1461 Days

1461 days.

Or 4 years.

Mike and I have been eternally bound to each other for 4 years.

And we haven't killed each other yet. Amazingly, enough.

I told Mike that the only thing I wanted for our anniversary was for him to plan the day and not ask me what I wanted to do. I just wanted him to do everything (kind of selfish of me, but . . . eh).

So, we went to the zoo.

Where we saw an exhibit entitled "Nature's Nightmares:And were told before we went in to not speak too loudly, or the bats might get upset and attack. (The zoo worker telling us this literally laughed at my face when she said that.)

Bats. Gross.

And we had to go and meet Zuri, the baby elephant. I was amazed at how human-like elephants are. Zuri was laying on the ground and she kept moving her leg to scratch and all I could think was how human-like it looked.

And then there were the giraffes:
And then . . . the camera died. So no pictures of the wolf (which Mike was sad about, because every time he's been to the zoo, the wolf is never out, and he was out front and center).

Oh, and by the way, it was HELLA-HOT at the zoo.

So, after our animal encounter, we went home to spend time in the air-conditioning (and to charge the camera), before heading out to dinner.

Mike took me to eat my very favorite thing in the entire world: No, not Japanese umbrellas . . .

Sushi.

I love it so much, I really think I could eat it everyday and not be sick of it. Even the picture looks yummy to me.

So, it's been 4 years.

And I wouldn't trade him for anything. Normally, we're not a couple who professes our love outright in front of other people, but I love Mike more than anything and I can't wait for the next 1461 days (and beyond).

I think I just threw up a little bit.

Abby

This is my friend, Abby: Abby and I have been friends since we were both cast in Annie in 200 . . . 4(?). Ever since I met her, the only thing she has ever wanted to do was get married and start a family. Of 12 kids. That's right. Abby wants 12 kids.

Her wish came true. And she told me that the newlyweds (her new husband's name is Kyle) will start trying to have the first of their 12 kids in September.

We met Crack (aka Emily) and Mark (aka 2001 Ricky Martin) at the reception: The thing is, we all used to be really close. Crack, Abby, a friend of ours named Shelley (whom we didn't see at the reception) and I used to call ourselves "The Sisterhood." That's how close we were. And seeing them again made me realize just how much I miss them. But . . . such is life. Marriages (me and Shelley), kids (just Shelley), nannying in Boston (Abby), and missions (Crack) happen. While Abby and Kyle cut the cake . . .
They were serendadaed by an accordian player:

Classy.

And totally Abby.

These chips are yummy

I have decided that these chips are delicious and that you should all try them.

The Search is On . . .

You know that Twitter/Facebook commerical where the guy is sitting behind the news desk reading status updates like they're world-wide, ground-breaking news? And he says, "This just in . . . the search is on for cute boots."

Well, my search has just begun.

For cute brown wedge sandals.

Loosely translated, this means that I have a new skirt, but low and behold, no shoes to go with them! Oh, no! What shall I do?! How can I possibly wear my new skirt without the proper footwear?!

For those of you who know me and my shoe obsession (I believe the count is somewhere close to 200 pairs now), you probably wonder how this could be possible. (Don't judge. I know it's a problem. But I'm currently seeking professional help and taking injections. Electroshock is not as bad as everyone says. The only bad thing about it is . . . they make you take off your shoes to receive it.) How could I possibly not have shoes to go with any piece of new clothing?!

Confession:

I'll use any means possible to buy new shoes.

And I would apologize to my husband for this, but we all know he's the same way with almost anything that has the U logo on it.

So . . . time to go shopping?

The Tony Awards

Okay, okay.

I freely admit that I love the Tony Awards. I look forward to them all year. Yes, that might be extremely nerdy of me to admit, but so what?! Big whoop? You want to fight about it?!

Having never been to New York (the sniffling begins), the Tony's happen to be the closest way I get to experience Broadway. So, I'll take the trash talk and the being made fun of in order to get to experience it, even if just for a night.

Yes, Mike hates it.

But I tell him that if I can watch football for 6 months, he can give me 1 night and watch the Tony's with me. He played on his computer most of the night.

Here's the thing I'm starting to resent about Broadway (insert GASP here!):

Hollywood has taken over.

It seems that every star in Hollywood wants to come and be on Broadway (not that I blame them. I want to be on Broadway). So, naturally, in order to entice more Hollywood names (that will bring in money) to Broadway, we must give them Tony Awards, so they'll tell their friends to come to Broadway, because they give you an award if your name is big enough.

Case in point:

This year Denzel Washington, Scarlett Johansson, Kelsey Grammer, Jude Law, and Sean Hayes (who hosted) all made their Broadway debutes this past year. And every single one of them were nominated for Tony Awards. And Denzel and Scarlett won.

And specifically, Catherine Zeta Jones. She won the Tony for Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Musical for her performace in A Little Night Music. And she sang "Send in the Clowns." Badly. But, she's an Oscar winner, so let's give her a Tony. (Apparently her voice was going out.)

