I spent my drive home from work measuring the events of my day, placing them on a figurative scale and adding them up like Weight Watchers points. Let's just say that one side of the scale had a whole lot more stuff on it than the other. First, it's drill weekend with the Army so my husband has been out of town for 2, going on 3 days. Next, I woke up late this morning and  rushed off to work without so much as a cup of coffee or breakfast. I also didn't have time to pack anything, so that meant I would go without a morsel of food all day until almost 5 pm. Then let's see. Oh yes, I got  pulled over. And then, oh right, I had an expired insurance card (by 6 days). Which inevitably led to me being late for work. I had a monstrous 7 hours playing for ballet rehearsal today. I let my own self doubt and paranoia get the better of me again . It seemed like every song I played was the wrong style or tempo, and soon I felt like the walls were closing in on me and I didn...

I talked to my mother long distance on the phone today. She was babysitting my nephew when I heard him cough through the phone. It made me smile and reminded me of this memory: My 9-month-old nephew, Zach, stayed with us for a month last summer with his mom and older brother. At the time, Zach, or Doodle as we call him, was just learning some precious new tricks, like where his nose was and how to dance when he hears music. With his brother around (being older, also adorable, and quite demanding of our attention), Doodle was always content, laid back, and pretty self-entertained for a baby. He was quite literally the sweetest, roundest, blonde-haired ball with arms and legs ever to crawl about the earth. One day, he developed a cold, complete with runny nose and slight cough. I unknowingly developed a habit of making a fuss over him every time he finished a coughing fit. It was something like a high-pitched bout of, "Oh my sakes! Poor little Doodle, goodness gracious!"...

I played this song, "12th Street Rag," in Times Square for the first time in probably 2 or 3 years. I remember halfway through, noticing some passerby's eyes on me and thinking, "How am I ever gonna end this song?!" Eventually I remembered the final chords. Too bad I didn't save it to play at a piano that was a little closer to the actual 12th street!  I love going through these videos from last summer's Play Me, I'm Yours project when Sing For Hope (a charity organization) placed 60 brightly painted pianos throughout the 5 boroughs of New York City for 2 weeks only. I made a commitment to play every single one (and by default, Eddie got dragged along as well). That adventure led to some great opportunities, among one of them, becoming more involved with Sing for Hope, which strives to support schools, hospitals, and communities through music. Hope you enjoy the video and tap your foot a little. To see photos from the Play Me, I'm Yours ...

*Picture from Tales of a Tall Guy I spend hours in my music room and office everyday. It's where I write, practice, record, work, grow, get angry, feel accomplished, and create. There is a small window in this room which faces the parking lot behind my apartment building. Through it, I can see the entrance to the community laundry room and a few houses across the street with the American flag waiving by the front door. There are trees and bushes, thick with multi-colored leaves, and no shortage of birds and squirrels scurrying about. In the evening, the sunset casts a soft orange haze over the red, brick walls and it seems as though the autumn leaves are glowing, like a thin lamp shade with a bulb burning bright underneath. It doesn’t take long for me to feel inspired when I open my white mini blinds and gaze outside. Some days I feel more content and encouraged from five minutes at my window, than I do from a whole day of running around town, “being productive.” Every day is a ne...

I decided to take my video camera with me into the city today. I recorded every subway musician I heard  to and from Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown to my destination in the Lower East Side. It's a total of 4 trains and several blocks of underground subway tunnels. I pass by these musicians without a second thought, without eye contact, and usually without dropping change into their hat or bucket. But back when I first moved here, I was stunned to see so many people line the tunnels, corners, and platforms of the dirty, cold, and crowded subways. I've seen people with full sized harps, cellos, and keyboards down there - a tremendous effort when I realize the narrow stairs and escalators they have to navigate through to get there. So today, I made a conscience effort to stop for a few moments at each one and give them the encouragement that I myself so desire as a performing musician. By the end of the day, I was really digging  at the bottom of my purse to find enou...

My husband is the one around here with the green thumb . Unfortunately, things have been a little too green lately. He planted 3 tomato plants late this summer, and as a result they’ve taken their sweet time turning red. Unfortunately, due to a forecasted frost however, we were forced to pick them as is. Now we are stuck with dozens of big, plump green tomatoes that refuse to ripen on the kitchen counter. There was only one thing I could think of to do with them, thanks to one of my all time favorite movies (and books), Fried Green Tomatoes . Every time I watch it, (besides crying my eyes out) I get a hankering for something fried. So I slipped the movie into the DVD player while I searched for a recipe and fried them up. Now that I think about, that’s probably something I can cross off my bucket list. Just like my other favorite movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s . One of the first things I wanted to do in New York City was visit Tiffany’s! The tomatoes were surprisingly good, but th...

My Sundays are usually spent cleaning the house while Eddie frantically finishes his homework that's due online every Sunday night by midnight. But this week, I begged him to do his homework early so we could do something fun on Halloween. After all, it's the only holiday that we haven't celebrated here in New Jersey yet. We spent last Halloween unloading a U-haul truck and unpacking, so I really wanted to do something fun this time. It was touch and go for a while, but Eddie ultimately came through and got his homework done early. And by "early," I mean he submitted it Sunday afternoon , rather than Sunday at 11:59 pm (true story for another blog). It's actually a pretty impressive accomplishment considering he began his 10 page paper this morning. The only problem left, was to decide what costumes to wear to the Sleepy Hollow Parade (in the town Sleepy Hollow, NY!). I dug around in my "junk" closet and found some cat ears from years ago. Not...