The day has come...it's moving day! Mom will be in town later this afternoon, and we'll start loading it up. (Praying it will all fit in the car! ACK! A little nervous about that...:/) I turn in the keys at 11am tomorrow morning. My dear, sweet balcony!! *sigh* (haha! I am so over-the-top about that silly balcony! I just love it, though!) We'll have one last evening out there for pizza, music, and chats...and maybe the skies will be clear for a bit of star gazing.
I was just chatting with my boss's sister Gwyn about how exciting it is and how you just go for it...basically, how do you do it? You just do...and think later! haha! Next stop: Boston...via a few weeks in PA, of course... ;) Let's do this ridiculousness! And hang on to your hats, everyone; this is going to be quite the adventure in the book of this soprano's life! :)
And so it is that here we are also at the end of my Project 365: A [Representative] Year in Gratitudes. (Some of you may remember when I started it...if not, the link will lead you back to my introductory post on the project.) It only took me...nearly three years...haha! I did put a disclaimer that it wouldn't literally be completed in 365 days!
My timing is quite good, though, as I finish one chapter of my life and enter a new one. Now, it is time for my next project. (Don't worry! You're gonna love it! I know I do...) Stay tuned! I'll reveal it in my next post! hehe!
Gratitude 365
This morning, Noni took me to breakfast at Tommy's Diner. So adorable and fantastic! 1950s-esque "dive" dinner that is just perfectly kitsch. Fabulous food, great service, and great company! She got me the cutest little gifts, too. These people just spoil me to bits! ;) Thanks, Noni & co.!
In addition to the last gratitude in the project, I am immensely thankful for what these past 5 years in Columbus have been/done for me. It's been a great (and occasionally bumpy) ride full of thousands of memories, friends, and lessons lived and learned. It's been exactly what was meant and needed at that point in my life, and I've grown in countless ways. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this episode of my life. (((hugs))) (Sorry for the ending sap, but I wanted to add a quick word of my overall gratitude for this chapter of my life!)
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The Social Butterfly's Recent Flight
Gratitude 364
It's been a full few days of social activities! Love it! Tonight, Chad and I went to dinner at Level...awesome! And then spent two and half hours chatting and sharing a bottle of wine and dessert. Then, my friends Jennie and Kristin came over...we dragged my little TV out on the balcony and watched La sonnambula with Natalie Dessay, Juan Diego Florez, and Jennifer Black. Yes! What could be better than late night opera watching on the balcony?! Only one more night with my beautiful balcony...*sigh* :/
Tuesday night, I spent the evening with Barb, Tim, and the girls. They baked a cake, we had dinner, watched Despicable Me, and then I read them some last bedtime stories before heading home. I'm going to miss the random times at their house. I told Barb that I have adopted myself to their family...every time I go there, I spill water on the floor, and as my mom would attest, she has the cleanest floor in front of the couch from my ever-spilling clumsiness...or stupidity! haha! ;)
It's been a full few days of social activities! Love it! Tonight, Chad and I went to dinner at Level...awesome! And then spent two and half hours chatting and sharing a bottle of wine and dessert. Then, my friends Jennie and Kristin came over...we dragged my little TV out on the balcony and watched La sonnambula with Natalie Dessay, Juan Diego Florez, and Jennifer Black. Yes! What could be better than late night opera watching on the balcony?! Only one more night with my beautiful balcony...*sigh* :/
Tuesday night, I spent the evening with Barb, Tim, and the girls. They baked a cake, we had dinner, watched Despicable Me, and then I read them some last bedtime stories before heading home. I'm going to miss the random times at their house. I told Barb that I have adopted myself to their family...every time I go there, I spill water on the floor, and as my mom would attest, she has the cleanest floor in front of the couch from my ever-spilling clumsiness...or stupidity! haha! ;)
Saturday, July 9, 2011
"We'll have some more sangria in here, please!" ;)
The Fourth of July this year went from zero plans to the best plans ever! First, Noni's, and then, Barb's cook-out. I wasn't exactly in the "picnic" mood when I got there; my mind was just overwhelmed with life. But it turned out to be such an awesome time! It was too hot to stay outside, so we kept the quaint party indoors. Just a few family friends of theirs. Last minute, a couple that had just gotten back in the country from ten months in Vienna came. Little did I know that Tony and Christine Gonzaga were opera singers...and Tony is a member of the Volksoper Wien. Awesome! He told me he had also sung at the Budapest State Opera, too! So cool!
