getting the shot

2010 has been a great year so far. I've already made some fabulous memories and quite honestly, being at the Olympics was a lifetime dream come true. I'm really not that old, so I consider myself a very lucky girl. But amid all of the excitement and happiness that 2010 has brought, I've also been suffering from a lack of inspiration and confidence.

At work, I was offered a position that I felt I had earned, but after the informal offer from my manager, the job was given to someone else without so much as a word about it to me. In my fiction class, I feel like our professor is constantly looking down on all of us, which has made me pretty apathetic about writing—not good when this semester is one of six in a degree that's costing me thousands of dollars. I haven't felt much like writing anything, including but not limited to: working on my novel, writing short pieces in hopes of publication, revising essays I wrote last semester that I really liked at one point, blogging, and writing articles for IDC. It's been fairly glum as far as writing.

However, two things happened in the past month to really give me a boost, and one just happened last night, so look, I'm writing about something recent for a change!

Let's start with last night. I was in my Writing About Place class, which I've really enjoyed all semester. While the class has mainly functioned as lit-for-writers, we have also done a bit of writing in the form of "narrative exercises." Our third exercise was due 2 weeks ago, and the assignment was to write a one-page scene in which external and internal factors contribute to an irrevocable event. I chose to write a bit from my novel, which is a YA-ish book (but hopefully smarter than most of the crap YA) about an ice dancer. Surprise, surprise, right? Anyway, in the scene that I wrote, Jessie (my protagonist) bites it on footwork in her free dance at a major competition. My goal for the scene was to write the "action"—the skating, the ice, the arena—but to stay inside of her head and get at her emotions, too. All in a page. And well, I crept over to page two a bit. It's really tough for me to write short.

Last night, we workshopped half of the exercises, including mine. And guess what! People liked my scene! Only about half the class had read excerpts from my novel before, so there was a bit of confusion about the characters and background info from the rest of the class, but overall, I got some great feedback, good suggestions, and even a bit of praise. It's been a long time since I've felt that good about something that I've written. I'm having a really hard time balancing all of the projects in my life, but I've been wanting to work harder on the novel, so I'm going to try to set some goals and deadlines for myself so that I keep plugging away. I don't think that the scene I wrote will enter the novel without some revisions—I don't want it to actually be that short since it's going to be the focus of a chapter, but I'm looking forward to working with it and expanding it.

Okay, inspiring thing #2 actually happened a month ago today, so this is a bit late. As usual.

At Thin Ice (see my last few blog entries), I saw the second show four times—Saturday afternoon & evening and Sunday afternoon & evening. The first three shows were dress rehearsals, with the final show on Sunday night being a live TV broadcast. And at the last show, on Sunday night, I got this shot:

Probably one of the coolest photos I've taken in my short career as a skating photographer, right? It's not often that someone back flips over someone else in skating—I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever seen it, and definitely the first time I've ever photographed it.

People sometimes ask me how I get such great shots of skating. I'm not very confident in general (not just this semester) and I'm so awkward at taking compliments, so I usually just shrug it off and say that I was in the right place at the right time, or that I have great material to work with. Both of these things are true, but there's a lot that often goes into getting a great shot, and this one in particular is a good example of that.

I saw this show four times, and this shot is from the last show. So before I took this, I saw the program (and this move) done three other times. I photographed two of those three shows. At the first show, I wasn't at all ready for this, and my photo is a mess. The ice is more in focus than either Mike or Marie, and my shutter speed was way too slow to freeze the action in his flip. I decided not to shoot the second show, because I felt like the skaters were exhausted from doing two shows a day for the second day in a row (not a typical schedule for this group) and I was exhausted, too. At the third show, I was ready for the flip and adjusted my shutter speed, but I was at a different angle that was unflattering for Marie, to say the least, and I still didn't get Mike anywhere close to being in focus.

So for the last show, I was ready. I sat in the corner, where I knew I'd get Mike's face upside down, but I switched sides, so I'd get Marie's face as well. I adjusted my settings so I could get my shutter speed even faster, I closed the aperture a bit so my depth of field wasn't as narrow, and I decided to try a vertical photo with a one-point focus. From the angle where I was sitting, it wasn't too tough to follow him and keep the focus on him. And of course, since I'd seen the program three times before, I knew exactly where the move fell with the music and what the set-up looked like. After that, I just had to stay calm, take a deep breath, and not shake! And as soon as I snapped it, I flipped my camera around and checked it on the LCD screen, but I already knew that it was going to be a good one.

