Letterman

On Monday night we went to a taping of the Late Show with David Letterman. In order to get tickets, you had to request them online, then the show would call you with a trivia question. If you get it right, you get tickets. The question was: What color is the Late Show announcer's hair? I said "it's sort of orangish" and the lady gave it to us even though the actual answer is red.

So we got to the show and were told that we received an "audience upgrade"! Woohoo - free upgrade to free tickets! The upgrade allowed us to sit in the 2nd row, very close to Paul Shaffer. The taping we attended was for the Friday night show and the guest was Nathan Lane, who is in the new Addams Family musical on Broadway. The musical guest was She and Him. The lead singer of this group (Zooey Deschanel) was the female lead in one of our favorite movies, Elf. Although no photography was allowed in the Late Show studio, we got the standard:

MoMA

On Saturday we made a trip to The Museum of Modern Art. I had given Alyssa a membership for Christmas and we planned on purchasing it when we got out here. This was our first opportunity and it was a great weekend for a museum - cold and rainy.



Really though, the art can wait. Our first stop was in the Museum cafe for salted carmel gelato. It tasted like a Salted Nut Roll, which reminded us of home.

Before:



After:



Currently, the Museum has a special exhibit featuring filmaker Tim Burton (Batman, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, etc.). While extremely crowded, the exhibit was interesting and had sketches, hand-written notes, creatures, a mobile and even a few props from some of the movies.



Another special exhibit was by Marina Abramovic titled "The Artist Is Present." It was so weird. The main piece was a table and 2 chairs in the middle of an enormous atrium. The artist was seated in one chair and anyone visiting the Museum could take a turn sitting in the other chair. No time limit. What do you do while in the chair? Stare at Marina. Silently. And she stares back. I will say, the concept had me checking back often during our visit to see who was now sitting in the chair and if the the artist's reaction had changed. Of course, no photography allowed so no picture for the blog. I can't even describe the other portion of this exhibit. It is NSFTB (Not Safe For This Blog).

A couple of other pieces we enjoyed were...

Monet's Water Lilies



Mark Rothko



Andy Warhol



And this gem (I think this is why people hate modern art)



We're really excited to keep coming back to this Museum as the year goes on. And good news for all you potential visitors, only $5 admission to the Museum if you go with us (normally $20)!

Random

This was the most random night yet. Free hot dogs, a thwarted attempt to paparazzi Jennifer Love Hewitt, a concert at an Apple store, cake and improv by a guy from 30 Rock.

The night started out relatively innocent. Alyssa found a place that has free hot dogs on Wednesday nights. So after work, we decided to partake in a healthy meal of all you can eat free hot dogs. Alyssa smothered hers in sauerkraut, of course.



We were planning to go to an improv show that night co-starring Scott Adsit who plays Pete Hornberger on 30 Rock. We realized we had some time to kill and remembered that Jennifer Love Hewitt was doing a book signing in our neighborhood from 7:30 to 9:00. We're not exactly fans but we figured, why not? A celebrity sighting can sometimes be fun. In fact, up to this point, it has always been fun!

On our way to the book signing, we walked by an Apple store which had transformed into a concert space with laptops. Nothing notable but adds to the randomness.



When we arrived at the book signing, we realized that they had quarantined Jennifer Love Hewitt in a separate room. A bit excessive, we thought, but whatever. As we tried to enter the sacred space, the guard (yes, a guard) asked if we had purchased her new book (absolutely not). The guard basically said that if you did not buy her book, you could not go in. Regardless, Bryan could still see over the bookshelves and into the glass case that held the precious Jennifer Love Hewitt. Bryan took out the camera, zoomed in as far as possible, and attempted to get a picture. A different guard immediately appeared at Bryan's side and said that we would need to be escorted from the store because pictures were not allowed (which we didn't know). So, no pictures to show for this sighting but at least Bryan can say he got a glimpse of this renowned author.

Devastated at losing an opportunity of a lifetime, we decided to comfort ourselves with cake from Billy's Bakery in Chelsea. We had been here once before and with still more time to kill before the improv show, it was the perfect place to stop off.



Things were starting to look up. Jennifer Love Hewitt has nothing on this carrot cake.



Finally we made it to the improv show, which was hilarious! Scott was as funny (if not more so) as he is on 30 Rock. It was the highlight of our night and was only $5. For those of you that are Kristen Schaal fans, she was coincidentally in the audience. As Alyssa said when we saw her again, "We must run in the same circles!"

It's Alive

75 degrees and sunny. This weekend we spent both days in Central Park (with everyone else in New York - see below). It seems like this nice weather brought everyone out of hibernation.



We found a dry spot to lay down an old sheet and read the New Yorker - stay classy.



One of the best views in the Park is a short walk from our apartment. This is the Great Lawn where we spent our entire Saturday.





On Sunday we packed a lunch from our Zabar's grocery shopping trip. Everyone is crazy about this grocery store, probably because it has cheap cheese, a huge olive bar and the best black and white cookies in New York. Or maybe that's just why we like it.



It was the most relaxing two days we've had since we moved here. Everyone in the City seemed to be in good spirits. Although it has now dropped back down to 50 degrees, the nice weather definitely got us excited for the upcoming summer days.

