Coffee Mornings

This was definitely a coffee morning. I got up to meet a friend for breakfast at 7:30am. Did I mention I'm not a morning person?

Well, I'm not even a regular breakfast-eater, but I will joyfully wake up for good food and great conversation. And that's exactly what I got :) I'm thankful for that this morning. And the thing I actually like about getting up early is having the rest of the day to be productive. But where did I end up after my breakfast date? At another coffee shop... go figure. Apparently the 3 cups of coffee at breakfast didn't do the trick.

But now I've paired music and coffee. Another great combination right? I'm meeting a different friend in a half an hour and so I came to put our Wednesday worship set together. And I'm pretty sure if I went home and relaxed I'd fall asleep haha.

That's my day so far and I'm loving it. Work tonight. My life is so exciting, huh? ;)
Well, I hope you all have a happy Tuesday! Take the time to drink some coffee, chat it up with a friend and enjoy this beautiful life that God has given us.

A Great Way to Start Off The Weekend...

Okay so it's not exactly the weekend yet, but I'm having a slow start today. I only teach a few lessons today so it kind of feels like the weekend :)

I'm catching up on some stuff and am listening to this beautiful cover of Jason Mraz's "I Won't Give Up." I'm singing it for a friend's wedding in a month...

Enjoy :)
And have a great holiday weekend!

Dreamin'

I had the best dream last night. Have you ever had one of those dreams where when you wake up it's quite devastating that it wasn't real? I kept going back to sleep hoping it would continue (and it did!). Seriously... I stayed in bed until almost 11am :) So here's what happened:

I was in an audition or a workshop of some kind. (I think it started out as an audition and turned into a workshop halfway through. Oh dreams). I was preparing to sing "Meadowlark" from "The Baker's Wife."

And what do you know? Patti LuPone was there! YES.

And so was Bernadette Peters. Whaaat?!

Anyway - Patti LuPone sang through the song with me. How did I not know this was a dream?? (It felt so real, though!) And then we analyzed the song together, she gave me some tips and I performed it for them... and it was good! I feel like I can say that without being cocky because it was a dream haha.

That's about it. But Patti and Bernadette were sitting in a room listening to me sing and enjoying it. What? Okay, I'm done. Just thought I'd share, because even though it wasn't real I enjoyed it and am still pretty jazzed about my fake performance for two brilliant women in musical theatre.

I'm going to go to bed now. Maybe Sutton Foster and Laura Benanti will make an appearance next :)

Drive-in with dad

Last night my dad and I had a date :) When I was little my dad would take my sister and me to the drive-in when my mom was out of town. He would load the car with blankets, a pizza, and our favorite snacks. So this Saturday night my dad and I did just that. We loaded up the car with all of those fun things (including my favorite Flourless Chocolate Souffle Cake that he surprised me with) and headed to the Sunset-drive in theatre. It may not have looked like the old picture above haha - more like this...


But it was great all the same. We saw "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" and "Man on a Ledge." The acting in the first movie was comical, but the 2nd was good. But the real reason for the drive-in is the outing, the atmosphere and the fun of the whole trip... I mean who doesn't love to sing along with the "Let's all go to the lobby..." song in between movies?? :)

Even though I'm 24 I still love the occasional father/daughter date night :)

Santa Barbara Saturday

Last Saturday I took the 1.5 hour drive to Santa Barbara to meet up with my friend Dana :) She lives in Pasadena so SB was our half way point. We had the most relaxing day and fortunately for us it was a beyond beautiful day on the coast...

For some reason I came up with the bright idea to meet at the Starbucks on State St. But little did I know there were 3 Starbucks' on the same street. (Smart, Tamara). After a few confused and comical phone calls we found each other and proceeded to take a walk down to the beach. We walked the length of the pier and had a grand view of the expanse of water sprinkled with sailors, fishermen and paddle surfers. We sat at the edge of the pier and soaked up the sun and its wonderful warmth.

We had lunch at a nice restaurant on the pier that had a great view. Yummy food and good company.

After lunch we walked along the water and again sat down to enjoy the view and sun.

We then walked along State Street, did some shopping, and stopped for frozen yogurt.

(And Dana may or may not have tried to take a nap in World Market...)

We ended the night with a relaxed dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and what girls outing is complete without cocktails and laughter? :)



Day trips are a blessing... and so are good friends.

On my bookshelf these days

I just finished reading the classic Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre for the first time. I loved it. It's not my typical book of choice, but I've been wanting to read it for years (It's one of my mom's favorites). The thing that always stopped me was that it is a massive 552 page novel. And it's definitely "a journey" as my mom puts it... not a crazy page turner at first and not one you want to read in 3 days. But alas I made it through and enjoyed the journey. If you haven't read it, you should.

My reward for finishing Jane Eyre is moving on to my latest purchase, Patti LuPone A Memoir. If you're not familiar with Ms. LuPone's work, she's most known for her Tony Award winning performances in Evita (1979) and the revival of Gypsy as Rose (2008).


I've already read the first three chapters and I'm hooked. The very first quote at the beginning of the memoir got me:

"It's a curious thing. I suppose most people think of artists as impatient, but I don't know of any first-rate artist who hasn't manifested in his career an appalling patience, a willingness to wait, and to do his best now in the expectation that next year he will do it better."

-Mark Van Doren
(from The Dialogues of Archibald MacLeish and Mark Van Doren)

The very fact that Ms. LuPone chose this quote to start her book gives me a hint that this is going to be a good one. I'll tell you more as I keep reading! But so far, I can relate to a lot to her life... falling in love with music very early in life, being involved in school choirs, studying music in college and having a problem with judgement and not fitting the "mold" the school put on her. So far so good.

More to come :)

Performers and Competition

It's weird. Sometimes I feel like I picked the wrong profession. Don't get me wrong - I love music. I can't help but want to sing all the time. (Seriously... all the time. It's probably annoying). But being in music means being around musicians (or those aspiring to be in the music business) all the time.

I have to tell you. I love performing. I would be holding a microphone, standing on a stage all the time if I could. But sometimes I really dislike performers. It's more the arrogance and pride that bothers me. This is not to say that all performers are arrogant and prideful. But so many times in my life I've been paired with other artists to put some sort of show on and there is this weird vibe between us because the other person feels like we're in competition. Whether they think they're a better singer, choreographer, teacher, organizer, whatever. And I'm not saying they are not better - but when you are teamed up, you are working towards the same goal - putting on a great show!

SO. Where was I going with this? I feel like there are so many amazing performers out there. We don't need to compete with everyone we meet in this business. I don't care if you can sing a High C. So can I. If you are a great singer, I will respect you for it. Let your skill win me over, not your talking yourself up (because that won't win my respect). Let's just be encouraged and inspired by great performers! Don't knock other people down and compare yourself to them. Learn from them and get excited about getting better yourself!

Okay, my rant is over. :)

If you want to hear some great music and see some awesome performances, check these videos out. I've been totally obsessed with watching the old Kennedy Center Honors tributes on youtube lately. The links are below. Enjoy! And be inspired!

A tribute to Jerry Herman

A tribute to Barbara Cook

And if you need a good laugh, no one can compare to the comedy of Victor Borge :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx4n9P4bLEo

Happy Tuesday!