Chelsea Market/Broadway!

Wow! Yesterday was an awesome day. BIG THANKS to my sister, Cathy, for making it wonderful.

We met Cathy in Chelsea, which is an area of Manhattan that we had never been to. She works in Chelsea Market, which is a great building near the Hudson. It used to be a giant bread bakery, and she believes that Oreos used to be made there, too. It had that authentic industrial decor. This is where the Food Network is housed. We walked into a fantastic Italian market, where I saw more kinds of pasta than I ever knew existed. Some of the spaghetti was as tall as Mary Teresa!

For lunch, we went across the street to a place called Pop Burger. Cathy's friend, Eric, met us there. He is the one that is in "The Little Mermaid" on Broadway. Since he was taking us backstage later in the evening, we thought it would be great for the girls to get to know him before the show. He was so wonderful to the girls, and stayed almost three hours with us. We all enjoyed some of the backstage tidbits, and I think it was good for Claire to hear that not every performance is perfect.

Also meeting us was Cathy's friend, Danny Boome. He just completed a few seasons of his own show on Food Network - Rescue Chef. Mary Teresa LOVES watching him on tv, and says that he's her favorite "cooker". He graciously came by to meet the girls, especially MT. She got a huge look of surprise on her face when he walked in, and then she retreated into serious shyness the rest of the time.

Danny and Eric made the afternoon wodnerful. Thank you, Cathy for facilitating it!

Oh - Vincent was crying in the taxi on the way there, so I nursed him. I never saw myself nursing in a taxi!!! You do whatever it takes.

We went back to the Marriott Marquis, where we are staying for two nights. I got a room that overlooks Times Square just perfectly, so Claire is in Heaven. We rested up a bit before the show.

"The Little Mermaid" was wonderful, a great experience for the girls' first Broadway show. Eric plays one of Ursula's two eels, and he played it up a bit for the girls, throwing them some smiles and blowing raspberries once. We were in the second row, so it was easy to interact that way. The Ariel was new to the cast, but she was GREAT. Ursula was played by Faith Prince, who was spectacular.

After the show, we waited outside the stage door with everyone else. However, Eric's dresser came out and called us in, so it was fun being called to go backstage.

Eric gave us the most fantastic tour, and he got everyone to sign the girls' Playbills. We were on stage for awhile, we looked at all the costumes, the sets, the makeup, and visited with some of the cast members. They all loved Mary Teresa's self-infliced hair cut and said that she can cut their hair anytime.

The girls got to sit in Ariel's grotto and touch Ursula's wig. The wig handler's other job is being the personal assistant to Sarah Jessica Parker!

We ended the night at a deli on Restaurant Row, and got back to the hotel after midnight.

It was a magical night that I could go on and on about, but my internet service has 3 minutes left, so I'll sign off.

Thank you to Cathy for such a fantastic day!