In the end, I still had to work with it in post-processing. It was a little less than 2 degrees from vertical, and since it happened so fast, it's not like I had a chance to center it. So when I rotated the photo, I cut off part of the background, and I had to spend some time working with the patterns and filling in some of the darkened crowd. The lighting also wasn't great at the shows—house lights were up a bit, so I had to work with the colours to get it to pop like it had in person. It was definitely worth the work, though! This is certainly a photo I'm proud of, and I've received more praise for this shot than for anything else I've ever taken.

So as I've been thinking about this shot during the past month, an obvious realization I've had is the importance of doing your homework. For me as a skating photographer, this means that whenever it's possible, I try to see programs more than once. I try to go to practices at competitions, even when they're early, because I know that even just a slight familiarity with programs will translate into better shots. I watch skating online as much as I can, not just because I love it, but because I get ideas for shots that I want to get if I'm going to see that program live later in the season. I even like imagining what shots I would get if it's a team that I know I won't see. I relish every opportunity to "practice" shooting skating—whether that means shooting practices, local shows with terrible lighting, international events, club competitions with little kids doing single jumps, the Olympics, whatever! I love it all and I know that every shot I take is an important one.

More than all of that, though, I've been thinking about my role as a skating photographer and how it relates to, well, my life. Besides being curled up under my pink comforter on my bed in my jammies, I think that I'm more at home behind my camera in an ice rink than I am anywhere else. Skating photography is something that I know that I'm good at, it's something I love doing, and it's something that I always want to be better at. Freezing my tail off boardside at a club competition gives me such a feeling of satisfaction. When I'm there, I know it's where I'm supposed to be. I know that I'm doing something valuable. That's something I don't generally feel at my job, even though I can stock the nail polish faster than anyone else on the task team. I know that this is because I work in a beauty store for a job, but I shoot skating because it's life to me. I can't help but want to be there.

I know I've had some incredibly lucky breaks—one of the best skating photographers in the world sat me down and taught me how to use a camera, for example. That's how I got started. But I was in that situation because I went after it, because I felt something pulling me towards skating photography and I followed it. And I continue to go after it. I'm not delusional and I know that there isn't much of a chance at having a career as a skating photographer. Maybe skating photography will never be enough of a means of income to survive. Maybe it will, though. And if there's a chance at all (and I think there is), I have to keep hoping that someday I'll get out of retail and into doing what I love. Even if it's never a career, though, I think it will always be a part of my life. I just can't imagine ceasing to care about being in the rink to capture those moments. I feel responsible for them.

thin ice: off the ice

This is a bit late, but I did have a most excellent time on part two of Spring Break 2010 (wooooooo!), which took place at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Connecticut. You may or may not recall that I had a trip planned to spend the weekend with two friends for the tapings of Thin Ice, which aired live on ABC on March 19 and 21.

For skating purists (like us), the show wasn't really the greatest show we've ever attended, but I do think that the skaters put on a great show for the local crowd, especially. They all really got into the spirit of the competition and went all-out, even given the demands that they faced. I don't know of any skaters that are used to do two shows a day, but they had seven shows (2 live shows, 5 dress rehearsals with full audiences) scheduled over 4 days. That's tough in any circumstances, but especially skating brand-new programs with brand-new partners. I thought everyone did an awesome job and I would have thrown everyone a vote if I could have. As it was, I couldn't throw anyone votes, since I was rolling with the VIPs, and we were labeled as suspicious and biased and not allowed to take voting keypads. Bah!

I have to post about meeting my childhood idol! I fell in love with skating during the 92 Olympics, which of course were the Games that Miss Kristi Yamaguchi won. I adored her. I wanted to be just like her. I begged my mom to buy me the Wheaties box that she was on, and my mom made me promise that I would actually eat the cereal, so for two weeks, I forced those awful Wheaties down. I finally saw her skate live in 2004, but couldn't get up the nerve to say anything to her when she walked past me after the show. Same thing happened again in 2007. But 2010 is my year.

Speaking of favourites, one of my favourite ice dance teams was a part of this competition, although with separate partners, of course. On Friday night, Marie-France had the most insane hair, and she was super proud of it, as you can see from the photo. There weren't any clips in it, they just made it stand up like that! Rad. She went on to win the competition (with Michael Weiss) on Sunday night.

My friends and I had a great time the whole weekend, and since we went to all the shows, we quickly met the other people who kept popping up from show to show. Like John Zimmerman's mom, who joined us for dinner after the show on Friday. She's a fantastic lady.

Chele, me, and Jen with Norma (John's mom) and John, taken on Sunday night at the afterparty.

