Opera Etiquette

As my faithful blog readers know, I'm a big opera fan. This year, I've had the privilege of attending a few operas at larger houses - Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center Opera House and the Met (on my birthday, no less!). In those performances, I've experienced some odd interactions with other opera-goers such as the sniffer.

On Sunday, Maureen, Sharon and I went to see WNO's production of Peter Grimes (which was fabulous....kudos to the chorus!). We had great seats in the first tier. Great...except for the people around us. Granted, it was the Sunday matinee, but I expected people to be a little more polite at the opera. During Act II, the man to my left (who was sort of cuddling with his wife) kept leaning into me. I couldn't actually sit back in my seat because my shoulders wouldn't fit! I mean, my shoulders are broad, but not broader than a chair! I do have a bit of a personal space issue...but still! Sharon was wondering why I kept leaning towards her...she guessed that I must miss J and wanted to cuddle. I did miss J...although we were watching him onstage. But my real reason was the strange man who was invading my personal space. :)

Also, the man in front of us kept putting his arm around the woman next to him behind the seat. There wasn't a whole lot of leg room anyway, and his arm took away 4 inches of space. He kept almost feeling my leg throughout the whole performance. Eww.

And then, an older lady on the end of our row wouldn't get up during the intermission when we left to head to the ladies room. As soon as we crawled over her, she got up and followed us to the ladies room!

I also would like to say that a Sunday matinee is not an evening opera...so please don't wear your sparkly evening dress and rhinestone studded heels! I am not a snob when it comes to what one should wear to the opera or how one should behave (although I myself enjoy dressing up and drinking champagne when I go), but there are some rules that just shouldn't be broken.

Also, Peter Grimes is the first tragic opera that didn't make me cry. I think it's because the main characters are a bit static...the opera is primarily about the people of the town (the Borough) and their predujices in a sense. Next up for me? Turandot. Although I haven't seen it, I imagine that one will make me sob...

What Do You Do When Something You Used to Love is No Longer Fun?

I think most of you know how important music is to me, and that I sing in a chorus. What I haven't written about recently are my feelings about singing in the chorus. I used to love it, it fulfilled my need to make music, etc. But somehow, in the past year, the week or so before each concert has brought so much stress on me. Not because of the music, but because of all the weird details that surround a concert week. The details of who stands where and what that means, who sings what and what that means, who is standing next to me and how that affects the way that I sing, etc. And those details, for me, have overshadowed the joy I have in making music and have made it not fun. Not fun to the point that I am questioning whether continuing to sing in the chorus past this season is best for me.

I received an email from a friend the other day mentioning how much she missed singing during our week break after the last concert. She actually went as far to say that part of the reason she had been a bit depressed during the week was because she hadn't been able to sing. And that she was very much looking forward to rehearsal that evening.

I remember when I used to feel that way! When the evenings we had rehearsal were the highlight of my week. But now, I wouldn't say that I dread rehearsal evenings, but I don't look forward to them. And the joy I get from the music doesn't outweigh the stress that arrives the week of a concert. Why can't I enjoy myself anymore?

I think it has to do with the fact that I care TOO much. Investing 5+ of my evening hours a week in something means it begins to take on a lot of value. And I feel very invested in the final product. Somehow, it's become more about the details, social balances, and politics of the chorus than about the music...and I hate that. I'd love to be able to just drop all of that, not care about those things, and simply work hard to make music. Unfortunately, it clearly is not that easy.

I don't know the answer to any of my questions, but I do know that I'll be thinking long and hard this summer about how to continue to sing, but step back from the messiness that seems to surround the group I'm in at the moment. I want it to be only about the music, not about the other things that stress me out.

And yes, I know the ultimate answer is to have an eternal perspective about this. Believe me, I've been working on that too...but just as soon as I think I have that going for me...it's gone and the stress comes back. Argh.

Favorite Scents

Ever since I was in Elementary School, I've loved perfume, scented lotions, etc. My first love was Spring Rain by Crabtree and Evelyn, which has since been phased out (such a shame...I still love it!). In middle and high school, I moved to the more popular fragrances of Victoria's Secret as well as Bath and Body Works. Vanilla Lace and Sun-Kissed Raspberry were my choices (now when I smell those I can't believe I liked them!).

