West Side Story!

Every year, as part of Scott's birthday celebration, we go on an adventure. This year we went to San Diego to see West Side Story at Spreckels Theatre.  It was awesome!  I have a friend from high school who played Maria in the Broadway European Tour of West Side Story.  After returning from Europe, she moved from New York back to Southern California where she was, again, cast as Maria in San Diego Musical Theatre's production.  She invited several people from high school to go see the play and I decided that it would be the perfect adventure to go on for Scott's birthday since we both love seeing plays (especially musicals) and neither of us had ever seen the show before (we'd only seen the movie).  So, we talked it over and picked a show date and then had to wait a full month!  Fortunately, it was totally worth the wait!

Since it was Scott's birthday, I let him choose the restaurant and he chose Casa de Reyes, which is an awesome Mexican restaurant right in the middle of Old Town.  I'd been there several times with my family and Scott and I ate there together a couple of years ago, so it was a familiar place and it did not disappoint!  Delish!  

While we waited for our table to be ready, we went to Gepetto's Toy Shoppe, which is also in Old Town and is extremely sentimental to me because we used to go there often when I was a child.  Of course, a couple of years ago I introduced Scott to the magic of Gepetto's and he was hooked!  He had actually planned on going there to get his nephew's 1st birthday present, which he did that night.  I just think it's super cool that I got to introduce someone else to a place that I have such fond childhood memories of.

After dinner, we stopped at Cousin's Candy Shoppe (also in Old Town), where we each picked a flavor of fudge and then we shared them when we got in the car to go to the theatre.  We also did this when we went to Old Town a few years ago, so it was a little bit of a flashback night for us!  So fun!  I was really proud because we didn't even get lost on the way to Spreckels, which can be quite a feat for us!  It's ok, though; it just means we get to have extra fun adventures trying to figure out where we are and how to get back on track!  Thank goodness for GPS!  We also survived the crazy parking garage, which had mandatory valet parking.  I'm not a fan of valet, by the way.  I park my car all the time and I feel like I should be able to park it in the garage all by myself.  

Anyhow, we walked up to the theater and the doors weren't open yet, so we hung out in the lobby and walked around outside a bit too.  Here we are before the show!

Once we got to go in the theater, we took our seats and noticed how gorgeous it was!  It's a very old theater and was very ornate, but still beautiful and had lots of character!  The play was great and it was fun to see Jessica perform in the show!  Beforehand, Jessica had told me to go to the stage door to see her after the show, so we did and it was fun chatting with her and catching up a bit.  

By this time, however, it was super late and we were two and a half hours away from home and already pretty tired.  So, we walked to a 7-11 that was across the street and we both got some caffeinated sodas to help us stay awake.  Scott even got one even though he pretty much never drinks soda.  After walking back to the car and breaking it out of valet, we tried to head home, but we got lost for a little while.  Eventually, the GPS was able find us and get us on the freeway.  Fortunately, BOTH of us are quite adept at getting lost, so we're supportive of each other when we get lost, rather than frustrated, so it all works out quite nicely!  It was such a fun night and, although we were exceptionally tired by the time we got home, we did make it to our houses safely!  All's well that ends well! Until the next adventure!  :)