Not Much Sewing...

... But I have been singing again!

I've been working with Bill, my vocal coach, to pull together a recital for this fall. So far I have several arias and a group of songs for the last set. Here's where it stands so far:

Ah, Fuggi il Traditor from Don Giovanni by Mozart
Da Tempesta from Giulio Cesare by Handel
or
Mi Tradi Quell'alma Ingrata from Don Giovanni 
Depuis le Jour from Louise by Charpentier

The last set is American show tunes
The Saga of Jenny from Lady in the Dark by Gershwin/Weill
Summertime from Porgy and Bess by Gershwin
The Girls of Summer from The Girls of Summer by Sondheim
What More Do I Need from Saturday Night by Sondheim

I need a few more sets, but I have lots of time to pick some out and work on them. It's good to be singing again.

Happy sewing and singing!

This Week's Color is.....

Long red!

Larry says I look like I should have a couple of stakes in my hand and go vampire huntin'. Now the debate is which to wear Thursday - blonde or long red?

On a totally different subject, last night was opening night for the high school's production of "Titanic, the Musical" (yeah, it's a real laugh fest). DS the Elder plays Fleet, the lookout who spots the iceberg. He has a solo, and if I may be a proud mama for a moment, he nailed it! His intonation was dead on and his acting was great. DS the younger plays a first class child passenger. He didn't leave a dry eye in the house in the scene where he has to get in the lifeboat and leave his "dad" behind. Here are links to the pictures of each of them, taken by Photoherald.com

DS the Elder in the crow's nest


DS the Younger leaving his "dad"

The shirt is all done but the buttons. Yeah - I know - it's been a week, but I've been flat out running kids to rehearsals and stuff. Today. Today...

Happy sewing!

Where's Waldo?

Guess what we did today? We saw Ryan and heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir! What a thrill!!! But even more thrilling for me was that they invited me to rehearse with them. How fabulous a birthday present is this?
Okay - quick, can you spot the Catholic girl?

Hint: she's the one not in a blue dress....

Happy singing!

Cottons, Classes, Cameras and a Crisis of Faith

It's been a busy week, and I haven't had much time to post. But just to bring you up to speed, here's a rundown on what's been happening.

First up, cottons, linens and shirtings are on sale at Gorgeous Fabrics! We have some great fabrics on sale for 15% off, just in time for warm weather. And I've been adding some spectacular silks to the mix too. Check it out and have a ball. The sale lasts through Sunday.

Tomorrow's Saturday Seminar is all about designer seam finishes. We have a great crew taking classes, and it has helped reboot my sewing mojo. Now if only I had more time this week.

Cool Toy! Thank you to LindsayT for introducing me to the Eye-Fi Wireless memory card. It plugs into the camera and once it is set up, badabing! It automatically uploads pictures from your camera to your computer. I asked for it for Mother's Day, and it arrived just in time. Alas, my camera takes a ScanDisk memory card, so we had to get an adapter. But last night DH got it all working. No more dealing with cables. Hooray! Here's a picture of Hoover taken with it.

According to DH, you don't have to be in close proximity of the computer to download. You can be one or two rooms over, or upstairs. Kewl!

Now for the not-so-fun part. Last June, the priest at my church, Father Lenny, left to become pastor of a church near Harvard University. We were without a permanent pastor for 6 months. I referred to us as The Island of Misfit Toys. We had a temp guy, Father John. He seemed nice and funny, and ultimately, he became the pastor.

Well, be careful what you wish for. Not to put too fine a point on it, the guy has turned out to be a psycho. He's dismantling everything that Lenny put in place over his 14 years at the church, and he's driving away many of the parishoners. Our choir director is leaving in June and he has told the parish council that we're not going to replace him. And this guy is an angry, angry man. I could tell all sorts of tales about his atrocious behavior towards people who don't "yes" him all the time. And he keeps telling people that he can't wait to get rid of the people who come from other towns and just make this a "Burlington parish". Alas, it is his type of priest that prompted me to give up Catholicism for 17 years. I'm not a holy-holy type of person, but I had found a home and community in this place, and now he's destroying that for the entire parish. It's sad and I'm really pretty upset about it. I'm going to start shopping for a new church this weekend. My DS the Eldest is going to be a confirmation candidate starting next year, and I don't want him confirmed under the tutelage of this guy. It's frickin' depressing. Maybe I'll go back to singing with the Anglicans.

