Yesterday & Today

Two nice days in a row. Weather-wise and life-wise.

New York bloggers have a common theme in recent posts: great weather. Yesterday several colleagues and I were looking an empty table in Bryant Park during our lunch hour, and I said to Jenny, "How great is life right now?"

"Seriously!" she replied.

Later in the afternoon, I dipped out of the office to catch a friend's Broadway debut in the opening number of "The 21st Annual Easter Bonnet Competition" on Broadway. At 4:18 p.m., I ran out of the office as fast as I could in stiletto sandals, jumped in a passing cab and paid $6 to go two avenues. It was worth the investment - given my footwear - as I was just in time to pick up the ticket Stephanie had left for me at will call and find my seat before the lights in the theater lowered and the curtain rose.

I pride myself in not crying during movies, but Broadway always makes me a little emotional - even when the songs are happy. The music is so powerful that I have no choice but to let it move me. And "The 21st Annual Easter Bonnet Competition" served as a fabulous teaser for various shows that are currently running and featured multiple cast members and stars from "The Fantasticks," "Company," "Les Miserables," "Mamma Mia!," "The Color Purple," "Wicked," "The Lion King," "Phantom of the Opera" and "Beauty and the Beast" (to name a few).

"The Lion King" is now definitely next on my list of must-sees. After Stephanie's amazing performance, we had dinner in Bryant Park, where a bird dropped a surprise in my water glass, but knew better than to mess with my glass of wine!

Yesterday was followed by another gorgeous day, which found me lounging on the front steps of the New York Public Library again with my coworker Jenny. As we were crossing the street, Jenny said, "Days like today are what make winters in New York worth the wait."

This evening was my first night back in the gym after last week's bout with mild illness. I struggled through the cardio kickboxing class, but stuck around to lift weights and get a really good stretch in before heading back uptown. Now I'm back in my apartment, which is still warm after baking in the sun all day. I need to end this post and google eco-friendly air-conditioning units.

Here's to tomorrow.

From broadwaycares.org: "Reputed to be the hottest ticket on Broadway, The Easter Bonnet Competition features a parade of bonnets hand-crafted by the casts and crews of dozens of participating productions. This annual spring event is the culmination of an intensive six-week fundraising effort by the companies of Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring productions. Curtain speeches, sales of autographed posters and programs, auctions and cabaret performances are just some of the activities that enable these companies to bring in generous contributions from audiences."

For more information on Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids and The Actors' Fund of America, visit www.actorsfund.org