Checking in

So I currently suck at sticking to the blog schedule I set for myself two weeks ago. Here is a current status update of my life:

1) I am starting an internship with the Ann Arbor Summer Festival. My job description is not yet set in stone, but I am super excited to be a part of this awesome event AND get back in the saddle of arts admin. My career has pretty much stagnated since moving to Ann Arbor, so I am SO excited for this opportunity. I will be heading to Austin with a shiny new résumé.

2) I just completed my first week of meal planning and it went OK. I somehow forgot when I was making the plan on Sunday that Corey's birthday was on Tuesday, so adjustments had to be made. In related news, this move is turning out to cost us a buttload of money, so we are severely trimming back our "eating out" budget to afford it.

In blog-y news, I am working on a Redhead Beauty series/feature for my dear friend and fellow blogger at Justina's Gems. You may recall my previous work for her when the blog was called TruBeautyGems (Justina and her co-blogger decided to strike out on their own). I love guesting at her beauty blog, it's just so fun! Watch for the link!

O, Pan-ada!

I know I said on Tuesday that I would post on Saturday, but I'm pulling a Jenna Marbles. Sometimes the post just doesn't get finished until the next day.

With only 7 weeks left in Michigan, Corey and I have a sort of Michigan Bucket List going. At the top of the list is a trip to Canada. It's literally 45 minutes away, we've been so close that we could shout and be heard there (Joe Louis Arena), but we've yet to actually cross the border.

Additionally, I found out a few weeks ago that the Toronto Zoo received two giant pandas, and they will be ready for visitors on May 18. For those of you that don't know, I'm obsessed pandas. When Xiao Liwu was born at the San Diego Zoo last year, I was glued to their Panda Cam for days. When I read about the Toronto Zoo pandas, I freaked out. Toronto is about a five-hour drive from Ann Arbor. Much closer than San Diego :)

I'd been bugging Corey about it for weeks, and finally last night we booked two nights in Toronto over Memorial Day weekend. We're staying at a cute B&B in downtown Toronto, and we're going to see the pandas!

So this Memorial Day weekend, I will be checking off two I've-nevers: a Canadian visit, and a panda viewing. If you've ever been to Toronto or Canada in general, what else shouldn't I miss while I'm there? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Mother's Day,

Lauren

Goals

It's been over six months since I last posted, and now I stand at the precipice of yet another new chapter of my life. No, I'm not pregnant.

Corey graduated last weekend from the University of Michigan with his Master of Music. We have eight weeks left in Ann Arbor, will be spending the month of July in Wisconsin, and moving to Austin, Texas in August. Corey will be studying at the University of Texas for his DMA. The program lasts for 3 years.

So again, I am moving to a city and state to which I've never been. I am actually very excited to start fresh and hopefully start my career in earnest. And in the spirit of fresh starts, I am starting now. I'm setting several personal goals for myself, including re-starting this blog.

I wanted my first blog post "back" to be about my goals. I feel like if I publish them, I will be more accountable.

First, slowly but surely I want to get back into blogging regularly. I'll start by posting every Tuesday and Saturday. For Tuesdays, I'm planning on more music, travel and news-y posts. I also have a few friends who are working on some exciting projects that I'm happy to plug. Saturday posts will be diary style: checking in on my goals, the moving process, and checking in with Winston and Egon (they're great btw).

Second, I'm working on losing weight and getting healthy. I don't want to turn this into a diet blog, but I feel like sharing my experience will help me reach my goals. I'm not planning to get into specific goal weights and the like, but I will post about my progress and strategies.

Third, Corey and I spend WAY too much money. The bulk of our "disposable" income goes to eating out. I'm starting to plan meals weekly and grocery shop accordingly. It may take a while for me to find a good job in Austin, so we should be saving all we can now.

For the blog, I working on a more active Twitter and Instagram, and I'm considering venturing into YouTube at some point. For now, look for me on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

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 :)