The Museum of Broadway finally opened, so my friend Casey and I went to take a look. And full disclosure, it’s absolutely perfect. Some highlights below!
Located in the gift shop, such a great idea
The whole museum follows a specific pathway to follow and see everything on numerous floors. There are countless photo opportunities and texturally beautiful backgrounds.
The Ziegfeld Follies room
Two chorus girl costumes worn in Ziegfeld Follies
There are themed rooms based on the musical/play they’re representing, which is such a genius way to show these gorgeous pieces of Broadway history.
The Oklahoma room
Costumes from Cabaret
Costume from The Wiz Live!
The dress from Annie
Anyone who knows anything about me can understand why I spent most of my time in the Phantom of the Opera wing.
Drawing of Andrew Lloyd Webber
A monkey music box from The Phantom of the Opera
Costumes from The Phantom of the Opera
Me being me infront of the Company display
Costume from The Lion King
Seeing The Lion King pieces up close really made me remember how stunning it was to see for the first time all those years ago, when no production had ever done what they accomplished.
Costume from Taboo
And once you’re finished see all of the floors dedicated to the individual shows, the final rooms all showcase the backstage magic and what goes on behind the scenes.
Different types of stage blood
Productions by year
The whole museum is done so thoughtfully and it’s completely worth the price of admission (TIP: on the first Tuesday of each month, it’s only $25 per person). If you’re ever cared about Broadway history & memorabilia, you have to go immediately.
I ate at Soothr and it was so, so good. Love a new thai place.
Paul at Soothr, NYC
Some things I watched this month:
The Santa Clauses (the new Tim Allen show): Ugh, it was terrible. Maybe I’m not the audience it’s supposed to be for, but still - just a stinkfest.
Jack Frost: I love Michael Keaton, but I just couldn’t get past the first half hour. It’s way too sad.
The Crown (seasons 3-5): Loved the season three Wales episode. The moon landing one was also perfect. It’s a great show, but extremely depressing if you’re binging it over a short period of time.
Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?: God, I hated it. Netflix has this annoying habit of making documentary series out of things that could easily be 40 minutes long and it is obnoxious as hell. You do not need to watch this. Read the Wikipedia page about it instead, you’ll save yourself so much wasted time.
I was looking up trivia for the movie Scrooged and learned that the childhood house in the movie is a real place in Queens! So obviously I walked over to see it in person. Insanity that it hasn’t changed after all of this time.
Frank Cross’ childhood home from Scrooged (1988) in Queens, New York
I won a lottery ticket to see A Christmas Carol on Broadway and… YIKES. I can’t describe how bad it was. First of all, IT WAS A ONE MAN SHOW. And I didn’t know that beforehand, so yes that’s my fault. But oh my god, it was agony.
A Christmas Carol on Broadway in New York, December 2022
Are we all aware of how garbage the brand Silani is? I tried it for the first time and lord was it bad. Never again. Spend the extra dollar and eat something edible.
I watched the final World Cup game with my parents and I’m glad France lost, give others a chance to win too, ya know?
World Cup final with my parents, December 2022
I will never be above latte art.
Latte art from San Remo’s in Etobicoke, Ontario
I went to Bell, Book & Candle for some Christmas themed drinks and it was great. Love a divey, but good bar.
I also made a leftover turkey sandwich with STUFFING WAFFLES and it was so, so good. Again it photographed rough, but tasted incredible. I used this recipe to make the waffles. Definitely have to do this again.
The main reason to go to the Union Square Holiday Market? Duck confit poutine at Duck Season. It’s honestly a better poutine than some Canadian places.
Crate & Barrel continues to have the cutest fabric Christmas ornaments.
Harry Potter-looking cat ornament at Crate & Barrel
Fabric snowman ornament at Crate & Barrel
Trader Joe’s had Christmas wreaths this year, so I got one and it was perfect. It makes me feel so together to have a wreath on my door. I still have it up. I don’t want to say goodbye.
Christmas wreath from Trader Joe’s
I went to see Noah Baumbach talk about his new movie White Noise at a NYPL event and it was very all right. I wish he’d talked more about older movies of his that I’ve loved, but I guess it makes sense that he didn’t since he was promoting this one.