At some point, my fragrance tastes became more refined. I switch between 2 or 3 scents, depending on the season.

My winter fragrance:


I love all things from France, so it would stand to reason that I am a fan of Chanel, as well. This perfume is heavy enough for winter, but has a nice floral note as well.

In the summer, the last thing I want to do is put on a heavy fragrance, so I switch to this:

I first discovered this scent when I was staying at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, DC for my company's users conference (the company was paying...hence the Ritz!). Their toiletries are Bvglari White tea (or au the blanc), and I loved the clean, fresh, light qualities of the perfume.

However, in the past 6 months, I've had a bit of a scent obsession with thisTruthfully, I've always loved rose-scented anything. I tried this on in Sephora last fall, and really liked it...but couldn't justify a $70 purchase when I had a half bottle of Chanel Allure left. So, I left it on the shelf. When I was at Epcot in Disney two weeks ago, "Italy" had a perfume shop with Bvlgari wares. I tried it on again (for about the 6th time since last fall). I decided I had to have it. Lucky for me they only had a $140 bottle, so I didn't buy it. I bemoaned the fact that I wasn't going to get my new scent, but decided in these economic times, it might be for the best. Until yesterday. I walked into Sephora, determined to finally make a decision on this beguling scent! Lo and behold, I found a small bottle for $20! The perfect solution to my dilemma...enough perfume to last through the spring this and next year...but without having to pay $70!

I've been sniffing my wrist all morning since I'm wearing Rose Essentielle today...

Office Pet Peeves

Since I've been essentially chained to my computer and desk chair for the past week, I thought I'd share a few of my pet peeves when it comes to the work environment.

• People who put their food in the microwave to heat, walk off, and don't come back for awhile. We only have 2 microwaves in our office that are supposed to serve about 150 people. The hours of 12-2 are often busy by the microwave. To me, it's common courtesy to stay by your food until it is finished, or at least make an effort to come back within a minute of when the food should be done. I always feel bad taking people's food out, but if they don't show up after a minute or so, I do. There is generally a line of folks waiting to use the microwave...
• People who walk around the office with iPod earbuds in. To me, it's fine to listen at your desk, but when you get up to go to the bathroom/kitchen, etc...it's a little excessive to leave them in. One of our developers does this...I know they are anti-social to begin with, but really? It's just rude, in my opinion. I think this is ok behavior if you are walking down city streets or on the subway, but walking to the bathroom in the office with your iPod is kind of strange.
• The bathroom cell phone talker is always on my list as a pet peeve. I've gotten to know her a little better, but I still find it odd to listen to her conversations while I'm in the restroom!
• Anyone who heats up fish in an office microwave. The smell is so nauseating...

That's it for now. Anyone else have office pet peeves?

Page's Trip Around the World

While at Disney, I engaged in a whirlwind trip around the world!

It started at Spaceship Earth in Epcot.

A stop in Mexico included a margarita!


Norway brought a ride on the Maelstrom

Some browsing of the lovely goods in China

We would have tried some beer in Germany...but nothing special was on tap.

Dinner in Italy...and a little perfume testing, as well. Bvlgari Rose Essentuelle anyone?

Japan..again more browsing through the shops

A fountain in Morocco

I spent quite a lot of time in France..and picked up a few goodies along the way

Hiding in a phone booth in the UK

The Rose & Crown...our Friday night dinner spot

Some friends met up with me in Canada

I spent some time gazing at the Tree of Life in Africa

Time travel allowed me to go back to prehistoric times and get attacked by a dino

I did a little shopping to pack for my trek to Everest

Everest..here I am!

A little time in Hollywood is always fun...and transports one to the Twilight Zone!

Of course, no trip to Disney is complete without visiting Cinderella's Castle in Fantasyland (the race actually ran through the Castle as well)

Each night, I got to travel to the Carribean!

Fun Times at Disney World!

Well, my trip to Disney for the Disney Princesses Half Marathon was all I expected and more! We had a fabulous time...tired feet, legs, and all.

