Music of the moment

Another one:

- "Pilot", Amber Rubarth
- "This is Halloween", Nightmare Before Christmas
- "E60th and 1st", Alex Berger
- "Momma's Boy", Elizabeth and the Catapult
- "You and Me", Bess Rogers
- "Same Old Thing", Paper Raincoat
- "See me See you", Bess Rogers
- "Hit the Wall", Elizabeth and the Catapult
- "Rough Cut", Paper Raincoat

Yup.

I love Pumpkins

I love carving pumpkins. Before this year, it was never something that I did with my family or with friends so I decided that I had to really take the initiative this year to have a fun Halloween time. The first pumpkin was really tough for me, but I decided that a) I'm artsy enough to love it, and b) I love stabbing things. Mmmm, stabby stabby.

At the end of tomorrow I will have (had) three loaves of chocolate chip pumpkin bread, and an assload of roasted pumpkin seeds. W00t.

Some pictures:

Pand-a-Lantern! It was sorta like the World Wildlife Foundation Panda, but as you can see, it was interesting lookin'.Not all three are mine. Last night, my two good friends Mia and Jean-Paul got together for an impromptu pumpkin carving partay. Mia is pretty much an expert carver, and hers is the girl in the tree on the left. Jean-Paul had never carved a pumpkin before, but a goofy face is a great start. Last but not least, Wicked! For a second pumpkin, I'm pretty impressed with myself.Us and our handiwork...

Close up of mine. Yay!

Happy Tuesday...?

So my Friday list was pretty much generally completed.

Sadly, it's drained me of so much energy that today and yesterday were pretty much blobs, where I oozed around, pretended to do things, and slept a lot. Despite the sleeping a lot part, I still manage to be pretty much knocked out and zombie like, only capable of re-writing the school's mission statement twelve times to be put into frames.

I had a party by myself carving a my first Jack O' Lantern and making roasted pumpkin seeds and pumpkin-chocolate-chip bread, so I certainly have enough snacky goods for a while, so that was the only eventful thing, I think

Happy Friday!

So in my love for lists, here is a list of things that I look forward to doing this weekend, or should do. Mostly the former.

- Practice
- Go to my piano lesson
- Clean the hell out of my apartment so it's suitable for human life.
- Pick up a dress I'm super excited about from the post office.
- Finish season one of Flight of the Conchords (sitting around in said dress)
- Maybe finish another Christmas present? (Still sitting around in said dress)
- Practice (dress. :D)
- Doing lesson plans :(
- Maybe I'll make it down to Union Square Market this week.
- Oh my god, I almost forgot, sleeping past 7AM.
- Hopefully get rid of this crappy cold.

Mountain of Tissues

So I'm trying to listen to the awesome and sweet Amber Rubarth right now on my computer. It's too bad that every time I have to blow my nose, (trust me, it's a lot) my ears pop like crazy. One week of sickness later, two tissue boxes, I'm really hoping it stops soon. I constantly blow my nose in front of students, have a mountain of tissues on my desk, and the tissues at work are the equivalent of sandpaper...blech!

Is there anyone else who's all up on CMJ week? I'm likely to be catching Deadbeat Darling, and maybe even Diane Birch.

Listening to myself makes me want to kick myself though. I have the first piano lesson in a while this Saturday and my deadlines are flying closer constantly. As much as I like spending time with my new best friend, it's eating up my practice time. Common sense dictates that my goals should be first, but laziness is such a little demon for me. I'm not looking forward to get my morale handed to me, Russian Piano Teacher Style.

Oo, I just blew my nose, and got dizzy. Time to go steal some breakfast from downstairs or something.

First Monday

Last week we had off on Monday. Week before, we had a half day so I had no class. The week before THAT, we had off again!

Small wonder that I woke up at 7:25 this morning, and yelped. Way to go, self. I had to give up a sweet Tuesday parking spot to drive to work this morning so I would be anywhere close to on time. Le sigh.

Where did the fall go?!

So, it's 39 degrees out, with a high of like, 48 today. I swear it's already winter. This is just not cool.

Fall is season I enjoy. I remember walking along Temple University campus, with my face tilted towards the sky. Somehow, there were never any collisions. The wind was crisp on my skin, and the colors were lovely. After rainy days, I liked looking at the prints the wet leaves had made on the ground. Last year in Scotch Plains, every weekend when I drove back to Philadelphia, the scenery would just be stunning, before exit 37 on I-95 in PA sent me back into paroxyms of anxiety.

So dearest New York, who I've longed so much to live in...what the hell is this crappy weather?!

However, I am on a mission to do positive things! A list of things I like about cold weather.

-Hot tea
-Snuggles with my honey
-Always wearing my favorite boots (also a downside sometimes, but I like it.)
-Soup
-My arsenal of knit goods come into use!
-Heavy blankets
-Moar yarn.
-Putting my feet on the heater
-Chai, end of story.
-Living in some of the most comfortable and warm clothes every time I get out of work clothes...

