Theatre Light

So I have become a terrible blogger...I keep forgetting about writing stuff.

So after Hawaii I was quite busy for a little while. Work started up a glee club, with a singing teacher, but it was more of a choir really I guess. I could only go 2 out of 4 weeks because of Hawaii and my annual doctors appointment.
-Speaking of, it went well...I didn't get another lecture like last year.  He just said to keep exercsing and lose 5kg before next year...well AIM to.....

So back to glee club - After the last week, we were invited to sing 3 songs at The Greyhound Hotel across the road from work with our singing teacher who does a show on Friday Nights. So I invited Jacinta along, but had to kill time till 7pm which was when we were meeting. I fiugred it was too much effort to go home and back, so I drove around and got some dinner. Then met up with Jacinta and headed over. The place was tiny, and there were no free tables, because they were all reserved...so we had no where to put our stuff and it was kinda pointless. But our teacher had a table and said we could sit there till her friends arrived at 8pm. So we got up and sang...all 5 of us that turned up. It was good but kinda lame since we didn't have much atmosphere and the songs were over so quickly!
We are actually starting up Glee club again this week...hopefully will get a few more people this time around.

The weekend after we got back from Hawaii - was Idina Menzel's concert at Hamer Hall. We had great seats really close. She was great, and the show was different to what we saw in the US, so that was lucky. -I really wish she'd stop doing Poker Face though...

We also saw Legally Blonde again, which was great...and we hung out at the stage door to get our programs signed in Melbourne (finally) and chatted to everyone about the last show which was a few weeks later.
The last show was great fun.  Ness had her friends and Mum and Sister with her so we had a big group which was good. It was so sad to see it come to an end, and the cast did really well not to lose it...till near the end. I'm still missing it months later!
But the good thing is Lucy is going to be in Wicked when it comes back next year...so yay!!!!


The Production Company started back up again in July with Gypsy. It was really good. I was prepared not to like Caroline O'Connor much, but she was great in Gypsy...just not other things I guess.
Last month they did Singing in The Rain...which while Christie Whelan-Browne and Matt Lee stole the show...was pretty lackluster.
But our seats were amazing for both. We got a subscription this year and that means we can keep the same seats every year!


Jacinta also joined a Rotary Club and  they had a trivia night in July. I went along and met some of her friends. It was good fun. It was at the Richmond Town Hall. Afterwards we decided to head to the pancake parlour in Chadstone for some late night food!

Her friends also decided to do Trivia night at The Notting Hill Pub, and so now we do that every Wednesday night. We have managed to place 1st once, plus 2nd and 3rd. So we always have vouchers for the bar!

We have also had some changes happen at work. Susan has gone on Maternity leave, and Phillipa has moved to another department till April. So I went for Susan's level 5 job...but they didn't give it to me. -Which pissed me off...but I did get Phillipa's while she's away. We have Jodie with us now, who is lovely and has been working next to us with planning till now.
We are getting another new person this week. And then another at the end of October...so its all happening at work.

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Carlie

Catching Up

So I've been really busy since I got back from Hawaii...that I forgot to post anything about Hawaii.

So here is a little run down of what I got up to in June.

We flew Jetstar...which was an interesting experiance, having only ever flown VAustralia. the seats were ok, but being a discount airline, there are no frills. We paid for the ipad entertainment, which was worth it, but there wasn't a great selection. I am considering buying an ipad for myself for future traveling, so that I can have my own stuff. We didn't pay for the food, we ate before we went through customs. Plane food is never good. I had snacks, but wouldn't do that for a longer flight. But for 10 hours it wasn't bad.
We tried to sleep, but had a bunch of screaming babies near us, and I think I only got an hour here or there.

We left Kay and Nick in Honolulu and waiting ages for our flight to Maui. We probably left a little bit too much time, but you always want to safe rather than sorry.
We then had to wait in line for ages at the car rental place. We were supposed to get a compact focus or something, but they gave us a jeep. It was pretty scary driving that at first, AND on the other side of the road, but I grew to love my jeep and with the GPS we managed to get to our hotel. I would totally drive somewhere else in the US (no major cities) in the future.

