Kansas City BBQ

We were in Kansas City last week for a few days, and I knew going into it that it was going to be a BBQ week. Darrel has been talking about it since the tour started! Men and their food...

We went to Arthur Bryant's for lunch one day, and WOW was that good food! It is absolutely nothing to look at. Just a stone building in the middle of nothing. The interior is very simple, and I'm pretty sure it has not been worked on since it opened in the 1920's. Old tables, red and white checkered floor, run down chairs. They had pictures of famous people eating there all over the walls- Sarah Palin and John McCain were the two most recent shots. I guess it's "the" place to go in KC for BBQ!

It is set up like a cafeteria. You get in line, grab a tray, and tell the guys in the kitchen what you want. They literally throw it on a plate for you, and you slide down to the cashier to pay and get your drink. Enjoy the pics!

San Antonio, TX

I never would have thought that San Antonio is as great as it is, unless I was on tour. I can't think of any reason I would go there otherwise- you don't think of it as a "vacation spot", and I don't know anyone who lives around there.

I LOVED IT!!! First off, our theatre was amazing. Sometimes we luck out and perform in really old, restored theatres that have so much character. This was no exception. The only strange part about it was that I had to set up merchandise for the show IN the actual theatre. There was no lobby. We were super busy there, and it was hard to work in the dark once the show started. Our props girl gave me a super cool headlamp that I wore to count money. I felt like I was going down into the mines or something.

San Antonio is best known for two things: the Alamo, and the Riverwalk. I had this whole Riverwalk pictured in my head before we got there. It would be a large river with barges on it and stores up and down a sidewalk. I could not have been more wrong! It was this quaint three mile beautifully landscaped shallow river that flows through the city. Darrel, myself and our friend Jayson took a Riverwalk Cruise on Sunday morning. I won't bore you with the history of the river, but we learned so much, and then enjoyed a nice brunch at one of the many restaurants that line the river.

The Alamo was a disappointment. It is super small, and doesn't seem to be run very well. The area around it has turned "Niagara"- Ripley's Believe it or Not, Guinness Book of Records Museum, and a bunch of other junk. I'm not really into the Westerns, but everyone said that it looks about five times bigger on the silver screen than it does in real life. My closest relationship with the Alamo is Pee-Wee Herman, so I was not too disturbed by this.


The last night, a few of us went to this Mexican place I read about in my trustworthy 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. It's been open 24/7 since 1941! Their prices were great (the Riverwalk is a tourist trap and expensive), their decorations were over the top, and it was in an area of town we had not seen yet. I forgot my camera, but here is the website: Mi Tierra.

If I ever have the chance to go back, I will be there in a heartbeat!

Scotch Eggs

I forgot to post that I ate my first Scotch Eggs while in Austin. We were in a pub (we always are, because they are usually the only places that sell food after we get out of work) and I just decided to go for it. I think Darrel was shocked! It is a hard boiled egg taken out of the shell, wrapped in a sausage mixture of some sort, then deep fried with breadcrumbs and served with mustard.

I was proud of myself for trying something different, but I think I'll stick with a burger next time.

The Lone Star State

Isn't that what it's called? Anyway, we are in Texas!

I had heard that Austin was a REALLY fun town, but could not have imagined what I saw when we went there. The place to go out there is Sixth Street. Some friends of ours were coming to spend Wednesday and Thursday with us, and they have been out on Sixth Street before.

I am not exaggerating when I say that there are over 60 bars on this street. It was unreal. And they ALL had people in them on a Thursday night!

Downtown Austin

This one's for you Mom!!

I can't believe what happened to us though. Some of us were out, and we got a call that our friend JT was going to meet up with us. The next thing we know, we get a call from him saying they won't let him in because he has on "baggy pants". It didn't look to me like there was a dress code of any type in this place. Some people tried to talk to the bouncer to get him in, but they just weren't having it. So you know what we did? We all put down our drinks, and walked out. Trust me, they lost quite a bit of business because of "baggy pants".

Enjoying some bubbly with Zack and JT.

Does it look like we had fun!?

That town was so full of life, and there was SO much to do there. I would go back in a second!

The Glamourous Life of Show Business

To start this blog off, I would like to admit that just had to sing the Fergie song out loud in my hotel room to be able to spell glamourous. So sad.

I thought I would give you all a look behind the scenes of the show I have done like 500 times. I remember when I first started, I was facinated by being backstage. I used to love to watch the show from the wings (side of the stage) and hang with everyone while the show was going on. Now I'm more opt to turn down the monitors, listen to my iPod while reading US magazine, and go on the internet. But I still love the show, and my job. :)

New Years Eve- Finally!

New Year's Eve was SO MUCH FUN!! We were in Tucson, and had the night off, so being the party people we are, a really great night was planned.

As a company, we had a Secret Santa exchange. Unfortunately, we got our act together so late that we didn't feel we had enough time to reveal ourselves before our Christmas break, so we decided to do our final gifts on New Years Eve. The company gave us a budget for a party, and Darrel, myself, and some others got to work. We ordered party trays from the grocery store, went to Trader Joe's for wine, and some massive liquor store for huge amounts of beer. The hotel had a tent set up outside, and a few people spent a lot of time decorating it and cleaning it up, to give it a "party feel".

The way we did Secret Santa was that you had to give at least two $5.00 gifts leading up to the big party, and then a $20 gift as the final. Once you opened your final gift at the party, you had two guesses as to who had you. It was so fun, and I would say about half of us got our person right. The person who had me for Secret Santa was great! She gave me lots of fun things, and a purple purse that you will surely see me using (which I had to go on a kissing of the cheek scavenger hunt for)! I was lucky and picked my friend Amber's name (who happens to be from Cleveland). The only bad thing about it was that every time I bought her something, I wanted to buy a duplicate for myself!

Darrel and Ray with our small amount of beer for the party.

Matthew showing off his creative Wal Mart decorating skills.

Amber and I under the beautiful chandelier (I had her for Secret Santa)!

Our Secret Santa gift table- there was some good stuff in there!

Everyone happy drinking, eating and opening gifts.

We had our party early, because someone found a great party for us to all go to at the Hotel Congress, just a mile or so up the street. They had a circus themed night. We didn't know what the heck that meant, but after talking to some local people, we found out this was the place to go for the night, so we didn't really care. It was about $15 to get in (we pre-bought tickets) and they had at least six or seven different bars, and outside tent with a band, a DJ in another room... it was awesome. There were probably a couple thousand people there. It was just a huge space.

The ad for the party we went to at Hotel Congress

At midnight, they had a champagne table set up outside, and had a huge ball drop from the top of the hotel. After celebrating at our party since 6:30 with an open bar, you can imagine the spirits the 30 of us were in!

Happy 2009!!

The weird Cirque-type people hanging from the hotel at the party.


Ras and I after a few glasses of champagne!
**Yes, Darrel and I were out together, but the only picture of the two of us from the night is blurry! Bummer!

Quick Health Update

First off, thanks to ALL of you who left me messages and sent me emails after you read I was not feeling well! You are the best friends and family in the world. :)

The good news is that I am feeling almost back at 100%. Pretty much everyone told me that when they have vertigo of some sort, it has lasted three to four days. Right on the money.

After doing some research, I am pretty sure I had Peripheral Vestibular Disorder. This can LEAD to vertigo, which is probably why the doctor used that word, but I was not dizzy.

In other news, my poor mom has SHINGLES!!! Please think of her as she gets over this- I know it is far from enjoyable to have.

Now that I'm feeling better, I'll work on making this blog a fun place to visit again!!!