Thursday Thirteen - 220 - 13 Fond Memories From My First Trip to New York City

1 - My trip to New York last month was a writing conference trip - but I still managed to experience the joys that can only be found in the City That Never Sleeps.

Like discovering The Naked Cowgirl as we crossed Times Square on our way back to the hotel.













2 - My biggest delight while in New York was discovering that every bite of food I tasted was THE BEST (insert food item) EVER.

It all started with this seemingly innocuous order of angel hair pasta in a simple pomodoro sauce.

It came from the hotel restaurant - Encore - and I happily but unsuspectingly lifted a forkful of pasta to my mouth.

"Oh my God," I said. "Taste this," I said to my sister.

She took a bite.

"Oh my God," she said.













3 - It hadn't really sunk in yet that every meal we were to eat while in New York was going to be a symphony of delectability.

But during our second meal, eaten at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, the realization dawned that we had entered an alternate reality where every ingredient was imported from heaven.












4 - Granted, this looks pretty yummy. Jumbo shrimp wrapped around a crab filling, served over rice in a bed of garlic butter.

Now, keep in mind I come from Canada's east coast. I've eaten my fair share of seafood, fresh from the waters of the Atlantic, prepared by chefs with loving attention to detail.

And really - how tender and bursting with flavor can a jumbo shrimp be, anyway?

LOL! Exactly. Apparently, every other shrimp I'd eaten in my entire life were all fakes. I'd never eaten a real shrimp until this plate of captivating crustaceans were set before me.












5 - I thought our waitress was going to scoop me up and take me home when I ordered Huevos rancheros during the Nova Scotia / New Brunswick writers' breakfast.

Which brings me to one of the greatest joys of my trip to New York - the unparalleled level of service we received at every turn. Having worked in the service industry myself, I stood in awe of the incredible skill displayed by every staff member at every venue we attended. Every one of you made me feel like royalty. You made my dreamy trip even dreamier.












6 - After our stroll through Rockefeller Center, my cousin, my sister and I passed an Italian restaurant that caught our eye - so we went in.



























7 - In the lobby was a rogue's gallery of famous diners at the historic establishment, including my favorite singer of all time - Frank Sinatra.

On the walls were huge caricatures by Al Hirschfeld, including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum featuring Zero Mostel which was our view for the evening.

Once again, when our meals arrived, we were shocked by the exquisite delicacy contained within such vibrant taste. My cousin ordered the same trio as me - lobster ravioli (to DIE for,) eggplant lasagna (complex and incredibly fresh) and fettucine alfredo - the signature dish (*fall over thud*.)













8 - I wish I'd taken a picture of Alvin, our wonderful waiter. He was the epitome of charming but unobtrusive service. He truly raised our wonderful evening into one of the best dining experiences I've ever had.













9 - Of course, then we went to the unpretentious-looking Italian restaurant just across the street from the hotel. You would have thought we would have known by then to expect to be blown away - but we didn't.












10 - My cousin and sister both ordered the bowtie pasta in a cream sauce with the most savory salmon on Planet Earth. They are still talking about it. And I can vouch for them, because my sister shared a bite of hers.













Of course, I was ascending my own path to Nirvana with my seafood pasta in a simple tomato sauce. Plump shrimp, luscious crab, and my favorite of all, succulent scallops.

I may faint.

Accompanied by my absolute favorite celebratory drink - prosecco. I had a lot of prosecco while we were in New York.













11 - Non-food-related highlights of the trip included our walk through Central Park on the way to the ballet at Lincoln Centre.

I especially loved these bridges, as Hugh Jackman chased the mugger under one of these in one of my favorite films, Kate & Leopold:

"I warn you scoundrel, I was trained at the King's Academy and schooled in weaponry by the palace guard. You stand no chance. When you run, I shall ride. When you stop, the steel of this strap shall be lodged in your brain."













My cousin and sister on Bow Bridge.


























12 - A definite highlight for me was the art work at almost every turn, on almost every building.














13 - But I think the best part of my trip to New York was having so much time together with my sister and cousin.

We grew up like siblings in one another's homes. Once university hit, however, our adult lives took over, and the most we've been able to enjoy lately have been the occasional overnights.

So having five whole days together was definitely the very best part of my New York trip. Thanks for making such wonderful memories.

Virtual Advent Tour - 2010 - My 1000th Post!!

Welcome to this year's edition of the Virtual Advent Tour. The tour has been running for five years now, and this is my third year participating.

As a lifelong Christmas devotee, I was in an odd place during the Christmas of 2007, when I first came across this blog event. My dad had passed away nine months earlier, my grandmother had just passed away at the beginning of that December, and my father-in-law was in the last month of his life.

