An Interview with Big Bird

As I have written about many times before, I grew up in a cable free household. And not only was it cable free, but because of the poor antenna reception we received living out in the woods of New Hampshire, we only received four channels on our tv: NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS. This meant that I didn’t get Punky Brewster, the Smurfs, Gummy Bears or Duck Tails. As a result, both my sister and I spent nearly all of our television watching time with the characters of PBS. I can say without hesitation that the most influential television show, movie, music or theatrical performance in my life has been Sesame Street.

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This show and its characters exposed me to early reading and counting skills, songs and games as well as the ONLY bit of spanish I have carried with me into my adult life. It was also crucial in learning how to tell time – instead of saying that a car ride would take “an hour” which meant nothing to my 5-year-old self, my parents would say “one hour which is one Sesame Street.”

I’ve taken my love of the show into my adult life by learning as much as possible about the show, its creators, actors and supporters. I’ve read nearly ever book written on this group of incredible people, visited the Jim Henson exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image, and seen Being Elmo – an incredible documentary about Kevin Clash’s journey to Sesame Street. Two years ago Matt surprised me by taking me to see Sesame Street Live – and while we were certainly the ONLY adults there without a child, making us look a little creepy, it was one of the most amazing things he has ever done.

As I mentioned yesterday, I have a few things on my bucket list… near the very top of that list is visit the set of Sesame Street.

Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational foundation behind Sesame Street is one of the only blogs that I subscribe to (and I work in communications for a non-profit!) and I came across this post today. While I was sad that I didn’t realize the first day of Spring had already come and gone, I was happy to read this incredible article. I hope that all of you who also grew up watching Sesame Street enjoy it as much as I did.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG BIRD!

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Bachelor Party vs. Parental Visit

This weekend Matt atttended a bachelor party out in Las Vegas, so my parents came to NYC to we could have our own equally crazy weekend. It was the first time that they had visited New York since my sister left last fall, so the pressure was on a provide a fun-filled weekend. I spent a lot of time researching things to do, restaurants to dine at and cleaning my apartment for their arrival. I also cranked up the A/C to try and counter the 100+ degree temperatures outside. Here is the itinerary that I came up with:

FRIDAY
My parents arrived in the afternoon, their called filled with wedding presents that had been mailed to their house. We unloaded the car and brought eveything upstairs. I was in the middle of watching the Tour De France when they arrived, so we finished the stage and unpacked some of the things that they brought with them. We then jumped in a cab and headed downtown for dinner. I had originally planned to go to Fette Sau, a BBQ joint in Brooklyn that Matt raves about. However, with the hot temperatures, no one really felt like eating BBQ. So instead, I made a gametime decision and took a chance on the line at The Spotted Pig. We arrived just as they started to seat people for dinner and we were seated within 5 minutes. SCORE! After enjoying a delicious dinner consisting of bacon wrapped dates, the most amazing burger and shoestring fries we headed back up to the theater district for the show, Jersey Boys. This show was incredible. I can not recommend it enough. After the show we walked the 10 blocks home in the heat, stopping for ice cream at Holey Cream. We all ended the day tired and very full.

SATURDAY
We woke up, enjoyed some delicious coffee from our Keurig and looked at the hundreds of wedding pictures that our photographers took. It was really nice to relive the wedding and see a lot of things that I didn’t really get a chance to look at that day. Now I just have to figure out what I am going to do with all of these pictures! Then watched the time trial stage of the Tour de France before heading out to one of my favortite breakfast spots, Nook. We started off with the baguette covered with nutella, bananas and strawberries. I enjoyed an egg scramble, while my mom had the french toast and my dad had a slice of quiche. YUM! After breakfast, we took the subway out to Queens to visit the Museum of Moving Image where the exhibit, Jim Henson’s Fantastic World had just arrived last weekend. As a child who grew up watching Sesame Street until the age of 14 (ok, really 28), this was a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

After the museum, we jumped back on the subway and headed to Eataly, a cross between a farmers market and a restaurant. I had never been to Eataly and was dying to adventure in. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint!

I couldn’t believe how large the space was and how many delicious foods there were. We decided to buy food, as opposed to eat at the various restaurant/counters, and cook ourselves at home. We bought a baguette, a few cheese and meats for appetizers, tomatoes, mozerella and basil for a capreses salad and some pasta and sauce for our main dish. Everything was so fresh and so amazing. It certainly inspired me to make the time to cook – recently, I have spent too much time with the microwave and frozen Lean Cuisines! We spent the rest of the evening just relaxing, chatting and eating.

SUNDAY
Whenever I have guests visit, Sunday always feels like a wash. Their pending departure seems to get in the way of any fun plans, even if they aren’t leaving until the afternoon. We woke up and went to Sarahbeth’s, another breakfast favorite. We then walked around the park and went to Crate & Barrel to do a couple errands. Once we got ome, my dad packed up their bags while my mom assembled my new spice rack for me. After they left I rode my bike for a while on my trainer (i.e. something  that turns your road bike into a stationary bike) and made some cookies. It was a fantastic weekend!

Thank you Mom and Dad for making the trip down. And after hearing about Matt’s weekend in Vegas, I feel satisfied that ours was more fun. I mean, casinos and pool parties don’t hold a candle to Jim Henson and the Muppets!