Talent

Could not resist but to post again today! I lost power last night so I am just now watching Miss America. Of course, I am a very tough critic on the talent competition. Miss DC sang the exact same Puccini aria I sang last time I competed in an MAO preliminary! What a copycat! haha Just kidding, Puccini is obviously a very influential composer but there is a lot of repertoire out there so it feels strange... Maybe this is a sign that I should compete in MAO again... and then later ANOTHER Puccini aria!? This is so weird! Miss Texas' performance in comparison with Miss DC was less accurate but I respect them both for choosing a more technically difficult style and not selling out to the pop scene.

I must say, the other singers can not touch the classical performances. It simply does not take as much talent, preparation, practice, coaching etc to sing a song from West Side Story or Wicked as it does an Italian Aria. The singing technique (or lack thereof) used in Miss Virginia's and Miss.Whoever-Sang-Les Mis's performance made me cringe. They both could really suffer damage to their vocal chords singing from the throat like that.
There she is! Miss America! AKA Miss Virginia who I previously mentioned, sang a gospel/poppy style song from Wicked. She had a question about teen/childhood obesity and I think she answered it very well, maybe better than the other contestants but it's hard to compare because of course they were all different. I think she'll be a great Miss America, and how exciting that she's from my neighboring state of Virginia, I'm sure we have a lot of mutual friends.


I'm sad to see that neither of the Puccini girls made the top 5 but I'm not surprised in the least because I know how this thing goes.. The judges always favor the girls who do pop songs and I think it shows the lack of culture and appreciation for art in America today. What do YOU think?

School Days and Miss America

Hi Everyone! Sorry I have been missing in action lately. Hopefully I will be able to update more now that school is in full swing. Not much is new here, just keeping busy with classes.

For my Voice Major, I have six pieces again this semester. I have my big senior recital next spring and I am giving a junior recital sometime later this spring so most of my repertoire is working toward that. I'm singing: Si Tu Le Veux (Koechlin), Chanson d'Avril (Bizet), the Lepidoptera Waltz (Swenson), Lied Der Mignon (Schubert), Alma Mia (Handel) and a song from Schubert's Mignon song cycle I haven't decided which but probably Kennst du das land

I'm also taking:
French 3 (The LAST French I need for my major but still 2 more semesters of language to go!)
Vocal Repertoire (There are only about 8 people in the class and we listen to different singers and their interpretations of standard classical repertoire, usually pretty boring.)
Piano (this is the last semester I need so I have to practice a lot to be ready for the jury in May)
Acoustics (really boring Science credit I need and the teacher has a REALLY thick accent. I have no idea what she's saying a lot of the time.)
Mosaics 2 (Gen Ed. AKA waste. of. time.)
Choir

In other news, it has been absolutely freezing at school which makes accomplishing things difficult. It rained so hard on Monday that I had to change my clothes between my 8 am and 11 am classes. I ordered this raincoat from Nordstrom and it's being delivered Monday so hopefully I will be better equipped for torrential downpours and monsoon winds next times they strike.
I ordered it in Brit Blue. I hope it's cute! Of course I'm just in time for another snow storm at this point and I don't think I ever posted about this but the adorable snow boots I mentioned in an earlier post came DAMAGED from Ruelala which I thought was a very reputable site. I was able to return them for credit but I really just wanted to exchange them for a pair that didnt have an air bubble in the heel (They made a poping sound everytime I put weight on my right foot. Not cute.) Disappointed, I suppose if a lot of accumulation occurs I will be wearing my rainboots instead :( They are cute but tend to cut up my heels if I have a long way to walk, as is usually the case on school days.

I suppose that's about all for now, Have a great weekend everyone! Don't forget to tune in to Miss America tonight at 8 LIVE on TLC

AHH! So excited to have gotten my very first award! Thanks so much Alexandria! Check out her page at http://likeacomfypairofjeans.blogspot.com/

The rules of this award are
1. To accept the award, you must post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted you the award, and a link to their blog.
2. Pass the award on to approximately 15 other blogs that you recently discovered, and think are great!
3. Contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I can't stop finding blogs I love! Here are some of my winners :)

Classy in Philadelphia
Pink Green & Southern
As Simple As That
Just a Preppy Beach Chic Girl
College Prep
Sweet Simplicity
Lets be Preppy
Pink Martinis and Pearls

Sorority Antics

If you spend the night at my sorority house, you may be greeted with this as you exit.