Natural Kindness

I had an adventure yesterday!

I was meeting someone for a gig at Juilliard at 6:30. On my walk, I got to pass through Columbus Circle, which is just lovely, but I was swimming around in people at pretty top speed. As I get to the intersection between 59th St. and Broadway, I reach into my pocket. No phone. I check my purse. No phone. OK, this could be a problem. I'm meeting someone I've never met before and I've lost my phone, and overall, losing a phone could be a HUGE PROBLEM. Anyway, I can't stop and look. I eventually end up meeting the person at Juilliard, and tell him, that I'm sorry, I lost my phone on the way there. (BTW, walking past the Met Opera was like..WAAAA, omgz, so exciting)

He says -- "The lady that found your phone will meet you at the fountain at 7:15."
I could've cried. I guess he had called it and arranged it for me, and even though the front screen is pretty much demolished except for one corner, I'm glad it was returned, sound, and not run over by a car! Tells you how kind people can be. :)

This morning, though, I checked my plants. Right underneath is a heater in my apartment. I had been so excited yesterday because the heater had come on and I didn't have to freeze all night and in the morning. I also bought this new candle and put it on that solid surface that is my heater.

Yup. Melted the candle from the bottom, all over the heater, and dripped onto the floor. About a third of the candle is melted. I am going to have a GREAT TIME cleaning that up. Any tips?

Work weeks are four days long...?

Another Monday off! Today is Tuesday and wow, I am probably never going to get used to working a full work week. Oh well. Currently, at school, it is beyond freezing. I'm in my peacoat and still can't feel my paws.

On my three day weekend, I went to Inoteca Liquori, and met with my good friend Mario, a tenor I worked with over the summer in Italy. He's starting a little networking event called Opera Connects, and even though all 49 people that RSVP'ed didn't show, the four new people I met (all singers, oh my!) are really friendly and wonderful. I like them a lot.

I've also started Christmas presents. Yes it's true. I finished the body of a wine cozy yesterday and will probably do some embellishments tonight. A sweater is in the works, as well as a pencil sketch. Meh. The only downside is some stress on my left wrist, which involves wrapping my wrist sometimes. Need to find better hobby that doesn't interfere with career. Sighness.

Bad Decisions Club

One of the great things about NY is that I can go out whenever, and there's probably something I love going on, even if it's just walking around aimlessly with my ipod on and dancing down the sidewalk and gaining strange looks.

Last night, I went over to the Lower East Side, and hung out with my great friend Logan, who I'm going to be a band with. :) Most of the time, we spent our time at Rockwood Music Hall where I saw two fun shows.

The first was sort of strange for me, since I was watching a guy named Dan Torres. I met Dan years ago in college, during band camp for marching band. It's ok, folks, make your jokes now. Anyway, I had the biggest girly awkward freshman crush on him ever, and for a while, followed him around quietly and awkardly. I think the word awkward really sums up the kind of like it was too. We became sort of friends, then he left Temple at the end of spring semester. Thanks to the awkwardness of me, we never really got to keeping in touch, except once when he was back visiting a mutual friend.

Anyway, Dan was playing at Rockwood Music Hall (my favorite place in the city to hang out) and I thought, since I was going to be there for the Cardboard Bikinis (shhhhhh) at midnight, I would go early. (Plus I'm waaaaay less awkward and cooler now than my college freshman self!) It was great to see his success and how happy he is playing, and like I remember, he is really rather attractive. We didn't get to chat much after, but hopefully, I will be seeing more of him in my life. Isn't reconnection great?

Ok, then Cardboard Bikinis ! About those guys...
Yeah, Alex (boyfriend) asked: "Didn't you just see them two nights ago?"
Yes.
But this one was FREE.

Ok, so Rockwood is the size of a walk in closet. Glorified walk in closet. Somehow, Alex Wong and Amber Rubarth performed with the normal drummer (Woo, Adam Christgau), and fit three more string players on stage. It was a sardine can. Meanwhile, there were some loud ass drunkies in the back and there was a lot of telling people to shush during the show. Mo, from Deadbeat Darling, whom I also love dearly was there and it was a great chance to catch up. They didn't finish their set until 2 in the morning, and naturally, the F was once again defunct, so I didn't arrive home in Astoria until 3. Those 3 hours of sleep before getting up for work were so precious...

Easy

The easiest part about updating this blog is that I'm always at work. Obviously, I'm constantly at work, so I'll always be updating in some capacity.

I think New York weather needs to just frickin' pick a temperature.

I'm also brainstorming Christmas Gifts. (Why, Candace, it's only October, why are you planning that?!) Oh, well it's because I'm super poor, and am gifted with yarn skills and an acquired yarn stash. It will save me oodles of money, hopefully. On my list of things to make are stripey hats, mittens, wine cozies...sigh, so much knitting to do.

