Don't Want To Be An American Idiot and BITTERSWEET IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So many things happening in July!  Seriously!!  First, Samantha is here.  Yes.  Gal Sam.  Here in the Big Apple.  It's great to see her!  She is also the reason that I didn't post yesterday (sorry...)...ANYWAY, hello, old friend.  I sincerely hope that you are doing oh-so-well.  An update on the past few days...:

Saw FELA! yesterday--INCREDIBLE.  Oh my gosh!  FELA! FELA! GO GO GO!!!!!!!!  So great.  So much African culture.  And it just makes you want to DANCE!  After the show we went to the Food Emporium for drinks and a loaf of bread and couldn't help but move and groove through the aisles.  Truly an incredible show!!  The student rush tickets are a mixed bag---some are awesome and some do cater to obstructed views.  However, the performance is electric.

Sam and I saw AMERICAN IDIOT tonight--we won the raffle!!  You can't spend $25 better.  Seriously.  Anyway, we sat in the front row and it was AWESOME.  The show is very political, but I appreciate that. I'm not saying that I agree or disagree with it's political agenda, but what I will say is that I LOVE that an artist is able to express themselves through theatre.  It is why we do theatre!  To make a statement about something!  To talk about something that we are passionate about!  The show felt more like a rock concert than a Broadway show.  AND Sam and I both got guitar pics at the end from some of the performers.  The show is incredible because every single person up there is working their ass off.  Every.  Single.  Person.  Awesome awesome.

Also, in other excellent news, "Bittersweet" by Shauna Niequist just came out!  It's her second book.  Her first, "Cold Tangerines" is my absolute favorite book.  Each of the books are about experiences that she has had--the book is broken down into short little stories, and talks about her experiences and what she learned from them.  Incredible.  I am not giving the book justice in my description.  I am a very lucky girl though...because I have had a galley since MAY!  That's right.  Sam (boyfriend Sam that is) did an incredible thing for my graduation gift.  He contacted Shauna.  Told her how much I loved "CT" and how much I would cherish any sort of thing she could give me (he was thinking one of her stories), and she responded to him!  How amazing is she?  And not only did she send him one story, but the entire book AND she also wrote me a card for my graduation.  How amazing is my boyfriend?  How amazing is she?  Amazing, amazing, AMAZING...I am so blessed.

So here's what I have to tell you--go pick up "Cold Tangerines" and then grab "Bittersweet"--they will do wonders for your soul.