weekend roundup

Details to come, but here, in a nutshell, is what I was up to this weekend:

1. Opening Night of Gypsy (!!)
2. Drinkin' cosmos (c'mon, they're good for ya!) at Angus McIndoe
3. Waffle time at Nice Matin
4. Downtown shopping trip
5. Upper East side walking adventure (and then, uh, cabbing adventure after I realized that it's a long damn way to walk from 79th and Columbus over to east 60th where a friend of mine had recommended a restaurant)
6. MoMA
7. Sunday in the Park with George at Studio 54
8. More waffles (honestly, they are SO good!)
9. August: Osage County
10. Dinner at Angus McIndoe's (no cosmos this time though)
11. Gypsy!
12. Brunch with legendary theater bloggers (I felt inadequate in their presence so awed was I at their collective brilliance and knowledge)
13. Gypsy! (yes, again. That was number 9, counting City Center and Ravinia) And really? I would be in such trouble if I lived here, because I'd just go and see it all the time. I could listen to Patti and Boyd and Laura singing that music every minute of every day for the rest of my life and be happy.
14. "Chicago Style" deep dish pizza for dinner at Pizzeria Uno on 81st and Columbus (what the hell, right?)

So... when can I come back?

Soon...

I'm exhaustedly tired today (ever have one of those nights when you want sleep - desperately - but your brain has decided to throw a party instead? I was wide awake for most of the night. I think I got about 3 hours total. I did manage to have a sort of prophetic dream which kind of surprised me.)

Anyway, the point (yes, there is one. I totally mean it.) is soon I will be in New York, seeing my favorite people and some really great shows...

In a few short days: Curtain up! Light the lights!

Happy Easter to all my peeps...

Peeps! Sugar covered marshmallow deliciousness. Who knew you could do so much with these things??? Just don't put them in the microwave. For some inventive peep art, go here.

The above "Pampered Peep Spa" won first prize in the The Chicago Tribune's diorama contest. Strange, but true. Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Sondheim...

The Easter Bunny Said...

WTF, Chicago?? It's supposed to be spring.

Yesterday: 40s bright and sunshiny. Went for an excursion to Sweet Mandy B's and walked to Halsted for a cab. Didn't mind, since it was so pretty and almost warm. I very nearly didn't need a coat.

Today: 30s and SNOW. About 5-9 inches worth, if they are forecasting correctly. It was a cold and wet walk for me from Union Station down to here.

Bored?

Go HERE and create a virtual masterpiece. It's oddly hypnotic.

still trying to get happy...

It's been crazy at work and so some happiness is in order. Ready?

1. Comfort food in the form of risotto (my favorite) for dinner last night (thanks, mom!)

2. Free bottle of "Life Water" handed to me when I got off the train. (But you hate flavored water, I hear you all protesting. This is true. But a.) I love free stuff and b.) I always have hope that maybe THIS will be the bottle of Life Water that makes me change my mind about the entire fruity water enterprise. You never know.)

3. My new "In Style" came yesterday and Gerry Butler is the "Man of Style". Sighhh. I'm sorry, was I saying something?

4. These shoes:

They're Keds. (Can you believe?) By Nanette Lepore. Love them...

5. New season of Dancing with the Stars has begun! Wheee!

6. In one week (and a day) I will be in New York!

i am not irish, but kiss me anyway...

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We even made some special cake in the spirit of being green (it's pistachio, not moldy!)

random...

Story time...

A friend of a friend teaches kindergarteners in NYC and has been having career days, asking different professional acquaintences to come talk to the class about their work. She announced to class that her fiancé, who is a doctor, would be coming the next day. The kids were really excited, although they'd misunderstood a key word and thought they were getting a very very special guest in their class "Beyoncé's coming tomorrow??" they asked.

***

I told my mom the other day to 'channel her inner Patti' to give her that extra added boost of confidence, ferocity and volume. She actually followed my advice (!) and ended up having words with her supervisor (fortunately, no teapots were at hand!)and told me later that from now on she was going to "give Inner Patti a cookie" to keep her mouth occupied.

new Ravinia season...

2008-2009 Ravinia season was announced yesterday. The website, while boasting some lovely flash images (is that what they're even called?) and a new "groovy" lime green color (hey! That's excitement for the North Shore, lemme tell ya!), is not all that informative when it comes to detailing the whole season. I finally hovered my mouse over each day on the little calendar to see what all the offerings were.

