Ben, this is for you!

Let Me Give You The Low Down....

I was in CRAZY FOR YOU! We had an awesome, tiring, amazing 4-day run in the Opera House. I can't decide if I'm sad that it's all over --I'll have to let you know what it feels like to have my evenings free again in a few days. But right now I am definitely enjoying sitting on the back deck writing this blog and not rushing off to rehearsal. I'm sure I will miss it though, it was really fun to prepare for such a big event, and it went off with only a few hitches. The scenery and costumes were huge --a once in a lifetime kindof thing, and I am so happy to have been a part of it. I also met a large group of new people and we've got plans to get together for the next few weekends to celebrate various events --The Derby, a birthday, we'll have everyone over for a cookout sometime--so hopefully I won't lose touch with all the great people I've met and gotten to know.

There was a professional photographer who took some photos during the show, so maybe I'll have some of those pics in a few weeks. Also, there is a DVD being made, so we can let those of you who live far away borrow it if you'd like. Here are a few snapshots we were able to take backstage.

Me and Mary


Follies Girls Opening Number


My first costume of the night (I loved my gold-sequin tube top!)


We Can't Be Bothered Now!


Hello?!?!


We've Got Rhythm


Nice Work If You Can Get It


My Finale Costume


Me and Mary after the Finale

Internet Returns!!

Well, we've been without internet for three long days, but the cable guys finally fixed it this afternoon so I'm able to post about the many goings on at Camp Crawford in the past few days. I am still getting over strep throat, but thanks to penicillin I'm feeling better and if I drink enough Throat Coat during the day, I can sing pretty well at the show each night. I'm not going to post any show pictures until at least tomorrow because I haven't gotten enough good ones. So I'll write about the show when I post the pictures.

Right now, I just want to thank mom and dad for coming to Lexington and spending the day with me and Pete! We had a great afternoon --went to Wallace Station in Woodford County for lunch before heading out to Keeneland for a day at the race track. It was raining when we got there and looking like we were going to have a pretty miserable afternoon, but the skies cleared up and we were able to enjoy a few sunny moments! We also had quite a winning streak going, which always makes for a more enjoyable time. Dad cleared the most profit with $27 dollars on a $2 bet for Rogue Scholar to win.

I think mom had the most fun seeing the horses, she is, after all, still a kid at heart.

Mom and Dad in their matching Keeneland shirts.


.Mom watching the horses load, waiting for the race to begin.


And they're off!

After Keeneland, we went home and I took a nap before heading to the Opera house for the show. I had to be there at six, the curtain wasn't until eight. Mom, Dad, Pete, and five of our friends all came to opening night --thanks again guys! I think they had a good time, it's definitely a lively show from a visual aspect, and who doesn't love Gershwin? I don't have any pictures of me with my folks after show, but I'm sure if we beg/overflow his inbox with emails, he will send me one from his camera and I'll post it. After the show we came home and chatted for a bit before heading to bed. We were in for an early morning as mom and dad needed to to be dropped off at the airport at 6:30. But it was great to have them here, even for a short amount of time!

It's Finished!!

...well, almost. Enough that people can come over tomorrow and my parents can arrive on Wednesday and it won't be a big deal. We still have to set all the nail heads and fill the cracks with putty. But other than that, Pete finished the largest remodeling project he's undertaken yet for our house. I say Pete finished because, really, all I did was paint some panels last Sunday when I had the afternoon off. Otherwise, Pete did all the work each night while I was at rehearsal. Here are some pictures, let us know what you think!

A Fun-Filled Easter

Today was the first Sunday in I don't know how long that I haven't had rehearsal from 2-5pm. So Pete and I were pretty excited about having a whole day together! We decided to go to the early service at church so our afternoon would be free as well. We don't have a tripod so there aren't any picture of us in our Easter finery, but there is this lovely photo of Pete devouring a Peep:


When we got home from church it was too early to start on brunch, so we decided to take Hannah to the dog park to see if she could do any holiday socializing. She LOVES getting to ride in the car.

We were the only ones there for a few minutes but then Henry and his owner arrived, and, what can I say, it was love at first sight.

A little while longer Gus and his owner arrived, and he made fast friends with Hannah and Henry.



By the time we were ready to go, Hannah was as happy and exhausted as she gets. She went from this....


to this

in about 30 seconds.

So we went home and it was time to prepare our Easter lunch -- we were starving. Pete had gotten us a Honey Baked Ham on Thursday, so preparation wasn't a big deal. We ate that with some Hawaiian King rolls, steamed sugar snap peas, and some stuffing for Pete. I made a not-so-tasty Weight Watchers recipe carrot cake for dessert, but I put pink Peeps Bunnies around the border on the frosting, and those will improve anything. :)

After lunch we went to Home Depot to pick out the right shade of white so we could paint our beadboard and get going with our stalled dining room project. We decided on Ralph Lauren Petticoat White and got to work.

I borrowed a miter saw from Steve at work, so hopefully tomorrow we'll cut and install the new baseboards and then we'll really be making progress!

