Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Next To Normal / Next To Morrison


Silk Dress and Snakeskin Belt: Vintage (Mother's)
Sandals: Miu Miu
Anaconda Bag: Bottega Veneta
e
One of my lovely house guests thoughtfully gave my husband and me tickets to see Next to Normal, a Broadway musical about a dysfunctional family's struggle with mental illness and loss. Out of all of the musicals I've ever seen, this one has got to be the darkest. Several people near me in the audience were sobbing!
The actress who plays the mother, Alice Ripley, stole the show. It's not surprising that she won the 2009 Tony for the Best Actress in a Musical.

After the show, the cast members came out to sign playbills. This pretty girl is Jennifer Damiano, who plays the neglected, screwed-up daughter.

J. Robert Spencer, who plays the patient but devastated father/husband
~
Last Wednesday, my house guest and I went to hear Nobel-Prize winner Toni Morrison talk about her latest book, A Mercy, with NPR's Michele Norris at Barnes and Noble.

Click on this link for some wonderful old photos of Toni Morrison and here to listen to an older interview about the novel between the two women. This was my second time hearing Ms. Morrison live (the first time was at the New York Historical Society), and once again I was moved by her gentle strength and crackly voice.
~
On an unrelated note, the glamorous Hanh of Life in Travel has kindly given me a blog award! Thanks, sweetie!
w
I'm supposed to reveal "Ten True Things About Me," so here goes:
w
1. I've had two near-death encounters, both with moving vehicles (#1 involved a car crash in which I totaled my car, and #2 involved a bicycle crash on a Hawaiian volcano). I'm very happy to still be alive.
~
2. Since I was a child, I have had an acute aversion to physical exercise. I've never liked playing sports, but if I had to choose, I'd pick any sport in which the moving object/ball travels away from me (e.g. archery, bowling), rather than toward me (e.g. baseball, basketball).
1
3. I am almost fanatical about sunblock. Sometimes I wear sunblock over my SPF-laden moisturizer.
2
4. My favorite fruits are blueberries, mangoes, and pomegranates.
e
5. My favorite meal of the day is breakfast, but since I'm too lazy to cook that early, I have to wait until weekend brunch. My all-time favorite meal would entail a sampling of all breakfast-related foods.
2
6. I am NOT a picky eater. In fact, I will eat almost anything (provided it isn't an insect, rotten, or still alive).
3
7. I am addicted to True Blood. Team Eric!
e
8. When it comes to movies, I have eclectic taste. I enjoy everything BUT horror movies.
e
9. I love Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and most sci-fi/fantasy movies. I can say "To be, or not to be" in Klingon. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is one of my all-time favorite movies.
e
10. I am the middle child in my family.
e
Thanks again for reading and commenting on my blog. I appreciate each and every comment that you leave!

28 comments:

vitaMinn style said...

So now we know where your inherent glam came from: your mom! Her dress does not look dated at all, did you have to alter it in any way?

How nice is it that you could wear your mom's dresses! Now that's what I call "sustainable fashion" and the dress agrees with me in color: green!

Sorry to hear about #1 and the #2 is so funny! But it means we can't play tennis then? =)
Thanks for sharing your 10 things!

Thumbelina Fashionista said...

VitaMinn: I can't remember if shortened this dress. Most of her stuff I wear without any changes (or just simple hemming). Amazingly enough, I am the exact same size she was when she was my age!

And you wouldn't want to play tennis with me--trust me on this one!

Kat said...

Good evening Thumbelina! Very pretty silk (Thai?) dress...looks so brand new! I also raided my mom's closet a long time ago and wore her dresses.

Loved reading your list, but item #1 is very, very scary to imagine.

I love movies, except horror ones as well...I simply cannot bear watching them!

Musicals are also my kind of thing actually. I'm hoping to watch a Broadway show soon!

Da Fashionista said...

adore that dress! and toni's gentle crackly voice. you lucky ducky.

UnoCosa said...

the dress is truly wonderful ... i love the rainbow color on shantung ... xoxo

Patty Ann said...

That is a gorgeous dress, very very graceful!! I can't believe you've had so many near-death encounters!! I'm glad you're alive! I love reading your blog! Stay safe!! xx

AlphaBetaChic.blogspot.com

I V Y said...

omg that dress is amazing! so pretty with those colours!

StyleSpy said...

Lovely dress -- I almost didn't recognize you in color!

style odyssey said...

that dress is a real treasure. so lovely.

#2: lol! while i don't have an aversion to exercise (quite like it now, as an adult), i can relate to your choosing sports in which the ball moves away from you, not toward you! (you should have seen me in school--here comes the ball! run away!!)

#3: you're smart, fellow sunscreen fanatic!

xoxo

Nini's Style said...

Great interview Thumbelina and the dress is lovely!!
Hanh and I are coming to NYC. We all should me up again. Let us know if you going to any of the shows.
xoxo
Nini

Dream Sequins said...

Team Eric ALL the way.

