Midwest Princess

We tied the knot!

2009-10-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

Nick and I were married on August 22, 2009! I'm now a Mrs.!

I'm hoping to get back into blogging - I miss it, and I miss the blog community. I'm hoping to have lots of cooking posts, posts about being a newlywed, career triumphs and woes, etc...basically like the old blog but hopefully better. :)

I can't seem to figure out how to change the email account on the blog - anybody know how to do this? I have a new email address since getting married and changing my name and I'd like to associate it with the blog. It's still a Google Account, which is why I'm having a problem - it won't let me associate another Google account. I'd like to get rid of my old one, as it is full of junk mail!

I will leave you with some wedding photos! It was an amazing day - everything (well, almost everything!) went very smoothly and the whole weekend was a total blast. Look for a post to follow about our Paris Honeymoon!

Parlez-vous en francais...Honeymoon?

2009-04-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

That's right, we have selected Paris as our honeymoon destination!!! I booked our accommodations this morning, and we will be booking our flights shortly. Thanks to a recommendation from a parent of one of my students, we found a fantastic apartment rental in the 7th arrondissment for a very reasonable price. Check out the website at www.parisperfect.com. We will be staying in the Cotes du Provence apartment for six nights. I think it will be a most romantic honeymoon. :)

Cozumel, Mexico

2009-03-20T08:48:00.000-07:00

aerial view of the coast

our ocean view balcony

view of our resort, Melia Cozumel, from our balcony

gorgeous sunsets

relaxing on the beach with a fruity cocktail!

cozying up to the bar

lots of walks on the beach

shot of downtown Cozumel during our driving trip of the island

gorgeous views from the other end of the island

exploring some Mayan ruins

lovin' that balcony!

goodbye Mexican paradise!

Back

2009-03-19T09:25:00.001-07:00

We are indeed back from our wonderful trip to Mexico. In dealing with the usual vacation backlash: hundreds of emails to sort thru, laundry, cleaning, work, taxes...I haven't had time to post anything. I will definitely post some more pics and do a quick recap later today or tomorrow. Anything to procrastinate that wretched task of preparing my tax materials for the accountant...

Holy Grail(s) of Chicago food: The Highly Coveted Yet Unattainable Foods I Cannot Seem to Get My Hands On (Part 1).

2009-03-02T19:21:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned before on this here blog, I am an Elite member of yelp.com. Before joining Yelp (and before it even existed), I considered myself pretty knowledgeable about hidden Chicago food gems. Add Yelp into the mix, and I am suddenly confronted with a multitude of must-eat Chicago foods and restaurants. Several of these places present severe challenges in regards to location, wait times, weather...you get my drift. It can take up half your day. So far, there are a few places at which I have been trying to eat for months now, and with no success.

The first of these is Hot Doug's:

The have a foie gras hot dog. And french fries cooked in duck fat. DUCK FAT, people. I need to eat those fries. But the duck fat fries do not come easy. Hot Doug's presents some unique challenges:
1. They only make the duck fat fries on Fridays and Saturdays.
2. The line for said fries (and hot dogs) stretches around the block on these days. I know from personal experience, as Nick and I did two drivebys this past Saturday at 1:00 pm and at 2:30 pm. Note that this place is not near where we live (in a Chicago sense--it's probably really only a few miles away) and not accessible by public transit.
3. The weather in Chicago right now, if you couldn't guess, is less than desirable for standing outside for over an hour.
4. The place was recently made more popular by being featured on Anthony Bourdain's show on the Travel Channel: No Reservations.

Looks like I'm going to have to wait until warmer weather when I can enjoy a carefree wait for my foie gras dog and duck fat fries.

The second restaurant that defies my ability to eat there is Kuma's Corner.

Kuma's is purely a Yelp find -- we would have had no idea about this place if it weren't for the nearly 700 reviews on yelp. We tried to go one Saturday night in October around 7:30 and were nearly laughed out the door: over 2 hour wait times and hipsters packed into every square centimeter of space in the bar area. We are going to have to plan our next visit to Kuma's like a war game: strike at just the right moment when they aren't expecting it so we can get those burgers and get out. I mean, look at this thing:

There are more. And I will continue to post them. Mark my words, before I ~~am dragged~~ move out of this city, I will eat at Hot Doug's and Kuma's!

New Look!

2009-02-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

How do you like my new look? I decided after 4+ years of blogging (the first edition of the Midwest Princess began in Jan 05), it was time to move on from the polka dots. I'm not too technology savvy, but blogger makes it so easy! So here she is, post-makeover.

So lately I've been spending a lot of quality time with this guy:

Yes, that would be none other than the big man of Baroque music, J.S. Bach. I've been singing soprano I chorus in the B Minor Mass with MOB, and I have to say it's definitely the most difficult choral work I've ever sung. I'm already looking forward to the next time I get to sing it, because it's something that you can't really master the first time around. Last night was our first performance -- it was sold out and the crowd was on their feet as soon as the final note sounded. It's just that exciting, people. Tonight is our second and final concert, and I'm really looking forward to it. But I'm also looking forward to a nice break from choral singing after tonight!

In other news, yesterday marked 6 months until the wedding! I really cannot believe how fast the time is flying. I've just about got my florist nailed down, and we finished up registering for gifts last weekend. It seems every week I have a new wedding project to undertake. This week: invitations. On my way to the gym this morning I noticed that the paper store around the corner from our place had a lovely display of wedding invitations, so I'm planning to stop in this week and see what they have to offer.

So, life chugs along. I've had some good auditions lately (for gigs in town, hooray!) and have a promising offer for summer singing employment that I will find out more about soon. I'm beginning to be more content with my career and realizing that these things take time -- slow and steady wins the race, right?

Let me know how you like the new and improved Midwest Princess!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T15:46:00.000-08:00

Nick had to be away in Minnesota at a dental class this weekend, but he still managed to put a smile on my face today. He left a package that said: OPEN SATURDAY that contained the card and chocolates; then at about 4:00 I got a buzz at the door -- flower delivery for me! Beautiful red roses! I am a lucky gal.

We will celebrate for real next week with dinner at the restaurant where we had our second date, Avec.

Tonight I'm out to dinner with my gay boyfriend, Mark, then drinks with a bunch of gals! Should be a fun evening.

Hope you've all had a love-filled day!

If today were a movie it would be called : False Spring (or, It May Be Global Warming But I Don't Give A Damn)

2009-02-10T14:24:00.000-08:00

Call it what you may, and yes, I know it isn't here to stay, but today is GLORIOUS. I went out to do some walking errands this morning and just sat on a park bench and sipped my coffee, tilting my head toward the sun. Then I came home and threw open all the windows and let that glorious fresh air waft into the apartment (then I had a sneezing fit, but whatev). God must have looked down today and said, "You know, these people are having a rough time of it right now. Let's give them a sunshine-y, happy day".

Because it seems the news gets bleaker and bleaker every day; I find out about more and more friends and loved ones losing jobs, and I start to feel really down. But today, it seems like everything is possible.

So thanks to this glorious (could I please use that word once more? Thank you.) day, I feel like a new person. Last week, I started to turn things around as far as being bored and isolated in my apartment all day long. I realized that I get sucked into the vortex of the internet way too often and for way too long. I have to work really hard to limit my time in front of the computer each day. I'm much happier out in the world, connecting with other human beings.

I'm also very happy in my kitchen! My recent culinary endeavors have included: homemade chicken stock and roasted potato leek soup (both courtesy of Ina's new book, Back to Basics)

If you don't already own this book, I highly recommend getting it for your cookbook library. (The brownie pudding is also a little piece of heaven. I made it for a Super Bowl party).

Other excitement: We booked our trip to Mexico for March 9 - 14!!! Since we are no longer going to Greece, we decided a getaway was in order. In just one month, we will be relaxing on the sunny beaches of this island:

Now please excuse me, I have to go work out like a madwoman to get bikini ready!

2009-01-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

All I can say is -- thank God there are only four more days of January. This month has seemed interminably long and bleak, and I haven't been helping matters by reading possibly the most depressing book I've encountered yet, Revolutionary Road. I'm sure you've seen the previews. It's a beautiful book, but it's absolutely heart-breaking, and now I'm not sure I will be able to stand the ensuing heart-break of seeing the movie. I even tried to lighten my spirits last week by going to see a matinee of Bride Wars by myself, but that movie was just about as depressing as RR, if not more so, because it was just...ridiculous. And sad. *SPOILER ALERT* At this point in my life, I don't like seeing movies about failed marriages or engagements that break off. I think I'm going to have to brain-wash myself with some movie musicals or something.

Anyways. I'm currently under-employed, which is better than unemployed, I suppose. But with the current temps hovering around zero or less, it means I have spent inordinate amounts of time in our apartment, by myself. The place has never looked better, and I've made a lot of progress on wedding tasks (save-the-dates came in yesterday and they are GORGEOUS!), but more than once I've started to feel a like a crazed caged animal. Nick bought us a Wii this past weekend, which helps a bit, but I feel like a loser playing video games during the day. I need some self-betterment projects...learning Greek, maybe?

What am I doing about the under-employedness (not a word, I know)? Well, I'm kind of in a holding pattern right now. During the last few weeks, I have decided (just about definitely) to go back to school for a Masters in Speech and Language Pathology. I submitted my application for the Fall for post-baccalaureate work at Northern Illinois University, and I'm planning to enroll for some basic courses (Bio, Physics, Stats) at one of the local community colleges for the summer. Math and Science -- never my strong subjects, but I'm a pretty smart gal, so I think I can handle it. I've come to a point where I've realized teaching (especially teaching middle and high schoolers) is not for me. At least not as a primary career. I like teaching when the student is very engaged and talented, but those are pretty few and far between. I can see myself teaching a select number of students out of my home someday, but I can't imagine doing it full time or for the rest of my career.

I don't intend to stop singing, either. My one qualm about going into SLP is that I'll be taking myself out of the singing world. But I won't, really. I still intend to sing for MOB (hopefully more solos!), and I intend to keep auditioning as well. Singing is what I love, and if somehow I could do that and only that for a living and feel satisfied, I would. But the truth is, there isn't enough singing work to keep me busy enough to be happy, and I don't want to travel 24-7. I need something more.

So yeah. That's what's in my head right now. Nothing much else exciting to report -- except that we are planning a little five day getaway to le Mexico in early March!!!! Plans to go to Greece changed, so we decided a beach vacay was in order. We're thinking Cozumel, but any suggestions would be lovely! We're trying to stay away from the spring-break heavy places as well.

Happy Tuesday!

Crockpot as Relationship Savior

2009-01-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

So, I got a Crockpot for Christmas. And it's basically the best (kitchen) thing that ever happened to me. And Nick. You see, many evenings of the week I am in rehearsals from early evening until 9 or later, and Nick generally gets home at 5 (we joke that we work in shifts), which creates a problem when it comes to dinner. I've tried several times to prepare casserole type things that Nick could just pop in the oven when he gets home, but it's not very convenient and usually requires many post-it instructions.

Enter the Crockpot.

My mother used to make pot roast in the Crockpot, but that's about the only thing I remember eating out of the Crock. I got a Crockpot cookbook for Christmas, but I was kind of disappointed with it -- all the recipes called for canned soup and other Sanra-Lee-esque pre-packaged crap.

Enter this blog.

My future sister-in-law emailed me a link to this site, and it is currently changing my life. So far I've made (all photos courtesy of 365 blog):

Crockpot Chicken Makhani (an amazing Indian dish with loads of flavor)

and this:

Crockpot Fajitas

Both recipes literally required about 10 minutes of prep time. Chop a bit, put it all in the pot, DONE. You don't even have to stir anything, which kind of made me uneasy at first, but I have learned that slow cooking makes everything meld together beautifully. The fajitas have been our fave so far. Both recipes made enough for at least two nights of dinner for both of us, plus a couple of lunches for me. The Indian Chicken was good, but I felt like it was missing something -- probably the cardamom pods, which I left out because I couldn't find them at our Greek grocery and didn't feel like trekking to Devon Ave. (Chicago's little India). Both recipes I will for sure make again.

My next Crockpot creation: SOUPS!--in an attempt for both of us to lose a few lbs before the wedding.

The Crockpot is literally making our relationship happier. I don't feel guilty for not preparing dinner, and we have delicious meals waiting for us when either of us gets home, which relieves the stress of throwing something together. It's also pretty darn economical.

Definitely check out A Year of Crockpotting. Stephanie is really witty and a great writer. She was even featured on the Rachael Ray show! I guarantee that the Crockpot can change your life for the better, whatever your situation.

Here's to my own year of Crockpotting!

Sundee

2009-01-11T20:05:00.001-08:00

So, how is the love theme going, you ask? You're dying to know, right? Well, one week in, and things are pretty lovely. Here's a little update:

Career: Seriously looking into doing a Masters in Speech and Language Pathology. Shocking, I know! It's not such a huge career change as you think, and in fact, I've been considering it for quite some time. I haven't disclosed a lot on the blog about it, but I had some vocal health problems awhile back and worked with an awesome speech pathologist who is also a singer and voice teacher and works for my ENT. I became really inspired by her work, and thought that maybe I would someday be interested in doing something similar. Well, last week I did some serious looking into what it would require and contacted some professors, etc. It would be a lot of work, and I'm weighing the pros and cons, but I've been pretty unhappy with my life as a freelance musician and it may be time to move on. Not saying I'm going to give up singing entirely, I could never do that, but I may be finished chasing after the elusive young artist program dream.

Wedding plans: are coming along! We are meeting with the priest next week, my maid and matron of honor are ordering their dresses, which means I've chosen a color scheme for the wedding! Check out the dress here. The dress is the color that is pictured, Indigo, and the sash is Frappucino. So it's going to be a sort of "blue and brown" color scheme, which I love. I have also spent many hours finalizing the guest list and entering addresses and guest information. That was some heavy data entry, let me tell you. I told everyone - "I need a wedding intern to do all this busywork!" But who am I kidding, I have plenty of time for this crap, and I don't mind it that much. The guest list is currently at 88, which I think is rather perfect.

Nick was gone for an aesthetic dentistry class in Minneapolis from Thursday through Sunday this week, so I had some quality time to reconnect with myself and my friends. With several hours of rehearsal and church thrown in there. And, my cousin Megan was visiting from Denver! So it turned out to be an excellent weekend.

I've been spending the last few hours reconnecting with some old Ani DiFranco albums I never uploaded to iTunes, and therefore haven't listened to in ages. I've said it once and I'll say it again, the woman is the most brilliant lyricist. It's funny how many memories are contained in these albums. Just the first few bars of a song can take me back to sophomore year at DePauw, laying in my bunk at Alpha Phi, crying over the current devastation of the moment, and playing Ani over and over and over. Another song takes me back to my first year in Chicago, post-god-awful-break-up, angrily swearing off men and blasting Ani on the El on my way to a truly awful job. God, I'm glad those days are over. But remembering them makes me feel more like myself.

Aaaaand I've officially gotten weepy. Time to quit! Have a great week, y'all.

A 2009 Theme

2009-01-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

This morning, while on the elliptical, while watching The Today Show, I saw a segment about New Years resolutions. And while I eschew once-a-year resolutions (it seems every Monday I resolve to do something), I liked one particular thing they discussed that my friend Allison also mentioned she's doing this year: finding a theme word for the year. Allison's word is purity. I thought and I thought, about what word I should choose. And cheesy as it may sound, the word I chose is LOVE. I mean, it's only fitting that the year I get married should be about love, right? But it's not just about being in love with Nick, it's about embracing and being thankful for all the love in my life, and it's especially about loving myself (not that way, dirty minds), with which I constantly struggle. It may not come as a surprise to you if you know me well, but I am usually brutally and cruelly hard on myself. It can be a great asset, as I move forward in my career and constantly strive to better myself, but most times, it's a hurtful voice inside telling me that I'm a failure. I've done a lot of work, with my therapist and on my own, to silence that voice, but this year I'm going to focus on it even more. I'm not sure what that requires, but I have some good tools for figuring it out.

One of the first things I'm doing to love myself more is focusing on my career: figuring out what I really want to be doing with my life, getting rid of the toxic parts of my job and people that upset me on a regular basis, and finding a more meaningful path in this difficult world of singing and music. It might mean taking a different path entirely, but in the past few years I've learned a lot about my passions for different aspects of the profession, and I've also learned a lot about what I dislike. Music is never far from my thoughts, and right now I'm so lucky to get to sing Mozart's beautiful Vesperae Solennes de Confessore with MOB, which is such a cool piece. It should be an interesting year for my career!

I'd also like to be more loving to the world around me. In 2008, I tried to be more "green", but I know I fell very short. It's also difficult to be a member of a community when that community is somewhat transient (the city), myself included. Hopefully in the not so distant future, Nick and I will settle somewhere permanently, and I can work on being an active and loving member of a community. It may not happen in 2009, but I've started to think about it quite a bit.

And of course, I will be planning my wedding for the better part of 2009, a day focused entirely on love. I'm sure not all of the planning process will be particularly loving, but I am so excited for that day to come and to become Nick's wife. So 2009 will also be about nurturing my relationship, and working toward the day when we vow before God to spend our lives together. Exciting stuff.

So those are my thoughts today. I was feeling so depressed last night -- all the fun of the holidays and Nick's birthday are over -- but this morning things are looking up. I've got a lot of work to do in 2009 -- not just the work I get paid to do, but work on my heart. LOVE...it's going to be a good year.

A Year in Review: 2008

2008-12-31T07:57:00.000-08:00

I thought this year I would take a different turn and do a pictorial review of 2008. Here goes!

In January, I began my adventures working for Opera for the Young, a touring opera company based in Madison, Wisconsin. It was my first real "opera" job, and I felt it really helped me grow as a musician and colleague.

In February, it continued to snow...and snow...and snow. I thought winter might never end.

In March, I sang my third concert with Music of the Baroque, the St. Matthew Passion, which was an amazing and moving experience. Nick went to Greece for two weeks ~~without me~~ to do business, so my mom came up to spend five days with me over Easter. We spent Easter at my church choir director's house with the other paid musicians from our church. It was my third Easter as soprano soloist at Trinity, and some of my colleagues there have become my best friends:

In April, I spent nearly the entire month touring with OFY. It was pretty exhausting, and I would be happy not to see another Super 8 for the rest of my life, but I made some lasting friendships with colleagues and had many funny stories to tell!
And I made my debut at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison!

May brought a more relaxed time for me work-wise, but at home we welcomed Nick's sister and nephew, Chrysanthe and Angelo, from Greece, who came for the wedding of Nick's brother Chris. It was very different for us to have a three-year old in the house, and I think we both learned that we're not quite ready for a child just yet! We also traveled to Kalamazoo for the wedding of my cousin Katy.

We always have a great time at family weddings...

June was a very exciting month...Nick proposed! I had known that he was shopping for the ring, but the day he proposed I wasn't expecting it at all! We started planning our August 2009 nuptials pretty soon after that.

In July, we traveled to Fort Wayne for the wedding of my good friend from high school, Stasi. I've known Stasi and Adam as a couple since the beginning of their relationship, so I was very excited and honored to be a bridesmaid and sing Ave Maria as Stasi walked down the aisle. The trip also gave us a chance to celebrate our engagement with my family.

with fellow bridesmaids and best friends from high school Allison and Brooke

Browns get hitched!

with the lovely bride

August brought two trips to Indianapolis to celebrate birthdays with each of my grandmothers. It was a very special birthday for Grandma Hofmockel-80th!-and our whole family surprised her with a party over Labor Day weekend (and my mom made her wear that tiara).

September saw my return to a more rigorous working schedule, with my teaching jobs starting back up, Music of the Baroque concert, church job, and High Holidays temple job. Once again, I was so thankful for the amount of singing work coming my way. I am constantly amazed that I managed to pay the better part of my bills this year with singing and teaching and can only hope that the New Year brings more exciting work my way.

In October, my mother and sister came to Chicago for a short visit filled with shopping for bridesmaid and mother of the bride gowns. We also attended a bridal show at Navy Pier. Wedding plans continued and the ceremony and reception locations were secured, DJ and photographer hired, my gown purchased and many other details worked out. I decided then to take a break until after the holidays!

At the end of October/early November, I spent another two weeks on the road with OFY, which took me as far north as Aurora, Minnesota (2 hours north of Duluth!). And I had another exciting career milestone when I was selected for the Central Region Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions! I sang two pieces for the judges and a live audience in a concert/competition format in Nichols Hall in Evanston on Sunday, November 2nd. The concert was broadcast on WFMT, the classical station in Chicago, and so my parents were able to listen via live streaming on the internet! I didn't win, but I felt so great about my singing and received some terrific feedback. Once again, I felt encouraged to continue my pursuit of a singing career!

And finally, we come to December. A great month for musicians, and I was lucky enough to have lots of work keeping me busy. We threw another great holiday party, which is quickly becoming a tradition for us.

It was a very, very good year. Certainly there were ups and downs, what with the crumbling economy and feelings of uncertainty about the future. I continue to be the eternal optimist and have great hope that 2009 will be a better year for those who struggled in 2008. I will continue to pray for those that are without jobs, those that are lonely, those that feel hopeless or without a clear path of "what next?" I have certainly been there, and continue to find myself there at times. Have faith that things will get better, because they will. And if your 2008 was blessed and happy, have faith that good things will continue to come your way. Happy New Year, my friends.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-29T16:34:00.000-08:00

'Twas a fantastic Christmas at the Lyday house, albeit far too short. Delicious food was eaten, many presents given and received, several naps taken, and a much-needed four days of relaxation had. It seems to be an ongoing tradition that our drive to Fort Wayne is filled with snowy danger, but we returned to a warm city and no more snow! Sadly, Nick and I returned to work today, but I'm off for the rest of the week and Nick has half day Wednesday and all day Thursday off. We are continuing a tradition begun last year and spending New Year's Eve in Aurora with our friends Allison and Ryan.