On Sunday night, the whole cast & crew & everyone's guests descended upon Shrine (the aforementioned Asian lounge) for sushi, drinks, and dancing. The sushi & sashimi was fabulous. I wasn't expecting it to be so good at a casino, but it does have excellent proximity to major fishing grounds, and well, it is the MGM Grand. High rollers and all. I also thoroughly enjoyed the dancing, including the fact that someone must have slipped the DJ a list, because he kept playing music that had been used in the shows. Full marks to John and Shae for recreating their entire program to "Poker Face" while everyone stood around them and clapped like we were at an 8th grade dance.

With Chele and Jen at the afterparty, two of us looking super blue-eyed.

A-MAZING sashimi platter that they plopped down in front of me. When it was empty, they brought ANOTHER one. I wish things like this happened to me at home. Things like this never happen to me at home.

The sushi was so amazing that Chele even volunteered to try her first piece of maki ever! Awww!

Photoing up with the lady who hooked up the whole weekend.

Overall, kind of a great weekend! It was quite different from what I expected, but I had an excellent time. Right now, my photos from the first show are available on Ice-Dance.com, and I'm hoping to get through the rest of the photos in the next two days. I shot the 2nd show three times, so I'm trying to make sure I don't post the same shot from each of the 2 rehearsals and the live show. The process is taking a bit longer than usual, plus I have been really busy. As usual.

So if all goes well, expect another blog post in the next couple of days with a few highlights from the skating portion of the weekend!

lovely weekend with much food

I've dropped the ball with blogging a bit, mostly because I've been taking so many photos recently that I can't keep up with the selecting and editing. Fortunately (or sadly, I can't decide), I didn't take any photos last weekend, but I still have a bit to talk about, so here's a blog post in a timely manner.

Jules drove down to Chicago on Thursday night, since she didn't anticipate a busy work-from-home day on Good Friday, and we can't go more than a few weeks of not seeing each other without developing unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. So on Friday, we sat on the couch and she worked when there was work to do, and I went through photos and tried to get caught up with emails (I failed), and then at 5, we jetted out the door and headed to Windy City Scrapbooking. It's on Clybourn, just south of Fullerton, so I'd never managed to get there on my own. I don't keep my car in the city, and I cannot bear the idea of taking two buses to get somewhere. I guess it's walkable from the brown line if the weather is nice, so I might try to head back a few times this summer.

It was quite a pleasant scrapbook store! I loved the loft vibe of the space and it had a great selection. It reminded me so much of the now-closed Photos to Scrapbooks in Michigan, where I worked for almost a year. I don't scrapbook as much as I used to, but I still much prefer to shop in smaller stores than in the big craft store chains, where they don't get in new stock very often and everything feels outdated like those tragic Pioneer albums with the gold trim.

Jules and I had a scrapbooking project planned for the weekend and it's still in progress, so I won't say anything about it now. Not that the recipients of this project read my blog...in fact, does anyone read my blog? Ha. But just in case. ;-) So we picked up an album and some thematic supplies and then walked a few blocks down to Wolf Camera to pick up the photos I'd sent in. I wasn't too thrilled with the quality of the photos—the colours felt oversaturated on most of them, but we were in a time crunch, so we made do.

Oh, and between Windy City and Wolf, we stopped at Vanille's main location. Vanille is a patisserie with a counter in the French market, but this location is a gorgeous space with comfy chairs and a few tables. They make all of their pastries at this location, then take them over to the market in the morning. I had a chocolate mousse with hazelnut and something else...I lost track, but it was incredible. Jules had a lemon meringue pastry and she loved hers as well. I'd tried a macaroon from the counter at the market with Christina a few weeks earlier, but I'd never had one of their pastries. I shouldn't eat there too often, but I will definitely have to treat myself from time to time. The girl who helped us there was fantastic, too—very knowledgeable and pleasant. We chatted a bit about the French market and exchanged stories about vendors to try.

From there, we headed to Whole Foods—the "mothership" as I call it—off of North & Sheffield for dinner. J picked some delights from the salad bar and I wish I'd done the same. I've never had food there that I didn't like, but my pasta bowl had way too much sauce and felt so heavy, even though I went vegetarian with it. I only managed to eat about half of it. The trip wasn't a waste, though, because we picked up some bars that were much cheaper than a typical grocery store (quelle surprise!!), some smoked cheddar, and a few other goodies.

On Saturday, I had to work, so Jules went to the Wolf Camera on Rush & Chicago to pick up batch #2 of our photos for the book. I thought that these printed much better and the Rush location is more convenient for me without a car anyway, so I think I'll stick to this location. Of course, nothing beats Adorama, but they've been closed for Passover, so I couldn't get the prints done in time for our weekend. I'll continue to use Wolf for snapshot-type photos and rush jobs.