Anyway, that's what's been keeping me occupied. I hope you all are having a good week. Oh! And my Marfys finally arrived. Yay!!! So I'm tracing off the muslin for the jacket and I'll start on it this weekend.

Happy sewing!

Weekend Pictures

The video of the concert isn't supposed to be ready for about 2 weeks, but DH and DSons took pictures at the concert.

Here's Ryan conducting the chorus


Here's The first song of our set - "I Can't Sit Down". I'm sitting next to Dick Frost, who is a wonderful baritone. I love singing with him, we always have a great time. We weren't singing for this one. But the funny thing is that I was singing along silently with the chorus, to stay warmed up. You don't see it in this picture, but there's one picture where my mouth is closed while my throat is obviously working. You see that a lot with singers.

And MTV videos notwithstanding, singing is not an aesthetically pleasing endeavor if done right. Watch any good singer and you will see that when they open their mouth, they have a lot of stuff going on at the back of their throat that doesn't photograph well. Usually when you see stills of singers, they aren't really singing. Same with videos. You'll see people lipsynching, and keeping their lower jaw set so they don't get a double chin effect. Not so when someone is really singing.

Dick was up next. He sang "I Got Plenty o' Nothing", and nailed it.

The audience just ate it up. What fun!

After that, I sang "Summertime". Interestingly enough, I wasn't nervous at all. I think this was the first time in about 20 years that I didn't have butterflies when I stood up to sing. I was even sitting there while Dick was singing, thinking, "Wow, my mouth isn't drying out like it usually does before a performance. Whazzup with that?" I think it went really well. I love this song, and I can't believe I never performed it in public before.

It was a truly wonderful moment. I've said before that the closest I ever get to a religious experience is when I sing. This was it. Allow me a little navel gazing for a moment. When I sing, I really try to interpret and internalize the text. The music is beautiful, but it's the words that make it communicate. "Summertime" is a lullaby, and when I sing it, I immediately call to mind holding my children and rocking them to sleep or comforting them. I try to float the high notes, not blast them. It makes the music that much more lovely to me, and I hope that comes across in my singing.

Okay, enough navel gazing. The last song was "I'm On My Way". It was a blast. I got to hit the wicked high note at the end, which is always fun. That one I did power through. Fun fun fun!

Here's a better picture of the dress I wore. It's Butterick 4343. I made it 5 years ago for another concert. It's actually a little big these days - yay! It's made from a 4 ply silk, lined with silk habotai. You can't see it, but I did a hand-set embellished zipper with sequins and beads on both sides. It's fabulous and comfortable!

Okay, enough about me. Here's the parting shots from the weekend. Mother's Day was wonderful. One of the things we did was take Hoover to a place we call "Dogtopia". It's a huge field in Lexington that has a cistern where dogs can swim. Hoover loves to jump into the water, so here are some action shots I took:


I cut out another knit top and am about 2/3 of the way through it. I'll review it tomorrow.
Happy sewing!

Happy Mother's Day! 2009

I wish all of you who are mom's a very happy Mother's Day. We're going to see "Star Trek" and then have a clambake on the deck with my twin, Tom and his wife. And I think I'll make myself a quick top (still no Marfy pattern, boo hoo!) today.

The singing with Wakefield Choral Society went really well. They recorded it for TV, so DH says he's going to get a copy. It was a little poignant, since it was the last time for the foreseeable future that I'll sing with Ryan, WCS' director. But I can't be too sad, since he's leaving Boston to become the associate director (the number two guy) at the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I told him, "Hey, if any of those divas you hire pulls, well, a Diva, keep my number on speed dial. Especially during ski season." We laughed.

So go have a great Mother's Day and think good thoughts about the mothers you know.
Happy sewing!

And That, My Dears, is How It's Done

Photo: Robyn Beck

Many of my blogging friends have written or will write posts about the fashions our new First Lady wore yesterday. I won't bother to add my opinion, beyond saying she looked fabulous. However, being the opinionated (ahem) lady that I am, I will give you my view on another great element of yesterday's inaugural - the music.

