holidayeeee...celebraaate!

I'm enjoying a quiet morning here at the apartment before we leave for vacation in a couple of hours. Nick went to work for a few hours, and I have been doing the last minute packing, cleaning, and errands. It's absolutely beautiful weather here in Chicago, the sort of weather that makes you feel amazing and alive and say kind things to strangers on the street. Yesterday, on my way to a lunch date with my cousin in Wicker Park, I drove with the windows down and my arm hanging out the window. Likewise, we opened the windows in the house yesterday, despite my fear of waking up unable to breathe and/or sing due to my intense ragweed allergy. Our decision to open up the house might have something to do with the $140 electric bill we received this week as well, but that's neither here nor there. The breeze blowing through the apartment feels wonderful, and I like hearing the noises of the street and the cricktets rather than the sound of the airconditioners churning. It's starting to feel like fall, and fall in Chicago is a wonderful thing. I can't wait for the leaves on our street to start changing -- it's my first time living on a truly residential street; in the past I've always lived on busier streets.

This week has been a good one; I had a great job interview on Wednesday. It felt so great to really talk about singing with this woman, to talk about my philosphy of singing and teaching. I guess this was really the first interview I've been on for my "real career", besides auditions, and the first time my knowledge of singing and pedagogy was verbally put to the test (outside of school, of course). I was really proud of myself, and even if I don't get the job, I'll be happy with how the interview went. Wednesday night, Nick and I celebrated by scalping tickets to the Cubs game and meeting up with my Dad, who was in town for business, for a beer before the game. Although the game sucked, we had a great time drinking beer, eating hot dogs and peanuts, and socializing.

Last night I had another rehearsal with Music of the Baroque, this time with the entire chorus. It was a lot of fun, although my voice was completely exhausted by the end of the three hours. I think I'm going to have to learn how to mark a little better if I'm going to be doing some chorus work (marking, for those not in the know, is a term we singers use for singing half-voice, or just backing off the intensity a little so as to save the voice. I also really like taking things down an octave when I'm first learning it, but most chorus directors do not appreciate this). After rehearsal, however, I had a rather nasty fall and I'm in a bit of pain today. Being new to the group, I wasn't sure where everyone parked their cars, so I had parked my car a bit away from everyone else. The rehearsal is in a rather shady neighborhood on the south side, so I was making haste to my car, even jogging a little, when all of a sudden my body hit the ground at full force. I tripped on a crack on the sidewalk and landed on my bad knee. My hands were scraped up pretty bad, too. Nick took care of me when I got home, cleaning my wounds and affixing bandages on them. He's so sweet. But my knee is absolutely killing me today, as it was already fairly tender from the dancing I was doing in the show this summer. I took some Tylonel and have been icing it and am hoping for the best--I was planning on doing some hiking this weekend in TC!

I hope you all have wonderful holiday weekends. I am so excited to get out of the city -- I haven't left in over two months, and I need some time away to regroup. With all the career changes going on in my life, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, so I'm looking forward to just relaxing and forgetting about things for a few days this weekend. Enjoy, everyone!