Haydnbrau.

Well, many things in this town are named for Haydn, as he lived and worked here for many years, and the breweries are no exception. Last night was my good friend and fellow alto Becky’s birthday, so we all went out to dinner at the Haydnbrau. The food was delicious--I had Käsespätzel (again...surprise, suprise-- it’s no secret that I love me some carbs) which is kind of like a gnocchi in cheese sauce with fried onions on top, which reminded me enough of green bean casserole to be classified as “comfort food”. Yummy. Here are a few snapshots of the night:
Anna's Beer. She may have been a little annoyed that I kept taking pictures and wouldn't let her drink it...
Classic Lo.
Little Patrick mit big Beer.
Beautiful people across the table from me.
More beautiful people across the table from me... oh Katie...


Afterwards, we went to the Esterhàzy café, which is an adorable little place across the street from the palace (I’ll take some daylight pictures sometime, but for now you’ll have to picture it in your little heads...it’s a pretty typical European café--think wicker chairs and huge umbrellas). It actually used to be the stables for the palace, but alas, with the invention of the auto... the café was born. Anyway, we had a few glasses of wine and just talked for close to 5 hours! Ah, Europe. Loving this.

The schloss, and good times.

Well, life is good here in Eisenstadt. I'm having a blast--there's an abundance of great sights, great music and great wine! Here are a few pictures from yesterday:Cute little brass quartet playing in the Esterhàzy palace courtyard.
Look at the faces on the gargoyles!!
The Haydnsaal (where we rehearse and perform a few concerts).
The original (!!!!) copy of the Haydn Lord Nelson mass. Right there in front of me. Oh baby.
Kaitlin and Me in front of the palace.Tara and Me.
Kaitlin and Me and Vino. I hate my hands. I like Vino.


Also, the festival we're singing with has podcasts every day--they're posted here (click on CMF links--CMF Day 1, CMF Day 2, etc.). They take video each day, and then recap online...it's pretty cool. Check it out!

Praise God for Haribo and Red Bull.

It’s day 2 here in Eisenstadt, and I’m doing well--still trying to acclimate myself to the time difference (6 hours ahead of US Eastern Standard). I slept very well last night--10 PM to 7AM. It was lovely. Breakfast was delicious, I’m thrilled that we have breakfast in the hotel every day. It was perfect. We had our first rehearsal this morning in the Schloss (Esterhàzy Palace), which was amazing. It was so beautiful and it was amazing to think that we were singing Haydn’s music where it was originally performed! Right now we’re on lunch break, but having had a large breakfast, I was disinterested in having a midday meal. Instead, I hopped down to the grocery store across the street from the hotel and picked up some Haribo gummi cherries and a sugarfree Red Bull. SO NICE that my addictions from the states can be fed even across the pond...
Well, I’m going to take a short nap. More later.

The hills are alive...

Welp, I'm here, safe and sound. After a one hour drive GR to K-Zoo, two hour drive K-Zoo to Detroit, 8 hour flight Detroit to Paris, a two hour flight Paris to Vienna, and an hour bus ride to Eisenstadt, I have arrived. And I couldn't be happier. Our rooms are great, the weather is beautiful, and I had the best vegetarische spätsel ever for dinner. I'm pretty jet-lagged and have some serious unpacking to do, but I thought I'd give you all a little photo update--actually, a MAJOR PHOTO UPDATE!! Love and miss you--enjoy! Getting ready to go...
Katie's happy dance.
Sneaky 'Stineee
Detroit shenanigans.
Brennen and Me...before we were jet-lagged.



Lo was excited to be done traveling.
My room. We're singing a few concerts at this one...
More Views.....


Then we discovered chatting across the courtyard...


Suitemates!

Lately.

As promised, here's some of what I've been up to lately! I had a blast with L + A on Monday night... so here's a little sneaky peaky for you two:

We picked up some balloons on the way out-- they were fun but kept blowing in the wind!
Love the bare feet on the road here-- luckily,we were out in the "boondocks"-- we never even had to get out of the road for cars!

Goofy girl on a vintage tricycle...

L had this great vintage sweater she picked up at an antique fair-- so perfect!

More later. Now... naptime.

The sun will come out...

That's right, folks. TO-morrow. Sorry I haven't been around much, I've been busy with senior shoots, preparing for Austria and a certain sweet girl that I nanny for with a broken foot :( poor baby.
Anyway, on said day on which the sun will come out, I will be posting MAJOR image-age(photo- age? pic-age? I always say "tune-age" for music... maybe it doesn't work for everything)... some senior sneaks, some other fun stuff.
Get ready for it.
It's gonna be sweet.
Until then... stay beautiful.

Love.

Love these girls, love this lens. Just got my 50mm 1.8 lens, which I've been coveting since, oh, before I got my camera...
It did not disappoint, lemme tell ya. I took the girls out to Reeds Lake at about 7:30 AM (bribed with Frappucinos, natch)... I'm such a slavedriver nanny. Totally worth it, though-- check these out!

And those are SOOC (Straight Out Of the Camera)-- i.e. COMPLETELY unedited.
Love, Love, Love.