Anyway, things to look forward to:

June 22 and 23 Betty Buckley
July 6 and 7 Barbara Cook
July 19 Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
July 31 Nicole Cabell

Tickets on sale sometime in April, I think...

just wanted to let you all know...

My former boss would always check in with me when he was out of the office - towards the end of his tenure, he moved to Arizona and was handling our Chicago operations from his home in sunny Phoenix. Anyway, he'd call and say "Hi Kris - just wanted to let you know - I'm alive!"
Which I was always very amused by.

I know I've not been blogging lately, but I am alive... busy. It's budget season, and gala season, and I was at a photo shoot yesterday (OMG, it was a lot of fun. And totally like America's Next Top Model - except, like, nobody was modeling meat. About which, can I just say ew?). So that's what's going on.

And for everyone keeping score at home:
I did NOT have to serve jury duty on Tuesday (was on stand by - they didn't need me. So I was worked up into a big old state for NOTHING.)

Ahh, the weekend!

It was just a weird week at work this past week, and I am glad it's over & done with. In other news though, my new coat arrived yesterday, it fits well, it is gorgeous, and it does not make me look like Barney (which I was really worried about. But the coat is not as emphatically bright purple as it looks in the picture, and it really looks just lovely. I went grocery shopping this morning and admired how it looked in every bit of reflective glass I could find.)

May or may not be on a jury on Tuesday... Am on standby, so everyone please cross your collective fingers for me when I call on Monday at about 4:30. I have an annoying tendency to worry obsessively over just about everything, so if you've done it, some nice soothing stories about how painless it is would really help. Out of everyone I've talked to, only one person was an actual juror on a trial. Everyone else says it's a good chance to catch up on my reading. So? Any stories?

It always seems like the weekend is too darned short - but this weekend actually IS going to be short an hour because we have to change the clocks. Arrgh. What a pain in the neck. I have to go and dig my car manual out yet again...

still happy

I will stop being so gosh-darned happy soon.... but until then, here are a few more things for the list:

1. The re-formulated Tru Blend foundation. It's fabulous. It goes on so nicely and vanishes. Like you're not even wearing makeup. Never underestimate the power of an awesome foundation, ladies. And it's from easy, breezy, beautiful... Cover Girl! Naturally I discovered this during a Top Model commercial break. I'm like an advertiser's dream, I watched Drew Barrymore in the commercial and was all like "Ooh, really? I have to try that..."

2. My iPod. I put it on "Shuffle" in the morning, and sometimes it throws out some really interesting combinations... this morning it was "Drink the Night Away" (Gaelic Storm) followed immediately by "Rehab" (Amy Winehouse). You see? It is the little things that amuse/make me happy so early in the morning...

C'mon, get happy!

Things making me happy today:

1. THIS! I admit, I was a little anxious, leaving our collective electoral fate in your hands, Ohio and Texas. But you came through, so good for you.

2. THIS
Woo! Only 24 more days to go and I will be seeing it too! I hope nothing falls on me!

3. Makeovers on America's Next Top Model tonight (don't give me that look. You know you love it!)

4. We can wear jeans this Friday (we're not allowed our casual Fridays during performance weeks. Don't question. Just accept. This makes me very happy).

5. The coat I just ordered from J. Crew.com. There are many things I like about it - the color (purple! pretty! the only color they had left!), the fact that it looks nice AND its thinsulate lining ensures that it will keep me warm, and that it was marked down to half its original price. Here, take a look and be happy with me...

But next time I'm having salad...

Let's talk about food, people. Specifically, the food I had last night, pre-opera, at Petterino's. I stuffed my face with a cup of tomato bisque, the asiago cheese, cream sauce drenched Fettuccine Alberto and then, for dessert, split a HUGE piece cherry cobbler with ice cream. Yummm. It was all delivered to our table by an amiable and articulate server (Vincent) who declaimed our menu options to us in a way that made it feel like, as one of the guys at a neighboring table commented, he was auditioning for something.

The place itself is, as Vincent told us, styled after a 1940s era supper club. Very cozy and intimate. Very nice. Very delicious.

il barbiere...for god's sake, take your binoculars!