I was a little numb. A part of me reached out for Christmas, while another part of me could only watch Christmas stumble past. When I found this blog tour of other Christmas enthusiasts, writing about all the things that made this season special for them - it was a lifeline to sanity. It helped me to celebrate even in the midst of my sorrow.














So now I'd like to invite you to the most special night of the year for my family - Christmas Eve.

My family and my cousin's family grew up together, more as one group of eight rather than two groups of four. We were constantly at one another's homes, so the evening of Christmas Eve needed to be super special.

We began dressing up in our most formal wear for this biggest night on our social calendar. When we were kids, we settled in to watch the Christmas TV specials that were on, like Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, The Grinch and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

That's me above, waiting for my second wind, with my cousin Julianne looking on, and our Gram. We're pictured in Auntie's living room, where the adults gathered for drinks and to chat while the kids played around the house and chatted our little-kid chats. We always knew we had progressed into a new era of our lives when we gravitated toward sitting with the adults rather than hanging out in the TV room with the kid hors d'oeuvres of cheesies and pop.


















As we got older, we stopped eating the kids' meal of hotdogs and french fries, and we discovered the wonders of my aunt's seafood bisque, a dish I dream about all year long.














She's usually busy stirring it as we arrive, because it can't be left unattended even for a second.
































Spouses were folded into the mix, and new little cousins as they appeared.





















My musical family began having a musical Christmas Eve. It's an East Coast tradition to have impromptu musical parties erupting in homes all over this region. But we do rehearse just a tad. We try to keep our performance pieces as secret from each other as we can so there will be a bit of a surprise for everyone.
























There's always the possibilty that we try to dress up on this special night as a way of keeping the silliness factor under control.

But as you can see, it only ever meets with mixed success.



































This year we'll be in Toronto to celebrate with my husband's family.

*insert excited squeal*

But the East Coast Christmas Eve will carry on while we're enjoying the love and hugs from our Big City family and friends.

From our celebration to yours, may you have the Merriest of Christmases.

Thank you to Kailana @ The Written World and Marg @ Adventures of an Intrepid Reader for hosting this beautiful event. ((hugs)) to you!

Thursday Thirteen - 179 - 13 Things About The Night My Teenage Dream Came True

1 - This is me standing in front of my junior high school, wearing my handmade Roller gear.

This is also a picture of a dream.

My dream.

When this photo was taken, I dreamt day and night about what it would be like to meet Leslie McKeown, lead singer of the Bay City Rollers.
















2 - I bought all of their albums, which I listened to obsessively. I bought every 16 Magazine and Tiger Beat and read every article and gazed at every picture. Obsessively.

I was never a big believer in doing anything halfway.













3 - It was all crystal clear in my mind. How I would walk around a corner and discover him there. How we would smile and talk. How he would put his arm around me and give me that first kiss.













4 - It didn't matter to me that the odds of the Rollers coming to tiny, out-of-the-way Halifax, Nova Scotia were dismal to none.

It didn't matter to me that millions of other young teenage girls were having the same exact dreams about Leslie, in their bedrooms in homes all around the world.

Leslie had a way of gazing through the camera right at me. He connected with me like no one else ever had. He was my first romantic crush, the first focus for all my girlish yearnings on the cusp of womanhood.














5 - Over the years, I never lost my crush on Leslie. I've always loved his voice, and have a Bay City Rollers playlist that I sometimes write my dark, scary vampire stuff to.

And over the years, Halifax has grown and connected with the world. A-listers now play here, and our music has made itself at home around the world.

Still, I wasn't quite ready for the news that Leslie McKeown would be appearing at the Casino showroom in October.

What made it so strange was the fact that I'd just had Les McKeown Week here at A Piece of My Mind this past August.



























6 - The Big Night finally arrived. I toasted to dreams coming true with my best friend Connie, who took that picture of me in 1977. I toasted with my cousin Julianne and my sister Michelle, who spent countless hours dreaming the same dreams alongside me.



























7 - We took our seats in the Schooner Showroom, which was fully sold. The crowd was definitely psyched even before the just-about-to-walk-onstage bagpipe music started up.

Bagpipe music. Halifax. Just sayin'.














8 - And then he was there.

Leslie McKeown.

No longer in my head, but right before my eyes.

In the strange ways of the world, Les and his new band ended their North American tour with this Halifax date, never suspecting that Halifax is a party hearty city that loves nothing better than to make everyone who stops here feel like a cherished old friend.

We were rowdy, we were vocal, we rushed the stage immediately, we danced, we laughed, we screamed, we smiled, we fed off each other and made a magical night together.














