Gigi on Broadway starring Vanessa Hudgens: Full Review

Good morning beautiful,

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Happy Saturday! So, as promised on yesterday's blog post I am here to offer a full review of the Broadway show GiGi which I had the privilege of seeing with my mom this past week. The show was scheduled for 7pm and the theater is somewhere in midtown so I had to rush after work to pick up my mom and off we went!

So anyways, let me back track to how I got the tickets. A few weeks ago I decided to request 1/2 day off from work in order to be part of  The View- one of my favorite shows since I was in college! Vanessa Hudgens (the main character) was a guest that day and the entire audience won tickets to the Broadway show. Thank you, abc TV networks, or whoever paid for this ;).

Now, let me just say I had no clue what GiGi is or was based on. I just remember hearing is a re-make of a very famous show that has been around for decades (pardon my ignorance). I was just excited for the free tickets.

If you have been following the blog for some time you may already know that France is my absolute favorite country in the world. Mind you, I have only been there once in my life. However, for some reason I've always had an affinity with the place and see myself going back several times over during my life time. So anyways, you can imagine my excitement when I realized the whole story takes place in France:

In a nutshell (without giving too much away) Gigi is about a girl from France, coming of age as she is being raised by her grandmother --  who she sweetly refers to as 'grandmama'. The grandmother goes out of her way to make sure Gigi grows up to be a proper lady and tries to teach her the ropes. Meanwhile, Gigi thinks all the luxuries and ambition for money in France is silly and understands from a young age there are more important things in life. She is happy being a simple girl. 

As the story develops, she eventually finds herself, falls in love, and grows up to be a beautiful, 'well polished', young lady. Every single character in the performance does a phenomenal job. I also found a new found respect for Vanessa Hudgens. I always wondered why or how these Disney celebrities become so famous. Seeing Vanessa in live action made me realize this girl actually has some freaking solid talent. At the end of the performance, everyone gave her a standing ovation. Congrats to her! I really enjoyed the whole experience.

....And specially getting to share that with me dear mom:

Please disregard my tired eyes. It was a long day at work.

The show runs for over 2 hours. As good as it was, I felt like we were there forever. To be quite honest-- my mom and I were about to leave at one point during intermission (we thought it was over). Luckily we noticed no one was leaving the place and then we realized there was more to come so we immediately sat back down. Pretty funny situation.

During and after the show we were both starving! We grabbed a pizza at Sbarro afterwards. I hate that place. I just kept wondering, how are they still in business?! Anyways, we were hungry.

And that's all folks. Had an awesome time in Manhattan with my mom. Looking forward to having those dates more often.

Tell me, have you seen a Broadway show before or wish to see one? which one? 

I was not compensated for this post other than getting the free tickers from the View. I was not asked to make a review either. I did this because I really enjoyed my time and wanted to share it on the blog.

Fortunate Friday {Broadway Edition}

Good day sunshine!

Is Friday! Had to wake up at the crack of dawn this morning joined by a lingering cold and allergies; definitely not a great way to start my day but thankfully I am starting to feel A LOT better.

I've been drinking a whole lot of this:

Green tea simmered with a cinnamon stick, lemon, & spices: my god sent salvation!

This week was busy and productive and everything in between. Although I do work a bit on weekends I am just happy Friday is finally here. And without further ado' here is my list of fortunate happenings this week:

1. My friend is healthy again: One of my best friends sent me a random text on Monday night letting me know she was in the hospital due to some kidney issues. The message freaked me out as I have never see this girl hospitalized in the twenty years that I have known her. Thankfully she is finally out of the hospital. I plan to go see her today after work. Health is our most precious gift.

2. My Computer: So, this week I almost had a heart attack because my beloved laptop was having some issues. The screen went crazy and I seriously didn't know what to do. I booked an appointment at 'geek squad' almost immediately and then, like a miracle, it fixed itself!!! Praise the lord. The brief minutes of panic reminded me how much I rely on this tool for work and everything else. Something apparently I didn't realize until this week. Taking better care of it. Grateful for it.

3. The ability to sign up for upcoming races: Its been a while since I've ran my 5Ks or 10Ks consistently. There was a time in my life not too long ago when I used to participate in fun races all the time. Well, my efforts to bring that back are in full swing and just this week I signed up for my 3rd race of the year-- first one is next week! (stay tuned for fun race review posts).

4. My dad's new found enthusiasm for health and fitness: After a health scare at the beginning of the year my dad finally got his 'act together' and started working out consistently and eating healthy. He's actually taking it a bit overboard as apparently he's cut out a lot of stuff from his diet (insights from my mom) so I am excited to help him in this area and am actually working on a list of foods that he can feel good about eating (he avoided Gluten like the plague for a couple of months, it was pretty funny). Love my dad. So proud of him.

5. Work that keeps me busy, focused, and helps me provide for myself: Receiving tons of positive signs from the universe, Thank you Jesus. I keep telling myself to just keep on swimming.

BONUS: My first Broadway show date with my mom: This was so incredibly awesome! So, a few weeks ago I won tickets to go watch GiGi on Broadway, starring Vanessa Hudgens. It turned out to be so perfect because I was able to take my mom on a pre-mother's day date. Plus, it was the first Broadway show we ever saw together (and the very first one for her, not counting The Rockettes which we saw about 6 years ago). Can you believe we have been living in NYC for over 21 years and it took us that long to go see a show together? next goal is to get the entire family to a show. Will share a full review regarding my GiGi experience on tomorrow's post.

Other fun things that happened this week:

Finally got a manicure and two rings I found on sale at Old Navy's accessory section:

Wanted that 'white-ish' color that's trending now. I am not sure if it was the manicurist or the nail polish (Essie's baby breath) but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. But it'll do.

My friend mailed every person that attended the wedding a thank you card. I loved this so much I am framing it:

*This week I also took some steps towards something it was time for me to tackle-- Having the strength to detach myself from something that was not bringing my life much joy (more on this to come).  Still not completely on the other side of things but well on my way. Work in progress.

And that is all my friends. How was your week? any exciting plans for this weekend?

Happy early mother's day to all my readers that are mothers. Looking forward to 'joining the club' in the near future :-)

Love,
Mabelle