A few more clips...

I got brave and watched a little more of my recital...

YouTube ;)

More possibly to come later...these are the only ones I have been brave enough to watch yet! haha! ;) Enjoy!

The Promised Pictures :)

Feeling so loved. :)

Gratitude 199 (aka...this entire post! haha!) 

That. Was. AWESOME!! What an incredible evening! I couldn't have asked for a better performance. Sure, it was not perfect, but in the words of Lynn, "Sometimes, imperfection is what's beautiful in life." I had such a great time on that stage and know that this is exactly what I am meant to be doing. :)

It really was an evening for the book of Samantha's life. Beautiful dress. Beautiful music. Amazing teacher who made sure I was fully ready for this endeavor. In good voice. High heels. A pretty black dress to wear to dinner after the recital. My lovely Crystal helping me with every little thing...and coming backstage at intermission and giving me a neck massage so I didn't get tense! Practically my entire family here (...and all in my apartment at 4:30 this afternoon!). My friend Rachel making my hair very pretty and lacquered in hairspray! Watching Gilligan's Island for nearly three hours this afternoon to keep my mind off of my nerves. Well wishes from those who could not attend. Chad carefully matching his tie choice to the color of my gown. (Gotta love him!) Having practically an entourage following me carrying my things for me. (Oh, how fun it is to be a diva sometimes! haha!) A fabulous reception prepared by my mom, sister, gram, and aunt. Surrounded by friends. Then, that moment when you first step on the stage, pushing the nerves into excited energy, and knowing it is completely right where you are standing. Full and resonantly resounding high C's. Double bows before intermission! A knock-dead premiere of Q's piece, complete with the high E-flat. A standing ovation at the end. Bouquets of flowers. Constant jumping and high-fiving with Chad after every set because it was so exciting. My friend Sarah helping me out and then back in to my dress so that I can pee before greeting the crowd at the reception. Feeling so loved while everyone wants to talk to you...yet slightly overwhelmed with trying to give everyone equal time and opportunity but knowing that's impossible. The giant circle of SAI girls singing the SAI chorale after the recital. The adorable old Hungarian man who came and brought me flowers and then talked to clueless Dad for a very long time, while Dad barely understood anything he said because of his thick accent. Another Hungarian friend, Agi, bringing pogacsa for my reception. Lovely commentary from my professors. A delicious dinner and glass of Riesling wine at Giuseppe's. Hanging out at my apartment with my family and Crystal. Unwrapping the gifts and placing the flowers into vases. A stream of Facebook wall comments from friends. Endless thank-yous to those that helped make today possible. Life is beautiful. And the evening was bliss. :)

(I promise pics to be inserted soon! Unfortunately, due to the "no flash," my camera produced a series of blurred images. Waiting for others to send me what they took. Perhaps some sound clips, too, when I get the CD...)

RECITAL DAY!!! :)

Today's the day! In just over 5 hours, I'll be on the stage in my pretty red dress zingin'! ;)

After a mostly restful night...I tossed and turned quite a bit from the nerves, but I'd say I did alright with getting rest...I forced myself to stay in bed until 10am, even though I was just laying there! A bit of yoga, a little Gilligan's Island, warming up, studying my music scores, my friend Rachel will be here at 3:30 to do my hair, family arriving in town within the next few hours, then its makeup, warming up some more, and time to get dressed! :) Exciting day!! Pictures to come!

Gratitude 198
Dr. Mathias surprised me and showed up at my dress rehearsal on Sunday evening! AND...my Crystal has come to town for my recital! :) 

Dress Rehearsal Tonight!

I have my recital dress rehearsal @ 5:30!! 2 days! Got some glitz yesterday to go with the dress. Everything is pretty much set. Exciting, exciting! Having trouble falling asleep already...here come the nerves... haha! It's a good thing, though...the nerves, not the lack of sleep!

