Let's begin with dinner, shall we? CHAMBAR(sham-bar). a ritzy little restaurant. the inside decor was elegant and simple. nik & i ate ostrich. yes. ostrich. my eyes did a double take when i spotted it on the menu. truthfully, i didn't know human beings ate ostrich, call me a fool if you must. it tasted... like beef. it was nice. it didn't taste too out of the ordinary. we also had mussels... mmm... reminds me of back in the day when the fam went camping & we went clamming, fishing, mussel hunting and crabbing. & then before we knew it we were paying our bill and running out to get to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Nik & i thought we were going to be early, being there twenty something minutes before the show started. plainly wrong. before i move on, nikwas asked to be one of the bloggers that night. was a real treat. i was her 'guest' that evening & got to experience the same things she did (besides, of course, blogging- pre opera, intermission & post opera). after nik spends 5 minutes quickly blogging pre-opera, we run to our seats and settled in. luckily we had a great view-- compared to the last time we came (we were in the very VERY last row). Lillian Alling was simply brilliant. the singing was outstanding. i feel as though i'm eligible to make a 'judgement' because i myself am a singer and took several years of classical training in the past. by no means am i a professional & have opera training safely secured under my belt but i do have a decent amount of knowledge. Lillian Alling takes the audience through a story of... another story. it begins with Irene (Judith Forst) & her son (Roger Honeywell) in the mountains of British Columbia in 1980- Irene is wishing her loved cabin a farewell. there is , of course, a story behind everything. Irene tells her son the true tale of Lillian Alling (Frederique Vezina), a past figure that she knows much about. the story of Lillian Alling is taken through her journey to find a man, Josef Nikitich (Thomas Goerz) who she proclaims that her life is bound to and that she will marry. on her journey she meets a telegrapher, Scotty MacDonald (Calvin Powell) who immediately finds interest in her. their acquaintance set off both positive and negative outcomes: after meeting Scotty Lillian Alling is unfairly sent to prison but once she is set free, she shares with Scotty her deepest thoughts and struggles and thus, he is more than ever established to help her.............. (that is all that i will share) the set: perfection. the dynamics & movement were so on point. bits of humor gave the audience time to adjust in their seats from the pull of intense periods throughout the performance. and the orchestra!... the beginning of the second act i closed my eyes and just listened to the music play. i imagined i was in a forest-- birds, water trickling nearby, and past big, leafy bushes: a castle. hehe, oh what your imagination can do. i was really pleased with the whole presentation of the opera. i met a lovely lady, Kathleen (5th photo) who spoke to nik & i about blogging & the opera, and Lily the blogger co-ordinator- wonderful lady as well.
After the opera finished nik ran out & blogged post-opera. we snapped some photos & spoke with a bunch of neat people. then... the after party on stage (or should i say squishy crowd of people). it was okay though because everyone was kind to say 'excuse me, pardon me' & i had the chance to spot out dresses and outfits i liked. nik & i met Frederique Vezina who played Lillian Alling & got to ask her a few questions. super kind lady. and then SUE!--- the wardrobe designer. the whole time we were trying to hunt her down & finally gave up in the end. until. shazam. she showed up right as we were about to leave! first off, she wears the most grand pair of glasses. i told her how much i admired the 'safari-like' jacket that Lillian wore throughout part of performance. "it's actually something i would wear in our own time period. everything is coming back now". & it's true. her spunky personality was wonderful and we stood there talking fashion for quite the while. i loved it. my sore feet were telling me it was best we left or else they would not be able to walk me back to our car.
Picture snapping in the parking lot? i know so! ;P
Last sunday after church nik, rachel, lisa and i went to the art gallery cafe for our first time. nik always wanted to try out the food there & i was just as curious. it was good! definitely cafe-like. it was like going to a coffee shop except they had more choices at this cafe when it came to desserts and soups and sandwiches. it had a quant atmosphere...nothing too fancy. i hear they are moving the art gallery. i don't know enough about the situation to bash the idea because i've heard good & bad about it. i bought the beige scarf, sunglasses & long shawl/poncho from salvation army a few weeks ago. on my long commute home from school there is a street filled with 2nd hand/consignment stores. so nina & i stopped by the salvation army and bought a few things. there were so many sweaters there i just about died. i tried on probably 8 different sweaters and walked out with zero. i think it was the skirt i was wearing while i was trying the sweaters on that made me feel like they were a weird fit. so sad.