Our hotel in Maui was gorgeous. The Maui Coast Hotel was right across the road from the beach, had plenty of parking, wifi, a pool and a bar/restaurant. It also had a free laundry which we took advantage of before we left for Oahu.
In Maui we did a day of zip-lining and shopping and the beach. We drove to Ruby Tuesday for dinner and found a safeway supermarket...and did lots of shopping.
We drove up Haleakala (took 2 hours)  and saw the beautiful crater. We also hit the beach.
We did 1 tour in Maui down the Road to Hana. It was very wind-y and I was glad I was not driving that day. The tour guide was great fun too. So many beautiful sites.
Our 4th day in Maui was spent sleeping in, having breakfast out, shopping, and hanging at the beach before drinks by the pool. Then we did laundry and met up with Kay and Nick for dinner. We went to the aussie themed Outback Stakehouse which was funny.

After 5 great days in Maui we travelled back to Oahu. Our hotel wasn't as big or as fancy as in Maui, but the Aqua Waikiki Wave was nice. We had wifi and a fridge. We could also could see the ocean from our balcony, which was nice.
We had almost 2 weeks in Honolulu, and got up to a lot. We saw Waikiki Beach - which was soooo crowded and not a great beach.
We explored downtown and saw the palace. We went shopping at the mall...a few times. We did Pearl Harbour which was great. The submarine was very cool, the battleship was also pretty cool...and HUGE.

On Vanessa's birthday we went to The Polynesian Cultural Centre and Luau. -Which my last post was about.

We did Wet and Wild which was a lot of fun. I did get a little sun-burnt that day. But it was worth it for the waterslides.
We did a LOST tour which was a nice way to see The North Shore. But it wasn't as good as it could have been. It was actually a bit disappointing. But we did get to see some awesome locations from the show. It just could have been a better tour.

We walked up the Diamond Head crater...which was a big effort, and took me almost an hour, but it was worth it. The views and just how good I felt about myself once I walked all the way up there. But the stairs and the tunnels were pretty tough.

We got to shop at Walmart!

We swam with Turtles and took a cruise in a Catamaran off Waikiki.

We went to The Cheesecake Factory...a few times. And had a few different cakes.

We did a tour over to The Big Island. Which was amazing. A LONG day but we got to see volcanos!

We went to Kualoa Ranch where they filmed LOST and Off The Map and stuff. It was a great day. Gorgeous scenery. We ended the day with a Luau at the ranch.

We went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. I saw pretty fish and reefs.

And we did more shopping. Lots and lots of shopping. 

It was a great trip. I'd go back again, but I'd spend my time at Maui. Honolulu was too touristy and not as relaxing.

The only downside was getting up at 4:30am to head to the airport and finding out of Legally Blonde was finishing early back home and organizing tickets for the last show.

Aloha
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Carlie

Taking Time

So I've had another long weekend. Thursday was ANZAC day and then I took an RDO on Friday for a four day weekend.

Thursday I had a relaxing day, before a spontaneous trip to the movies with Jacinta to see Iron Man 3. I really enjoyed it. I liked the first one, the 2nd was ok, and I loved The Avengers.
We got there really early, turns out there were no lines so we had plenty of time to kill. We walked around a while, Glen Waverley has changed a lot since I've worked there. I miss it sometimes. 

Friday Mum and I went to Chadstone, which I haven't been to in ages. We went to Myer and I bought a new handbag and some other things. Then we looked at a couple of shops and then went to Koko Black for coffee.

Today I did nothing, which was nice. I watched Disney Movies, which I haven't done in a while. Its nice to have a lazy Sunday. I went for a walk, which I am not able to do as much now that day light savings is over, cause its practically dark when I get home.

Tomorrow is back to work, which is gonna suck. Its been so nice to have time to take it slow, and get things done. I've done all the washing, I started back organizing the rest of my bedroom. I've thrown out some more clothes and shoes. I'm a little afraid to start going through what's under my bed. But that's the next step.

