My Day-to-Day Adventures

Happy Friday!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT0zDToqagc

I feel like dancing today, do you?

:)

posted by Teresa @ 1:27 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

La Perichole

Wow, last week was a whirlwind. Final rehearsals for "La Perichole" took up every spare moment of my non-working awake time, but it was worth it. We had a solid dress rehearsal last Thursday evening, and three energetic shows over the weekend. It's funny to think that the production is concluded, and that I won't be working with my castmates in that show again. Well, at least for awhile.

Did you miss the show? Well, if you'd like to see some pictures, check out the website of our very talented photographer, Angie Barttels, to check out the gorgeous costumes and sets. There are oodles of pictures that really tell the story quite well.

I have a week without rehearsals, which I will use to prepare for the next production I'm in with Puget Sound Concert Opera. By prepare, I mean nap on the couch with the dog, watch some Olympics, and translate the French text. :) No seriously, I need a couple days of lazy evenings to get my energy level back, but I am looking forward to learning some new music after singing the same pieces for so many weeks in a row.

As if singing weren't enough to occupy me, I signed up for the STP over the weekend. Well, actually the BF signed us up. We have been talking about it for the last 6 months or so, and registration is filling up fast, so we decided to go for it. For those of you who haven't heard of it, the STP stands for Seattle-to-Portland, a 200+ mile bicycle ride that happens every July. My Dad rode it a few years back and had a positive experience, and it will be great motivation to actually use my gym membership and road bike. So far I've only been on a few rides this year, but I have my training schedule printed out and will start knocking out my training rides this week. It sounds like a scary endeavor, but the training schedule for two-day riders (I will not be one of the people attempting to ride that far in one day) seems very reasonable, as long as you stick to it.

So, lots going on around here. What's new with you?

Labels: Theater Life

posted by Teresa @ 12:54 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Apple Fritters

I have become a connoisseur of donuts over the past several months, and have been going on "donut dates" with friends to Top Pot, a really yummy donut shop with storefronts all over Seattle. On one particular visit, I brought the BF with me to partake in some donut deliciousness, and he ordered an apple fritter, his favorite. Well, he was fairly unimprissed with the fritter, and said that they seemed too expensive for how they tasted. Ah well, to each his own.

Fast forward a few months to the summertime, when the Thurston County Fair comes to town. My family had a great time sampling the different fair food offerings, and the BF found a stand that sold all things apple, including fresh-pressed cider, and apple fritters! They were hot out of the fryer and we ordered one to share, and oh my goodness, it tasted like heaven! Ever since then, the BF has joked about making apple fritters at home, but since we had never done anything like that before, the idea fell by the wayside.

We were gifted a Fry Daddy for Christmas, and it has become an extremely popular (and tasty) appliance in our home. After mastering several savory dishes, including portabello mushrooms and orange chicken, I thought it would be fun to try a sweet dish, and apple fritters seemed the perfect thing to try.























After doing a bit of searching on the internet, we decided on this recipe. I read in the comments that they got mixed reviews, but with such a simple collection of ingredients, I figured we wouldn't go wrong. I increased the apples to one whole apple, and we started frying!

















The key to tasty fritters is to use a fairly small amount of dough (we ended up using an ice cream scooper to dole out dough) and to let it get nice and brown in the fryer. I made about half the recommended glaze with powdered sugar and milk and still had some left over. But take a look at what we ate for breakfast this morning:

















I pulled it open so you can see the little apple chunks inside. It was steaming, too. The recipe (thankfully) only makes a small batch, so you can eat all of the fritters while they are still warm and not feel too bad about yourself. What a treat!

posted by Teresa @ 1:31 PM 1 Comments Links to this post

Happy Friday!

Every Friday the greeting in my office is "Happy Friday!" I like the tradition, and think it's festive without going the whole "TGIF" route. I have *big* plans for this weekend, so I am very excited that Friday is here. Starting this evening, my BF and I plan on.....

.....doing as little as possible!!! Yay!!!

I am so excited. Tonight is the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games, and we're picking up the best Chinese take-out I have ever eaten to munch on while we sit on the couch. Seriously, if you live within a 20-mile radious of this place, it's worth the drive to eat their Tai Ho House Chicken. So yummy.

On Saturday the BF is going to a cookie-baking party while I am in rehearsal, and then we are going to a birthday party in the evening. Although we have set plans, it involves food and singing, so I can tolerate that. :)

On Sunday, I plan on having the most spectacular Valentine's Day ever. Get ready for this: I am going to stay at home ALL DAY!! The BF and I have decided to extend Friday evening's activity to an all-day marathon on Sunday. We get Netflix on-demand on our TV, and the dog has been seriously ignored the last few weeks, so the three of us will work on deepening our couch dents while we catch up on movies and naps.

Isn't that the best-sounding weekend ever? Oh yeah, and I'm going to give the new Domino's pizza crust a try on Sunday, too.

