I might actually be the worst blogger ever. “Surely I can manage one post a week,” I said. Surely. Turns out that’s harder than I thought. WELL, WHATEVER Y’ALL, HERE I AM NOW. Here’s what I’ve been up to over the past week:

// things i did //

• enjoyed a delicious frozen sangria swirl margarita whilst celebrating my dear friend Nick’s birthday
• sang 3 church services on Valentine’s Day
• ate a (surprise!) heart-shaped pizza
• worked the first round of graduate voice auditions at Wichita State University
• went to a senior recital and a graduate recital (both of which were very good!)
• watched my friend Geoffrey play a life-size game of Jenga
• burst into happy tears in a voice lesson
• unexpectedly matched a bunch of my cast mates, our conductor, and our rehearsal pianist in rehearsal for the opera

// things i learned & loved //

• I am apparently incapable of sticking to a blogging deadline.
• Why has there been a testosterone takeover in Southern food writing? Kathleen Purvis asks this very important question over at the Bitter Southerner.
• sharing my Wordless Wednesday thoughts with the Arkansas Women Bloggers

// things i’m working on musically //

• Handel’s Dixit Dominus (HWV 232) with the Wichita State University Concert Chorale (PS: I’m one of a gaggle of soloists)
• I brought “Ain’t it a pretty night?” back out of the recesses of my repertoire binder and sang it for the first time following a 75 pound weight loss. There’s a lot of work to do, y’all!
• Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes, which I’ll be appearing in at WSU in the role of Zaïre

// things i’m looking forward to next week //

• getting my Fiordiligi on in my friend and studio mate Alyssa’s senior recital on Wednesday!
• RECITALS GALORE!
• working another round of graduate voice auditions on the 27th

What are you up to this coming week?

// what i did //

– developed a couple of recipes for quick lunches and dinners for my mama Tixqueen (check out my muffin tin breakfast casseroles above!)
– paid bills (ugh)
– shared some thoughts on the word “enough” on my friend Jamie’s blog
– got called in to work a wonderful class on outdoor entertaining with Chef Brian Kelley!
– saw some beautiful azaleas outside the music building before my voice lesson
– cleaned off the kitchen table (hooray!)
– costume fitting!
– made an Important Announcement™ on Facebook

// what i learned //

– an overwhelming number of people support me. I mean overwhelming. Whoa.
– based on the survey on my Facebook, most of my friends/colleagues consider cheesecake to be a pie, not a cake–or in a category all its own!

// what i loved //

– talking about some of the different types of tea on the Eggshells Kitchen Co. blog
– apps for your garden!
– this piece on what $29 a week really looks like for actual low-income families on SNAP benefits

// what i’m working on musically //

– This week, I brought in “Adieu”, the final piece in Gabriel Fauré’s Poème d’un jour to my lesson. If you’ve not heard it, there are lots of lovely recordings, but one of the most engaging is this recording of Diana Damrau with Xavier de Maistre accompanying on harp. Obviously I didn’t have a harpist. Still just as beautiful with piano!
– more silly Offenbach choruses!

// what i’m wishing for & looking forward to next week //

– I’ve got tickets to see John Waters at the Arkansas Literary Festival!
– SUPER NERDY, but they’re supposed to announce who won the lottery for Antiques Roadshow tickets this summer when they’re in Little Rock! FINGERS AND TOES CROSSED, Y’ALL
– showing off my pie at The Root Cafe’s Traditional Pie Baking Contest next Sunday!

Spill, y’all. How was your week? Is cheesecake CAKE… or PIE?

// what i did //

– GOT THE BEST DOG IN THE HISTORY OF DOGS DOES ANYTHING ELSE MATTER REALLY
– went and got measured for a costume
– hung out with some swans
– doctor’s appointment/weigh-in
– planted some azaleas & carnations in my backyard
– surrounded my raised bed garden with chicken wire to protect it from Mr. Rabbit

// what i learned //

– good things come to those who wait!

// what i loved //

– How to Tell If You Are In a Gilbert & Sullivan Operetta (via the Toast)
– lemon pepper. It’s delicious.
– I finally got caught up with Empire. If you’re not watching it… man. Get on that.
– some dudes playing Bach with boomwhackers

// what i’m working on musically //

– some Rossini and a LOT of Offenbach — but in English!

// what i’m wishing for next week //

– to finally make some announcements, man! like an annoying person.

Tell me about YOUR week! How was it?

// what i did //

– survived a particularly rough Monday & Tuesday with the help of some friends (thanks, y’all)
– got down & dirty at eggshells kitchen co. painting the store!
– finished Wolf Hall and began Bring Up the Bodies (just in time to watch it premiere in the US on PBS tonight)
– went to an amazing plant sale, bought two more varieties of tomato and two more pepper cultivars, salivated over all the plants I want to buy and grow (when I have more room and time–but mostly room!)
– bought a selfie stick
– lots of garden work!

// what i learned //

– you can be everything they want and still not get it.

// what i loved //

– this piece on cultural appropriation in the “foodie” community
– Facebook canning and gardening groups (stop laughing)
– that GEICO commercial with the chicken

// what i’m working on musically //

– I should probably tell everyone what I’m working on… but that requires an “ANNOUNCEMENT” and I don’t know how I feel about that.

// what i’m wishing for next week //

– warmer temperatures so I can stop fretting over the soil temps in my garden!
– more grace and patience with myself

How’d this week go for you, friends?

// what i did //

– sent at least 6 letters and cards (including one to England!)
– managed to be a dinkus & leave $30 worth of frozen food/my week’s meals out of the freezer at work 15 minutes away–thanks to my dear friend Margaret, THE DAY WAS SAVED
– began planning my 2015 garden; went through at least 5 seed catalogs!
– survived another Winter Weather Event™ & didn’t lose power (hooray!)
– used my snow days relatively productively
– worked/ate way too much delicious food at two cooking classes on saturday

// what i learned //

– a lot about fermenting all sorts of things from fermentistas/farmsteaders Christopher & Kirsten Shockey, thanks to their book signing & fermentation class at Eggshells Kitchen Co.!
– kim chi isn’t as awful as I remember it being & I’m stoked to try it again!
– Arkansas state representative Justin Harris needs to resign (& that some believe in “rehoming” children–ugh)

// what i loved //

– really behind on this one, but uh, the Rihanna + Kanye + Paul McCartney joint from a few weeks ago? THAT IS A GOOD SONG.

// what i’m working on musically //

– I’ve pretty much declared this month Messa Di Voce March, soooo.
– lots of slow practice with coloratura. Not the most exciting thing in the world.

// what i’m wishing for next week // 

– a Tuesday audition that will make me proud
– safe travels to Philadelphia (& back)
– good food while traveling!
– a Friday the 13th audition that will make me prouder
– good news in my mailbox

What did you do this week? What are you looking forward to?

Though I’m totally into Longform Journalism and Reflective Essays and Thinkpieces on topics of all sorts, there’s something to be said for boiling experience down to its simplest form.

My hope for these weekly postings is a little bit of no-nonsense clarity for myself.. and for you? A peek into the week that was.  Continue reading →