The Invention of Dreams

So here I am in Greenville, SC! After spending some of the day walking around the city, I can officially say that this is a great city. There are so many great looking places to get and go out, a beautiful park and river with a waterfall, theatre, museums, and lots of shops all up and down main street. Best of all, the train is only parked about 3 miles from the building, and there is a Publix and CVS within walking distance! Woohoo! Proximity to necessities is a big deal when your day to day method of transportation is by foot haha. Some pictures of the city:

Falls park!

Other side of the bridge

So I'm starting to get into this mindset that I should be looking for another job, since this is usually the time that whatever job I would have would be ending, but clearly I don't need another job since I have this one. So I've been looking at all these online classes to take in order to preoccupy my mind in another way. Did you know that Carnegie Mellon offers free online classes? They do! I think I'm going to take a Statistics class through them, and also French 1 and 2 once I get through my Italian. I'm also thinking about taking courses in Event and Wedding Planning, because why not! I also should start playing things that are not just the circus music, and I still want to learn how to play the ukelele, potentially leading into guitar.

...Apparently I have a lot of work ahead of me!

P.S. I love the Hugo soundtrack and I'm so glad it's nominated for an Oscar!

Secret's In The Sauce

So sorry for the wait with the updates, it's getting kind of hard keeping up the blog since I try to spend my time exploring the cities rather than sit in the library on my computer haha. I think I left off after Jacksonville, so we're on to Birmingham!

Birmingham is a pretty nice city. There's a nice park and the library is awesome! Lots of wooden panelling and old-looking books and those tables with the lamps in the middle and a balcony, like you see in the movies haha. This is Wages' hometown, so he was able to show us a lot of the good places in Birmingham. We ate at this Thai restaurant called Surin West which was delicious (really good coconut soup and something called Super Crunch sushi) and a BBQ place called Jim 'N' Nick's, which had some of the best tasting pie I've ever had, and these amazing mini cheesy cornbread muffins.

On Sunday I also went to brunch at this place called Trattoria Centrale, which was DELICIOUS! I had mascarpone stuffed french toast with bacon and apples and freshly squeezed orange juice. They also had these AMAZING scones: chocolate and orange, cherry and rosemary, and prosciutto and mozzarella. I tried the last kind and it was so good; definitley inspired me to try and make scones haha.

Across the street from the building is the Birmingham Art Museum, which was not that big, but had a TON of exhibits. A small contemporary section, some local artists work, and then lots of Italian, French, Asian, American, and Indian works of not just paintings, but sculptures, pottery, and furniture.

Fountain in the park

Other side

Atrium of the museum

Amazing harlequin-like Italian figurines

Monet!

A modern piece I liked

They had a kids section and one of the kids drew this haha

Wages also took us to the place called the Irondale Cafe, which is the cafe that the Whistle Stop Cafe is based on in the movie Friend Green Tomatoes! So naturally I had to go haha.

Irondale Cafe!

Looks like the window front in the movie!

Train station right across the parking lot!

Yum! Country fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, black-eyed peas, mac-n-cheese, buttermilk pie

In Birmingham we played ten shows so it was a really long week of playing haha. But I was able to start teaching myself Italian with all the down time between shows and it's coming along really well! I actually miss learning something new, and it's inspiring me to take some online classes in different topics. This is such a great opportunity to do and learn things that I haven't or maybe normally wouldn't have time to do, so I'm going to try and utilize my time the best that I can :)

TOWANDA!

Picture Perfect

So sorry it's been a while, but here's finally the pictures from my trip to Disney! (and some of Orlando and Jacksonville).

Hollywood Studios!

Pluto and Goofy!

Chip and Dale!

Minnie!

Magic Kingdom! Let the memories begin!

Show in front of Cinderella's castle

Rose Garden

Epcot!

Epcot at night

Statue of Andrew Jackson in Jacksonville, FL

The old Maritime Museum, it was moved across the bridge

It was a gloomy day in Jacksonville

Models of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria

Cool!

The detail was incredible

When You Wish Upon A Star

So after we closed in Orlando Monday evening, Emily, Ian, and Andrew and I stayed a couple days and went to Disney World! For real it’s like one of my most favorite places to go. We had rented a car, but Jonathan asked me if I wanted to drive his car to Jacksonville, so we were able to return the rental and drive to Jacksonville for free!

But back to the beginning: so we arrive at our “villa”, and it is absolutely amazing! Three bedrooms, two (huge) bathrooms, a kitchen, living room, and a balcony. It was perfect and it was $65 a night! Such a deal! We made dinner at the room Monday night, and then went to bed to prepare for a full day at Disney.

