Wicked

Since we enjoyed ourselves so much the last time we saw Wicked, we had to buy tickets when we heard they were coming back to Spokane. I contacted the box office on 12/2/2013 and was able to purchase seats in row A - yes, row A!  Our seats were 27/28 which were as close to the center as was available. I loved sitting in the first row behind the orchestra pit since there was no one's head in our way - plus we could see them sweat!! Definitely worth the splurge!

We went early so we had time for dinner at The Onion. Audrey enjoyed her buffalo burger and I enjoyed a chicken salad sandwich. We walked over to the INB Performing Arts Center, (I will always call this the Opera House....), and checked out the souvenirs before heading to our front row seats....sorry, could not resist saying that again!!

Audrey said these performers were the best she has seen, second only to the original production cast. Kara Lindsay played Glinda and Laurel Harris was Elphaba. It was just as magical as the first time we went. We are fans of the "Popular" song and of course "Defying Gravity". Great cast - great performance!!

Copycat Costa Vida

We made copycat Costa Vida Sweet Shredded Beef, Cilantro Lime Rice and Tomatillo Ranch Dressing tonight and decided we needed to share with someone, so we invited John's mom and brother down for dinner. We served the beef and rice on soft tortilla shells with toppings such as shredded cheese, lettuce, diced tomatoes, sliced olives and of course the dressing. After dinner John had me play a few numbers on the piano. Ralph set a glass on the piano and put money in it (and snapped the photo).

Tomatillo Ranch Dressing
1 package ranch dressing mix (1 oz)
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tomatillos, husks removed
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
1 tsp fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 jalapeno, remove seeds for a mild taste
Place all ingredients in a blender; blend well. Note: The dressing gets hotter the longer it sits.

Cilantro Lime Rice
1 cup long-grain white rice, uncooked
1 tsp butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp fresh lime juice
1 (15 oz) can chicken broth
1 cup water 1 TB fresh lime juice
2 tsp sugar
3 TB fresh cilantro, chopped
Place the rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp lime juice, chicken broth, and water in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the 1 tablespoon lime juice, sugar, and cilantro; set aside. When rice is tender, remove from heat. Pour cilantro mixture over hot cooked rice; mix in as you fluff the rice with a fork.

Sweet Shredded Beef
2 pounds beef chuck roast
1 cup salsa or picante sauce
1 cup brown sugar
Place the roast in a crock pot. Dump the salsa and brown sugar on top of the meat. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours. When 1 hour remains, shred the roast with forks and return the meat to the crock pot to soak up the juices.

Vocal Point

We purchased tickets to the Vocal Point concert that was being held at the North Idaho College campus in Coeur d'Alene. Mom had just shared a Friends discount at a newly opened hotel in CDA, so we decided to make a mini-vacation out of the event.

We checked into the Springhill Suites on Seltice Way and went up to get settled into our room. The hotel had a modern feel, but reminiscent of style and coloring from the 60's. I believe when we checked in it had only been open a month or two. Here is our hotel room. Normally $129/night, the deal mom shared with us ended up being $85 including taxes.

We headed to downtown Coeur d'Alene for dinner at Tito's Italian Grill. The food was delicious - John ordered chicken fettuccine, I ordered lasagna and Audrey had their Spaghetti Pomodor. We were too full to order dessert, so we headed to the small shops to walk off the calories before the show.

The concert started at 7pm so we headed over to North Idaho College. The premier seats were gone when I ordered tickets, but was able to get the deluxe seats, so had assigned seating. They also had general seating so we kind of stayed out of the way of those standing in line for those since our seats were waiting for us. Except for the lady sitting next to me pulling our her cell phone to text during the entire concert (acting like a teenager, not an adult...) we had a wonderful time. I really enjoyed the a cappella sounds from this 9 member male group. They sang an assortment of songs, new and old, funny and serious and were very entertaining. Fun time and fun "vacation" for us!

My Piano!!

When we started the music room remodel, we were not planning on getting a different piano. But one day we went window shopping and the rest is history. Thankfully they were able to store the piano until we were done creating dust. Today they delivered this beauty!! It is a red mahogany Baldwin baby grand piano.

