On the road...FINALLY!

I've decided to wait until now to keep everyone abreast of my travel dilemma in getting to Birmingham today in time for my first choir rehearsal at the Cathedral. Why? Mainly because I'm ridiculously superstitious, and clearly my last post on the subject ("As long as the airport isn't still closed, I'm golden") jinxed the whole thing.

After cancelled concerts, closures of airports, MBTA and roads, and all manner of hurricane precaution, US Airways kindly rerouted me through Bradley Airport in Hartford, which is a convenient 45 minute drive from my parents' home. Awesome. Until late Monday evening (like almost midnight) when I received an automated phone call notifying me that my new sweet-chariot-coming-for-to-carry-me-home-in-the-literal-and-not-metaphorical-sense was cancelled again. Upon talking to the extremely gracious and helpful US Airways agent (no sarcasm intended, honest!), the hopes of making it to Birmingham in time for this crucial first rehearsal were quickly vanishing. What will these poor people think of me? Slacker, surely. My only hope at this point: drive to Philly and fly out of there. And with both the Garden State Parkway and the NJ Turnpike shut down, the prospect of actually making this happen was quite grim. Quite grim indeed.

Yet, while I was on the phone with the agent, she disclosed that other carriers were not canceling flights - this was a mystery to me but whatever - and that if I could find a way home on another carrier, I'd receive a refund for my ticket. Thanksbye.

90 seconds of iPhone app-ing later, I booked a Delta flight from Hartford to Detroit to Birmingham. It costed a little more than my original ticket, but at this point I just wanted to be assured of getting home. Enough is enough.

My parents very sweetly woke up with me this morning at 4:00 am and drove me to Bradley. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't reminiscent of leaving for college. One more "So long!" to the parentals - who have literally been there for me every step of the way - before taking off to begin a new chapter in the life of yours truly. I'll miss them dearly, but I'm comforted by the fact that even though I am moving farther away, I may actually get to see them more often because my schedule will hopefully not be as insane as it was in the city! Ironicallike.

I haven't been to this airport in a very long time. It seems that nothing has changed, and it's amazing how life just comes full-circle at times. In the gift shop/newsstand, I experienced another blast from the past: Hartford Whalers team wear, brand new, by a company specializing in vintage sportswear. My childhood friend and groomsman John Geigle got me into hockey in high school, and we were die-hard Whalers fans. Then in '97 Peter Karmanos (Whalers owner and all-around party pooper) moved the team to North Carolina, where in their first year there became Stanley Cup finalists. That was a rough time for the Nutmeg State. In any event, it seems that someone did not get the memo. ;-)

Images from the day

Mirepoix! Pour moi?

Dad realized there was a turkey in the freezer. We will most definitely not be in CT for Thanksgiving, so this year the beloved holiday comes a month early. I'm only sad that Leslie isn't here to complete the family meal. She's got the movers as you'll see from the previous post (and I won't get started on my own guilt in not being able to be there right now).

Dad is an expert turkey roaster. In spite of all the fancy versions of the ubiquitous holiday centerpiece out there, my father's is among the best ever (though Leslie made one truly amazing bird last year adapted from a Tom Colicchio recipe). When I was young, Dad would (half) kid that I needed to stand at the window with a shotgun to ensure that no one would steal the recipe.

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to tonight's meal. My contribution? Giblet gravy. As you'll see from the picture below, I'm about to simmer the browned giblets in water for quite a while, but am reserving the liver for the end so it does not overcook or disintegrate into gravy oblivion.

Braised lamb shanks, roasted turkey, giblet gravy - it's a mirepoix kind of hurricane.

The movers are here!

In events unforeseen, the movers not only arrived on the first day of the "delivery window" but earlier in the morning than anticipated.

I liken it to when you're trying to do something while driving (not that I would ever do that...) and getting all green lights.

If you can't beat 'em...

COOK!

When my parents and I realized I would not be going anywhere in the foreseeable future, we decided to make the best of it. Saw some beautiful American lamb shanks at BJ's, and I got sample hands (apparently I get a sheepish demeanor and do this thing with my hands whenever I see free food samples - ask Leslie for more details). I also jump at the chance to cook for anyone, let alone my parents - it's one way of showing my mom that her amazing culinary skills in all things Italianissimo have been an inspiration to me my whole life, and continue to be.

