Way Off Broadway

One of the fun things we got to do in Maine was visit the Ogunquit Playhouse for a fabulous presentation of the musical Anything Goes!  First, let's talk about the theatre, and then I'll tell you about the show!

This is my photo from show night:

Here is a stock photo from the magical internet:

The Ogunquit Playhouse was born in the summer of 1933.  You can read more about its history by clicking here.

Many famous performers have graced the stage.  Here is an internet photo of part of the massive collection of photos in the lobby.  

If you are interested in seeing the names of the entire list of performers, click on this link: Cast of Stars Full List: and select Cast Archive at the lower left of the article.

If you are a lover of Broadway Theatre, and you ever have the chance to attend a show at The Ogunquit Playhouse, grab the chance!  We lucked into 2 tickets on the aisle in the 3rd row for about $75 each.  That is a DEAL for great seats at a B-way quality show!  This is what we saw on Wednesday, June 22:

The lead was Andrea McArdle - most famous as the girl who originated the role of Annie in the Broadway production of Little Orphan Annie in 1977.   She became the youngest star ever to be nominated for a Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Musical.  

Here she is in this production:

Here she is with my FAVORITE performer in the show, Ray DeMattis who played Moonface Martin.  He is an amazing showman.  I was facinated by watching his reactions and facial expressions even when he wasn't directly the focus of a scene.  He is always "in character" which is one thing that my young actors sometimes had trouble understanding the importance of.   He sings, he dances and he acts - that is known as a Triple Threat in theatre!  

Here is a cast photo of the cast we saw:

Noteworthy as well were Sally Struthers and her own cute little dog!  Sally played the matron Evangeline Harcourt who is known for carrying her dog Cheeky around with her.  Sally was absolutely delightful in this role!  Her dog was Little Bradford T. Kenney who Sally adopted 2 years ago in New Hampshire when she was working in another show at The Playhouse.  He is a 4 year old Cairn terrier.  He was rescued from a kill shelter in Kansas and trucked with 59 other dogs to New Hampshire for adoption.  He was the only one left when Sally got there!  This is his stage debut, and the audience loved him every time he was on stage!  

Anything Goes is set on a cruise ship.  There is much singing and dancing, and the whole show is fast and fun.  Here are some photos of the dancers:

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention another actor in the show - Josh Canfield who played the leading role of Billy Crocker.  Josh is probably most famous from the TV show Survivor.  Josh was very good - certainly professional quality, but his performance didn't really excite me as some of the others did.  He has a long list of professional credits, but he both looked and sounded like Matthew Morrison from Glee, and I think that fact distracted me from appreciating him for the performer that he is. 

 Here are some photos of him from this show and Survivor:

So that's it - a fabulous night of entertainment in Ogunquit!  I hope you enjoyed reading all about it!

Thanks for visiting and come back again for more trip highlights as well as Kitchen updates!

:)Amy

To Share or Not To Share....

.... That is the question.

Should I wait until the kitchen remodel is done, or should I share progress as it happens?

Since it probably won't be completely done until the first week of August, I've decided to hold
with my previous renovation progress series, and start sharing today!

Today was Day 1 of the circus that is my Kitchen Renovation Project.  I started planning this project back in January, so at times the wait has seemed looooong, but now it's here!

My day started with a meeting at 8 am with 3 people:  Paul, the head of Handyman Matters; Don, a supervisor; and Keith the main workman on my project.  Paul was very organized with a detailed list of all aspects of the project.  He walked us through the list, item by item and we discussed what needed to be discussed as we went.  I was very impressed with his organization.

About 8:45ish, the cabinets arrived from Jae Company.  My 3 workers then went through the shipping list, and made sure we had what we were supposed to have.  We did get everything that was on the delivery list, but later in the day, we realized that the upper cabinets for the sink side were not here.  Don is working with Jennifer from Jae to sort that out.

