Emmys!

The Emmy nominations were announced this morning, and I was up bright and early to watch the live stream. Anyone who knows me will attest that I am NOT a morning person. But since there are precious few things I won't do in the name of Glee, dawn found me hunkered down in front of my computer in my Grumpy Bear pajamas. I figured the Glee noms would be plentiful, but I had no idea they would THAT abundant! 19 nominations! Bazinga! So much excitement when Lea and Matthew's names were announced, as well as the nod for Glee as best comedy. I admit to mild disappointment that nominees in supporting categories were not presented live, mostly because I was thoroughly enjoying listening to Sofia Vergara mangle the names. She is one hysterical lady!

A quick search turned up the rest of the list, and I very nearly toppled out of my chair when I found that K. Chen, NPH, Mike o'Malley, Jane, and (the proverbial cherry on top) sweetie Chris had all been recognized. What a stellar morning for Glee and devoted Gleeks everywhere!

I love that the cast and crew are genuinely supportive of each other and get so crazy excited for individual successes, when really, in an ensemble like this, there could be lots of hurt feelings and resentment. They all seem like such kind, down-to-earth people and it makes my little heart happy when great things happen to nice folks.

Good luck, my Glee Babies--I'll be watching with bated breath! Bring home lots of hardware!

Some Enchanted Gleevening

I should mention that I have a minor obsession with details. If I'm going to do something, then by gum, I am going to do it RIGHT! Especially when food or Glee are involved. When those two things merge--well, suffice it to say, things tend to get a little out of hand. When my friends came over for Glee night, we couldn't just watch the show and eat popcorn. I would always have an assortment of show-inspired snacks to serve. Cupcakes, slushies, donuts, Sour Patch Kids, soft pretzels, I'm Sorry cookies, celery, dip (I prefer to think my lovely Puck refers to chip dip rather than the other kind), and cheese puffs all made appearances, among others. I drew the line at Sue Sylvester's master cleanse and wine in a box (I don't drink alcohol and prefer not to drink sand)! But it was fun coming up with something different each week and it became a bit of a game--my friends would look at what I had on the table and try (usually in vain) to place the reference.

When the finale rolled around, I decided to go big with a dinner party. The theme? Breadstix. I reviewed "Hell-O" and "Home" to get an idea of the interior and recreated it the best I could in my kitchen and living room. I don't have a lot of space, and the floor plan is open, so my first order of business was dividing the kitchen from the dining area. I put up a curtain to divide the space, and constructed (translation: cobbled together with a hot glue gun) a screen out of 12x12 tiles and photo frames to sort of block the kitchen from the living room (at least so people couldn't look in to the sink). In a fit of passion, I actually put up window dressings in the living room (THAT only took 6 years), and had Barry install dimmer switches so I could control the ambient lighting. Yeah, I know. But at that point I was just going for it.


I took down all of my regular decor and replaced it with props. You gotta love the dollar store, because I found tons of stuff there, including the posters and small framed prints I used on the wall. I also picked up a bunch of fake grapes and vines, as well as battery operated tea lites and white Christmas lights. I couldn't believe I actually had to BUY Christmas lights--who doesn't have white lights lying around? Me, it turns out. I must have been feeling extraordinarily festive when I hit the after-Christmas sales, because I had probably ten boxes of colored lights and not a single string of white. Curse you, Past Me.


Like I said, I'm a details person. I also love making props and custom items. So I sort of had a heyday with this. I bought steins at Savers and painted them with a crackle finish to make the bread stick mugs. The napkin rings had quotes printed on the inside. I spent a few hours putting together pearl necklaces for the guests. The best part was the table tents, which hubby very generously designed for me. I gave him the text and an idea of what I wanted them to look like, and he did the rest. They turned out so amazing!

The tagline reads, "Where the joyful and urgent break bread".

Thank you, Finn, for loving pizza and not something gross!

For dinner, I made spaghetti and meatballs, and one of my sisters and a friend brought pizza (Hawaiian and pepperoni, naturally). We had Shirley Temples and sparkling cider to drink. I asked everyone else to bring their favorite Glee-related goody to share.

My sister, Shannon, made these tasty little morsels.