Despite a delayed flight, my friend Lauren and I arrived at the Orlando airport and boarded the Magical Express (which, sadly, is less express and more "local"...took 1.5 hours to get to our hotel!) We finally made it to the Carribean Beach Resort and crashed into bed around 2 AM.

After a quick run around the resort, we headed off to the race expo to pick up our race info, bibs, and shop a little bit. We then spent a long, but fun, afternoon and evening at Epcot riding some of the rides and wandering around the World Showcase. Dinner at a pub in the UK included fish and chips...followed by Scotch cake and Irish coffee. Yum!

Lauren enjoying a Margarita in Mexico

Saturday was our crazy day...spent the morning in the Animal Kingdom, scooted over to the Magic Kingdom for a little while...Space Mountain!, and then finished up in Epcot with dinner in Italy.




Sunday, I got up at 3:45 AM (which with the time change was actually 2:45 AM) to catch the 4:30 bus to the race start. The race didn't begin until 7 AM, so we wandered around and took a few photos prior to the race.

Page's Princess gear laid out the night before

On the bus at 4 AM...

Waiting for the race to start...

Corral A....what?!

The race itself was a lot of fun...but tough because we had done so much walking around during the 2 days prior. I finished in a decent time for me (2:33) considering I was run/walking. After a shower and a quick nap, we headed over to Hollywood Studios for the afternoon and dinner at the Brown Derby. We finished the day at the Magic Kingdom...where we were trapped by the same parade twice and the fireworks once. Note to self...do not go to the Magic Kingdom at night between 8 and 9 PM unless you want to watch parades and fireworks!

On Monday, we caught our yet-again-delayed flight back to Baltimore in time for Rachmaninov rehearsal. At that point, I knew the magic of Disney had ended...

Off to Disney!

Well, it's finally the day that I leave for Disney World to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon! I'm quite excited...for many reasons. I'm a little bit excited about the race...mostly excited that I'm going to be at Disney!

I grew up going to Disney World on a fairly regular basis. I fully subscribe to the idea that Disney World is a magical place. As a child, there was something about the place to me that was relaxing, fun, and very exciting. I think part of the reason I still love all things Disney now is the sense of nostalgia it creates for me. It brings back fun memories and happy times...with the promise of more to come!

Anyway, I'll be seeing Mickey and Minnie, lots of Princesses, the world showcase at Epcot, fun stuff at the Magic Kingdom, and more. We'll be eating well, too...with reservations at the Rose and Crown in England, the Italian restaurant in Italy (night before the race...we need our pasta carbs!), and at the Brown Derby at Hollywood studios.

I'll have pictures and a full report once I get back!

Snow Day 2009

We got about 8 inches of snow at my house yesterday. My office never closes, but after my ice-accident last year, I have a really hard time driving into the office on days when the roads aren't clear. Luckily, I have an understanding boss who lets me work from home. So I did! I had 3 training sessions so I did need to get a lot done, but I took some time during lunch to wander outside with Maureen (who didn't have to work).



I shoveled a bit of the giant snow drift that piled up outside our door.


Once 5:00 arrived, we headed over to the Ramshead Tavern for their Snow Day Happy Hour. Essentially, 11 AM-7PM 2.50 beers. Nice. It also happened to be lobster night. By guessing the weight of Thom, the giant lobster...Maureen won Thom! Who weighed in at 8.1 lbs. My friends and I ate quite well...

(Myself, Mark, Maureen, and Rick)

Oh no! The giant lobstah claw got Mark's nose!

All in all, a fun snow day/evening!

Oh Wine, How I Love Thee (in moderate amounts!)

It's no secret to those who know me well that I enjoy wine. Now, I don't know as much about wine as some folks, but I know what I like and why I like it. And I'm learning more and more all the time about how wine is made, the grapes it comes from, how to taste it, etc. Since I never really had any wine (or alcohol, for that matter) until I turned 21, I've had to increase my knowledge exponentially since then!

