music

hello, miami!

everybody, i'm taking my first orchestra audition!! 

i have no idea what to expect, but i sure am liking a good excuse to load up on carbs :-)



xoxoxoxoxoxoxo


yeh



p.s. a few of you have voiced confusion about posting comments- it's really easy and i'd love to hear what you sillies have to say! all you have to do is click where it says the number of comments under the post and then you can select to enter your name or just leave it anonymously!




heute (was almost) nicht mein tag


warning: this post contains hints of number 3 from the list of people i unadmire

reasons why today (was almost) not my day {and i'm serious, this is no joke...}

1. r.i.p. gucci eye glasses. cause of death: my butt.

2. r.i.p. wayfarer sun shades. cause of death: my clumsiness in the fitting room zara.

3. r.i.p. mum's eye glasses! cause of death: gardening. 


i mean... seriously?!?!? 

4. beautiful shoes like these never ever fit my wide feet. (also even if they did, my wallet is still taking the hit from my cheese binge two weeks back). 


but, fear not! new york city to the rescue!!!
seriously... one of the best things about new york is that there's always something that will cheer you up, just blocks away!!

so after spending a few bucks on new cheapo sun shades, i headed up town towards the zabar's knish counter....

but instead, i was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon the rickshaw dumpling truck! (conveniently parked on broadway between 74th street and 75th street, on sundays)

the sista working in the truck lovingly called me a diva. (i had, after all, just purchased bright red lipstick for my upcoming audition and was trying out the look paired with a black flower in my hair) and then she complimented me on my cowgirl dress. i told her i'd trade her the dress for the truck... and i digress...

the dumplings i ordered were chicken and thai basil and they were quite delicious! 

what set these dumplings apart from other dumplings was definitely the sauce. it was a creamy, sweet, coconut-y sauce that was somehow just perfect for a hot summer day. 

the next stop in new york city's effort to cheer me up was bumping into friend allyson wonderland on the street! (no, i don't know her actual name, and no, i don't think anyone else does either, and yes, i agree, that does make sweet nicknames like that all the better). she was about to play the fiddle with her sister on the street to make some moneys. SWEET. if there's anything that will no doubt cheer me up on a not so good day, it's randomly bumping into fun people like allyson!!

and then...

i saw a poster for upcoming movie cloudy with a chance of meatballs

that was one of my all time favorite books when i was little! i can't contain my excitement to see the movie!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
oh boy. 

the final stop on my route to cheeriness was my room, sitting on my bed, discussing triangles with friend kyle. so dorky, i am well aware. but discussing new ways to play musics and figuring out new sounds on instruments is just so interesting to me! 

phew. good thing this day don't suck no mo.


xoxo


yeh

apartment doesn't have internet yet... but peaches frozen yogurt does!


i recently found this on the menu of indigo indian...

can anyone explain what exactly kasta kachori contains??


furthermore...



HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY, FRIEND DAVE!!

things i love about {dave}

1. he is in fact known to most as the d train
2. he has marimba skillz. mad mad marimba skillz. 
3. the other night he pleaded with me to learn my secret mac and cheese recipe. finally i caved and made him my sous chef.
4. his parents!!!!
5. occasionally, during a late night practice session, he'll approach me with sad puppy eyes and say, "mollmoll do you have any fooooood?" (and i mean, of course i always have food). he makes me feel like i'm doing my job as the makeshift mother of the percussionists. 
6. he often waves to inanimate objects. like sandwiches that he's about to eat. 

i can't contain my excitement to go to five napkin burger to celebrate!!!


last night, after a nice peaceful walk through the city with myself, i came home to find a little packeege from my auntie cathy. it was a sweet journal (she is well aware of journal obsession) that says, "anything is edible if you put on enough mustard!" (she is also way hip to my mustard shelf). is that not the most perfect journal you can think of?!  i can't wait to start using it to write down new recipes- like this most recent one that friend marsha sent me for spinach salad:

fresh spinach and strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar

i can't wait to try it! i better do so soon too because strawbies from fairway have been soooo tasty lately!

and now a bit about organ music...

in the midst of my excerpt shedding a few days ago, my friend keenan, who is a fantastic organ player, approached me to play with him a minimalist piece for solo organ by the famed and illustrious ad wammes. i wheeled in a xylophone, divided up a few lines (did you know organ music had three staves? i certainly didn't), and went to town. oh it was so much fun!! i've never heard such awesome organ music! and if i do say so myself, the high tingy sounds of the xylophone fused with the airy, almost haunting sounds of the organ sounded super fetch. i felt like joseph gramley from organized rhythm. except, is it wrong that the only additional thing i wanted in this organ + xylophone jam was a sick beat on the drumkit? i can't wait to play more with keenan and see where this mixture of sound goes... 


something that i'd like to get off my back...

list of people i unadmire 

1. SOUR PUSSES
2. DEBBIE DOWNERS
3. CATTY GIRLS!!!!!!
4. JUDGEY PEOPLE

phew! that felt good to get out...

anyways.
the english muse does this thing where she has guest bloggers.. and i thought that was a fantastic idea!! so i'd like to introduce my first guest blogger, the famed and illustrious friend craig. i met craig a few years ago at tanglewood when he approached me as i was playing the marimba and said, verbatim, "sometimes i can feel a low F in my stomach." my reaction to that was... i didn't know if i should think he was a complete and total weirdo or a complete and total genius. but in compliance with number 4 on my list of people i unadmire, i decided to go with the impression that he was a genius. and i quickly realized that he is. teehee. 

so here he is!


welcome, craig!!!


xoxo


yeh








weekend trip to tanglewood!

last wednesday was the inaugural dinner party in my new apartment!!

menu was:

spinach salad with tasty honey dijon dressing (p.s. anyone have a good recipe for that?)
my secret mac and cheese made with applewood smoked bacon, smokey gouda, jalepeno jack, gruyere, white cheddar, and pecorino romano 
an impromptu fruit salad 
lollipops 


it looked a little like this...
the absence of any sort of coffee or dinner table added to the, ermmm, charm?

after dinner, friend aziz got a surprise email from the boston symphony orchestra saying they needed him for a concert STAT! 

...so we packed our things and left for the berkshires...

and you must understand, i love the berkshires.

so much so that i am going to get married right on the tanglewood grounds... if they let me... and if someone actually agrees to marry me... 

and the wedding shall be catered by loeb's. home of best sandwiches in massachusetts. pictured here from left to right are the italian stallion and the leslie b. don't tell anyone, but these little sandwiches are secretly the real reason that i went to tanglewood this weekend. 



i got serenaded by guy tisdale. who then proceeded to throw down on a lil bartok sonata for two pianos and percussions. 



friends aziz and kyky, pre bso concert. aziz was getting ready to tear up some triangle on la valse!

(i also basked in the sounds of brahms 2, beethoven 4, liszt piano concerto number 2, and the brahms piano concerto number i forget. all in one weekend!! it was fabulous. and the tmc orchestra was amazing!!)


 on sunday morning, tim genis took aziz and i out on his swank boat. it was total swank. 

this is tim wake-boarding. you might be asking yourself, "then who is driving the boat??"


...there's a first time for everything.


xoxo

yeh