I was toasty warm in my office, watching the CNN streaming video. It looked c-c-cold in D.C., and I felt bad for the crowds. But I immediately perked up when The Ultimate Diva, The Queen of Soul, Aretha billowed up to the podium like a galleon under full sail to sing "My Country Tis of Thee". Vocally, it wasn't her best performance. At first I thought she might be under the weather. But as she sang, it seemed more like she wasn't suffering from a cold, but rather that she (and her pipes) had gotten cold. The opening of the song was raspy, but as she continued singing, her voice settled in more and more.

But regardless of the quality of sound she produced, that woman owned that song. From the moment she opened her mouth to the last note, she brought it, with all the confidence and gravitas that only a true Diva can bring. It's an attitude thing. Even when she's not on top form, Aretha puts it all out there and pours her heart into every word, every note and every nuance. Beyonce is a pretty girl with a pretty voice, but at this point, she is just a pretender to the throne. And the Queen is not going to abdicate that throne any time soon.

Oh, and I LOVED the hat.

Happy singing!

It Never Rains but It Pours

First, things first - singing! Tomorrow night is the annual Christmas concert at my church. It's a great program of music, and the St. Malachy choir will be performing with the Bay Colony Brass (a 20 piece ensemble) and the Merrimack Valley Bell Ringers (not sure how many, at least 15). It's a great time, and it's free and open to the public. It starts at 7:30 - get there by 7 to get parking. I promise you'll enjoy the show. I'll be doing a solo: Maria Wiegenlied. It's all taking place at St. Malachy Parish (aka "Our Lady of the Parabolas"), 99 Bedford St. Burlington

Next up, the coat is done except for the buttons. I may get too impatient and go to the local knitting store to find some fantastic buttons tomorrow. I'd like to wear it tomorrow night. What a sharp looking pattern!

Finally, the title. Some of you heard we got some wild ass weather here in the Boston area yesterday and today. I live on the North Shore, but I am far enough south and east to have missed the big ice storm. Thank you to my friends who have called and emailed to see how we're doing. We only got rain - lots and lots of rain. Actually, for us, the worst part was Tuesday night, as the storm was starting to move in. We got a huge wind storm to start this whole mess. And on Wednesday morning, this is what we woke up to:
An 80-foot oak tree demolished our shed. Sigh... The tree guys came out. Of course, they can never come out and take down just one tree. 5 trees and a whole lot of money later, our back yard is pretty much denuded. Hoover is bereft.

Tomorrow I'll try to finish the coat and post a review. Until then,
Happy sewing!

The Verdict is In - Wrap Dress

I know - the Burda is all traced and ready to go - what am I, crazy? No, but I am leery of making something that I won't wear. Here's what happened. The comments seem evenly divided on the Vogue wrap vs Burda Muse-knockoff. Then I got this email from Camille:

A word of warning on that Burda dress pattern. Typical of Burda there is a serious cleavage factor. The long version works well because the weight of the fabric is enough hold down the excess fabric from the pleat in the front. I made a shorter version…. Major maternity look…ouch.

Ouch indeed! Major maternity is not what I am looking for at this point. I did it twice and that was plenty, thank you. And if you ever met Camille you would know that if it makes her look pregnant (Camille is tall and willowy), it will make me look like I'm a fireplug carrying triplets.

So I think I'll go with the Vogue wrap. Fear not - I may make the long version of the Burda dress yet. I bought some fabulous fabric that is the same print as the Bold Boho Chic, but in a different colorway (no it will not be going up on Gorgeous Fabrics, sorry). I think that might make a fun dress.

On a completely different note (so to speak), tonight it's back to choir practice, even though we are currently without a pastor, which totally stinks. It will be good to get back to singing with the group again. Since Father Lenny left, I keep getting paying gigs at other churches, so I haven't been to my own very much this summer. We're still going to do the big concerts at Christmas. I hope we have a permanent priest by then. Right now it feels like we're the Island of Misfit Toys. No one wants us. Sniff

Oh well, enough of that. Off to do the adjustments to the Vogue.

Happy sewing!

Miss Me?

I finally was able to rouse myself out of bed on Thursday. In fact, I actually felt about 85% on Thursday (after spending Sunday through Wednesday hovering around 10%, when I was conscious). Thank God for DH and DSes. They were wonderful, and left me pretty much alone to get better. I did drag myself out of bed to take Hoover to the vet on Wednesday afternoon. That just took a colossal effort and some super-strength Advil Cold and Sinus to make that trip possible. Poor Hoover, on Sunday developed a huge thing on his nose. It popped up out of nowhere, and it crusted over and fell off, leaving a rather nasty looking thing behind. Ew! Even my flu-addled brain managed to get pretty grossed out. So we took him to the vet, who did a smear on his nose. It turns out it is a type of benign tumor that affects young dogs. It will clear up and go away on its own. It's already looking much better.