We met up downtown after work and headed to the French Market for a late lunch. Of course, the French Market is one of my favourite spots for food in the city, and I was excited to finally take Jules for her first trip. We both decided to branch out—she tried the Raw counter and had a fantastic salmon pate sandwich, and I tried Zullo's, an Italian counter with local, organic ingredients. I got a prosciutto panini and it was like a slice of heaven. We also split some Belgian fries and dipped them in garlic mayo and wasabi mayo. I loved the garlic mayo, and we appreciated that they literally cut the fries fresh for us. Yum!

I won't mention the basketball game that we watched at my place after that while we scrapbooked. It's best forgotten.

Afterwards, we had our hearts set on dinner at De Colores, but we so weren't hungry. We went anyway, stuffed ourselves, and ended up only finishing about half of our meals, so I have a shrimp ceviche in my fridge to eat tomorrow for lunch!

Then we headed home, our cab driver actually offered me change, we did some more scrapbooking and finished the pages that we'd planned to finish this weekend, and the fun was over far too quickly. Sunday was Easter, so Jules had planned to head back in the morning so I could go out to my cousins' and spend time with the fam. More on that in another post, though, because I still need to get those photos off my camera.

thin ice: preview

Later today, I catch a flight for Boston and then tomorrow, I'm driving with two friends, Chele and Jen, to the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Connecticut for Thin Ice.

Thin Ice is a new mini-series of a competition for professional skaters, who have been given new partners for the event. They're skating several shows and "preview" shows at the ballroom in the MGM Grand this weekend, with the Friday night and the Sunday night shows to air nationwide on ABC. The skaters have been encouraged to think outside the box and do something outside of their comfort zone. They're all skating to popular music that will be accessible to the average TV audience (as opposed to an audience full of skating fans) and some have even worked with choreographers from the dance world, as opposed to the skating world.

The pairs are Shae-Lynn Bourne & John Zimmerman, Marie-France Dubreuil & Michael Weiss, Jamie Salé & Patrice Lauzon, Elena Berezhnaya & David Pelletier, and Shizuka Arakawa & Stéphane Lambiel. Two "real-life" teams are a part of the cast -- Dubreuil & Lauzon and Salé & Pelletier -- so it will be fun/possibly weird to see them competing against each other and with different partners. Of the 10 cast members, 7 are used to skating with partners, either in pairs (Zimmerman, Salé, Berezhnaya, Pelletier) or dance (Bourne, Dubreuil, Lauzon). Weiss, Arakawa, and Lambiel are all singles skaters and only skate with partners for ensemble work in shows. Only one pair comes from the same partner-discipline -- Berezhnaya & Pelletier are both pairs skaters. However, Bourne does have pairs experience from very early in her career.

Some of the early press I've read has indicated that Dubreuil & Weiss and Berezhnaya & Pelletier might be early favourites, but it's hard to tell who will mesh well with a new partner. Some of the pairs have been practicing a for a couple of weeks, but no more than that, so this is all happening fairly quickly. Based on what I know about the skaters and how they look on the ice, it's easiest for me to imagine the pairings of Bourne/Zimmerman and Dubreuil/Weiss, but I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and I'm sure there will be surprises!

Here's a bit more info about each partnership and what they have planned.

Shae-Lynn Bourne & John Zimmerman

Disciplines: dance (her) + pairs (him)

Career highlights: Bourne won 10 Canadian titles (with Victor Kraatz) between 1993 and 2003 and 6 World medals (4 bronze, 1 silver, 1 gold). She competed with Kraatz until 2003, did some show appearances with Kraatz for the rest of the year, and has been skating as a solo dancer since then. Zimmerman won 3 U.S. titles with Kyoko Ina, as well a bronze medal at the 2002 World Championships. He skated professionally with Ina until 2008, when she decided to retire from skating, and has skated mainly as a soloist since then, although he's also skated in a couple of shows with Elena Berezhnaya.

Programs planned: "Closer" - Ne-Yo and "Poker Face" - Lady Gaga, choreographed by David Wilson

My thoughts: Both skaters are gorgeous and have a commanding on-ice presence. Their long lines should look great together. Bourne did a great job adapting her style to a new partner when she finished second in Canada's Battle of the Blades last fall, where professional female skaters were paired with former NHL stars.

Marie-France Dubreuil & Michael Weiss

Disciplines: dance (her) + singles (him)

Career highlights: Dubreuil (with Patrice Lauzon) is a five-time Canadian champion and a two-time World silver medalist. Her last competitive appearances were in 2007, and since then, she's been touring with Stars on Ice and skating in other shows. She also appeared on Battle of the Blades last fall, where she finished third. Weiss is a three-time U.S. champion and a two-time World bronze medalist. He retired from competition in 2006 and has also been with Stars on Ice since then.