Many blessings in the New Year from my family to yours!

done and done

2008-12-22T13:46:00.000-08:00

Well, kids, I did it. I survived another December as a musician. There were times, like yesterday morning circa 9:00 am whilst attempting to ice-pick my car out of a parking spot, when I wasn't sure if I would make it, but I persevered through two snow storms, an ice storm, and Arctic winds in order to sing five lovely concerts this past weekend. A lot of elderly folks in festive Christmas sweaters are extremely happy. And I will be too come December 30th when that paycheck lands in my bank account!

Some action shots courtesy of one Mr. Nick :

my big solo!

Mom and Dad made it up to hear me!

In all seriousness, it was a fun concert, and I continued to strengthen my relationships with my colleagues in this group. So many of my current jobs have stemmed from my connections in this group, and for that I am very thankful.

And now I am off for two weeks! After the exhausting run of concerts, I've spent today mostly in pajamas (although I did just shower and am about to bake some ginger cookies). Tomorrow I get to see my Andrea, my best friend who lives in NYC whom I NEVER get to see! We're going to paint the town red (as much as that is possible in this weather and during the hours of 10:30 am - 2:30 pm) before Nick and I head out to Fort Wayne tomorrow afternoon for family Christmas festivities.

Wishing you and yours the warmest and happiest of holidays. Stay tuned for the annual A Year in Review update.

Caroling at the Drake, or Why It's So Fun to be a Singer at the Holidays

2008-12-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this past Saturday I was hired to sing Christmas carols with a quartet at the Drake Hotel. Easy enough, decent pay, and at least it isn't outdoors, I said to myself. But the catch: I had to wear a costume. Behold, the costume:

It was actually kind of cute, but the hoop skirt kept getting stuck between chairs and tables as we went around the tea room and Drake Bros. restaurant singing. The three other singers were lovely people whom I had never previously met, and it's always nice to meet new singers. And of course we all had so many friends and colleagues in common -- the classical singing world is so small, it's more like 1 or 2 degrees of separation.

The most difficult part of the day, by far, was watching all the guests indulge in the amazing looking buffet in the restaurant. For our lunch, we were sent down to the employee cafeteria....let's just say that was certainly an experience I won't forget. Usually, we singers are treated a bit better than that...we're not the maids and busboys for crying out loud! But for one day, I can handle it, and we got a good laugh and a great story out of it.

After my day of caroling, Nick came and met me and we spent a lovely evening on Michigan Avenue doing a little shopping and having a nice dinner. Unfortunately, I didn't get any Christmas gifts purchased, but I have some free days this week for that. Thank God I'm able to shop mid-week, the weekend around here are just insane.

This week is busy, with five Music of the Baroque Holiday concerts in four days. Tonight is our first dress rehearsal, and tomorrow is our second, then we get Wednesday off before the madness ensues. Truthfully, I'm really looking forward to them, and it's amazingly luxurious not to have to do anything but sing this week. If you're interested in tickets, head over to www.baroque.org. But hurry, because they will sell out this week -- one performance has already!

Hope you are enjoying the holiday season. I know it can be busy and crazy (and cold), but it really is a wonderful time of year. And if you need some cheering up, go get a Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate from Starbucks. Good LORD is that drink amazing...

Engagement Photo Shoot

2008-11-26T09:48:00.000-08:00

Last month, Nick and I decided to take our own engagement photos. Photography is one of Nick's hobbies (as evidenced by the nearly 4,000 photos on my Mac and even more on his computer), and since we are bringing in our wedding photographer from Fort Wayne, we didn't want to hire a Chicago photographer to do the engagement. Plus, we thought it would be a lot of fun to do it ourselves, and it gave Nick a reason to buy the tripod he's been coveting for quite some time.

So, one Friday evening we headed over to the Adler Planetarium, where there is a terrific view of the skyline (and, incidentally, where we had our first kiss!). Here are some of my faves (and some silly ones!) from the shoot:

this is my fave, and the one we'll likely frame and use for our save the dates:

testing the angle:

It was a lot of fun and we got some great shots out of it! I'm really looking forward to making our save the dates and sending them out mid-February!

One singing-related thing I have to share: I found out yesterday that I am cast as a soloist in the Music of the Baroque Christmas concerts!!! Not only am I thrilled at the opportunity, it will nearly double my pay for this concert. Looks like people will be getting good Christmas gifts this year! And the credit card will receive a happy gift as well.

We're off to Indianapolis this afternoon for Thanksgiving with the Lyday clan. Should be a great trip, and a much-needed break for me and Nick. The calm before the storm, shall we say.....

Happy Turkey Day!

news

2008-11-16T16:29:00.000-08:00

Well kids, I know, it's been awhile. The ol' Mac has been having some trouble these days and for that I blame my lack of posting. That and the fact that I've been non-stop go go go these days. With no end in sight. Yes, it's that time of year again, the time when we musicians make our money and sell out as much as possible for cash. In years past I've sung to the jewels, and this year I will be making my debut at the Drake Hotel as a caroler in Dickens costume. Gotta make the cash, and it ain't a bad way to do it. In addition, I'll have the MOB Christmas concert, which is always a lot of fun, and possibly a Messiah solo gig. Then a blissful two weeks off for Christmas and New Years.

Highlights of the past few weeks: OFY tour was a blast. It was great to catch up with my colleagues, and we got to stay in some pretty cool places, including a villa in the forest (somebody's GORGEOUS vacation home 2 hours north of Duluth), and the Madison Hampton Inn, which after Super 8's for two weeks feels like the Ritz Carlton. It was tough to come back to my teaching jobs here, since I haven't been enjoying them much lately, but I made an appointment with my shrink this week to talk it over. I haven't seen her in ages due to budgetary reasons, but I really feel like I need to hash out how I'm feeling about career stuff lately.

Anyways, here's some fun pics from tour:

a somewhat blurry shot of me cooking spaghetti in the villa

my first tour week castmates

at Fitger's Brewery in Duluth

Kristin and I backstage before a show

Other highlights: The Met auditions were fantastic and so much fun. I've never been treated so well at a contest or audition before. We all had our own dressing rooms for the finals! The level of singing and competition was intense: there was a girl from the Chicago Lyric Young Artist Program, a girl who is an Adler Fellow at San Francisco Opera, and lots of other terrific singers. I didn't place, but I was so pleased with how I sang that it didn't even matter. My friend Ryan, who is a countertenor (kind of like a male alto, sings in a female range) won -- he totally deserved it and I was so glad. And how can I compete with a countertenor? :) I won some money for advancing from districts and got some great feedback from judges and audience members, so altogether it was a huge confidence boost when I really needed it.

One not so hot highlight from the past few weeks: My dad has been having some heart problems and has been in the hospital and had a surgery to implant a cardiac defibulator (I have no clue how to spell that). He was born with a hole in his heart and had two surgeries as a child, and while they were checking up on some things they found some problems and had a scary moment where his heart stopped. That was when they decided to implant the defibulator. Anyways, long story short, he was having some blood clots resulting from surgery that landed him in the hospital again. He had to be put on blood thinners for six months. Thankfully, he is doing well now and is recuperating at home. I was able to go there this week to help out and spend some time. So SO glad that my schedule allowed for it. He is doing well but of course prayers are appreciated.

That's all from me! Take time to breathe and enjoy the season. :)

excitement!

2008-10-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry no tour posts this week guys. It's been a spotty internet week and my precious Macbook has been acting up...so annoying.

The amazing news I have to share is that one of my auditions turned out really splendidly last week -- I am a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional auditions on Sunday!!! Go here if you want to learn more about these auditions. Basically, it's a huge honor to even make it to the regional finals, and if you win at the regionals you get to go to NYC to compete in the national finals. Chicago is a tough region and a lot of my friends have traveled to other, less singer-populous regions in order to try and win (you can audition anywhere, doesn't matter where you live). I thought, what the heck, I'll give it a try in Chicago! I just saw the list of finalists and one of the other sopranos is currently a young artist at Chicago Lyric...so yeah, I'm pretty happy to just be on a list with her! :) I really needed this boost, and I'm super excited for Sunday's performance...it's like a concert, there is an audience, we wear formal attire and it's being broadcast on WFMT, the classical station in Chicago!!

Since I've been on tour this week, I haven't practiced at all besides singing our show, but luckily the aria I'm starting with is Ach ich fuhls, which is Pamina's aria from Magic Flute, which I sing (albeit in English) in this touring show. So I've gotten five cracks at it in front of a very tough crowd -- elementary school kids. :) Tonight I started to feel a bit like I was coming down with something (quel horreur!) so I took three Zicam, drank a thing of airborne (I know it doesn't really work), took several vitamins and have been attempting to drown my internal organs with water (kidding, but I heard that someone actually did that and I wondered if they were a singer). Now I've taken two Nyquil and am planning to conk out for eight hours before heading back to Chi tomorrow. Oh the stress of singer life.

But now I'm back in it. Someone (the met auditions!) has told me, "yes, you have potential", and I am feeling hopeful and inspired again. I hope that I can ride on this feeling for some time. I want to be a singer, and I want to have a good career. I also want to have a family. I don't think this is asking too much. On Sunday, I'm going to go out there and sing my heart out. And then I'm going to go back on the road for another week, singing for kids and spreading the love of opera to children. Aren't I lucky and blessed to get to do that for a living?

I'll let you know how it goes on Sunday. I'm pumped. Nyquil is taking over now...signing out.

2008-10-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

So, I wrote this long rambly post yesterday and then my stupid computer lost its internet connection (as it is wont to do these days) and BOOM, post gone. Sadness. Mostly for me, because it was not at all entertaining or fun to read. Maybe the universe was telling me that it was a cathartic exercise only and not meant for other people to read.

To sum things up, I've been having emotional/career crisis number 23093094834 this week, which seems to be pretty normal at this time of year, if my previous two years of blogging are any indication. I have two fairly major auditions this weekend (one is in four hours), for neither of which I feel very prepared, nor do I have an excuse for being unprepared. I'm going to keep that last great audition in mind as I head downtown today. If I can just pull that off again, I'll feel good. Lately I've just been realizing how much I WANT to be performing, not teaching. I've just gotten so jaded about the business, so convinced that hard work doesn't necessarily equal success, that I've forgotten how much I love it. To perform music at a very high level with amazing colleagues and friends -- that is what I love. So I guess I'm going to try to do more of that, whatever it takes.

And thank HEAVEN, I get to do just that for the next two weeks!!! I leave for OFY Fall tour on Sunday!!!! While I'll be very sad to be away from Nick for a week (I miss him when we're apart for 8 hrs, cheesy, I know), I'm thrilled to be back on tour. I was going through the show in my living room yesterday with my iPod (if anyone was looking in the windows they probably thought I was insane) and I found I'm REALLY really excited to do it again. I love (almost all) of the OFY cast, so I can't wait to reunite. The only downside -- the tour is in northern Wisconsin/Duluth area. It might snow. So I bought a really cute Columbia insulated fleece at Nordstrom Rack this week, because I just don't think giant down comforter coat is ready to make an appearance yet. Duluth Super 8, here I come!

So that's my life these days. Life is so confusing sometimes. Thank God for the people that love me, even through my craziness and mental breakdowns and uncertainty. Those people are what are most important, as I remind myself continuously every day.

blech

2008-10-15T13:27:00.001-07:00

I'm feeling like total crap today. Is it the weather? Maybe. I just tried to warm up and my voice sounds like ass. Last week I was feeling all on top of it and now I can barely force myself to vocalize a little bit. Urgh. That's the way it always goes. I went to the gym this morning in hopes of stirring up some energy, but it did nothing but create more phlegm. I think I need to buy some more Zyrtec. I ran out this weekend, and allergies are ridic right now.

I'm doing a gig in Gary, Indiana this week. Oh, the things I'll do for a little bit of money. No, in all seriousness, it's a good gig. It's Faure Requiem, which is delightful, mostly pro choristers (extra delightful), and the conductor is good -- and hilarious, to boot. The rehearsals are downtown, but tomorrow and Friday I have to haul ass to Gary. Nick will go with me on Friday so that it's not so scary.

Still no word on Opera Santa Barbara. I don't even want to talk about it, it's been making me so edgy thinking about how much I want it. I'm so sick of teaching already, I would do anything to get away from it for a little while. Luckily my leg of OFY fall tour is in just a week and half! Which means I'll get a nice break from all my students, and I'll hopefully return refreshed and happy to see them. I really really wish I liked it more. Maybe once I get my own studio (in my house), it'll be better? Because truthfully, it's great, steady money and it's really not that hard. I have good ears, and I believe I'm a good teacher, but I just DREAD my long teaching days so much. Maybe it's carry-over laziness from not having to work all summer? I don't know, I just wish I didn't have that sense of dread. Maybe I just don't like being in charge? I don't know.

How 'bout some pics of my fabu weekend? Mom and Dad were in town for a wedding, and we all went out to dinner and to a show (Dirty Dancing!) on Friday night:

me and Nick at dinner

Then on Sunday we all went to church together (well, I was doing my job) and my great Aunt and Uncle joined us from the 'burbs. Here we are at brunch in Evanston.

This weekend will be equally fabulous -- Mom and my sister Elaine are coming to town to do some wedding stuff and attend a Bridal Show at Navy Pier! Saturday we are going to do some shopping for bridesmaid and mother of the bride gowns. We'll do a fantastic dinner somewhere, and then Sunday is the bridal show. Lots of fun!

Now, I just need to motivate myself to do some singing and not hate teaching. How do I do it? Bribing myself with sweets usually helps.....

Gameface 2008

2008-10-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

Most of you will remember me writing about audition season 2007, which Robert named: Nothing to Lose 2007. NTL 2007 went fairly well, and although I didn't get any gigs out of it, I got lots of good feedback and got my feet wet. Robert had a successful run of it, spending the summer as a young artist at New Jersey Opera Theater and being wait listed at several companies. So, when the time came to name this audition season, I waited with baited breath for Robert's proclamation. And then it came, in the form of a Nike t-shirt worn by one of his students on which read the following slogan: "When the gameface goes on, the beatdowns will commence shortly thereafter". And so, Gameface 2008 was born.

I kicked off Gameface 2008 this week with a stellar audition for Opera Santa Barbara young artist program. They heard all three arias, which is unheard of these days. Usually you they'll hear one, maybe one and a half if you're lucky, and two if you're REALLY lucky. I sang my first two arias, then they made me go in the hall for a moment, and then they brought me back in to sing my last aria. Very good sign, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much. That's the thing about these auditions. I've said it a hundred times and I'll say it again -- audition outcomes are dependent on so many factors beyond my control. The best thing to do is go in there looking your very best, sing the shit out of your arias, and then forget about it immediately. And so that's what I'm trying to do. I received an email that said I would hear by the end of next week, so I'm basically crapping my pants until then. It's that time of year again -- when every refresh of the email, every phone call, sends my stomach into knots, hoping and praying it's THE call.

My next audition is in two weeks for Des Moines Metro Opera yap. I was pleasantly surprised to receive the audition, since the past two years I've applied they've not heard me. The program dates would work out really well (ends in mid July, giving me plenty of time to get ready for the wedding) so I'm really glad they are hearing me. I'm not applying for nearly as many auditions this year, so it's great that I'm actually getting the few auditions for which I've applied. And that they are actually within my grasp -- I know several colleagues who have sung at both Opera SB and DMMO -- you don't have to be a superstar to get in.

So I'm feeling really good about the career stuff. I don't have quite as much time to practice as I'd like, since much of my singing energy is taken up by teaching and chorus gigs, but hey, gotsta pay the bills, and paying them with money from singing/teaching is waaaay better than the alternative (spending 8 hrs a day in an office and coming home exhausted from doing nothing and having no time to practice). Now that the high holidays are over, I should have some more singing energy for getting some new arias up and running. The next two weeks are going to fly by, however, and then I will be on whirlwind OFY fall tour for two weeks and then it will be almost the holidays. GEEZ where is the time going?

Well, this is getting long and rambly, per usual when I get going about singing crap. Tonight we are going to hear Natalie Dessay in Manon at the Lyric, and I'm extremely pumped. I need to go get Nick's reading materials compiled so that he can learn the plot and listen to a couple excerpts before tonight. It's very important to know something about the opera you're seeing -- otherwise it gets very boring and often confusing.

I'm off! Happy Weekend!

politics schmolitics

2008-10-03T15:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, maybe I said I wouldn't go into politics on this here blog. And maybe I've been updating so infrequently that nobody reads it anymore. But I need to reprint something from Robert's blog that rings true for me (and I hope many others). I don't really think I can handle another four years of conservative Republican bullshit. What I REALLY can't handle is women, women just like me, voting for Sarah Palin -- because they don't know any better and think having a woman Vice-President would be pretty neat. IT WOULD NOT BE NEAT. Read this article and this article and then give me ONE GOOD REASON I would even consider voting for McCain/Palin. Then read Robert's words below.

beyond that, it just makes me worry. i know who i’m voting for (ron paul 2008!) and i have since before he got the official nod from his party. as i’ve always said, i goddamned had to vote for john kerry in 2004, so whether i was voting for Hillary (my primary choice) or Barack (no schlep of a second choice) was irrelevant. at least i had a good candidate to choose this time. but since my mind has been made up for so long, i don’t need to hear all of the idiosyncrasies of the road to the white house, all of the he-said/he-said’s and 10-second CNN soundbites. i don’t follow the polls day to day. i just hope beyond hope that america doesn’t vote a rich, old, racist homophobe puppet and his vapid, pandering choice of a running mate into office. if he does, all my friends joke that we’ll all have to expatriate. but, as i’ve said on this blog before, i refuse to leave my country just so that i can have the same rights as everyone else. plus, as i told elspeth yesterday, i can’t afford to live in the united states, much less canada. and it’s so damned cold.

when i got home last night, though, phong was watching the VP debate and i didn’t want to make him change the channel so i sat there watching it with him. we were all hoping that palin would fall on her ass, that america would see what a blundering fool she really is. what actually happened, though, is that she did an incredible impression of fucking george w. bush, her aw-shucks demeanor and rapid-fire tongue wagging (completely content-free as it may have been) mesmerizing the legions of midwesterners and southerners and white people afraid of a black person and fat housewives who have never registered to vote before they had the chance to vote “one of themselves” into office.

george w. bush pulled the wool over all of these fools’ eyes in 2000 and 2004, somehow convincing them that he was just like them, dumbing down his speech, assuring them all that he was a good ol’ boy. my greatest fear is that people who don’t pay attention, people who are so easily bought, will vote for mccain because they want to see a twit like palin in office. because she is “one of them.”

you know what? i don’t want somebody like me in office. i want somebody smarter than me in office. i want someone to lead this country who actually has experience and a clear idea of what their policy will be. if i led the country, god only knows what would happen. but, as usual, i’m preaching to the choir here. i just don’t know what else to do.

We cannot screw it up again, people.

grrreat

2008-10-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

You know what's great? When your fiance calls you in the middle of the day to say he's coming home early and taking you out to lunch! I have the best fiance.

You know what else is great? FINALLY getting an audition for a company after much rigamarole with postal addresses, audition materials returned by the post office, emails, applications, etc. And a company that I actually have a prayer of being hired by, which would put me in Santa Barbara during February and March. Please God, let it be in my masterplan to work for this company.

You know what's really really great? FINALLY getting paid by all the companies that owe me money. And then sighing with relief as I pay my bills and do a leeeetle shopping (hellooo brown boots and pants that fit).

I'm in a great mood today, if you can't tell. :)

2008-09-25T07:54:00.001-07:00

It's been a good week. First of all, it's premier week on TV! Did anyone catch the premier of Lipstick Jungle last night? I started watching the episodes on nbc.com from my laptop during tour last spring, and I got hooked. I thought it was a pretty good start, and it left me speculating all kinds of ways things could go. Tonight, sadly, I will be at church during The Office premier, but Nick has strict instructions for taping and not watching til I get home. I told him if I get home and that show is not on tape, he's out on the street. :) Kidding. Sort of.

In other news, the Handel Hercules concerts with MOB went really well. I'm so thankful for that job; it is definitely the highlight of my performing life at this point. The soloists, as usual, were incredible, and really inspired me to keep plugging away at my solo career as well. Now it is on to the High Holidays for the next two weeks. And the money is going to start rolling in, thank heavens. I've already picked out an amazing pair of brown boots that are going to be my comeuppance from this summer of retail starvation.

Wedding plans continue to come together! I hired our photographer this week. We are using Judy Gaulden out of Fort Wayne who did my sister's June 2007 wedding. Chicago photographers are pretty ridiculous price-wise, and Judy's packages are so reasonable that even with adding her travel expenses we're going to save quite a bit of money than if we'd hired a Chicago photog. Plus, I was totally overwhelmed by the hordes of Chicago photogs to choose from, and I was getting so many mixed reviews from various people, that going with Judy was the easiest and most secure choice for us. Elaine's pictures were gorgeous, so I'm really excited about our decision. I've gotten in touch with the DJ recommended by the Hotel Monaco, and she is available, so I'm going to meet up with (and hopefully hire) her next week. Then all I really have to do is hire a florist, and I can take a few months off and not really worry about anything until after the holidays! September has already flown by, and I just know the rest of the year is going to whoosh past before I know it.

So that's the news! Ankle is healing ok, but I haven't been able to work out for the past two weeks, which has been driving me all sorts of crazy. I forgot how addicting exercise can be. Hopefully by next week I can manage the Elliptical machine or bike or something. I don't want to mess things up even more, so I'm trying to take it slow, but I just really want to work up a good sweat!

We're hosting a little dinner party this weekend for my gal pals Stasi and Allison and their husbands. I haven't seen my girls since our bridal gown shopping adventure in July, so I'm excited! Should be a great time. I've got to get cleaning and making a shopping list. It makes me feel oh so grown up and domesticated to host dinner parties. :) Hopefully I'll have some pics to post of the evening.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

2008-09-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

All you ever wanted to know about.....Nick, my fiance. Taken from my sis's blog.