I first started drinking wine on a regular basis (like once a week) with my roommates in my house in SC the last year that I lived there. We cooked dinner together once a week or so, and would open a bottle of wine to go with it. At that point, my knowledge of wine/food pairing was limited to red with beef and white with chicken and seafood (which, while it's somewhat accurate, isn't so much a hard and fast rule like I thought). We would get a $6 bottle and have some with dinner. Oddly enough, you can buy wine in the grocery store in SC (unlike in MD where you have to go to a liquor store), so we would pick up whatever was cheap at the store. I'm such a wine snob now that I don't think I could drink much of whatever we had then!

My current roommate Maureen knows a lot about wine, and has taught me a lot as well. I read stuff about wine, and my boyfriend (can I still say it's weird to write that!) knows a lot about wine as well. So, I'm surrounded by folks who like good wine. Maureen and I go through a couple of bottles a week with dinner, post-work, etc. So, when our local wine store has their dollar days sale (a dollar over cost...so no retail mark-up), we often buy a case or two since it's a good deal. This time, we went a bit overboard and bought about 4 cases.



That is our table once we took it all out of the boxes. Yikes! This time, I also bought mostly higher end wine (like $15-$20 a bottle normal retail). Maureen averaged about the same. Since we have a lot of parties where we just tell people to grab a bottle off the rack and open it, Mo decided that we should write the price we paid for the wine in paint pen on the bottom of the bottle. That way, we can say, "Pick one under $12!". Parties are not the place to drink really nice wine...that's best for a good dinner!

Wine rack in the kitchen

I also got another wine rack for the basement to store "extra" wine (the bottles that won't fit on our rack in the kitchen) and wine we are storing to age and and drink in a few years (or ten).

To be super-organized, I put tags on the bottles that are aging with the name of who owns it, what it is, and if I knew, the price paid for it on the back of the tag. Cool, huh?

Here are a few of my favorites that were purchased:

These two are kind of a pair (from the same producer but different vineyards) and will live on the rack for about 10 more years



This is a nice dry rose that will go well with a seafood grill night on the deck

This went into my homemade red sauce yesterday...and the rest went into my tummy with a spaghetti and meatball dinner. Yum!

A nod to my Charlestonish roots


For a nice Italian dinner

Aging on the rack for awhile

A Spanish Rioja...a nod to the Spanish branch of my family (Hi Jeff and Sara!)

Tasty port.

This ought to last us until summertime, I hope! I prefer red wine in the winter, so we'll have to consume that first..and try the whites once we hit summer!

Slacker...

I've really been a blogging slacker the past few weeks. But it's because I've been busy, I promise! My normal blogging time has been filled by work, and my evening time by my usual evening activities. So, here is a quick update on what I've been up to...bullets again. Sorry! I'll get better about blogging regularly...really!

• Getting ready to go to Disney World for the Princess Half Marathon! Woohoo! Getting ready as in running (got myself up to 11 miles), shopping for my outfit, getting new running shoes, watch, etc. I use big races as an excuse to update my running gear. For more details on my running, see my running blog. We leave on Thursday after work and I am so excited!
• Singing the Rachmaninoff Vespers at Chorale. And on my own...via cyberbass.com . I highly recommend this tool to any choral singer that needs some "woodshedding" of notes and rhythms. I really love the music, but it's sometimes in 6-7 part harmony which is tough! And it will be interesting to see if it comes together before the concert...
• I had my first voice lesson in many years on Saturday. I hate hate hate singing by myself, but know it is necessary to improve. I don't ever want to have to sing as a soloist, but I want to improve my choral singing. So, I must subject myself to criticism! It was very valuable though...she told me all the things I'm doing incorrectly that I knew I was doing incorrectly...but she also taught me how to fix them. That helps a lot!
• I've been trying to get a handle on little things in my life that keep coming up...like organizing and cleaning and such. It seems like every time I think I have everything complete, something else comes up!
• I've also been trying to spend more time with my boyfriend. Boyfriend...so weird for me to say! But he is, and as much as it makes me feel 12 years old to have a "boyfriend", I do. And he's great! But, we are both very busy people, and it can be difficult to find time together. So when we are both available, that's where I am. And it keeps me busier...but I'd much rather be spending time with him than "accomplishing" little tasks. Considering I see him only one or two nights a week...it's a small sacrifice! That's what I get for dating an opera singer, I guess. :)

I think that's it for now. Look for more posts later...I'm gonna try to post some photos!