Dinner was scrumptious. Let me know if you'd like me to post the recipe, but be forewarned: in doing so I'll divulge why you should never pay $30 in a restaurant for this very easy-to-make dish.

I love a braise.

A dream come true...

I'll never forget my first time attending a service at Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue. My high school organ teacher and long-time dear friend Stephen Roberts took me shortly after I began started studying with him. It was for Evensong in Eastertide. Words cannot describe hearing the incredible Choir of Men and Boys in that palace of pomp and pageantry. Not to mention the masterful improvisation at the organ by none other than Gerre Hancock. I don't think I had ever experienced anything so beautiful in my life up until that point, and from that day on I had always dreamed of becoming an organist at Saint Thomas.

With that experience, I caught the "bug" - the Anglican choral bug. Off to buy every recording of every Men and Boys Choir I could get my hands on. At the time, John Scott with the St Paul's Cathedral Choir was producing more of these recordings than anyone else. Hardly a day went by that I didn't listen to John's recordings of Stainer's "I saw the Lord" and Howells's St Paul's Service.

Suddenly, beginning in 2006, the dream actually came true, and those recordings had literally come to life. Unreal stuff.

I can't talk too much about this. Yesterday's services were incredibly emotional - so much so that I had to really "switch off" in order to be able to do my job as best I could one last time.

I'm eternally grateful to John, the Choir, Fr. Mead, Kevin, and everyone else I worked with. Thank you for the most amazing musical experience one could ever hope for. In spite of my generally bad luck (ask Leslie - *she's* the Irish one), I am incredibly fortunate.

Below is a photo that my dear friend Jonathan Ryan took during my last Evensong. He was one of a handful there on account of Hurricane Sandy. Thanks for being there, Jonathan.

Farewell Fifth Avenue!

Boston or...nope. Bust.

Let me start off by saying that I will never name any future daughter, pet, or worst enemy by the name "Sandy".

After finishing my last service at Saint Thomas, this was to be the itinerary for the coming days:

Monday am: train to Boston
Tuesday pm: play program in Harvard Memorial Chapel
Wednesday am: fly from BOS-BHM
Wednesday pm: first choir rehearsal at the Advent

Here's a snapshot of what's actually transpired in the last 24 hours:

Sunday afternoon:
- MTA announces evening shutdown of NYC mass transit
- Amtrak cancels my Monday AM train
- my awesome parents use their superhero powers to come pick me up so I wouldn't get stuck in Manhattan and still have some hope of getting to Boston

Monday am:
- start drive to Boston, and had to turn around because the Governor closed the highways
- Wednesday BOS-BHM flight cancelled
- stuck in Waterbury, with no hope of getting to Cambridge for my recital tomorrow

Thanks to US Airways, they've rerouted me through Hartford for Wednesday am. As long as the airport isn't still closed, I'm golden.

I'm hoping all my friends in the city are staying safe, as well as everyone else on the East Coast.

In the meantime, I get to spend some quality time with my parents before settling in Birmingham for good. In the end, a very welcome diversion. Sandy, schmandy. Things could be worse.

Elbow deep in...

Fred's last post was amazing and inspiring and philosophical and so very sweet.

This will be none of those things.

Getting the house ready to receive furniture began in earnest today. I first did about a million hours of shopping for supplies and am now right in the middle of cleaning. The bathroom was first up.

Since I am writing now from my phone, I apologize that I have to place all of the photos at the bottom together and will then offer their explanations here:

1. Cleaning the bathtub. I filled it with water and my new best friend, white vinegar. I then let the jets run for five minutes. The idea of what was lurking in those jets kept even me from bathing until this task was complete. (the vinegar actually released quite the collection of little bits of grossness.)
2. Cleaning the grout. I think this picture pretty well shows what I'm up against. A before and after in one picture!
3. Peeling up the old bathroom drawer contact paper. Whatever nails I had before are now shredded- not complaining, just an observation!
4. The wonderful new contact paper. :-) so clean and ready for organization!
5. My cleaning company.

Okay, so I know this isn't the most inspiring of posts, but I figured this sets the stage for a big reveal later... Right? Right?

On the road again...

