The Countess had a wonderful time at Idina Menzel's concert. It was held at The Barrington Stage Co. in Pittsfield. Since I saw her in Wicked on Broadway numerous times and even flew to London to see her reprise her role of Elphaba, having her appear in a small town in Western Massachusetts was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up.

The evening started when my escort, Sir Stew, Royal Knight of the Berkshires, arrived with flowers for me. So thoughtful! Thank you so much.

Idina was wonderful on stage. In addition to her magnificent singing voice, she was quite a little comedian, telling stories from her life....she used to be a wedding singer before she got the part of Maureen in RENT in 1995. She worked for a band leader named Tony Spinelli and sang all those songs you hear at every wedding. Imagine looking back and realizing that you had Idina Menzel singing "Celebration" at your wedding! I managed to snap a blurry picture of her on stage.

After the concert, Stew and I headed to Rumpy's for a reunion with Erin and Ricky. Since I haven't been out there during this long, cold, snowy winter, we had a lot to catch up on. The Countess loves to get the gossip and news!

It was great to see Troy behind the bar looking as handsome as ever. Someone had broken my special water glass while I was away and he went and got a new "special" one just for me. And, of course, he had a good supply of Glenlivet waiting for me!

Troy's other half stopped in to say hello. Andrew and I have a date to see a play next month.

I met a new friend, Bruce from the Bahamas. Bruce is here for management training at one of the very ritzy hotels in the area.

The Countess gave Bruce a few tips from the Countess School of Management.

- Walk in like you are the boss, and you soon will be.

It was great to see so many friends. I missed all my pals. I ended up closing Rumpy's (no news there...LOL) and went home to put my beautiful flowers in a vase.

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful night.