music

shekere of good thoughts!

in ,

are you ready to dork out with me?

so the other day, i had a class on this silly looking instrument called the 

shekere 
{SHE-kuh-ray}
{{kinda rhymes with tanqueray}}


it originated from west africa, 
and it is essentially a dried gourd covered in a "skirt" of little beads.
and it's played like this:

{sorta. it's harder than it looks, people!}


teacher man, javier, explained that when shekere makers make the shekeres,
they are supposed to have one good thought for each of the zillion beads that are in the skirt.


and i thought that was just a fantastically happy idea!

so here are some of my good thoughts, were i to make a shekere:
{and if i were to make a shekere, it would no doubt be purple}


-to pops, because he is flying to new york tomorrow!
-to restaurant week. amen to that. 
and my seven thousand reservations about it.

-to all of my musician friends taking their first summer music festival auditions this weekend.
-to mum for FINALLY being done with jury duty.
-to roomie because he obviously must have had a horrendous and terribly awful day which caused him to totally forget to do his dishes tonight.
-to everybody that is going on my 11:45 tour tomorrow. 
back to back tours?! somebody please carry me up the stairs.
-to miss alli who has just come down with strep :-( feel better, doll!
-to the men at electric literature, 
for "making reading bad for you again."

-to the poor iPad. 
it's not your fault everyone is calling you iTampon.


hehe. 
i have about a lot more beads to go.
but it is past my bedtime.
and i must be well rested for my first restaurant week reservation tomorrow!

xoxo


yeh






-


pup

in ,


this is george gershwin.
{he's my dog}


sometimes it's hard to tell his head from his butt.



it's always good to make sure though before you go in for a kiss.


just thought you should know...

furthermore


i had a most glorious day, consisting of these things:


-a middle eastern drum lesson
-this week's restaurant  (oooh you guys are in for it)
-an a hundred block walk home from this week's restaurant
-discovering an amazing display on 42nd and 5th, advertising mtv's
the buried life
asking everyone,
"what do you want to do before you die?"
and displaying peoples' answers from around the country
{a sad majority had involved physical interactions with the jonas brothers}
-randomly running into one of my COOLEST friends from high school on the street


sigh.


i love new york




xoxo




yeh




congratulations, brian!

in ,


it's that can't-eat, 
can't-sleep,
 reach-for-the-stars, 
over- the-fence, 
world-series kind of thing...


everybody, 
bestie brian just won the timpani spot with the 
{meaning... he'll be moving down to miami in a few weeks to play with some of the most incredible musicians around}


i knew you'd do it, brifri.


i can't wait to visit you :-)


xoxo


yeh





sweet home chicago

in , , ,

after a wonderful day of practicing, chicken and dumpling soup,
and a quiche and cake date with one of my very favorite teacher friends,

i flew home to chicago.

(and along the way completed my last paper of the semester! yay!)

things i came home to:

1. a new pair of mustard yellow flats sitting on my bed.

2. freshly baked pumpkin bread with chocolate chips.

3. homemade tomato soup with basil from our garden.

4. a fridge stocked full of mustard.

some of the highlights are...
-stonewall kitchen's basil pesto mustard
-napa vally's stone ground mustard
-sierra nevada's pale ale and honey spice mustard

5. little post-it notes all over my bathroom mirror asking
if today was going to be
a schnitzel day?
or
a swedish meatball day ?
or
both?
and do i want to go shoe shopping?

6. a naked hannukah bush,
waiting to be ornamented on christmas eve
(does that even make sense?)

7. a huge jar of nutella


...all thanks to my super mum!!!
you'd think she's trying to get me to come more often or something :-)


today is preparation day for our annual
dumplings of the world extravaganza
read: i get to experience sweet smells of potsticker and samosa filling while i practice marimba in the living room.
and mum gets serenaded by sweet sounds of bach while she cooks up the potsticker and samosa filling in the kitchen.
{it's a symbiotic relationship}


oh and did i mention it's a balmy
negative ZILLION degrees fahrenheit outside?


xoxo


yeh