Have I mentioned today how lucky I am to be in love with you?

This is another of my recently (as in the last couple of days) finished crafts. I am quite proud of it. This is day 10 of operation Stay-Away-From-Craft-Stores and I am going strong - although I am a touch concerned about running out of things like black embroidery thread or white felt. That I have gotten this far is a testament to extent of my back pain, the desperate need I have for a comfortable sleep surface and the fact that we actually bought a mattress last night. It was not birthed from the proverbial loins of a big name gown designer - but it is hella comfortable. It was also about one third less expensive than the afforementioned option.

Unfortunately it is not being delivered until September 6th, which is a Saturday. So I don't have a good reason for taking a day off work at all in the coming weeks and on Sept. 6th we are going to go see Wicked - so I'm pretty sure they'll definitely want to deliver it while we're not there.

I grew up in N.J. about 20 minutes outside of New York City. My family would go in to see shows etc. and while I wouldn't consider myself a "city" girl - I am pretty familiar with the city. And when I refer to "The City" it is New York that I am referring to.

My parents took us to a lot of Broadway shows. I've seen Cats, Beauty and the Beast, The Producers, Rent (3 times), Wicked (twice), Avenue Q (3 times), Movin' Out, and Into the Woods to name a few. I didn't realize how lucky I was until I went to college. It was such a blessing to have NYC so close if only for Broadway, and yet far enough away that I didn't ever live in the City. Greg has only seen a small handful of shows. Before I got my hands on him, he'd seen Mamma Mia and that was it (Can't wait to see the movie by the way). He sings and reads music and appreciates good stuff so getting him hooked on the shows I love has not been difficult. Pittsburgh also happens to have a great performing arts center and we have already seen Avenue Q there, when it came to town. He likes the music to Wicked and while I know it may not be the same without Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth ... I'm hoping it's great anyway.

The mattress guys will be calling us in the wee morning hours to let us know when they're going to show up. I don't know what we're going to do if they say they're going to show up while we have to be out seeing the show. I think our only option is to appeal to friends or neighbors - so we'll see, but the important thing is that it's on its way!

Speaking of musicals, and you may not be a musical sort-of person... but I'd like to share a secret with you. It's a fairly well-kept secret, but I'm allowed to share it sparingly.

The secret is The Last 5 Years.


It's a little known musical by a man named Jason Robert Brown who will someday create a jaw-dropping, Broadway exploding, super-amazing, very-well-known musical. The Last 5 Years was one of his first.

It's only got two characters - a man and a woman. The show documents their 5 year relationship. She tells it from the end to the beginning and he tells it from the beginning to the end - all in song. The only instruments are a piano and a string quartet and maybe a guitar. However, you will not feel like it is missing a chorus line or orchestra - the music is at times haunting, heartbreaking, uplifting and laugh-worthy. You'll cry with Kathy and you'll fall in love
with Jamie.

The first time I heard this show I listened to the very first song for 3 weeks and did not listen to anything else from this show because I didn't want to be disappointed that the rest of it wouldn't be as stunningly good as the first song. The stasis probably would have continued indefinitely if it weren't for a friend of mine who locked me in his car and forced me to listen to the rest. I wasn't disappointed.

If you have any inclination whatsoever to embrace new music that will catch your passion and embed itself in your heart, I strongly recommend you take a listen.

And let me know what you think.