When I woke up this morning it was like a dream come true, with two hungry cats pinching me to confirm it wasn't a dream at all but Saturday morning in our new home. Of course, like anything else in my life, there was no time to actually take any of this in, stop and smell the carpet shampoo, and perhaps enjoy a lazy first Saturday morning in the new house brought to you by café, croissants and conversation with the still-relatively-new Mrs. T. Oh no - after a quick shower it was off to the airport for yet another full day of travel. On the way, I thought I heard a distant, almost maniacal voice asking: "Leaving so soon?"

I always knew that one of the benefits of moving to B'ham would be the ability to lead a less-crazed and slower-paced lifestyle. I was reminded of this benefit after the short and painless 20-minute car ride to the airport, door-to-door, with no wait to collect my boarding pass, and -- brace yourself -- no line at security. And not just no line - I was the only person there. I even had my pick of which security line to go through. Oh wait - it doesn't matter because there's no one here. So you mean to tell me that I can get to the airport without swearing because the E train didn't come, not having to worry whether or not the AirTrain will be working today, not even have to go to another STATE to fly away (take that EWR!), not have to wait in line for 45 minutes to practically half-undress and have some mysterious machine take naked pictures of me while I hold my hands up as if I'm being arrested, only to get to the gate and realize that your flight is delayed for two hours because they ran out of planes and need to fly one over from one of the other NYC airports (this actually happened once on my very first time on tour with the Saint Thomas Choir), then board the plane and wait on the Tarmac for up to three hours, only to arrive at your final destination after the reason you were going there in the first place has already come and gone. Heck - my flight even left BHM at exactly the scheduled departure time! Man, I could get used to this...

But then descending into the NYC area produced something unexpected: it hit me like a ton of bricks that I am leaving this great city, my over six years at Saint Thomas, and all of the wonderful friendships I've formed - some of the closest in my life - all behind for the next new and exciting chapter in the life of yours truly. It's a lot of emotion that as I write this on the M60 back to Manhattan I am trying very hard to get a handle on.

I had always imagined that my last Sunday at Saint Thomas -- tomorrow -- would be a difficult one. No surprise there. But life goes on, and when I do finally say farewell, it's all for incredibly good things.

So here I am, already back in NYC with the worst case of figurative whiplash ever, off to do that thing that I do for one last time.

Oh yeah, we're classy

What you do when you only have two cups...

Yellow Pages. No dot. No com.

We ordered pizza. Birmingham does not have seamless.com. Yet. So we went old school, and it didn't cost any data.

The things you learn...

In spite of the craze of October's end, we were diligent in ensuring that all of our utilities were set up. So when we arrived, we were surprised to learn that our water was not running. After some investigation, however, we discovered that we had to find our water meter and physically turn it on. For those of you in the know, we know you're pointing and laughing at us. For those of you not in the know, the meter is usually located in front of your house, curbside. Ours was under an iron cover. Oh the joys!

Pandora Portrait

Pandora, after a good time exploring our new home:

Moving XX: our home!

Wow- we made it.

Over a thousand miles, 18 hours, and many states later, we are home.

Thank you so much for following along! We had a lot of fun posting pictures and blurbs along the way and hope you enjoyed reading them. I hope you all have a wonderful night!

As a last picture, can you believe we fit all this plus two adults and two cats in a mini cooper? I like to think being the daughter of 2 architects helped...

Moving XIX: the greatest city in Alabam'

So, this is more of a preemptive post since my phone will be used as iPod in a bit. My boss in Westport told me about the Randy Newman song "Birmingham" which I promptly downloaded. I played it as we drove away from NYC yesterday and will play it again when we get into town.

Do you guys know that song? If not, you'll love it. It makes me think of Toy Story, though. This prompted a suggestion from me that some day soon we do a Toy Story marathon. Fred counter-offered that we spread it out over 3 days... meh.

(photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org)

Moving XVII: Sweet Home Alabama!

We've made it into Alabama! Woot!

The gps says we'll get to the house at 10:01, which Fred is viewing more as a 'time to beat'.

Moving XVI: Georgia on my mind for 20 minutes

There wasn't even a sign! I'm disappointed in my home state :-(

Hi mom! Hi dad!

........


Bye mom! Bye dad!