The next morning we met our new friend Adam, who used to work for Ringling but now does lighting and sound at Disney, and he was able to get us all park hopper tickets for the day! We started at Hollywood Studios, stopped at Magic Kingdom briefly, then ended the day at Epcot. I kind of love how familiar I feel at the parks, and how I can find my way around really easily without the maps.

So at Hollywood Studios I said we should ride Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster because it’s really fun. As soon as we get in line though I start feeling so anxious. I start asking myself why I’m in line and why I’m doing this. I feel this way more and more all the way up to the start of the ride, but then as soon as it starts, the anxiety fades and I have a ton of fun. Why am I so weird? Haha

One of the main reasons I love Disney so much besides how fun it is and all the happiness it brings to people, but their amazing attention to detail. So much thought is put into every little thing, and nothing is overlooked. It’s all those little details that really make the difference between good and great, and I really appreciate the extra touches.

So the next day we get up and drive to Jacksonville, and after relaxing for a little bit I go with Lauren and LaRena to the Maritime Museum at the Jacksonville Landing. It’s basically just a room so it didn’t take long to go through, but they had some amazing model ships and interesting information to read. After that we got sushi and then walked back to the building, which is right across the street from the Maxwell House factory, so everything smells like coffee. Actually I think it smells more like melted chocolate that’s been sitting a little too long in the fondue pot, but that might just be me haha.

Thursday we opened to quite a large crowd, and I grabbed dinner yesterday (and today haha) at a place called Burrito Gallery. This place has DELICIOUS burritos for a very reasonable price. They are so filling, but so good. I had grilled chicken yesterday and Cajun fish today.

Tomorrow is a three show day so I’m going to go to bed early so I’m well rested for the long day. I’m going to post all the pictures from this post separately since there are so many. Oh and so far I’ve been doing really well at working out pretty consistently and sticking with my resolution, except I’m really starting to miss baking. Baking and losing weight do not go well together haha. Also I started teaching myself Italian today! It’s going to be a long process, but well worth it ☺

The Wand Chooses the Wizard, Harry

Orlando! Yay! So on Tuesday, I rented a car and drove to the Mariott Vista Resort where I picked up my friend Kim and her mom and we went to Universal Studios Island of Adventure! Of course our main goal of visiting this park was to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which is, of course, the first thing we went to haha. It. Was. SO. COOL! The amount of detail they put into the park is ridiculous, and I could've just stayed there all day. We ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks and I got pasties and a butterbeer. Also, the ride inside of Hogwarts is AMAZING! One of the best rides I've been on. And of course walking through the castle is so cool too. The architecture reminded me a lot of Oxford, which I miss :) I think I'm going to let the pictures speak for itself, though of course they don't do justice to seeing it in person:

Walking to the gate

Front gate! Getting so close!

Entrance to Hogsmeade!

AHHHH!!!!

The Hogwarts Express! We took a picture with the conductor haha

The castle!

The botanicals gardens at Hogwarts while waiting in line

The Three Broomsticks!

YUM!

Another side of the castle

Bert's Every Flavor Jelly Beans and Pumpkin Fizz!

Hogsmeade at dusk

This is in the Dr. Seuss land. It's the Circus McGerkus tent!

Cat in the Hat!

Yes, we rode on the carousel. And yes, my feet touched the ground when it went down haha

Comic strip land

Popeye!

Blondie's sandwich shop

Popeye's ship, The Olive

Jurassic Park!

We had an amazing day at the park, to say the least. Afterwards I drove Kim and her mom back to their hotel and I stayed and ate some dinner and walked around the complex, which was beautiful. That evening I stopped at club called Pulse pretty close to the train where I met my friends Adam and Emily. There weren't a lot of people there but we had a really fun night, and witnessed a fight that was hilarious to watch haha. Plus it was $10 all you can drink ;)

The next night me, Ian, Andrew, and Bill went to Downtown Disney and saw La Nouba. This show was AMAZING. I was completely blown away. Every single act in that show is impressive, the set and costumes and beautiful, and the music is awesome. I would definitely go back and see it again, ad I recommend everyone to see it.

The chocolate frog I bought!

I got Rowena Ravenclaw!

The La Nouba building

Yesterday was our opening in Orlando. My friend Janie came to the show and brought 13 of her castmates with her! It was great to see her and it was nice to make so many new friends. I took them on a tour of backstage and showed them the train as well. It's always great to see people's reactions to the train haha. Today Emily and I went downtown, had lunch, and went to the Orlando History Center, which was very nice. In one of the rooms there were people setting up for a wedding! It was Winter Wonderland themed, and it looked lovely. One of the women setting up asked if we were engaged haha. After that we went to Starbucks and planned our trip for Disney World next week! Woohoo!

I am aware that everything I am doing right now is working against my resolution to save money for NYC, but this is a great chance to visit all these places, and I can start saving after we leave Orlando haha :p