Now on to the shallow stuff: I love that anaconda bag on you. The texture of snakeskin is a bit offputting to me, but it's well done here. Looks like you had a culture-packed week!

modediktat said...

OMG - I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!!!!
taH pagh taHbe'. DaH mu'tlheghvam vIqelnIS!
Hehe!! I'm a Trekkie too!!! Star Wars, Lord of the Rings etc etc etc
I loved reading your 10 random facts, hon!
No 1 - OMG..... No words for it.... You must have a guardian angel, babe!
No 2 - lol
No 3 - I avoid sunlight ;) which is leading me directly to No 7, hehe.... Still waiting for True Blood for German TV... :-S
No 5 + 6 - yummy and lol
No 8 - I agree!!

The dress of your mom is so very beautiful! My mom was wearing a red dress with little blue flowers. I've wished always that I have kept this dress but she has thrown it away and I didn't have the chance to rescue it.... :)
much love
s.

Miss Cavendish said...

Great fun! I had lunch with Morrison (amid a group of Morrison scholars) at a conference in her honor once. We all went on a tour of Lorain, Ohio, following.

The Tony performance by the Next to Normal cast seemed intense indeed. Alice Ripley must have been a powerhouse in person!

Sang said...

just dropping by.
and i gotta say this, that dress is simply beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Uh! That dress is absolutely fantastic, it dosn't have a label? If so...what is it?

Anyway, I enjoyed reading about you. Thanks for this post.

Mom Fashion World said...

hi thumbelina!
how are you>
sorry i missed some of your posts.
i've been busy as a bee :-)

anyway, i know where you must have gotten your
being so fashionista. it's absolutely from your mom! i wish i kept my mom's clothes too when she was young.

huh! that's bad to hear about #1. on the lighter note, thank God you're still alive and nothing so serious happened to your physically.

congrats on your award, sweety!

huh! i miss NY already! i hope i could make a trip there again so I could meet up with you.

The Little Fashion Treasury said...

Good morning, Thumbelina from NYC;)

How is your cold doing?
Hope you feel better!

Is there a more beautiful piece in the closet of a woman as a dress from mom?;)
The dress looks so beautiful on you, the length , the colors... AWESOME!!! And so "THUMBELINA CHIC" ;)

Enjoyed to read your 10 Q&A´s. Lord of the Ring is one of my very fav movies, too... mmmmh,yummy mangoes and blueberries.. who can resist?;)

Have a beautiful day!!!!

Brigadeiro said...

Loved your 10 facts! I had a very bad car crash too, totalled my car, and the car that hit me :(

LOVE mangoes too! If you ever go to Brazil, we have the BEST mangoes, they're huge AND delicious! YUM! :)
xx

Thumbelina Fashionista said...

Thanks everybody for the sweet comments about my mom's dress!

Anon: No, it doesn't have a label because my mom had everything tailor-made back then. She'd design the dress and then have someone make it. All of her stuff is one of a kind.

Lynn said...

hi thumbelina!
good morning! :)
i really love the pastel color of your dress. and the sheen on it is spectacular! it's great that you get to wear your mom's clothes. makes it extra special, right?

i want to watch "next to normal" too! i think they offer some kind of lottery as well. gotta check it out! i recently watched "the bacchae" in central park. it's pretty good and free! ;)

weekend is just around the corner, and im pretty psyched about it!

-lynn

dot said...

GORGEOUS DRESS! Your mom does have good taste.

Will have to properly read thru your award later as I'm in the middle of a little deadline & just felt like saying hi - which reminds me, is there a deadline to how long one can go before one accepts an award and posts it and passes it along? I'm definitely passing it onto you, so be pre-warned. I'm such a Bad Blogger today!

Sounds like a great play. Not in a ha ha way - people crying in the audience sounds a bit traumatic. I wonder if a British audience would produce the same results with their fear of displaying emotion in public.

jCx

Maurenice @ Heights of Fashion said...

YOU ARE HILARIOUS!!!!! Thanks so much for sharing with us ut facts! I love ur number 2...I was dying LOL. JAJJAJAJA.

muahhhs darling,

Maury
http://heightsoffashion.typepad.com

little fish said...

Thanks for sharing !!!

I am the opposite of you for #3, I am very lazy to use sunblock..I know sun light is very bad for skin..:(

I am very surprise to read that you love Star War and Star Trek! very rare for woman :) But I would love to watch the show one day...i am too shameful to tell that I havent watch them

www.janetteria.com said...

Perfect outfit!

XoXo

natasha said...

team eric all the way

Anonymous said...

Ok, thanks anyway.

Marian said...

love that dress! how amazing that you have heard Toni Morrison speak live twice. I adore each of her books.
she is an inspiration.
xx
marian

Tiffany Ling Tse said...

Love your beautiful vintage dress!!

I am ALSO addicted to True Blood. Can't wait for the season finale this Sunday!!! Though I am torn between Bill and Eric...