That was Wednesday. Thursday I woke up feeling much better. I still couldn't taste anything (for that matter, I still can't). I had missed out on helping Emmett with the Shecky's Girls Night Out on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I checked with DH, who said "Go", and called Emmett to tell him I could come help if he needed it. He said, "C'mon down!" So I did. Before I left, my friend Barb, who had been there the night before helping, called me to give me the lowdown.

"Okay, by about 8:00, you're just going to be grabbing their drinks and holding them so they don't spill them on the cashmere coats."

"Got it. What else?"

"That's about it. They drink like Rock Stars at this thing. It's sponsored by Midori, so it's all those nasty sours."

"Got it. I can deal. Thanks!"

So I went into Boston and parked my car at the garage near the Cyclorama. The event started at 5. I got there about 20 minutes early, wearing one of Emmett's dresses and a pair of boots that DH bought from him for my Hannukah present. I was stylin'. Pale, but stylin'. When I got there, the line was already out the door, and the vibe was electric. I went upstairs past the attendees and found Emmett. We prepped stuff and got ready to push coats. He had some absolutely gorgeous (and I know from gorgeous) cashmere coats, and as he said, "I don't want to haul any of them back to New York." Check.

At 5, the event opened, and the place was flooded with women. It was a lot of fun. We had a great location, and folks were coming over and falling all over Emmett and the clothes. We were really selling like crazy, and in an hour we had sold a dozen coats.

And then.

At 7:22, just when the event was really taking off.

The lights went out.

Seriously. Frickin' NStar (formerly Boston Edison) was working around the corner and blew the power for a 4 block radius. Sh*t!!! Two women were pulling out their credit cards to buy coats when the power went off. Emmett asked if they could write checks (yes), and I stood over them holding my cell phone with the light on to illuminate them while they wrote!

The city shooed all of the non-vendor attendees out. 5 minutes later, the lights came back on, but they wouldn't let the event reopen. You want to see some seriously pissed off women? This was the place to look. Boozed up, ready to shop, able to see their quarry through the doors, but a dozen burly Boston cops stand between them and their hearts' desires. We nearly had a riot on our hands. The Midori folks started pouring really strong drinks for the vendors. I wasn't drinking (couldn't taste anything and I'm not into green drinks anyway), but more than a few vendors drowned their sorrows.

We broke down and Emmett tallied up the sales. Despite the shortened hours, we did really well. If we had had the full night, I think it would have been a pretty spectacular sale. While I'm sorry for Emmett's sake that the night didn't go until 10, I have to admit that I was just as happy to be home early.

Tonight I am going to try to sing at the Easter Vigil. I am singing the part of Gabriel in Haydn's "The Heavens are Telling" from "The Creation". My pipes have felt okay throughout this flu, though I certainly haven't tried to push it at all. We'll see how I fare. I'll take it easy during most of the mass and let other folks do the heavy vocal lifting.

Needless to say, I have done nothing on the Chanel Jacket. That one can wait. Today I worked on an alteration for a friend who's going to a black tie wedding next week. I'm going to do an easy project tomorrow after all the Easter singing is done:

Jalie's Criss Cross Top. I think I may make it in this funky print from Gorgeous Fabrics:

Bold Boho Jersey. And I'll probably trim it with pink rayon jersey. That should give me something to do while the roast is in the oven. We're not having anyone over for Easter this year, which is fine by me. After last week, I definitely don't have the time to do a big Easter feast. But I will make challah. That's always fun, and the kids enjoy helping. Plus, it can rise while we're at church.

Happy singing, sewing and whatever!

This Weekend, I AM Making That Jacket!

If you can believe, I have been unable to get into my sewing room all week, except for making a key leash for my BeSewStylish post. And face it, that doesn't count. I have been so busy that I can barely find time to eat, never mind work on my Easter outfit. But that was then; this is now. Easter is a week from Sunday and dammit, I need a new jacket!

