It's pronounced Pah-VEE-uh...

...and it is beautiful.

 

(Coperto Bridge over the Ticino River, Cathedral of Pavia in the distance)

Pavia, Italy is a small college town in Northern Italy. In the middle of summer it's just the right amount of quiet while still being fun (much like Ann Arbor, or Eau Claire for that matter).

For two weeks, Corey got to stay in a little apartment on campus, take composition seminars, have private lessons with some pretty big names, have a piece performed, take Italian language and cooking lessons, and just chill in this amazing little town. AND he had the pleasure of my company for the first week :)

The down time was a lot of pizza, wine, window-shopping, and walking. LOTS of walking. It was really great to soak up the culture of this off-the-tourist-path town. It was like being part of the community for a little while. A lot of the shops and restaurants we went to had the posters for the festival concerts on display, and the bartender at the Irish Pub in town knew our group by the end of our second day.

(Basilica of St. Peter in Golden Sky, the resting place of St. Augustine, the Lombard King Liutprand, and philospoher Boethius. It is mentioned in Dante's Devine Comedy.)

(The Certosa di Pavia, a country monastery outside Pavia.) 

 (Yummy local wine!)

Even though I was registered with the festival as a guest, all of the classes were open to me as well. I attended the Italian lessons and seminar classes with Corey every morning. The seminars were short presentations by the festival participants about their music. It was really cool to hear bits if pieces by composers of all experience levels, from undergrad to post-doc, and from all over the world. Unfortunately, all of the concerts were scheduled for the second week, so I could not attend any.

For all my composing friends, I highly recommend the highSCORE music festival. The classes, lessons, and concert opportunities were excellent. Corey (and I) made some great professional contacts, and he is feeling really good about his doctoral applications after this experience. Aside from the professional and educational advantages of this program, the setting was amazing. The town is so beautiful and inspiring and just plain fun!

Two of the teachers at the festival are a couple. I've told Corey that after he's found a good teaching job, his next task is to find a sweet summer gig in a similarly gorgeous location as Pavia. I could get used to this :)

So Long Summer

Summer is over and the academic year is in full swing. That means concerts, football, and socializing. Hence why I have been delinquent in my posts. Also, I'm at war with my ever-slowing computer, so I haven't been cracking it open much lately.

We are finally, as of today, all settled in our new place. I just put on the finishing touch by hanging the living room curtains. I have more decorating ideas, but as of now, all of the pictures, window treatments, and decorative items that we currently own are on display. I also don't want to put too much work into this place if we are only going to be here for a year. Corey's doctorate applications are due on Dec. 1 (2 1/2 months!) and by April (6 months!) we should know where we are going. I'm really anxious about the next chapter in our life, and I'm excited to number my days as the sole money-maker in this family. (Well, Corey is going to be bringing in some cash this semester, but more on that later.)

To keep me honest, I wanted to post a list of upcoming posts so that I am accountable to my audience (however small).

1. The Italy Trip! I know I've totally slacked on this one. It was an amazing experience, and I really want to help spread the word about the highSCORE festival.

2. Michigan Football: Corey and I have season tickets this year and are in with a group of hard-core tailgaters. You might already know this if you follow me on Twitter or Instagram :)

3. The Julliard String Quartet: Our first concert date this season. The Chamber Music Society of Detroit is debuting it's "InDepth" series this season with casual Friday night concerts.

4. I'm singing again: I am now a member of the University Musical Society Choral Union. Rehearsals start tomorrow!

Also, for those interested, be on the lookout for my guest appearances on the beauty blog TruBeautyGems. One of the main bloggers (my bestie) is about to have her first baby any day now, so I will be helping out with the blog load.

That's all for now, except GO BLUE!

New York Style

Two weeks ago I took my first real trip to New York City. I say my first "real" trip because my only previous NYC experience was for a few hours and we saw Times Square, the MoMA, and 30 Rock. This was a real 48-hour tour of the city.

Corey's cousin and her husband live in an apartment two blocks off of Columbus Circle. We crashed in their living room for two nights before flying to Milan. Corey stayed with them for a week last summer while he had grad school interviews on the East Coast. I, however, had to stay home and go to work.

So this was my first chance to really experience the city. My one tourist-y request was that we go to the Empire State Building; I wanted to pretend to be Meg Ryan (or Debra Kerr) for a little while. Well, let's just say that only Meg Ryan in a movie can run into the lobby and breathlessly cry "observation deck!" and be immediately whisked into an elevator to find Jonah's backpack waiting for her. Of course I didn't expect there to be no line, but it was room after room of lines, and two hours later we were looking out across the city from it's most famous vantage point. The wait was worth it, but I will pony up for express tickets next time.

After the ESB, we went all the way downtown for lunch, then took a stroll around Battery Park and Ground Zero. We didn't go in to the memorial, but it felt right to just have a moment of stillness on the sidewalk. We had drinks in the Village and dinner at home. The next day we had some time to kill before we had to be at the airport, so we got burgers at Shake Shack and walked home through Central Park. It was amazing.

Now, being a small-town girl from Wisconsin, I went into this trip thinking that every New Yorker was fabulous and polished and on-trend. What greeted me in the city was much better. Everyone in New York wears exactly what they want. They present whatever image they want, and they do it with a confidence that I've never seen anywhere else. It's just sort of "this is how I look and what the f*** do you care?" I love it.

I've fallen in love with the confidence and anonymity that New York City offers its people. You have it even if you are just visiting because it's contagious, and grows with every minute you spend in the city. I truly think that if I awoke one morning with the uncontrollable need to find myself, I'd need to go to New York to do it. And it's not just about fashion choices, that's just where it starts. It's like being a tweenager and your first real experience with independence is choosing your own clothes. You pick an image to present to the world before you've even begun to know who you are inside. The image may change as you learn more about yourself, but you have to start somewhere. It's much more urgent for you to live and interact in the world immediately; self-identity will catch up when it can.