A Salt & Battery

Our visitors left us on Saturday and we've been feeling blue without them here. To take our minds off how much we miss them, we tried to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. But, as lame as we are, the closest we got was ordering fish and chips (not even Irish) and thinking about (but not actually) buying a Guiness. The good news is, the place we went (A Salt & Battery) was awesome!







After tonight's experience, malt vinegar probably deserves a post of its own, but I'll include it here. For years I've known I should put malt vinegar on my chips, but tonight was the first time I really gave it a fair shot. We drenched the chips with it, then sprinkled on more salt than anyone should, and let me tell you - it was divine.

You Look Like Matt Damon

During a break on the Today Show, Meredith Vieira graciously took pictures with the crowd (despite the wind and rain) and we were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Just before this picture was taken, Meredith told Micah he looks like Matt Damon! Does that make this our fifth celebrity sighting!?

Celebrity Sighting #2, 3, and 4

Okay, so this isn't as organic as our first celebrity sighting, but we went to the Today Show and got some close-ups of Meredith Vieira, Al Roker and Lester Holt.

Here you can see Lester and Meredith in the background and our clever signs in the foreground.

If you watched that day, you would've seen us crazily bopping around wherever the camera was pointed! We're lucky we weren't escorted out of the plaza.

Washington, D.C.

Our three visitors had never been to Washington, D.C., so we took a mid-week trip to our nation's capital. They loved it. It's much more laid back than NYC and they were ready for a break from the chaos. We arrived in the afternoon and walked the Mall. Seeing the monuments at dusk was awesome.

Washington Monument.

Abby pretending to touch the top of the Washington Monument. Bryan and Ahnna went to great lengths to get the perfect picture.

World War II Memorial.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Our favorite memorial was the Lincoln Memorial. We were all in awe.

The next morning, we got up bright and early and went to the Capitol. We sat in the Senate Gallery for a bit, and then went to the Library of Congress. Abby, Ahnna, and Micah humored me by visiting the Supreme Court.

We ate lunch at Union Station, and then went to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. The museum holds tons of interesting American artifacts including Abraham Lincoln's top hat, the ruby slippers Judy Garland wore for "The Wizard of Oz," Kermit the Frog, the Star-Spangled Banner, and Thomas Edison's light bulb. I think it's one of the best museums ever. A few other highlights:

The day before we arrived, Michelle Obama donated her inaugural gown, shoes and jewelry to the museum. STUNNING! Our timing was very lucky.

The Museum also holds Julia Child's kitchen, which was really fun to view especially after seeing the movie Julie and Julia.

Julia Child's pegboard for her pots and pans are below. You'll see that she drew outlines of her pots and pans so that she knew where to place them after she washed them. Seems like something I would do.

Finally, we went to the White House. We were certain we saw the President arriving, only to find out he was in St. Louis the day we were there!

We left D.C. feeling very patriotic. It was a great trip and our visitors really seemed to enjoy it.

The Cathedral, The Rock, and The Empire

After our C-r-A-z-Y Times Square introduction, we brought these vagabonds somewhere a bit tamer: St. Patrick's Cathedral. This Cathedral is the largest Catholic Cathedral in the United States and seats about 2,200 people. It is quite beautiful. The hype is understandable.

Next, it was off to the Empire State Building. On our way, we stopped by Rockefeller Center, or 30 Rock as fans like us call it. Future NBC stars?

Lunch at Pret A Manger. This was Alyssa's favorite foodstop in London, and we're happy to see it crossed the pond. It looks like they're posing for a new Pret A Manger advertisement! "If Minnesotans Like Pret, It Must Be Good."

The Empire State Building.

The last time we were here, we waited for HOURS to get through the line. But this time around, we were 86 floors above ground in about 15 minutes! Here are some of the incredible views.

If anyone is looking for a Pigeon Portraiture, Alyssa's talent speaks for itself in this photo. There's more where this came from if you're looking to see a more complete portfolio.

We know what you're thinking - "This MUST be the end of the post." But as you'll see, we couldn't waste a second of this beautiful weather. What better way to spend it than wandering through Central Park. It was heaven.

We capped off the day with a trip to Cafe Lalo, one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants for dessert. As you can see, there was no shortage of selection (or appetite).

The Maiden Voyage

Our first visitors arrived! Abby and Ahnna (Alyssa's sisters) and Micah (Abby's boyfriend) are staying with us for a full week.



There's a lot of pressure to make this trip a success. If they go home with good reviews, the rest of you will want to visit! As additional enticement, check out the sweet swag bag you'll receive upon arrival.



We're off to a great start. On Saturday, we had dinner at the Shake Shack in our neighborhood and it was delicious! Juicy hamburgers and cheese fries.




After dinner, Abby, Ahnna and Micah had their first subway ride. They did well. Held onto the rails, let people off the train before barging in, and all the other Minnesota nice things you'd expect. Although they only saw a tiny mouse on the subway tracks, we assured them there were more to come. For example, we have seen a rat on the platform and, even more exciting, two rats fighting. What's not to love about this city.



To prove to them they were really in New York City, we went to Times Square.



The highlight was getting our picture on one of the biggest billboards in Times Square!!! That's right everyone, you know someone famous!





More fun to come....