Programs planned: "Meet Me Halfway" - Black Eyed Peas, choreographed by Fatima Robinson and "Broken Strings" - James Morrison & Nelly Furtado, choreographed by Mark Ballas

My thoughts: Both skaters are high-energy performers and they've toured together with Stars on Ice, so this seems like a good match, too. Weiss doesn't have experience doing lifts, so I hope they don't try anything too crazy (also because Dubreuil's partner on BOTB dropped her a few days before the first show...she's had enough of that!), but I already appreciate that they've taken some choreographic risks and tried two different choreographers from different areas of the dance world.

Jamie Salé & Patrice Lauzon

Disciplines: pairs (her) + dance (him)

Career highlights: Salé (with David Pelletier) is a three-time Canadian champion, World champion, and Olympic champion. She retired from competition in 2002 and has been touring with Stars on Ice. She won Battle of the Blades in November with Craig Simpson. See above for Lauzon's highlights.

Programs planned: "Sexy Chick" - David Guetta and "Hey, Soul Sister" - Train, both choreographed by David Wilson

My thoughts: I respect both of these skaters tremendously. Salé is one of my favourite pairs skaters; Lauzon is one of my favourite ice dancers. It's a bit tough to picture them together, though, and a lot tough to picture Lauzon skating to "Sexy Chick," but I guess I have to go with it! Salé is a crowd favourite, though, and Lauzon is definitely one of the best partners in the world, so they have a lot going for them if they can put this together.

Elena Berezhnaya & David Pelletier

Disciplines: pairs (both)

Career highlights: Berezhnaya (with Anton Sikharulidze) is a four-time Russian champion, a two-time World champion, and the 2002 Olympic champion. See above for Pelletier's results. Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze and Salé & Pelletier were close rivals between 1999 and 2002, always going head-to-head in major competitions. The rivalry was a pivotal moment in the 2002 Olympics when the discovery of a judging fix resulted in both couples sharing the pairs title. Berezhnaya also retired from competition in 2002, touring with Stars on Ice for four years, until 2006.

Programs planned: "Hot 'n' Cold" - Katy Perry and "Cowboy Casanova" - Carrie Underwood, choreographed by Steven Cousins (Berezhnaya's off-ice partner)

My thoughts: Well, I fully expect the TV broadcast to blow up the past rivalry between the skaters, as they always did whenever they appeared in the same event post-Olympics. When I heard that they would be skating together, I didn't have a hard time picturing their skating meshing, but I wasn't anticipating these music choices, so now I'm not so sure!

Shizuka Arakawa & Stéphane Lambiel

Disciplines: singles (both)

Career highlights: Arakawa is the 2004 World champion and 2006 Olympic champion. She retired from competition after her Olympic win and has been skating in shows since then, though she hasn't skated very often in North America. Lambiel is a two-time World champion and the 2006 Olympic silver medalist. He retired from competition due to injury in 2008, but after a year off, was rehabilitated enough to return for a final Olympic season. He finished fourth in Vancouver this year and again announced his retirement from competition this month.

Programs planned: "Get Bodied" - Beyoncé and "Magic Touch" - Robin Thicke & Mary J. Blige, choreographed by Hi-Hat

My thoughts: I think these two have a disadvantage because neither has extensive experience skating with a partner and I could be wrong, but I feel like they don't have much of a height difference, so I don't expect wow-factor lifts from them. They're both exquisite skaters, so I expected them to choose more lyrical music, but I'm also confident that they'll have fun with these programs. On a personal note, I'm really excited to see both of them skate! I haven't seen either live before, and Lambiel is actually one of my favourite skaters of all time.

Overall, I'm thrilled that ABC has put their support behind this show. I hope it does well, and I hope its success would mean a resurgence in skating's popularity. It's a great time to capitalize on the post-Olympic wave and I think the format, where viewers are asked to vote for their favourites, is a good choice. It's also great to see skaters pushing the boundaries and trying to do something different.

I'll be covering the show for Ice-Dance.com, so check the website for photos and thoughts, and keep an eye out for me on TV!

spring break 2010: progress blog

Spring Break 2010 might be my favourite yet! I'm having a fantastic week so far, spending time with some of the people I love most in the world and eating some stellar food while we're together. What more could a girl want? Oh, a skating event to photograph? Check, I'm off to one of those this weekend!