If that weren't enough fun and sloth for one weekend, I don't have to work on Monday, and already have a donut date with one of my friends. This may be the weekend that I a) gain 10 pounds, 2) finally catch up on my sleep, and 3) remember as being one of the most relaxing weekends of the year. I can't wait!

Have a great weekend!

posted by Teresa @ 12:44 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Latest Knitting Project

Thanks to some fairly long musical rehearsals in January, I was able to revisit my September Sweater project. (You know how it goes: "Okay, tenors, let's take a look at page 12. Everyone else just sit tight." Good thing I had a project to keep my hands busy!) After starting the project in April 2009, it was a real joy to finally get it finished. I have worn it a lot and it is very comfortable.

If you click on the above link, you'll notice that mine is a bit different than the original. I made the button bands a little narrower, and only used three buttons. They are more for decoration than anything else.



















This sweater has side-to-side construction, which I really like. That makes it more customize-able for tall people like me who have long arms. I made them significantly longer than the original, which is my preference. I love that cable pattern running across my back. It's so easy once you get the hang of the cabling, but it looks very hard. Those are my favorite kind of knitting patterns!



















You'll have to excuse the bad photos. The only photography/blogging time I have is during my lunch break and I snuck into a vacant office to snap these. Good thing there's an empty bookcase and a self-timer on my camera! :)

Anyway, this bottom photo is probably the most accurate color depiction of the sweater. I am in love with all the cables, and the fact that it turned out a little like a kimono sweater, with long bell sleeves and a more fitted torso. That was kind of an unplanned modification to the pattern, but I was running low on yarn and needed to make a few changes.





















All in all I'd call this project a success! I managed to use up some yarn I had living in a box for over two years, so that was an accomplishment! Now I'm making a new sweater with some other "stashed" yarn, and hopefully that one will come together a little faster than this last one.

Labels: Knitting

posted by Teresa @ 12:48 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Random bits on Thursday

After taking a break from blogging for an extended period of time, I am noticing that I have fallen out of the habit of writing. Aside from the occasional e-mail, I haven't been putting many thoughts together in written form. Since I have started a handful of posts that have not made it to the "publish" level, I thought I would just write you a list of random bits. That should tide you over until I a) remember how to write or b) start taking pictures of my knitting projects, where no real writing skill is necessary.

#1: I love my Fry Daddy
The BF and I made deep-fried portabello mushrooms as an appetizer and then deep-fried chicken breasts to go with our orange chicken last night. Paired with brown rice and broccoli, this was a very tasty dinner. Good thing I have a gym membership!

#2: I lost my Passport
I still have this image of myself as a jet-setter, someone who always needs her passport handy just in case last-minute international travel is on the horizon. But the reality is not only can I not find my passport, but it has expired and I can't renew it until I either find the original or provide a scary amount of documentation that I am me. Funny that it is so hard to prove without my passport.

#3: I am eating a tasty brownie
I did say it was a random list.

#4: I have the BEST website!
My beloved has really gone above and beyond the call of boyfriend duty to make my webiste, www.teresamarielewis.com totally nifty. However, it looks like some of the page elements are a bit wonky on certain computers. If your computer is one of them will you let me know? Oh, and if you could tell me what operating system and browser you are using, that would be great, too.

#5: Come hear me sing next Wednesday
I will be singing about 30 minutes of music at the Downtown Branch of the Seattle Public Library next Wednesday, February 10th. I am performing pieces by Brahms and Schubert and they are all very gorgeous. It will be a bonus for you if you understand German, but these songs are all loverly from a purely musical perspective, too. Oh, and I will provide translations to the audience as well. Here are the details:
Seattle Public Library, Downtown Branch
Wednesday, February 10th
12:10 p.m.
Microsoft Auditorium
FREE and open to the public
No RSVP necessary
Sponsored by Ladies Musical Club

#6: I got nothin' else

posted by Teresa @ 12:45 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

I'm Back!

Well, that was quite a long pause, now, wasn't it?

Welcome to my blog via www.teresamarielewis.com! I've had a domain name for several months now, but thanks to a very patient boyfriend and a lack of commitments this weekend, he was able to throw my ideas together to make a workable, clickable website in about a day. I didn't want to leave my blog behind and start from scratch, though, so it came along for the ride. Not only that, but you can now scroll through the archives that go ALL the way back to those first few entries in graduate school when I was about to embark on my audition tour in Germany. My three former blogs (How to become a professional opera singer, Gumby in Germany, and Chorister in Coburg) are now mushed together in My Day-to-Day Adventures. Feel free to click through the archives if you want to take a walk down memory lane with me.

