What a Weekend

Where do I begin?! This weekend was full of arts & entertainment in all kinds of different forms.

Sometimes you don't even have to leave your house to be entertained. I hosted the KW crew and some other friends at my place on Friday and the usual craziness ensued. By 11 p.m. the drinks were flowing and we were all feeling pretty good. Luckily there were some designated drivers in the mix, and with their assistance we headed out to enjoy the Middleton nightlife. We ended up at Scatz, a sportsbar/nightclub that was hosting DJ RIP playing all the hottest pop & hip-hop. Dacing at Scatz is fun because the dance floor always has the right amount of people, there's never too few people but it's never too crowded.

Scatz features a different event every night and it caters to an extremely diverse clientele of all ages, (21 & up of course). Mondays: Monday Night Football, Tuesdays: Service Industry night offering 1/2 price off everything from 8 p.m. to 12 p.m., Wednesdays: Chili Wednesdays and $5.00 Ketel One mixers, Thursdays: Live Music, Fridays: Dance Party, Saturdays: Saturday Night Live Music, Sundays: Football Sundays.

I mentioned earlier that going to movies is one of my Top 5 favorite activities. Well, dancing is #2. So I hit the dance floor and promised the girls I'd be up on the platform in no time. Well, Lori beat me to it, and shortly after Lori and Sara and I were observing a sight I hope no one else will ever have to experience.

OK ladies, this is a lesson in what NOT to do. If you're on a platform, don't wear a skirt that barely covers your waist let alone anything else. And don't pretend to be a size 0 if you're a 10. Please wear clothing that fits and at least cover up your most private parts because ladies, no one wants to see that, especially not the girls and believe it or not, not even the guys.

To my right on the dance floor stood a group of five good looking guys watching this girl shake it, with sort of nauseous looks on their faces. If you're trying to impress the gentleman, this is the wrong approach. So that was just the beginning of the evening.

Lori then dared me to dance with this very tall lanky man who appeared to be on the dance floor completely alone. He was trying his best to bust a move, but I think he was trying a bit too hard. Of course, I went over and humored him, and introduced myself to him. I asked him what brought him to Scatz and who he was there with, and his response was, "What does it look like baby!? I'm here to dance!" I laughed outloud and ever-so-cooly and respectfully danced to the other side of the dance floor.

Shortly after I was literally being dragged off the dance floor by our designated driver and arrived home safely. I made mac & pizza for the crew still left at my house and drifted off the sleep trying my hardest not to let the image of the girl in the way-too-tiny dress drift into my nightmares.

Saturday arrived and I got together with Dana to catch the new flick When In Rome at Point Cinema. I'm telling you, go see this one. As far as romantic comedies go, this is the best I've seen in a while. Not only was it absolutely hilarious, it was actually unpredicable, believe it or not!

When in Rome stars Kristen Bell, who you may remember from Veronica Mars and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Bell plays Beth, a motivated yet somewhat workaholic curator of the Guggenheim Museum who is looking for love, but has a hard time being open to it. She wants to find a man she loves more than her job, which seems like a daunting challenge.

So, when her sister gets engaged she is forced to fly to Rome, Italy to be the maid-of-honor. At the wedding she meets the charming and dashingly attractive Nick, played by the gorgeous Josh Duhamel. Josh's most recent gig was the Transformers movies, and it's nice seeing him out of the army greens and in a more fun and comedic role. Nick and Beth hit it off, but when she sees him kissing a mysterious woman outside of the Fontana de Amore, she decides when it comes to love, she's out of luck. But, in Italy, if you toss a coin into the Fontana de Amore and wish for love it will come to you. Beth decides to take a few coins, hoping love will come her way.

And boy, does it ever. Once she gets back to New York, she can't escape it. Beth starts getting stalked by a group of hilarious misfits played by Jon Heder, Danny DeVito, Will Arnett, and Dax Shepard. She finds herself caught up in one alkward situation after another and can't seem to escape the men under the spell of the fountain swooning over her. The best scene in the movie is the Dining in the Dark scene, so look out for that.

So, aside from the fact that the spell caused by the Fontana de Amore is a little hokey, the characters are a joy ride and the chemistry between Kristin Bell and Josh Duhamel sparkles. See it. Even the boys will enjoy this one!

Then Saturday night I switched gears from the cinema to the theater. I joined Leia, Kelly, Katie and Liz for dinner at Zanders followed by The Broadway Tour of Rent at the Overture Center for the Arts. Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp reprised their roles as Roger and Mark, and even though they've performed the show thousands of times before, they still bring the same excitement and intensity to their roles. I've seen Rent once before at the Overture, but watching these two original cast members meant watching Rent on a whole other level. Other memorable performances included Nicolette Hart who played Maureen and of course Justin Johnston as the role of Angel.

Rent was the musical of our generation, and the amazing part about being at the performance last night was watching the younger generations enjoying it as much as our generation did back in the early nineties. It's a comfort to know that Rent has the staying to power to continue to delight decades worth of future audiences.

There's no day but today, and for that, we thank you Jonathan Larson.

Leap Year less than leap-worthy

For me, few things are better than a night at the movies. Most people enjoy going to the movies every once in a while, but it wouldn't be necessarily their first choice of things to do. I do enjoy lots of different activities, but a couple of hours in a dark theater with a huge bag of heavily-buttered popcorn pretty much hits the Top 5 on my list of happy places. There's something about the smell of the concessions, mixed with the previews and movie montages that make me feel like part of something special for a short couple of hours.

