I'm going to write a separate post about Brad's new position at Roche, as well. Stay tuned!
Ikea:
On a Saturday in May Miriam and I took a day to drive to the Ikea near Cincinnati. Miriam wanted to look at some rugs and I never turn down a trip to Ikea. This is Miriam wheeling out our shopping cart of purchases. I thought we were pretty smart, too - we took pictures with my camera phone of all the things we wanted to think about. I feel another trip coming on at the end of the summer!
Creekside Nature Park in Zionsville:
Brad and I have taken some walks along the creek trail in Zionsville. It's so beautiful, and now I've started taking the dogs in the mornings. They love all the smells and walking in the shade. (It's possible that I drove Brad crazy by taking pictures on our first visit.)
New York:
My first trip to New York in the past month was to sing in the semi-finals of Classical Singer's (an industry magazine) Audition Competition. It went well, but mostly I was excited to see Elizabeth, my sister, Jenny, and Elizabeth's good friends, Patty and Sean.
Naturally, Elizabeth and I had to make a trip to Serendipity to get the frozen hot chocolate. This is now what I see whenever Elizabeth calls my iPhone!
There is the coolest Beirgarten in Astoria, Queens near where Jenny, Patty and Shawn all live. Though Elizabeth and Keith left New York to go on our annual Memorial Day Florida vacation while I was there singing, Patty, Sean and Jenny still took me out for a fun time after my audition. Below are Patty and Sean, newlyweds and adorably Irish. We call Patty, "Pretty Patty".
I LOVE this picture of Jen and Me - one of the best we've taken. So then we had to contrast it by showing how quickly two pretty girls can become very ugly (see below). Patty joined in the fun, too. Pretty impressive change, I'd say.
Florida:
While I was slaving away in New York (obviously from the above pictures) Brad, Elizabeth and Keith were living it up in Florida on vacation. My parents and Elizabeth's parents have homes only about 10 minutes apart (in Palm Coast and Flagler, South of St. Augustine) and we love being down there together. It's always a week filled with a ton of good food, great beach time and perhaps a drink or two. Naturally, I was a bit disappointed that my audition competition in New York coincided with vacation. Not only that, but I didn't know how long I would need to be in New York - if I advanced in the competition to the finals I would need to stay for the final round, then a concert and then an awards ceremony.
My dilema was made even more complicated by the fact that the results after the semi-final round were to be posted by 6:30 on Saturday, and the last Southwest flight out of Long Island (where I was using a frequent flyer ticket) left at 7:50 that evening! Being the resourceful girl I am, I figured I'd go ahead and get on the the Long Island Railroad to the airport, keep checking my phone for the results, and just turn around if I made the finals. If I didn't make it, I would be able to change my ticket and be in Florida that night! Perfect, right? Well, not if they are an hour late posting the results!!! I made it to the airport, changed my ticket, was sitting at the gate with only 8 others that were on the Florida flight, madly checking my phone and not knowing what to do. Finally they posted the results (I didn't make the finals - that's okay), they announced that we could board, all 8 people walked onto the huge jet in about two minutes and we immediately took off. I literally had two minutes to spare! Talk about stress! I certainly earned the following wonderful 5 days in Florida.
Below is the dogs' first trip to the beach, the first time that Cal and Luke had ever seen a body of water! It is only a 10 minutes walk from my parents to this beach and we loved walking them down there.
The four of us were feeling very grown up having dinners at my parents' home. (Quite the contrast from our vacations while we were still students at Butler and then SMU.) Elizabeth made us a great spaghetti with meat sauce one night, and then Brad and I grilled shrimp and steak for them on our final night.
We also discovered that Elizabeth is an EXCELLENT bar tender. She kept the Nutty Irishman shots coming. (Thanks Mom and Dad for the very fancy crystal shot glasses, haha! Certainly the nicest shot I've ever had!)
On our last day, Elizabeth's Mom and Dad took us out for a lovely afternoon on their boat. It was so much fun to go zipping down the river. We stopped for lunch at a great restaurant where you could pull your boat right up to the dock and unload. As you can see, it was absolutely perfect weather.
Brad has been teasing me a bit about my obsession with the sky now that we are back in the Midwest. Not only does it seem so HUGE thanks to nothing obstructing it, but it is so different every day. I remember loving the view when I was younger, but I certainly appreciate it even more now. We've been having some absolutely gorgeous summer days lately (today is perfect and about 75), but I think I love the days with amazing clouds just as much.
This was the sunset as I flew to Florida. I have a small (okay, sometimes huge) fear of flying, but I managed to snap a picture. One of the rare times I ever look out the window when flying, certainly.
New York Trip 2:
My SECOND trip to New York was to audition for Albert Herring at the Chateauville Foundation. That went fine, but they were running very behind. All I got to sing was my aria from the show, which is a minute and a half long! Kind of funny, really. You never know though; every audition could get you something great.
Due to the schedule of when I could use my frequent flyer tickets, I ended up needing to be in NY for 5 days! It was a great excuse to just spend more time with Elizabeth, Keith, Jenny, Patty and Sean. No need to twist my arm, certainly!
I had a GREAT day at the Metropolitan Museum of art. I went by myself and just wandered until my brain and feet could take no more. (I was also wearing my new Earth Shoes - Very comfy, but they are made to make every step slightly uphill, therefore giving you a workout as you walk. I think I climbed a mountain that day. I started calling them the Devil Shoes after that.)
What an amazing place. Below are some of my favorites.
Giacometti Statues:
Entrance ceiling - now my screensaver on my iPhone:
Couple favorite works:
Elizabeth and Keith's kitten, James Wrigley, and my new purse:
Elizabeth and I met for a great lunch at Redeye Grill, where Jenny works, right across from Carnegie Hall. She looked so adorable in her uniform. She always has great stories about the people who come in - Seinfeld four times in two weeks! - Charles Barkley (huge), Julie Andrews (stunning and tall), Katie Couric (looks just like you think), and just that afternoon she'd had to refuse breakfast to Adam Sandler at 12:30 p.m. Not even he can get the kitchen to cook breakfast then!
One of the most fun nights was a girls' night with the four of us. We had dinner at a great little place in Astoria and then saw Sex and the City (Naturally! It definitely would not have been the same with Brad). And, of course, we had to grab a drink after the movie, too.
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