Another Gorgeous Weather Week...

Thursday April 21, 2016

Tonight was my second pottery class at Jennifer Cross Studio (my neighbor down the road). We were tasked with finishing up our design so our pots would be ready to be fired and glazed during the next class.

There were just a couple of us who had rather plain looking pots, so week two was all about design. I spent quite awhile studying Pinterest Boards and other places looking for inspiration. Although I’m not quite sure my final design was Hundertwasser-like, here’s what I ended up with:

Still, all in all I’m quite happy with my design. Now I just need to figure out what colors to paint it next week. So many decisions…

I am definitely going to be sad when this class is over. It’s been a lot of fun and working with clay is so calming and zen. I hope someday to try and throw a pot on a wheel. I think Jennifer said she has a wheel, but would probably need more of them to try and teach a class. I know they hold classes at the Dublin Recreation Center, so perhaps I’ll enroll in one of them sometime.

Friday April 22, 2016

Today was another gorgeous day in what’s been a pretty unseasonably warm week (it was 80 degrees on Monday!). I had to stay in for lunch since we were having a company-wide meeting with our financial planner and I figured it was in my best interest to attend.

When we were done I noticed a food truck in our parking lot selling Indian food. My friend from upstairs said they were giving it away free. Hence, I was majorly bummed that I didn’t get to have any curry gratis. I was also bummed because it was such a lovely day outside. It always kills me to have to stay indoors on my lunch hour, but even more so when it’s nice outside.

As soon as the clock struck five I was like a kid after the last bell rings making my way to the parking lot lickety split. I was picking up Chinese food on the way home and hoping to make decent enough time so we could stop and have drinks at the Brothers Drake Meadery which is a short walk from the Gateway Film Center. Thankfully all went according to plan and we were able to squeeze in time for a pre-movie cocktail. I got the PB & J (Blueberry Mead infused with Concord Grapes and roasted peanuts from Krema Nut Company) while Andrew got the Blueberry Basil Lemonade (Bergamot Blue, vodka, blueberries, basil & lemon juice).

Gretchen Reuben was right when she said that the anticipation of an event sometimes outweighs the actual excitement when it actually takes place. I was eagerly anticipating my PB & J cocktail to be a nutty, fruity drink, though I wasn’t sure if the combination of the two was actually possible. Hence, it was a bit of a let-down once I took the first sip. I could taste the Blueberry Mead, but not sure my taste buds were quite able to detect the nuts, or maybe that’s what that ‘other’ taste was. Either way, it wasn’t quite what I expected, but was relieved I finally got to try it. I’m almost glad I didn’t like it more. This way I saved $15 buying a whole bottle of it.

Andrew said of his drink, “You can definitely taste the basil!” I sipped it and it was quite nice. I kind of preferred his drink to mine and could envision sipping that while the evening slipped away. Speaking of the evening slipping away, I looked at my watch and saw that it was now 7pm and we had to get to our movie in the next ten minutes, so we quickly finished our drinks, settled our tab, and dashed out of there.

I’m glad I reserved tickets in advance since our movie, “April and the Enchanted World,” was playing in the tiny corner theatre which probably only seats perhaps two and a half dozen people or so (and it sold out). It’s very cozy. Even though we were running late, we were still able to find a couple seats together, so glad about that. Late comers sharing food weren’t so lucky. That’s what you get for spending too long at concessions!

The movie was good (and I was grateful to stay awake since I was sleepy all day and having just had alcohol didn’t make it easy). It was about a girl whose family (sans her granddad) is all killed by a corrupt government after they invented an eternal youth serum. Her cat accidentally gets a sip, so he is immediately cured after being near death. I’ll suffice it to say the movie has a happy ending. With action, adventure, and a talking cat, how can you go wrong? We were just surprised the movie was in English because we could swear we saw a French trailer for it. I think we just saw the dubbed version.

Saturday April 23, 2016

Tonight Karen, Rhys, and I attended the second weekend performance of “The Sound of Music” at Hilliard Bradley High School. I can honestly say it was the most impressed I’ve ever been by the high school performance of anything. The singing was absolutely superb and my kudos to their instructors for creating such a talented ensemble.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as it’s been awhile since I’ve seen “Sound of Music” on stage [the last time was perhaps at Rabbit Run, probably 20 years ago now]. The version Bradley H.S. produced was based more on the theatrical version rather than the movie adaptation. This is obvious by the extra scores not used in the movie, and the moving around of songs to different points in the production. There’s no puppet show and “The Lonely Goat Herder” song is sung when the children are all gathered around Maria’s bed during the thunderstorm.

I definitely feel like I got my money’s worth attending this off-Broadway quality production. I look forward to future musicals at Bradley High School. Keep up the good work kids!

Have a good week everyone!