Music Room Remodel

When we were deciding what we would do for our summer vacation, every idea Audrey and I came up with was met with an "eh" from John. Until Audrey said "How 'bout we remodel the music room?". Then John became interested! He just loves to have a project going. So, we took the last week of August off and started the remodel project:

What seemed a great idea when we first remodeled this room (pink wallpaper circa 1989) tended to look a little outdated in 2013! We started by striping off the wallpaper - not terribly fun, nor very quick. We did use some great product to assist but first had to remove the top layer (vinyl) so the product could absorb onto the paper backing and adhesive. Then we scrapped it off, but if we took too long we'd have to reapply. And it did not all come off the first go around.

We painted the upper half of the wall a sage green (Valspar #5005-4A Filoli Ballroom) which was a color listed on their Historic Preservation choices. Then we installed a board and batten design on the lower two-thirds of the room. Ended up installing wood on the entire lower portion as that meant we did not have to remove the wallpaper thoroughly on that portion. (It was taking a long time - we were now into mid-September). Then we installed new trim around the windows and doors.

Next up - the ceiling! This view shows what it looked like in August including the old stove pipe vent that was still there even though the stove was removed prior to us purchasing the house in 1988.

We installed antique copper style ceiling tiles (style CT-201 from Pro Ceiling Tiles) and a new copper ceiling fan we found online. The room is starting to come together at this point!!

John took the opportunity to re-work my closet. I store all my serving dishes in this closet. He added a lot of shelves to make the space very useful. Then added new door handles on the closet door and the patio doors. We also removed the folding doors that were between the music room and the dining room.

Last project was refinishing the wood floors. They weren't horrible, but did have some wear since the last time we finished them was probably 1990. Below is before.

And during. We rented a sander and took off the finish and stain down to the bare wood. Fixed some squeaks and filled in some gouges. Below are a few during pictures when we were staining the floor. After that dried, we varnished the floor with a high gloss. The smell was pretty bad. We kept the doors closed in the rest of the house, opened some windows (we are now into October on the remodel so was a little nippy) and Audrey's visiting teacher Mickey even lent us her air purifier to help with the odor.

And here is a view of the finished wood floors. All shiny!!

Finally, the finished room - only took 2 months!!

Betsy Ross Spinet

Here is the Betsy Ross Spinet that I've played for about 10 or 12 years. It was unique in 2 ways. The keys are curved / rounded so no edge to the white keys at all. That was actually a very nice feature. Second, the lighter brown in the picture? That is some type of Naugahyde or some other faux material. When I first looked at it, it was in a dark room and I did not realize it was not wood until we had gotten it home. Seems obvious in this picture because of the sunlight. I kept it covered with a crocheted doily my Grandma Whisler had made for me - she is the one who taught me how to play the piano. We were able to give the piano to the daughter of someone in our ward.

Before they picked it up, I tried to take pictures of a few more interesting details. These were added by young-artist-Audrey. First there is a smiling man on the wood where the music was placed and next, the words "Zorro" along the section behind the keys. I was able to be reminded every time I sat down to play!

Mary Poppins

Tonight was the other performance that we had purchased tickets to the Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre. Audrey went with me this time and we stopped at Paul Bunyan for burgers and shakes before the performance. Did I tell you our seats were in row 3? Awesome seats! In fact, my boss Brian and his mom also attended this same performance and commented on how good our seats were.

The performance was "perfectly perfect" in every way. Mallory King played Mary Poppins and Christian Duhamel was Bert. Daughter Jane was originally to be played by an older girl, but she got ill at the last moment, so the understudy Tia Sandhu (6 years old) stepped in and did a wonderful job. Today was the first time she was officially on stage and she was darling. Tamara Schupman (a friend of Brian's) played the Bird Woman and did a great job on "Feed the Birds". And of course the "Step in Time" was awesome when Bert walks up the wall and dances on the ceiling. A fabulous production!

Big River

We purchased tickets for two of the four shows for this season of Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre. Tonight was the first show we picked - Big River. John and I headed out to Coeur d'Alene for dinner, trying Cafe Rio for the first time. John tried the pork burrito and I had the chicken salad with the creamy tomatillo dressing. We had heard about Cafe Rio forever and were finally glad to try it for ourselves.  After dinner we headed to the theatre. The shows are performed in the North Idaho College auditorium. Synopsis of Big River: "Though trying to stay "respectable", Huckleberry Finn runs into trouble when his father, Pap, returns to town. Huck is forced to fake his own death to escape and joins up with another on the run - Jim, a slave in search for freedom. As they head down the river, they get sucked into scams involving two "aristocrats", one of which lands Jim in chains once again and Huck and Tom Sawyer join together to free him."  The performers were awesome and brought the story to life. Fun date night!!

