Wednesday, October 27, 2010

London Surprise

I mentioned on Sunday that Brit Boy had planned a surprise trip to London for us on Monday and that I had no idea what we were heading there to do. Well, it turned out REALLY great and I was totally surprised! :-)

Back in August, I posted about us intending to go and see the musical, Sister Act, starring Whoopi Goldberg. And we ended up not going because her mother suffered a stroke and she had to head back home to the United States to be with her. I was disappointed at the time, but I totally understood her going home to be with her mother. That was definitely what was more important. In the end, her mother passed away so I was so glad she got to go home to be with her family.

I put it aside and figured that I’d get the chance to see Whoopi perform eventually onstage one day. I’ve admired her work for a long time and I will never forget her role in my favorite movie ever, The Color Purple. Therefore, I was very keen to see her perform live eventually.

So unbeknownst to me, Brit Boy was sent an email from the place where we bought the first tickets and they let him know that Ms. Goldberg was going to return to her role to complete her run. He decided to surprise me. He let me know that we were going somewhere on October 25th, but he wouldn’t tell me where. And I’m usually one who likes to know things, but something within me was saying…’no, let it be a surprise and enjoy how cool that feels’. So I didn’t dig. And I know you might not believe this, but I didn’t hear a thing about her returning for these special performances…not a thing! :-) I am amazed by that, since I’m frequently online and that’s how I found out about her performing originally. There was no coverage that I saw anywhere, so I’ve come around to the belief that it was meant to be that way :-)

I’ve been having some problems with things here lately, so maybe it was a beautiful bit of a bright spot that was sent to me :-) That’s the only way I can explain it. It was meant to be this way. And just to clarify, my problems have nothing to do with me and Brit Boy, we’re great and that was made even stronger by him putting in the beautiful effort to surprise me like this. He knows that I needed something fun like...this....



So we traveled to London and went along our way on the train and then the tube. Finally we exited at street level and we walked up to the London Palladium and Brit Boy looked at me expectantly. I was like…’Yeah, this is where Sister Act is playing.’ And my eyes were just looking around taking in all of the sights…and no I’m not dense…LOL…just not myself these days, I’ll say ;-) And then he points to this sign in the picture below…forgive the blurry photo. I took it on my cell phone and I’m not really used to it.



Then it finally registered that we were gonna finally see Whoopi perform in Sister Act. And a big smile spread across my face. It had never entered my mind that she would come back to perform since I knew she was back doing her day job again. But apparently she decided to come back and finish her run for these special performances and we saw her on her last day!

Let me tell you, I love Brit Boy, but at that moment I realized that I REALLY married my best friend :-) Even when you don’t know that they’re watching, a best friend sees you and what you need and he saw and I thanked him profusely :-) I take care of him and he takes care of me…and that really touched me.

I’ll rewind and say that we had lunch before the show and it was delicious. Now back to me standing there in front of the Palladium ;-) So we went inside and it was the first time that we’d been to the Palladium.

The show was wonderful! The staging was amazing and the stage was continually shifting so the performers really had to be on top of things. Even if Whoopi hadn’t been performing, it would’ve been a great show. So having her there just made it even more thrilling for me. The singing was out of this world and the young lady who does the role of Deloris that Whoopi did in the film, was amazing! Her name is Patina Miller and she didn’t just sing…that girl can SANG as we’d say back home ;-) Hearing all of that uplifting singing did so much for me inside…it’s what I’ve needed.

Whoopi Goldberg’s comedic timing was so fun to witness in person. And at the end when she and Ms. Miller shared a moment onstage together, you could feel the passing of the torch, from one Deloris to another :-) It was a wonderful experience! I was thrilled to be there!

We had a bit of time to kill after the show, so we walked around the corner and walked down Carnaby Street.





I snapped a few photos, but they all turned out rather blurry. As I mentioned before, I took them with my cell phone and not my regular camera and it was getting dark. At one point I almost dropped my cell phone while taking pictures, so I’m no cell phone photographer…LOL. Anyway, I hope you enjoy a blurry look at the area around the theatre ;-)







Then we headed back to Paddington Station. It was really a wonderful day! I can’t recall ever being surprised like that, so it was really fun and I came away inspired. Mondays are usually drab days, but this was the best one I’ve ever had. Those Monday blues just flew away….