By about 10 or so, it was time to begin actual work.  Keith laid plastic and a tarp on the dining room carpet and the kitchen flooring.  He also removed the door from the kitchen into the laundry room.  Then the stove and refrigerator got moved to their temporary home in the dining room.   Next Keith and Don hung a big plastic barrier between the kitchen and the dining room to contain dust because they were going to have to pull off the old backsplash.

They removed the upper cabinets first, and then they did the lowers.  Here are some much-awaited photos:

Old cabinets - 1973 builder-grade with very '70s countertop.  

The old sink evidently had more than one leak.  Hubs and I didn't know this until about 10:30 last night when I opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled up the liner - the plywood underneath was wet.  We had no idea we had any leaks.  Today the guys told me there was more than one!  Good timing to do this!  

After the counter trim was removed, the countertop came off fairly easily in one piece, complete with sink, and was carried out the front door, where it relaxed in the sun of the front yard until quitting time.  It will sleep in the garage tonight before it is put back on temporarily until the quartz comes in (Aug. 1).

Here we have our (almost) blank slate!

All of this demolition was done by about 12:30ish, then installation began immediately.  All of the cabinets were in individual boxes and had to be unpacked.  Keith unpacked them and brought them in one at a time, starting at the far right with the tray/cookie sheet cabinet.  

Next is the set of drawers that are replacing the dishwasher. Then the sink.  The sink needed to be set first so it is centered under the window - then everything else fans out from that.  

Next to the sink is the small 15" cab that will hold my silverware, and finally, we have the larger base cabinet.  This one shows the pull-out shelves which were the main reason for doing this whole thing in the first place!

Here it is at the end of today's workday:

There seems to have been one little snafu in the design/ordering process.  My designer had put one last cabinet at the left that was going to open into the dining room.  It was just a 9" wide end-cap that was supposed to take the place of the open shelves that were there before.  Well, as they started lining things up, we realized there wasn't room for that last end-cap.  Fortunately, everything else works without it, so we can just return it.  I am not sure how this error in design and measuring happened, but it probably has something to do with the fact that Designer #1 left the company after about 90% of my design was done, and a new person took over who didn't come out to the house to double check anything.  Here is the design where you can see that end cabinet:

We can now use the door from that end cabinet as a decorative piece on the end of the whole line, so all the ends will match.  

Work wrapped up today about 4:30 and will begin tomorrow around noon.  It will be interesting to learn if the uppers never made it to the warehouse, or if they just didn't make it on the truck this morning.  

Stay turned for more in the days ahead!

Thanks for visiting - come back again soon!

:)Amy

Similar Differents - My 2016 Vacation Theme

June was a very busy month for me!  I took 2 lovely and long-awaited vacations with only about 10 days in between.  There were many similarities between the two trips, but there were also many differences.

Trip #1 involved Hubby and me driving to Vermilion, Ohio on the coast of Lake Erie where we rented a cabin with a private beach on the lake.  We were there for 4 nights and 5 days.  We stayed in this same house in 2011 and did many of the same things this time as last time.  The main idea of this vacation was to spend some time together doing something we enjoy - exploring Lake Erie - watching the lake and looking for treasures that wash up on the beach.

Our home-away-from-home in Vermilion

One reason we choose the house that we stay in is because it has a private beach and a gorgeous lake view from the back windows.  Many of the vacation rentals in Vermilion are in small neighborhoods where you have to share the beach with others and also walk a block or two or three to get to the beach from a cabin that may not even offer a lake view.

The view from the back deck

Our private beach

Vermilion is a lovely, quiet little town with quaint shops and restaurants and a slow-paced lifestyle.  It is a great place to relax and recharge.

A park in the center of Vermilion

A hallmark of this vacation is getting to watch the sunset over Lake Erie.  The lake is always changing and never fails to delight us!

Sunset over Lake Erie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trip #2 involved me flying to New Hampshire, where I met up with my cousin who then drove us to Ogunquit, Maine.  My cousin had taken a day trip to this town and recommended it for our get-away.  For 4 nights and 5 days, we stayed in a spa/resort hotel called Anchorage By the Sea with incredible views of the Atlantic Ocean.  We chose the hotel we stayed in because of its proximity to something called The Marginal Way (which I will talk more about later), and it's ocean views.