Gratitude 197
Embracing those crazy college adventures! Gotta love it! ;)  

4 Days and Counting...

Recital is just around the corner! Time for a restful and mostly quiet weekend. :) Last night, I went to bed at 9:30pm! I had a terrible sinus headache. (The weather has been BEAUTIFUL, but the change of season is doing a number on my allergies!) My roommate Alexa looked at me like I walked off another planet when I said I was going to bed that early. Then, I slept till 9am! And probably could have slept a little longer had I not have to be up for class. Crazy! Guess my tired body and voice needed.

This evening, I sang Handel's "Let the Bright Seraphim" on my friend Haley's trumpet recital. It was pretty sweet. Brava, Haley! (Her second recital in one semester! She's Wonder Woman!)

Gratitude 196
Thank you, Katie, for letting me look stunning in your awesome black convertible dress! ;) I love getting all prettied up! Yay for touches of diva-ness and lovely friends! :)

Recital: T minus 1 week! Eek!

Recital preparations have taken over most of my brain capacity. Only one week left. All about the focus now. Last few rehearsals scheduled. Recital hall booked for lessons and dress rehearsal. Annoying Chad to the max. ;) A constant list of questions for the overwhelmed Lynn. Posters sent out and plastered around the conservatory. Dress cleaned and pressed. Shopping for bling with Katie this weekend. Recital program and program notes submitted to Todd, the conservatory's master of all things recital and facility. Nerves definitely kicking in. It is exciting, though. :)


Gratitude 195
Thank you to my friend Russ for bringing my computer back from the dead. It's alive now! Yay! And Thanks to my uncle Chuckie for doing back bends to make sure I either got this one fixed or had another one in my hands for the time being so that I could do my schoolwork and keep in touch with the rest of the world. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was so close...on many an occasion...to chucking it off my terrace and watching it smash to smithereens! Good thing I didn't do that... ;)

Gratitude 194

Unexpectedly running into an old friend. :)


Bryan's senior recital was last night. Bravo, Brybry! ;) A night of movies, giggles, and heart-to-hearts with my girls. Much needed after my psycho afternoon battling with my computer, which seems to have become possessed by some demon...and I am far more than irritated with it right now! AAAARRGGHH!!!

Gratitude 193

An afternoon with little Kate and Gretchen playing on the plaza by the fountains on campus and dancing to the rock band practicing outside. They make me smile. :) And it was absolutely gorgeous outside!

Gratitude 192

Finding a Graeter's gift card in your wallet and finding out there is just enough money left on it for a scoop of ice cream. :) It was my lucky day! haha!

That was a nice little uplifter after a not so awesome past couple of days. But even when a day sucks in my life, it really isn't that awful, so I can't say they have been bad days...just not as happy ones. It happens. Melodrama just makes tragedy out of little upsets.

Bought my cap and gown for graduation today...EEK! Sort of freaking...but at the same time, it is exciting. Picked up my recital dress from the cleaner's yesterday...it is BEEEAAAUUUTIFUL!! :) YAY! It is now hanging on the back of my door awaiting the big day...while I work out all the wrinkles in the performance before then. ;)

P.S. Spring is beautiful, and the weather has been pretty amazing (although it began to rain before I got to sit on my terrace today..). However, spring also means something terrible returns...those creepy squirrels come out of hiding, again! :-/

Recital Hearing

My recital hearing is over, survived, and passed. :) Now on to the next two weeks of nit-picking to correct all of the mistakes. It went pretty well, though. :) Recital countdown: exactly two weeks from today!

Super long day today. Turned pages for Chad for two recitals in a row after my hearing. Oy! But I got fed cookies, so life is good. haha! I also got an invitation for Pi Kappa Lamda, the national music honors society! How exciting! And the temperature outside has been perfect. Lounging on the terrace is just around the corner...   ;)

Gratitude 191
Girl talk. A necessity of life and always lightens the day. Thanks, my lovelies, for always being there!