PS! i do have a new blog once again. i'm not the only one apart of it though, i share it with my fashionable friend NINA. seventy2ndstreet
So it's the return of school. not just school but university. first year... hollaaaaaa. i've had three official full days at school this week & by the third day i'd made so many new friends. that's what i was really looking forward to [heading to university.] There are 21 of us all together in my musical theatre program. we all have the exact same classes together every single day [mon-fri], besides english. it's weird to think that these are the same 21 people that i'm going to be going to school with everyday for the next 3 years [unless some people drop out, but no new people are allowed into our program]. we're already just about family... in no time it'll be official. hehe. i hope everyone is finding school okay... it's only the first week, so if it's a little rough just give it a little time & try to stay positive. that's what i'm doing. and focusing. lots of focus and hard work. i want to succeed.
i made it official about a week ago to hand in my payment for the provincial miss teen canada world pageant in MARCH '11. it's a weekend long pageant that consists of one day of practice & training for everything that we will need to know. the next day is the pageant & this is the day where the ball gowns, swimwear, etc will all happen, as well as the crowning of miss BC and the finalists that will move onto the nationals pageant in toronto. i have high hopes for myself, just 'cause it's important to stay confident [not cocky]. i know this will be a life changing experience whether or not i make it to toronto. i already feel so blessed to have been chosen as a finalist to go the BC pageant. mind you, it is still quite a ways from now till MARCH. i need to stay focused on school work in the time being and things that are most important at the moment.
The commute to & from school is absolutely ridiculous. on wednesday it took me 3 hrs to get home from school, meaning i got home at 8:30pm. i was exhausted. i think that's one of things about commuting to school that will tire me out from day to day. i'll have to stick it out though & make the most of it & just continue to work hard & 'eyes on the prize', that way my mind is set on pulling through the tough times.
I received an e-mail this morning that I am a finalist for the BC provincial competition [in march of '11 in Vancouver] for Miss Teen Canada. i'm totally thrilled! They pick several finalist girls from each province at the regional competition and then have them compete in the national pageant for the role of Miss Teen Canada World. Each finalist receives a title, sash and crown and will 'reign' for one year in her city. The big idea behind this pageant isn't to drool over pretty dresses and gorgeous faces, it's about personality, knowing about you're platform and being an individual who wants to make a positive difference. A platform is basically fighting for a certain cause such as breast cancer, AIDS, depression, etc. My platform would be for people with eating disorders-- having a family member who has been fighting it for the past few years. It's heartbreaking to watch someone slowly deteriorate because of such a disease and feeling their pain and trying so hard not to give up on them. Aside from that, there are modeling and acting opportunities plus plenty of exposure if one makes it to the National pageant. I'm looking forward to presenting my talent which would most likely be a musical theatre performance. I also look forward to meeting many of the girls striving for the same position as myself and learn about their story. There only seems to be one issue at the moment. The cost. The large number is suppose to cover paying the camera people, the food, make-up artists and other random things [so the pageant can take place] AS WELL AS going towards charity. Because I am a student going into post secondary [starting next week] and in that time I will only be able to work small hours at my job, I only have a certain amount of money to go around for extra activities that I'd like to attend or take part in. The cost to enter in this pageant is quite a hand full and I'm concerned that I won't be able to have enough money for both university [which is already quite costly] and the MTC Pageant. The payment is due is about 2 and a half days. I'm hoping i'll be able to find supporters or 'sponsors' that are willing to help me out, even if it's something very very small [anything helps], otherwise I may have to turn down this opportunity.
I'm leaving this all in God's hands, praying that if this is what he wants for me, it will happen. If not, then I have to be accepting of the fact that perhaps it just isn't the right time.
Our last warm day ends today & as depressed as i've been about it for the past week, i've finally been able to accept that i will now be able to bundle myself up in layers, warm knits and combat boots. i like fall, perhaps not so much winter cause i find winter too chilly & then it gets to the point where i don't care how i look, i just want to keep myself from frostbite. hehe. i went shopping yesterday con mi madre. we went to bellingham in the states and found zero potential clothing finds besides a pair of moccasins, perfume and wallet that i bought. i still needed to find a nice, warm, coat for fall/winter & a few others pieces for keeping warm so we headed back to van and i invested my mother bought me a big, chunky, knitted, button up [half way] sweater. it was, my friends, love at first sight. found the knit at zara. bought a blue, baggy blouse and long, flowy, grey skirt at H&M. and that was it. i've got all my school books stacked on my desk and i've flipped through a few of them. i must say i have the slightest feeling of excitement in my veins. good luck to all you going back to school. here we go again..
