This was a weekend of plays and playing catch-up.  On Friday night I went to see four of my students perform in East Valley Children’s Theatre’s production of Goats Gruff.

They did such a good job and I am so proud of them!  It’s really rewarding seeing young people develop their art and I’d like to think I had a small part in all of it.  Congratulations Kendra, Tiana, Zach and Alexis!  You guys rock!  The show runs one more weekend, and if you live in the Valley and have young kids, they would really enjoy it.  You can purchase tickets through the Mesa Arts Center.

Then Saturday night, I treated my girl friend Lori to Mary Poppins at Gammage Auditorium.

Wednesday was her birthday and she has been talking about seeing this show forever.  She treated me to a delicious meal at Jungle Pita, complete with chai lattes and  gigantic pieces of baklava.  The baklava was so big we couldn’t finish it all and snuck them into the theatre.  They tasted delicious at intermission!  We were in the nose bleed seats, but still could see absolutely everything.  Despite the fact that I make part of my living in the theatre industry, I rarely get to see shows.  Part of that has to do with time, economics and of course my own laziness.  After seeing it, I realized how much I missed seeing really good theatre.  There’s nothing super deep about Mary Poppins, but the production quality was top notch and the actors were phenomenal.  Chucklebutt and I need to take better advantage of the shows that come to our area.  We also have some great regional theatre, but again, it comes down to time and economics.   Avenue Q is coming in March and that is an incredible show.  Mom and I saw it in Vegas quite a few years ago and Chuck has hinted he would like to see it.  Hmmmm…perhaps as a birthday present?

While I’m a little late in posting pics of our Valentine’s Day Weekend, I want to assure everyone that we had a great time in Jerome.  I love that little town and it is really a great getaway from all the hustle and bustle of Phoenix.  Oh yeah, and we had snow!  Finally I got to frolic in the pretty white stuff.  Our lodging was amazing — even better than the last place we stayed.  As usual, we were late in making reservations — that’s par for the course in the Gibson-Rice Household.  The last place I called was the Surgeon’s House.  It’s a highfalutin B&B and the gal on the phone was a bit snotty with me.  “We’ve been booked a year in advanced,” she said.  I was cordial but was thinking, “Lady, we’re lucky to know what we’re doing from one day to the next let alone a YEAR in advance!”  Anyway, she was kind enough to give us the number of a new rental place.  I called and talked to a precious gal and we were good to go.  Sight unseen and we scored big time!

Apparently Life on the Curve is an interior design store that has started vacation rentals.  These were the pictures on their website:

This is the building that houses the apartments.  We got in pretty late on Friday night (12am) and were pretty pooped.  We were greeted with a very stylish — and dare I say hip — dwelling.

This is the living room.  The two big pieces of artwork are amazing!  Vickie — the rental agent — told us they are made from dirt, berries and other organic “stuff.”

This couch was sooooo comfortable.  In fact the following day both of us took a nap on it.  😀

Chuck had asked for them to do something special for Valentine’s Day.  We had a great basket filled with goodies and they sprinkled rose petals on the bed.   Awwwwww!

There were even cards waiting for us.  Our handwriting look suspiciously similar.  ;D

There was enough chocolate in that basket to throw us both into a diabetic coma.  In fact, there was so much sweets and treats that we still haven’t finished it off.

On Saturday, we headed right across the street to the Haunted Hamburger.  Yum-EEE hamburgers.  I dare say, one of the best I’ve ever had — even though I ordered a hot dog this time.  This is Chuck standing across the street from our apartment.

This was the view from our window.  The San Francisco Peaks are gorgeous.  Great shot Chucklebutt!

The giraffe is looking at our front door.  Incidentally, I LOVED the topiaries.  They were so fun and I’m thinking about getting one for our back yard.  And what’s most important, is the moss is all dead so you don’t have to water it.  How cool is that?

The gargoyle is a little creepy looking.

After lunch, we proceeded to take a two hour nap.  It wasn’t our fault!  That couch was just way too comfy.  Later, we just sorta goofed around town.  The jungle gym was beckoning to us.

Yes, I went tummy first down the slide.  That slide is awesome!  And I think they may have greased it since last we were in Jerome.

While I asked Chucklebutt to get on the horsey, clearly this looks like a disaster waiting to happen.  You should have seen the little kids giving him the once over.

While I did a little shopping, Chucklebutt took some great shots around town.  I love how the branch is growing out of this abandoned building.

I think I may like this one even better.  I love the sky!

Mingus Mountain behind Jerome.

Something about this bench is super cool!  Perfectly distressed.

It’s a Jiggle Puff on a distressed bench!  😀

I really like this shot as well.

I hope that everyone had a great V-Day!  I’ll post more pics tomorrow.