Last Symphony

Tonight mom and I went to the Spokane Symphony performance of "Pirates of Penzance" by the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players. It was a fun performance and enjoyable to listen to some of the songs I've heard over the years such as "Poor Wandering One!" and "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General". Unfortunately, I was so very, very tired I was doing the head-bob and sleep-while-sitting-up thing during the entire second act. This is our last regular attendance to the symphony as we are not renewing for the 2013-2014 season. We have been season subscribers for a number of years but were not as excited about the upcoming season as normal so decided to cut back. We've enjoyed it over the years. Actually had started volunteering at the ticket office when I was pregnant with Audrey (1993) so have either volunteered or been season subscribers for about 20 years.

Stake Easter Program

I was asked to co-accompany the Spokane Valley Stake choir for an Easter presentation. I played the piano and Jackie Halversen was on the organ while Becki Stevens was our director. We had practices on February 24th, March 10th and March 17th. Our performance was on Sunday evening, March 24th. Between the Stake choir songs, each ward choir presented. Below was the order of the program (the portions that I participated). I really enjoyed the version of God So Loved the World. It was not the one I was familiar with, but it is probably my favorite version now.

• Stake Choir - Come to Me - Music by Michael Kissinger and arrangement by Maria Manzo
• Dr. Jared Evans solo - In My Father's House Are Many Mansions - Music by James MacDermid
• West Valley Ward Choir - He is Risen from the Dead - Music by Sally DeFord
• Stake Choir - This is the Christ - Music by Michael F. Moody, Words by James E. Faust, Jan Pinborough and arranged by Barlow Bradford
• Stake Choir - God So Loved the World - Music by Carl J. Nygard, Jr

Movie and Symphony

Audrey wanted to see Les Mis again, so went with Laura F and Angela H to the movie today.  And then later that evening, Mom and I went to the Spokane Pops Symphony concert. Pink Martini was the guest artist. They are a 12-piece group out of Portland, Oregon, that crosses various genres (classical, jazz, pop) and multiple cultures (French, Turkish, Japanese, etc). So the music tonight was rather eclectic. We enjoyed some numbers more than others. And I think the concert was sold out. They are quite popular but honestly, I probably would not have chosen to attend if they were not playing with the symphony.

Sam's Birthday Celebration

I'm sure we always just need excuses to celebrate, but since last Saturday much of the day was spent at the Ward Christmas party, we needed to fit in the "birthday-movie-lunch" event we always do. My movie of choice was "Lincoln". I loved it! I could not believe how drop-a-pin-quiet the movie theater was during the entire movie. We just sat and watched the whole thing and then the audience clapped when it was over. First sound we heard for over two hours besides the movie track.

Then, because we had a coupon, we went to Red Robin. I know - it was the exact place we went to for John's birthday celebration just a few weeks before. But what really cracked me up when I downloaded my pictures? I'm wearing the same shirt.....  really, same shirt? really, same restaurant?  I'll have to work on being more unique for my 47th year!!  And really love the picture Audrey captured with Banzai burger dripping down my face.

We walked over to the Davenport to check out the gingerbread houses on the mezzanine level. I love the Davenport when it is all decked out for the holidays. And look at that gingerbread (green) cookie tree! Amazing talent! We purchased some Bruttles (soft peanut brittle) before heading home.

And then drove by John's first home purchase. It had a sign in the window so looked like perhaps it was owned by the bank now. John bought, fixed up and sold this house before we even started dating. I think home remodeling is in his blood.

And just because we love to fit a million things into one day, I went with my mom to the Holiday Pops symphony while John and Audrey went to Jon & Molly's wedding reception. The only hitch was our pre-paid parking. They are supposed to reserve the spots that the symphony patrons have paid for, but they did not... so we had to back up out of the parking lot (only one way in/out) and find a place to park on the snowy streets. But the concert was great! Always love to hear "Sleigh Ride" by Leroy Anderson. This year there were a few fun additions - "Bassoon It Will Be Christmas" and "Holiday Overture, both by James Stephenson as well as "Fantasia on Christmas Carols" by Vaughan Williams.