This breaks down to the simple notion that one can become confident in one's image first, then in one's self. Once you are confident in your appearance and stop worrying what others think, there is much more time for self-discovery. The anonymity of a large city like New York gives me the confidence to stop fretting about how I look and focus on enjoying my life and being an awesome person, wife, and career-girl. I can't wait to go back.

Married to Music: Networking at Corey's Summer Festival

I'm finally over the jet lag and settled into the weekend. I've been too tired to write until now, since I went back to work immediately after traveling for 12 hours and sleeping for 7. Corey is on his way home and will be back on Monday night after a brief stop in New York.

This trip was amazing in so many ways. I saw New York City for the first (sort of) time, I spent time in a lovely corner of northern Italy, I heard some great music and I did it all with my best friend. I even did some networking for myself and picked up some career tips that I'm really excited about. I was not expecting to make any career connections for myself at the festival, I was just planning to be a tag-along, but I was pleasantly surprised. I learned that every opportunity Corey gets has potential for me too, which is lifting my spirits after the career drought I've been suffering from since, well, graduation. 

I had a major job interview right before we left. It was a part-time gig, but the company (which for professional reason will remain anonymous) was such that it would have majorly kicked-off my career. A year working part-time for this place could have easily boosted me to a full-time gig in a smaller market. I write in the past-tense because I did not get the job. I'm sad about it but I'm trying to stay optimistic. I've got a few more applications out there, and at least one more to write when I'm finished posting this.

Anyway, someone I met at the festival in Italy told me about weekend courses in arts management that are offered at NYU. It's a little over $500 to take a class Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It would look great on my resume and would be a great test-run for grad school, plus I would make connections just by showing up. Right now I'm digging around for funding. The professional development grants offered by my music fraternity are only offered to applicants who already work in a music field. Boo.

This trip has really inspired me to take charge of my career. I'm going to keep applying, networking, volunteering and studying until I can get a job in arts administration. I will keep my loyal readers posted :)

The Fifth of July

After a huge storm last light, half of Southeast Michigan is without power. We're fine at home, but my office is dark, so I'm on standby until the power comes back. According to DTE Energy and AnnArbor.com, it could be awhile. We have power at home, but since our recent move we still don't have internet yet, so we're hanging out at a Panera Bread in an area of the grid that is still running.

The move went great. We have some awesome friends that came over on Saturday to help us move furniture. About 20% of our stuff is still at the old place, but we have until the 15th to turn in our keys, so we're taking the rest little by little.

For the Fourth, we hung out with some friends, grilled burgers and played lawn games. Their were no fireworks in A2, so we watched the DC and Detroit displays on TV. In Detroit they fire them from boats on the river between Detroit and Windsor, Canada. I'm seriously considering going to Windsor to watch the fireworks next year, just for the story.

Corey is putting the final touches on his piece for Italy. It's for solo electric guitar and electronics. I've heard bits on Sibelius play-back, but he hasn't sat me down to listen to the whole thing. I'm a little bummed because we got the schedule for the festival the other day and I'm going to miss all of the concerts. However, I get to take Italian lessons every morning and a cooking class on Tuesday evening. I'm getting really excited!

We finally booked our tickets and we'll be staying in New York for the weekend before heading to Milan. We'll be staying at Corey's cousin's apartment. She'll be gone for a bridal shower, but we'll just hang out with her husband for the weekend. I'm not holding my breath, but I REALLY want to see the Book of Mormon!

The Summer Solstice that sneaked up on me.

Oh em gee, I can't believe it's June already. Scratch that: June is almost over and I haven't written at all this month.

The following is a list of reason/excuses for not writing in the past 3 weeks:

A. Corey's parents and aunt visited us for a couple of days. We have a great time dining out, visiting the Detroit Zoo, and showing them around Ann Arbor.

B. We are moving NEXT WEEKEND. We have until the 15th to completely vacate our old place, but the 30th was the only day we could get enough friends together to help us move the big stuff. As such, I've been spending a lot of free time packing. We get the keys to out new place on the 29th, and I am so stoked. It's a two-bedroom in Ann Arbor proper and a five minute drive to my office. I'll post pics when we get in. :)

C. I finally started, and finished, the Hunger Games series. I don't want to get too into discussing it, but it was awesome. Two thumbs up, and I can't wait to see the rest of the films. (P.S. Team Gale if you were wondering, but ::SPOILER ALERT:: I wasn't disappointed with how it ended.)

D. The countdown to Italy has started. 26 days until we take off, spend the weekend in NYC, then a week in Pavia. I've been preparing by shopping, mental packing, and studying my phrase book.

E. The Ann Arbor Summer Festival is in full swing! I had only heard rumors of it's awesomeness, but it far exceeds my expectations. Its so great that the community comes together to create and support almost 3 1/2 weeks of concerts, outdoor movies, and other family fun, AND with some pretty big names (Feist, Al Green, and Ira Glass to name a few, plus the improv group born out of MST3K's cast.) We went to see one of Corey's professor's band last Wednesday, hung out in the beer garden with friends on Friday, and we're going to see an outdoor showing of Ghostbusters on Tuesday and Jurassic Park next Sunday.

I'm planning to get back into the swing of writing regularly once we're back from Italy. I'll definitely have some interesting concerts to talk about and hopefully an exciting trip in general. I'm looking into getting tickets to the Book of Mormon while we're in New York.

Total Beauty Collection #1

Click here to read my review of the first Total Beauty Collection on TruBeautyGems!