The central building of Anchorage By the Sea is this circular restaurant called Surf Point 360 

where we ate breakfast daily and enjoyed a couple of marvelous dinners as well.  

The rooms are in 2 buildings which stand perpendicular to the ocean.  This was our building.

We were able to get the room at the lower right with our own patio area which gave us a view of the ocean.  

Our Evening View.

Our Day View.

Ogunquit is a lovely little town with quaint shops and restaurants.  It embraces its traditional New England history and heritage and still caters to the many tourists who visit.  While I can't really say the pace of the lifestyle is slow, I can say it is different than my everyday life at home.  Ogunquit has a tourist season which typically starts about the last week of June and runs through Sept or October.  Many of the tourist-related businesses: shops, restaurants and hotels,  are closed in the winter because winter weather there can be brutal.  It was busy even though we were technically there before the official season began.  I can't even imagine how busy it is "in season"!

Harbour Candy Shop is a Must-See for visitors to Ogunquit!

The hallmark of this vacation was getting to watch the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean.  The ocean is always changing and never fails to delight!

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean.

Sunrise vs. Sunset. 

A quaint town in Ohio vs. a quaint town in Maine.

4 nights and 5 days in a lovely and comfortable location.

A relaxing change of pace.

A Great Lake vs. A Great Ocean.

Great shopping and great restaurants.  

Bonding time with family. 

Fabulous memories and wonderful photos to treasure and share.

Similar Differents....

Stay tuned for more details of each great vacation in the days ahead!

:)Amy

Turt Rescue

I had an interesting experience this morning.  I backed out of my driveway and started down the road, and about 4 houses down, I saw something in the road.  It was brown and oval and sort of looked like a hat laying in the middle of the road.  I noticed other cars going around it.  Then it moved, and I realized it was a turtle - a very large turtle - bigger than a dinner plate!

It was walking across the road and would periodically stop.  I was afraid it was going to get hit, and I wanted to rescue it, so I pulled over and got out.  Other cars had stopped as well.  (This was about 10:40 am, and there really wasn't much traffic.)

I had just read recently that if you are going to rescue a turtle in the road you need to take it to the side it was headed toward, which makes sense, so I tried to pick it up.  Immediately it jumped and started thrashing its head and legs, and the HUGE tail that looked like an alligator tail!  I quickly put it down - not because I was afraid of it biting me, but because I was afraid it would move so violently that I would drop it and it would get injured.

Next, I tried pushing it from behind with my foot to get it started walking again, but that didn't work - it just jumped again.  One more time, I tried picking it up, and again, it thrashed violently from side to side, so again I put it down.

At this point, there were at least 4 cars with people watching, and a little boy was telling me to put water on it.  I called out to the assembled group, "Anyone have any ideas?"  No one said anything.

Then a blue VW Beetle pulled over and a young woman got out with a blanket.  She folded the blanket in half and laid it over the turtle, then picked it up.  To my surprise, it didn't thrash around this time.  She carried it to the side of the road and set it down in the grass.

I thanked her and several other people yelled, "Thank you!" and then we all went about our business.  I have no idea where it came from or where it was headed.  There is a creek behind my house, but that would have been a very long walk with fences in the way, and it would have had to navigate a curb unless it walked down someone's driveway.  There is a pond on the side of the road he was headed to, but it is quite a ways down the road and behind houses, so he had quite a walk if that is where he was headed.

I hope he is ok.  He looked old and experienced, so he is a survivor.  I have never touched a big turtle like that before (I assume it was a snapping turtle?).

Life is just one adventure after another!

:)Amy

The Odyssey Continues - What Happens on Vacation...

Hello Friends,

It is about time for the June weight-loss report.  However, today's summary is not going to be about weight "loss".  I am just coming off of a week of vacation decadence, and I have gained a few pounds, but I'm ok with this.  As I've stated before, I am not on a diet, but rather experiencing a lifestyle change.  Vacations are part of life, as are the consequences of eating differently on vacation.

