chicago vs. burlington

FRIDAY!

(feather or haute dress: modcloth; coat: tjmaxx; scarf/belt: thrifted; bracelet: flea market; earrings: claire's; shoes: seychelles)

I LOVE this outfit. I feel so bohemian with all of my prints and gold jewelry. This coat is one of my absolute favorites--I can't believe I was ever on the fence about buying it. I think it makes any outfit infinitely more interesting. This is almost exactly what I wore to a dinner party with friends last weekend--I rarely repeat outfits on this blog, but that's why I don't post on the weekends! Anyway, I liked the combination so much that I wore it again yesterday. I had originally moved all of my pretty pastels to the front of the closet for this week, but it ended up being a lot colder and greyer than I was expecting so I had to improvise. Hopefully I'll be able to pull them out next week!

But enough about my outfit. Lyric's production of Chicago last night (opening night!) was so much fun! K and I got all dolled up (any excuse is good enough for me!), and I kept grabbing his arm and grinning like a lunatic when the opening bars of my favorite songs would start up. I'm such a musical theatre nerd. It's probably a good thing that I don't live anywhere near Broadway--my bank account would seriously suffer. Still, I couldn't help but think that I could have played Velma as well or better than the woman who had the part (although her 14-year involvement in the company probably would have given her quite the advantage even if I had actually decided to audition). It was definitely the most professional non-professional theatre production I've ever seen in Vermont, ever. I had such a great time.

And, just for kicks, here's how I've worn some of these items in the past:

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

the theatre, the theatre, what happened to the theatre??

So, I had a pretty lazy weekend (what else is new??). When you're broke you've got to make do :) On Saturday, K and I had intended to go thrifting, but we unexpectedly had to replace our busted DVD player so funds were a little low. We were just driving rather aimlessly around Burlington (I finally got my first pumpkin spice latte of the season!) and ended up at Fort Ethan Allen, where K works. He showed me this old theatre and I couldn't resist having him take some photos for me there.

(dress: Marshall's; trench: H&M; scarf: Goodwill; sunnies: Battery Street Jeans; tights: Kohl's; socks: stolen from mom; shoes: Seychelles)

That evening we went to see Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, and I actually really liked it (K forced me to watch the original last year and I was surprisingly a fan, so that probably helped). We took our movie ticket over to Moe's to get a half-price burrito (pinching pennies... :), loaded up on the fixin's (I loooooove Moe's--I always get the Art Vandalay burrito with roasted veggies and guacamole, and they give you sooo many free chips!). On Sunday K wanted to wash his car (he's like that), so we went back to FEA for free car-washing water. I went along for the ride and read, which turned out to be a little bit less pleasant than I had anticipated because the autumn chill has decidedly set in! We saw so many geese flying south, it almost made me wish that I could fly south myself! It's actually really incredible how much the leaves have already changed--the foliage came out practically overnight, and fall has definitely arrived! K and I have been drinking hot cider and taking afternoon strolls through the crunchy leaves. That's all I want to do this time of year :)

The Gondoliers

Hi everyone, happy Friday! Unfortunately, an outfit post today just wasn't happening. I woke up 15 minutes before 8 and absolutely had to take a shower (after 24 hours in this heat--going without wasn't even a remote possibility), so needless to say I was rather rushed and went with my tried-and-true go-to get-up. Anyway, I thought I would drop in for a little post about my plans for the evening, because I'm kind of excited! My parents are taking K and I out for some pizza and then to Unadilla Theatre for their production of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, The Gondoliers--a show that is near and dear to my heart.

In 2004, I played Tessa in a well-reviewed production of The Gondoliers on the very same stage (opposite the same set of brothers who are in the show again this time around). I tried to access the Times Argus article online but they tried to rob me of $2.95 for an archived version sans graphics (there was a huge color spread in the newspaper of my warbling mug, which was pretty awesome even though, let's face it, it's not the New York Times). I have a clipping somewhere (all of my newspaper appearances were carefully clipped and saved over the years). I did, however, find the transcript for Neal Charnoff's VPR feature (if you listen to the actual clip you can hear me singing).

Two years later, I met a gondolier in real life:

(Please note that my friend S is very stylish and had a brass-buttoned military style jacket long before they were "cool" and let that distract you from the fact that I look rather like an eager puppy in this photograph)

Gondoliers are a pretty charming bunch. They speak to each other in a special dialect that only they can understand (no, not Italian--geez, how dumb do you think I am?) and ours was apparently pretty pleased with himself for scoring a foursome of pretty American girls (instead of the more common doughy middle-aged tourists) and would brag about it to every passing boat.

What I'm trying to say is, The Gondoliers and I go way back. And Unadilla is a really great, unique venue--a renovated barn in the middle of nowhere (Calais, VT)--with enough of a reputation to guarantee a relatively talented cast and a lively show! Have a fantastic weekend, and good luck beating the heat! Arrivederci!

back with a barrette

Many apologies for my absence... I've been ringing in the new year, welcoming my favorite boyfriend back to the East Coast and suffering through the snow (it's been blizzarding for a week now...)

I bought this barrette (and its broken partner) in Venice. While there, I discovered that there are basically two types of shops along the canals: those that sell glass products (jewelry, mostly) and those that sell elaborately creepy Carnivale masks. I kind of feel like a Gondolier in my nautical stripes (fact: I once played Tessa in the Unadilla Theatre production of The Gondoliers here in Vermont), but the gold tassel makes me feel a little more old-lady-on-a-cruise-ship.

What I wouldn't give to be sailing the seven seas in the summertime right now...

I got some black leather gloves for Christmas this year (yay!) Without my coat they look a little more Michael Jackson than they probably should, but since I mentioned my participation in the Gondoliers I'm going to go ahead and call them theatrical.

Now I kind of look like a mime. Forgive me, I'm a rusty blogger!

(dress: old navy; shoes: DSW; gloves: JCPenney; necklace: vintage; barrette: Venice)