Back to Reality (part six of a series)
The craziness of the reality of the season continued yesterday, as Mike and I finished putting up our Christmas tree. It’s a pretty little tree… I mean… 7-foot monster… See, I wanted to get a 4-5 foot tree, but turns out that it’s more difficult than I thought. Lowe’s didn’t have anything shorter than 6, and those were very dry and dead looking. We ended up with a narrow 7-footer, which is nice because it’s a real tree :-D. It’s cram-packed full of ornaments, and we didn’t even hang them all. We ran out of room! Maybe I’ll take a picture for you all tonight with my camera phone.
How about we finish off that Thanksgiving story!
The Saturday after Thanksgiving was going to be an interesting day. I didn’t know whether to be excited or to be nervous or to puke. Mike’s parents and my parents had met once briefly after a show that we both did quite a while ago. It was horrid. None of us wanted to be there. But this time, I was hoping that would not be the case. Then plan was to drive into Alewife, and take the T in to the North End for some Italian food, then hop back on the T to go on over to the Wang to see Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.
Since the play was at a non-standard 7:30, we freaked out a bit about when to eat. We decided we should call and make a reservation at my favorite restaurant (Il Villagio) for 4:30, since there would be eight of us. After making the reservations the night before, I called my family and told them that they should come around 2:00, so we could leave at 2:30 and get to the station at 3:30. Once again, I way overestimated the time it takes to get into Boston. People say things like, “I thought you were nuts, but I let you do that anyway.” Seriously, if you think my estimates are outrageous, tell me! I’m a dolt, but I’ll listen to alternative ideas.
Anyway, my parents and sister arrived just at 2:00, and the chatter started. With 8 people, it becomes impossible to follow all of the conversation going on. But it seemed that people were generally happy, and that things would be going okay. After my some urging, and triple checking that we had the tickets, we headed out. Mike drove his family, and I sat in the back of my parents’ minivan with my sister. No violence happened in the back of the van, even though I was flashing back to various family drives.
My dad was driving, and had decided that he would follow Mike. I told him not to bother, that I would help him find the way, but he was insistent. That led to some craziness on 128. But we didn’t die.
After a relatively uneventful ride in on the T, we were about a half hour early, even though we left 15 minutes later than I had hoped. Woops! Luckily, they were happy to take us in early, as they were just sitting around (it was only 4:00 – seriously). We settled in and I made myself table captain. We decided to order some antipasto and some bruschetta (pronounced “broo-sket-ta” as my mom kept reminding me), along with two different nice bottles of wine. While we were enjoying those things, we ordered our dinners.
The reason I love Il Villagio so much is because of their gnocchi. My favorite foods include pasta, tomatoes, cheese, and potatoes. There is only one dish that I know of that can combine those things in one, and that is my absolute favorite food: gnocchi. Il Villagio just happens to make the best gnocchi I have ever had. They are lusciously fluffy and served with a cheesy tomato sauce that clings just perfectly to the little dumplings. I love this food. It is my favorite ever. I always eat too much of it. Woops!
We ate slowly and enjoyed every moment, but we still found ourselves with a ton of time before we need to be over at the theatre. We initially tried to find a place to hang out at Mike’s pastry shop, but it was just too crowded. Mike’s parents had been to a different type of pastry shop down the road previously, and were very excited to show us something about the city for a change. It was kind of a coffee bar / pastry shop, and they had some extremely good espresso. (Yes… I know… caffeine makes me crazy… but I love it!) I also had a piece of some very good tiramisu that was too large for me to eat. I barely made it through half, and passed the other half around the table.
After enjoying dessert, we went back to the T to go a few short stops over to the theatre district. In the summer time, this is a totally walkable distance, but in the winter, when it’s cold, it’s worth the $1.25. When we came up out of the station on the corner of the commons, Mike and I immediately started walking toward the theatre. We had studied a map online before we left, to make sure we wouldn’t screw this up, and there were also some very obvious visual clues. That didn’t stop Mike’s dad from pointing orthogonally to where we were headed, indicating that we were wrong and we should go this way. Luckily, Mike was quick to point out the Wang Center’s sign – no more than two blocks away – and the wandering around the city disaster was avoided.
As soon as the doors to the building opened, Sa (my sister), Kate, and I ran like mad to the bathrooms in the basement. We were among the first ones there, and after washing our hands noticed a line had formed. We were all thankful to have gotten through quickly. Unfortunately, however, we apparently missed hearing someone sing “White Christmas” out in the lobby. C’est la vie.
We eventually took our seats and settled in for the show. It was surprisingly good. I’m not saying I was expecting it to suck, but I wasn’t exactly expecting what I got to see. It was a cute and simple story, the acting was great, the singing was even better, and the tap dancing (yes, I said tap dancing) was out of this world. If you like old fashioned Broadway-style musicals, I highly recommend going to see Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. Apparently, it opened in three theatres simultaneously three days before we saw it, so even Californians and New Yorkers can have the opportunity to see it along with us Mass… uh… the only name I know for people from Massachusetts is “Massholes” – but that really just applies to the driving.
Mike and I were bubbling with theatrey talk as we walked back up to the station, while I’m pretty sure our parents were telling stories about our childhoods to each other. Gag. Kate and Sa seemed to get along, and overall, it was pretty awesome. When we got back to our apartment, we dispersed to various beds scattered amongst two apartments and a hotel room. In the morning, my family was gone, and Mike’s parents left shortly after I left for choir rehearsal before church.
We resumed reality with church, football, and the next day – work. What can I say, I like not working. I wish I was heiress to some major and peculiar fortune so I could hang around with my friends and family all day every day. That would be sweet!
Wait, you mean you’re not supposed to go there and just order chicken parm and cokes? ;-)
You can have chicken parm and coke if you want! They apparently make good chicken and veal parm. Though I’ve never had anything other than the gnocchi. I would recommend trying a wine, though. Wine makes anything happy.