much-missed sun

I'm digging into the archives again today because it is too cold to blink outside much less take a good photo (okay, I'm being a little whiny) and I wasn't around my apartment to photograph anything in the natural light. Not that there is much natural light anyway, as the world has been immersed in gray the past few days.So here we have an old favorite of mine from Siena, back when I lived in Italy. I can just feel the warm sun in the photo.

majestic

Sometimes winter seems much more beautiful in the country. I'm missing the wide open space today.

an invitation

Well, I was able to cross one thing off of my to-do list today. I love the way that these little invites turned out, as a single piece of sparkly red cardstock (with two sides, above is the front, below is the back). They were really inexpensive, and I think they look nice! Unfortunately, I was not able to take a photo in natural light, and so the color red is a bit distorted in the pictures. Oh well!

creative use of leftovers

2 leftover cornbread waffles + one slice of muenster cheese + roasted red pepper aioli + one black bean burger + baby greens = YUM!

I missed a few days because of the craziness of putting on the Madrigal dinner. But of course, I make my return with a picture of food.

a room with a view

Okay, so I'm cheating again today, posting an old picture. I took this a year and a half ago in a garden in Shanghai. I'm obsessed with these little paradises in the middle of big Chinese cities. I'm also missing green things.

tundra

Okay, so Iowa is not exactly the tundra, but it was so cold today when I walked across campus that I was surprised that my face didn't freeze off.

view from the jeep

We spent 18 of the past 36 hours on the road. I'm not used to seeing all of these trees, which sometimes reach their fingers over the highway to meet each other. I'm happy to be home again.

walking into spiderwebs

Okay, so I didn't take this picture today, because I'm on the road for my Indiana audition. However, I've been hoping for a reason to post this unusual picture. I took it on a very bright, frosty, foggy day at the end of December. I think that these frost-covered webs look like the cheesy fake web you can buy at Halloween time.

royal

I've eaten lots of colorful food today, especially purple. Yum.

waiting to sing

I waited for a half hour for a practice room today, in a "fishbowl" - our name for those almost-soundproofed practice rooms that make my ears hurt a lot when I sing. I studied my songs waiting for room 35...and took a few photos.

brussels sprouts?

This long-hated cabbage from my childhood has, with the help of olive oil, white wine, and the caramelizing process, become a newfound favorite.

reflecting

I spent a few hours on campus today, and it was really nice. I practiced and spent lots of time at the library, and I wandered around in a daze, loving everything I saw. When I am inspired, I find beauty in everything. It was pretty warm today for January, and as a result, there's lots of melting snow.

back on campus

The past couple of days have been very eventful with the Metropolitan Opera competition, and I've had no internet connection. I'm on campus using their wireless, and while I was here, I snapped a gloomy picture of The Memorial Union and the frozen Lake LaVerne, out in the dreary early evening.

granola is for hippies.....and me

Today I made granola. It is still cooling...but it looks so good. I can't wait to eat it!

my love is fond of green

Today was a green day. I wore a green sweater & earrings, my coat is green, the book I happen to be reading is green. I just couldn't resist the bamboo. Even though it is pretty outside, I can't wait until everything is green again.

celebrating

It has been a wonderful New Year's day with the family. We had a wonderful New Year's lunch together, and it has been a lovely, lazy day. This was our table setting for lunch.