Last Friday, I spent the day cleaning and getting ready for the girls, then went to fetch Christina at the airport in the evening. By the time we got back to my place, it was ready to think about food, and after carefully considering our options, we decided on Flat Top Grill. I'm a big FTG fan, going back 4 or 5 years now, but I hadn't been to the West Loop location yet. It's an easy walk from my place, so despite some drizzle, we walked over, which made us feel a bit better about eating two bowls each of yummy create-your-own stirfry! Jules arrived later and arrived hungry, so we walked over to the Jefferson Tap & Grill, my favourite neighbourhood bar. It has a good bar feel, but not a scummy one, and it also has a great menu. C & I just got drinks, Jules had a turkey burger and their fab waffle fries, and then we got hit on for a while, by a guy who really loved our Canadian Olympic jackets and his very inebriated friend. They weren't too obnoxious though, so it was fun. And finally our last stop of the night was Berry Chill, conveniently open until 2am on weekends. Best froyo ever! (Though I haven't tried Pinkberry, but I've heard that PB and BC are pretty comparable.)

Saturday was St. Pat's Day (observed) in Chicago and although we didn't make it over to see the traditional dyeing of the river, we did get our Irish on early when we stopped at a pub on N. Broadway in Lakeview for lunch. Wilde wasn't the best food I've ever had and I'm not sure I'd go back, except if I really want an Irish experience, but we had a great time. It was a cute place, it's just that there are so many incredible restaurants in Chicago. From Wilde, we walked south to Molly's Cupcakes, which is a must whenever I have visitors in town—and sometimes even when I don't! I love Molly's. They had a minty green cupcake delight in honour of St. Pat's and I probably could have eaten three, but I stopped at one...better not to gain ten pounds on cupcakes, since I can't afford to buy all new pants!

A cupcake and a Coke = my own little slice of heaven

Molly's has fun swing seats at the counter

We were stuffed at that point, so we definitely needed to walk off some of our food babies. Unfortunately, when we got off the bus in Near North for some bougie shopping, the unpleasant mist had turned nasty, complete with a nippy wind off the lake. So instead of shopping Oak Street, we headed for 900 N. Michigan, which is an indoor mall. Jules and Christina bought some new pants at Lululemon, but I was holding out for my first Anthro trip! So after a bit there, we walked over to the red line and jetted down State to the other side of the river. I was so glad that I waited for Anthropologie to spend any money! After hearing Christina and Jules rave about it for months, I knew I would love it—my friends have great taste! I tried on a bunch of tops and a couple of dresses. There was one dress on clearance that I would have bought in a heartbeat if they'd had it in a smaller size and one gorgeous navy dress that fit me perfectly, but it was $188 and I didn't have any reason to buy it. So I convinced myself to say goodbye to it in the dressing room, but I did by a sassy silk printed top that I can't wait to rock this weekend at Thin Ice...then again many times this summer, so I can get my money's worth out of it.

Post-Anthro, we were giddy about our purchases but kind of starving. I'd talked up Decolores to death since my first visit with my mom about a month ago, so the girls were excited to try it. I'm happy to report that they loved it as much as I do! The Tres Leches cake (from Kristoffer's) is so incredible that after we split a piece of the vanilla-coconut, we had to try the chocolate one, too. I had the fish tacos and although they were quite good, I think I'll get the shrimp ceviche again next time, which is what I had last time. Or I might have to try the fajitas, which was what Christina ordered.

After devouring one tres leches cake and before devouring the next

The night was still (sort of) young after that, so we went back to my place and changed to go out. Since we'd already done the Irish thing in the afternoon and we'd just bought classy clothes at Anthro, we decided to go to The Gage on Michigan, my favourite classy bar in Chicago. No one came over and hit on us this time, but I did catch the guys at the next table over looking like they wanted to, haha. It was just as well—we were busy trying to name our Top 5 Beatles songs. In the end, it was too hard for me to come up with a top five that didn't change every two minutes, but my favourite is definitely "All You Need is Love."

Sunday morning came way too early, thanks to a late night and the time change, but we got up and headed to Diversey Harbor, because Jules and Christina had signed up to do a 5K! I don't run and I walk 5K regularly because that's a round trip from my place to work, so I wasn't keen on paying $30 for this event, so I may or may not have taken a nap in the car while they got their exercise on. The rest of Sunday was low-key. J's sister and brother-in-law had driven in from Indiana to see her in the race, so after some showers, we went out for lunch with them and since it was convenient, we went back to the Jeff. After that, we hung out at my place until Jules had to leave, and then C and I wrapped up the evening with looking at photos and watching the premiere of this season of Amazing Race. We're a bit behind, yes, but that's what happens when shows start during the Olympics.

