Boys from Jersey for our Birthdays!

Today was my sister Bekah’s birthday. She turned 17 today which kind of blows my mind since I saw her be born. Anyway, my birthday is on the 17th so we decided to take each other to a musical for our birthdays.

We took the train downtown so we got there about two hours early. That left us plenty of time to grab some Starbucks and Rebekah tried her first white chocolate mocha.

She approved.

After we warmed up and got our little caffeine buzz we grabbed some lunch. Bekah wanted a burger but the only places my iPhone could find within several blocks of us that served burgers were McDonalds, *gag*. There were three within a block of us. Three! Who needs that many McDonalds? Anyway, we settled for Corner Bakery which was another first for Bekah. After we ordered and sat down we noticed the sign on the table and were horrified that neither of our choices were on the list…

because it was a list of choices that were under 600 calories. Dude! Our meals weren’t under 600 calories?! It did say on the bottom that there were more choices under 600 calories online. I haven’t checked… I’m a little afraid to be honest.

After our delicious but possibly incredibly fattening meal it was finally time to see the show.

Yay, Jersey Boys!

The show was fabulous. It was lighthearted and fun. The audience amused me because most of them were in their late 70′s or older. They bobbed right along to the music and some even sang along. It was cute. The whole cast was incredibly  talented. My favorite by far was the actor who played Frankie Valli, John Micheal Dias. That dude has an amazing voice. I would recommend you go see it but the Chicago run ends on the 10th so you’d have to really hurry.

Happy birthday, Bekah. Thanks for being so awesome and going to the show with me. Let’s make this a tradition. *smile*

Happy Birthday, Joel!

Dear Joel,

This last year was a good one. We’ve grown so much together and I have fallen more in love with you than ever. We had many adventures including a last minute weekend trip to The Netherlands. It was the first time we’d been there together in almost four years. It was so fun revisiting the country with you and watching my Dutch family love you just as much as ever. I love how spontaneous we are together.

Speaking of spontaneous, our biggest adventure by far was our trip down to Australia to see the premiere of Star Trek. That was one of the best trips of my life, I’m so glad we took it together. Thank you for being such a big nerd that you traveled to the opposite side of the world just to see a movie.

We tried going to Africa together but couldn’t get the funds. Don’t worry, it will all come together when it’s time. In a way, I’m kind of glad it didn’t work out since we  have decided to try to go to India next year instead. This has been my dream since I was young and there is no one I’d rather go with.

Our newest adventure has been our puppy dog. I love watching you love on her and play with her. I know it’s been a challenge and she’s tried both of our patience but she’s turning into a wonderful dog. Thank you for sticking it out with me and not selling her on ebay.

You are my very best friend and I love you so much. I even looked forward to standing outside on a freezing cold November night waiting for the midnight release of the Star Trek movie on Blu-ray. See, I love you enough that I’m turning into a nerd with you and I even like it. How appropriate it is that Star Trek is released on your birthday. I’m pretty sure Star Trek doesn’t have a bigger fan.

I wish you the happiest of birthdays. I look forward to celebrating many, many more with you.

Live long and prosper my love.

-Abigail

Meeting My Hero aka Robin Williams

Ever since I was young my favorite actor has been Robin Williams. He can do anything, funny, serious, improvisation… he’s beyond amazing. One of my life’s dreams has been to meet him in person. Joel, being the amazing husband that he is, knew that and somehow managed to get meet and greet tickets to his show in Chicago. Originally the show was supposed to be in March but was postponed due to heart issues. I like to joke that he got so excited to meet me that it gave him a heart attack. *grin* Luckily the show was rescheduled for October 2nd.

The day of the show I was beside myself with excitement. We got there about an hour early and were interviewed for his video, so we’ll have to see later if it makes it on. We had fabulous seats as you can kind of see from this crummy picture taken with my iPhone.

This was taken before the show since there was absolutely NO personal photography allowed at any other time. The show was of course hysterical.

The best part was after the show. We were ushered backstage and into a little room with cupcakes and cookies. Those were the last things on my mind though. We lined up and got our picture taken with him.

Ah! This is a picture of one of the best moments of my life! Look at how happy we look.

After the photos we lined back up and had the greet part of the meet and greet. He signed an 8×10 head shot of himself for us and we got to talk to him for a minute. I would like to mention that while he signed Joel’s “Best wishes”, he signed mine “Love”. Does it mean something? I’ll let you decide for yourself.

I can’t really tell you what we talked about. I’m pretty sure whatever I said came out “Urg, ble, blah blah, eee, eh.. you’re amazing.” Not an exact quote but that’s pretty close. It was just beyond incredible.

I can now cross that off my list of things to do before I die. Seriously, meeting him was on there. Now I just need to do a movie with him… and considering my witty banter with him (see above) I’d say I have a pretty good shot.

My Birthday

It was wonderful! It started at breakfast where I received my presents. Even my chair was decorated!

Twenty one candles are hard to light and keep lit, but Robbert pulled it off.

I blew out all the candles but then discovered there was a trick one *shakes head* Ineke makes the best apple pie, by the way!

Most of the rest of the day I spent relaxing and reading a book. I also got birthday phone calls from Joel and then my mom which was very nice. Then in the evening I got ready to go out to dinner.

Here we all are ready to go out.

They took me to an amazing restaurant called Rosso. (on the site you can click on the circle that says Rosso and then the square in the middle that says Fotos to see pictures of the place, just keeping clicking to see them all.)

Everything was sooo delicious and beautiful, I just loved it. And yes, being my 21st birthday and all I did have a glass of champagne. It also had a cherry at the bottom which made it quite good. *grin*

The staff at Rosso was very nice and knowing it was my birthday they made me a little firework.

The whole day was so special. Robbert and Ineke, I can’t thank you enough for everything. It all was just perfect!

I’m 21!

Happy Birthday to me! I’m 21 today. It’s been a great day so far, I’ll post more about the day with pictures tomorrow. For now though I took this quiz (by the way, they never ask anything about your birthday it’s all about personality) and was a bit surprised by the results. I guess there’s something to these internet quizes after all, haha. *big smile*

Your True Birth Month Is January

Loyal Social Logical Easily jealous Loves children Rather reserved Highly attentive Likes to criticize Needs close friends Ambitious and serious Smart, neat and organized Hardworking and productive Loves to teach and be taught Quiet unless excited or tensed Sensitive and has deep thoughts Knows how to make others happy Searches for the greatest romance Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds Romantic but has difficulties expressing love Always looking at people’s flaws and weaknesses