So I'm off to the sewing room. Good thing I don't have to sing at Palm Sunday services both Saturday night and Sunday morning, then work with Emmett at his booth in the Boston Shecky's Girls Night Out on Tuesday and Wednesday, then sing the Triduum services on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, huh? Well, it's easy. I won't sleep.

Sigh...
Happy sewing!

The Dress

Okay. Four days, one singing gig, and a seemingly endless case of exhaustion later, here is The Dress in all it's glory. I wore The Dress (same I wore at the Project Runway party) at a singing gig I did this afternoon. I performed Purcell: Come All Ye Songsters, Fairest Isle and Sweeter than Roses. What Fun! The Dress is an Emmett McCarthy from the Fall 2007/Winter 2008 line. And can I tell you? It is so comfortable!! Okay - much as I hate to say it, the PR season is now officially over. Sigh... Well, on to other fabulosity!

Easter singing and sewing is up next. Until then..
Happy sewing!

What Kind of Nerd Be I?

As if you couldn't guess:

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Musician   Doo doo de doo waaaa doo de doo! (<-- That's you playing something.) Everyone appreciates the band/orchestra geeks and the pretty voices. Whether you sing in the choir, participate in a school/local band, or sit at home writing music, you contribute a joy to society that everyone can agree on. Yay! Welcome to actually doing something for poor, pathetic human souls. (Just kidding.)
Drama Nerd
Literature Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Social Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Anime Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

Oh Happy Day

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and a lovely holiday season to all! May this season bring peace to our world and joy to each of you.

And I think, what the heck, let's extend the Sale at Gorgeous Fabrics for a few more days, shall we? Why not?

I'm heading off to sing at Christmas Eve Mass. I'm wearing my Butterick 5078. And in case you just can't get enough of it, here's an instant replay of 'Poor Mary':


If that gives you problems, Click Here and you should see the video.

Have a splendid Whatever!

Black is Black....

I got a very sweet note from Miriam the other day. She said, in effect, "Yeah, nice singing and all, Ann, but let's get down to brass tacks. What did you wear???"

Fair question. Concert dress was all black for the ladies, so I pulled out a couple of concert standbys. First up was a camisole that I made back in 2005, Simplicity 5327 (now out of print):


For a skirt, I wore my slit-up-to-there silk straight skirt that I wear for most concerts:


But I didn't have anything black to wear with the cami, so I made a repeat of my fave-rave New Look 6543 Shrug. Here it is with the cami underneath.


So that's what I wore. I don't have a picture of me in it, but I completed the outfit with heels and fishnets.

Happy sewing!

UNCLE!

I give up. Blogger and YouTube are making me go belly up like a dog who's been beat.

Here's the link that I can get to work to the video


Sorry for any difficulties and confusion. What can I say? I can sing, but I can't program html. Maybe I'll throw myself on Leslie's good nature tomorrow and see if she can pull a Tim Gunn and make it work.

Meanwhile, Yay Pats!!!!!

Yes, I AM a Glutton for Punishment

But I work best under pressure, and last night didn't turn out too badly:


If you are seeing Project Rungay, try refreshing your screen, and if that still doesn't work, Click Here and you should see the video.

A few caveats:

The first few minutes are rather nausea-inducing, while DH tried to figure out where to hold the camera

The sound and video quality are not very good - it was done on a disposable video camera.


And on the total-bummer end of things, because I'm so exhausted and woke up late, I can't make it to Emmett's event with Tim Gunn! Waaaahh! I talked with my darlings Tom and Lorenzo this morning, and they said that "It's his own Bryant Park!"

So if you are in the area, please stop by Emmett's store at 240 Elizabeth St. between Houston and Prince, tell him Ann sent you and buy yourself (or someone special) something fabulous!

Happy fashion and sewing!

I Must Be a Glutton for Punishment

Can I tell you about my week so far? It's been pretty good, I'm not complaining. But every once in a while I have to agree with the friend who (I think affectionately) called me a hyperactive nerd. Anyway, on Monday I did my recital at Lincoln Labs. Of thirteen songs in the program, eleven - count 'em, eleven - I learned in less than 2 months. I had never even seen any of the Brahms, nor the Puccini songs, nor two of the Hoiby or the Mozart aria. The only songs I had performed in public before were "The Serpent" and "Das Veilchen", and the latter doesn't count because it was the first song of my first recital ever - when I was 10 years old. On a slight digression, Monday was also DS the Youngest's 10th birthday (and a day off from school in our town, so he came to hear me). For an encore, the audience and I sang "Happy Birthday" to him. He loved it.