See, here's the thing. It's not that I don't think these people are talented (I thoroughly believe that Catherine deserved to win her Oscar for Chicago), but I just hate it when people from Hollywood come and take over from the big names that only those of us who are true fans and love Broadway would recognize.

Like Kristen Chenoweth:

And Idina Menzel:

But you would think Mike would have been some-what entertained, because Green Day's musical American Idiot was nominated and performed last night. And he likes Green Day. Although American Idiot didn't take home the prize for Best New Musical (Memphis took that honor), it just goes to show that there really are no original ideas anymore (ahem, Spiderman, the Musical?! Yes, I'm serious. It was supposed to make it to Broadway last year, but has been postponed . . . and postponed . . . and postponed).

All in all, I think the Tony's were slightly disappointing this year. But, I still find it hard to wait another 365 days until I get to "go to" Broadway again. Maybe this year Mike will actually take me to the real Great White Way (hint!).

Worst dressed? I think Scarlett Johansson looked like a Christmas Tree:

As a lead producer of Broadway shows, Barbara Manocherian said: “As much as I love stars, we as a theater community must, must get back to having excellent theater actors in leading roles, and not let everything rise or fall on having a star name in the cast.”

Well said, Sister Suffragette.

Stage Freeze! (Don't Say "Stage Freeze," Just Do It.)

I feel like crying.

You may ask yourself, Why would Melissa want to cry? I thought she was dead inside? Could she possibly be . . . the P word?!

You wash your mouth out with soap for even thinking that!

Go on.

I'll wait.

Now that you've been punished for your dirty thoughts, I feel like crying because it's over.

This is the set:

And this is my "station" where I spent most of the show:

Inside fact: I spent 90% of the show on stage. And I'm standing for 99% of that time.

I have to admit, when I first was cast in Steel Magnolias, I was extremely nervous. The first rehearsal scared the beejesus out of me. (You try spending every night with 11 divas and then tell me you wouldn't be scared too. For the first month or so, I just sat quietly in the corner and tried not to make anyone mad at me, because nothing is worse than having a diva yell at you for . . . I don't know . . . sitting in her chair, or using her prop, or something even more horrifying, like looking at her wrong.) And I thought maybe I had made a huge mistake and just wanted to get it over with as fast as possible. But then I decided to not be such a jerk and get to know these women. And I'm so glad I did! They are all amazing and I'm intimidated by each of their talent.

I really grew to love these ladies. This is my MWF cast:Yes, that's me in the hideous blond wig, behind me in the blue is Robyn Edwards (M'Lynn), the orange bow is Meredith Gibson (Ouiser), next to her in the middle is Chris Brown (Clairee), the circus performer is Missy Riffle (Truvy), and the purple curlers is Ashley Garner Carlson (Shelby).

This is Addison:Our wonderful stage manager. Yes, a male stage manager for an estrogen-filled show. He is the most amazing person ever. Extremely multi-talented. He sings, he dances, he acts, he paints, he sculpts, he . . . well, you name it he does it.

This is Jamie (and that's Angela Cole Brown next to her, she played Truvy in the TTHS cast): She was our stage manager when Addison couldn't be there. I really loved her, because after our quick change, she would bring our costumes back to the dressing room for us, so we didn't have to go get them after the show was over. I think Addison never did that because he was afraid to touch women's clothing.

This is me and Missy: I can't tell you how completely amazing Missy is. She's the most wonderful, talented, loving, sincere-hearted, capable person I have ever met. (Notice that she's a blond and I'm a redhead, but they decided to make us switch for the show and I was the blond and she looked like Peg Bundy in her red wig. But definitely more classy than Peg.)

The following are pictures from when I "played" with the TTHS cast closing week:

This is Angela Cole Brown with the wig on (Truvy):That's Jillian Tirado (Shelby) in the background, Jane Huefner (M'Lynn) in the blue, and Linda Jean Stephenson (Clairee) seated. That's Addison and Rebecca Hess (Ouiser):Anyway, back to my cast.

On closing night, I took a lot of pictures, so bear with me (okay, you can skip over them. We all know this blog is really for me to remember things anyway).

After the TTHS cast closed their show on Saturday, we had a big party at Chris Brown's house.

She made spudnuts:But mostly we just sat around and talked:Missy and her husband, Scott. Ashley had on these really cute sparkly heels. I want some.

Mike could never understand that whenever I would go out with the cast after a show, I would be out until 1 or 2 in the morning. After the party, I think he understood why. These women are hilarious! It's hard to get up and leave when you know Meredith will be telling another hilarious story any second. Laughter is abundant around her. This is Adrien Swenson:My counterpart (that's why there aren't any pictures of her). Adrien intimidated the hell out of me at first. She is incredibly talented.

I'm really going to miss this so much. Especially the friends I made.

Clairee has a line in the show that says, "If you can't say anything nice about anyone . . . Come sit by me."

True. Too true.