Mamma Mia, here I go again My my, how can I resist you?...

And here we go again...

After leaving Tiffany’s with my happy silly grin on my face and my Tiffany’s bracelet on my wrist (--yep, I put it on while we were in the women’s lounge, I just couldn’t wait to wear it AND since it says “please return to Tiffany & Co.” on it, I figured if I got lost maybe someone would indeed return me to Tiffany’s ;)... We headed off to do more shopping. We decided to go to the GAP store. Jessie really likes GAP and I like it as well so we went there to shop. I had decided that I’d actually like to find something else, not something nearly as fancy as the black skirt and Snow White collared shirt I’d brought to wear to the Broadway show, but something clean and warm to wear. We shopped for quite a while there. I ended up buying a brown sweater and a cream colored shirt to wear under it, which would go well with the brown pants and brown hat I was already wearing. Jessie bought a cute sweatshirt type jacket and we headed out to find a place to have dinner before we went to see Mamma Mia.

We wandered around and came upon Connolly’s. We were seated upstairs and settled in for a light dinner before we went to the show. Jessie ordered a Classic Cosmopolitan and I decided on the French Kiss Martini...YUM...And while I’ll admit it’s been too long since I’ve had a real French kiss, this drink was definitely aptly named. It was pleasurable and smooth and sweet and warmed me from my tummy to my toes and was really just truly yummy...So yummy in fact that I decided I’d have one more. I also had a tasty salsa shrimp cocktail and a lovely mixed greens salad with balsamic vinegar dressing. While we relaxed and enjoyed our drinks and dinner, we also over-listened to those around us. There was a couple and their friend talking at a table nearby. We heard one of them say they were from Texas, but they were from the rest of their conversation, obviously not travelers, but transplants living in NYC. Jessie said she thought she heard one of them say something about Wolfforth -- I never heard it, but that would have been truly crazy -- and it was enough to get me even more actively interested in over-listening to what they said. By doing so, I learned a term I wouldn’t have otherwise known, DINK...They were apparently DINKs -- Double Income No Kids -- I suppose that term fits quite a few people we came across and it was interesting to learn there was a label amongst New Yorkers for it.

After we finished dinner, we headed back in to the wet streets to go to the ‘will call’ booth at Winter Garden Theater. We picked up or Mezzanine 3rd Row tickets and went to find our seats. We arrived a little early for the show and sat and read through our playbills as we waited for the show to start. The show was really great. I was so pleased with our last minute seat purchases and was so impressed with all of the performers and the entire performance. I really always enjoy live performances so much more than movies or television. I think there’s an energy in knowing there’s no editing or chances to re-shoot or re-do anything that isn’t present otherwise. While I am sure most performances are relatively the same, the idea that each may be a little different is somewhat exciting. The cast of Mamma Mia was wonderful. For any CBS soap fans out there it might be interesting for you to know that the actor that played Edmund for 7 years on Guiding Light is a member of the Broadway cast of Mamma Mia -- and practically everyone in the cast has at one time or another had some part on one of the Law & Order series. Everything about the production was wonderful, well, almost everything. At the end of the show the full cast came back out to sing a few of the songs from the show. Everyone in the lower floor of the theater stood, clapped, and even danced along. Jessie decided to stand as well...And while I wasn’t aware at the time, she soon told me that she’d been poked in the back and given a gesture from the person behind her indicating that she needed to sit down. Jessie handled this much better than I would have. She didn’t immediately sit down, but she avoided making any further eye contact with the woman and decided to sit down after a few moments. (This whole event was probably the most obvious rudeness we encountered while in NYC...The thing is that other than one other New Yorker who made their feelings about tourists known to us when we drove by on the tour bus by giving us a single finger salute and yelling “go home” the vast majority of New Yorkers are very polite and helpful. Even our cab drivers generally made some attempt to make small talk...It seems that the only rude people in NYC are the foreigners...I hate to sound prejudicial and judgemental, but the people who butt in line or poke you in the back or hit you with their umbrellas or push and shove seem to be by and large foreigners -- more specifically Europeans -- I know they have the words please, thank you and excuse me in their languages, but they seem to never use them...Maybe it’s just a difference in training in courtesy and social graces, but it’s a difference that’s annoying and I believe is the reason people come away from New York with the idea that New Yorkers are rude...which in my experience they definitely are not...)

After the encore ended we didn’t push our way in to the crowded aisles to leave. As soon as the aisles did clear a bit we went down to use the restroom before we left...And that was a bit of adventure -- only because we were the last ones in the restroom and apparently the last ones in the theater and were basically shoo-ed out the door by a woman who informed us the Mezzanine was being cleared out and locked up and that we needed to get out of the theater and in to the streets.

We left the theater and headed out in to the heart of Times Square. I think this was the NYC I had in my mind all these years. The street was lit up like daylight and there were people everywhere. Steams of people flowed in every direction and there were things to look at everywhere...Just above us was a sign that said “Where the Wild Things Are” and I do believe that Times Square is the area where the wild hustle and bustle of NYC really comes alive. Apparently attending a Broadway show inspires people to sing in the streets because we passed more than one person belting out show tunes. And Jessie herself was a bit carried away by the excitement of the evening especially when we heard the bumping beat being played in the M&M store. The girl can dance -- enough said. ;) ...The M&M store and the Hershey’s store were both stops we made and enjoyed. We also ventured down the streets in Times Square just taking in more of the sites and sounds before we finally caught a cab and headed back to Brooklyn. The ride out of the city was hectic and harrowing, but we survived, and as the cab headed out across the Brooklyn bridge into the quieter, calmer streets of the Brooklyn neighborhood we were staying in the excitement of the day began to subside as well and I started to feel very ready to climb the steps to Chris Ann and Jeremy’s wonderful apartment and crawl in to bed. Our first full day in NYC was indeed a very FULL 14 hour day...A long, exciting, wonderful day I doubt I will ever forget...