Roadshow

Our Stake held a roadshow this year. Well, kind of a roadshow. Each Ward had to get on / off the stage in a set amount of time, but we only held it at one location. (A traditional roadshow would actually be multiple locations and multiple performances in a single night). Below are some pictures from the dress rehearsal. Our production was "We Believe that with the power of God anyone can be a Hero!" This was written by Arah Kunz and Lisa Farman. They did a great job and it was very clever tying in all the various superheros.

Basic story line: Sister Primary (Nicole Simmons) was trying to find a new Sunbeam teacher as her current one was moving. She sang a song "Holding Out for a Hero" (accompanied by me, with revised words and while the YW did a dance number in the background). Her son came into the room (wearing a super hero cap) and gave his mom some encouragement "Never give up! Never surrender!" and zoomed off the stage. Then she took a nap and the Dream Sequences started. #1 Brother Gordon (that would be Flash Gordon) started teaching the class but as soon as someone needed help, he had to run off stage and save them. The Flash theme song played in the background. #2 Brother Parker (as in Peter Parker) came in to the music of Spiderman. And of course as soon as someone yelled help, he ran off the stage. The dream sequences ended with Sister Primary exclaiming that a super hero was not the answer. She got inspiration to have Sister Prince (as in Diana Prince, Wonder Woman) to be the new teacher. She sang "I'm No Superman" (with revised words) accompanied by guitar. Even though she was not sure how she could juggle everything, she was willing to try. The final line (Dakota G) was "Remember, that in a world of ordinary mortals, you are a wonder woman". And the Wonder Woman theme cued up. I helped during the auditions and rehearsals for our ward but accompanied just the one number. Audrey was in charge of collecting and cuing up all the background music during the performance. And while the other wards did their productions, both John and Audrey were in charge of the spotlights. Our friend Richard H did the sound/technician stuff with Doug T. After our ward finished, I went back to the refreshment table and volunteered my time for the remainder of the evening. (They served cookies, popcorn and licorice). It was a fun activity!

Jersey Boys

We got a call earlier this week from some friends who had 2 extra tickets to Jersey Boys and were looking to give them away. We took them up on the offer and went on a date night. We started out our evening trying to pick a great place to go to dinner. We were standing in line at Luigi's, but realized the wait to be seated would not allow us to eat and get to the performance in time. As we were leaving we started talking to an older couple. They had driven up from Pullman for him to have a medical appointment and were looking for a place to have dinner. They too thought the wait at Luigi's was long so we started explaining the choices in walking distance. They asked us where we were headed - and we told them we were going to Azteca a Mexican restaurant a block away. They asked if they could "Tag a long" so we walked with them to the restaurant and got to know them a bit. How fun!

After dinner we headed to the INB performing arts center to see the Broadway production of Jersey Boys. We had not heard much about the show before going. It was the story about The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi. "This is the story of how four blue-collar kids become one of the greatest successes in pop music history. They wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide - all before they were 30." The music was great and the story line interesting, but "oh my" the language! I was amazed at how many times they could say a bad word in one sentence. It is a pity that some producers think adding bad language makes it more believable or real somehow. I certainly did not need the reminder they were blue-collar and from Jersey.

Busy Saturday!

While John went to volunteer at Habitat for Humanity all day, Audrey and I went downtown to see the movie Hotel Transylvania. It was cute. We headed to Northtown afterward to do a little shopping. Starting at the Hallmark store to pick up the annual Star Trek ornament and then to CJ Banks. And finally Bruchis for lunch. Audrey and I split the Chicken Malibu.

Later that evening I went to the Symphony with mom. On the docket tonight was the Music of John Denver. Below is the excerpt from the brochure. It was an enjoyable concert and it was really uncanny how Jim Curry sounded like and looked like John Denver.

