Happy Birthday Andrea!!! We celebrated Andrea's birthday last Saturday.. she and I met up for a little lunch at Spoons (fantastic food, as per usual!). Then I went to Target and spent my life savings (jk.. had to stock up though because there are no Targets close to home here). That night we ate out at the restaurant of her choice, Lebanese Taverna.. yum! I've never had anything like it before and it was fantastic! I actually didn't want to part with my food because it was just that good.. so the waitress was kind enough to let it sit in front of me for a little while longer so I could at least appreciate its presence if I couldn't possibly put one more bite in my mouth. :)
Then it was off to Federal Hill.. a few drinks here and there and a little dancing to end the night.. always a fun time!
Sunday was Andrea's actual birthday and Easter! I went to mass at a beautiful little shrine in downtown.. great priest! I will definitely be going there again sometime. Later in the day Mariah had us over for an Easter gathering. It was beautiful! Great appetizers.. Andrea made some crazy tasty brie dip with a blow-dryer, ;) then dinner time rolled around and Mariah covered the table with an amazing spread, beautiful and tasty! 
Happy Easter!!!
so, seriously people, for those of you awaiting pictures of aruba.. i must say that I've been trying to find a way to post them but can't seem to find a good, not-so-time-consuming way to do so... you might be able to view them by clicking here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=95769&id=651020458
but I cannot guarantee anything! :)
Other news.. RENT was very fun. We had dinner at Maggie Moore's (beautiful Irish pub across the street from the theater) just before the show. Good food, good drink, fantastic dessert! I also ran into some people I knew, which I always enjoy as it makes me feel a little more at home! ;0)
The show was fun as its always fun to see a live show with great music, especially with someone you're excited to be with.. but... not to be a Negative Nelly, it was my 4th viewing of the touring show and it just was by far the worst I've seen! I actually felt like I was watching high schoolers put it on (no offense high schoolers but these people are supposed to be professionals and I paid a LOT of money to see this show!).
For one thing, simple as it may be, the actors didn't match the characters as they normally do.. Roger was big and buff (huh? kind of odd for a starving, depressed artist), Joanne had some kind of mouth gear that made her slightly difficult to understand, Collins was tiny, the big, homeless lady was a small, young girl who, in the end, salvaged her main solo after botching the beginning, and Angel was big, bold, and out-of-control. He/she added a wee too much drama and not enough quality. The choreography was even lacking. I just felt like they were trying to make it different, but why mess up a good thing? meh.. like I said, I was happy to be there and I always appreciate seeing performances and hearing the music live (when they weren't forgetting their lines or singing flat.. ok, ok, that only happened 3 times).
The take-home lesson... see Rent on Broadway. It's closing on June 1, 2008. The touring show will continue but the Nederlander theater on Broadway will close its doors, after 12 years, to Rent fans forever. sad. A few of my girlfriends and I are planning our pilgrimage. Wow.. now that I'm a musical critic.....
moving on..
thanks to Mariah, I finally learned how to spell C'est la vie today. Always wanted to know that.. (its the little things, right?)
that's all for now, folks..
much love
laura
yes, baltimore is starting to feel like home. i could really get used to this weather. thank goodness when we got off the plane from aruba it was in the 40's! its been nice ever since.
not much to report.. fun vaca, working nights, going well.. and going to see RENT tonight! very excited.
will post pictures this weekend!
xoxo