1. He is sitting in front of the TV, what is he watching? Sci-fi channel, Ice Road Truckers, or CNN

2. You are out to eat, what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? balsamic vinagrette

3. Whats one food he doesn't like? you know, he is not a picky eater at all. i honestly can't think of anything!

4. You go out to a bar, what does he order? a Leffe (beer)

5. Where did he go to High School? American Community Schools of Athens (??? I think that's what it's called)

6. What size shoe does he wear? huge. 14. he can only buy shoes at Nordstrom.

7. If he were to collect anything, what would it be? he's a big collector. watches, cameras and camera equipment

8. What is his favorite sandwich? patty melt

9. What would he eat every day if he could? probably a burger or a steak

10. What is his favorite cereal? raisin bran crunch, or the chocolatey stuff we can only find in Europe

11. What would he never wear? anything pink, yellow, or orange (believe me, i've tried)

12. What is his favorite sports team? probably Cubs. we're not huge into sports around here.

13. Who will he vote for? tough call. i know who i WANT him to vote for!

14. Who is his best friend? Aki

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? cry about my finances/career; be really hard on myself

16. How many states has he lived in? well states, one. countries, two.

17. What is his heritage? i'm pretty sure it's Greek ;)

18. You bake him a cake for his birthday, what kind of cake is it? chocolate cake, chocolate frosting

19. Did he play sports in High School? track

20. What could he spend hours doing? surf his online watch forum, walk around taking pictures, bake something

That's Nick, in a nutshell!

help, i've fallen and i can't get up

2008-09-15T22:10:00.000-07:00

So, last week I fell down some stairs at one of my students' house. This will come as no surprise to many of you who know me, as I am wont to trip and stumble. Once, while backpacking in Spain, I slipped with a giant backpack and ended up like a turtle on the sidewalk, frantically waving my arms and legs trying to get back up. But I digress. This particular fall was bad, and now I have an ankle the size of a tennis ball. I finally wised up and went for an x-ray last Thursday, just in case, and thankfully it isn't broken. But I can't do yoga or run, nor can I walk in a shoe with any sort of heel. Which leaves me one pair of wearable shoes at the moment (I'm a big fan of heels). So that's kind of annoying.

But work is getting better. Things picked up quite a bit with my return to the CPS school (where I teach through MOB's outreach program) and my classes in Plainfield starting up. Time is once again flying, and I can look forward to a fat bank account in the very near future (well, by my standards, anyway). Our first MOB concerts are Sunday/Monday, which is always a good time. It's really a feast and famine type deal with freelancing. Thank God I'm heading into feast phase again. I need some new clothes like whoa. I purged my closet of several pairs of pants that I don't have a prayer of fitting into ever again. Sadly, I'm no longer 22 and have dinners of cottage cheese and beer. Or just beer. Side note, cottage cheese is a great pre-drinking meal. ;)

Anyways, things are back to somewhat normal for me. I've been seriously considering getting my teaching license though. I really enjoy my days at the public high school, and the benefits and stability are highly attractive. Nick and I have been discussing it -- it would be very helpful for us to have good insurance benefits, since at the moment both of us are independent contractors and will be paying out the wazoo once we have kids. I would still be able to do lots of the professional singing I'm doing now since rehearsals are usually in the evenings, and I would have the summers open for singing gigs as well. So...it's just an idea right now, but one that sounds more and more promising and exciting to me the more I think about it. A paycheck every two weeks? Good heavens, I can't remember what that's like.

So yeah. Good stuff. Wedding plans are coming along. Besides my swollen ankle, I'm feelin' good. And it's FALL in Chicago. The best season of all. How could I not be totally blissful?! :)

2008-09-05T09:40:00.001-07:00

Sorry folks, I've just been feeling a little...unbloggy...lately. I'm a little down in the dumps about work right now, and I just don't have a lot of interesting things to write about.

I thought this week was going to feel different, since I was back to MOB rehearsals and church. But it feels pretty much the same as summer, except that when Nick comes home from work, I leave and go to a rehearsal. I'm bored all day by myself at home, and then when I want to be home spending time with him, I have to leave. It sucks. Most of my friends are back to working day jobs, so I have nobody to hang out with during the day, and I can't hang out with them in the evenings either. Whine whine whine, I know.

You are probably thinking, here's a solution, get a day job. Well, here's the thing. I don't have to have a day job. Why in the world would I want to work at a horrible, low paying, zero satisfaction job that isn't in my field if I don't have to? And yet I can't continue my current schedule forever, nor do I want to. If I could think of ANY nine to five job that was fulfilling and enough money to make getting up early and spending forty hours a week doing it worth it, I'd be there. As of now, I can't think of anything. I've thought about going back for my teaching license, but I feel like that's selling myself out a little. I went for a Masters degree so that I could someday be a voice professor at a college. Unfortunately, these days you need either a doctorate or ten years of experience. So I'm going to have to wait on that one a little. I'm always on the lookout for a small adjunct voice position, but those are hard to come by around here.

So at the moment I'm just trying to get more students on the North Shore. And sort through the mess of possible auditions for this year. I did have a great coaching yesterday with my favorite Scot, Alan D, so that perked me up quite a bit. He gave me some really terrific audition advice and some new ways of practicing that I think are really going to help. It looks like I'm going to have an audition next week for Sarasota Opera young artist program, which would mean three months in Florida in the middle of winter. That sounds pretty freakin' awesome.

Oh, here's a bit of fun news: This week I was elected to the Yelp 2008 Elite Squad! I was thinking about applying after I reached fifty reviews, but I didn't even have to apply! The Yelp community manager emailed me this week that I had been chosen! Check out my nifty new Elite badge on my profile. So, yeah, I'm pretty much a guru on what's hip and happenin' in Chicago. :) The best part is, I am now eligible for Elite events, which often mean free food and booze! And I get a free Yelp hoodie. :)

So that's it from here. This weekend will be hardly a weekend, since I've got a rehearsal tonight, Nick's working tomorrow, and I've got church AND a rehearsal on Sunday. We're going to try to fit in a trip to the Windy City Wine Festival somewhere in there, and hopefully a good meal or two.

Cheers!

2008-08-28T06:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, I keep writing posts and then deleting them because they sound like a huge pile of crazy. I'll stop that now. One thing is certain: I need to get the hell out of this house and back to work!

I'll let you know how glad I am to be back when I'm sitting in rehearsals every night for the next two weeks. Say goodbye to cooking and seeing Nick during waking hours! :(

Have a great Labor Day weekend, y'all.

on the edge of my seat.

2008-08-15T09:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'll admit it, I'm a bit Olympics obsessed this year. Four years ago, I don't think I watched a single second of the Games. Thinking back on it, I don't think Andrea and I had television in the summer of '04. We were too busy carousing Southport bars and going to Cubs games, I suppose.

But I remember watching it as a child with my family, begging my parents to stay up later and later to watch the gymnastics or ice skating finals (all little girls' favorite Olympic sports to watch). I remember tuning in to the Games in 1996 while on a church mission trip in West Virgina, all of us huddled around the little television, watching Kerri Strug brave a bum ankle on the vault to bring home gold for the American team.

You can't help but tear up at watching Bela Karoyli carry her to the medal podium.

Despite having a temp job this morning, thus having to rise early, I stayed up 'til 12:30 to watch Nastia Liukin bring home the gold. It was great to see this eighteen year old beat the pants off those Chinese children. For some reason, the Chinese athletes scare me to death. When they screw up, I see them thinking....banishment to a one room shack six hundred miles outside Beijing living off only $33 a month in welfare. That country seriously scares the crap out of me. Proud to be an American, I am indeed.

Watching Michael Phelps is nearly as enthralling. I'm convinced he's half-fish or merman or something. But watching history in the making is fascinating, and I've been glued to the television all week. Not to mention that most of the U.S. men's swim team members aren't half bad to look at. ;)

I guess part of the reason I've gotten so excited about these Games is that I identify (somewhat) with the athletes. Call me crazy (you won't be the first), but opera is pretty much the Olympics of singing. It takes the same sort of rigorous training, natural skill and talent, and narrow focus as training for a sport. Often in our OFY tours, when the kids would ask "how we sing like that", we would tell them that training your voice is like training for a sport. And it really is. It's all about muscle memory and stamina and training certain muscle groups to perform certain tasks. I know what it's like to be on the "disabled list" and the fear and determination that comes along with returning from an injury.

So though I'll never stand on a podium and have a medal put around my neck for my "sport", I feel a connection to these athletes. Sure, there are differences -- the main one being I'd like my career to last past my 30th birthday. But seeing their hard work and success materialize onscreen has given me new hope for my career. The main message being: keep on truckin'.

If you need a little inspiration in your day (life), just watch that Kerri Strug video a few times. See if you can get through it without tearing up.

Indy recap

2008-08-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

'Twas a wonderful weekend in Indy, visiting my Gram for her birthday. I had not been to Indy since Thanksgiving 2006 -- I had forgotten how many childhood memories are contained in that city and my grandma's house. Just the smell of her house takes me back to summers as a kid where each of us would get our own "special visit" with grandma. We'd go by ourselves for four or five days, and grandma would spoil us rotten -- taking us to museums, out to dinner, and as I got older, shopping. Oh boy can Gram and I do some damage shopping. :) I remember shopping with her once for something like nine hours.

Her house also reminds me of many Christmases spent with the whole family together, all of my dad's siblings and spouses and our cousins. For some reason lately, I've been trying to recall memories of my childhood and find myself at a loss -- I feel like I really can't remember much anymore. I guess I just have to be in the right environment -- over the weekend I was flooded with memories. Nice, warm, happy memories. I hope I can give my kids those same type of memories someday.

Quick recap of weekend, sans pictures (Nick still needs to upload them). Friday evening we got into town around 8:00 pm and headed out to a Greek restaurant near my Gram's house. Check out my review of the place on Yelp. Saturday my Gram fixed us breakfast and then Nick and I headed out to do some exploring. We tooled around downtown for awhile and then I took him over to Broadripple, the "trendy" district of Indy. We had a drink and a light meal on the patio of a wine bar and stopped in a few shops, then headed back to Gram's to get ready for her birthday dinner. My aunt met us at Macaroni Grill and we had a lovely time catching up and celebrating Gram's 71st birthday. And damn does that woman look good for 71. She dresses better than I do, for goodness sake! I can only pray I look that good in forty some years.

Sunday I went with Gram to church, and then we went to her country club for brunch, where we met my aunt and cousin. Sunday afternoon we chilled in Gram's awesome neighborhood pool for awhile, then went to dinner at Rick's Boatyard. Again, check out my Yelp review. This place was great. Monday morning we packed up and headed home, stopping in Crown Point for a quick diner lunch. It was the perfect long-weekend trip, and I think Nick really relaxed and enjoyed himself. I know I did.

This week is uneventful. Today I am playing housewife, cleaning and doing what I lovingly refer to as the "bitch chores". Picking up dry cleaning, buying things at Target, making dinner, etc. I have a good feeling I'm going to be missing doing these things in a few weeks, especially the making dinner part. As it stands, I've got rehearsals/teaching til about 9 pm or later just about every day of the week starting after Labor Day. Nick does not like this aspect of my job, and neither do I. If I could do everything during the day I would, but it just doesn't work that way. We've been spoiled this summer with my lax schedule, so it's going to take some getting used to.

Pics of Indy trip to follow! Enjoy the fleeting days of summer, my friends.

stuff (mostly boring)

2008-08-07T06:16:00.000-07:00

You know what European tradition should be embraced by Americans? Taking the whole month of August off work. Somehow, I feel less guilty about not working this month knowing that an entire continent to my right is on vacation. I tried to convince Nick that we should take off for Greece for the month, but he didn't go for it. Too many things like bills and savings for down payments on houses and the bad economy getting in the way...

My summer of leisure is about to end, unfortunately. I've been putting my fall schedule together, and it looks to be about as crazy as last spring, if not crazier. I've added a gig -- I'm singing the High Holidays at a synagogue in Evanston -- and I've added a day in Plainfield teaching three voice classes for different age groups, plus more private students. Plus I've got MOB gigs and outreach teaching for them. I'm hoping to add a few more students on the North Shore to round out a couple of afternoons up there, but basically -- I'm booked. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to fit audition season into all this, but I'll find a way.

Audition season...something that's been on my mind lately. Last year I sort of went balls-out and just auditioned for everything I could. I didn't get any jobs out of it, but I got some good feedback and got my feet wet. This year, I'm going to be a little pickier in choosing which auditions to take. The wedding next year will undoubtedly rule out several programs, and I'm not even sure I'd want to do a summer program at all -- being out of town for the two months prior to the wedding doesn't seem like the best idea. I've got a pretty darn good career going here in Chicago that can only grow and get better, and I'm going to be a married woman -- A year-long young artist program that would require a move to another city and renting an apartment, or worse yet, living in some sort of dorm setting, sounds as about as appealing as...I don't know, something icky. So here's my plan: audition for every damn thing I can here in Chicago and nearby cities (such as Milwaukee, Madison, etc.), and try to get some auditions for programs that are one to three months long (preferably in a warm climate during the Chicago winter). Sure, it may seem like I'm limiting my options, but...I think it's more a matter of growing up and realizing what will make me happy and fulfilled. Being with Nick in Chicago makes me extremely happy, and I don't really see that changing. Ever.

Blech, audition rants already! You've probably stopped reading. Nick and I are off to Indianapolis tomorrow for a little three day weekend. It's my grandma's birthday, so we are taking her out on Saturday night. Nick hasn't seen much of Indy, so I'm going to show him around a bit. Not that I'm the Indy-expert (I've been on Yelp all week scoping out the scene), but I did spend a good amount of time there growing up and in college. I'll also get to see my aunt, uncle, and cousin whom I have not seen since my sister's wedding last year! Usually I see my extended family atleast twice a year but we missed them at Christmas. So I'm really looking forward to the weekend!

Have a good one, everybody!

a bit of wedding news

2008-07-30T07:28:00.001-07:00

So, the wedding plans are back on track. I'll let you in on a little secret...I might be a little dramatic. Shocker! I get paid to be dramatic, mmmmkay? But when it comes to wedding planning, drama is no good. So I'm vowing (haha, vow, get it) to keep the drama out of it from now on. And now that the church and reception venue are booked, things should calm down for quite a while. Update: Apparently, the excitement is never ending -- the Greek church called me yesterday to tell me that we could not be married on the date we chose (the date they told us we could have a week ago) because it's some sort of religious fast day and they will perform no marriages. So the date is moved yet again...I'm starting to think it will never be final.

But the biggest news is....I bought my gown!!! Now, I cannot reveal too much but I will say it is a Melissa Sweet gown, and it is absolutely GORGEOUS! I fell in love with it the moment I put it on. My dear friends Allison and Stasi were great shopping companions, especially since they've both been through the gown shopping recently. I purchased the dress at Vanessa's Modern Bride in Arlington Heights, which I would highly recommend--the service was friendly and helpful and HONEST (none of this "oh that looks so fabulous on you" about EVERY SINGLE dress). After we were finished, we headed across the street to a great little Mexican restaurant for a round of margaritas and lunch to celebrate the finding of the gown!

And I am happy to announce....

The 2nd Birthday of The Midwest Princess II!!!!!!

Some of you (not many) may remember the original Midwest Princess, which I began in January 2005 and ended in October 2005. Sadly, she was deleted (an action I will always regret), but her spirit lives on in this here blog. So Happy 2nd Birthday, dear blog, and wishing you many more birthdays to come.

a l'il trip to the Indiana Dunes

2008-07-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

what a lovely way to spend a Sunday...

yelping about yelp, via blog

2008-07-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

Last night's Yelp Event was super fun...I mean, what's not to love about free food and alchohol? The sweets were definitely the highlight of the event. We tasted some amazing chocolate -- one was a basil chocolate that I couldn't quite wrap my mind around, it was that good. I may seek it out and purchase some for my next party; it's quite the conversation starter. There were some very tasty cupcakes and a chocolate fountain from the Melting Pot, too! It was a bit overwhelming.

The savory items were not quite as plentiful or inspired, but good nonetheless. There was a pizza/pasta station, small plates from a restaurant called Dine! that included a fresh tuna and watermelon salad and some scallops with a delicious smoky apple sauce. They were also handing out mini red velvet martinis which were amazing. Sadly, the Thai food had run out before we arrived, so we didn't get to sample any. There were some mussels that we deemed too difficult to eat whilst standing up and holding a drink, but I heard they were good. Venus, a Greek restaurant, had some rather dry tasteless meatballs, which saddened me because I love Greek food and had heard great things about the restaurant.

There was wine and beer and vodka o'plenty, but lucky for me I only had two glasses of Merlot, because I got called in for a last minute reception job today and had to get my butt out of bed earrrrly (well, for me anything before 8:00 am is early).

Weekend plans include some bridal gown shopping tomorrow with Allison and Stasi. I'll be honest, wedding planning isn't going well for me. Nick and I have had more disagreements about the stupid wedding than we've had in our whole relationship, and I'm about ready to throw in the towel and elope. I was ready to cancel the day of gown shopping, but Nick convinced me to go, and I really want to see my gals. We are usually so good at compromising, and we have many of the same views about things and what we want in life, but a wedding is not one of them. I've worked really hard to create what I thought was a great compromise, but it doesn't seem to be enough. So I'm kind of stuck at the moment and thinking that eloping sounds like a lot more fun than fighting for the next year. We'll see...

Have a great weekend!

A Yelp Event.

2008-07-24T09:18:00.000-07:00

After a bit of a hiatus, I've gotten back to writing Yelp reviews. It is a really entertaining site, if you've never been there, and chances are, there are tons of reviews of everything from nail salons to fine dining restaurants in your neck of the woods.

Tonight, we are attending a Yelp event! See, I knew eventually all my eating and talking about eating and writing about eating would pay off...in the form of an evening filled with free food, drink, sweets, and entertainment. Yelp Around the World, Chicago Yelp's biggest event yet, goes down tonight at the German Cultural Center in Lincoln Square, and Nick and I will be in attendance! Expect a full report tomorrow.

For now, head over to my yelp profile and check out my recent reviews and my yelp friends' reviews. I thought I'd been to a lot of restaurants...some of these people put me to shame! Maybe you want to start yelping too? Join in the fun!

The T-Shirt Deli

2008-07-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I ventured out for a stroll along the Andersonville "strip" (as I like to call it), and happened upon a new shop that recently opened its doors. The T-Shirt Deli's flagship store in Wicker Park has been around for several years, but in the past month they have opened a second shop in Andersonville. The concept is a simple one, they put logos on t-shirts, but the way they present it is the fun part. The whole shop is decorated like a deli, with ketchup and mustard bottles lining the shelves and traditional red and white checkered tablecloths on every available surface. Binders and binders full of different logos take up a table in the center of the shop. There are political logos, pop culture logos, logos for kids, or you can just make up your own and choose from a variety of fonts and colors. All of the t-shirts are American Apparel, and they have many different styles and every color you can imagine. After spending a good thirty minutes leafing through the binders, I decided to order my very own t-shirt.

It came wrapped up like a sandwich in deli paper

and was served with a bag of chips!

Click to enlarge and get a better view of the logo. I got so many great ideas for fun gifts while leafing through the binders at T-Shirt Deli. Don't be surprised if your next gift from me is an amusing and unique tee!

An Evening at Wrigley

2008-07-14T19:38:00.000-07:00

Last week we spent a lovely evening at Wrigley Field, courtesy of my parents. My dad gets tickets every year, but my cousin's boyfriend offered them some better seats (right behind Cubs dugout!) so Nick and I got the cast off tickets. We happily took them and had a great night -- and cheered the Cubs to victory!!

me and my cousin Angela

Aunt Lynn bought a Fukudome headband on the street

getting the field ready for play

the infamous Wrigley bleachers, aka The Friendly Confines

It was a great time had by all. Nothing like a warm summer evening at Wrigley!

2008-07-08T18:14:00.000-07:00

Updated 7.14.08
It was an amazing "vacation" week spent in Fort Wayne, and I have to say, I was not ready for it to end. I guess I needed that time away more than I thought. It is taking me a couple of days to get motivated and get back to working diligently at my career, but I think the break was just what I needed. We had lots of relaxing pool time, lots of good meals with even better company, and a fantastic time at the wedding of a dear friend. It was great to get to spend lots of quality time with my sister, mom, and dad; and I even got to see my brother and his girlfriend for a short time on Sunday afternoon.

Here are some pics from the week/weekend.

bridesmaids entering the sanctuary

the browns getting hitched!

giant cupcake tower

my handsome fiance!

I'm having a lot of trouble loading pictures right now (hence the week back dating on this post). Does anybody know a better way to load pics? Maybe it's my Mac...

Anyways, I'm way behind on posting, but I have lots of fun summer activities to report. Trip to Wrigley last week (Go Cubbies!), wedding planning news, trips to the beach....it's turning out to be a fabulous summer. Stay tuned...

thoughts on NW Indiana

2008-06-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

What a fantastic weekend, and what a way to kick off my vacation week! Yesterday was an absolutely wonderful day, spent at my best friend Andrea's parents' house in Ogden Dunes, Indiana. I took the ten a.m. train out -- what a lovely ride it is on the South Shore -- where Andrea met me and we immediately put on bathing suits and headed down to the beach. After lathering up with sunscreen, we spent the next several hours lounging on the beach, chatting, looking at bridal magazines, playing with her adorable niece, enjoying a few afternoon adult beverages, and having a fantastic time. We even got to go on an (extremely fast) boat ride with her neighbors. I can't remember the last time I've been on a boat! It was great. Andrea is the kind of friend who, no matter how much time has passed since our last visit, we just pick up where we left off. She's one of the best listeners I know, and she's gotten me through more difficult times than I can count. I'm constantly (selfishly) trying to persuade her to move back to Chicago, but I'm so proud of what she's done in New York; she has built a great life there. Hopefully it won't be another six months before I see her again!