Live it up! :)

The rest of spring break was pretty fabulous. However, I am exhausted. How ironic it is that one typically does not return well-rested to the normal schedule after a break. Oh, well. Gotta live it up! You only live once. Embrace every moment!

After a rather uneventful Thursday morning/afternoon (in which I cleaned the entire apartment INCLUDING my bedroom! I know...shocker! haha!), Anthony and I went to dinner at this fabulous place we discovered downtown, watched our recording of Iolanthe, and then my sister got into town just in time to go with us to the midnight premiere of Alice in Wonderland. The movie was okay but nothing spectacular.

Friday, up "bright and early," Jessi and I ventured out thrifting and a bit of other shopping, including a trip to Trader Joe's. We seemed to meet the craziest people all day, too. haha! I had to babysit little Gretchen and Kate late in the afternoon, but then we headed out for round two and dinner at The Mad Greek. YUM! Why is Greek food so good? ;) A night in with movies, wine, late night pizza, and Jess yelling, "Hey, hot stuff!" to the pizza delivery guy concluded our Friday festivities.

Jessi seemed to get a kick out of the "Double D's" 

logo on the Dunkin Donuts sign. haha!

Saturday, we headed downtown for a trip to the North Market. So. Cool. I cannot believe I have lived here for four years and never before gone there. It is definitely my kind of place. :) More thrifting and a stop at Kohl's. After a snack and a nap, we returned downtown, again, for Gallery Hop, which was also super cool. I love city life, esp. for things like the North Market and Gallery Hop. Late night dinner at Applebee's, chatting in our pjs, and then zonking out before we even got to turn on a movie. haha!

         

Gratitude 189
Finding awesome deals when you are out shopping. :)

Sunday took us to the end of Jessi's stay, a trip to Jeni's Ice Cream before she left town, and me returning to my neglected work. I attempted making pogácsa. Ha! We'll leave that to the Hungarians for now. I had a mess, but it was worth a shot. Rather funny, too. Rehearsal with Chad...recital hearing tomorrow!! Eeek! And dinner and girls' night with Caitie and Katie while we watched the Oscars (which we all admitted to pretty much only watching to see all the pretty - and ugly - dresses...and Meryl Streep, the best actress in the business! haha!)

*****

Back to the daily grind today. Carolyn and Katie came over for bagels and chai tea this morning for some more girl chats. Love it! :) It is a BEAUTIFUL day out. The sun is shining, the skies are blue, the temperature is practically perfect, and it just makes me happy. :) I can very nearly use my terrace again! Yay! I am sleepy and still have poetry class and more to do tonight. Another cup of tea? Sounds like a brilliant plan. haha!


Gratitude 190
German class outside today? Yes. :)  

A bit of Hungarian spice to life

Yesterday was the Hungarian music recital I had been preparing for. It went quite well. Quinton and I did a test run of the piece he composed for my senior recital, and that went really well. :)  I ♥ Hungarians! They are so quirky (perhaps, that is why we get along so well!), and they just make me smile. Agi, the Hungarian professor who had arranged the culture event for her Hungarian class made pogácsa. Yum! It made me smile to be around Hungarians again. I want to go back to Hungary! Kell visszatérni Magyarország!!


This afternoon was rehearsal with Chad and a lesson with Lynn, some nearby errands, and a spur-of-the-moment dinner at Rusty Bucket with some of my student-teaching friends. 


Gratitude 188
It was so nice to sit down and catch up with some sweet friends that I don't see very often because they are on their student-teaching semester. It was one of those fun college memories filled with laughter. :) Thanks, guys!

Now for an evening in with some movies. Maybe, I will even spend some time tackling the aftermath of the tornado that swept through my bedroom...  haha! Probably not!

My big sis comes to town for a visit tomorrow. Shopping, Greek food, a few errands farther away (that she doesn't know about yet! uh oh! haha!), Gallery Hop...and who knows what other madness! ;)