The music of the late John Denver is like an old friend, outlasting trends and standing the test of time. Join the Spokane Symphony and acclaimed performer Jim Curry for this tribute to the music of one of the most beloved singer/songwriters ever to grace the stage. Tribute artist Jim Curry, whose voice was heard in the CBS-TV movie Take Me Home: The John Denver Story, has performed Denver’s music in sold out shows throughout the country and has emerged as today’s top performer of Denver’s vast legacy of multi-platinum hits. Jim’s uncanny ability to mirror John’s voice and clean-cut look takes you back to the time when Rocky Mountain High, Sunshine, Calypso and Annie’s Song topped the charts.

Mary Poppins!

Tonight Audrey and I were able to see the Best of Broadway production of "Mary Poppins". It was FABULOUS! And our seats were nothing to sneeze at either. On the day they sold single tickets, I went down to the arena and got Row B, center. Amazing. We could see them sweat : )

The story line was more complex than the movie and there were new songs performed. We enjoyed the various special effects that were introduced such as Mary floating up & away with her umbrella or the ability to transport the audience to the imaginary park scenes. Also, the Bank's house on Cherry Tree Lane weighed 5 tons and was the biggest and most complex automated set found on Broadway. But the coolest special effect was when Bert & fellow chimney sweepers started tap dancing to "Step in Time" and the next thing we knew, they were tap dancing and walking up the sides of the stage...until they were literally tap dancing upside down from the ceiling of the stage.

What a wonderful night!!

Choir

Today the choir sang "A Marvelous Work" for church and I accompanied them on the piano. Afterwords, Dik Jamison came up and said: Seems they always thank the choir or the director, but I was watching you today and you did a great job on a difficult piece. They never thank the accompanist enough, so I'll do it today. Thank you!

Hugh Laurie

We started our afternoon off by attending a birthday party for Harold Kunz. He has kind of adopted me since dad passed away and Audrey & Barbara (his wife) have a real neat relationship - they just adore each other. It was fun to attend the party and visit with their extended family that we've known for years. A delicious dinner (Cafe Rio type) was served and then had a fabulous talent show - some poetry, some singing, some dancing and some jokes. It was a great event and we were glad we were included. Then we headed downtown to see this performance:


Having just finished airing its eighth and final season of "House", Hugh Laurie is now spending his time touring the country and singing American South / New Orleans style blues music. We were able to get tickets to see him at the Fox Theatre tonight. Most numbers he played the piano and sang vocals, while sometimes he played the guitar and sang. The Copper Bottom Band was awesome accompanying him on the drums, guitars, horns, upright bass, keyboard & accordion. The person on guitar had (if I counted correctly) NINE different guitars! Laurie prefaced his songs with anecdotes and details about the artists who recorded or wrote them. He had such a different style than we saw with his "House" character - it was kind of weird to see him speaking nicely (and in the English accent). It was enjoyable to hear the various styles of songs he performed such as "Swanee River", "Battle of Jericho", "You Don't Know My Mind", "St. James Infirmary Blues" and "Unchain My Heart".

Titanic Symphony

Tonight the Spokane Symphony performed under the direction of Eckart Preu. The theme was The Titanic and they chose songs from the time period. During one of the songs they had photos showing the Titanic 'before' and 'after' (under water wreckage footage). A fun twist to this concert was when Eckart sat down and played the piano for a couple of numbers (Maple Leaf Rag and Glow Worm). So not only an accomplished conductor but a accomplished pianist as well. He shared some Spokane ties to the Titanic, which was interesting to hear these stories. They, of course, performed "Nearer, My God, to Thee" but it was slightly less traditional arrangement and I did not like it as well as the traditional one you would hear in church. And they performed the music from the movie "Titanic" as well. Good concert!

Symphony: Ann Hampton Callaway

Tonight mom and I went to the Symphony where Ann Hampton Callaway performed numbers by Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart and Stephen Sondheim. In addition, since it was St Patrick's Day, we heard Danny Boy and she did a St Patrick's Day improvisation number.

You might recognize her from the theme song to the TV series "The Nanny". She both sang the number and wrote it. She is a singer, pianist, composer, lyricist, arranger, actress, educator, TV host and producer.
THE NANNY

She was working in a bridal shop in Flushing, Queens,
Til her boyfriend kicked her out in one of those crushing scenes.
What was she to do, where was she to go
She was out on her fanny.

So over the bridge from Flushing to the Sheffield's door,
She was there to sell make up but the father saw more,
She had style, she had flair, she was there,
That' how she became the Nanny.