On a serious note, practicing has been non-existant. It's pretty bad when my awake hours after work have dwindled to about three hours, and sleep time has escalated to 10 hours on some nights and still isn't enough. Go figure.

New discovery of the day: baby goats are so flippin' cute!

Normal Blog Fare

Here is the super fast blog post to tell you that I'm in a particularly nasty mood that needs a lot of knitting. Also, mad congrats to The Paper Raincoat for their album release today.

Super Multitasking Monday

What happens on a Monday where I was not a good girl and didn't finish lesson plans? I end up playing the procrastination game WHILE I write lesson plans. Never good.

Okay, fifteen minutes later, I'm back and I'm updating. This past weekend was awesome because my boyfriend Alex was here! Did I mention that in my last post? Probably. He's pretty awesome and nerdy all at the same time. Friday night we saw Wicked. Uhhhhhh, I have no WORDS for Wicked. Yes, I knew all the music, but the entire set and dialogue pulled so much together for me. There were some really hysterical moments where G(a)linda would do something supremely girly and I would recognize it as something that I did.

Glinda: "My secret is...Fiyero and I are going to be MARRIED!"
Elphaba: "You mean he's already asked you?"
Glinda: "...well...he doesn't know yet."

So on so forth. I fully expected "Defying Gravity" to blow my mind too but seeing Elphaba reveal herself flying for the first time brought so many tears to my eyes. It was a musical full of well timed schmaltz, effects, and power. I was a giddy girl after and it was a great start to a wonderful weekend. Sadly, we forgot cameras, so no pictures of our trip to Wicked.

Saturday was equally as wonderful, although full of accidental things. Oct. 3 is my favorite person in the world, Vienna Teng's birthday! So I internet-Happy-Birthdayed her, and dragged Alex out to the Union Square farmer's market, then Chinatown. We bought some awesome fresh spinach ravioli and had it for dinner later that night, and took pictures of random other beautiful things. I will definitely be back for fresh organic produce on my own in the future. Also, there is free yoga at 9 AM! So guess who will be there!

PS, that's a vegetable that's like cauliflower called Romanesco. As Alex says, they're FRACTALS!

Music of the moment

Things I particularly enjoy listening to right now at this moment: (Look forward to a few posts like this)

- "Antebellum", Vienna Teng
- "Love", Alex Berger
- "Wish We'd Gotten Drunk", Amber Rubarth
- "My Heart has only Loved Once", Amber Rubarth
- "Right Angles", Paper Raincoat
- Sonata in b minor, Op. 58, Frederic Chopin
- "Keep the Customer Satisfied", Simon and Garfunkel
- "You and I", Ingrid Michaelson
- "Blue Caravan", Vienna Teng

I will have you know that these things are especially gratifying when wandering out in Queens on a crisp autumn evening in your favorite orange coat and ipod on.

My honey is here!

To add any more confusion, my boyfriend Alex is in town! (Too many Alexs!) He lives far away in Texas finishing school, and hopefully will be moving here next year to join me in causing chaos. Alex flew in last night, we ate a quick dinner, and an unreal amount of flan, and I proceeded to pass out before snuggles. Whoopsies.

Anyway, we have an exciting weekend planned. I'm at work again, as usual, but after I get home, more snuggles, and then we go to see Wicked, the musical! Yay! It's interesting how I feel about it. I went through this huge long phase of loving Wicked really passionately, and like any passionate phase, you lose it and it begins getting schmaltzy. (A Broadway musical, schmaltzy? Never!) I'm excited to see it, and especially glad to be seeing it with my Alex. :)

Tomorrow we had planned to go to the Met Opera, but I have a feeling that's not going to happen. I will tackle it as it comes post piano lesson! <3

Best New York Moments

This is why I moved to NY. I sometimes have these moments of overwhelming joy. Living here is really being part of something huge and I love the challenge of succeeding among so many. Also, I love feeling like an individual Candace who has control over my own life. (Oh my goodness, the babble)

Anyway.

So after work yesterday, I had plans to go to the very amazing Alex Berger's last show in the US until 2010! When I first went to a Rockwood show of his, it was pretty much a blind date, since we knew Alex Wong was producing Alex Berger's album (too many Alex's!) and Wong is so awesome that why not? Well, the 2nd time was even better than the first. Before I got to that part, I overestimated the time it would take to get from work down to 2nd Ave. With my extra hour, I ended up going...shopping.

Shopping is my doom. But. I end up with something that was originally $890 for far far less. God knows when I will actually WEAR it since it's pretty wild, but oh my goodness. But it's nice to walk around and have no obligation to time. Meh.

Alex's show at Rockwood was pretty bangin'. I pretty much loved almost everything, and it was nice going to a great show without an entire posse, something that my friend Vienna noticed. So I heard this song for the second time, and am pretty much wanting this for my wedding. (I'll talk about weddings later, thank you!) "Love"

Watch and love it!