Not a lot else on at the moment. Legally Blonde is coming up again in a few weeks. So glad its finally making its way to Melbourne. And of course there is always more Hawaii planning. Course now the big stuff is booked, the other stuff is less time sensitive.

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Carlie

Welcome to 2013

So its finally happening. I am neglecting the blogging. I'm guessing a result of having too much tv to watch, and being at work all the time, and having no time to write stuff down.

I haven't done much this year. I had a good New Years Eve. Went to Kay and Nick's and played a weird ass card game. But it was fun.
New Years Day I went to see Les Miserable. Which was really good.

I officially started my permanent employment with City of Port Phillip on the 31st of December. It was cool having a paid day off straight away.
Then on the 15th of January I took 2 days off and Ness and I went up to Sydney to see Legally Blonde again. It was great, and we chatted to everyone after the show. I got photos with David and Rob. But the stage door was CRAZY. We had to line up way out down the street, but they were all really nice and talked to everyone anyways.
Lucy told us she wasn't going to be doing the matinee the next day, so we were really really bummed....but at least we were warned. We spent the evening missing our post chatting to Lucy buzz.
But Tegan who is her understudy was good, although nobody can replace Lucy!
It was a quick little trip, back by 9pm Wednesday and back to work on Thursday.

Haven't been up to much else. Went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the musical at Her Majesty's theatre on the 7th after work with Mum. I loved it! I was disappointed Francine Cain (of Rock of Ages) wasn't in it more. I feel better knowing she's the understudy for Truly...but she's too short and too good to be hidden in the back in the ensemble.

Off to see Jersey Boys this Thursday. So excited to see that again.

Making plans to go to Hawaii in June. Just got to book things. 


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Carlie

2012 - A Year In Review

So another year is over. Once again I feel like a accomplished nothing, but that's not really true. Plenty of notable things happened.


I was working at Monash City Council at the start of the year, and finished up in Rates in March. That was really hard to leave that group. I did get a new job working over in the other building doing animal registrations. That took me up to June.

I had three great weeks off, sleeping in, doing nothing. Then I got a new job at the City of Port Phillip in St Kilda. It was supposed to be a 6 week thing, turned into an ongoing thing and last week I got made permanent. So big change there. Its not the dream job, its not a forever job, but it will be good to do for a little while. Sick leave and holiday pay will be great.

October saw a trip to Sydney to see Legally Blonde the Musical with the gang. That was great fun. It was a blast to see Lucy Durack and Rob Mills on stage again and to meet them again at the stage door. It was just a quick weekend trip, but we got to see it twice.

The end of October saw a two week trip to the USA with Ness, Kay and Nick. We had a blast, doing things we hadn't done before in LA, lots of theatre and my very first snowfall in NYC, and then 3 days of Disneyland! It was way too short, but SO much fun!

November was another birthday, uneventful. Maybe next year I'll get organised.
It also saw 3 days of theatre, which was crazy. A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the forum Saturday night, Margaret Fulton the musical starring Amy Lehpalmer on the Sunday evening and then the Rob Guest Endowment on the Monday night!

December was a lot of fun. Put up the Christmas lights, had some good Christmas parties, and did many light trips.
Christmas day was okay, I would have liked to be able to do both families, but when they are at the same time in very different places it makes it hard.

Overall it was pretty quiet year, but I had a good time. Can't wait to start planning the next holiday and plan to have lots of fun next year!


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Carlie

Legally Blonde

OMG OMG you guys!

So last week I got to see 3 shows in 4 days and it was tons of fun. Wednesday I saw Promises Promises at the State Theatre at the Arts Centre....it was okay, but not much to write home about. Especially as Ness and I saw it 3 times on Broadway with Kristin Chenoweth, Sean Hayes, Katie Finneran and Tony Goldwyn. This one did not really compare. Marina Prior was okay, but it seemed weird. The guy that played Chuck was not great. He was doing okay, then forgot the words and messed up the last song a little bit....which I noticed, but perhaps people that hadn't seen the show didnt.

