the lion king

Really, the title of this post should be “we had a great date-night out and all I have to show for it are two snap shots before we left.”

(Don’t we look nice all dressed up?  I love my new cardigan–a neutral gray with stripes of one of my favorite colors, teal–a major find at Target.)

Don’t get me wrong, the show was AMAZING (more on that later) and dinner was fantastic, but what occupied most of my brain was all the great “documenting” I was missing because neither of us wanted to carry around the giant camera.

Seriously, I don’t know how “real” bloggers do it.  Kath bikes everywhere, so where the heck does she keep her camera?  She uses a digital SLR like Andrew’s.  I’ve even toyed with the idea of getting an uber-fancy point-and-shoot with lots of manual control settings that would force me to learn how to take good pictures.

However, I still have yet to purchase said camera, which is turning out to be a good thing, since the NEW iPhone 4S is out and I’m getting one!  And, apparently, the camera on it is the best thing since sliced bread, so maybe I’ll just use that…  I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for the iPhone (first for it to come to Verizon, then for the iPhone 5 that was rumored to come out this year) and I’ve been eligible for a new phone for A YEAR and my touchscreen is completely broken…so you can see that I completely deserve and can justify the iPhone.  (Or not, but I thought I’d try…)

The iPhone will, however, really come in handy now that I’m back in school and thus away from the computer more than I used to be.  I can take photos, upload and blog from anywhere, check movie times and get directions while in the car and use awesome apps that will allow me to count my calories and even find my car in a parking lot–SCORE!  (And apparently the “S” part of it is this awesome “personal assistant–Siri–kind of thing” that will basically talk BACK to you, which is neat.  Once I get the hang of all the voice controls, I will no longer feel guilty about what little texting and driving (gasp!  Only at stop signs and lights, people!) I do.

OK, enough about the iPhone…I’ll blog more about it later when I actually get it.

Back to our evening out 🙂

I ROCKED my second Anatomy test (ANOTHER 100% baby!) and the tickets for The Lion King were actually my birthday present from Andrew’s parents, so the hubby let me choose where we went to dinner.  I chose Papaya, which is an (as we found out, UPSCALE) Asian Fusion restaurant in downtown Buffalo.  We loved it!  Well, I loved it and Andrew liked it–which basically means he’d go back.  In Andrew’s words, “It was a very ‘me’ place.”

I loved the atmosphere; a bit modern but still comfortable.  White tablecloths, wine glasses and candles.  Diners were all dressed in at least business casual, if not a bit nicer, so that worked out really well for us.  There is (almost) nothing I hate more in life than being over- or under-dressed.  Seriously.  It puts me so ill at ease that I can barely enjoy myself.  Is it a terrible fault and should I be able to just “get over it?”  Probably.  But I’m still waiting on that magical power to appear…  So, we fit right in since were dressed up for our show.

We started with a Whiskey Sour (for Andrew) and a Pineapple Upside Down Martini (for me–YUM!) and split orders of spring rolls and potstickers. Andrew said they were the best potstickers he’d ever had.

Andrew got the Pad Thai and I branched out (I ALWAYS get the pad thai to see if I like a restaurant’s version) and got a spicy pepper chicken dish served with sauteed bok choy and coconut rice.  The rice was to die for.  It was basically dessert for dinner.  Andrew liked the pad thai and I tried a few bites, too.  It had a smokier, deeper tamarind flavor than you typically find in traditional Thai restaurants.  We both really enjoyed the meal and are looking forward to going back again soon.  Heather, you would have loved it!

We walked three blocks to Shea’s Performing Arts Center and took our THIRD ROW seats with time to spare.  Shea’s itself is a beautiful theater; its walls are ornate and decorated.  it felt like we had traveled back in time or something.

The show was phenomenal.  At first I thought it was weird that we were surrounded by kids (you know, at night, downtown, on a school night, at a play) until I remembered it was The Lion King.  Duh.

The costumes are incredible.  There just is no two ways about it.  If you like the theater and are into color and arts-y stuff and interpretive dance, this is the show for you.  It was neat to “revisit” our childhood a little and see how excited some of the youngsters got.  There was even a GIANT elephant walking down the aisle next to us!

Les Miserable, my absolute FAVORITE play (mom took me while we were in London for my 16th birthday) is coming to Shea’s this spring and Andrew has never seen it.  Guess we’ll be back there soon…