Moving XV: Chattanooga at night

We're driving on highway 24 and really wish we were doing this drive in daylight. There is Lookout Mountain on our left, which looks like hovering lights in space. We drove around/over a beautiful river. All of which we wish we could share with you but does not translate into iPhone photos...

Moving XIV: first sign for Birmingham!

We're just outside of Chattanooga.
Sorry for the blurry photo. Dark+70mph=bad photo!

Moving XIII: Music to drive by

Our good friend Joe Vitacco very kindly recorded our wedding for us (audio only). This has been the first chance Leslie and I have had to listen to it together. We were so honored and lucky to have Tom Murray playing and the Christ Church Choir singing. Bringing back all manner of wonderful feelings.

Thanks Joe!

Moving XII: One state closer

Just crossed the border into Tennessee!

370 miles to go...

Movement XI: Movement & Location

Outside of Roanoke VA, about 525 miles to go. This prompted Fred to start singing that "I would walk 500 miles" song. (Name anyone? We're too sleep deprived to remember...)

Here's a view from the road:

Moving X: quiet displeasure

The kittens are displeased. Thankfully, this only results in some occasional and highly pathetic meowing/whimpering. I know we'll all be glad to get there tonight. We're really hoping the upgrade of square footage will help ease their less-than-friendly relationship.

Moving IX: Lion Roar

We made our first pit stop at the Food Lion on Highway 340. Fred was very excited about this because he hadn't been in one since he was 6 and living in South Carolina.

Moving VIII: Goodbye Maryland!

Two pictures for you:

1. Maryland gave us a beautiful parting gift.

2. Thanks to the Mainsters for giving us and our insane feline family safe harbor! (and yummy pumpkin muffins)

Moving VII: Frederick

Hey ya'll - it's Fred here writing his first official contribution to the blog. And look at me practicing my Alabamanisms.

Well, the foaming at the mouth has subsided and I have a slightly less anxious Magnifi-cat on my lap. Leslie's taking a turn at the wheel allowing me to keep ya'll posted. (Ooh I did it again.)

In about 15 miles we will go through Frederick, Maryland. I first heard of Frederick through my long-time friend Chris Lane, who I believe grew up in or around it. Ever since I've wanted to see this town that apparently liked my name so much they just had to have it.

Riiiiiiight.

Just passing through, but one more item to check off the old bucket list.

Moving VI: morning drool

Off we go!

No sooner had we left, Maggie began foaming at the mouth. This, naturally, caused anxiety on our part. Poor thing. It seems that I'm not the only one that gets car sick...

They're both pretty tired of being in the car. I don't blame them but we've got another 12 hours to go!

Has anyone experienced this before?

Moving V: a haiku

Driving all night long
Cats cry antiphonally
Jersey smells funny

Moving IV: Bye bye NYC!

Here we go!! Next up, Churchville MD!!

Moving III: stop to ponder

I was walking back from Evensong when I saw this. It is not special- hundreds of people see thousands of similar scenes everyday. But it made me stop and ponder.

Goodbye NYC.

Moving II: but wait, one more service.

Before we drive away from NYC, Fred had to first play/conduct Evensong @ St. T's. Oh, yeah, and direct a rehearsal... Sometimes you can't even make it up.

Such is the life of organists.

Here he is in action:

The Big Move starts today!

Hi friends. Wow- it has really been a whirlwind past few weeks, as made evident by my lack of posting. Here's a quick summary of our lives recently:

• 18-hour to-and-fro trip to Birmingham to close on our house
• Baby shower for one pregnant friend and dinner with another. (Seriously, I am surrounded these days by gorgeous preggos.)
• My parents came into town.
• Fred played a recital in Glens Falls, NY.
• My last Sunday in Westport- Schubert Mass in G (which the Senior Minister accidentally called "Brahms Mass" and to which my choir LOUDLY corrected him! Hilarious.)
• I played a recital in NYC.
• and lots and lots and lots of packing.

The night before last we each got about 45min of sleep. The movers arrived at 9am and we had to be (although weren't quite) ready.

And so today starts the big move! I am on the train right now to CT to meet the movers at our storage units. Fred is putting a full day in at work. (Remind me to tell you later about his next week- it makes the past 3 weeks seem mellow...)