Noah Baumbach speaking at an NYPL event promoting White Noise, December 2022
The candy cane cold brew from Blank Street? Unparalleled.
One of my favourite things to do in December in New York is to walk around the city looking at the holiday lights and listen to that Darlene Love song on repeat.
The Rockefeller Christmas Tree, December 2022
Saks holiday lights, December 2022
Macy’s holiday decorations, December 2022
Holiday taxi display on Fifth Avenue, December 2022
I went to Essex Market to see their Gingerbread Village display, which was cute but I wish it was bigger. And since I was there, I took a look at the sandwich menu at Shopsin’s and holy christ I need to go back.
Gingerbread Village at Essex Market in NYC, December 2022
Nothing better than a Boxing Day puzzle.
Boxing Day, December 2022
Some things that I’m looking forward to this month: I’m going to get real dressed up and go see Moulin Rouge on Broadway with my friend Diana, I’m excited about seeing the Restaurant Week menus for this season, I’m going to start using this first-of-the-month checklist again, Classpass is doing a free monthly promotion right now so I’ll keep doing that until it starts charging again, and I really can’t wait to make this lasagna soup.
I started a travel tradition that when I travel solo I book a woman photographer via Airbnb. The shoots are always fun and I feel super comfortable. Plus it feels like I’m having a photoshoot with one of my girl friends abroad 😎
“I realize there’s something incredibly honest about trees in winter, how they’re experts at letting things go.”
— Jeffrey McDaniel
God, I love winter. I will be counting down the days until the first really big snowstorm, so in the meantime here’s what else I’d love to do this season.
Other than that, I’ll definitely watch some of these movies. As always, I encourage you to make a list of your own. And if you’re stuck on ideas, you can see my past winter lists below:
Autumn is over and the sweet stillness of winter is upon us. While I wait for the snow, here’s how my autumn list of things to do went!
Make the very best leftover Thanksgiving sandwich humanly possible.
Okay, I didn’t do this at Thanksgiving BUT I may be able to redeem myself on the day after Christmas.
Watch at least ten horror movies I haven’t seen before.
Oh no, I only did four (Smile, Barbarian, Halloween Ends, Terrifier). To be fair, I rewatched tons of movies I’ve already seen but that does not count.
Finally learn the Phantasm theme on piano.
Not even kinda!
Completely clean out off of my closets and donate anything that hasn’t been worn in the past two years.
This is getting embarrassing. DOING THIS THE FIRST WEEK OF JANUARY!
Watch and harshly critique Hocus Pocus 2.
I watched it and… clearly it isn’t supposed to be for me, which is sad. I wanted it to be for me so badly, but here we are. Thankfully I wasn’t expecting the world, so it wasn’t devastating.
1/5 Yikes. That’s a rough one. Can’t even spin it this time. I will do better next season!
It’s a well known fact that I intensely love Dave Grohl. Always have, always will. Whatever he does, I will support. I’m a little shocked that it took me so long to finally read his memoir, but here we are! Favourite parts ahead.
“DNA is a miraculous thing. We all carry traits of people we have never met somewhere deep within our chemistry. I’m no scientist, but I believe that my musical abilities are proof of this. There is no divine intervention here. This is flesh and blood. This is something that comes from the inside out.”
“From my first tour at the age of eighteen, I always loved traveling to Canada. The hash was good, the girls were cute, and the shows were consistently wild. Canadians are fucking awesome. Laid-back, genuine, and funny as hell. I defy anyone to walk one city block without making a fast friend in Canada.”
And speaking of Canada, I absolutely love the fact that he met and played with Iggy Pop at the goddam Rivoli of all places.
The story where he breaks his leg during a show is incredible.
He spoke so high of the Ring of Kerry in Ireland that I looked it up and wow. Putting it on the travel list.
One of the post-show meals he kept mentioned? KFC chicken and champagne. And I mean, it honestly sounds just gross enough to be fantastic.
Obviously this was published after Taylor Hawkins passed away, so I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for his to go through since he talks about him so lovingly throughout the whole book. Honestly, just such a great read.