I have just returned from a fabulous week of vacationing in New Hampshire and Maine where almost all of my meals were in restaurants.  I decided before I left home that I was not going to be tracking on my WW app, and I was going to allow myself to enjoy food items that are unique to the area or special.  That being said, I wasn't going to throw all caution to the wind and be reckless either.

Breakfast was the easiest time to "behave" as the restaurants are not pushing decadent desserts at 8 am.  I drank iced tea rather than sugary juices, I ordered mixed fruit, and I had protein of some sort - either sausage or bacon.  (I usually didn't have eggs because real eggs cause digestive issues, and it can be a pain to ask restaurants if they have Egg-Beaters, so I only did that once where they actually had "Egg-Beaters available" listed  on the menu.)  Additionally, I had a toasted English muffin with jam most days, and a bagel with low fat cream cheese once.

Lunch and dinner had 1 theme: Lobster!  I was in Maine after all, and I was determined to have lobster at least once a day.  By itself, lobster is great as far as WW points go.  6oz of lobster meat is only 2 pts.!  However, it is the sauce, etc... that is on the lobster and how it is prepared that can cause problems.  For example, one day for lunch I had lobster salad (think chicken salad with lobster meat instead of chicken), and I have NO idea what was in the dressing.  It wasn't heavy and didn't seem like it had extremes of mayo or sugar.  Another day I had a lovely salad with lobster added - just plain chunks of meat that were not coated.

I don't typically take photos of my food, and I have made fun of people who do, but I actually did it on this trip.  Here are some examples of my lobster indulgences:

One night, we (I was traveling with my cousin) ate at a restaurant called The Wild Blueberry in Ogunquit, Maine.  My first course was Lobster and Avacado Salad.  It was literally ALL lobster meat and diced avocado with very little else.  There may have been some light, lemony, something on it to hold it together, but there was no dressing that I could tell.  This may have been the BEST thing I ate on this trip.  The flavor combo of lobster and avocado was amazing!

For dessert that night, I had to have the house specialty:  blueberry cobbler with blueberry ice cream. (Sorry, no photo of this one!) Instead, here is a photo of The Wild Blueberry Restaurant.  It was absolutely lovely - I highly recommend it!

Probably the most decadent lobster meal I had was for brunch at The Maine Diner which is famous for being featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on The Food Network with Guy Fiere.

There is a lot of good stuff on the very extensive menu, but I specifically looked for lobster items.  Once I saw The Lobster Melt, I was IN!  Picture this: a toasted English muffin laid open on the plate topped with slices of tomato, a PILE of lobster meat, and then coated with a ton of cheese and melted under the broiler.  Let me help you with this picture:

O-M-G !!!  This was AMAZINGLY Yummy!  I took my time and savored every bite because I knew I was probably never going to have anything like this again.  I also knew it was my last meal in Maine.  Yes, the cheese was bad as far as points go, but I can live with that!!

Then there are the desserts.  Yes, I had dessert once a day - usually at dinner.  One night it was mixed berry pie.  Another night, my cousin and I split something called "A Donut and Coffee" which was a grilled honey-glazed donut topped with coffee ice cream and an espresso glaze.  Probably the most decadent dessert was in our hotel dining room and was called Chocolate and Peanut Butter Pie.  Here it is in all its glory:

It was almost too pretty to eat.... but I ate it all anyway!  

Other items I enjoyed:  Lobster bisque, lobster rangoon (like little triangles of crab rangoon at local Chinese restaurants, only better), bacon wrapped scallops, peanut butter gelato with chocolate chips.

I will add one other point - I didn't snack - at all.  I took no snacks with me and didn't buy any, so I only ate my 3 meals a day.  

... and now here we are... home again.  My weight before I left on this trip was 215#.  The day after I returned, I weighed in at 219#.  I know I will probably continue to go up as all this food settles in, but I'm ok with it.  I enjoyed every morsel of food, and now I am back on program with tracking every bite.  

Thanks for visiting today!  Stay tuned for more about my vacations!

:)Amy