I kind of fell in love with Ogden Dunes yesterday. I've always known it was a great place to live, but now that Nick and I are seriously thinking about where we want to settle, I saw it in a new light. Andrea's parents' were (are) both high school teachers (her mother is retired, her father is retired from public school but teaches at a private school), and have lived in OD for nearly thirty years. It's a wonderful, friendly community, which was made evident by the giant party on the beach yesterday -- everybody who was there was a friend or neighbor. The houses are adorable and unique (Andrea's parents' home was built by a pupil of Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1920's), and it is about as far from a cookie cutter suburb as you can imagine. It's not a cheap place to live, but it's cheaper than many of the nicer Chicago suburbs. Plus the sales tax and property taxes in Indiana are much lower. My only concern would be the OD school district, which isn't stellar, but there are a few nearby school districts that are better (Chesterton, Valpo). And it's a one hour ride on the South Shore train into the city. So my new pastime (besides looking at wedding stuff online) is looking at Northwest Indiana real estate online.

Tomorrow I make my second journey in two days on the South Shore, this time to South Bend, where my mom will pick me up and bring me to Fort Wayne (it's the only civilized way of getting to FW via train -- Amtrak is a hot mess). Besides my three hours of teaching today, I am on "vacation"!!! Woot! Nick will join me in FW on Thursday for the wedding festivities, and then we will come back together on Sunday. But between now and Sunday, I will be doing a lot of the following: lounging by the pool at my parents' country club, partaking in adult beverages, visiting a few bridal shops with my mom and sister, hanging out with the fam at home, eating yummy food, and of course all the wedding festivities. My only goal is not to get a sunburn and get rid of my bathing suit tan lines before the wedding on Friday (the dresses are strapless and I've got quite the strap marks from yesterday). Lofty goals, I know. It's going to be a great week.

I'm sure I'll be posting intermittently over the next few days, but if you're on vacation like me this week, enjoy yourself! And Happy Independence Day.

temp central

2008-06-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

This is where I'm temping today. Trust me, it's not as cool as it looks. I am just sitting at the reception desk, answering the phone and signing for packages and such, but I'm keeping busy looking at wedding stuff online, texting my sister, and trying to finish a novel. The office culture is so foreign to me nowadays, but sometimes it's nice to have mundane tasks and a simple day. I'm reminded of how much I do NOT belong in an office. Give me a stage, a rehearsal room, a teaching studio, even a church, anything but a stuffy office. Thank God I only have to do this for a little while this summer.

Luckily I have a scrumptious lunch packed today, since they informed me I would not get a lunch break because there is nobody to cover the phones (what is that?). Fine with me, I'd rather get paid for the extra hour rather than wander aimlessly around downtown by myself and spend too much money on lunch. I've got leftover pastitsio, which is like Greek lasagna, that we made earlier this week, a leftover cupcake (last one! they went fast) a peach, and a diet coke. Delicious!

Weekend plans include: seeing some reception sites tomorrow and an audition in the afternoon, then on Sunday I'm heading to northwest Indiana to visit my best friend Andrea at her parents' house. Andrea lives in NYC, and I hardly ever get to see her, so thankfully it works out that she will be in town when I have time to spend an entire day with her! It will be great to see her family too, and I'm really hoping to get to meet her 1 and a half year old nice, Ione. Ione has her very own blog, so I'm certain we will become fast friends.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

quick ENT update

2008-06-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

My cords are beautiful and healthy, according to one Dr. Robert Bastian (best voice ENT ever, in my opinion). I was thinking of scanning the photos and posting them on here, but Nick thought that was gross, so I'll spare you all. You can go to Bastian's website to check out some gross pics if you want! Warning: Pictures of vocal cords look a lot like vaginas.

We even managed to get in a quick Walmart trip and a gas tank fill up while we were out in the 'burbs! I love multi-tasking suburban trips, especially ones that save me money! Much as I hate and try to avoid Walmart, they do have darn cheap toilet paper and toiletry items. And the gas in the suburbs is about thirty to forty cents cheaper a gallon, so SCORE.

That's all. Just wanted to make sure you weren't hanging on a limb with worry about my doc appointment. :)

ENT, wedding crap, vacay

2008-06-26T07:36:00.000-07:00

Today I have the unpleasant chore of visiting my ENT. Unfortunately, it's a necessary thing for singers to get their cords checked out every year or so, just to make sure everything is a-ok. I had a fantastic voice lesson yesterday and sang a high E flat (basically the tip top of my range), so I'm not too concerned about it. But considering most of my past visits to my ENT's office were rather traumatizing, I am understandably a little anxious (ok, a lot anxious) about the visit. Also, it's not terribly pleasant to have the little camera stuck through your nose and down your throat. I'm trying to focus on the sense of relief I will feel when it's over (similar to the gyno, ladies) and I head home knowing I won't have to return for at least another year. And Nick is going with me, so that makes it better.

In wedding planning news, we have finally settled on Chicago for our wedding city. Now comes the task of finding a reception site and coordinating with the church. Everyone tells me once those two things are nailed down, it gets a lot easier, but I'm feeling uber overwhelmed right now. We have two appointments on Saturday to look at a couple of different places, and then a couple more appointments when I get back from "vacation." I'm having some really good feelings about one of the places we are seeing on Saturday, as I spent a half an hour on the phone with their on-site wedding coordinator yesterday. I want to get as much done this summer as I can, because once fall hits and my schedule gets insane again, I know I will have no time or desire to add wedding planning to my schedule.

Speaking of my "vacation", it's almost here, and I can hardly contain my excitement! Who would have thought a trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana could elicit such glee! I guess I'm just excited to spend six days relaxing with no responsibility whatsoever (except bridesmaid stuff, but that's fun). I don't have to do laundry or keep the house tidy or cook anything, and I'm not going to practice or think (worry) about my career or teach any lessons -- in other words, I'm going to do NOTHING but relax and spend time with family and friends. It's not often that I allow myself these sorts of mental and physical vacations from singing and life, but the opportunity has presented itself, and I'm taking it! Plus my friend Stasi's wedding is going to be extremely fun. I'm slightly nervous about how I'm going to hold it together to sing her down the aisle (I'm singing Ave Maria as she comes down the aisle). I have a tendency to bawl when the bride comes in with her father...I cried yesterday watching the Today Show throws a wedding when a perfect stranger came down the aisle on television! I think if I just visualize the situation a few times while practicing the piece, that should do the trick. If I can make myself lose it while practicing, it won't happen in the real situation. (Stas, I know you're probably reading this and freaking out right now, but don't worry -- I got through the Lord's Prayer at my sister's wedding, so I know I can do it!) It's Stas's mom we really have to worry about -- Stas is an only child and her mother is a bit emotional...

Alright, time to go take some deep breaths before the doc visit. Have a great weekend!

happy birthday to me

2008-06-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

I am one lucky girl. I have the greatest fiance, family, and friends a girl could ask for. It becomes even more apparent to me how great these people are when I get to talk to them or see them all in one day! Yesterday was my 26th birthday, and even though my sister says I'm not in my mid-twenties anymore ("You're in your LATE twenties now, Emily!") I still feel like every year gets better and better. The day was beautiful and not too warm.

Foster Beach

I spent a leisurely morning doing one of my favorite things: baking! I made these amazing chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, courtesy of one if my food idols, Ina Garten:

recipe here

Later I set out to Plainfield to do my Monday teaching with a few cupcakes in tow for my students. One of my students brought me a present with the sweetest card! Being a teacher is so rewarding sometimes. And in honor of my birthday, the traffic on the expressway was not even that bad!

When I got home, Nick surprised me with a cake in which he had put (and lit) twenty six candles. It looked like a fire hazard, but I loved it. And to aid in my pursuit of all things food snobbery, he got me a top of the line coffee grinder that I had been wanting. Then we headed out to Charlie's to meet up with some of my friends for drinks. I have some terrific friends.

It was a terrific day, and thanks to everyone who made it special.

Chicago or Greece?

2008-06-20T08:59:00.000-07:00

Not much to report here in happy-couple land. I was just reading a very popular blogger's blog tips, and they said that in order for your blog to remain popular, you need to update every three days. Not that my blog has ever been the big hotspot on the internets, but I've started commenting on a few other blogs so I think my readership is starting to grow. So if you've found this site by accident or you are a dear friend or family, Welcome. :)

The big topic of conversation lately has been where to have our wedding. Or rather, the topic of an ongoing disagreement. Before we got engaged, we talked a lot about doing it in Greece, where Nick is from, possibly on an island. We always knew we wanted a very small, intimate celebration, so a "destination" wedding seemed like a great idea. And it wouldn't really be like a destination wedding since one of us is from there. It sounded beautiful and magical, until I started to consider the details...and the cost. I've complained ad nauseum about the amount of money I've had to spend on other people's weddings, and I certainly do not want people to feel that way about mine. I'm not planning to have a bridal party or many of the other traditional "American" wedding details, but the cost for guests of flying to Greece, staying in a hotel, etc, would be quite a lot, especially with the weak dollar. Which means that many of the people who are dearest to me would not be able to come to my wedding. And that started to make me sad.

Plus the logistics of planning a celebration over there would be a bit of a nightmare. I would have to hire someone to take care of most of the details, and at this point I don't know anyone who has gotten married on a Greek Island who could recommend a wedding planner or resort. I would have to make many decisions about the wedding sight unseen, which would make me very nervous.

And then there's the problem of picking a date that works for all of mine and Nick's immediate family, who have to be at the wedding.

It just seems like....a lot of problems. Nick seems to have had his heart set on doing it there, but it's just starting to sound so complicated. And expensive. And a Chicago wedding would be so lovely, and most of my family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) and our close friends would be able to make it. And the majority of Nick's family who would come to the wedding are here anyway. His grandmother refuses to leave her house in a village on the Pelopennese, so it's unlikely we'd get her on a boat to an island.

So I'm in a quandary. Greece or Chicago? Chicago or Greece? There's going to have to be some sort of compromise, and I'm just not sure what it is at the moment. But that's what marriage is all about, right? Compromise. Guess I'd better get started...

big news!

2008-06-17T07:13:00.000-07:00

This gal is officially off the market:

Nick proposed on Saturday!!!!! Rewind to Friday evening, we went to the Hop Leaf for dinner, which is where we went for drinks on our first date. The Hop Leaf is a beer place in our neighborhood that just happens to have the BEST french fries with garlic aioli and a bajillion delicious Belgian beers to choose from. It's a favorite of both of us for sure. So we get there and they seat us at the EXACT same table where we sat on our first date! Nick did not plan that part, but he said when they sat us there he knew for sure it was the perfect time to propose, except for one thing: it was Friday the 13th. And who in their right mind would propose to a girl on Friday the 13th? So we drank some beers, had some delicious food, and came home and went to bed.

The next morning I was busy getting ready for my friend Stasi's shower/bachelorette party in the 'burbs that afternoon. I was rummaging around in my closet when I heard Nick's voice behind me. "I think you need something else to wear to the shower today", he said. I turned around, and he was down on his knee, and asked me to marry him! I was totally surprised, and of course I said yes! He said he had wanted to ask me the night before, but thought it was bad luck to ask on Friday the 13th.

So now I'm engaged! And I have to say, everything is better with a diamond ring on your finger. :)

good things

2008-06-11T15:23:00.000-07:00

I've learned this week that even when I'm not working a lot I can still find plenty to do. My latest job descriptions include: Nick's personal assistant (the pay is great, let me tell you); bugging the temp agency incessantly to find me some work, and as always, diva of my living room (singing arias to the walls and possibly the annoyed neighbors). Seriously though, I've been making a lot of progress with practicing and learning new stuff for audition season AND I had the most fantastic lesson yesterday. Terry B. is the greatest -- I'm so lucky to have such a fantastic and supportive teacher.

I am still teaching lessons here and there, and I'm teaching a class at the school in Plainfield on Monday nights in addition to my private students there. It's a middle school vocal techniques class, and I have to say, middle school girls can be a little scary. Monday was the first class, and the four girls in the class are very nice, if a bit giggly. So I've got to come up with some lesson plans for the next classes. I'm going to be teaching the class again in the fall, in addition to an elementary class and a class with five to eight year olds. Eegads! So this will good practice for that, I guess.

Thankfully, I'm starting to relax a bit and enjoy this down time. Meeting up with friends I haven't seen in ages, singing what I want to be singing (which is usually very different than what I get paid to sing) even if it is just in my living room and teacher's studio, working out (although not as much as I should - I have no excuse now!), and the best thing - spending evenings with Nick and cooking dinner for him, something I've hardly gotten to do at all this year. It's wonderful to be present in the lives of my friends and loved ones for a change. I'm planning to spend a week in Ft. Wayne at my parents' house before my friend Stasi's wedding on Fourth of July -- I'm already dreaming about spending a day at the country club pool with my sister, barbequeing, catching up with my mom and dad, relaxing in the peace and quiet. Then Nick and I are planning a trip to Indianapolis for a long weekend to visit my grandmother. I want to make a side trip to Greencastle and show Nick the DePauw campus. I haven't set foot there since I graduated, and I'm dying to see the brand new music building and eat a garlic cheeseburger at Marvin's, of course.

Good things. I heart summer.

A Musical Feast

2008-06-09T06:40:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned earlier, this past weekend we attended the annual Music of the Baroque benefit gala at the Four Seasons. I was donating my services as a musician in return for attending the event for free with a guest! MOB has been very good to me this year, and it is a truly wonderful organization, so I was more than happy to do so.

The evening began with a short concert of mostly Italian baroque music (I had a solo in a Vivaldi piece!), followed by a cocktail reception with delicious h'ors devours while they turned the ballroom from concert hall to dinner party. The dinner was amazing, followed by a delicious dessert of baked Alaska:

After dinner there was a raffle (we bid on one "foodie" prize but didn't win, booooo) and dancing with a very fun band. The whole evening was a fantastic time. Unfortunately both our cameras were sicky and in the shop, so we only managed to get a couple of crappy cell phone photos. Here's the best one from the evening:

I could get used to this whole fancy benefit attending stuff. :) Perhaps we'll make it a yearly event?

more wedding pics

2008-06-07T09:12:00.000-07:00

my brother, cousin's boyfriend, cousin, sister, and brother-in-law at the ceremony

slow dance with my honey

the lovely bride with our grandparents

Nick and Dave looking incredibly excited about the garter toss

Getting ready for the bouquet toss (I believe my exact words were "this better be the last f--ing time I have to do this")

For more pics check out my sister's blog! She definitely has a "best of" the ceremony/reception there -- saves me the time and pain of uploading! Thanks Elaine!

greetings from the unemployed

2008-06-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

It's amazing what gets done around here when mama's not working! Not only is the house spic and span, laundry done, healthy meals cooked, receipts for taxes filed and put away (the pile had grown enormous), dry cleaning dropped off and picked up, bridal shower and wedding gifts bought, hardworkouts accomplished, but yesterday I had time to make this beaut:

Our pile of computer print-out recipes and copies of Nick's mother's recipes had grown out of control as well, so I organized them all in this lovely little binder with plastic sheet protecters and made this beautiful cover. I'm so Martha. Next project: staining or painting my old dresser and buying house plants.

I've also had time to become very eco-friendly. For a few months now, I've been using this Sigg bottle instead of buying plastic bottles. As a singer, I drink a ton of water, and although I used to refill the plastic bottles numerous times before discarding, it's so nice to always have this one handy to fill up at a sink or drinking fountain wherever I may be.

It has saved me quite a bit of money in plastic bottles and reduced my carbon footprint at the same time! Win-win! This week, I was shopping at Target with the giftcard my cousin gave me for singing in her wedding, and I came across this:

An adorable, made-from-organic-materials bag that is perfect for greener grocery shopping! I've been contemplating cloth grocery bags for some time now, and this was my answer.

Now, it doesn't hold a ton so I may need to pick up another one at some point, but it's perfect for those midweek shorter grocery trips where you just need to pick up a few things. I figure whatever I can do to keep those annoying plastic bags out of my home, the better! (Although a few are useful as bathroom trashbags).

So that is what I've been up to these days. I'm hoping for a little work from my temp agency at some point -- so I don't go completely bonkers -- but I've been keeping myself busy. And tomorrow Nick and I will be attending (and I will be singing at) this event (for free, mind you, one of the best perks of being a singer) which we are really excited about. Nick had to rent a tux -- his first time wearing a tux!-- and I am trying to decide on a gown. Thankfully I've got a closetful, one of the other perks of being a singer. I'll hopefully have some good pics of us in our fancy digs at the Four Seasons, hobnobbing with the rich folks who keep our arts organizations in business! Bless you people!

Ah, back to the singer life.

2008-06-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

I just spent six hours traveling to Milwaukee and back for an audition that can only be described as lackluster. Have I lost my mojo? Possibly. Do I need a new starter aria? Definitely. Nothing a few lessons and coachings can't fix. I forgot what a "joy" it is to spend an entire day traveling only to sing for five minutes and feel completely unappreciated by the panel. Kind of a kick in the pants after a wonderful weekend of family wedding fun. Friday after Nick finished working and I finished singing a funeral mass, we hit the road and traveled to Kalamazoo for the wedding of my cousin Katy. A terrific time was had by all! The wedding was outdoors on Gull Lake near Kalamazoo, Michigan, and despite a little wind, the weather held up beautifully. I'll have some more pics to share soon, but here a few my Mom sent me today:

Nick enjoyed a stogie and some brews...
(I sang at the wedding, hence the corsage)

my cousin Ang and my sister Elaine

the whole fam

The wedding was held at the gorgeous W.K. Kellogg Manor House, which was once used as a summer home for the Kellogg family. We got to walk around the whole house and peek in all the different rooms, which have been restored to look like they did in the 1920s. The actual ceremony took place by the lake, and the reception took place inside the house and on the patios surrounding it. Very cool venue. More pics forthcoming!

(wish i was) back home again...in indiana

2008-05-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Memorial Day weekend everybody! I hope that you are enjoying it, wherever you may be. The news stations cannot stop talking about how the high gas prices are causing everyone to stay home this year, but walking down my usually-hopping-but- strangely-deserted street at 11:30 pm last night led me to believe otherwise. We, on the other hand, are spending this holiday weekend at home, mostly because we will be traveling to Kalamazoo for the nuptials of my cousin Katy next weekend. I am more than happy to chill at home this weekend. There's really only one place I'd rather be, and that is here:

Ever since I was born (and long before), my family has gathered every Memorial Day weekend at my maternal grandparents house in Speedway, Indiana, to celebrate the running of the Indianapolis 500. When we were kids, we would run around with our cousins, hold our own mini-500 on big wheels in my grandparents' driveway, eat way too much sugar and fried foods (courtesy of our grandmother), and watch all the crazy drunk people camping out in the streets. My father has attended nearly every running of the race since 1973 (with the exception of last year when he had to attend my cousin's graduation in Kansas). As my cousins and my siblings and myself got older, we started bringing friends and boyfriends/girlfriends to the festivities until the house was bursting with people. I myself have attended three races (maybe four?), but church jobs, singing gigs, etc., have kept me away for several years. I'm hoping to take Nick next year--the race is about as American as it gets, and it's something you really just have to experience at least once in your lifetime.

In other news, I'm feeling back to my old self again after a great voice lesson yesterday, several good hard workouts this week, and giving the house a severe cleaning. I'm getting my mind back where it needs to be in order to make this a productive summer and take my career to the next level. But for now, I'm going to relax and enjoy the weekend -- maybe (finally) some warm weather?

Cheers to the holiday weekend!

back

2008-05-21T07:36:00.000-07:00

Don't worry everyone, I'm fine. It was a pretty stressful and emotional twelve days of company, but I got through it. Maybe not as gracefully as I had hoped, but I think all the visitors had a decent time, and I think I learned a few important lessons.

The recent goings on around here were stressful and emotional for many reasons that I can't go into here on the ol' blog. Until now, I hadn't had to attend too many of Nick's family functions, so I learned a little something about compromise. The wedding was beautiful, the reception was a good time. And that's really all I can say about that. Elusive, I know.

And now I'm trying to get my life back in order. I can hardly believe that 2008 is practically half over. It's kind of scary, really. On one hand, I'm very happy with everything I've accomplished so far this year, but on the other hand, I feel like I have so much to do now. I worked very hard this year to make my living singing and teaching, and now most of the gigs are finished, and it's time to get back out on the audition circuit and try to get new gigs. Many things will start up again in the fall, like teaching and Music of the Baroque and church gigs, but I need to make a step forward in my career, I need to one-up myself if I want to get ahead. And that means I have to spend the summer working very hard to prepare for audition season. Summer is not typically a time when I've done my best work. The past two summers were pretty dreadful as far as getting ready for the audition season -- two summers ago I was suffering major panic and anxiety attacks, and last summer I was involved with a terrible production that ate up all of my time. I'm not sure what I need to do to make it better this year, but I'm going to figure it out.

And now I must get to the task of putting my life back in order--literally. There is a mountain of laundry that needs tackling, and an apartment that needs a good cleaning, and I told Nick I would cook dinner tonight since I'm not working today. And I should try to go the the gym at some point. I've got a bridesmaids dress to fit into in just over a month, and I'm having flashbacks of how tight the last 'maids dress was, plus I've eaten like a pig since the company was here. Eegads.

Here's a few pics:

I'll post more later, the pic uploader stopped working, per usual.

losing, losing....lost it

2008-05-15T14:33:00.000-07:00

redacted post

mayhem (Greek style)

2008-05-12T10:41:00.000-07:00

It's mayhem here right now, so forgive me if the posts become rather few and far between. If I've learned anything from the past few days it's this: I am not ready to have a child. I treasure my alone time, tidy apartment with nice things, dinners out, and peace and quiet far too much at this point to have to put an end to it all. I'll let you know when the motherhood twangs kick in again. It may be a very long time.

The situation here is rather sitcom-esque. There are four people living in this house, two of whom are bilingual, two of whom are not. I'll leave it to you to figure out which is which. I have learned the key phrases "What are you doing?" and "Stop it!", and I'm quickly adding more to my Greek vocabulary. Angelo is warming up to me, despite my not being able to say much of anything that he understands. He calls me something that sounds like "Memily" or "Mamily". It's pretty cute.

I managed to keep my OCD at bay for about three days, but when I woke up this morning and found Rice Krispies smashed into every available surface of my house, I had to clean it up immediately. I told Nick's sister, it's not that I'm irritated that it's there, I just can't NOT clean it up. It's just who I am. I'll never be the Mommy who can just ignore messes and be unphased by it all. I admire those people, I do. But I accept the fact that I'll never be one of them.

