Aladdin on Broadway

This weekend I took a trip to my favorite city in the world, NYC. The main purpose was to see two of my best friends from college and to see Aladdin on Broadway. Of course, give me an entire weekend in NYC and I'll find tons of things to do.

The weather was not the best on Friday so we decided to poke around Times Square for a little and then head back to the village to order-in food and watch movies.

Found a minion at Toys R Us in Times Square

Saturday was our big exciting day. We started at Lincoln Center, pretending to live out my dream of dancing on one of those stages. Then we headed down to Central Park and walked around, taking pretty hilarious pictures on the huge boulders. After that we went to FAO Schwartz to see the big piano and then down to Rockefeller Center to see the ice skating rink.

Then, since we are all How I Met Your Mother fans, we went on a search for McGees, the pub that McClarens is modeled after in the show. Of course, we had to stop and get a drink in honor of the end of the show.

And in our search for pre-show dining on a college budget, we stumbled upon a bar and grill called Characters which had delicious burgers and drinks for very reasonable prices.

Finally, it was time for the main event...Aladdin on Broadway!!!!!!!!!! The show was fantastic. Since it is still in previews, there are of course things that can be tweaked to make it even better. But overall the show was absolutely worth the money and was great entertainment. The saddest part? The exclusion of Abu from the stage version. While his replacements, Aladdin's three buddies, were funny, they were no match for Abu. And I may or may not have completely geeked-out every time Jafar spoke. He is played by the same actor who voiced Jafar in the original movie and he was absolutely fantastic!

Our night was complete after my traditional post-show Junior's Cheesecake and a subway ride back to the village.

Sunday was spent down in the village window shopping all the expensive boutiques and spending hours browsing my favorite bookstore in the world, The Strand. Miles of books stacked high inside and outside for ridiculously cheap prices, even though I still spent way too much money.

It was a perfect weekend away and a great way to see the city one last time before I move even farther away from it. No matter how much NYC changes, it will always be my favorite city in the world! <3

Hope you're having a magical day, I know I am!

The Happiest Place on Earth

I hear it all the time at work, "You HAVE to go to Disneyland! It's so much better!" This year for Spring Break I decided to see for myself.

I quickly realized that it is impossible to reasonably compare the two. For starters, they were built for two very different reasons and for very different guests. But I took a step back and just enjoyed the park the way Walt had originally intended...as the happiest place on Earth.

As always, I was mesmerized as soon as I stepped through the gates...the camera was put to work immediately. Walking by Walt's apartment above the firehouse on Main Street almost made me cry. And knowing that Walt spent so many of his days there playing around like every other guest was absolutely heart warming. Going into the lands that don't even exist in WDW; New Orleans Square,  Critter Country, and Disney California Adventure were really interesting.

I went a week before they started doing their fireworks and Fantasmic shows every night so I missed those, unfortunately. But I did get to see World of Color which was absolutely amazing! The water projections and effects were so cool and fun to watch and definitely captured the magic of Disney parks.

But, the best part may have been getting to spend time with two of my best friends from the DCP in Florida who now work at Disneyland. It was as if we hadn't been apart a single day. The bond that molded our friendship during the program, was still just as strong.

Even though it was a short trip across the country, I appreciated the break from reality and was thrilled to go somewhere on my bucket list and spend time with amazing people!

I truly love Disney, the company and the stories, and I couldn't think of a better place to start my career in entertainment and creativity.

To those who have thought about applying for the DCP or are debating on accepting your role, do it! It continues to change your life even after the program itself is over.

Hope you're having a magical day, I know I am!