The Lion King

I've been wanting to see The Lion King since Rosie O'Donnell reviewed it on her show in like 2000. I thought it looked amazing, and I loved everything that Rosie recommended. (Harry Potter, hello!).

I am lucky enough to live in a city with The Lion King traveling this Broadway season. Nick's family was kind enough to give me tickets for Christmas. (I was shocked when I saw them!) 

It was as magical as everyone had said it would be. I love it! So much fun! The costumes and the dancing was amazing! I am one happy camper.

Nick and I trying to get a good selfie

You should notice the jacket that I'm wearing goes to -20 degrees F. Nick is wearing a sweater and has his sleeves rolled up... 

I love the Cadillac Palace Theater! So amazing!

My Love of Harry Potter

I got pretty excited about a Harry Potter spoof that was playing in Chicago. It was a two-man show where they sorta went through all 7 books in 70 minutes. It had a lot of pop culture and Harry Potter humor. I was laughing pretty hard. Definitely an enjoyable evening!

Growing my collection of playbills

Nick and I at Potted Potter

Prepping for Summer in Chicago

I kinda like that I'm able to find a lot of random events and activities to participate in. For example, I saw an advertisement on the street for Chicago Dance Month and looked up the website and went to a couple performances so far and hope to go to another this week. 

Aerial Modern Dance Performance (it was crazy in a good way)

Saw a preview of this performance in the front row of the studio. Definitely was in even more awe of the dancer's strength, control, and grace.

Other things I've found are local theater, music, documentaries, nature, museums, etc. I'm all about expanding my cultural experiences. Sometimes it's a hit, and sometimes it's a miss. But most of the activities I go to are $0-$10, so it's not a big loss if King Claudius forgot his lines (true story). 

Many people often ask me about where I find things to do. The simple answer is that I look for them. I Google "Free things to do in Chicago" and find a lot through that. There are compilations of calendars out there to help organize all the events that are happening with movies in the park, free concerts, free museum days, and festivals. I used this calendar to find a "Full Moon Fire Jam" last summer and ended up having a blast. (The calendar does not currently have a lot of stuff on it. I expect it to be updated as we get closer to summer.) I just want you to know that there is a lot out there, if you're willing to look for it. 

I definitely think that with a little research and planning, your social calendar can be a lot more than movies, mini golf, and deep dish pizza. And a lot cheaper! (Although I do love the summer movies in the park series!) 

Some free things that I've added to my summer calendar already:

• Chicago Shakespeare in the Park (A medley of Shakespeare plays set to modern music)
• Tales from Around the World (global folk tales, songs, and dances)
• Macbeth

Another thing that I've been wanting to do is take some sort of class or learn a new skill. I found a ten week drawing and painting class for $21 + canvas through the Chicago Park District. I'm not a drawer or painter, but I'm excited about this adventure. And if it ends up not being what I want to do with my Thursday evenings this summer, it was only $21. 

If you ever want a buddy to check out something random, chances are, I'm your girl!

Getting Cultured

I think people like to visit me because I'm always willing to do things that they wouldn't normally do. A few weekends ago, a friend of mine from high school visited Chicago for the first time and I made sure that she saw all the key things: the skyline, the bean, the Art Institute of Chicago, deep dish pizza, Lake Shore Trail, etc.

Since it's getting colder and there are less outdoor concerts and free events, I wanted to do something interesting for Saturday evening. I found some cheap tickets to local theater and invited a few of our other friends from high school that live in the area to see Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at a small theater.

Previously, some of my friends (these same friends) that I have dragged out to theater has been met with mixed results. We once saw Hamlet in a small, unairconditioned theater in the summer time where King Claudius forgot all of his lines. We also saw a terrible Arthur Miller play about the relationship between Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe that I cannot even remember what is was called. So my friends were willing, but skeptical.

Let me tell you: the Rivendell Theater in Edgewater delivered! It was a tiny little theater with only 6 actors in the play and a theater that only fit around 20-30 people, but it was fantastic. I was previously familiar with the story, but I hadn't read it. Seeing the play made me want to read the novel. It's now on my list!

