Garden State

So, we made our way up to NYC last Friday-well, we didn't stay in NYC, but we were lucky enough to crash with Al's friend Mangan who lives in Hoboken in a totally decked-out batchelor pad-complete with view of Statue of Liberty, a huge flat screen tv, and a booming stero system.

We got up early on Saturday, and made our way into Manhattan to meet up with Al's parent, his brother, and his brother's girlfriend. We were pretty close to Times Square, so we walked around a little bit, but basically, kept finding ourselves wondering what to do next. NY is just to hard with a group of 6 who are trying to kill time in small pockets-we had about an hour to kill before lunch, after lunch, and after the play. Anyways, we settled on an early lunch since we had pretty much exhausted Times Square, so went to the Stage Deli for lunch-and got sandwiches the size of our face. And free pickles, which made Al happy.

After that, we wandered around some more, killing time before the play (The Odd Couple) started. Finally, we made our way to the theatre....luckily the whole cast was present, no stand-ins for our show. I have to make a confession-I still have a junior high school girl crush on Matthew Broderick. I can't seem to see him as anything other than Ferris Bueller. The play was hilarious, and Nathan Lane's timing was incredible.

After the play, we waited outside the stage door to see if we could meet any of the actors. Only one came out-Mike Starr-who was really cool, and made the time to talk to everyone. So, that was my brush with fame this trip. It seems every time we go to NY, we see someone famous, so it's always good to keep that streak running.

We were left with the same scenario of trying to find something to do after the play and before dinner-so more walking around Times Square. We finally went to dinner at an Italian restaurant Tony's Di Napoli-and had a huge family style dinner, followed by a super yummy strawberry shortcake...mmmm!

After that, we parted ways with Al's family, and met up with Mangan to head back into Hoboken. We decided to head out and hit the bar scene with Mangan, his "lady friend" Marcella, and Marcella's friends Ian and Shannon. Hoboken is a HUGE singles scene, and has a ton of adorable bars and restaurants. We were lined up to head into this super cute bar, and I could hear the tunes the DJ was spinning-which were all awesome. Until we got in there. He changed from whatever it was he was playing to hard core rap/hip hop, so I proceeded to drink. A lot. And, then, the 80's music started to play, and I just love the 80's. So, after several Bon Jovi songs, and vodka tonics later, I was loving life.

We stumbled next door to grab a late night snack, and went home to crash. I just love rockin' out in the Garden State.