My boys were surprisingly excited to help out with serving so I could enjoy the meal with my friends. They answered the door and escorted people to their seats, then made sure everyone got pearls to wear. Hubby dished up the plates in the kitchen and then they brought everything out, even offering to grate fresh parmesan cheese over the pasta! I had them hide plastic mice on two of the plates and the people that found them won a prize (Glee gum). It was so wonderful to have helpers! I don't know how I managed to not get a picture of Barry--he actually drew a mustache on himself. Again, I'm blaming it on that sloppy Past Me.


Everything was very well received. There was ooohing and ahhhing and lots of laughter and good conversation. The funny thing was that the majority of my carefully executed references went right over most of the guests' heads. It turned out that many of them weren't even aware of Breadstix, much less the fact that Brittany allegedly found a mouse in her pasta, or that Sue wore a string of pearls with her tracksuit when Will stood her up. Heck, they didn't even recognize most of the quotes on the napkin rings *gasp*! I'm still trying to figure out if my friends are remiss in their fan duties or if I'm just way over-the-top nuts. Maybe a little of both? Whatever. At any rate, I had a blast planning and pulling everything together. Now I can start thinking about what to do for the Season 2 premier! I'm thinking something with Christmas lights...

The FULL Experience

The concert was Saturday night, and the VIP festivities were to begin at 6:00 PM. We spent the earlier part of the day checking my twitter account in the hotel business center in an effort to figure out what the cast members were up to and fantasizing about what wonders the evening might hold. Since this was the first show, there were no spoilers floating around. We really had no idea what to expect. Both the anticipation AND the speculation were delicious!

Following a light meal at the Hard Rock Café and an emergency trip back to the hotel for band-aids (my cute new wedges didn’t feel so cute once the blisters started forming), we arrived at the Dodge Theater. We waited in line for a bit with a few hundred other Gleeks…luckily it wasn’t a super hot day and we were in the shade. We finally got in, reported to the VIP table, and headed in to the pre-show party.

They had a photo booth and food, and everyone just sort of milled around. I was all excited because they were giving out free Dove hair care samples and Pepsi. Yeah, it doesn’t take much to get me going! At one point, Cory and Amber came out. I think the original plan was that they were going to just stroll through and say howdy, but of course they were instantly mobbed and couldn’t really stroll anywhere. We were pretty close, but didn’t actually get to meet them before they had to go back for warm-ups. Rats! We got a few good pictures, though (at least of Cory…Amber’s short and I’m short, so I couldn’t see her at all). They seemed lovely, and Cory is darling in person. He has such a nice smile and a palpable enthusiasm about him, although he did look a tad weary.

Once they left, our goody bags and tickets were distributed. We got a sweet tote bag, water bottle, and shirt. I also bought a program. Later, I would suffer an acute attack of cheapskate regret…I wish I had also picked up the pin set, but oh well.

The program was pretty good, but didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t already know. Plus, according to whoever wrote the trivia portion, the square root of 4 is unicorns. Obviously, the writer was just picking things off the top of his head—remembered the answer was something whimsical, took a shot in the dark, and totally missed. But, really? That’s like Glee 101 knowledge. At any rate, I digress.

They let us in to the auditorium before the general public arrived. Our seats were row 5, just to the right of center. This turned out to be right behind the four pit rows, with an aisle in front of us. This was advantageous, because, as previously mentioned, I am vertically challenged. So, even when people were on their feet, I had a fairly clear view of the stage.

The opening act was The LXD, and in summary, “WOW”. I’ve always been fascinated by dancers, and these are some of the best I’ve seen. They actually seem to defy the laws of physics and limits of the human body. Harry Shum Jr. did the cutest dance, and everyone went nuts.

After a brief intermission, the lights dimmed and Sue Sylvester and Will Schuester appeared on the overhead screen. They did a little exchange, Sue insulted our intelligence, people dressed as Cheerios came around passing out barf bags, and then FINALLY the show began. I won’t give a blow-by-blow account here, as by now everyone has seen video and heard what went on, so I’ll just touch on a few of the highlights.

The opening number was DSB. It was such a rush when the curtain opened and the original six glee clubbers were all standing there in the semi-darkness. I loved how they each got a personal moment to shine as the spotlight hit them one by one. The sweetest was Chris—the light came on and he did his patented Kurt pose: hand on hip, look aloof, sweep through the bangs, but then everyone started screaming and for just a beat the character slipped. He smiled so brilliantly and gave this shy little wave and it was just Chris. I actually teared up a little because he looked so perfectly happy and I was so very happy for him, and just thrilled and honored to be there at that moment in time.

