the joys of summer: part 2 - the most wonderful day of the year

my younger sister and i have a tradition. once a year we make a pilgrimage to dutch dreams, the strangest, busiest, most indulgent ice cream place probably in all of toronto. i used to go for birthday parties as a child and my parents still talk about how weird they found the place. the line up is always at least forty minutes long in the summer, and the decor features some of the kitschiest, border-line creepy, silly paraphernalia you'll see.

anyway, after our wonderful, restorative yoga class last night, we decided it was time. i'd made a trip to the dentist and was feeling particularly virtuous after he pronounced that i was "good" and had no cavities. (score one for the 23-year-old)

treasures await....

the joys of summer: part 1 - grapefruit cake

in summer comes the time for free time & indulging in the indulgences! i love being in toronto because i walk or bike everywhere or go for pretty jogs around my neighbourhood, therefore not feeling bad at all when i bake a gigantic cake or go out for the biggest ice cream you've seen in your life!

the other evening my friend beth and i eagerly tried our luck at this grapefruit cake recipe. i'm going to be perfectly honest. i'm a HUGE grapefruit fan. i eat half a grapefruit every morning, will always order grapefruit juice if it's on a menu, use grapefruit bodywash,  and buy most of my clothes in a shade of light pink grapefruit.

anywho, bethy and i had a jolly old time with this slightly tricky recipe!

clémentine wine, of course, keeping with our citrus theme...

adventures in castleton

a week ago, i came back from the castleton festival in virginia, where i spent two months singing, performing, studying and hanging out on the property of dietlinde & lorin maazel. it was a gorgeous place to spend the summer. here are just a few of my photos of cows, zebras, zonkeys, performing, and people of course!

lemon ricotta pancakes and a day at the market

there's nothing like two months on a farm surrounded by opera singers to make you appreciate how much of an introvert you like to be! i'm currently having a beautiful time at my cottage relaxing, cooking delicious things, and basking in the quietness of country life. today was a day for lemon ricotta pancakes and farmer's markets. 

the finished product 

 

check out the cute sign outside the "100 mile store" and just how PRETTY lettuce can look in a mason jar! pinterest, anyone?

cocteau, verdi & zebras

hullo!! greetings from week six at the castleton festival in virginia! it's so far been a gorgeous summer of rolling hillsides, mahler, verdi, communing with zebras, donkeys and zonkeys (their love child), beer, wine, poolside times, sunshine and incredible music making. i just returned from an amazing pairing of the play, la voix humaine by cocteau (in translation) with the poulenc opera. i was so moved by the cocteau play and the fragility embodied by the actress who portrayed elle. it really was so humaine and lifelike and therefore so touching. i completely believed her inability to go on without her lover, as well as her struggle to come to terms with her aloneness and attempted strength. i was extremely moved and inspired by the play. it reminded me of some of the great opera characters i've been studying. i'm most drawn to characters i find interesting and humaine, such as susanna in mozart's le nozze di figaro, anne truelove in stravinsky's the rake's progress and violetta in verdi's la traviata. watching the cocteau play made me anxious to sink my teeth into some meaty acting roles as well. :)

chicago loves

my little sister, an 18-year-old avid blog follower and philosophy student studying in nova scotia, sent me this link today, listing cute places to go in chicago. i've already tried molly's and can't wait to go on another wicker park adventure!

other things making me happy lately have included...:

throwback to me and my beloved roommate andy's first trip to the chicago lyric opera.

proustian musicology

yesterday in my "towards the professional singer" seminar, my professor read us excerpts from proust, thomas mann and em forster on music and encouraged us to try some free writing on music ourselves. how does one describe something that really can't be described? besides in the analytical ways we do in all our academic master's courses, that is.