Full of Surprises

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As you can guess from the title of this post, the past week has been full of surprises. Starting Wednesday...

Surprise #1: I love poetry!

On Wednesday evening I attended my first VIP event at Lincoln Center—the 15th Annual Poetry and the Creative Mind Gala. OK, I may not be an expert or even a true fan of poetry, save the occasional Shel Silverstein verse. BUT when you read the details of the evening, even you will want to buy advanced tickets for next year's event.

Every year, the Academy of American Poets hosts a ceremony and reception at Alice Tully Hall featuring celebrities and accomplished artists who read poems and celebrate the writers who keep the otherwise dying art of poetry alive and well. (Sidenote: Poetry is not actually dying. Think about songs—poetry set to music. And yes, even a song about slashing your ex's tires after you find out he's been cheating on you is poetry.) The president/CEO of my company, ABRAMS, is the chairman of the organization, and therefore is allotted a certain number of VIP tickets to the event each year. I won't go into detail about how I managed to snag a ticket, but I sure am glad I did!

This year's event featured a panel of household names: Uzo Aduba, award-winning access known for her role in Orange Is the New Black; Wayne Brady, singer and comedian best known for his appearances on Whose Line Is it Anyway?; Maurice Hines, Tony Award-nominated Broadway veteran; Madhur Jaffrey, award-winning actress and cookbook author; Sebastian Junger, best-selling author and journalist; James Lapine, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize for his play, Sunday in the Park with George; Amanda Palmer, outspoken performer, songwriter, and author (look up her "Ukelele Anthem" on YouTube); Meg Ryan, as in Sally in When Harry Met Sally, Kathleen in You've Got Mail, and (my favorite) the voice of Anastasia; Cecile McLorin Salvant, a Grammy Award-winning singer compared to the incomparable Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald; and (last but certainly not least) Meryl Street, no accolades necessary.

You see why I enjoyed it so much?

After the reading, those of us with VIP tickets (!) enjoyed a reception with passed hors d'oeuvres, open bar, and an endless buffet. Some of the readers—Uzo, Amanda, Sebastian, Cecile—mingled among the crowd. Unfortunately, the A-listers were not in attendance. It's OK, though. I can say I've been in the same room as Meryl Streep. Mind. Blown.

Check out the New York Times review of the event here.

Surprise #2: WAITRESS!

My dear friend Alyssa, who I got to see not once, but twice this week, invited me to see the Broadway show Waitress on Thursday evening. I've been dying to see this show for a long time, especially since Sara Bareilles took over the leading role of Jenna. Sara, who I've seen in concert when she performed at Wake Forest, also wrote the Tony Award-nominated score for the musical, and it was as epic and beautiful as I expected. Sara has one of the most unique and pristine voices I've ever heard, and she proved herself on the Broadway stage with seasoned performers, hitting every mark and nailing every note. I laughed, I almost cried, and I left wanting to see it ten times over. I doubt I'll make it back before Sara's tenure is up, but I will forever have the album on my phone to listen to whenever I need a piece of Hulu's Strawberry Dream Pie.

Click here to see some clips from Sara's Broadway debut.

Surprise #3: Happy Bridal Shower, Maggie!

The third surprise wasn't actually a surprise for me: It was a surprise for my sweet friend and college roommate, Maggie, who is getting married in July. This past weekend her sisters invited us bridesmaids to throw a surprise bridal shower for the bride-to-be. I flew to Erie by way of Philadelphia on Friday night, arriving just in time to get the last rental car from the airport. On Saturday I drove to an outlet mall in nearby Grove City before meeting the rest of the bridesmaids (8 out of 10) at a wine bar in downtown Erie. I was the last to arrive, and the look on Maggie's face when she saw me was priceless. Even though the dinner wasn't a surprise, my presence was, in a big way. She had no idea! She also had no idea that she was in for an even BIGGER surprise after dinner.

We gathered at Maggie's apartment and prepared to surprise her when she got home with her sisters after dinner. Needless to say, she was not expecting to come home to an apartment decorated with photos of her and her fiancé, streamers, desserts, and a girls-night playlist. We had a blast! We played games, opened presents (appropriately themed Naughty or Nice—I had a gift for both sides), and took lots of silly pictures. My favorite game was a video quiz where Maggie had to guess how her fiancé answered a handful of questions. Impressively—though not surprisingly—she matched almost all of his answers exactly. It's meant to be. I got to see her one more time when she dropped her sisters off at the airport (it's a very small airport, and we were all three on the same flight from Erie to Philadelphia). I'm so so glad I was able to celebrate with Maggie, and I absolutely cannot wait until July!