It's Always An Adventure

Every once in awhile you have a perfect NYC night where you fully experience the magical moments of living in Manhattan. This past Monday night was definitely a NYC evening to remember. One of my former students, now a very dear friend, Matti, was in town and Ron and I used his youthful energy as a perfect reason to buy tickets to the “Watch the Throne Concert” at Madison Square Garden. What better way to recapture a bit of our swag, groove on, beat– uh just trying not to look old- than trying desperately to find some rhythm while listening to the genius of Kanye and JayZ??!! So off to MSG, we went!

But first we needed some sustenance. Matti had heard on a podcast that the best place for burgers in NYC was a small hard to find spot called The Burger Joint in the lobby of the Parker Meridien Hotel. I was definitely willing to track it down and try it out! The Burger Joint is tucked into the corner of the lobby and if you miss this small neon sign, you will miss out on one of the most incredible burgers I have ever tried. I am still salivating just thinking about it! The Burger Joint isn’t a fancy place, the atmosphere is awesome- decorated with movie posters and graffiti from past visitors. The menu is short and to the point- burgers, fries, sodas and beer. It was amazing. A gem NOT to be missed.

Follow the neon glow...

OMG!!! Soooooo good!

Feel free to leave your mark 😉

We headed out of the Parker Meridien and made our way to the subway but not before catching a sighting of Jennifer Lopez as she exited her SUV and headed into Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards. Crazy. Only in NYC 😉 Matti was definitely having some pretty awesome NYC moments, as was I =)

We made our way into MSG and found our seats. Except our seats turned out to have a wee bit of a sight obstruction. They are doing reno’s at MSG and apparently the seats shown on the seating chart have changed a bit and now include an overhang. Fine if you are at a hockey game but not so great at a concert where as soon as everyone stands up you won’t be able to see the stage areas.

Matti and I waiting for the concert to start.

The women behind us were really unhappy and well, so were we, we just weren’t quite as vocal as they were. Soon the ladies behind us were given new seats. So Ron, being the amazingly diplomatic, kind and incredibly awesome husband he is went out and talked to management on behalf of our entire row of seats. Did I mention how incredible he is because one song into the concert we all received new seats.

Here is the view from our original seats:

We are standing in aisles to see past over hang.

And here are some pics from our new seats thanks to my incredible husband Ron (did I mention that already!) and of course, the awesome management team at MSG-thank you!!

No zoom!

The screen behind the stage.

Love this shot!

Such an incredible show!

Kanye!

An Empire State of Mind

It was a memorable show. There really is nothing like seeing a concert in Madison Square Garden, you really get the sense that the artists are playing full out because they are in such a legendary venue. I can honestly say no one seemed to mind how badly we were rapping or bopping 😉 I truly loved the energy and the vibe in the crowd. As we packed into the subway on the way home, partially deaf and a bit ahem, chilled out on second hand smoke we all felt like we had taken part in a true NYC night to cherish. I quickly remembered my age the next morning when I had to get up with the kids 😉 Ah well… so worth it!!!!