Broadway Bound...???

A few weeks ago my friend Mari told me about a deal I could not pass up at The Five Spot. The Five Spot, for those of you unfamiliar with it, is a Queen Anne dining establishment that not only rotates its menu but also changes the entire theme of the restaurant seasonally. In the fall it was Philadelphia and for the winter they have moved into a Broadway motif. Now here's the kicker... On Wednesday nights for the next few months you can "sing for your supper". It's exactly how it sounds. You come in. Sing 1-2 minutes of a Broadway musical song. The servers score you. And then, depending on how many points you receive, you get a menu item free.

When, before Christmas, we made the plans to meet up and sing to a full restaurant I had intended to spend some serious time preparing my performance and getting my showtime hair, makeup and ensemble together. But of course that did not happen. My day was busy and I was lucky to squeeze in a trip to the gym before heading over to meet Mari and her roommate Laura. When I finally arrived the last thing I was wanting to do was make the poor restaurant patrons watch and listen to my sweaty self belting out show tunes. I would let Mari go first with her rendition of "New York New York" and then break the news to her that I would not in fact be performing...

By the time she was done wowing the crowds with her spirited 14 point earning performance (which, it must be told, included jumping on a booth) I felt inspired and ready to sing. Laura gave it a go first with Edelweiss. Because it's a softer song it was hard to score as high as Mari and she walked away with a respectable score of 11.
Then I was up. I prefaced my performance with a "Hello everyone. I'm going to relive my children's theater days by singing the most annoying song in Broadway history." Next I started in on the most horrifying rendition of "Tomorrow" to date. The first verse and chorus were pretty strong but I started in a higher key than I should have. When my mistake became clear it was too late for the necessary key change and there I was belting out notes that not even a coloratura soprano should attempt. I walked away 12 points richer but without my dignity.

Was the embarrassment worth it? Well I used those 12 points on a Boundary Bay IPA... so yes TOTES worth it. Not sure the photographic evidence was necessary though...

Maybe now that I know what it's all about I will spend this week making my performance pitch perfect in preparation for next Wednesday! See you there?

K.I.T.
Amanda

Step Into Christmas

The Christmas Spirit took its sweet time getting here this year. I am normally ready and raring to go around Halloween and so when yesterday I was still not "in the mood" I was a little concerned and frankly really sad. Loving Christmas is something that I cherish about myself. A long time ago I came up with list of "lame grown-up things I'll never do" and have tried hard to not become a "lame grown up". The list is as follows:

• Eat ice cream from anything other than a cone
• Lay on the beach/poolside all day instead of actually swimming
• Vote Republican (note: I had plenty of left leaning adults in my life... I don't know why Republican and adulthood seemed synonymous)
• Not be excited about Christmas

It's a pretty short list but I have to admit they're tricky rules to adhere to (minus the whole Republican thing). Every year Christmas seems to take up less and less space in my winter. Being employed instead of a student means that I have no magical winter break to bask in festivity and so Christmas now has to sandwiched between work, travel to, travel from, and more work. Nonetheless I think I've done a pretty good job of getting in touch with my holiday loving... at least up until now. These past few months I have been feeling frazzled, run down, and highly emotional; Christmas 2011 was really taking a back seat. Finally last night I think I turned it around. My roommate left the apartment for her volleyball game and I told her I would put up some decor while she was gone -- she had been begging me to decorate with her but my melancholy just kept getting in the way. A few hours after she was gone I was still sitting on the couch thinking about how much I did not want to move. Eventually I pulled myself up and got to work. After a few strands of garland were hung I was ready to put on some of my most favorite Christmas tunes and actually sing along. Spirits feel brighter and hope seems to be sprouting now that there's some festive decor surrounding me.

If you too are needing a little push in the "Joy to the World" direction then allow me to introduce Sir Elton as he welcomes you to join in a Christmas dancing frenzy...


P.S. I just found an AMAZING gift for my sister! It's been ordered and my fingers are crossed that it will arrive in time. Sister if you are reading this... get excited!

Celebrate Monday!

So yesterday was Sunday but today is SUNday. See what I did there? Did you see it? Miracle of miracles! It is bright enough outside that I actually put forth the effort required to locate my sunglasses (i.e. digging through the mess on the floor of my car)!

Moving on from bad "puns"... As I've mentioned before I don't mind Mondays as much as most people do. In fact I find them pleasant as they are the one day in the work week that I am not held captive by my cubicle. Today's been particularly pleasure inducing and here's a brief list of why:

• I visited a client today who is 91 years old. She is the youngest of three children and both of her older siblings (ages 96 and 100) are still alive, kicking, and living down the block!
• In between client visits I got to hang out at The Ridgeback Cafe on 65th in Ballard. I had a delicious wrap with roasted yams, black beans, cheese (yikes!), peppers, and spinach (leafy greens for the day... CHECK!)

• My friend sent me a list of The 20 Best New Bands of 2011. Since I only know 5 of the bands listed I have some serious music listening to keep me busy for awhile.
• I am going to go on a quick jaunt around the neighborhood this evening in my new hot pink runners (I'm speaking Australian today)!
  
• The jaunt is going to be short because I'll be getting a workout at the Tractor Tavern where I will be square dancing the night away!

Leaving you with a video I'm loving of the Portland, OR band Typhoon. I'm a little bummed. They were just playing in Portland last week down the street from my friend's apartment. A friend who I am actually staying with a week from now. If only they could have scheduled around my overnight in PDX!


K.I.T. (no seriously, keep in touch... write a comment or something! pretty please?),
Amanda

An update: I had really better plan on cutting a rug tonight because my run lasted all of 10 minutes. I always forget that "sunshine" and "warmth" are not necessarily synonymous. My lungs are still burning and I am waiting for feeling to return to my finger tips. At least I got this picture?

My Internets

It's been a long and frustrating day. One great thing that happened though was being dismissed early from work which was just what I needed. To replenish and renew I got in bed as soon as I arrived home and got to work digging around on the old interweb in an attempt to distract and relax. Here are a few tidbits that have definitely distracted (not so much relaxed) me this afternoon:

As if I needed more reasons to be scared of flying...

Wishing I could take a trip down to PDX this weekend...

Yet another reason Twilight is the worst...

My exact thoughts on online dating only articulated by someone else...

A covet-able camera bag for the camera I oh-so-covet...

And last but not least a video that keeps entertaining me. I'm pretty sure if I had more energy tonight I would be doing this to cheer myself up...


K.I.T.
Amanda