Headed to Lyric last night for the second to last opera of the season (there's gotta be a fancy word for that - 'penultimate' maybe?) Rossini's Barber of Seville. If ever there was an award for dream cast in an opera, this has to be it. Even without Mr. Florez (and if you thought I was making it up about his swallowing a fish bone, read all about it here, all of the singers were marvelous. Mr. Florez was replaced as Almaviva by John Osborn. He was joined by the absolutely superb Joyce DiDonato as Rosina, Andrew Shore (who we just saw as Falstaff) and the delicious Nathan Gunn as the titular Barber and 'general factotum'. (I am not sure what a factotum is or does but I am about 90% sure that I want to be one, or at least know one.) He sings the famous aria (you know - "Hey! Figaro! Fiiii-garrr-ooohhhh!") as he is rolling out of bed and then getting dressed. It is *totally* worth the price of admission. Seriously. Bring your binoculars. Even if you're in the damn front row. Aside from that, all of the singers were pretty good actors and comedians too. It was funny - and it was meant to be funny. We could see, all the way in the top balcony, lots of the smaller moments, gestures and glances.

I had seen the production before - back in the day when I was student teaching - we took the kids to see a student matinee(Imagine going to the opera with several busfuls of 7th and 8th graders... Just imagine it. And be glad you will never have to do it.). This John Conklin production features sets and costumes based on, or meant to invoke, the art of Magritte. I really liked it, visually. I thought it was interesting. The only comment I will make (and maybe if I actually read the program notes, I will learn about this) is that I am not sure the connection it had to the action. Does it mean to say the tale is fantasy? That I can understand. Or maybe they're saying it's surreal? Hmmm.

Anyway, it was probably one of my favorites of the season. As soon as we see Onegin (sadly, Dmitri-less) I will recap the Lyric season and look ahead to next year... I did decide to subscribe again, even though I am less than overjoyed by the season selections. We have fewer operas, but better seats, hopefully not in the fussy & cantankerous blue-haired biddy section. Geez. Is that even an option?

Tonight...

Barber of Seville at Lyric...
Nathan Gunn! And uh, some other people. Haha. No, seriously, I have heard nothing but good things about this production, including much praise for Joyce DiDonato, so I am excited to see it.

I'd be MORE excited if Juan Diego Florez hadn't choked on a fish bone (or something) and hadn't withdrawn from the first half of the run, but c'est la vie ("la vie!") and Juan D, stick to soup next time, ok?

Excuse me, I must go refresh my lipstick...

One of my former colleagues sent me an article excerpted from the July 1943 issue of Transportation magazine - tips to male supervisors hiring women for the first time during WWII. The following is what she sent me...

11 Tips on Getting More Efficiency Out of Women Employees:

There's no longer any question whether transit companies should hire women for jobs formerly held by men. The draft and man power shortage has settled that point. The important things now are to select the most efficient women available and how to use them to the best advantage. (ED. Does this not sound like they're looking at livestock or something?)

1. Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they're less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn't be doing it, they still have the pep and interest to work hard and deal with the public efficiently. (ED. Ha! Yeah, right. They're married, not dead, and their husbands are off to war! Less likely to be flirtatious, me arse!)

2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy. (ED. 'Cantankerous and fussy' - I love it!)

3. General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters. (ED. Damn! This explains why I'm so bad-tempered and inefficient...)

4. Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination - one covering female conditions. This step not only protects the property against the possibilities of lawsuit, byt reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job. (ED. You totally know a man wrote this. I can just see him cringing over the phrase "female conditions.")

5. Stress at the outset the importance of time the fact that a minute or two lost here and there makes serious inroads on schedules. Until this point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up. (ED. Oh, yes. These women just sit around all day eating bon-bons. Running a household has nothing to do with timing or coordinating schedules. Silly girls...)

6. Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so that they'll keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous properties say that women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work for themselves. (ED. I don't even know what to say to this one. I mean, to think that these young, married girls wouldn't have the initiative to create work for themselves in an industrial setting where clearly, they are so comfortable and familiar.)

7. Whenever possible, let the inside employee change from one job to another at some time during the day. Women are inclined to be less nervous and happier with change. (ED. Oh, Mr. Transit. You're so adorably clueless. 'Less nervous and happier with change'? Does that make any sense at all? I don't know anyone who gets less nervous from things changing. So wrong again, bossman. We just get BORED easily. Doing the same thing every minute of every day for like 14 hours is BORING. Capisce?)

8. Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. You have to make some allowances for feminine psychology. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day. (ED. Does anyone think this is going to go well for either these working women or this factory?)

9. Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can't shrug off harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a women - it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency. (ED. Oh hang on, I have to crawl under my desk and cry now.)

10. Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl's father or husband may swear vociferously, she'll grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.

11. Get enough size variety in operator's uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can't be stressed too much in keeping women happy. (ED. Yes, that's right. Clothes that fit are very important in making us happy.)