We had more ham (surprise!) for a light dinner and then we decided we needed to work off some of our Easter candy, and since it's so cold outside (see last post), we broke out the Dance Dance Revolution! Laugh if you want, but it's TONS of fun.

So that's it from Camp Crawford for Easter 2007. Hope everyone had a good day --and for those of you with kiddos, hurry up and send me some pictures!!! :)

I'm all for snow but...

Not on my tulips!!

In other news...

Josie and Hannah seem to have reached some sort of detante.

Hope your St. Paddy's Day Was Filled with Revelry!

Ours wasn't too exciting, but we did have a great dinner at Marina's house --corned beef, baked potatoes, cabbage--the whole nine yards! Then we went over to Emily's to hang out and play board games. Pete, as you can see, can always amuse himself.

I didn't have rehearsal tonight so Pete and I went to Wild Oats for dinner and then headed over to Home Depot to get more supplies for our dining room project. We completed another step this evening! Our baseboard has officially been removed. Let me tell you, it's sorta scary under there. But we were able to hold up the new boards and see what it will look like when it's all done!

Isn't this what we all want to be doing today?

Thanksgiving 2007 --Bring It On!!

Pete and I went to the mall this afternoon to return a sweater I bought at the Gap on Thursday. We stopped by Macy's on our way out to look at their housewares department because we still have a giftcard from Christmas to use. Well, we left with a sleeper sofa and armchair! They won't actually be delivered for two weeks, but they're ours. The official sofa color is coffee and the accent chair is capuccino with a 'moneytree' pattern. Whatever that means. It has a little branch pattern on it in shades of brown. So, whoever's headed this way in November(nephews welcome), or April for the show, we now have two extra beds instead of just one.

Here's a better picture of the dining room:

We've Painted the Dining Room!

Pottery Barn has their own paint colors! Finally! I knew the color I wanted right away and on Thursday Pete took me to the Benjamin Moore store to purchase the perfect color for our dining room --Wedgewood Grey. We painted it this afternoon --here are the pictures as proof. Now all we need to do is install Wainscoting on the bottom half of the wall and we'll be finished! Well, we'll also need new curtains, and maybe a new light fixture, but we're definitely making progress.



I might take another one tomorrow when it's light out so you can get a better idea of the color.
Well, I've got to go take a nap or I'll never make it to Pete's 11:00PM indoor soccer game.

3.28.12 UPDATE: This posts gets hits all the time from those of you looking at the Wedgewood Grey photos. And I cringe every time I see a new hit because the picture was taken after dark with my old camera and it really doesn't do the color justice. We have since moved to another house - where I again had the dining room painted Wedgewood Grey (yes I like the color that much), and we have a better camera now, so here are some pictures that do the color justice:

We have since knocked this wall down as part of a major kitchen remodel, but it gives you a better idea of the color.

And here are some pictures that were taken after the remodel - we carried the Wedgewood Blue over into the new kitchen to unify the space.

Grace Strikes Again

I'm sharing this story because I figure once we're all laughing about it I'll stop thinking about the pain I'm feeling and my pants sticking to my bloody knees.

So we all know I'm in this show, and I've been thinking I should up my cardio, since it's been a few years since I've been on stage in tights and a leotard. I have Intermediate Pilates Reformer every Monday night at 7:15, but for the past few weeks I've been going a half an hour early to run on the treadmill before class. Pete goes as well, runs on the treadmill, and does whatever else for an hour and a half. The YMCA is packed at 6:30 so usually Pete and I can't get side by side treadmills. Last week they were all full and I had to run on the dinky track around the basketball court. If only that had been the case this week.
Long story short, I fell off the treadmill. I don't even know how it happened!! One minute I was thinking, 'Gosh, my ankles feel tight!' and the next I'm on my knees on an actively moving treadmill trying to figure out how to get out of my current situation. Without much thought my body let itself be thrown on its side and tossed off the machine, toward the back wall.
I managed to stand up and a stranger asked me if I was okay before the shock set in and tears started streaming down my face. It was one of those situations where you laugh and cry and act scared all at the same time. Then I had to go find Pete and tell him what happened, all the while thinking my knees really hurt, so I pulled up my tights, and, sure enough, I managed to scrape the Hell out of them. Did I mention slamming on to my right hip before being catapulted off?
So, there's my story. Stay safe out there on the gym equipment. :)
I need to go find some ibuprofen.

I need help, Jenni! --or any other knitters....

I've been so excited about my Sheldon the Turtle project. I had his body knit, and his legs, and his shell, and his shell panel, and then it came to attaching them all together and it said, on page five out of six, to CROCHET around the trim of the shell. I am a knitter, I have NO IDEA how to crochet! So I looked it up on the internet and Friday night I sat with Sheldon's shell in my hand and my computer on my lap, and managed to crochet in a single row around the edge. I thought I was home free. But no...
I get to the paragraph entitled Finishing, and I'm supposed to use an I-cord to attach the shell and attachment panel together, with the WS together?!?!? If you go to knitty.com, look up Sheldon the Turtle and on the last page of the pattern, the second paragraph under finishing --what am I supposed to do? I can't envision it and am pretty much ready to put it away forever.