The skyline from Adler Planetarium

As I've mentioned, I'm always interested in checking out new things. For my birthday, my friend gave me a few options of fun things to choose from, and I chose murder mystery dinner theater. I almost forgot what date it was because I didn't write down the exact date, but luckily we made it.

Last year, I bought some masks from the Mardi Gras Museum in Mobile, Alabama, and they came in handy! The theme was a masquerade ball. I told Kristen that we could totally dress up and get into the spirit. Luckily she's totally on board with my suggestions and we totally jumped into simple costumes that were made by the masks.

The show was fun, albeit a little chaotic and some of the people at our table were a little frustrating, but overall, we had a really great time! I think I'd be into more murder mystery dinner theater, but we might have to choose a weekend night next time! We're getting old for the late nights.

Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee

So my life has become semi movie-esque. Let me tell you of the ridiculousness.

This summer I went to Spain to visit people I knew while I served my mission, and then I worked in Madrid. While traveling my mission, several people professed their love to me. But I explained to them the nature of our relationship. All fine and dandy. I visited, and then I left.

Then I went to Madrid, and met a ton of new people and became friends with a group of YSAs in the Madrid area. (They don't have YSA wards like in the states, but they have very active YSAs that do everything together.)

Now, you cannot tell me that you never thought it would be exciting to date someone while in a foreign country. You watched all of those Mary Kate and Ashley movies too, admit it! I figured, I had 4 weeks, I might as well make the most of it. Thus, I went out a few times with someone while in Madrid... and then it all blew up in my face when I also went out with his best friend.* But for the record, I did not think that we were in any sort of relationship. I mean, how could we be, I was only there for 4 weeks! (Can we say DRAMA!?!)

Then we had this very long conversation about Green Cards and intercultural relationships. (Please keep in mind that he does not speak English.) He was very adamant that if he were ever to go to the United States, it would be on his own accord. He said, he'd be there in three months. It was all very good and dandy in the hypothetical sense. I did not really think it was possible, let alone plausible.

UNTIL...

He flew around the world and MOVED TO PROVO!

Luckily, Provo has several YSA wards, and I have yet to see him, even though he has asked me to go dancing with him. Sometimes your summer fling just needs to be light and fun, and STAY in the foreign country where it started.

But at least now I can check several things off of my life to-do list...

All I can say is that I'm not planning on squeezing into black spandex and sing "We Go Together" anytime soon.

* I did not know they were best friends at the time.

La vida loca

I love being in Spain. The culture is amazing, the people are so loving, I really do feel comfortable. It is often surreal to think about actually being here. It's sad that I'm on the down swing of my time here. 6 weeks is just too short to get everything accomplished.

Life is a little funny sometimes. Ever since watching Grease a million times with my best friend in elementary school, the "summer love" has always been an illusory concept. I wonder if we're really capable of just having a purposeful temporary romance. ... we'll see how it goes. How did Mary Kate and Ashley do it on all their travels? (Yes, I just made an Olsen twin reference, and I'm not ashamed of it).

Furthermore, cross-culture dating is an interesting concept. It is much more common in today's world because wherever you go there is a mix of cultures. If the pure Spaniards just stuck to their culture, the future would be pretty bleak for them... I really wonder how culture perceptions and customs affect our relationships, on any level. Even being someone who has lived in a different culture or has combined two cultures into one, sometimes I just don't understand the way some people think.

I've also decided I'm a hypocrite. Not on purpose, but I am. For some things I couldn't care less what other people think of me, but in other things, I'm very aware of what other people think. This has become very apparent in the last few days. (I'm just not a good dancer... what can I say? ... no Latin blood, but I did learn that if you're pretty enough, it doesn't matter if you can dance or not...)

This has become a hodgepodge of my Spanish thoughts and I probably shouldn't publish it, but seeing as I don't think anyone reads my blog, I don't really care.