The other major event occurred during DROMP. Lea emerged from the far side of the auditorium, just singing her little heart out, and made her way along the aisle right in front of us! It was totally surreal…how many times have I watched “Sectionals” and dreamed of being in that audience, watching her perform what I consider one of the greatest numbers in Glee history? And there she was! Singing right in front of me! Needless to say, there was squealing. So much squealing, in fact, that I almost didn’t notice the commotion going on behind me. When I finally tuned in and looked around, I saw that ALL of the glee boys (sans Artie) were coming down the center aisle toward the front of the theater. Further, they were headed in my direction! They walked right in front of us, hands up, issuing high-fives as they passed. The moment went by in a blur…I remember Harry being first in line, and I know I squeezed Chris’s hand (really, who could resist?). Cory and Mark were, as one would expect, completely stunning. Oddly, I have no recollection of Dijon, but I don’t know where else he would have been. No offense, Dijon—you are also very cute! After that, I’m pretty sure I stopped breathing, and I sort of looked at my hand in awe. It was my first contact with famous people EVER, and I had their sweat on my hand! I was in raptures of delight until Megan pointed out that much of that sweat was probably not actually theirs. Ewwww! Thanks for the buzz-kill, Meg!

Other highlights: Push It (just as heinously inappropriate as it was on the show, much to my naughty delight), Single Ladies during MLWSWY (that just never gets old), Defying Gravity (gorgeous…Chris sounded like an angel and Lea is so powerful), and Bad Romance. At that point, “Theatricality’ had not aired, so it was quite a sensation! It was actually really cool seeing it live because we could see what everyone was doing all the time instead of just close-ups of individuals and snippets of the group. Bless Chris for wearing those insane heels—poor guy must have drawn the short straw!

The whole show was completely brilliant and I still can’t believe I got to go. I am in complete awe of my “Glee Babies”! They work so hard and shine so brightly--what a joy to be there with them for those few hours. I’m so glad I have fun sisters who were willing to pick up and leave their families to indulge in a few days of reckless fan-girl abandon. We’re already planning on going again next year. Fingers crossed for a venue closer to home…road trip, anyone?

The Agony and the Ecstasy...Glee Style

When I found out there was going to be a Glee tour, I literally swooned in ecstasy. I was THAT excited. I’m not a big concert goer. I’m a cheapskate in general, and honestly, there aren’t many acts I consider worth the money. In (sad/hilarious) fact, the last show I actually paid to see was Tiffany when I was in probably junior high. And no, it was not at the North Hills Mall. But Glee? Sign me up! Imagine the let down when I learned that the tour would be a truncated one, visiting only four cities. Big surprise, none of them was Boise. Not even Salt Lake! Or Seattle! Come on, people, seriously?! *sigh* There may have been some weeping and rending of garments, followed by grudging resignation. As the song says, "There are dreams that cannot be."

Fast forward about a month. I was at Sunday dinner with my extended family, waxing Gleeful with my sisters over grilled chicken and mashed potatoes. They are but two of the many I have exposed to the wonders of Glee this year. I mentioned, wistfully, that a live tour was in the works but that the nearest venue would be Phoenix. Silence reined for a few moments as this information was digested along with the recently consumed spuds. Megan, the youngest, coolest, and most impulsive of us finally piped up and suggested that we just go for it. Say wah?! Oddly, it had never even dawned on me to ask if they wanted to go. I mean, I knew they liked the show, but I didn't realize they had reached that special level of fan-crazy.

The next 24 hours were a jumble of activity and elation, as we booked a flight, hotel room, and rental car. We decided since we were already on the crazy bus we might as well go totally nuts and spring for the VIP tickets. No sense in flying to Phoenix for nosebleed seats, right? And since I’d never done anything like this before, I wanted the FULL experience.

Up next: The FULL experience!

And away we go...like a herd of turtles.

Okay, it took me about an hour to figure out how to actually post an entry, which is pathetic, even for me. I have sort of a love/hate/violently explosive relationship with technology. Let's hope this is not an omen of difficulties to come.

My indulgent and ever-so-patient hubby put this blog together for my birthday. I presume this is because he is hoping I will stop rambling about my Glee obsession OUT LOUD and just write about it instead. There will be some backtracking for a bit, as I recount some of my recent squee-worthy Glee experiences/ projects.

The blog name is hubby's creation...he's punny that way. I feel like it needs a clever tag line. Ideas?