So to distract me from my Sheldon worries, I started on a scarf to replace the one Hannah chewed that goes with my favorite coat.

Tonight was the first Crazy For You rehearsal. More of a meeting, really. They handed out scripts and we got our measurements taken (always a joy) and made plans for our first dance rehearsal next Tuesday night. When I was in it at McMurry all the Follies Girls had their regular hair, just worn really curly. But when I saw it at ACU a few years later, all the girls had these cute, short, super curly wigs. Apparently we will be wearing those, which is exciting. But the BEST news of the night --not that this was official, or that I saw a picture or anything --- but a bunch of people were talking about it --is that WE'LL BE WEARING VEGAS-STYLE (MAYBE WITH FEATHERS) HEADDRESSES!!! How cool is that?!?! I hope they don't weigh 40lbs like they did when Diane Sawyer was a showgirl for a day....

Pete was lamenting that there weren't any pictures to go with my ''Crazy For You" post. So let's all flash back eleven years:

I'm fourth from the left in this one.

And fifth from the left in this one.

Ahh, memories.

The past few days have been pretty busy for me, to say the least. Monday night after work, I had my Pilates reformer class, as usual. Tuesday, I had a callback for a show I auditioned for last Wednesday night. The show is "Crazy For You", a Gershwin musical I was in back in high school that's full of tap-dancing and crowd favorites like "Embraceable You" and "I've Got Rhythm". Wednesday was choir rehearsal. So it's work all day, get home, whip up a quick dinner, and go on to some activity. I'm writing this mainly to talk about the show audition. I show up at the audition last Wednesday with my prepared solo and my resume and my tap shoes in hand. Now I haven't danced in 6 years mind you, when I was in the chorus of Kiss Me Kate, but I thought it would come back to me like riding a bike. I was TOTALLY wrong! The choreographer said turn left, I turned right, I was on the wrong foot half the time, etc. But this is community theatre, so while there were some people that were better than me, there were also some that were worse. There were 14 of us that first night.
Last Friday I get a call telling me they'd like to see me again for a callback Tuesday night at 8PM. That was all she said, nothing about there being more dancing or anything. So I show up Tuesday night in what I wore to work -I had to work until 7- and there are 45 PEOPLE THERE! Apparently many, many more folks came to the second evening of auditions. I didn't leave the studio until 10:46PM Tuesday night. There was a session on readings, a session on dancing --where we did both the tap and jazz combos learned the week before --me wearing my nice green pants and gray sweater, I didn't even have a hair tie! --and then, at 10:26PM, after some people had been dismissed, we started the singing portion of the evening. AT 10:26 PM!! What kind of person can work an eight hour day, dance for an hour, and then sing two solos! Well, apparently, several much more talented gals than I can. Eight of us were in a room, we sang through "Naughty Baby" once as a group, then each individually. We did the same thing with "But Not For Me". Then, at long last, it was time to go home.
When this all started I had the mindset of 'I spent all of college being in the chorus, now I want to be one of the leads.' Well let me tell you, there are some talented folks hiding out in Lexington, KY. Not just good singers, but girls who can tap, too! I was so impressed watching other people dance, that I forgot to dance half the time. And when I arrived home, sure enough, there was dried blood on one of my toes. It was just like old times.
Anyway, I got a phone call today and I was cast as one of the Follies Girls. I'm really excited --I hope they don't put me in the back for every number, but it should be a good experience. I haven't done any music theatre since I moved to Lexington, and it IS my most favorite thing to do, so hopefully I'll have a good time. Plus, Pete has never seen me on stage --how weird is that?!?!
So, if you're in the area at the end of April, let me know and I'll get you tickets. This is one long post --my first ever without any pictures. Fear not though, Sheldon is almost done and he deserves a post of his very own.

A Star is Born!

It's like I'm married to Professor Harold Hill!

Earlier this week when Pete was in Louisville he took his old trombone from his mom's house. He showed me his skills this afternoon in the kitchen. Now I know this is no Jacob Henry Carter video, but I think it's pretty entertaining. As a side note, I have no idea why I laugh like Mary Poppins. Enjoy!

P.S. Thanks again to Dad for the new camera that also takes small movies!!

P.P.S. Pete is concerned that it is not going to come across that he hasn't played the trombone in 8 years. So there. I've told you, and now you know not to expect too much. :D

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We hope everyone had a good New Year's Eve, we did!

In honor of George Lucas being the Grand Marshall for the 2007 Rose Bowl Parade, we present Josie the cat, with her good friend Wicket.



2007 has already brought about several broken rules, the largest of which being animals on the furniture. I present to you, in full Technicolor, Hannah and Pete: BUSTED!



She is awfully serene, though.