ragtime

...aching to see this revival on broadway. keeping my fingers crossed that it will still be around when i get back from cruising next year.

stunning. revolutionary. inspiring.

ragtime.

an evening with jason robert brown

the adventures of claire and becca continue!

this past money night, we spent an evening with this guy.

he was a little conceded. he was a lot a bit brilliant. he is a r.i.d.i.c.u.l.o.u.s. musician.

his songs and lyrics are so accessible and thought-provoking.

i've been a fan for a long time, so it was really fun to see him live.

he played...

"someone to fall back on" and "i could be in love with someone like you"

-from his album 'wearing someone else's clothes'

"being a geek" and another song that i forget the name of

-from a musical he wrote called '13'

"still hurting", "summer in ohio", "goodbye until tomorrow", "moving too fast" and "i'd give it all for you"

-from 'the last 5 years'

"honeymoon in vegas"

-from a new musical he wrote called 'honeymoon in vegas'

he invited a girl named chilina kennedy to sing a few of the songs/duets from the last 5 years. she's done a lot of theatre here in canada and she was brilliant. her voice reminded me a lot of sutton foster and there was such an honesty to her story-telling.

thankful...

today i'm extremely grateful for a lot of things.

here are just a few...

a wonderful job

my beautiful toronto apartment

new friends at disney

the journey i'm embarking on this year

parents who love their children for who they are

brothers and sisters who are my best friends

love and acceptance

dreams

let the season begin...

happy thanksgiving from canada!!!

a group of us woke up to have breakfast together and watch the macey's thanksgiving day parade (which i l.o.v.e.)...

sailor mickey made his debut in the parade representing disney cruise line!!

what a guy...

our cast had the day off, so we all spent the afternoon relaxing and preparing yummy dishes for our thanksgiving feast. let me tell you, it was quite an affair. everyone looked lovely and there was quite a spread with vegan and non-vegan dishes alike...

the dessert table (i contributed home-made strawberry cream pies with home-made graham cracker crust and vanilla gooey cake)...

i feel so lucky to have spent thanksgiving with such great people...

(mo, justin and i)

(jules, lindsaykate and i)

yesterday, on our way home from work, jules and i bought some colored construction paper and craft supplies. later on in the evening we had a girls night with lindsaykate during which we made little indian

and pilgrim head dresses for everyone to wear at our thanksgiving feast.

they were a hit!

...the indians

...the pilgrims

hunter felt it his duty to tell the story of the pilgrims and indians as it really happened...

i ended the evening by soaking in a nice hot, candle-lit bath listening to christmas music.

so fancy and festive.

radio city rockettes

this past wednesday night, my friend claire and i went to see the radio city rockette's christmas spectacular. we were so stoked when we found out that they toured to toronto. neither one of us had ever seen them live. we excitedly reminded each other all day at rehearsal that we were seeing the show that night.

let me tell you, the rockettes do not disappoint. it was everything we'd hoped it would be. precision. absolute precision. wow. we were seriously giddy all night as we watched. my two favorite numbers were the toy soldier number and the ny sightseeing number. it was absolute perfection.

claire and i decided that we're going to be rockette holiday singers when we move to ny. it's gonna happen.

...the delightful little aussie herself

here's to a fancy, festive night on the town...

the distance you have come...

"all journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware." -Martin Buber

i'm getting really excited about all of the parts of the world i will see this year. i'm so passionate about traveling. i love seeing and experiencing different places and cultures. i love tasting the food, walking the streets and smelling the smells; looking at architecture, listening to the melody of the languages spoken. i love it all. travel has played a huge part in shaping me. i feel that seeing the world has opened my eyes to different ways of thinking. it's given me my sense of adventure and a passion for life, the beautiful world we live in and all that they have to offer.

i sat down today and listed all of the places i've lived and visited in my life and the new places i can add to the list during my cruising this year. here's a re-cap...

i've lived in:

utah

england

pennsylvania

ukraine

canada

states i've visited:

utah

california

nevada

oregon

idaho

montana

colorado

new mexico

massachusetts

ohio

virginia

maryland

pennsylvania

new york

new jersey

washington d.c.

florida

countries i've visited:

u.s.

canada

england

ukraine

scotland

wales

france

spain

czech republic

denmark

norway

finland

bulgaria

greece (crete, cyprus, patmos)

egypt

israel

china

hong kong

mexico

south korea

australia

new places i will visit this year:

u.s. virgin islands

british virgin islands

bahamas

caribbean

sweden

russia

italy

portugal

gibraltar

malta

tunisia (north africa)

germany

estonia

i love that this will be a year of unexpected surprises, friendships and adventure.

ode to canadia...

disney does it right, friends! i think a couple of us screamed when we got to our apartments and realized that they are private suites that look like this...

we may or may not have a complementary cleaning service once a week, a washer and dryer and (if you look closely you'll see it) a plasma screen t.v. juuust spoiled!

our building is in a part of toronto called yorkville. it's just south of the ritzy shopping/restaurant district and just north of the main/downtown shopping district (which is fun to walk through on our way to work).

the city is enchanting...

it's the perfect blend of old and quaint and contemporary chic...

littered with beautiful, historic churches reminiscent of the ones i used to see growing up in england...

the space needle and some beautiful building on the walk home from work...

there are so many beautiful little side streets around town...

and there's so much to do in the city. here's a fancy museum we walked past today...

more pictures to come, lovelies. the city is enchanting. it's like a mix between old england and a quieter, cleaner nyc. it's fun to walk through the city and take the subway every day.

i feel so lucky to be here working on such a fun project with such great people.