Wow, how did that happen so fast...?! It’s been quite a beautiful year so far here – pretty different from last year in a lot of ways, (It’s hard to top recording your first album and traveling to the mountains of Bolivia!) but it’s definitely had its highlights and promises of more good things to come! We started off the year by redesigning the website and working on a lot of behind-the-scenes things here: Promo photos, mastering some tracks, and, of course, first priority was taking a little rest after the usual Holiday madness in a singer’s world around December. To catch you up a bit, I’ll give you a rundown on a few things I’ve been up to besides all of that…
In addition to a lot of music teaching and a lot of singing and chart writing for worship services at my local church, I took almost a full week off right after Easter (yes, almost a full week!) and took my first trip to LA! Because of the many who have asked me and those of you who are wondering, it was strictly for pleasure – no business was conducted of any sort other than to familiarize myself a bit with LAX and photograph landmarks along the drives taken on Sunset Boulevard and the Pacific Coast Highway. This girl needed a little non-working vacation and a change of scenery. And, pretty cool to have one more thing – “Go to California” - checked off the bucket list (I do hate that expression. It’s so depressing, but I guess you can’t fight upstream against all cultural phenomenon – I mean, I’ve even been pondering getting an iPhone…I must be giving in…or giving up… :o) )
While I was there, I was thankful to stay with one of my lovely college friends who now lives in Beverly Hills, where I had a gorgeous view of downtown LA from the wonderful rooftop pool at her apartment and plenty of girl time full of decaf Starbucks mochas, cheap manicures, and plenty of sunshine…maybe too much sunshine for this poor, fair-skinned blonde, who had just been through a very long, Ohio winter…
Anyway, we hit a lot of the famous places in LA and the surrounding area, including downtown Hollywood, Griffith’s Observatory, Malibu, Santa Monica Pier, The Grove, and even a visit to Pasadena (which made me think of the Rose Parade!). We also made at least two visits to In and Out for burgers and fries, which were entirely worth the wait of cars lined onto and down the street, even though you realize that actually being “in and out” of there is only practical at off-meal times.
Notable celebrity sighting: seeing Patrick Dempsey being interviewed on the Jimmy Kimmel Show couch by, none other than, Jimmy Kimmel. And, of course, our visit would not have been complete had I not paid a visit to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, where I got to see Cary Grant’s handprints/footprints, among many others like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby! (Okay, okay, I’ll post a picture of it here, if you insist! ;o) ) It was a great first trip to California, and it felt like an accomplishment to finally take some time to make it to “the Golden State.”
And…that brings us up to last week: FashionWeek Cleveland! I was so excited to get all dressed up and be able to attend FashionWeek Cleveland’s Black Tie Gala as a guest this year!! Each year they continue to outdo themselves! Dr. Donald Shingler did a fabulous job with the details at this year’s setting at The Arcade in the heart of downtown Cleveland. It was quite a stunning affair, classy and chic, complete with red-carpet and after party. It was a night well-spent, full of fond and fashionable memories.
Well, that’s all for now, folks… More to come later as the summer sunshine unfolds… Sacred Songs and Cain Park concerts and so on – Keep your eye on the calendar page! For now, be well and enjoy every moment. "The future begins today. It's a gift, to which we wake each morning. Make use of it, don't throw it away." (-Daphne DuMaurier from 'The Scapegoat')
All the best, ~Tara