Nick has alerted me that my post about being a classical singer sounds like I have a bit of animosity toward the profession. Although I really don't enjoy some aspects of the process (at the top of the list being broke all the time), I must admit that I am truly lucky for all the places I've been led through singing, all the people I've met, and for the opportunity to make a career out of something I've been passionate about since I was a child. And as self-involved as the career can be, I have to say that I've been moved by my own ability to move people through my singing. So I guess what I'm saying is that...I DO love it, though I bitch, and there is nothing more empowering than the feeling you get after a really good performance or audition. Nothing.

That's my disclaimer. I'll probably refer to this post in the future when I continute to bitch about something wretched that's going on in my life..."remember when I said I liked singing...yeah, go read that post." Another thing I do love about my life at the moment is the fact that sometimes I have random weekday(s) off. Since the heat broke today (finally) and Nick finished working at 11, we decided to head downtown and frolick in the good weather. We went watch shopping (Nick), shoe shopping (Emily), walked through Millenium Park (crazy tourist alert), and took advantage of the Art Institute's free evening to look at the French Impressionists. I love that I live in a city where, on any given Thursday evening from 5-8 pm, I can go look at famous paintings for free. We came back to Lincoln Park and settled down to a nice Italian meal and a glass of wine, when who should enter the restaurant but Nick's brother and brother's girlfriend, so we had a nice impromptu double date. Really a perfect Thursday.

Neti pot update: I purchased my new Sinucleanse neti pot last night, and let me tell you, it feels great. I can actually breathe through my nose again. HOWEVER I would like to warn all my readers about the potential hazards that can accompany the use of such neti pot. Later in the evening, after cleansing my passages, Nick and I were, ahem, in the bedroom shall we say, when suddenly a steady stream of saline solution came spouting out of my nose onto Nick's face. Apparently I did not thoroughly let all the solution run out of my nostril into the sink. Robert said it serves me right for using crazy Eastern remedies.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a post about another Eastern remedy I've tried called Bikram yoga. It's a supposed remedy for that pesky little bit of belly I've developed since I started dating a dentist with a penchant for good restaurants (just kidding Nick, I know I'm the worst influence EVER!), however, it turns out it's a remedy for hydration and general well-being, since it promotes the opposite of both. Seriously.