Relaxing Evening

Last night, I ended up having my first completely "free" night in awhile. No rehearsal, meeting, exercise, happy hour, dinner plan, or show. As much as I love those things and having evening plans...it was nice to just come home and do a lot of nothing. So what does nothing look like for me?

Well, last night, I helped my roomie cook dinner (salmon, rice, swiss chard, white burgundy wine), played with Marcello (I had every intention of snuggling with him all evening, but he had other ideas), and had my first Skype experience. J is still in Florida with his family, and his sister is a big Skype fan (living in France and all), so we had a Skype call. I had to load it on my roommate's MacBook (my old computer has no video), but finally had success! So, anyone who wants to Skype with me when I get my MacBook in the fall (ahem...cousin Jeff in Madrid??), just let me know.

I do have a couple of funny photos of Marcello that Maureen took on Sunday evening. We were making fajitas and drinking Corona Light...and Marcello apparently wanted in!




Don't report us to PETA...he didn't actually drink any, although I had a hard time getting the bottle away from him!

Back From Jacksonville

Last week I trepidatiously got in the car with J and drove to Jacksonville to meet his parents and siblings. All 4 of his siblings. Including his sister from France. And most of their spouses and kids. It was wild! And fun! Ok, so I was kinda excited...not really "trepidatious" at all. Being an only child, I've always thought it would be fun to be a part of a large family as an adult. While things were somewhat chaotic (imagine hyper dogs, tender-hearted children, many independent, headstrong folk...and you get the picture), it was still a lot of fun. One of my favorite moments of the visit was the family dinner in a gorgeous room overlooking the ocean. The kids went down to walk on the beach at one point, and the youngest boy got his pants sandy and wet in the ocean. I looked down and saw him running around with just his shirt on...giggling, perfectly content, and totally enjoying himself. That memory definitely makes me smile!

On the home front, we officially named the kitten Marcello. It's from La Boheme, and seems to fit his personality. His nickname will likely be "Cello". He seems to like it, so it stuck. Marcello in Boheme is a bit of a ladies' man, and since our Marcello is cuddly and the only male in the Home for Wayward Chorus Girls, I think it's appropriate. :)

This week I need to get back into tri-training routine...only 3 weeks or so of training left! I think I'm ready to at least finish the race, but my goal is to improve last year's time by 7 minutes. We'll see...

Eventful Weekend

I'm glad I decided to stay around the house Friday evening, because it was quite a busy weekend for me! Saturday, my cousin, her husband and their son came into DC for the weekend. I met them at the Natural History Museum, and we wandered through a couple of the museums and up and down the Mall a bit. The highlight for my little cousin was the Carousel.

I also got to eat a sandwich with the first tomato from my garden. Yummy!

Saturday evening, we sang a concert at Gibson Island Country School which has this view:

Sunday, my newly adopted kitten was delivered! He is currently nameless, but the options are Figaro, Radames, Rodolfo, or Siegfried.

Sunday evening, I went to the Kennedy Center to see Spring Awakening. It was ok...I was entertained but it was the type of show that is edgy simply for the sake of being edgy, at least in my opinion. We spend some time on the Lower Terrace with a pre-show drink.

All in all a good weekend...but I'm tired!

**Note: All the photos were taken with my Blackberry...hence the grainyness.

The BSO plays Disney at Strathmore

Last night, my company was the corporate sponsor of the BSO's Disney Concert at Strathmore. What more could I ask for? Music, Disney, friends, good food...it was a lovely evening! While not the most musically fulfilling performance for me, it was quite entertaining since they performed most of my Disney favorites. I had never been to Strathmore before, and was amazed by the beauty of the Hall. The pictures don't do it justice. The light wood gives it an outdoorsy feel and the acoustics were brilliant!


We began the evening in the lounge with tasty food and drink, and were able to spend intermission there, as well. Here are some of the treats available:




All in all, it was a very fun evening. My complaint (come on, it's me!) was the behavior of some of the the children there. I know it's a family-oriented show, but in my opinion, parents should use it as an opportunity to teach their children proper concert etiquette. In other words, when your child starts yelling, shush them and explain that they need to be quiet (er). Don't encourage them by carrying on a conversation.


End rant.

Photo Day 1

Last night, the small chorus I sing with had a rehearsal for our concert coming up on Saturday. During the summer, we often rehearse at St. Anne's Church, the lovely old church on Church Circle in Annapolis. While it's not as grand as the Gothic Cathedrals of Europe, the building has its own understated beauty and charm. I took some photos before and after rehearsal, of the view up high and down low.

Re-defining Myself as a Blogger

It's hard to believe that my last post was almost a month ago! It seems that all of my "update" blogs are always at the beginning of a promise to "be a better blogger". But really, I don't think I know what that looks like for me. There are so many different aspects to blogging for different people. For me, I think the part I enjoy most is the writing, and the chronicle I have of my life from the blog. I can go back and reread what I was thinking and feeling at a particular time, and it lets me sort of re-live that experience. I hate turning my computer on in the morning and looking at my blog site...wishing I had the inspiration and discipline to write something. I'm such an all or nothing person, that not blogging every day doesn't quite feel like blogging to me. But since my blog IS for ME, it can be anything I want, right? In any case, I guess I have been busy living my life instead of blogging about it. I miss the chronicle aspect though, which is why I'm going to buckle down and try to be more consistent. Not sure who is still out there reading this...but if you're still around, thanks for sticking with me!

So what have I been up to? Well, my vacation at the beach was much needed and a great relaxing time with my family. While there, my phone died, and I got a Blackberry. I'm enjoying learning how to use it and loving the "all-the-time" internet access it provides. I spent the July 4th weekend with J in Baltimore at a cookout and on a long bike ride. Last week/weekend, my parents were here and we ate lots of yummy food and went to see Pirates of Penzance (great show...catch it this weekend if you can!) This week is full of cultural activities- 2 rehearsals, watching American Idol like Opera Auditions at the Engineer's Club last night, the BSO performing Disney tunes at Strathmore tomorrow night, singing a concert at Gibson Island on Saturday night, and going to see Spring Awakening at the Kennedy Center on Sunday night. I'll probably have the opportunity to see another show on Friday, but it will depend on how I feel. I guess I am doing my part at supporting the arts!

After that update, I think one way I might be able to chronicle bits of my life is by attempting to take a picture that captures the spirit of the day and post it on the blog. Now that I have a cameraphone that takes good pics, it seems that might not be too difficult. We'll see...it will take discipline for me! On that note, here are a few photos I took on vacation:

Sunset during dinner at the Old Fort Pub Restaurant

These signs were all over lowcountry SC...you'd think it would be obvious not to!

My tootsies enjoying an afternoon on the beach

My parents after an evening walk on the beach...married 40 years and they still hold hands!

One is listening to audio on the computer, the other is reading...

Sand castle we found during an evening beach walk

That's all for now...hopefully I'll be back tomorrow!