THE END IS NEAR!

Hello all! Hope the blog title didn't scare you. It's actually not a doom and gloom statement at all! Chad and I have less than one month left before he is done with law school and we go back to living with each other full time again! I hope he hasn't gotten too used to his bachelor lifestyle. Come to think of it, I hope he hasn't been living a bachelor lifestyle at all. If the TV show "The Bachelor" is what bachelors live like, I think he and I might need to have a serious talk... 

Today marks a good day in my schedule, because I have one less thing to prepare for! Last night I sang in my first recital in Germany (which means just me and a pianist, no staging, no costumes, no orchestra!) and it was SUCH a lovely evening! Other than my solo sets, I also sang some duets with my friend and colleague Paula (she and I are currently playing sisters in the opera Così fan tutte!) and we're hoping we can do many more recitals like this in the future! It's really one of the best things in the world to be able to perform with friends! My old friend from Juilliard, InSun, played the piano for us both, and I'm just in awe of her. We performed some Rachmaninoff songs, and her piano parts were like mini piano concertos!

Paula, myself, and InSun in the backstage area.

Relaxing after the recital at one of our favorite haunts, Klosterhof!

I had a glorious day off today, but tomorrow it's back to work for Don Giovanni rehearsals! Friday will be the really great day, because not only does Chad come to Frankfurt for the weekend, but that will also be the day where I can begin concentrating on one opera and one opera only! As sorry as I will be to have our last Così fan tutte performance on Thursday, it will be a big load off my mind! My next opera production doesn't start rehearsals until June 23rd, and although it seems far off now, I'm sure it will come sooner than I expect! 

Chad is currently a paper writing machine. I know he wishes he could spend more time exploring the parts of London he hasn't gotten to, but those darn professors keep assigning so much work! It looks like we'll get more opportunities to hang out in London in the future though, so I suppose it's good he's saving some of it. :-) 

Spring has really exploded in Frankfurt, and I'm incredibly grateful I'm not affected by allergies like Chad is. I like to look at the flowers and smile, not curse them. Our balcony is overflowing with wisteria, which is beautiful, but that means it's also overflowing with bees! And since Germans (really, Europeans in general) don't seem to believe in screens on windows, I always cautiously eye the kitchen when I walk in. I've only had one bumblebee in there so far, and he was very friendly, so I let him go. 

I'll wrap it up there for now! Have a wonderful week, and I hope it's filled with sunshine!