The Last Hoorah

For our last night in New York, we were blessed beyond imagination by Angie and Chris Gilliver with tickets to see the Newsies! Talk about going out with a bang. We decided to make a day of it and headed to the city early so that we'd be able to check the MET off our "must do" list.

You could spend days in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and we only had a few hours so we decided to spend a bulk of our time looking at paintings. I must say, I was a bit giddy to be able to walk around and see names like Picasso, Matisse, Warhol, van Gogh, Seurat, Pissarro, Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, Renoir, Rembrandt... All those semesters of Art History class came rushing back and I felt like I knew a little something about these endless pieces that surrounded me. I took WAY too many pictures, so I just chose a few of my favorites to show you.

Vincent van Gough, Cypresses, 1889 — oil on canvas

Isn't this awesome? I loved getting up close to see the different textures of people's brushwork. Although apparently one time I got a little too close and was scolded by one of the museum guards. Why does this keep happening to the pregnant lady?

Claude Monet, Rouen Cathedral: The Portal (Sunlight), 1894 — oil on canvas

I loved getting to see the signatures on the paintings as well. It's crazy to be close to something that has such history and is so renown. It was exciting to imagine when this signature was taking place. Sorry *nerd alert*

Chuck Close, Mark, 1978-79 — acrylic on canvas

So the piece above is awesome for multiple reasons, one being that this guy looks hilarious and the painting was HUGE, therefore his face took up an entire wall. But it's also awesome because of how realistic it is. It looks like a photograph. Well done Chuck...

Chuck Close, Lucas, 1986-87 — oil and pencil on canvas

Absolutely ridiculous... This blew my mind. 

We also were informed by our local city-dwellers [shout out Rigolosos] about a special, slightly secretive, spot at the MET called the Roof Garden Cafe and Martini Bar. We didn't venture in to any cafe items or martinis, but we definitely paid this fabulous little venue a visit. I say it's slightly secretive because there was a special elevator [only one in the entire museum] that took you to the rooftop where the cafe was located. The sun was blazing up there, but it was beautiful. I'm sure it would be breathtaking at night. [cue James Taylor's "Up on the Roof"]

We love New York.

Panoramic view from one side of roof. All the green is Central Park. 

There was also this really interesting exhibit going on while we were up there. Well I say exhibit, I'm not sure if that's the correct term. There was an interactive installation piece that you could walk around in that looked really neat. Unfortunately, you needed a ticket and apparently pregnant women are discouraged to participate, so we just opted to observe from the outside.

As you can imagine, the glare from this thing could be deadly... Okay, not really. But it was intense.

Can you find Kam and I in the reflections? :)

We closed out our time at the MET with a few minutes of rest on the front steps and then moved on to our next destination for the evening.

Our dinner reservation was at a lovely little Italian restaurant in Manhattan called Pietrasanta. I won't tell you how much research went into picking where we went to eat before the show. It was pretty much an obsession...  Just another side effect of my love for food. But I'm getting off track — dinner. It did not disappoint.

I had the Linguine con Pollo — linguine with chicken, garlic, and fresh herbs in a light cream sauce. 

Kam had Rigatoni Bolognese with meat sauce. 

I made Kam take a lot of pictures like this at the various places we went. He's such a good sport!

And now for the grand finale. Drumroll please...

I know, the lighting and quality of this is terrible, but I had to document the moment!

Our seats were wonderful. I'm pretty sure anywhere you sat would be great. I was surprised at the intimacy of this theater. It was such a great venue. 

Last look before the evening came to a close. 

I always forget how much I LOVE theater until I'm watching a show. It was so fun to experience this with Kam, too. I just kept giggling like a little girl. I was so pumped! The show was great. There were a couple of new songs and a few changes in the storyline [I won't give any spoilers], but the classics were there and the guys rocked it! Man it was great... Thanks again to the Gillivers for blessing us in such a sweet way.

Sadly, this entry closes out the New York posts. It's like we're having to leave all over again... The Lord was so kind during our time there to open so many doors and begin so many relationships. We had many fun outings and lots of good food, but more than anything, we were refreshed by the Truth and blessed by the Body of Christ. His people are everywhere and His work is being done. The Lord is building His church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.