I'm enjoying some quiet time in the house now while Nick is at work and Chrysanthe and Angelo are at the Lincoln Park zoo. Then I'll be heading out to Plainfield to teach lessons. Things are so out of the ordinary here that I've nearly forgotten I still must do my work. Luckily there isn't too much of it this week. Because things are about to get even crazier with the arrival of Nick's best friend on Wednesday.

God help me. Allow me to be patient and not so OCD. Love, E

sunny day!

2008-05-06T08:17:00.001-07:00

It's a beauuuutiful day here in Chicago. Makes me wish I had a dog to take on a walk by the lake or a baby to push around in a stroller. Yesterday I took my first "lake walk" of the season. I headed down Foster with my sweatshirt and shorts on, and by the time I got to the beach I was hot and stripped down to just my tank top and shorts! It felt like summer! Today feels equally like summer, which is great fun except for the fact that my allergies are raging a battle against my body. Luckily I don't have a lot of singing to do right now, but I would like to be able to practice, and when I've got this much phlegm I don't even want to deal with it. Time to hit the neti pot and the steam, I suppose. Sigh.

Things are slowing down here, approaching a grinding halt actually. On one hand, I'm thankful for the upcoming break, and on the other hand, I'm fearful of the time off. Most of my students have informed me they don't plan to take lessons during the summer, which causes a major hit to the finances, and with no church job or chorus gigs, things are looking to be very slow indeed for the summer. If I get too bored, I might consider (and I'm shuddering even typing this) temping, but I've got several projects in mind, not least making a new audition recording and getting my shit together for fall auditions. Now that it looks like we're staying in this apartment for at least another year, I want to paint the dining room and stain a dresser and do a few more home-improvement projects. Just call me Sally Homemaker. With all that plus the summer wedding season, I should have plenty to keep me busy. Keep me out of the poorhouse? Maybe not. But I've done alright so far this year, and I think I have enough nuts stored for the "winter" to get me though. We shall see.

Two days until Nick's sister and nephew arrive! We went a little nuts at Target on Friday night buying toys for the little guy and ended up with the following:

One Sponge Bob folding table, one Mr. Potato Head, one Dora soccer kit, one Plah-Doh kit, Dora toothpaste and toothbrush, plastic cups, kiddie shampoo. We are ready!

And here is our new living room. We recently acquired this lovely shelf and chair and ottoman. The room is now complete! I haven't gotten everything I want onto the shelf yet; it's somewhat of a work in progress. I really want a plant and some cool bookends. But I think it really ties the room together!

I'm going to go enjoy this summery week while it lasts!

whirlwind

2008-05-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

So, I'm finally back home and life is returning to normal after that insane month on the road. On Sunday night, the PPS hit me pretty hard. Wait, what is PPS, you ask? Oh my friends. PPS is a very serious condition afflicting performers of all kinds. Its symptoms are not unlike those of depression: sleeping inordinate amounts, feelings of worthlessness and sadness, seeking comfort in food and booze. POST PERFORMANCE SYNDROME. In her groundbreaking 1998 book, Power Performance for Singers, Ms. Shirlee Emmons warns of the disasters of post-performance syndrome. It was upon reading this book in college that I realized just how insane singers really are. Although much of the book is downright nuts, the post-performance syndrome is very real. And by Monday morning, I was feeling it. I was thrilled to be home, elated to be with Nick again and not have to stay in another Super 8 or teach another child choreography. But I was feeling...low. OFY was my biggest, best gig thus far and it was over (until fall). I was faced with the idea of returning to the audition world, to my teaching jobs, and to normal, non-tour life. The thrill of performing a role was over for the time being.

I stayed in bed Monday morning until eleven. Then I headed to the gym in an attempt to get some positive energy going (and to work off those five pounds I most likely gained on the road). It felt good to be out on my street, that strip of Andersonville that I love so much. I went to the grocery and got excited to actually cook food again. You see, this is not the first time I've been afflicted with PPS, so I know what steps to take to overcome it. By Tuesday I had no time to even consider feeling bad -- I had to sing two outreach concerts for Music of the Baroque, then race to Palatine to teach lessons, then race back downtown to sing for the big deal MOB conductor. It was an insane day, but I made it through, and I sang a damn good audition (moonlight audition at 9:20 pm, Robert!). The MOB chorus director asked me to do a solo in the outreach concerts, which I nailed and got tons of positive feedback from fellow members and the director. So I've turned things around since Monday morning and I'm feeling like myself again. I've been a bit worried about how much I've been using my voice as opposed to how little I've been resting it lately. Things feel ok, but I know that it's time for a rest. One thing I learned from my previous vocal health crisis is to LISTEN to what my body is telling me. My voice is telling me it's time to shut up for awhile. Luckily I have the ability to do that this month. When you're a freelance musician, it's awfully hard to say no to any gigs, but I'm starting to realize why they tell young singers that sometimes the best thing you can do is say no. I have a very light singing summer, which I think is just what I need right now.

On a non-singing note, we are very busy here in chez Nick/Emily with preparations for "Greece Invades Our Apartment 2008". Nick's brother is getting married here in Chicago in two weeks, so we are housing his sister and her little boy (age three) and his best friend for several days. Chrysanthe (his sister) and her son arrive next Thursday, and Aki (Nick's best friend) arrives on the 14th. It's going to be a bit wild and crazy. Chrysanthe hasn't been to the States in eight years, and her son has never been here. He hardly speaks his own language, let alone English, so I'm a bit concerned about how I'm going to communicate with him. I'm hoping my Greek improves to the level of a three year old in the next month! Aki has never been to the States either, so Nick is really excited to show him around. It should be a really great time, but it will be a little stressful having all these people in my apartment. This weekend is going to be spent cleaning, buying things (like toddler food) and general errand running to prepare for their visit.

This has been an extremely long post, so I will sum it up: Life is crazy here. It never stops. And I love it.

The Land of Cheese

2008-04-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

en route to Platteville, WI

Brian, looking very official with his clipboard

the set goes up for our public show at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison

tying on the sun planet drop

et voila! Magic Flute set!

corralling children, per usual

Pamina aria

i summon the dragon!

And...blogger decided it didn't want to upload any more pics tonight. More later! I'm having a rather splendid time in Oshkosh this week. It has been A-MA-ZING to stay in the same place for three nights, as opposed to the past two weeks where we've had to drive nearly three hours every day to a different hotel every night. Yesterday we went jogging by beautiful Lake Winnebago, and today we went to the YMCA for a workout and then did some outlet mall shopping and had dinner at a fantastic Korean restaurant in Appleton. Tomorrow we head to Madison, where we get to stay at our director's house for the night--which means a free meal and hot tub time! Our director is totally awesome and hospitable.

That's all from the land of cheese!

blogneglect

2008-04-21T16:49:00.000-07:00

Tour is eating me alive you guys. Thankfully, only four more days and then I'm home for good. I've stayed in nearly every Super 8 in the state of Wisconsin and several in Illinois, some nice and some definitely awful. I could easily do the show in my sleep (and at 9:30 am it sometimes seems that way) and I could probably put up our set in five minutes flat.

me putting up our set in five minutes flat

I will seriously post some more pics later, but I just fell asleep on my keyboard typing this, so I'm going to have sleepies now. I'm in Oshkosh right now. I type that more to remind myself than anything else.

Muffins!

2008-04-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

From the genius that brought us "OMG Shoes" comes....MUFFINS! This has been putting us in hysterics all week, so I needed to share it on the blog.

Tour is going well, exhausting, but fun. We're currently in Platteville, WI, which is almost to Dubuque, Iowa. It's actually kind of pretty here, so I'll try to take a few shots tomorrow. And there is a whirpool in this Super 8, which made it an uber wonderful day. We ordered pizza in to the hotel tonight instead of going out, and I got to watch the new Office episode, which I wouldn't normally get to do at home on a Thursday -- I'd be at church! Now I am super tired so I must get to sleepies -- for some reason I can't shake this respiratory stuff. Not enough sleep, eating poorly, bad air in hotels, interacting with a bajillion children every day -- it's certainly a recipe for illness. I need to try to work on that next week if I ever want to actually feel good during a show. On the plus side, I can probably sing Ach ich fuhls half-dead at this point, and sing it pretty damn well. I'm thinking that means I should add it to my list? Can't decide.

And I will leave you with my favorite quote of the week: My Papageno for this week, Brian Hotchkin said of being on tour: "We're living on the fringes of society, like crack whores". Yes, after five Super 8 hotels in five nights, I do indeed feel this way....

More later from the fringes!

the tour continues

2008-04-08T15:28:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Champaign-Urbana, home of the University of Illinois! The Super 8 here is a breath of fresh air compared to the one we were at in a southern suburb of Chicago last night. It looked like a bombed out building in post Cold War Russia, the hallways reeked of smoke, and there were lots of shady characters hanging out in the lobby. There was a large sign at the front entrance that said "NO GUESTS AFTER 9:30 pm" -- ????. I imagine to keep the prostitutes away? Luckily Nick came to stay with me so he could take my car back to the city. It was a long day yesterday, what with our 1:30 show in Palatine, my regular Monday teaching in Plainfield, then to the south suburbs to the hotel. Today's shows in Olympia Fields were fun, especially since we got to do two shows at one school (it's SO nice not to have to re-load the set and head to a different school in the afternoon) and -- my mom came! She really wanted to see the shows, and these were the closest ones to her, so she drove up to see me. She's such a supportive mommy.

Tonight we are going to find a cute dinner spot near the University and chill at the hotel. No whirlpool, unfortunately. :( I am feeling much better now and my voice is pretty much back to normal, thank goodness. It's nice to finally be well for a day of shows! Tomorrow our shows are around here but then it is back to Wisconsin for the remainder of the week. We have a public show in Madison on Saturday morning, and Nick is coming up to spend the weekend with me. I won't be going home until Friday the 18th which feels like a really long time at this point, but I'm sure it will fly. It's really nice to have a break from the usual daily grind, although I think moving from hotel to hotel will get wearing pretty fast. I have my camera and cable so hopefully I'll have some pics to share soon!

More later!

tour blog update

2008-04-03T20:31:00.001-07:00

The shows today went well, despite feeling as though my head was in a thick fog. Unexpectedly, our artistic director and development director attended the first show this morning -- my first show in two months-- so the pressure was on. But she seemed really happy about the performance and only had a couple of notes for me. I only forgot a couple of things, and everybody thought I sounded great even though it sounded weird in my head. I seem to have lots of sinus pressure in my head right now which is making my voice not sound or feel right to me. I've literally been taking Tylonel or Nyquil every 4 to 6 hours so I have no idea if my fever is gone yet, but I'm guessing it is. It's nice to be in an actual real city and not a weird mountain town like my last tour week. We've had lots of delightful meals in local cafes and restaurants, and this Super 8 has got to be one of the nicest I've seen. It has a whirpool, so after our shows today we hit the jacuzzi for an hour, then napped in our rooms til dinner. Tour can be lots of fun when you have the right people, no snow storms, and no major illness involved. :) I'm looking forward to the next three weeks. However, the costumes smell like poo by now and the van has seen better days. It is basically a filthy mess. I think I'm going to take a few of the shared costume pieces home and wash them this weekend since I have to wear them for the next three weeks. Gross.

Tomorrow we have to get up ungodly early to drive an hour north to Algoma for a 9:30 am show, then I have to drive like a bat out of hell back to Chicago and pray that I get there on time to teach. It's going to be an exhausting day, but at the end of it will be my Nick and hopefully a couple of drinks. We start tour in Chicago next week, so I don't have to go anywhere over the weekend! Sweet deal! More later from tour central...

the land of cheese

2008-04-02T15:33:00.001-07:00

Well, in a strange turn of events I now find myself in Green Bay, WI for OFY. One of the other Paminas fell ill this week and the director called me this morning, pleading with me to drive up and do the remaining shows this week. I'm not feeling so hot myself (seem to be coming down with a bit of a cold), but I can still sing, so I told her I would do it. I made a billion phone calls, canceling and rescheduling various things for the next several days, then got on the road by 12:30 for the two hundred mile trip up to Green Bay. It actually went very quickly, as there was little to no traffic, so now here I am at the Green Bay Super 8, getting ready to go have dinner with the gang. We've got two shows tomorrow and one Friday morning, then I will dash back to Chicago to make my teaching in Palatine in the afternoon. It's going to be a crazy couple of days, but hopefully I've now endeared myself to OFY that they will hire me back next year. :)

Other than crazy car trips, the week has been fairly uneventful. The St. Matthew Passion concerts went swimmingly, both were nearly sold out, which made for very exciting performances. Despite it's EXTREME length, the audience seemed to really love it. I'm completely smitten with the music of J.S. Bach. It's just so enthralling. I'm hoping to work up some oratorio arias this summer and coach them with a colleague from MOB.

So that's about all the news from the midwest. I was feeling very midwestern today as I drove through the nothing-ness of Wisconsin. As I drove through Sheboygan, I just had to call Skafish (my bf who lives in NYC) to leave her a message about livin' the dream. You see, we always used to joke that we'd end up singing at Sheboygan light opera (who knows why we chose that city) and here I am, not so far from it. But a gig's a gig, as you come to realize in this biz, and I'm pretty fond of this one. So here we go, tour blog part deux....

bo-ring post

2008-03-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry no Easter pics to post yet...I'm waiting on my Mom to send them to me, but since she's helping my Grandma with her chemo this week and her uncle died, I think we'll have to forgive her. Yes, my grandma has cancer (again), for those that did not know. I don't usually talk about stuff like that on here, mostly because I don't like to see in writing that it's actually happening, but she is going to be just fine. She beat it once before and she'll beat it again. The End.

My week has been pretty busy, what with the St. Matthew Passion (SMP) rehearsals, teaching, and chaperoning a field trip to the opera. If I didn't feel old enough already, being a "chaperone" really drove it home. Today, however, was pleasantly unbusy, and I actually had time to go to the gym, bake some brownies for a choir party tonight (our choir is always having parties, it's awesome), and meet Nick for lunch downtown. Since he's been back from Greece, we have spent very little time together besides sleeping, so it was nice to sit down for a meal and talk, even if only for an hour.

Our rehearsals for the SMP with the conductor this week have been fantastic. This woman is just the most amazing conductor. It is so inspiring to sing with her, and I've found myself getting very choked up in rehearsals. I'm going to have to reign it in for the concerts though, because I can't be blubbering up there while trying to sing a pianissimo chorale. But I tell you what, if you want to hear the most incredible setting of the passion story and some of the most beautiful music on earth, get yourself to a performance of Bach's SMP. If you're in Chicago, come on down to the Harris theater in Millenium Park on Monday night at 7:30. You won't be sorry (unless you're like my friend Amanda's mom and just can't handle multiple da capo arias).

That's about it from my not-so-exciting life. I will be leaving for three weeks of tour on April 7th, which I'm pretty excited about. It's going to be like a three week vacation away from all my students, which I could really use right about now. Plus performing a role I love and hanging with all my fabulous colleagues in random tiny Wisconsin towns. I'm trying to persuade Robert to audition for OFY for next year. The only thing that could possibly make OFY a better gig were if Robert and I were touring Wisconsin together. That would be nuts.

Happy almost Friday everyone!

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry again, no blogging this week, but it was Holy Week, and I was entertaining a guest, so I have excuses. This will be short because I am very tired, but I will be sure to follow up tomorrow or the next day with some pics and a better post. Mom's visit was tons of fun, we ate lots of delicious food and shopped and drove through one crazy snowstorm and had a fantastic Easter brunch at my church choir director's house with all my fellow paid church-giggers. And I fetched Nick from the airport this evening, and he has been snoring loudly since about 9 pm, so life is pretty much back to normal for me. Until this week when I have a million St. Matthew Passion rehearsals. It's going to feel a little strange to re-kill and re-resurrect Jesus next week, but Music of the Baroque couldn't compete with the churches of the city of Chicago during Holy Week. There just aren't enough paid choristers to go round, I suppose.

That's all from this end. Hope you all had very happy Easters. I know I did.

st. patty's

2008-03-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

Yikes! It's been a week since I blogged! Although I thought the time while Nick was away would creep slowly along, it has actually passed very quickly. My week was busy with rehearsals and teaching, but I managed to have a few dinner and lunch dates with friends. Some nicer weather finally came our way which put me in a fantastic mood for most of the week -- not having to wear my giant comforter coat and feeling the sun shining down on my face made this Chicago gal extremely happy! Spring makes me want to shop! I treated myself to a couple of new clothing items this week and this lovely springy table runner and candles from Crate and Barrel:

Now I really need to have a dinner party...

In other news, my weekend has been somewhat of a flashback to younger, more irresponsible days...yesterday I attended at St. Patty's Pub Crawl in the Lincoln Park neighborhood with my friend Jessica, her husband, and their friend from out of town. I was really pumped about the awesome t-shirt I got (for free!) to wear for it:

(my camera is broken and Nick has his in Greece, so I am taking these pics with the camera on the computer. They come out like mirror images for some odd reason...)

I joined up with the group at about 2:00 pm after my St. Matthew Passion rehearsal. We started with lunch and beers at a pub in Bucktown, then took at cab over to LP, where the scene was ridiculous. Drunk people in green everywhere. It was definitely not my usual scene, but it was fun to run around to all the different bars, and I saw no less than 5 people I knew from either high school or DePauw. That's Chicago for you. By about six we had had enough of the bars on the crawl, which were all ridiculously crowded, noisy, and no specials, so we headed to some dive-ier bars that were less crowded, cheaper beer, and more fun. We ended the night at Arturo's Tacos in Bucktown, which was quite possibly the best tacos I've ever tasted. Jessica's husband is Guatemalan, so he knows his Mexican food. I came home at midnight and promptly went to bed since I had to get up for a rousing Palm Sunday service this morning. Ride on, King Jesus!

So thus begins Holy Week. My week is looking pretty fantastic, since the high school where I've been teaching is on spring break, which means I only have my afternoon teaching this week. And...my mom is coming to stay from Wednesday to Sunday!!! I'm so excited! Wednesday night we are going to see Jersey Boys, which should be great. No plans for Thursday, besides attending (working) Maundy Thursday service at church. Friday we're planning to go to Ikea in the morning, which is right by where I teach in Palatine in the afternoon. Mom's never been to Ikea, and I think she's going to love it. Saturday will probably be shopping and a fantastic meal somewhere, and Sunday is Easter of course, followed by soloists brunch at our director's house. And then Sunday night I will get to pick up Nick at the airport! Good things.

Now I must go scrub every inch of my apartment in anticipation of Mom's arrival. Can't have her thinking she didn't bring me up right, keeping a dirty house. :) Happy St. Patty's, everyone!

ramble ramble

2008-03-09T22:09:00.001-07:00

It's midnight on Sunday night, and thanks to daylight savings time and a two hour nap this afternoon, I'm not the least bit tired. I've watched two On Demand movies (Waitress and The Nanny Diaries, both pretty good) and don't really feel like reading. So I figured I may as well blog. It's funny the things you do when you're not used to being in your place all by yourself. Today I went around looking at all my photo albums that are in various places around the house. I find myself becoming very nostalgic and weepy when I'm alone sometimes. Today I was looking at some pictures of my semester abroad, easily one of the best times in my whole life. Do you ever find yourself missing yourself? I wouldn't trade my current self with any of my old selves, because it took a lot of work to get where I am emotionally and otherwise. Much as I like to complain about the everyday minutiae, I love my life. But sometimes I look back on that girl who took Europe by storm, and I miss her a little bit. Obviously my circumstances were very different then, seeing as though I was a happy-go-lucky college student, but I lived life there in a way that I've never been able here in the States. Maybe this is telling me something....

Anyways. A whole weekend alone in one's giant apartment will apparently make one a bit loopy! The weekend turned out to be sort of enjoyable, despite freezing temps, missing Nick, and general grouchiness. Friday night after rehearsal I went to a "girl party" at my new friend Jessica's. Jessica, you'll remember, is my colleague at the music store in Palatine with whom I often drink beer on the train. So she invited me to a girly party at her apartment in Bucktown, complete with cosmopolitans and lots of yummy snacks. It was fun to meet and hang out with some different people, something I don't do often these days, and I think my friendship with Jessica will continue. And it's always great to know musicians who aren't classical ones, keeps it real.

Saturday I was a wee bit hungover, and I slept most of the day. I ventured out of the house in the early evening for a sushi date with some Northwestern friends, then came back home to study some Bach and veg out on the couch. That's gotta be one of the dorkiest Saturday nights in the history of the world. Thanks to daylight savings, it was rough getting up for church this morning, but I poured some Starbucks down my throat (along with a Mucinex and a gallon of water) and managed to sing some decent Bach. He's a real stinker, that J.S. After church, I had a lovely brunch with church friends Ryan and Sarah and Ryan's boyfriend Michael, then came home and passed out on the couch for two hours. Oh how I love a Sunday afternoon nap.

So that was my solitary weekend. It wasn't so bad, but I am missing my Nick. Especially on Sunday nights when we are always together relaxing at home and cooking dinner. He's having a swell time in Greece though, 70 degrees and sunny! He spent most of the weekend with his sister and her family and visiting his grandma in the village. This week he starts work on the taxes and other business-y errands dealing with the properties. I'm hoping this week will fly, and I think it will, since I have a million rehearsals and all my regular teaching. Then next week (Holy Week, God save us church-jobbers), my Mom is coming to stay with me for five days! Actually, my church job is pretty tame during Holy Week (compared to my last church job - 10+ calls during HW), so I'll have plenty of time to spend with Mom! Should be lots of fun.

