not nearly as familiar with the words as I am. So, kudos to the performers and sound people!

And so, we add another Broadway show to the list (this was my 25th one!). I would definitely recommend this one, too!

Dog Day in NYC: The Westminster Dog Show

On Monday, Eric and I went to the Westminster Dog Show at Madison Square Garden. This was all Eric's wonderful idea, and it was awesome! I've watched that dog show on TV many times before and thought it would be fun to go in person, but never really thought about making it happen. Eric did, though! That's because he's the best. He bought us tickets to Day #1, which included a couple of my favorite groups: the toy dogs and the hound dogs. On Sunday night, he even hunted down the schedule for Day #1 online so we could come up with a plan of attack to see my favorite breeds. I mean, he thought of everything!

So, we were well-prepared when we arrived at Madison Square Garden on Monday morning. We made our way right to the Theater level to catch some chihuahua action. Cuteness!

The set-up in the Theater: Two rings, side by side

Chihuahuas in the ring

One of the chihuahuas being judged on the table

The Theater level wasn't my favorite, because it was free-for-all seating and very small, so it was hard to see the action from the stands. After the chihuahuas, however, we went up to the Arena level, where we actually had assigned seats. Eric managed to purchase the most perfect seats ever, right in front of the ring where the beagles were. The beagles were the breed I was most excited about, and we had a great view! They were next on our Must See Breed List, so we settled in to our seats just in time for me to start squealing over 13" beagle cuteness.

The Arena level was much larger, with four rings set up on the floor

Beagles!!!

One of the winners getting his/her photo taken

Let me tell you, I am pretty good at picking winning dogs. As we sat in the arena, I would call out my picks and I rocked it. My picks almost always pulled out for some sort of award. Clearly, I missed my calling as a dog judge.

There was another breed in between the two beagle categories, but we patiently waited for the 15" beagles to come on out. Let me tell you, they were worth the wait. I right away called out my favorite as the one who kept sitting up. He was just so focused on the treats in his handler's hand, and whenever they were standing still (waiting for their turn at the table or to run around or whatever), that little pup sat right up and just stayed like that, staring at the hand holding the coveted treat. Then they would move a few more steps ahead in line, and as soon as they stopped moving, that dog would sit right back up again. He honestly sat up more than he just sat, and it was so adorable, I nearly stole him. And wouldn't you know it - he won the 15" beagle group! That dog is awesome!

A whole beagle line-up!

My favorite! How precious is he?!

Finalists posing as the judge looks them over

Winner!

After the beagles we went back to the Theater level for some more toy dog action, this time for pugs. I do love me some squishy pug faces.

Pugs in the ring

This one won an Award of Merit

We then stuck around for the pomeranians, but this time we came down out of the stands and went down to the ring level for a better look.

Oh, hi, puppy

Pomeranians in action

We then walked around the Theater benching area, where they get the dogs ready for their big moments. I was seriously getting a kick out of watching the dogs get pampered.

Many of these dogs had more product in their hair than I usually do.

Comfy pug

What does a dog have to do to get some peace and quiet around here?!

We then went back to watch from the Arena level for a bit before checking out the Arena benching area. Again, more pampered pooches! Some were getting their hair done...

I suspect this one requires a BIG brush.

Accessories can really make or break an outfit.

...some were just resting up...

Relax while your hair sets, of course

Don't be afraid to sprawl out!

...some were playing...

This little one was having quite a wiggly wrestle session

...some were hitting the media circuit...

Even dogs can give interviews, apparently.

...and some were just practicing some adorable poses.

What a sweetheart!

You already know of my beagle weakness. Love the kid pinching the poor guy's side - such patience! What a good dog!

We also did some walking around on the ring level in the Arena, for a little closer look at the action.

Down at ring level

Props for the winner photo ops

Eric enjoying the dog show

I think baby liked it, too!

We could have stuck around for the rest of the day and the final judging in all the various categories that evening, but that part was televised and we were beat. So, we watched all that from the comfort of our own couch. I was cheering for my beagle again, of course, but no such luck for him in the Hound category (the dachshund won that one), and the Pekingese won the Toy category (and ultimately, Best in Show). Better luck next time, Beagle! You just keep sitting up and you'll go far! And even if my favorite didn't win, we had a blast anyway.

What a fun day!

And that night, even the Empire State Building had gone to the dogs:

The ESB lit up purple and gold for the Westminster Dog Show

What a fun event! Thanks so much for having such a great idea, Eric!