9 - The current line-up for the band is:

Alex Southgate on keyboard

Michael Koch on guitar

Les McKeown on lead vocals

Alex Toff on drums

Si Mulvey on bass

These guys really cooked! The lead guitarist especially was mighty fine, both to listen to and to look at.

But the energy of the original Rollers were definitely in the room. And our shared experience of Rollermania turned the years back for all of us.




10 - Here Leslie talks about his Rollermania experiences, including what it was like to find 'room service' was actually a fan who'd made her way through security.

The proposal for a Roller reunion mentioned in the clip is not on the books anytime soon.



11 - Here's a clip of the encore number played at the Halifax show which I found on You Tube. The actual sound at the venue was fine - the sound on this clip gets blown out because the camera mic couldn't handle the volume.

You can see the joy on Les' face as the night turned out to be more than he'd quite expected. "I want to say this to the people," he said just before leaving the stage. "The best, final night of this tour I could ever have dreamed of. Thank you very much, Halifax!"

Later on Facebook he wrote: "The Final night in Halifax, what a night to remember, thanks to you, you made a great gig happen, xxx Thank you, from me and the boys, xx"














12 - My sister and cousin having an absolute blast. Leslie really had fun interacting with the crowd, making that eye contact just the way he always did, making jokes laced with saucy innuendo. Just the way we always suspected he would.

He also made lots of jokes about the years that had passed, affectionately and without apology. When he sang The Bump, my cousin and sister ran up and danced it together. He pointed them out and said, "Bet you that hurts now, doesn't it?"

And he was cheeky enough to sing Yesterday's Hero, as well.














13 - After the show, Julianne, Michelle and I stood at the meeting point arranged before the show with the promotions director. Julianne had contacted her several weeks earlier to request a meet and greet.

To our astonishment and delight, she got back to us with news that she would indeed get us backstage to meet Leslie in person after the show.

So while half the sold-out audience got into well-organized line-ups for autographs, we waited nervously for the all-clear.

And then there she was. And we were walking through a door that led to a long corridor, which took us towards the green room. My mouth went dry. Another door opened. And then Leslie turned towards us.

And my dream came true.

We smiled and talked. He put his arm around me as we all posed for a picture. He gave each of us a kiss as though we were old friends saying goodbye until next time.

There was a time when I was younger that I believed dreams might come true. I set about making some of them happen.

Then there was a dark period for me, when I resented the phrase Follow your dreams, as I'd discovered the hard way that many of the most cherished dreams will never come true, no matter how hard you work for it, no matter how hard you fight for it.

But I can say now, that in the moment I stepped through that door and saw Leslie turn towards us, all the pain, the profound despair, the bitterness and crushed future I experienced during that dark period were all swept away.

You can't get more specific than my Leslie McKeown dream. You can't get much darker than the self-destructive path he'd been on until he rose to the surface, clean and sober a few years ago. The audience I was a part of gave him a joyous night. His meet and greet with the three of us gave me a new lease on life.

Dreams do come true. They really do come true.

So don't stop dreaming. Never stop dreaming.

Thursday Thirteen - 174 - 13 Ways to Enjoy Two Wedding Showers

1 - Last weekend was a bridal shower double bill for my sister.

The first was a city shower hosted by my mom and my cousin, and was held at my cousin's house.


























2 - Above, Julianne MacLean and her cousin/bestest friend/critique partner, the bride-to-be, Michelle.

My sister with our mom, Paulette.



























3 - Tasty shower delectables.



























4 - Catching up with friends and family.































5 - Time to open prezzies. Including lovely confections like this lingerie.














6 - And this collection of recipes from my sister's friends at the office.


















7 - A new day, a new shower! This time at the cottage.



























8 - This shower was hosted by Michelle's new family-in-law-to-be. Above, her fiance's mother Joan chats with her lifelong friend.

My sister's new family-in-law has sisters, step-daughters, cousins, nieces and a step-granddaughter.































9 - More delish dishes of yumminess.












































10 - More fun - above, my mom nabs her gift back during a Yankee gift exchange.

The photographer informs Michelle what she'll be saying to Newt on the wedding night. These are taken from all of the bride-to-be's remarks as she opens her gifts. Hilarious!












































11 - More frothy confections!














12 - Newt's sister bestows a handmade cooking apron to Michelle. Now she's in like Flynn.

















13 - A lifetime of happiness is wished for Michelle and Newt!

Join me next week to hear what my sister's shower predicted would be her wedding night words.

Janet says I can't wait to read the 'wedding night vows' next week - I've been to showers that have played that game and it always turns out to be hilarious :)

Anne MacFarlane says Julia, it looks like so much fun. Hope Michelle's big day is just as wonderful.

Kelly Boyce says Congratulations to Michelle and Newt! I'm so happy for them.