Wow. Well, five months after my last post I'm back to the blog, and it's nice to be here. I've been working hard on some really great crafty projects, and I'd love to share them with you. Keep an eye out for some picture-heavy posts and some pretty cute knitwear. And now you can poke around on the rest of my site to keep up-to-date on my performances and see pictures and watch videos. Fun stuff!

posted by Teresa @ 10:25 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Moving

Life is moving along for me in a lot of fun ways, and my current blog isn't reflecting that. I have decided to expand my little corner of the interwebs and make my own website that is more appropriate for my readers. I purchased a domain name yesterday and am working on making a few webpages pretty for you. I will let you all know when I'm ready to convert over to my new website. Thanks for your patience while I get all of this done. Summer has been a great chance to do some home improvement projects, and this little blog will hopefully evolve into something as cute as the bathroom makeover I just completed with my boyfriend! More soon...

posted by Teresa @ 7:22 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Fortune Cookie

A short while back I ate dinner with my boyfriend at a Chinese restaurant. When we received our fortune cookies at the end of the meal, mine said that the current month (June) would be my most profitable month this year. I don't normally take these little bits of paper very seriously, especially since so many fortune cookie fortunes say things like "you like Chinese food" instead of actually predicting any sort of future occurrence. And I believe shortly after reading that fortune I was 1) laid off, and 2) shelling out major bucks for a new car. Didn't seem very profitable to me at all.

But then I started to see things from a different perspective. It was in June that I sent out a handful of e-mails to local sports teams, requesting to be their national anthem singer. A few of the teams took me up on my offer, and I've now sung the National Anthem in Safeco Field and Key Arena. The Seattle Storm game that I sang at was also nationally televised, including my performance, so I would say that those were pretty profitable experiences.

Then I thought about my new car. I went down to Portland (in June) to buy it and got a screaming deal. In fact, it was so screaming that today when I transferred the title over to my name, I had to jump through several hoops to justify why I was able to get such a great car for such a low price. Apparently Washington State thinks I should have paid upwards of $3000.00 more for my car than I actually did, and wanted to make sure I wasn't cheating them out of any sales tax. So it looks like my car deal was pretty profitable, too!

Ah yes, and that brings me to my layoff. Well, after a bit of searching (in June) and one very successful interview, I am happy to say that I received a job offer and will be starting my new position on July 20th. And the salary and benefits far surpass what I am earning now. So definitely profitable.

I still don't really take Chinese fortune cookies too much to heart, but June was undoubtedly a profitable month for me, and perhaps will be my most profitable this year.

My boyfriend and I returned to that same Chinese restaurant two days ago and my fortune said that this winter will be a very happy one for me. I'll let you know how it turns out, but I have a good feeling things will be going my way.

posted by Teresa @ 3:05 PM 1 Comments Links to this post

Update

I think about blogging a lot, but it appears I haven’t managed to sit down to actually write a post in some time. Let’s remedy that, shall we?

My most exciting news is that I bought a used car nearly two weeks ago. It’s a zippy little Mercedes that looks way more expensive than it ended up costing. My Dad found the listing online and I purchased it in Portland from a very nice woman, making it to date the largest check I have ever written. And I am happy and relieved to say I now own a very comfortable car that gets me from point A to point B. And I am 99.99% sure it will start (and stay running) every time I try to use it, which is a refreshing change from my last set of wheels, that unfortunately left me stranded several times in the past month.

Job-hunting is a very interesting process. For each application packet I submit it feels like I’m playing dress-up. I carefully read through the job description and start to visualize myself doing the tasks being described (putting on my job hat, so to speak.) Then I compare that vision to my own job experiences and craft a letter that will (hopefully) wow the hiring manager enough to call me and beg for an interview. When I hit “send” and the packet is sent off into the worldwide web, I take off that job hat and go try on another one, starting the process all over. So far the phone isn’t ringing off the hook from employers, but there is a chance I can stay at my current job a few weeks longer than originally planned, which buys me a little more time to find a job that’s perfect for me.

Summer is here and I am keeping close track of my garden. I planted 12 dahlia bulbs (my favorite flower!) and 6 have emerged. I have been told that there is still a chance the remaining bulbs will still grow, but I’m starting to get skeptical. Patience is something I possess in spades when it comes to knitting, but gardening is another story altogether. I also keep telling my tomatoes to hurry up and get ripe, but they are taking their dear sweet time as well.

Speaking of knitting, I am having all sorts of problems with my set of Viking Hats. I expected this to be a short project that would take about 2 weeks. Well, about four weeks later I am still working on them. It turns out that I am using a different size needles than I intended and the hats are knitting up WAY larger than I planned. So both hats are knit, and large enough for full-grown adults, and not 2-year-old children. It’s time to spend some time in the frog pond, ripping (ribbit!) out the projects and starting over. Again. Ah well, knit and learn.

Updates coming soon (with pictures!) of finished Viking hats and deck chairs!

posted by Teresa @ 3:01 PM 2 Comments Links to this post