Well, I guess I'll try to sleep now. Hope you all have a terrific Monday. Hang in there Chicagoans (and others in cold cities). I feel spring is near, it's just got to be...

blue funk

2008-03-07T09:52:00.000-08:00

I've somewhat recovered from my blue funk (when I was in middle school one of my friends' moms used to always say her daughter was in a "blue funk" about something), probably due to the fact that it's Friday and there are above freezing temps in our future. Last night I took the wise Allison's advice, and upon coming home from rehearsal, checked in every room and closet and under every bed, then bolted all doors before sitting down to my Thai food and Sex and the City on the tube. Might as well take advantage of watching girly television without any complaints from the peanut gallery. :) I didn't sleep as poorly as I thought I would, only waking a few times in the night and getting back to sleep fairly quickly. So I'm feeling pretty good on this Friday morning. I've accomplished nothing this morning besides doing 20 minutes of yoga in my living room and waiting for Nick's call saying that he arrived in Athens safe and sound. That and watching inane segments on the Today show -- I swear, that show gets more ridiculous by the day. If I have to hear one more "Eat This, Not That" segment.... I refuse to believe that most Americans do not know that a green salad with dressing on the side is healthier than a taco salad from Wendy's. Just as I chose to eat greasy pad thai at 10:00 pm last night, knowing full well what a "poor food choice" I was making, people choose the taco salad because it tastes better and they just don't care. Doesn't the Today show have any more groundbreaking stories to report? I would switch morning shows, but the other choices are Regis and Kelly or the lame people on Fox News. Or maybe I should go to the gym instead.

I'm going to have to spring into action soon, however. My day consists of driving to Palatine to teach for 3.5 hours and then making the ridiculous trek to the south side for St. Matthew Passion rehearsal. In rush hour traffic. I've done it once before, and I already know it's not going to be pretty. The train schedule does not work out, so I'm forced to drive. I've allotted 1.5 hours for the drive, and I hope to God it's enough. Not that there are any serious consequences for being late, but I like to be professional. After rehearsal I may meet up with friends for drinks, but maybe not. I've got this Bach thing on Sunday for which I'm really unprepared and couldn't attend the dress rehearsal, and I need to spend a good part of Saturday looking at it. Saturday night it's looking like a return to my favorite all you can eat sushi joint in Lincoln Park with some Northwestern friends. So I guess I won't be so lonely this weekend after all. Bach and sushi, what more do I need?

Have a good one, kids.

mrrrrrrgh part deux

2008-03-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

I've just been alerted to the fact that Sunday is spring forward Daylight Savings bullshit. Which means that at 9:30 am, as I'm trying to croak out a ridiculously difficult under-rehearsed Bach duet with period orchestra for our performance of Cantata #9, it will actually feel like 8:30 to my vocal cords. Yippee!

Hi, I'm Debbie Downer. Have we met?

mrrrrrrrrrgh

2008-03-06T06:19:00.000-08:00

Nick is leaving for Greece tonight. I've been doing all I can to help him get ready, since he's been working long hours all week and hasn't had a lot of time for trip errands. Not that I've been sitting on my duff -- it's just that my free hours of the day are usually ones in which stores are always open and not crowded. I guess that's one of the (few) pros of my working hours. I can go to Target or the dry cleaners at 10:00 am on a Tuesday. Goody.

Anyway. Yesterday I had a little meltdown/hissy fit about not getting to go to Greece, and I realized something. I've basically been going full throttle since September without much of a break or vacation of any kind. The fall was full of audition trips and preparing for said audition trips while trying to build my teaching business. Even at Christmas, I had a paltry four days off. Then it was off to Madison, followed by more teaching, and now another Music of the Baroque concert and an entire month of touring in Wisconsin. I feel so lucky that my teaching business is thriving and that I've got singing gigs, but....I NEED A BREAK. I'm feeling the burnout big time. You know when you say something over and over and over and after awhile it doesn't make any sense to you anymore? That's how I feel about teaching singing. I've come to realize that teaching is something you can't do for eight hours a day, and you need to step away from it to gain perspective every now and again. I've tried to explain breathing and support to so many people that I've started to confuse myself. I've tried to make mousy, breathy voices strong; and i feel like I've had some success, but sometimes when nothing is working I just want to throw my hands in the air and give up. I could REALLY use a week off to just be. It would be nice to spend that week in Greece or some warm climate, but I'm not even that picky. I'd be happy to just sit at home, or take a trip to my parents', whom I haven't seen since Christmas.

The thing with freelancers is that we decide when we take our vacations. And when the gigs are rolling in and the teaching business is thriving, it's pretty difficult to go away from all that. I have a feeling that I'm going to get my break come summer, but since it's March and I've got weeks and weeks of work looming ahead of me, I'm feeling pretty pissy that I don't get any much-needed time off.

So I'm grumpy today. And I'm going to miss Nick a lot. And I'm scaaaared of sleeping in our apartment by myself. Could I rent a dog for a couple of weeks? One that doesn't poop in the house? That would be great.

oh the sex

2008-03-03T10:16:00.000-08:00

Um, can we talk about how excited I am for this movie to come out? The trailer absolutely gives everything away, but I'm still giddy. What can I say? I'm a sucker for the fashion, glamour, and sex.

Hope your Monday is a little less bleak than mine -- it's raining/sleeting/snowing and back to freezing here in Chicago.

yummy saturday

2008-03-01T12:14:00.000-08:00

MmmmmmmSaturday. Today, I'm savoring my one day off a week and simultaneously celebrating the advent of spring. Yes, it's a paltry 35 degrees in Chicago today, but the sun is shining, and it's March 1st which means I have survived the two most depressing months of the year. I went outside in only my Gap puffer vest with the fur hood (well, I was wearing a long sleeve tee and jeans too) and was rocking my newly repaired Ralph Lauren sunglasses. Although I've given up manicures and pedicures, I decided to treat myself to a pedicure today. It was a rough week (more about that in a sec), and I really needed to do something nice for myself. I chose a very springy color from the new OPI Indian collection:

My new mantra: pedicures are not a necessary monthly maintenance treatment (I can clip my toenails myself), but rather a rare treat for when I'm feeling a bit low. And you know what? I enjoyed it a lot more today knowing that it was a treat and not going to happen again for awhile.

I am continuously thrilled that I can get whatever I need by walking around the corner from my apartment. Drop off the dry cleaning, fix the sunglasses, mail a letter, grab a Starbucks, get a pedicure, browse an antique store or a bookstore, get some sushi or a Swedish pastry...Andersonville is the best. It's days like today that I never want to leave the city. But talk to me on laundry day or when I can't find a parking spot and that's another story...

Back to the not-so-stellar week. I had a couple of twelve hour days this week, and while I'm doing things I love, a twelve hour day is bound to get to anybody. Then on Wednesday night I had an altercation with a parent of one of my students. It was more of an annoyance than anything major, but it made me so angry that I spent all Wednesday night stewing about it and had the first insomniac night I've had in a long time. I didn't have any Ambien, so I took two Nyquil, and when that failed to produce sleep I took a Vicodin. At this point it was 6:00 am and Nick had just left for work, and I was hoping to sleep for at least three hours in preparation for the twelve hour day ahead of me. Suddenly, I became convinced that I was going to die a la Heath Ledger. Now, I doubt that one Vicodin and two Nyquil taken five hours apart from each other has ever killed anybody. But I called Nick in a panic, and he convinced me that no, I wasn't going to die, and I should just go to sleep. The man is a dentist, so obviously he knows.

Anyway, long rambly story getting even longer, yesterday I missed the train to Palatine thanks to idiot Chicago buses and cabbies. I knew it was going to happen at some point. Since Nick and I have been down to one car for the past two months (his car will FINALLY be fixed on Monday, hooray!), I have been taking the train to my teaching job in the suburbs on Fridays. The train station in Palatine is a block away from the place where I teach, so that part of it is really convenient, but it takes two buses to reach the station where I pick up the train. Several times I've had to get off the bus and get into a cab in order to get to the station in time, but lately I've had it down to a science and haven't had any problems. Until yesterday. Things were going fine until I got on bus number 2. Usually, the Chicago bus drivers drive like completely crazed, coked up lunatics, but somehow, I had gotten on the slowest bus in the city. I quickly got off the bus and hailed a cab, whereby I came in contact with the stupidest cab driver in the city. When I finally got him to understand where I wanted him to take me, it was too late. I had missed the train that would get me there on time to teach. The next train wasn't for an hour. I was screwed. And of course, the people at this particular place where I teach act like the world is ending, even though there are usually plenty of people working the floor (it's a music store) or the desk who are perfectly qualified to step in until I can get there. I'm teaching piano to six-year-olds, not curing cancer here, people. So by Friday evening, I was ready for a big fat drink. Luckily, my colleague Jessica, with whom I ride the train home on Fridays, brought me a giant Newcastle to enjoy on the ride home. Yes, you can drink legally on the suburban commuter trains here. It's brilliant.

Now I am relaxing and watching the E! True Hollywood story of Renee Zelwegger. Ah, craptastic, meaningless television. Nick is at a watch collectors gathering, but I'm going to go pick him up around 7:30 and I think we're going to go bowling. I don't know why, I just got the urge to bowl today. Hope you are all having a fantastic weekend!

le sigh

2008-02-27T08:10:00.000-08:00

where i am...

where i want to be...

Seriously...I CAN'T TAKE ANY MORE SNOW. It's beginning to take a toll on my mental health. And just when I had finally weaned myself from my therapist in a attempt to remedy my financial situation. But according to Tom Skilling, Chicago's favorite weather man, that whole global warming thing is about to turn in our favor. And I quote: "seventy degree days are not far in our future." !!!!!!!

In other news, I am exhausted. I taught for nine and a half hours yesterday between my job at the store in Palatine and my work at the public school for Music of the Baroque. I'm not going to be able to do too many more of those days -- it's a bit dangerous to put that many miles on my voice, plus it renders me completely unable to practice because I have to spend my non-working hours being silent. The good news is twofold: I made a LOT of money yesterday, and I can pretty much make my own schedule with the MOB job (haha, that rhymes) and rest my voice when it needs it. The work at the public school is so gratifying though. Most of these kids need a good mentor and are so darn excited to have a private lesson that it's infectious -- I went home absolutely beaming yesterday.

I've started to panic a bit about the summer, however. My church job takes a hiatus during the summer, and no church money = no loan payment money. Lots of students "take a break" from lessons for the summer, so I'm not sure I can count on the lesson money I've been making. And so far, no gigs to report. Unfortunately, I was sick for the Grant Park Chorus auditions, which was basically my last ditch hope of making any money singing this summer. So...I'm not sure what's going to happen. On the one hand, I'm looking forward to a relaxing summer of attending lots of weddings, spending time with friends and Nick, and enjoying myself; but on the other hand, I am highly anxious about being poor and not advancing my career. Plus, I'll need to coach and take lessons this summer in preparation for Audition Season 2008: Please Hire Me or I Might Do Something Rash. Any ideas, anyone? I really can't see myself going back to temping for thirteen bucks an hour, it would be too awful. My fleeting thought at the moment is to try to capitalize on wedding gigs. I have a friend who is a wedding planner and I've been pumping her for ages to hook me up. You might say, "why not try to save money for the leaner months?", and to that I give a resounding "HA!". I've already given up my therapist, manis and pedis, lattes, lunches out, and clothes shoppping -- and I'm still not doing so well. I blame it primarily on the loan payments and the ridiculous price of gas. Freakin' Northwestern and the economy.

Sorry if that last paragraph bored you to tears. My finances are so exciting, I know. They basically consume my thoughts for much of the day, so...I can't help but blog about it.

So, Nick is leaving for Greece next Thursday (the 6th) through the 23rd. I've never spent a night alone in our gigantic apartment, and the thought of it makes me a little nervous. Our apartment is completely gated and safe, but I'm thinking it will take a little getting used to for the first few nights. Attention all of my friends who think I've dropped off the planet: I will be calling you soon. Yes, it's lame that I am calling you when my boyfriend goes out of town, but honestly I haven't spent much time with him either these days. And the month of April will be completely consumed with OFY tour (three weeks in a row, whoaaaa) so I've got the month of March to be a good friend. And sing the St. Matthew Passion, which might be the hardest thing ever, which reminds me I need to download a recording so that I don't make such a poor showing of sight reading it as I did the other night at rehearsal. Happy Hump, kids!

weekend

2008-02-25T07:16:00.001-08:00

It was a lovely weekend, and now it's dreary Monday with a winter storm warning on the horizon. Sigh. We just can't win the battle against winter, can we? Of course, the storm is predicted to hit just as I need to make my 45 mile commute to my teaching job in the suburbs. My poor car is starting to see the effects of this miserable winter -- on Saturday I had to have my two front tires replaced. I had been driving around on a flat tire for who knows how long. Thank goodness for boyfriends who pay attention to these things, else I would probably have ended up stranded on the side I-90 somewhere, or worse.

Back to the lovely weekend. Friday night we headed to a dental convention party -- yes I said, dental convention party -- at Excalibur nightclub downtown. Nick spent Thursday and Friday at the McCormick Center at the annual dental convention and was subsequently invited to the after-party hosted by one of the dental supply companies. Two of his bosses were there and several people from one of the offices where he works. It was quite the party -- three floors, dancing, plenty o'booze, and plenty of dentists getting down and dirty (and drunk). Quite hilarious. We stayed for a couple of drinks, then went for some Thai food with his bosses. We stayed out much later than we are used to these days, so we basically collapsed into bed and slept late. Well, I did -- Nick is an early riser no matter what time he goes to bed.

Most of Saturday was taken up by the aforementioned tire replacement, but we were able to go have a meal at a greasy spoon around the corner while we waited for the car to be finished. We took the car to Sears auto, so after brunch we wandered around Sears and looked at appliances. Yes, I am officially old, I salivate over front loading washers and dryers and stainless steel refrigerators and oven ranges. Saturday was actually quite a lovely, sunny day and a balmy 40 degrees, so after the car was finished we continued wandering around our neighborhood and checking out some of the local home furnishing/antique stores. Again, I am old. Saturday night we had a delicious meal with our friends Ryan and Julia at a fairly new Indian place called Marigold that had gotten really good reviews. Ryan and Julia are our foodie friends, so we always have a lot to talk about with them -- newest restaurants tried, recipes, etc. Marigold was fantastic -- fun and innovative Indian inspired cocktails and delish favorite Indian dishes with a twist.

Sunday was extra long church, since I had to stay for a rehearsal for the Bach cantata we're doing in a couple of weeks: Christ lay in death's dark prison. Gotta love cheery Lenten music! After church we did our grocery shopping and I made a beef roast for dinner with a tomato Madeira confit. If blogger weren't being such a little bitch right now I would totes post some pics and the recipe, but I'm sick of dealing with it. I'll try to post it tomorrow. Now I must be off! Have a good week everybody!

v-day recap

2008-02-19T09:21:00.000-08:00

With all of my obnoxious complaining yesterday (I was just pissed about not having a paid day off for President's day, mmmkay?), I forgot to mention what a wonderful Valentine's weekend I had. Nick brought me a dozen roses when he got home from work on Thursday, and then we went to a fondue restaurant near our apartment. Now, some of you may think that fondue is outdated and annoying, and in several ways it is exactly that. Who wants to cook their own meat in a pot of oil? But I find it slightly amusing and the giant pots of cheese and chocolate that begin and end the meal are enough to cinch the deal for me. We had passed this place while driving several times, and since we love the fondue at Geja's, decided that we should try it.

It was a slight disappointment, I will say. The decor was what we expected...a little cheap and seedy looking. And a warning: the pictures on the walls are not well-secured, a man in front of us knocked one down with a slight sweep of his arm and sent glass flying everywhere. Yikes. It was totally packed for the holiday, and the service was terribly slow. We like a slow dinner, but this pushed the limits a bit. I mean, they aren't cooking anything back there, so we didn't understand what took so long to put some raw stuff on a plate. The cheese fondue was delicious though, so creamy and tangy and melt in your mouth. The dinner was a little pricey for what it was, and the drinks were preposterously expensive. Fondue is kind of a once a year type meal, and in the future we will definitely choose Geja's over Fondue Stube in a hearbeat. But the evening was fun, and we laughed a lot despite the sub-par dinner.
Fondue Stube was only the warm up for our Valentine's weekend -- Friday evening we saw Falstaff at Lyric. It's not my favorite opera by far, but it is very funny and entertaining, and the music is beautiful, especially Fenton and Nanetta's stuff. It was a lovely production, but I wasn't overly impressed with the Alice Ford. Since I had to come straight from work in Palatine with hardly a minute to spare (seriously, we ran in one minute before curtain), I ate a McDonald's cheeseburger for dinner at intermission that Nick had smuggled in for me in his coat pocket. Cheeseburger and a glass of champagne, what a delicious combination! After the opera, we headed back to our 'hood for a beer and some appetizers at Charlie's Ale House, our favorite local pub.
Saturday night was the fancy dinner night, and we had a fantastic meal at Cafe des Architectes. It was a very reasonably priced dinner for being in a fancy hotel on Oak Street. For appetizers, I had scallops and Nick had lobster bisque. Both were excellent. For entrees, Nick had beef tenderloin, which was very high quality and perfectly cooked, and I had duck breast. It was a little fattier than I prefer, but came with a declious butternut squash puree. For desserts we had a scrumptious flourless chocolate concoction and a banana torte. Top it off with a bottle of good merlot and you're got one fantastic meal! The weekend o' love was great -- I feel so lucky to be having my third Valentine's with Nick.
The rest of the week is busy with teaching and rehearsals. Gotta make the donuts. What's exciting about this week is that I finally get my driver's license back! I will no longer have to carry around my passport as my form of ID. I have been able to legally drive with the ticket they gave me serving as temporary license, but it has been rather annoying. Other than that, I'm doing what every other Chicagoan is doing right now...praying for spring to come quickly, and the ice on my street (and in my heart) to melt. Kidding. Not about the street though, that crap is dangerous.

why?

2008-02-18T11:44:00.000-08:00

Why is the grass always greener? Last August, when I quit temping, I was the happiest girl on the planet. And I must admit, it was a very good fall/holiday season, and despite money woes, I was pretty happy with the direction my career was headed. I'm still happy, opportunities are still popping up, but I've just been wishing it were... a little different. I drive WAY too much. I work weird hours. I don't like dealing with the parents of some of my students. And the money situation has not been improving as much as I'd hoped. I keep reminding myself that I'm singing and teaching singing for a living, which is basically my dream career, but sometimes I still wonder if I'm cut out for this lifestyle. I'm a homebody at heart, and I like being at home in the evenings with Nick, something that my current jobs don't allow. I like seeing my friends, something that never happens these days. I, like most humans, like comfort and security, something that my jobs don't really offer. I'd really really love a couple of paid vacation or sick days--unheard of! My recent trip to Wisconsin with OFY basically counted as a "vacation" as far as my other jobs are concerned, even though I was working my ass off the entire week. I'd give anything to be able to go with Nick to Greece in a few weeks, but I just don't think it's in the cards, unless I want to get fired and lose students.

Anyway, that's on my mind today. I know some of you singer friends will be annoyed but I beg you to consider the pros of your current situation. Lord knows I'm trying to focus on mine. And maybe someday I'll find that dream job that allows me to teach during the day and be home in the evenings save for when I'm rehearsing for some gig or other (can you say, Adjunct Professor of Voice at some small college near a large metropolis? Now that is my real dream job!) I've also been seriously considering going back to school for a Speech Pathology Masters and getting a job with an ENT who specializes in voice care. Ever since my voice issues in 2005, I've been really interested in helping people with voice problems, especially singers. And I think I could provide a really valuable psychological element -- because that's the hardest part for most singers recovering from an injury. Just thoughts at this point, but I could see myself being happy doing that. And sometimes I think I'd be happy living in Greece and having some babies and not really doing anything! It makes me feel good to look at all the options laid out before me -- they're endless, really.

Ah, Monday. You are a cruel mistress.

i heart valentine's day

2008-02-14T06:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day, readers! It's been a good day for me so far, and I hope you are all having fun with your lovahs or your awesome single selves. I woke up to a card on my desk from my honey -- and much to my delight, it was one of those cards that plays music! It made me laugh. We have a whole fun weekend of festivities ahead of us: tonight we're having dinner at a fondue restaurant near our apartment, tomorrow night we are seeing Falstaff at the Lyric, and Saturday night we are having dinner at this fabulous place. Now that I am feeling better and the voice is somewhat back to normal, I can look forward to all the fun Valentine's festivities.

And I had a good "business meeting" today with the Music of the Baroque chorus director and the music teacher at a high school right near my apartment. MOB asked me to join their outreach program, teaching private voice and aiding the choral director at a Chicago public school, and I am really excited about it! It's literally a ten minute drive from my apartment, it's daytime hours, the pay is pretty good, and the high school choral director is very cool. I sat in on her advanced chorus today and they were sounding fantastic. It will only be about four to eight hours a week, but it's going to be nice to have something to do during the day for a change, and hopefully it will mean I can have one weeknight off to spend at home with Nick. So I'm feeling good about that.

So go eat some chocolate, watch a sappy movie, wear red and pink, and draw hearts on your hand in pen. The Midwest Princess loves you, baby!

rambly

2008-02-13T13:50:00.000-08:00

Turns out, being a singer and voice teacher doesn't work too well when you don't have a voice! So I am a bum, out-of-work, singer/voice teacher this week. I wish I could say I was enjoying it, but I've pretty much been panicking non-stop since Monday night. I did accomplish one thing today: I drove to Kenosha to meet with my new accountant. He came highly recommended from another musician colleague, and I think it's going to be very worth the long drive. He hardly charges anything ($200!) and he said I was going to get about an $1100 return! That makes me very happy. Plus, he is teaching me about all the musician deduction thingies and how to organize my finances. Good things.

On the way home from Kenosha, I did a very Emily thing and tried to make a U turn on a deserted country road and got stuck in a snow drift. I was not sure where I was or how I was going to get out of the predicament (what did people DO before cell phones, seriously?), when God himself showed up in a giant white truck with a shovel on the front and a tow. For one moment, I guess God decided that he'd given me a little more than I could handle for the day and sent a messenger via man in giant white truck. So I was saved from my little mishap in a matter of minutes. I am now safely back in my apartment. Thank you, man in giant white truck.

