High School Musical

If you read this blog, you know that I think the absolute world of my D-group and love them all to pieces. They all love each other and support each other and it is so fun to see. Well, this weekend the theatre department at CHHS opened their spring production of 'Disney's High School Musical.' It is a fabulous show. All of the students are incredible singers and actors and it was funny and even better than the movie if you asked me. Cassie played Sharpay (definitely my fav character) and was fantastic at it. Sharpay is SO unlike Cassie's true character that it is so fun to see what a great actress she really is.

For D-group this week, while Cassie was absent due to late night rehearsals, the other girls decided they wanted to make t-shirts for the show. They wanted pink shirts (very Sharpay) with black lettering. They loved getting to do the screen printing process and everyone's shirts turned out great!

Abbe got a hold of the camera and Kinley got a hold of Amy's shoes :)

We went together to opening night of the show. There was even a booth to purchase Sharpay goodies (they only wished they had our shirts too!)

Cassie was awesome and it was so fun to all be there and support her! What sweet girls!

DIY Living Room Media Shelves

While I was in NYC last weekend and visited James and Katrina's cute apartment, I fell in LOVE with these shelves that they had built on their wall. Mendy took a pic of them on her iphone and we were determined to copy them.

Well, last weekend Ben decided it was time to get our TV off of the tiny stand it has been on in our living room and mount it on the wall. Then, we decided to tackle the shelves and build them around the mounted TV. I was going totally off memory because Mendy was in Cabo with her phone and the picture of Katrina's shelves! But, we forged ahead anyway and even though they are no where NEAR as cute as Katrina's (she has that interior designer eye for detail and accessories) I think they ended up ok....here is seriously what our living room looked like before (minus some pillows and Kinley toys).

Here is Mendy's phone pic of my inspiration from Katrina:

This is a fun DIY project that anyone could do with a free day. It was so much more cost friendly than purchasing a piece of furniture or a wall shelving unit to surround our TV. The entire cost of the shelves (not including mounting the TV or the accessories) was only $115!!!

Here is all you need for the project:

One shelf into the project, I had a panic moment when I freaked out about how we were going to hide all these cords and power surges and battery towers and make this look decent.

I decided on using some baskets with lids (just don't look inside) and good cord covers from Hobby Lobby.

Because 99% of the time people looking at these shelves will be sitting down, we decided to paint the L-brackets the color of the wall so that they wouldn't stand out as much. (FYI - all the L-brackets had holes in them that were zig zag, we weren't that bad with the drill)

Getting the hooks into the raw lumber was a bit of a challenge but, we started the hole with the drill and then used a good set of pliers to screw them right in.

Decorating the shelves is really where Katrina shines and I have no talent in this area...but, I just moved some items I liked from other places in our house (i.e. books, mirrors, candles, antlers) and then bought a few odds and ends at Hobby Lobby.

Overall, I am pleased with how it turned out and I feel like that wall in our living room looks a little more homey. This was definitely a fun DIY project!

NYC - Part 3 - Entertainment and Other FUN!

The last installment of our New York trip is basically just some entertainment pics and other random pics that I had.

Part 3 - Entertainment and Other FUN!

HOTEL - I can definitely say that Mendy and I hit the jackpot on hotel searching. We ended up booking a suite at the Affinia Shelburne in the Murray Hill area of Midtown and it was awesome! The rooms were HUGE and beautiful, the beds were super comfy and the location was fantastic. The price was great and that is saying a lot in NYC. It was in a great neighborhood area, four blocks from Grand Central and did not feel touristy at all. Our suite had a great living room area and a small kitchen that Mendy and I soaked our feet in one night after a long day of walking.

TOYS - We went in Toys R Us in Times Square one day to get Kinley a present to bring home ( We ended up with the entire cast of Toy Story 3 in our luggage home). The Lego NYC landmarks were super impressive. But, Alex purchased a $5 Squirmel. He is pretty much an amazing Squirmel master and he puts on great shows. You should ask him. They really bonded.

THE THEATRE - I absolutely LOVE musical theatre. My very favorite show of all time is Les Miserables (not on Broadway anymore) and my second favorite is Beauty & The Beast (also not on Broadway anymore). My absolute dream job of all time would be to be Belle in Beauty in the Beast on Broadway...but, that's beside the point. Nevertheless, it was a must that on our anniversary night that we went to the Theatre. So, in an effort to entertain everyone we saw The Lion King. It was great. The costumes and music are incredible.

TIMES SQUARE - Times Square is definitely something to see when you go to New York. The lights and the ads and the shopping and the buildings are pretty incredible. And just the massive amounts of people coming at you is a sight to see in itself. We got to see Times Square in the daytime and at night after the Lion King and at night is definitely most impressive.

LATE NIGHT - Our favorite late night out was definitely night 1 at Cafe Wha? I absolutely love this place. It is an underground hole in the wall in Greenwich Village near NYU with so much music history. The ceilings are so low and you dance in the smallest spaces between the tables. I have been here a few times and it was a MUST on my list. We basically went straight there from the airport on Thursday night. The band is incredible and it was the perfect first night of our trip!

Basically, it was such a fun trip and we have more pics than we know what to do with! So, I hope you enjoyed the 3 part installment of our great NYC travel guide!