Tonight, with any luck, we will have squeezed us, the 2 cats, and entirely too much stuff into the MINI Cooper and will be on our way! First stop: Baltimore.

Birmingham, here we come!

Get 'im to the church on time!

Yesterday, we had the very great honor of going our friends' wedding: Elise and Woo-sug. Fred went to Yale with Woo-sug and stood as one of his groomsmen. Naturally (or unnaturally, depending on how you look at it) all of the groomsmen are organists. He had asked all of them to provide music for the ceremony. It was so fun watching a bunch of organists/directors-of-music prepare a piece of music- there were a lot of "how many organists does it take..." jokes flying around.

When we arrived, Woo-sug and the groomsmen were feverishly working with ribbon and flowers trying to get the decorations for the pews. It was really a sight seeing them MacGyver-ing them with tape and staples. [insert "how many organists" joke here]

Didn't they do a great job?!

We were so glad to be able to attend- and we even managed to get a picture of us! (thanks to Fred's insistence and our friend Andrea who patiently took about a million pictures until we got a good one):

 

And finally, a picture of the gorgeous bride & groom:

 

Congratulations you two!!!

 

What were you doing at 1:30 in the morning?

We were fixing our bed.

Details tomorrow. (no, it's not as exciting as you might think/hope.)

Squeak squeak

(no, we did not eat mouse...)

As I mentioned earlier, in my first post in fact, Fred was out of town last week to Minneapolis and Madison. Even when busy working, he always takes a minute and grabs some sort of (usually edible) local treat to bring home. This time: cheese!

Yes, you're reading that correctly. "Squeaky curd". This was new to me- it turns out that as you chew the deliciousness, it squeaks against your teeth! A little weird to begin with, but such fun! (and it is REALLY good).

Plant some donuts

Soo... Remember when I said this blog was going to be about moving and organization and our exciting new Southern life? Well, that's all still true, but I left out one important facet: food. Who am I kidding? It's going to feature predominantly here. Fair warning!

And to start us off in grand style, may I present to you:

With appreciation, gratitude and general envy to the Donut Plant (W 23rd location)

On the far left, we have the raspberry creme, center is the "black out", and right is the creme brûlée. The two outside ones were by far our favorites. Shocking, I know, that we weren't fans of the chocolate. We had high hopes, especially when considering how excited the woman at the register was about it. Oh well, we'll learn to go with our guts one of the these days..

"is this going to happen a lot? Taunt me with artsy shots of food?" I hear can't hear you ask. Yes, it is. We are in the final three weeks of living in NYC, so we are going to make the most of it. In our little corner of the world, that equals food.

So, with apologies for any drool-related keyboard damage, I bid you adieu until next time!

Thanks be to Kwan

As I mentioned earlier, Fred and I went to celebrate our friend Kevin. He is moving (today!) to Norfolk, VA to start a new job. We are super happy for him and it was great excuse to gather a bunch of people together and have a highly festive feast (see prior post).

I wanted to take a little space here and sing the praises of Kevin. We have known each other since 2005 and he is the reason that Fred and I met (another post for another time). So, besides giving us the leftover food from his fridge today, it could also be said he gave me my husband! Hurray! Or, as we like to say, "it's all Kevin's fault."

Goodbye Kevin!

Oink oink

Last night Fred and I went to a very special meal for a very special friend of ours (more on that later).We had a whole hog! Well, us and 10 of our friends :-)

(sorry for the bad quality photos. Dark+iPhone+flash= weird looking pictures)

Along with this awesomeness, we also feasted on brussels sprouts with bacon, potatoes with leeks gratin, "bitter greens with vinaigrette" which is a big ol' pile of a garden on a plate, and some roasted squash and apples. Yum yum!

We finished up the meal with the most enormous baked Alaska I've ever seen. Let's first take a glance at the normal-sized excellence:

 

Lovely! A perfect size to share. Are you ready for the super-size?

 

Are you?

 

Ready?

 

Don't say I didn't warn you...

Wow! Yeah, it was awesome. And really yummy. It cracked me up because the very nice server that divided it up accidentally made 13 servings instead of 12. Let me also clarify that you could serve a Thanksgiving turkey on that platter the baked Alaska is sitting on.

That's all for now, but before I go, how about another gratuitous pig shot? Yes, I think so.

Nom nom.