THE GIRLS just before we sent Jules on her way

On Monday, C wanted to hit up a Trader Joe's, so we started with lunch at the Chicago French Market, then red-lined up to the Near North TJ's, then walked around a bit before we got free Berry Chill (it was their 2-year anniversary) and walked back to my place. Near North is a bit of a walk, but the weather was nice and we like to walk, so it wasn't bad at all. We had time for one more Amazing Race ep before we had to go to the airport and say farewell until my next scheduled trip to Toronto (first weekend of May).

Yesterday was part two of spring break fun—I went up to the Rockford area to see my cousins! I don't get to spend as much time with my family as I would love to, so even though it was just an evening, I really treasured it. I had dinner with them, danced around the living room to Irish music, played basketball at the park, and then promptly passed out on the couch around 8, slept for almost 4 hours, got up for about an hour, and passed out again until 8 this morning. I guess I needed to catch up on my sleep!

The trip began when I spaced out and got on the wrong train. I had to get off at the Ashland stop to switch lines. Worth it for this view of my city!

Kristin, the middle cousin.

Today has been a day of catch-up and homework because tomorrow, I leave for Connecticut (via a night in Massachusetts). I'll be at the Thin Ice tapings at Foxwoods, which I think I mentioned in my last blog, and I have another blog scheduled for tomorrow about that event. This one is too long already.

Spring Break 2010!!!

After work today, I was chatting with Rose and Adrian, who were on their breaks, and when I mentioned that I was unofficially on spring break (it's next week, but I only have class on Mon & Tues, so I guess mine started yesterday), Rose laughed and said, "Spring Break 2010, yeahhhh!" And we laughed about the MTV Spring Break specials that we used to watch in high school.

I guess I've never had a typical college spring break, and I'm okay with that. I like having a good time with my friends, but trying to have a good time while a couple thousand coeds puke on the sandy beaches around me while I'm trying to have a nap? No thanks! I'd rather save my money for more trips to the Great White North of Canadian skating land.

I do have a fun week scheduled, though, including a bit of traveling. Tomorrow, Christina flies in from Toronto and Jules drives in after work from Michigan, and we embark on a fun-filled weekend in the city. Chicago on St. Patrick's weekend should be a good time! I hope that the rain holds off so we can see the Chicago River get dyed a bit greener than usual on Saturday morning. If it's a gross day, though, I'm not sure I'm going to get up and drag myself over to the bridge. I've lived here most of my life and have never seen it and I've survived so far. Another year won't kill me. The girls are scheduled to run a 5K on Sunday, so for their sake, I really hope that the rain is over before then! I already ran once this year, on the first day of Olympic ice dance practice to get inside the arena before CroPo got announced, so I don't think I need to do any more running for at least another month. However, I'll be on hand with my camera to capture the big race for future generations (and Facebook) to enjoy.

Besides the Greening and the Run, I'm not sure what else we'll do, but it's likely that we'll squeeze in trips to the Whole Foods Mothership, Molly's Cupcakes, one of Chicago's many Irish pubs, and the new(ish) Anthropologie on State Street. Oh, and Jules has requested The Gage. We had a fabulous night there about a year and a half ago when the bartender (Sterling!) designed a drink for us and then didn't charge us for it.

Jules has to skedaddle on Sunday and C's flight is on Monday night, but the fun keeps going because on Tuesday after work, I'm going to grab a ride with my mom towards Rockford. She's going there to meet friends at a conference, and on the way, she'll drop me off at the family's house for a visit. My aunt, uncle, and cousins are some of my favourite people in the world and it's been too long since our Christmas celebration. I can't wait to catch up with the kids and give them Olympic presents!

Mom and I will head back to Chicago Wednesday morning and then I'll need to get ready for another skating/photography trip. I'm still not caught up from the Olympics, but I have to keep moving forward. I'm headed to the Foxwoods resort in Connecticut (via Boston and Chele) for Thin Ice, a reality miniseries that will air March 19 & 21 on ABC. 5 pairs will compete for fan votes, which isn't that groundbreaking, except that the pairs are professional skaters who don't normally skate with each other.

The show is of particular interest to me for a few reasons. The most important one is that Stéphane Lambiel, one of the cast members, is one of my favourite skaters to watch and I've never seen him skate live before. I'm really looking forward to that opportunity. Another super dorky reason is that I've never been to Connecticut, and I'm a little obsessed with wanting to visit every U.S. state. CT will be my 38th state, so I'm well on my way. And of course I'm excited to see everyone else as well, both the skaters competing in the event as well as Chele and Jen, who I will be joining for the mini-road trip.