Having no voice has left me lots of time for surfing the net, television watching, and reading my new book: The Other Boleyn Girl. It is a really fantastic book that I've just learned has been made into a movie starring Scarlett Johanssen and Natalie Portman! It's a very trashy book filled with sex, but in a sixteenth century way and mixed with historical facts, so it feels like you are being very intellectual as you read it. And now I'm watching Ina Garten -- if only I could just own a cheese shop in the Hamptons. Or maybe in France. I've been fantasizing about non-singing careers lately. And careers where you work normal daytime hours. And careers where you get paid to cook and travel.

February is the pits. And I'm being totally rambly. I think I'll go read about some sixteenth century sex now. And hope that my voice comes back really soon. I'm nothing without it, really.

sicky

2008-02-12T08:32:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the non-posting, kids. Remember that little nagging cough I mentioned in my last post? Well, it turned into full-blown illness. Fever, bad cough, nasal congestion...it was not pretty. Somehow, SOMEHOW (I still don't know how), I managed to perform two shows on both Thursday and Friday (Wednesday's shows were cancelled due to weather). I sounded pretty decent, too. But getting sick on the road is just about the worst place imaginable, and I was pretty miserable. Thankfully, the week came to an end, I came home and didn't leave the house all weekend. Nick cooked homemade chicken soup (he's such a dear) and we spent the entire weekend watching movies and television and me trying to get well. I am feeling better, but my cough is still pretty nasty, and now my voice is starting to go. I'm steaming and tea-ing and resting and trying not to freak out, but we singers have a tendency to freak out when our voices are not right.

So I'm going to go spend some more time steaming. I'll try to get some pics up from tour week soon. In the meantime, it may be pretty quiet on this end. Have a great week, everyone!

10:46 pm Exhaustion.

2008-02-05T20:46:00.000-08:00

Well, we had a full day of performing today! Hooray! But it looks like we're getting a whole crapload of snow tonight, so we'll see about tomorrow. The performances went splendidly, and it was SO much fun working with the kids. I loved every minute. But I must get to bed now -- oddly, today I developed a strange cough that I thought was dryness but seems to be moving into my chest. Great timing. But before I leave you, funny story of today:

We were all headed out to dinner and walking through the lobby of the Super 8, trying to be inconspicuous as there was a child's birthday party going on. I guess the Super 8 must have the only indoor pool in the area. So, we're walking by, and suddenly we hear, "it's those opera people!". A little girl comes running at me, screaming, "Emily!!!!!" (granted, her name was Emily too, so I'm sure that's why she remembered mine and not everyone else's). Apparently these kids had been at our show today. The mom said, "can you sing happy birthday for us?", so we launched into a very operatic, harmonized, dramatic rendition of happy birthday. It was adorable.

Yeah. Rock stars.

6:46 am We learn that school is closed where we are supposed to perform.

2008-02-04T19:59:00.000-08:00

Up at 5:00 am due to excitement, anticipation, nerves, and a not-so-comfortable hotel bed, I was raring and ready to go by 6:45 am for show #1 in Westby, WI. Due to oncoming sleet and snow, the school had closed for the day. So no show. We were told this often happens during the early weeks of tour, and of course we aren't paid if we don't perform since the show must be rescheduled. We were all dressed, made up, and packed to check out of the hotel, so we sighed loudly, found the Starbucks, then went out for some eggs. While we were enjoying our eggs, it began to snow...and snow. Fed, caffeinated, and happy, we began the fifty mile or so journey to our next hotel in Reedsburg, WI. Following the google map directions provided by our operations director, we took a crazy backroads journey through the hills (yes, there are hills here), passing several horse drawn buggies and Amish folk hanging their laundry out to dry (in a snow storm and 30 degrees-?) Approximately three hours later, we arrived in Reedsburg. Later, we discovered that for a mere fifteen or so additional miles, we could have taken the freeway and probably arrived a lot sooner (and saner). But we checked into the Super 8 in Reedsburg, where we would be staying for the next two nights. It was noon. We had the whole day in front of us.

We started by resting in our rooms for awhile. It had been a long morning, and we were all exhausted. A bit later, Kristin (our Queen of the Night for this week) and I decided to head across the street to the Pamida, a sort-of Walmart/Kmart type store, where our goal was to purchase a cheap bathing suit so we could go in the indoor pool and hot tub. It was between a Nike one piece for $35.99 or a black cami/boy short set that was technically in the lingerie section, but at $10 was much more the price range we desired. With black cami/boy short sets in tow, we headed back to the hotel, making a stop at the McDonald's next to the hotel for some Chicken Selects for lunch. After a short Mickey D's induced nap, we met up with Mark and David (our Tamino and Papageno, respectively), and had some swimming/whirpool time. I was whisked back to past family vacations when my sister and brother and I would get so excited to use the hotel pool (think, Anderson Holidome, Elaine!). Our family often stayed in very similar hotels, clean but no frills, and something about this Super 8 takes me straight back to those days. Later on, we all hopped into the van and headed to the only restaurant in town, Longeley's, a sort-of Applebee's crossed with a diner, crossed with a seedy bar. We all had decent burgers, beers, and salad bar, then came back to the hotel to rest up for what will hopefully be a busy day of performing tomorrow. I'm trying not to catastrophize (is that a word), but I'm envisioning us going home not having performed a single show this week due to school cancellations. Thank goodness the rest of my tour weeks are in April.

So here I am, 10:29 pm in the Super 8, watching reruns and blogging. I'll be popping half an Ambien and hitting the sack very soon. We're up early again tomorrow, hopefully to do a show and not just to eat eggs and drink Starbucks. I'll keep you posted.

Signing off.

10:02 pm Arrival at Excel Inn; La Crosse, WI

2008-02-03T20:52:00.000-08:00

Eight hour journey from Chicago comes to an end. Four singers, one pianist, one SUV, one transfer from said SUV to tour van, three hundred stops to pee, one dinner at Olive Garden, three stops for gas, one wrong turn and twenty miles driven in the wrong direction, one talk-thru the show, and finally, blissfully...arrival at hotel and bed. Unfortunately I forgot the camera cord, so no pics 'til I get home. But they will be excellent.

Must go to sleep, as must get up at 6:00 am in order to leave at 7:00 am to arrive at first school by 8:00 am for 9:30 am show. Then it's back on the road.

Tour life. Brought to you live and uncensored. Stay tuned.

l'il update

2008-02-02T14:58:00.000-08:00

So, I didn't totally blow it at the audition. The cadenza was shaky but I sang a great high C to end it. And I acted the hell out of it, so here's hoping. The most notable part of the audition was that I forgot my heels. My friend Mark picked me up, and I just ran out of the house without them, wearing my clunky snow boots. The hilarious part is that I did the exact same thing for the exact same audition last year. And the even more hilarious part is that I saw the same girl at the audition who loaned me her shoes last year. Gah. I've been doing this too long already. This year, unfortunately, she was wearing some crazy green shoes, which would totes not have gone with my dress, so I had to find another poor girl to give me her shoes. Luckily my friend Linden from undergrad was there (I had a feeling she might be) and loaned me her black heels. Lordy lordy. You'd think forgetting my shoes one time would lead me to never forget again, and yet, one year later here I am. Full circle.

WIDE NET 2008.

WIDE NET 2008

2008-02-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

I'm leaving in about twenty minutes for my audition for a summer festival production of Die Fledermaus. I learned Adele's Laughing Song in English during the last two days (the production is being sung in English) and have never coached it or taken it to my teacher, so...yeah. The last cadenza will be interesting. And there's no way in hell I can get a D out today (or ever?), so I'm thinking my chances of getting this part are slim. But I sang for them last year and got called back for the lead, so maybe. Stranger things have happened. Like when I coughed in the middle of my aria for the OFY audition and then got the gig. WIDE NET 2008 -- I'm giving it a shot.

In other news, we got about half a foot of snow on Thursday night. Wee! Many of my students cancelled and our choir director cancelled rehearsal, so I had the night off to chill at home with Nick. It was much needed, and wonderful. Weekday evenings spent together are few and far between, since I don't usually get home before 9:30 pm, so we cooked a great dinner and just enjoyed each other's company. We needed it. Friday morning Nick decided to stay home rather than battle the ridiculous commute, so we went out to breakfast and snuggled at home until I had to go teach. Because of course I still had to go teach in Palatine; those people would not close that place unless it was Armageddon. And maybe not even then. But I took the train, so it wasn't that bad.

Today I'm auditioning and preparing to leave for tour tomorrow. Yay! I'm really excited. Now I must go drill some more Adele before this audition. WIDE NET 2008.

"...one stomach flu away from my goal weight."

2008-01-29T09:40:00.000-08:00

Gotta love flu season. On Saturday my stomach was feeling a bit queasy, but I thought it was due to not eating for several hours and being a little stopped up. I felt better in the evening and we had a fantastic light meal at Spacca Napoli, an Italian pizzeria that makes those delicious, paper thin Sicilian pizzas. But Sunday after church it was a rapid decline, and by 3 pm I was curled up on the sofa with a fever of 100.8 and severe nausea. I can't remember the last time I ran a fever, and I am very rarely nauseous. Yesterday was not much better, and since I had no choice but to drag myself to Plainfield to teach for five hours, I was not in the best of spirits. Today I am feeling a bit better, but the tummy is still not quite back to normal. I have to try to focus on the good side: since I've only taken in about a thousand calories since Saturday night, I'm probably down a few pounds! But I'd like my appetite back soon -- life is very dull when you don't look forward to your next delicious meal.

I leave for my first leg of the OFY tour this Sunday, and I just received the briefing email about the week. I google mapped all the destinations, and some of them are really far! One school is very far north, almost to the UP! Looks like I'll be spending some quality time in the tour van. Better get some good books and upload some good tunes to the old iPod. I'm really looking foward to going on the road -- it sounds so rockstar-esque, going on the road! Yep, riding around northern Wisconsin in a white fifteen passenger van, carrying a giant dragon from school to school, Super 8 Motels -- I'm living the rock star life! It's always hilarious to me that people think the life of a performer, any performer, is so glamorous. Maybe Renee Fleming's life is glamorous, but mine certainly isn't. It may be "exciting" in the way that I don't go to an office everyday, don't receive a salary or even a regular paycheck, and don't always know when the next job will come along; but it's not all flowers and applause and curtain calls. But shhhhh don't tell the donors.

So I'll hopefully be reporting from Wisconsin next week, provided the hotel has wireless service. I'll probably end up at a Panera Bread or a coffee house to get Wi-Fi -- if I'm lucky. Something tells me these tiny towns may not even have Paneras. It will be an adventure, that's for sure!

oops

2008-01-24T08:23:00.000-08:00

Crap. It's Thursday again already, and I haven't posted in a week. Why does this keep happening? I know how angry I get when Robert hasn't blogged by like, 10:30 am EST; so I can only imagine how pissed you all must be. Truthfully, I feel guilty blogging these days. Whereas blogging used to conveniently fill the many hours of downtime at various boring day jobs, now I feel like I should be doing much more constructive things during my non-working hours. What I've forgotten is that this blog is going to one day make me famous (snort), and all my fans out there deserve at least a bi-weekly update!

So, here goes. First things first, it is f---ing frigid here. And not only is it frigid, it decided to dump loads of snow on us too. I thought if it was negative one billion below, it wasn't possible to have snow? And yet there it is. Yesterday I cleaned off my car four times, because every time I would go inside somewhere, I'd come back out to find a newly accumulated inch. This is about the time of year that Chicagoans curse their existence, swear they are moving to a warmer climate, and are generally really grouchy. Then spring comes, everything is forgotten, and the whole cycle begins again. I do love the changing of seasons, but I could stand to spend January and February in, say, Palm Beach. I'll probably have to wait thirty or forty years for that.

Last night we had the pleasure of seeing Renee Fleming in La Traviata at Lyric. I purchased some very stylish camping binoculars from Target so that we could see her up close and personal. We have pretty decent seats, but I wanted to see her every breath and facial expression. It was a good production, but I can't say I was blown away. The tenor was amazing, as was Thomas Hampson as Germont, but I'm just not sure Violetta is the right role for Renee. The poor woman has to live up to the gargantuan expectations of the audience, I realize, but I felt like her singing was too..."precious", as my voice teacher would call it. There was almost too much nuance, and I just wanted to hear her sing from her gut! The pianissimos were exquisite, but it was nearly all pianissimo. Her character development, on the other hand, was FANTASTIC. The third act was just gut wrenching. But the whole time I was wishing I was hearing her Countess or Strauss heroine, so that I could just hear her glorious voice without all the fuss.

Third Act Aria "Addio del passato"

Otherwise, life is in sleepy winter mode at the moment. Nick is dentisting a lot, I am teaching a lot, trying to learn new arias and stay on top of my game singing-wise. Audition season ("Let's Give It Another Go 2008") will be here again before you know it, and I need to be ready. The real challenge is to look ahead just enough to be on top of things, yet stay in the present so as not to go completely crazy with worry. Luckily I have a lot of good stuff in the present to keep me busy while I wait for whatever is on the horizon...

playing catch-up

2008-01-17T09:03:00.000-08:00

A couple of shots from OFY rehearsal week:

Myself and the lovely Saira, who plays the Queen, at our schmoozing party:

The amazing dragon during the first performance:

Week One cast in the Three Headed Lady costume:

Sorry, readers, I know it's been a slow posting week. Things piled up a bit whilst I was in Madison, so I've been playing catch up this week--trying to get bills in the mail, do laundry, clean the apartment, take down Christmas decorations (I know, I know, it's practically February), get back to the gym, make doctor appointments, order bridesmaid dresses....the list seems to go on and on. And I returned to teaching, of course. Apparently my week of making superb music turned me into Nazi teacher, because I found myself finally getting firm with a couple of my students who never practice. While before I would just watch the clock tick and listen to them make the same mistakes, this week I told them that it was a waste of everyone's time to sit here and do this every week. We'll see how it goes next week, but I think I made an impact on a couple of them.

My return to real life this week wouldn't have been complete without a slap in the face by some audition/opera company/singing related matter. A certain opera company in a certain state where I spent twenty two years of my life, an opera company that almost hired me last year and gave me fantastic feedback from my audition, whom I was REALLY looking forward to singing for again this year, informed me that they would not be hearing me this year -- "because we heard you last year." ????? When I told the woman on the phone how disappointing that was, considering the positive feedback from last year and encouragement to audition again, she told me that the director already knows who he is hiring anyway and is holding the auditions to be "fair." ???? It's almost laughable. I mean, thank goodness I'm not wasting my time and money driving there (or worse yet, flying, as many New York singers will be doing, since the company does not audition in NYC) to sing for people who don't plan on even considering me. I was fuming for a couple of hours after the phone call, and then I shelved it as one of the crazy, arbitrary decisions I can't and won't ever understand about this business. That shelf is getting pretty full. But then I remember that lovely company that I get to go on the road with for four weeks this winter and spring, and I feel better again.

And so life continues to propel forward into 2008. January can be a rather depressing month for everyone, so I'm combatting it with runner's high and doing good things for myself. Like seeing my therapist, as I did this morning. I've been seeing her for two years now and I can definitely say it has been worth every penny. 2008 may have started out rocky, but I have good feelings about this year. I'm in a good place. I'm having fun being me. But enough psychobabble. Time to get out of my head (and out of my bathrobe) and out into the world! Big weekend plans of combatting the below zero temps with good restaurants, friends, and probably some booze. Have a great weekend, everyone.

home.

2008-01-12T16:22:00.000-08:00

Don't worry everyone, I am fine. I know my last post was a bit worrisome, but honestly, last week was a dream come true and made my entire existence on this planet worthwhile. Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration. But seriously, it was one of the most fulfilling artistic experiences of my career thus far, and seeing those kids' faces during the first touring week cast's performance on Friday warmed my heart. A lot. To keep children of all ages at rapt attention, to make them laugh and smile, to make them gape in wonder at how you do what you do, all the while holding the highest of artistic standards and singing some of the best music ever written (and getting into a giant dress with two other people and sometimes a puppet head named Gretchen) -- well, I couldn't ask for a better job. I am really, really excited for my first tour week (first week in February), but until then I have to keep on top of my game, singing and thinking through the show at least three or four times a week. It's an insanely busy show, because not only do I play Pamina, I also play the Second Lady, which in this production is a Three Headed Lady. And Papageno plays the Third Lady. And sometimes when he's being Papageno, a hysterical puppet head with crazy hair named Gretchen becomes the Third Lady. The whole production is brilliant and hilarious, and I love performing it. And while the aria is tough, it's not very taxing for me to sing, so I'm not in constant worry about running my voice into the ground (unlike the woman who has to play the Queen of the Night and the First Lady. I don't envy her. High Fs at 9:30 in the morning is nobody's cup of tea).

But I am very happy to be home. The place where we stayed was a Catholic retreat center and it was...bare bones. We all got our own rooms with bathrooms in them, thankfully, but the bed was a far cry from the pillow top queen to which I've become accustomed. All of the other singers were super nice and fun to hang out with. In addition to good singing, I think one of the director's main criteria for casting is a good personality. Driving around the state of Wisconsin in a giant white fifteen passenger van with an entire show in the back would be very difficult if everyone involved didn't have a good sense of humor. I've already heard some very funny/interesting stories from returning cast members, such as the time last year when the tour van hit a deer and a baby bear within fifteen minutes of one another in northern Wisconsin. Although I complained in my last post about people saying I'm a bad driver, I plan to use my accident record to get me out of EVER driving that van. I'll carry extra set pieces, anything.

So it's back to the grind this week. And back behind the wheel of a car. I have to say, I'm terrified of driving now. Since I hitched a ride to Madison, and I convinced Nick to drive me around today to run errands and teach one lesson, I haven't been behind the wheel since the accident. I'm not looking forward to it, but much like death, it is inevitable. I'll live. Hopefully.

update in 08

2008-01-06T19:16:00.000-08:00

"2008 will no doubt present challenges and obstacles...". No sooner than those words were out of my mouth, I got a taste of my first obstacle. Thursday, January 3rd was supposed to be a lovely day of teaching one lesson and celebrating Nick's birthday, but on my way home from teaching said lesson, I got into a car accident. In Nick's 2005 Audi A4. My fourth car accident in two years. And I swear to God IT WAS NOT MY F---ING FAULT. I don't want to go into lots of details, but I'm tired of everyone saying, "Oh Emily, she's the worst driver, she's always getting into accidents." Here are the facts: I'm unlucky, on average I drive many, many more miles a week than most people, and I live in city of idiot drivers. And I have to drive in order to make my living. Friday was supposed to be a day of packing and studying music; instead, it was six hours in the ER having my neck X-rayed after waking up Friday morning unable to move my head. Nothing was broken, just some severe whiplash, and it's feeling much better now, but it was scary. So yeah, I'm loving 2008 so far.

Somehow, I managed to get myself to Madison for OFY rehearsal week. It's been a nice retreat from the norm; the people are amazingly, unusually nice; and we're being treated quite well. The show is funny and fun and not that difficult a sing. Mozart is like medicine for the voice, I tell you. I will be ready to get home to my Nick, my bed, and a home cooked meal (eating out every meal gets WAY old after a couple of days), but it's great to be really working as a singer this week, creating a role and working with lots of talented people. I'm so thankful for this job and to this company for giving me a chance. It has helped me forget "real life" for a few days -- wrecked cars and ER visits and mounting bills. No, for this week, I am in a magical opera land where nobody can harm me (except maybe the Queen of the Night -- she's scary!). I'm getting paid to play with light sabers (yes, I get a light saber in this show!). It's a fantasyland...but I'll stay here for a few days, thanks. See you on the flipside.

random holiday pics i never got around to posting until now

2008-01-02T08:13:00.001-08:00

Soloists from the Northwest Festival Orchestra Holiday Gala Concert:
Charles M, Baritone, Sarah P, Mezzo Soprano, Jay D, Tenor, myself, Soprano

Our holiday party spread (gorgeous, isn't it!-click to enlarge):

Sandra Lee herself!

Mom snaps my picture during our encore in the balcony of one of the Music of the Baroque concerts:

2007 recap

2007-12-31T09:22:00.000-08:00

Preparations are being made here for New Years Eve and ringing in 2008. I made a giant vat of this soup last night, which took about two hours, but would have taken a LOT longer had I not had these:

Yes, we are now the proud owners of a set of Henckels Pro S Series Chef's Knives. Nick decided to spend his Christmas money on these puppies, which he's been coveting for a very long time. Frankly, knives scare me, especially giant ones such as these. I've always had a thing about blood, and I guess I have a thing about knives too, since they are apt to draw blood. Last night, in an attempt to show me that the knives are harmless, Nick sliced his arm open with a bread knife. Case in point. And needless to say, I was not happy or convinced at the harmlessness of the knives. We are planning to take a knife skills class at some point in the near future.

However, it did make the chopping of the veggies for this soup WAY easier and took about half the time it normally takes me to chop, which was awesome. I read somewhere that it is good luck to eat red lentils at New Years, and I had tasted this soup at a party a few weeks ago and LOVED it, so I decided to make it, despite its having about 339480342 ingredients. We had to go on a wild goose chase up Devon Ave. (for those of you non-Chicagoans, Devon is basically little India) for the garam masala, but I was thankful I did, because it really makes the dish. While the soup was cooking, we made our vasilopita, a Greek New Year's cake.

You bake a coin into the dough, and whoever gets the coin in their piece is the lucky one! I have loved learning about Nick's Greek traditions and turning them into our own traditions. We will be heading to our friends Allison and Ryan's house in Aurora for a party tonight, which should be a great time. It's going to be a giant adult sleepover since nobody wants to drive back to the city (or their respective suburbs) after midnight. So now that the preparations have all been made, it's time to think about the year 2007 -- so here goes.