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Going On A Mystery Trip

So tomorrow Brit Boy and I are off to London. I always like it when we get to take a trip there, but here's the interesting part...I don't know where we're going :-) Brit Boy is taking me somewhere as a surprise and all that I know is that it will be a performance of some kind. Intriguing stuff...isn't it? ;-) I've know that we're going for about a month, but I haven't tried to figure out where we're going. I usually like to be in the know, but this time, it's kinda cool to not know.

I'm getting excited now because I love a mystery! I'll share the details when I return. So watch this space!

We're off on a magical mystery tour... ;-)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Two Forests

Yesterday, Brit Boy and I were out and about, and decided to stop off on the way back, to see if we could spot any fall colors in the forest. Well…we didn’t see much color yet, but it was still pleasant to take a walk in the woods. Hopefully a variety of colors will spring forth in the next week or so. So anyway, we enjoyed just being out in nature with the customary green all around us :-) It was lovely.





When I was growing up, I loved walking in the woods back home. We lived in a rather wooded and green area in Georgia, so I’ve always loved the peace of surroundings like that. Recently, they’ve constructed a nature trail back home, so it makes it even easier to enjoy it all. When I went home to visit last summer, I really relished the experience of reconnecting with what I did as a child. When I’m taking a walk like that, surrounded by all of the trees, I always get a sense of peace that I don’t get anywhere else. Walks like that are cool…aren’t they?

So yesterday, when we were in the woods here in Wiltshire, my mind wandered to the woods on the family land back home in Georgia. These places are thousands of miles apart in distance, but come from the same place of serenity. From time to time I find myself having these moments of my life here and my life back home occupying the same space at one moment in my mind. I’ll think, ‘Wow, this spot reminds me so much of home’. It’s like the two places touch across a vast ocean and I’m the bridge between them and it’s cool :-)

More and more as I go forward in my life I’m seeing vividly that yes, these two places that I’ve lived have things that make them different and many things make them similar, and that’s truly great. Variety is amazing and makes us unique. But in the end, the saying is true…we are more alike than we are different and sometimes our surroundings are too. And this chick that lives in this yellow house right now is cool with having a foot in each forest, on either side of the water.

So I hope you enjoy seeing a bit of what I saw today… :-)

Monday, October 18, 2010

Rainbows & New Beginnings

Well hello there! :-) Dori here…signing back on at the Yellow House! I really enjoyed my blogging hiatus and I’ve come back just wanting to enjoy blogging again. When I went on my break, I must admit, I was a bit burnt out and had run out of stuff to say. In my time away, I reminded myself that blogging should be fun, not a chore. I will say though, that I will inevitably run out of things to write about still sometimes, but I won’t sweat it ;-) I guess what I’m saying is that I’m happy to be back blogging, but now I come back after having taken a humongous chill pill…lol.

On the day that I started my blogging break, I saw something beautiful that always gives me a good vibe when I’m given the chance to see it. I saw this…



Right after I wrote my post about taking my break, I looked outside and saw this beauty. And this time it wasn’t a fragment like I’ve seen in times past, it was a full rainbow and it was so big that I couldn’t get it all in the photo. I took this photo out in the backyard and then I went out front and it was like the rainbow was RIGHT THERE with me. It was SO beautiful!!! It looked like it was pulsating and grew right before my eyes. I felt such peace :-)

So as the rainbow evaporated, I knew that any apprehension that I had felt about stepping away from my little corner of the internet, was melting away too. My blog would be fine without me while I took some time for some renewal and to sort some other things out.

Now I’m ready to write here again. I love words and getting to string them together here in this space is a blessing. Life is the biggest blessing. So onward I go and I hope that you’ll come along with me again… :-)

P.S. ~ As you may have noticed, I did a little bit of freshing up around here with my blog design. It's still a work in progress...kind of like life ;-) But I thought that it was about time to shake things up a bit, so I hope you like it. Have a great day! :-)

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

A Quick Hello and a Deal

Hello everyone! Dori here! :) I'm still on my little hiatus, but I wanted to pop in to direct you over to my other blog, Yellow House Views, to check out a deal for UK residents. I've been given an opportunity to share this with you, so I "came out of temporary retirement" ;-) to make my UK readers aware.

So if you're reading this in the UK, please take a look at my post at Yellow House Views, and find out how to save a bit of money whilst feeding your family!

Also, I've really enjoyed my break and I will be returning here within the next couple of weeks. This time away has renewed my interest in blogging, so I look forward to returning to the blogosphere.

Have a great week and I'll talk to you soon! :-)