Gratitude 363
We had lovely appetizers, steaks, pasta salad, peach sangria, coffee, ice creams, cakes...all super delicious! Christina and I were at the corner of the table giggling, chatting, and joking away. She was fun. Everyone was! After all that yummy food, little Gretchen entertained us on her violin, and Barb played a bit of piano. Then, Tony asked if I was going to sing for them. Say what? After sangria and all those other terrible things for your voice? Plus, I haven't been feeling very grand vocally. I somehow got coaxed into singing some Baby Doe. Maybe it was the sangria...or the fact that I didn't actually know how big a deal he was...but my high notes were suddenly much freer than they have been! After I was finished he said, "We'll have some more sangria in here, please!" so I'm going to take that as he enjoyed it. ;) Then, he sang an aria from Tosca, while sitting in an arm chair across the room, and basically blew the roof off the house! :)
Five more days in Ohio! ACK! I'm kind of frazzled by the craziness and overload of logistics that moving your entire life to a new location requires! Social events practically every evening (some evening even more than one!) till I pack up the car. I don't mind that, though...that's the fun part. ;) Thursday, my cousin Renee and her husband who live here came to go to dinner and ice cream. She's having a baby, too, so I got to see her cute little baby bump! hehe! Last night, it was "diva night" with Sarah...dinner and escapades...that was interesting but definitely fun! Tonight, may actually be a quiet night in...but not certain that will be the luck. The apartment is quite bare and too quiet now...maybe this evening calls for movies on the balcony... ;)
Gratitude 363
We had lovely appetizers, steaks, pasta salad, peach sangria, coffee, ice creams, cakes...all super delicious! Christina and I were at the corner of the table giggling, chatting, and joking away. She was fun. Everyone was! After all that yummy food, little Gretchen entertained us on her violin, and Barb played a bit of piano. Then, Tony asked if I was going to sing for them. Say what? After sangria and all those other terrible things for your voice? Plus, I haven't been feeling very grand vocally. I somehow got coaxed into singing some Baby Doe. Maybe it was the sangria...or the fact that I didn't actually know how big a deal he was...but my high notes were suddenly much freer than they have been! After I was finished he said, "We'll have some more sangria in here, please!" so I'm going to take that as he enjoyed it. ;) Then, he sang an aria from Tosca, while sitting in an arm chair across the room, and basically blew the roof off the house! :)
* * * * * *
Five more days in Ohio! ACK! I'm kind of frazzled by the craziness and overload of logistics that moving your entire life to a new location requires! Social events practically every evening (some evening even more than one!) till I pack up the car. I don't mind that, though...that's the fun part. ;) Thursday, my cousin Renee and her husband who live here came to go to dinner and ice cream. She's having a baby, too, so I got to see her cute little baby bump! hehe! Last night, it was "diva night" with Sarah...dinner and escapades...that was interesting but definitely fun! Tonight, may actually be a quiet night in...but not certain that will be the luck. The apartment is quite bare and too quiet now...maybe this evening calls for movies on the balcony... ;)
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Escape to Apple Valley
Gratitude 362
This afternoon, Q and I drove up to Noni's (Gloria) house in Apple Valley for a visit. The short afternoon of rest and respite was much loved. :) Wonderful chats, great food, wine and tea, lovely countryside, a gorgeous log home!, and simplicity. My only wish is that our visit did not have to be so brief...
On our drive up there, the roads were long stretches of winding paths through the countryside. Simply beautiful on a sunny day (and HOT!). We passed row upon row of wild tiger lilies...and suddenly, we found ourselves pulling over to the side of the road and myself running 1/4 mile back (of course, Q couldn't have stopped closer!) to leap the bank and grab a handful. Seriously, this is the stuff of a movie scene or something. I am certain it was quite the sight for the passersby with my pink floral skirt flowing in the breeze and all! haha! So ridiculously whimsical! ;) Love it!
Yesterday, my roommate came by to load up some furniture in the early morning. (She took away my beloved balcony furniture! The horror! Sad day.) So, that spun me into a 5 or 6 hour spree of breaking down and starting that packing bit. Ugh. It honestly isn't bad. Moving is always the beginning of a new adventure. Nonetheless, it is harder than I thought it would be to leave this beautiful apartment. I just love it, and it has been a wonderful home for the past two years. And my balcony!!
It is also a weird feeling when I realize that once I leave here in 11 days (ACK!), I won't be returning for an indefinite amount of time and most likely never again to live, though one never actually knows where life will place them. I was talking with my friend Haley today, and she felt the same...you think it'll be so easy just to pack up and go, but being in a place for five years, one inevitably makes ties to it in the form of people, places, etc. But I guess that's why there is Facebook...and airplanes! ;)
I got a call cancelling nannying tomorrow, so my Independence Day is open for leisure, a BBQ w/ Barb and her family, hopefully catching up on some neglected work, and the community fireworks that are set off on campus. I think I'm going to skip out on the "parade" in the a.m...unless it's the Macy's Thanksgiving or Disney Christmas, it's not exactly my biggest holiday fancy. Happy 4th of July!
This afternoon, Q and I drove up to Noni's (Gloria) house in Apple Valley for a visit. The short afternoon of rest and respite was much loved. :) Wonderful chats, great food, wine and tea, lovely countryside, a gorgeous log home!, and simplicity. My only wish is that our visit did not have to be so brief...
On our drive up there, the roads were long stretches of winding paths through the countryside. Simply beautiful on a sunny day (and HOT!). We passed row upon row of wild tiger lilies...and suddenly, we found ourselves pulling over to the side of the road and myself running 1/4 mile back (of course, Q couldn't have stopped closer!) to leap the bank and grab a handful. Seriously, this is the stuff of a movie scene or something. I am certain it was quite the sight for the passersby with my pink floral skirt flowing in the breeze and all! haha! So ridiculously whimsical! ;) Love it!
* * * * * *
Yesterday, my roommate came by to load up some furniture in the early morning. (She took away my beloved balcony furniture! The horror! Sad day.) So, that spun me into a 5 or 6 hour spree of breaking down and starting that packing bit. Ugh. It honestly isn't bad. Moving is always the beginning of a new adventure. Nonetheless, it is harder than I thought it would be to leave this beautiful apartment. I just love it, and it has been a wonderful home for the past two years. And my balcony!!
It is also a weird feeling when I realize that once I leave here in 11 days (ACK!), I won't be returning for an indefinite amount of time and most likely never again to live, though one never actually knows where life will place them. I was talking with my friend Haley today, and she felt the same...you think it'll be so easy just to pack up and go, but being in a place for five years, one inevitably makes ties to it in the form of people, places, etc. But I guess that's why there is Facebook...and airplanes! ;)
* * * * * *
I got a call cancelling nannying tomorrow, so my Independence Day is open for leisure, a BBQ w/ Barb and her family, hopefully catching up on some neglected work, and the community fireworks that are set off on campus. I think I'm going to skip out on the "parade" in the a.m...unless it's the Macy's Thanksgiving or Disney Christmas, it's not exactly my biggest holiday fancy. Happy 4th of July!
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