I'm not much for New Year's resolutions. I feel like I give up quite a bit for my career -- financial security, time with loved ones, to name a couple -- that I really don't need to punish myself further at the start of a New Year. Maybe I've got the wrong idea about resolutions, but I feel like it means focusing on things you don't like about yourself or your life. Sure, we all need to lose weight or tone up, we all need to save more money, we all need to spend less time on our careers and more time with our families. I've got all of those same goals. If nothing else, 2007 turned me into an adult. I left the comforts of academia, began repayment on a giant amount of student loans, gained weight, started to make a home with a "significant other", and tried my damnedest to get ahead in my career. People over forty keep telling me that I should "enjoy your twenties" and that it's "the best time of your life". My guess is that those people weren't trying to make a career as a classical singer in their twenties. Yes, it's a fun time, and yes, I enjoy being childless in one of the greatest cities on earth, but I can't help but feel...well, old. No, I don't have to buy diapers or strollers or baby food, but my disposable income is pretty much non-existent thanks to student loan payments, voice lessons, coachings, audition fees, plane tickets to New York, and the slow growth of my teaching business--my primary income. Yes, complaints you've all heard a hundred times over, but it's the truth. I have a baby, and it's called my singing career.

But you know what, I'm doing it. I look back on 2007 and I don't see the increasing debt, the failed auditions, or night after night spent in rehearsals or teaching instead of with my boyfriend. I look back and see the day that I vowed to quit temping forever, and did it. I see a finished Masters degree that two years ago seemed insurmountable. I see the day that I got hired by OFY, my first real opera job (my bio is up on the website by the way, check it out!). I see a December full of lucrative holiday gigs, earning me more money as a singer than ever before. I see the fact that I am making a living as a voice teacher and performer, something I thought might never happen in my lifetime, let alone my first year out of school! Career-wise, it was a very good year.

My personal life has been good, too. In July, Nick and I moved in together, which was probably one of the best decisions I ever made. I know now, more than ever, that I want to spend the rest of my life with this man. And I think he feels the same way;) We survived a 6 month separation in 2007, while he took care of family business in Greece, and back then we dreamed about the day when we would have an apartment together and sleep next to each other every night instead of chatting on Skype. Well, that dream came true, and he's been snoring in my ear ever since. :)

Lest you think I'm a total Pollyanna, let me say this. 2008 will undoubtedly present new and unheard of challenges and obstacles. It is always interesting to figure out how I will stretch a dollar to pay all my bills, and the ever-changing existence of my singing career (basically: existent or non-existent) makes life an endless surprise. When you are a classical singer, you honestly never know what will happen next. It's terrifying and exciting all at the same time. But ever since I left undergrad, life has only gotten better. And I expect that life will only get better in 2008, as long as I keep looking forward but remembering the past in such a way that makes me thankful for every single thing that happened to me.

Cheers to a New Year, my friends and loyal readers.

Christmas recap

2007-12-29T08:43:00.000-08:00

I have a cold. Ugh. Cold's are the arch nemesis of the singer. Granted, it couldn't have come at a better time (no need to sing for over a week), but I have a somewhat lengthy adaptation-for-children of the Magic Flute to learn by next Saturday. I have learned some of it already, but I don't think it is anyplace near where it needs to be when I show up for rehearsal week next Saturday. It's exciting -- the first time I've ever been expected to show up knowing a role cold -- but also a little scary. Luckily the company supplied us with a very handy tutorial CD that is now on my brand new iPod nano (that's right!) and getting more plays than anything else, even that new Frou Frou album that is so good I feel like I'm dancing on rainbows when I'm listening to it.

Christmas was good this year, albeit way too short. Due to the Music of the Baroque Holiday Brass and Choral Concerts I was performing in all weekend (for which I just received the checks--let's just say the credit card is getting a huge payoff, so no complaints here), we didn't get to Fort Wayne until late Sunday night the 23rd, and then had to come back home Wednesday evening the 26th so Nick could be at work on the 27th. And I had to teach lessons at the music store in Palatine yesterday, so it wasn't a lengthy break for either of us. Nick is working this morning, but we both have Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday completely off, so that's going to be really nice. I guess this is the reality of being an adult -three days off at Christmas rather than three weeks. Perhaps I should look into a career in academia...

Nonetheless, Christmas was a wonderful time. It's certainly different than it used to be, but different in a wonderful way. When we were kids, it would be just the five of us at home on Christmas. We'd go to church on Christmas Eve (often times one of us would be singing), come home, open our Christmas Eve presents from Grandma Lyday (always pajamas), lay out cookies for Santa, hang up our stockings, and Dad would read us "Twas the Night Before Christmas". As we got older, none of this changed a bit. After my Grandpa Lyday's death, Grandma would sometimes come to spend the Eve/Day with us, and we loved having her there. As the years passed, and my sister and I found ourselves in significant relationships, things started to change. Last year I spent Christmas in Greece with Nick, who was grieving his father's death and taking care of family business. Although the circumstances were sad, we managed to have a nice Christmas together. This year we welcomed Elaine's new husband, Jerod, "officially" into the family (he's been around for many Christmases prior, but this was the first one where they were actually married). And this year we welcomed Nick to his first Lyday Christmas! It was a full house of people who love each other, and I think my sister and I both agree that we'd like to make it fuller sometime in the not so distant future. :)

And some traditions never die. Even though Elaine and Jerod were with his family on Christmas Eve, Dad still read us "Twas the Night Before Christmas". I think it will take my own progeny listening to the story to get me out of that tradition. If I never had any children, I'll bet I'd be a fifty year old woman sitting on the couch in my parents' house listening to my Dad do the voices.

And oh the presents. The giving and the getting. Christmas was always a big deal at our house, and it still is. We get spoiled. I think Nick was a little overwhelmed. But we got some very nice, very useful gifts. One of our favorites being the paper shredder. It is so therapeutic to feed junk mail though that thing. And I got the aforementioned iPod nano to replace the two year old iPod nano that I drowned accidentally in my bag a few weeks ago. The new model is SO much cooler, and you can watch videos on it, which is going to be very handy for my travels around Wisconsin during the tour. I also got a food processor, which I'm really looking forward to trying out this weekend. My mom's gift from us was the hit of the day though; an electric wine opener. It was magical.

Here are a few pics from the holiday. I hope you and yours had fantastic holidays and are looking forward to 2008. Soon to follow -- my wrap up and thoughts on 2007, a blogger tradition.

Love!

my lovely boyfriend "helping" me decorate cookies

Elaine and Jerod on Christmas morning

Elaine and I on Christmas morning

hair did

2007-12-17T10:34:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok, I get it. You want to see my hair cut. Here it is all did up today:

In other news, I decided to make the blog public again. What's the point of having it if only five people read it? So, feel free to tag me again so that I can get the traffic going. Hello world, the Midwest Princess (Chicago branch, not to be confused with the Detroit branch) is BACK!

Pics of party are forthcoming, as soon as I get them off of Nick's camera. My camera, sadly, is still kaput, along with my iPod. Long, sad, not-so-interesting stories that I don't feel like talking about right now. Nonetheless, it was a great party, despite the snow, and I was totes Sandra Lee with a signature cocktail and tablescape.

I'm off to finish Christmas shopping. Blurghmerp. I got a little bit done yesterday, but today I must finish the brunt of it. In singing news, I will be the featured soloist in this Holiday Gala Concert with the Northwest Festival Orchestra in Arlington Heights on Wednesday. It should be fun and relatively easy, just an excerpt from Hansel and Gretel and some carols. And I'll get to wear one of my gowns I've only worn once before! Yippee!

Wish me luck with the Christmas shopping. It's a crazy world out there...

partay

2007-12-15T13:19:00.000-08:00

T-minus five hours until our party starts! AGGGHHHH! I've been going since 9:30 this morning, despite not getting to bed until 1:30 after the concert and a late (late) dinner and cocktail with Mom and Dad afterward. The MOB concerts these past two nights went really well, but my voice is desperate for some rest followed by some non-straight tone (re: normal) singing. Next week we have our taping for WTTW, which should be a ton of fun. They came to take some video of our dress rehearsal the other day, and we each have a "makeup call" and get a catered lunch next Saturday during the tapings. For just a bunch of geeky musicians, it's pretty funny. OH and a brief note about the after concert party on Thursday night -- apparently, one of the basses is not only an accomplished singer but has a nice side gig as a brain surgeon. Not even kidding. And lives in a mansion in Oak Park, and hosted an off the hook party on Thursday evening, complete with endless Veuve Cliquot and delicious food. It was super fun, because it wasn't like the usual hob-nob with the rich parties; it was just our choir and a few staff people and friends. Now, I just need to become a brain surgeon so I can have a house like that...

So back to today. I'm scurrying about, since I didn't have time to do much for the party this week. Being the lovely man that he is, Nick took care of all the baking and desserts this week, so we are set with homemade sweets. But as of this morning I still had to: clean, grocery shop, make all the party food, and find something fabulous to wear. The latter being the biggest concern. I tried my very best to do only "walking errands", since the grocery is in walking distance, but there is only one cute clothing store on our street, and I found NOTHING there that I liked. So, I powered up with an Einstein's bagel and coffee, and headed out to Target and the grocery, both which were mad houses. I made it out of both stores in pretty good time and stayed within budget, which was a Christmas miracle. I have to say, I love entertaining and the rush that comes along with preparing a party. I hope we have a good turnout, and the snow doesn't keep people home!

I will post some pics tomorrow or Monday. Also, I promise to post a pic of my new haircut as soon as I take one that I like! Probably tonight, as I plan to spend some quality time primping.

Back to preparing!

december survival

2007-12-10T07:54:00.000-08:00

I survived crazy pre-holiday weekend #1. Wait, I more than survived! I sang the hell out of Rejoice Greatly yesterday and it felt so good. I thought to myself, if I can do this, and do it incredibly well, I can do just about anything. As Robert says, there is more than one way to make a singing career, and I'm beginning to think maybe early music is that other route I'm looking for. I'm going to start looking at some more Handel arias and start talking to people who do this sort of thing and just see what's out there. It's back to the top of the singing roller coaster, atleast until my rehearsal this afternoon where I will mostly likely feel like I'm murdering my vocal chords.

Saturday was also an insanely busy day. My piano students in Palatine (most under the age of 8) were giving their recital, plus I was filling in teaching a colleague's lessons who had previously filled in for me while I was in New York. The recital was so nerve wracking, I was shaking in my conservative teacher outfit! I was a bit afraid that there would be a few breakdowns, seeing as though most of the kids are reallllly little (youngest is 5!), but they all got up there and played like little pros! I was really proud of them, and a little proud of myself for helping them prepare for it. And the parents were thrilled, of course, not to mention my boss at the music store. Good times.

So today I treated myself by staying in bed until 9:30 (what am I saying, I stay in bed until 9:30 almost every day) and lazing about with coffee this morning. The craziness does not let up this week, but as you know, my days don't get crazy until 2:30 or 3 in the afternoon. But between the hours of 2:30 pm and 9:00 pm, I'm dashing all over the city and surrounding areas in my little blue Cavalier. Tonight, for instance, a rehearsal in Old Town at 3:30 and then driving like a bat out of hell to Plainfield and praying I get there in time for my student's lesson. It sounds crazy, and it is, but my schedule there is starting to fill up, so I'm hopeful that it will turn out to be a good thing for me. And hopefully I won't be killed in a traffic accident thanks to icy weather. Pray.

At some point, I need to Christmas shop and prepare for the party we're throwing on Saturday. I'm thinking of going to Woodfield on my way to Palatine tomorrow. It's right on the way, and maybe at 11 am on a Tuesday it won't be a complete madhouse. I really need to find Nick's present. OH and I almost forgot, I'm getting my hair cut! I want to get it short, like Katie Holmes.

What do you think?

we are not alone

2007-12-07T08:27:00.001-08:00

A couple of nights ago, Nick suggested that I look into buying the domain name midwestprincess.com. Curiously, we typed in www.midwestprincess.com to see if, by chance, the name was already taken.

Well........

we found this.

Ummmmm.....yeah.

After Nick picked himself up off the floor laughing, I resigned myself to the fact that I am not the only midwest princess out there. Looks like I'm resigned to blogger until further notice.

snowy day! and christmas crafts

2007-12-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

When the going gets tough, the tough get....CRAFTY! I finally got around to making my wreath today, for which I bought all of the supplies a couple weekends ago. It was painless and super easy, probably took me all of about fifteen minutes, including putting the nail in the door and hanging it. Here is my beautiful creation:

All you need to make this beautiful wreath is the following:

Some pine cones, some cranberry garland, and some green bendy-wires, in addition to the plain pine tree garland wreath. i also had a very beautiful faux poinsettia flower for the corner. All you do is afix the things where you want them to go, secure with green bendy-wire, and VOILA! You have a beautiful wreath for you front door that only cost you a fraction of a store-bought wreath.

It's a snow day here in Chicago -- total snow fall nearing nine inches in some parts! I think we probably got five or six. I cancelled my students in Winnetka this afternoon. I cheated death once (yesterday, while driving from Palatine to Wilmette, and then home), and I don't intend to take my chances again today. I've got a rehearsal on the south side at seven, and that will be my only driving venture out of the house today. I pulled on my snow boots and went out to mail some letters a little bit ago and took a stroll down the street. It was lovely.

our street after the snowfall

I'm starting the Christmas shopping today, well the looking and idea-getting really. I'm pretty sure I've got my father's gift nailed down, for Tommy I'm clueless, mom's and Elaine's will be easy because I just buy them something I'd love for myself, and Nick's is tentatively set. His is going to require some looking. And those are all the people I'm buying for this year, because those are the only people I will see, and I'm far too poor to afford any more gifts. I just got the brilliant news today that my rehearsal pay for Opera for the Young should arrive mid-month, so that is going to take care of most of the gifts. The credit card thanks you, OFTY.

And now, back to watching Ellen and being a general lazybones until my rehearsal. My voice feels like ass today after that Messiah orchestra rehearsal last night, so hopefully it's not planning a coup on me this week. Seriously voice, not now.

back

2007-12-04T21:42:00.000-08:00

I am indeed back from New York, and not a moment too soon. We got about six inches of snow today in Chicago, and last time I looked out the window, it was still coming down. Wouldn't want to be in an airport today! I did, however, have to drive all over creation in the rapidly flowing snow today, which was not very enjoyable. I'm not a superb driver to begin with, and I don't have a ton of experience with driving in snow having lived and worked in the city for the past three years. This winter will be different, since I have to drive quite a lot each day.

As for New York, it was....disappointing. Not my performances at the auditions, just the general feeling I got from the whole thing. I sang well for Seattle on Friday, but at the back of my mind, ever since my CC audition (abbreviation used to protect myself), I've been feeling like a "dime a dozen" soprano. Back up, I don't think I talked about my CC audition on here. Well, short story is, I heard three women before me start with the exact same I aria I usually start with. So I was faced with the choice of going in there and singing it AGAIN or changing up my plan. Thing is, Norina's aria is a great starter, it shows legato and plenty of coloratura, a billion high Cs, and fun acting. So, I can understand why everyone with my voice type likes to start with it. I finally decided to go in and start with Deh vieni, which is not showy but a great piece for exposing the true beauty of the voice and legato, plus a couple of low notes in there to show the evenness of ranges. The CC people (who are known for being complete jerks) talked through my entire aria, then didn't ask for anything else. Granted, they were only hearing one piece from everyone due to time constraints, but the whole thing left me feeling cold and irritated. I took the time to come down and audition for you, atleast flipping LOOK at me while I'm singing!

So, back to New York. I couldn't shake the feeling, hard as I tried, and as much as I listened to Natasha B. I sang fine, but maybe my heart just wasn't in it enough, I don't know. I found out Saturday night that I didn't get called back for Seattle, which then threw me into another funk for Chautauqua on Sunday. Again, sang fine, but I got the idea that the auditioners were completely bored with what I was doing. I just don't know how to make myself stand out, short of taking my top off at the audition (can I do that? -- most of the people are gay men anyway, so it wouldn't do much good). I have a great voice, I'm immaculately prepared, and I have some charisma -- unfortunately there's about a billion people with that exact same resume vying for very few positions.

I came back to Chicago feeling frustrated and down. Besides spending quality time with Andrea, Robert, and an old friend from high school, I felt like I'd accomplished very little. I slept until noon on Monday, got up and moped around in my robe, then begrudgingly headed out to teach and go to rehearsal for Music of the Baroque. Today again, slept late, moped, then decided to go get a pedicure. While getting pedicure and reading Oprah magazine, I came across a very inspirational article about failure. The author was promoting the idea that failure is actually success, because trial and error is actually the best way to learn to do anything well. That was all I needed to turn my attitude around. I have four fantastic gigs coming up, I have singing work until next April, and that is a very awesome thing, more than most singers can say. I decided that for the rest of December, I'm going to concentrate on the singing work I DO have, and not think about arias and YAP auditions. I will enjoy the holidays and my holiday gigs and spending time with family and doing Chicago Christmas-y things.

So, if you'd like to hear me rock out on Rejoice Greatly (plus act as core of soprano section for all chorus parts, god help me) with chamber orchestra, here are the deets:

Handel's Messiah at Trinity United Methodist Church
1024 Lake Avenue, Wilmette
Sunday, December 9th at 10:30 am.

Come see what all those stupid f**ing opera companies are missing!

flight delay

2007-11-29T13:13:00.000-08:00

Oh, the joys of Chicago airports. I'm currently sitting in Midway airport, which is usually better than O'Hare, waiting for my flight, which was supposed to leave at 3:45 but is delayed until 5:00. Mrrrrrhhhhh. And I just realized I forgot my camera. Double Mrrrrrrhhhhhh. But on the upside, I had a lovely lunch at the Walnut Room at Marshall Fields (now Macy's, but we refuse to call it that) with Mom and Elaine, who are in Chi for the day on a shopping bus trip sponsored by my parents' country club. Then I got to spend a little time with my honey before hopping on the orange line to Midway. I'm going to miss him on this little trip, even though it's only three nights. We haven't been apart much since he returned from Greece, so we were acting like silly teenagers, making out in a coffee shop before I had to go.

Luckily, I have plenty to keep me busy. Not only have I found my way to the interwebs, where I can catch up with emailing and yaptracker and the like, I have a one minute monologue to memorize for my audition tomorrow. That's right kids, not only do I have to have five opera arias in four languages polished and ready to go, I have to perform a monologue. I haven't done a monologue since 2005 when I attempted a few music theater auditions. Of course, being the last minute person that I am, I realized yesterday that I needed to come up with this monologue. After searching my home library and consulting with Robert (who insisted I go with Libby Mae Brown's outttakes audition monologue), I found the Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan in my collection and decided to select from there. I have no problem memorizing on short notice, it's just the "acting" part that gets me. I'm a decent actor, not brilliant, but I can say so much more with my singing than with words. But, since I have to jump through hoops of fire to get hired somewhere, this is what I'm doing. Literally, why don't they just put out hoops of fire and see who will jump through them? It's about as arbitrary as that, kids. Problem is we'd all do it. And figuratively, we are all doing it. But honestly, the fire thing might be easier. What's a little second degree burn for something you really really want?

And I really really want it. I realized last night at the Lyric, as I do many times when I go see performances: I can do this.. The soprano last night was great, but her voice wasn't ridiculously amazing. Her voice was good, but no better than mine will (hopefully) be in 5 or 6 years. And I can sing runs like a badass too. Plus I'm tall and slim and look great on stage. I'm just dying for someone to give me the chance. I'm super excited for Opera for the Young, where I'll be performing every day in front of audiences (children, mind you, but they can be the toughest audience sometimes). I know that there's a major luck factor involved, but I think that I have pretty good luck. Didn't Robert Altman once arbitrarily choose me out of thirty women to play a role in his opera? If that's not luck, I don't know what is.

So I'm waiting. Waiting for someone to notice me, for someone to take a chance on me and find out that I will work my ass off, put my heart and soul in it, and be a good colleague. As Nick always tells me, I just have to keep plugging away. I'm so lucky to have him as a supporter and number one fan. So I'm going to go in there and be the best damn Norina these peeps have every heard. And maybe I'll get lucky, and I'll jump through their hoop of fire and come out on the other side, unharmed.

NYC, here I come.

jet setting

2007-11-29T06:49:00.000-08:00

Well kids, I'm getting ready to jet set my way to New York City for audition trip number two, or as I like to call it: "Hope and a Prayer NYC Weekend". Basically I'm just praying that these auditions go splendidly, and hoping that, by some act of God, I am the prototype of what the auditioners are looking for. I received my rejection email from Natchez yesterday, which I must admit, was quite a blow. Of all my auditions, I felt like that one had gone the very best, and I had gotten such a good vibe from the auditioners. Besides that, it's the smallest company I've auditioned for so far---most of the other ones, like Florida Grand and Seattle, I was just happy and amazed to have even gotten through the first screening and received an audition. So this weekend, I'm going to bring it. I just have to.

Luckily, after the aforementioned rejection letter was received, I had tickets to see Julio Cesare at Lyric, so my spirits were lifted by an extremely innovative, creative, and astoundingly well-sung production. I will explain it to you in one word: DANCE! And with this clip of the end of Cleopatra's aria "Da tempeste":

There were three, count them, THREE amazing countertenors in this production. The Ptolemy was extremely mean and scrappy, and in one scene he did a front flip! ACH! The Cleopatra, Danielle de Niese, was just awesome. Every one of her arias was choreographed, and she danced and flitted around the stage with such charisma. The whole production was totally delightful and it didn't seem like four and a half hours at all! The funny thing about when the operas are so long is that they sell "box dinners" during the intermissions. The lobby becomes complete mayhem as all the rich oldies camp out on the floor and the stairs, eating their box dinners and sipping champagne. Since Nick declined seeing a four and a half hour long opera (imagine that!), I took my friend Mark, and we lived it up, sitting on the floor of the Lyric Opera with our turkey sandwiches and glasses of champagne. Toward the end, I was getting a bit tired of the ABA format (do I really have to hear that A section again? I mean, let's just get on with it. We know you want vengence). It was a terrific time, and it reminded me of how much I love Baroque opera. I need to work on some Handel. I'd love to be a Handelian. Or a Mozartian. or an -ian anything, really.

I'm going to be off the radar for a couple of days but hopefully I will have some good stories and pictures when I return. I get to see Robert play young Scrooge this weekend, so I really can't think of a better way to spend the non ten minutes I'm auditioning. Hope and a Prayer NYC Weekend 2007. Keep me in your thoughts peeps.