Jonesie Bug & Freddie Bear: "I wanna talk about ME ... (and Jeremy)!"

So, as I alluded to in my most recent post, Jeremy and I (and my parents and sister) spent the weekend in New York City. We were there, because God was so kind and gave me the opportunity to talk about Dorothy Fields at the Second Annual BroadwayCon.

The trip - and the lecture - went great, and I have to mention here - so I don't forget it in years to come - that I went in to the lecture with complete confidence, knowing FIRST, that it was God Who'd given me the opportunity and that He'd never set me up to fail, and SECONDLY, because I had SO.MANY.PEOPLE praying for me. I cannot even tell you how many encouraging texts and promises of prayer I got on Friday nite and Saturday. So I knew that God was in it and with me, and as a result-and by His help-I could not fail.

He was so, so good. Not only was the session miraculously well attended (I'd honestly joked with my "fan club" that they'd probably be the only four people there; I really thought they would), but it was also attended by one of the Managing Editors of Playbill, which was a total - but welcome - surprise.

Highlights of the trip include seeing my name and bio inside an actual Playbill (seriously, Y'all. I kinda lost it), eating ALL.THREE.SATURDAY.MEALS at Junior's, which was across the street from our hotel, looking out our hotel room window and seeing the most iconic Times Square view I can even imagine, watching UK / Kansas at Jack Demsey's with the UK NYC Alumni Club (if only the Cats had won ...), and realizing that while some kids don't even have the support of their families, I do a lecture four months before 40 and bring my own mini audience. If that's not #blessed, then I don't know what is.

Much fun as it was to get out of town, it was just as wonderful to get back to the boys. They did GREAT while we were away, as I knew that they would. Here are a few of my favorite stories the Pressleys told me about their weekend with Jones and Freddie:

1) When we FaceTime'd the boys after (a delicious) dinner (at Ocean Prime) on Friday, Freddie again said, "Pease come home." He wasn't whining or crying; he just said it, matter of factly. I, of course, cried.

2) On Saturday, the boys were playing hide and seek. The Pressleys found them "hiding" under every article of their Pop's clothing. They'd gone to his closet and pulled everything he owned off the rack, so it was all in a giant pile on the floor, and they were under it all. Nan and Pop were laughing about it - but it took them 45 minutes to clean up their mess (OHHHHHH, Boys ...).

3) "E" spent all of Saturday at the Pressleys', since Evan had a ballgame. When Brian came to pick him up, he said to Jones and Freddie, "You wanna go with me?" Apparently, they immediately jumped at the chance - they even went to get their suitcases to bring along. I think they think they were staying longer than they actually were.

4) We brought the boys die-cast taxi cabs from New York. They LOVED them. Freddie called it a "maxi" and put it up in his "treasures box" before hitting the hay. We showed them "Oliver & Company" (or, as Jones calls it, "All-ih-ber") after giving them the taxis, so they'd get a better idea of where we spent the weekend. It became an instant favorite. I've lost count of how many times they've watched it since.

So that's the story of the time Jeremy and I went to New York City. I imagine the next time we go, it'll be with the boys in tow!

We didn't see "Hamilton," though we DID
all play its Saturday nite lottery,
but I just about passed out from the
contact high of walking by its theatre
as we went to meet my friend Mark
on Friday afternoon.

Daddy and I picked this to see,
remembering how hilarious it was
when we saw it at Marietta's Theatre
in the Square 15 years ago.
THIS production, though, wasn't
hilarious. It was VULGAR.
We left after the first of three acts.

"the room where it happened"

Daddy did this, which was probably
my favorite part of the whole weekend.
Though I hate the Jennifer Garner
Capital One campaign, this TOTALLY
reminded me of the commercial
with her dad, as this is most definitely
"SUCH a 'Dad' thing to do."