Where was I going with this? Oh yes. So, despite the gut-wrenching panic that set in all last week, the performance went off without a hitch. I had a few friends in the audience, including Ryan, my church choir director, sometimes-accompanist, and good friend. All was good. That was Monday.

Tuesday morning the phone rings. It's Ryan.

Ryan: "Hey, how are your high notes today?"
Me: "A little tired, but pretty good. What's up?"

Ryan: "Well... I was thinking... (uh-oh)
"You can always say No if you want to... (bigger uh-oh)
"I just got this DVD of Renee Fleming singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir... (even bigger uh-oh)
"And she did a song called 'Poor Mary'. Do you know it?"
Me: "Uh, no. Do you have the music?"
Ryan: "No, but I have a call in to Mack (Wilberg, the arranger and associate conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, also Ryan's former teacher when he was at BYU). But do you think you could do it for Saturday's concert? I can bring the DVD over." (Ruh-Roh George!)

Me: (vaguely sarcastically) "Oh sure, what the hell, why do anything easy, right?"
Ryan: "Great! I'll be over in 20 with it!"

Now, I'm not Renee Fleming by any stretch, but I can memorize music (not words) almost instantly. And this song, which was written by Katherine K. Davis is musically pretty straightforward. So I lived with the DVD for two days while Ryan got on Sibelius and whipped up a sheet music set (he's still hoping to get the real arrangement from Mack, but in case...). Yesterday morning he emailed it to me and we ran through it last night. It's a shame it's such an obscure work. It is so beautiful. So instead of pulling some chestnut like Gesu Bambino, we're going to premier this song with 2 days of prep. Remember Last Week's Post about how crazy I was going? I'm doing it to myself again. It' okay. This time it's only one song, and it's my native language, so it's not quite as high-blood pressure inducing as last week. But still...

We'll run it again tonight, and probably once before the concert on Saturday, but like the title says, I really must be a glutton for punishment.

Happy singing!

Halleluia!

Thanks for the sweet thoughts and well wishes! The recital went great. Anyone who is a singer or a collaborative musician will know what a thrill it is to create a moment. Bill (my accompanist) was beyond phenomenal. I wish I could have recorded it, but it was a government lab so no recording devices were allowed. I had to leave my cell phone and mini recorder at the front. But folks seemed pleased, and they have asked me back!!! And even better, the weather more-or-less cooperated, so there was a good audience.

I have another concert on Saturday night. If you are in the Boston area and have no plans, this one is a lot of fun. It takes place at St. Malachy Parish at 99 Bedford Street in Burlington, MA. It's a joint concert of the choir of St. Malachy, under the direction of Ryan Murphy, combined with the choir of Ward 2 of the Mormon Church in Belmont, under the direction of Jen Murphy, and the Merrimack Valley Bell Ringers (a phenomenal bell choir) and the Bay Colony Brass, a 24 piece brass ensemble. It will be a truly phenom of a concert, and it is one- free! and two - SRO. Get there early. It starts at 7:30. Oh yeah, I'll be doing a solo. Gesu Bambino. God help me.

The business has not stopped while I've been away from the office. If you placed an order, it has been shipped. I am behind on notifying you, and I apologize for that. But never fear, your fabric has gone out on time. And I've been adding a lot of new fabrics at Gorgeous Fabrics, so do be sure to check those out.


Happy singing!

As If I Didn't Have Enough to Worry About

Tomorrow is my recital at Lincoln Labs. I'm not quite as panicked as I was earlier. But now there's a new factor coming into play - the weather. We are expecting a winter storm tonight. We have a dusting of snow, but it's stopped for now. Here's hoping that the armageddon the weather people have been barking about all day proves to be a dud and misses us.

On the plus side, I sang a wedding gig today that was actually a fun time. The bride was (get this) 40 minutes late! The poor groom walked into the sacristy with a hip flask in hand. I think it was pretty much empty by the time she arrived.

Oh yeah, and my new dress won't be ready. That's okay. I think I'll wear my Vogue 8305 dress and a pair of Ferragamo pumps. I always get lots of compliments when I wear that dress. I'll finish the Butterick in the paisley this week and wear it for Christmas Eve.

Yep, it's always something.

Happy singing!