Then Friday it was off to Sydney for Legally Blonde weekend. After a little delay in actually getting to Sydney, Ness, Kay, Nick, Vicky and I headed off to the Lyric Theatre in Pyrmont to finally see Lucy Durack in Legally Blonde the musical. Our seats were fantastic, I think we were about 5th row, just off centre. The show started okay, then technical issues popped up and they even had to stop the show for about 10-15 minutes...it was hilarious...our very own disaster show! Then the show started up again with all the Delta Nu girls (skipping part of the song....) and to make things worse the poor little Chihuha dog played Bruiser wasn't cooperating and started running away, Renee Burleigh who plays Margot did a great job of catching him and improvising that part where she talks 'bruiser'.
Intermission they put down the fire curtain, again for technical dificulties....
Lucy was amazing as Elle...I knew she would be. But there were so many little things she did that I loved...but were very Glinda from Wicked...which I guess might have been more Lucy than Glinda in Wicked. Rob Mills (which did not help with the Wicked connection) was great as Warner. David Harris (who I only knew a little as playing Fiyero in Wicked post Rob Mills) was a great Emmett- adorable, funny and talented. Helen Dallimore who plays Paulette was fantastic...surprise surprise ANOTHER Wicked alumn, but she was Glinda in London. Also from Wicked...Zoe who played Elphaba when I saw Wicked in Sydney the first time.

After the show Ness, Vicky and I rushed to the stage door...and had it all to ourselves for a few minutes. We had prime positioning and got to meet everyone (I missed a few people but thats okay, I met the main ones, and there is always next time.). Everyone was really nice and happy to have a quick chat and sign our programs. Lucy came out almost last (which is why I missed Renee, she came out while I was talking to Lucy and zoomed past me. But still, I was talking to Lucy so I couldn't be happier. Lucy was very nice and happy to sign my program, and her CD for me. And then after signing a few other peoples programs took a photo with me.
Ness and I were pretty hyper after that...

Me with Lucy Durack at the stage door! She's so lovely!

Saturday Vicky and I had breakfast down at Harbourside, and then walked around a bit in the drizzle...before heading back to our hotel to change for another dose of Legally Blonde. Ness and I headed back over to the Lyric theatre at the Star Casino, and perused the merchandise stand - which in my opinion was lacking a little, I was disappointed in their selection...needed less kid stuff and better t-shirts!
After settling on a mug, magnet and dog bone tag/keyring, we bought OH MY Cosmopolitan cocktails...another plastic glass to add the collection.Then we headed in. We had seats on the end of the aisle further back and to the far right of where we were sitting the night before. So we had a different perspective which was good. -it included a view of David Harris in his underwear during Take It Like A Man.
Luckily this show went off without a hitch. No more technically difficulties. There were quite a few more kids in the audience of this show, but it was matinee. Overall a great show, a second viewing allowed us to take in more, and pick up on a few extra quirky bits.

After the show, we skipped the stage door - as we had pretty much conquered it the night before!
We headed back to the hotel for a debrief and a chance to change out of my dress.

For dinner all five of us headed to the Hard Rock Cafe, we got Long Island Ice teas while we waited for our table to be ready. -they pack a wallop I tell you!
We had a good table on the window, which had a great view of the harbour. The table was a bit squishy with all our drinks, meals and side dishes, but it was fine. I ordered a pomegranate martini with dinner - a classic fave of mine. We waited for the fireworks which were supposed to start at 8:30pm, but didn't end up starting till 9pm. -Ness and I shared a dessert to allow us to wait longer.
 
Sunday there was no time for sleeping in as we had to be up and out of the hotel by 10am. Vicky, Ness and I had breaky down at a cafe at harborside. Nick met up with us (he and Kay were staying till Monday) for a bit and then we had to head off to the airport. -for stupid international check in.

Once we checked in, we sat around a while in the food court....I was exhausted and not feeling great. After a bit of nibble on some food, we headed through customs and sat around in the shopping area, before finally boarding to go home. The plane was fine, and soon enough we were home again.
Melbourne was freezing, which was mean after a lovely morning in Sydney.

It was a great weekend, and I can't wait to see the show again...it better keep going and come to Melbourne so I can see it a million times more!

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Carlie