A standing ovation.
If we consider your presence to be especially embarrassing, we might even give you our sorority chant like we did this morning. Oh how I love college, and my roomies :)

Well, I'm all moved in back at school, I'd post a photo of my room but it is still a war zone. I bought lots of groceries yesterday so I'm hoping I'll be more motivated to cook this semester. I was surprised to find Berger cookies at my local grocery store. These cookies are made in Baltimore and aren't even available at some of the larger grocery stores where I live. They're SO good!

Another food that is on my mind today is my long lost best friend Jimmy Johns. I order delivery from Jimmy Johns much too often. It's becoming a religion. They have a feature on their online ordering where I can click Repeat Last Order, select my credit card and voila, the sandwich is at my door in 10 minutes tops. It's dangerously simple for rainy days like today where I'm in bed with my Macbook and my cat is purring on the pillow above my head. No movement is necessary until my food gets here! haha ahh yummy.
More later! Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

Aww

OK so just kidding. I had to post this precious photo of my little kitty asleep in my suitcase. All ready for campus!!

It's gonna be a Lilly semester!

Hello Pretty Readers! Sorry for the long hiatus, Sick Day turned into Sick Week last week and I was out of commission for a while. But don't worry, I'm back. I got the CUTEST school supplies at the mall this afternoon. 2 packs of Lilly Pulitzer Folders, a Vera Bradley Spiral Notebook and a smaller Lilly Spiral Notebook too!
I also got this adorable set of Lilly sticky notes, they have cute little sayings on them. I can't wait to use them everywhere this semester!!!
I love school supplies. It's like a new beginning. New semester. First day of classes next Tuesday. All good things. Now I just have to pick out my first day of school outfit! haha More on that later :) Goodnight!

Sick Day

I read about this on Jess's Blog and as the legitimate blogger I aspire to become I decided to participate! This is a photo from Spring Break in Naples, FL last year with my best friend out to dinner at an italian restaurant downtown. Don't we look PRESH!

Ok Could not resist but to add another. Please ignore how heinous I look but I think our expressions are slightly adorable. You can tell we've been BFF's since 7th grade.


I'm having a sick day unfortunately, I was up with a high fever most of the night. I don't know where this came from! Hopefully it's just a virus and I'll feel better soon.

Let it snow!

I will be ready for the next East Coast Blizzard. I've been an avid blog reader for some time now but haven't attempted a post in a while. There is such a learning curve to this thing! I was motivated to write because I have been shopping around for a pair of snow boots for a while and finally ordered some today. I purchased these Sperry Women's "Sydney" Black Quilted Boot from Rue La La for only 39 dollars. Can't wait for them to arrive. If you aren't on Rue La La yet and need an invite click here


In other news, I am home for Winter Break and hopelessly bored. There are only so many times one can organize her closets! I had a big cleaning day yesterday but today I am lacking motivation to continue what I started. I made a list on my bb of New Years resolutions so here they are, maybe if they're on the internet I will feel more pressured to stick with them.

1. Dress up for class!
This is a big one for me. I have a vast wardrobe of stylish clothing but last semester I found myself wearing the same tee shirts, leggings and Uggs every day. (In my defense, I was in a dance class which required sweats twice a week.) I'm 21 now so I think I should make more of an effort with my daily appearance. And you know what they say: If you got it, Flaunt it.

2. Make exercise a lifestyle, not a passing trend.
I am happy with my weight but I would like to be in the gym more consistently. I know that I will be competing in the Miss Maryland USA pageant again next fall so why not stick with that healthy lifestyle all year round, not just in the few months before the competition. It would be much less stress to be already in great shape and not having to cram it all in at the end. I find myself going a lot for a while then falling out of the habit when I move back to campus. THE GYM IS 2 BLOCKS AWAY. No excuses! It feels so good to be in shape.

I think that about covers it.. Of course I would also like to continue with my healthy diet and maybe cook for myself more now that we have a nice new grocery store on campus. OH!

3. Take more pictures!
Almost forgot about this one! That is not a good start! I feel that I am getting old and I want to have documentation of these last few semesters of college so that I can look back and laugh someday.

And perhaps blogging... I would like to blog more too, that could go along with the documentation of my crazy life! :)
Au revior for now!