I've been fascinated with movies basically since birth. And to me, there's nothing like a movie on opening night. I'm the type of person that has no problem going to a movie in the middle of the afternoon by myself, but going to a movie on opening night is like attending a major event. The place is packed, everyone's excited to be one of the first ones to be seeing whatever next big thing is being released; there's an energy in the room that makes fighting the crowds and (if it's a Midnight showing) staying up all night, totally worth it.

So, last night the Sara(h)s and I went to a movie at Point Cinema. We decided to check out Leap Year, starring Amy Adams and the adorable Matthew Goode. Amy Adams seems to be everywhere lately; between her role as Julie Powell in Julie & Julia and playing Amelia Earhart in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. In Leap Year she portrays Anna Brady, a tightly-wound control freak who stages apartments for a living. She thinks she's about to get a proposal from her boyfriend, Jeremy, played by Adam Scott, but when he presents her with a jewelry box at dinner what does she find? None other than a pair of shiny diamond earrings. Obviously not what she was hoping for.

So, her Cardiologist boyfriend is off to Dublin, Ireland on business and she decides to follow him to Dublin to propose on Leap Day, February 29th. Apparently, it's one of many old Irish traditions that it's acceptable for a woman to propose to her boyfriend on Leap Day. So, off to Dublin she goes.

And of course, one thing after another gets in her way and she's forced to hire Declan, played by Matthew Goode, to drive her to Dublin. And of course, one thing after another gets in their way and they start to fall for each other.

Now, I won't give away the ending, but I will say the movie reminded me a lot of Forces of Nature, which starred Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock. Only this time the lead character is a female and she's trying to get to her proposal instead of her wedding. In other words, it's pretty predictable and it's been done before. And, the chemistry between Amy Adams and Matthew Goode isn't convincing enough-it was difficult to feel any sort of attachment to their characters.

But, Amy Adams is charming as always and provides several good comedic moments. Matthew Goode is, like I said, adorable and makes Jeremy, the soon-to-be-fiance, look like a troll in comparison. And who doesn't love a man with an accent? So, if you're looking for a chick flick, I'd say see this, but hit it up once it's on video.

Make sure to catch my next few posts where I'll review Middleton nightlife and The Broadway tour of Rent starring Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp reprising their roles as the original Roger & Mark!

Hello Blogosphere!

Hello Blogosphere! Being that this is my first blog post ever, I'll introduce myself. I'm a 27-year-old travel and tourism writer residing in Madison, Wisconsin. When I'm not writing this blog, I'm a Madison Tourism Examiner for Examiner.com. When I'm not writing, I'm out traveling, downhill skiing and checking out attractions to write about! I'm into traveling, live music, concerts, theater, movies, books, celebs, TV; anything and everything entertainment-based.

Madison is a city surrounded by water. Lake. City. Lake. It's a diverse city with lots to offer in terms of arts & entertainment. Nighlife is hot & plentiful whether you're checking out a movie, a bar on University Ave., a live band at the Orpheum, or a broadway performance at the Overture. Maybe shopping is more your thing? Check out East Towne, West Towne Mall and the famously stylish State Street downtown. That's where you'll find me this weekend-downtown Friday night checking out the bar scene and at the Overture Saturday night checking out Rent (for the second time). I'll be sure to write reviews for both. :)

In the meantime, check out my article below that I wrote for my first Examiner.com post. It's about one of the premier travel agencies in the area, Burkhalter Travel.

"Burkhalter Travel thrives in tourism industry"

Businesses across Madison continue to look for ways to stand out among their competitors in the local market. One particular business, Burkhalter Travel, has found many ways to get an edge above the rest in the Madison tourism industry.


For over 51 years, Burkhalter Travel has been servicing the Madison community with a plethora of travel and tourism services. Burkhalter is a full-service travel agency offering expertise in cruises, tours, group, wedding, business and leisure travel.

To continue to thrive in the current economy, Burkhalter has positioned themselves as experts in a unique niche: wedding travel. Recently, the agency participated in two bridal shows in Madison and Wisconsin Dells where they made connections with hundreds of brides, family members and other vendors. The expert Vacation Travel Consultants at Burkhalter can plan the perfect destination wedding or honeymoon and take the stress of planning away from the bride and groom-to-be. Many of the staff members at Burkhalter specialize in specific destinations, so they can offer advice on everything from where to stay on your wedding night to the most newlywed friendly all-inclusive honeymoon destinations.

Concentrating on wedding travel isn’t the only thing Burkhalter has done to stay successful. The agency advertises more than any other travel agency in the area. However, advertising is not the key to gaining and keeping clients. Scott Mast of Burkhalter Travel says great service is what really counts. “We try to stay very pro-active,” says Mast. “Despite the economy, there is still business out there, and our great staff and great service is what has kept us successful over the years.”

To offer the best service to their clients, Burkhalter offers three convenient locations in Madison as well as offices in Oregon, Fitchburg, Baraboo, Stoughton and Brookfield. Recently, Burkhalter has expanded into Iowa, proving that despite the odds, Burkhalter Travel will continue to be successful in south central Wisconsin and beyond. Go to the Burkhalter Travel Web site, stop in at any of their nine convenient locations, or e-mail vacation@burkhaltertravel.com to book your trip today.