Last night I had an amazing opportunity to see new Glee cast member Darren Criss play a solo show in New York City at Irving Plaza.  The show was completely sold out and the place was packed.  At first we went upstairs thinking we could get a better view of the stage but turned out we could not see it at all.  I went downstairs to see if the view was better.  Good thing I did this because it was a lot better.  I was not able to see the entire thing but I was able to see a lot of it (more than what I would have been able to see from the balcony).

There were two openers.  The first was John West.  He was good but I do not know if his music was 100% my taste.  I believe he played for about a half hour.  Next up was one of Darren's friends from college and his name is Theo Katzman.  He was really good and more my type.  He was acoustic and solo which is right up my alley.  Theo only played for about 15 minutes.

At about 9pm Darren took the stage.  The place went crazy when he came out.  The crowd shifted so far up it was insane.  I felt bad for the people all the way up front who were probably being squashed.  The show was fantastic and Darren is a true talent.  He sang several of his song, some from his StarKid days, Glee songs, and a couple from when he did Harry Potter the musical.  I do not know if this is all the songs but here they are -

• Human
• One Fine Day
• Sami
• Teenage Dream
• Part of Your World
• Not Alone
• Don't You
• I Still Think
• Stutter
• The Coolest Girl
• Valerie
• Going Back to Hogwarts
• Granger Danger
• I'll Make a Man Out of You

If I am missing any please let me know!  He had the Warblers come out and sing "Teenage Dream" and "Sami" with him.  Naya Rivera (Santana on Glee) came out and sang "Valerie" with him.  Although I saw Glee Live last year I was all the way up top at Radio City Music Hall and it was hard to see faces but seeing her much closer last night I was able to see how pretty she is.  Yes, she is very pretty on television but it is completely different "in person."  For the two songs he sang from the Harry Potter musicals "Going Back to Hogwarts" and "Granger Danger" he had his friend and I believe co-star, in the play, Lauren Lopez come out on stage with him.  With each special guest the crowd got more and more excited.

I am pretty new to the whole "Darren Criss Fandom" so I did not know many of the songs he sang.  Usually when I go to a concert and I do not know the words I do not fully enjoy the show but this was far from the case.  I enjoyed every second of it and glad that I was able to attend the show.  I wish I was not so late to the game being as he played New York City last summer at venues I have attended.  But, I guess they say, "better late than never."

This Saturday I have the opportunity to see Glee Live and I am really looking forward to it.  

If you go to my YouTube channel you will be able to see a few videos I took last night.  

Here are a few of the photos.  For some reason they all did not load to my computer so I will have to do that at another time and post them for you to see.

First Stop...New York City!

Last week my friend Erika, who is going to be in New York for the summer, sent me a text message and asked if we could have a fun day in New York City on Saturday.  I had no plans and did not think twice about doing this.  Having "out of town" friends in New York is always fun because I get to play tourist in my own city.  What is good though, is that most of my friends have been here before and do not want to see the places that are tourist traps.  She made a post on her blog about how she wanted to go to the Brooklyn Flea Market, The Strand, and FAO Schwarz.  I knew I wanted to find the Cupcake Stop so that I could finally try it out.

The day started off with a nice train ride into Manhattan.  Once arriving we headed to the subway and after a few transfers we made it to the market.

We stopped at almost every jewelry table to admire some of the beautiful handmade items and a few tables with vintage pieces.  I ended up purchasing two necklaces from a really nice lady named Amy Lapierre.  The name of her company is Birdhouse Jewelry.  If I had unlimited funds I would have purchased a lot more from her.  I am sure I will be back to this flea market throughout the summer with Erika or other friends and will acquire more from Amy's collection.  For your viewing pleasure this is what I purchased.  Sorry for the not so good quality of the pictures.  It was hard to photograph and get the detail of the design in the same shot.

This is a long pendant that has an impression of Lily of the Valley and says May on it.  There are green emerald beads on it because that is the birthstone for the month.

This is a regular length necklace.  It has the letter "M" on it with a few other charms, I guess you could call it, including two beads, a pearl, and a silver circle.

We saw some other really interesting things at the marketing including these switch plates - 

We ended up staying for about an hour which was enough time to walk around and see everything as well as make our purchases.

Next stop...FAO Schwarz.

When getting off the subway we actually walked into a street fair which was a nice surprise.  It was several blocks long but the smell of the food cooking was making us hungry so we knew it was best to go to where we were supposed to go.

If you have never been to this store I highly suggest making the trip.  I have been before but it has been a while.  Good thing I am 26 years old and not interested in toys because I would be a kid in a candy shop.  The only downside to this store is that you must be ready to empty your wallet because it is very expensive.

The reason we went was so that Erika could see The Big Piano.  We got there in time for a wonderful show.  After the show ended we had the opportunity to try it out and take pictures.

Following fun in a toy story we hopped back on the subway and headed to SoHo.  I was on a mission to find the cupcake truck and it happened to be parked on Broadway and Prince right by the subway stop.  Instead of going to Little Italy for lunch like we originally planned I suggested this really nice place I always walk by when shopping in SoHo called Spring Street Natural.  Because it was a beautiful day we were able to sit outside and enjoy a delicious lunch.  I had some organic hummus and organic edamame.

For dessert I had this amazing brownie with peanut butter sauce and mint chocolate chip gelato.  For those of you stumbling upon this page I have a very strong sweet tooth and usually never pass on dessert.

After lunch we walked up and down Broadway so I could get my cupcake to bring home with me and so we could check out the wonderful stores that SoHo has to offer.  I ended up getting a red velvet and a chocolate mint.  They were absolutely delicious in case you were wondering.

Our final stop of the day was to the Strand in Union Square.  I have always heard of this place but never got the chance to go to it.  In fact, until about a year ago I never knew exactly where it was in the city.  I am not a book reader but I did end up buying three books.  All three are World War II/Holocaust books. Two of the books are by Primo Levi, The Reawakening is the second book in a series.  I read the first book several years ago for a college history project.  The bottom book is a memoir of Oskar Schindler as told by his widow Emilie Schindler.

You can not beat the prices at this place.  I got all three books for $20.  If you are in New York City and love to read I highly suggest getting yourself to Strand.  I know Erika saved a bunch of money because she waited to get her books at the Strand and hopefully you will get to do the same.

I hope you enjoyed my first real post here.  Please leave me some feedback about what you think.  Know some place in New York City I should check out this summer that you think I have not visited?  Please leave me a comment and tell me!