I get back from that trip on Monday the 22nd and that night, I have to pass out manuscripts for my second Fiction workshop. I guess that means that in between the fun, I have to work pretty hard over this break. Perhaps I shouldn't be blogging right now.

a classic week

I'm still mulling over a few Olympic posts, but since I'm more likely to write about those things after the fact, I've decided to write a few thoughts about the events of this past week instead.

Last Sunday, my mom and I went to the opera. We have a subscription to the Lyric Opera in Chicago for four operas each season. This year, we've seen Faust, Ernani, Tosca, and this week, it was The Marriage of Figaro. After all the tragedies (and I do love a good operatic tragedy), ending the season with a comedy was so refreshing. I do think that Figaro is a bit long for a comedy, but I drew upon what I learned when I studied the history of comedies in an undergrad English class, and it certainly followed the conventions of the period. The set design was incredible, as it always is at the Lyric, and I thought that the entire production was done well. In particular, I thought that Danielle de Niese was so charming in the role of Susanna, which in my opinion, is the key to a successful Figaro. With a dull Susanna, the whole opera would fall flat.

Before the show, Mom and I had met at Flat Top Grill for lunch. It was our first visit to the new Loop location and it's overall a bit crisper and classier than the other locations I've visited (Oak Park, Old Town, Lakeview). After lunch, we swung by work so I could check my schedule and then at the Starbucks down the block, I ran into my manager. Amanda was so impressed that my mom and I were heading to the opera, something she brought up again a few days later at work. "I always feel so uncultured when I'm around you," she said, which made me feel bad. I never mean to come off as elitist when I talk about going to the opera and the symphony and art exhibits...it's just one of the things I love most about living in Chicago. My mom could never afford opera or symphony subscriptions when I was younger, but I grew up loving classical music anyway, listening to music online (anyone remember MIDIs?), and playing piano and french horn. She also grew up playing the piano, so a love of classical music is something that's always been in me. And she always made sure to take me downtown a couple of times every year to see different exhibits and museums. My favourite was always the Art Institute, and that's still my favourite Chicago museum.

So I apologized and tried to say that I didn't want her to feel awkward about it, and she said it was fine, so it wasn't really an issue. And then I went to the symphony last week, too. Ha.

Mom and I usually also go to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Sundays, five times a season for that subscription, but I was out of town for our January date, so we switched to something we thought we would like better, anyway. I'll start with the not-so-great: The second piece on the program on Friday was Shostakovich's 11th Symphony. What I've learned about Shostakovich is that is his first ten symphonies were Mahler-influenced, and I guess those are the ones that I like a little better. The 11th, however, is very Soviet. Verrrry. Soviet. I love loud orchestral music, but this was loud and monotonous and I just wasn't crazy about it as a whole. Plus it wasn't the best performance, either. I heard quite a few wrong notes from the brass section, and as a brass player, I can recognize how difficult the parts are, so I understood...I just wasn't crazy about the symphony. Ah well, the afternoon really wasn't lost, because the first piece more than made up for it.

As a skating enthusiast and photographer, I hear excerpts of Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto often. Every season, it seems that someone prominent skates to it, sometimes more than one person, and that doesn't include all of the younger kids who often select music because they saw someone famous skating to it once. So there's a lot of Rach2. I've never disliked it, and I do own it on a CD, so I would have said that before Friday, I liked Rach2. However, after Friday, I love Rach2. Hearing it live made a difference, as did being able to watch Kirill Gerstein play it. What incredible technique it requires, and what genius it took to compose! I was in awe.

We sit in the terrace, behind the orchestra, facing the conductor. I love sitting there because our seats are just over the horn section, and it feels like I'm sitting inside of the music the way that I did when I was a music major. At times, the richness of the concerto's score actually overpowered the soloist, since the piano was opened to face the rest of the hall, not the terrace. It was exhilarating, because I knew the piece well enough to know what it must have sounded like out in the house.

Before hearing Rach2 live, I might have put it on a top-ten list of my favourite concertos. After hearing it live, though, I think it's on my top-ten list of favourite orchestral pieces. In fact, I even came up with a list of what might be my ten favourite orchestral pieces. The list is subject to change in case I forgot something amazing, but for now, it's something like this:

#1: Wagner - "Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde"

#2-#4:

Berlioz - "Symphonie Fantastique"

Tchaikovsky - "1812 Overture"

Mahler - Symphony No. 2

#5-#8:

Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 2

Mozart - Horn Concerto No. 1

Gershwin - "Rhapsody in Blue"

Stravinsky - Firebird Suite

#9-#10:

Brahms - Symphony No. 2

Beethoven - Symphony No. 6

Honourable mentions, because I love cheesy programmatic stuff:

Sibelius - "Finlandia"

Williams - "Olympic Fanfare and Theme"

Copland - Rodeo Suite