dreams of quitting my day job

If only I could quit my day job and become a full time musician.

Yesterday I had a gig at Lehman College that Dan set me up with.  I always enjoy helping out with things like student projects because it's fun and really worthwhile.  I played with 2 other violinists for 3 film scoring projects and everyone seemed pretty happy with the end results.

My favorite part was that I got to see Dan in action while he did some mic set up and sound level testing. :)

If only I could get 3 well paying gigs a week, I would quit my job in a heartbeat and work part time somewhere like the animal clinic up the road or the botanical garden.  sigh... someday...

I struggle with consistency

It's been a very long while since I've written.  Since my last post, here are a few highlights:

1.  I played a solo (actually duet) with an orchestra!  It was so much fun and I feel so lucky to have been asked to do something like that.  I was also really excited because my mom came into town to hear it!

2.  Went to Puerto Rico with Dan, Rick, and Andrew.  It was lots of fun and I highly recommend staying in old San Juan if you are traveling there.  One of Andrew's friends lives there so he nicely volunteered to be our tour guide for the week which was a special treat.  Just thinking about it makes me want to be back on vacation.

                              

3.  Celebrated Dan's 30th Birthday!  Ice cream cake and a new espresso machine!

4.  Left my CBUS store in the beginning of July and transitioned to being the Operations Manager at the SoHo location.  Going into a strictly operations role has been very different and so far and a major challenge for me.  That being said, I'm learning a lot and am excited for things to come.  Look at the cutest card one of my girls gave me!  There is a real kleenex glued to the front!

5.  I went to the Lake Placid Chamber Music Festival last week.  It was very nice being there and I remembered how much I love violin and miss music.  I took a month off of playing because I worked for about 30 days straight, 14 hour days.  I think this going back and forth with music will be a struggle I'll have to deal with for the rest of my life.

6.  Jackie and I went to Toronto for work earlier this week for an operations workshop lead by the manager at Bloor Street.  She was amazing and I got to share some of my best practices with her team as well as pick up a few good ideas that I'm excited to implement when I go back to work tomorrow.   Jackie and I also got to play tourist and did some relaxing time as well.  :)

musical thoughts

I am in the process of trying out a viola!  The prospect of getting a new viola is super exciting but also a little terrifying because it's not only a big investment, but a representation of my future self in music.  I have a viola that I use but getting a nicer viola means, to me, that I am committing to stay in music and be more active.  I love the idea of this but I just need to make time which is easier said than done.

My friend Maureen, an amazing violist, was kind enough to contact a friend who is selling several violas and we met a few weeks ago so I could try them.  My friend, James, was also kind enough to come along with me for an extra set of ears.

The viola I picked is a bit out of my price range but I'm falling in love with it more and more every time I play it.  I am getting more mentally serious about learning the Brandenburg and decided to take a break from violin until after the concert is done.  I even gave my lovely violin to James to use in the mean time so she doesn't just sit in the corner of my room.  If anyone is in NYC and wants to come, the concert is at the beginning of May!

xoxo- MK

work.sandy.montreal.music.

I totally forgot to write about this, but I have a new (old) job!  I'm working at Club Monaco again and am so glad to be back.  Anthropologie turned out to be not such a good fit for me.  Since I've been back, I started working at the SoHo location and was recently moved/promoted to the Columbus Ave store.  It's a really great place for me and will definitely help me have more exposure with corporate members.  The commute is longer than I'd like, but I'm getting a lot of reading done so I'm not complaining.

Hurricane Sandy happened.  All of the stores were closed for 2 days (the downtown stores were closed longer because they didn't have power until the end of the week) and I was really happy because the impromptu time off coincided with my annual fall-to-winter-transition sickness.  I definitely needed the extra time to rest and felt much better when I went back to work.  Aaron, Dan, and I spent some quality time hanging out and I got to crush them at Scrabble which was loads of fun.

Also, Dan and I went to Montreal shortly after the hurricane which was a nice little get away.  Dan gave me the trip for my birthday which was super sweet.  It's only 6 hours away so we opted to drive instead of fly.  I was paranoid before we left because of the major gas shortage but it all worked out well.  We stayed in this super swanky hotel in the middle of downtown so we were able to walk everywhere which was very convenient.  We saw Old Montreal, the Quebec Club Monaco (my request of course), the Notre Dame Basilica, went to a Scandinavian relaxation bath house, and did a ton of walking around.  I'd love to go back because there were a lot of things that we didn't have time to do.

In other news, I'm doing a ton of playing right now (probably too much as usual) and am feeling very run down.  I say this to myself all the time, but I'm going to try to slow down once I get through all the concerts I'm doing right now.  Last year this lead to me getting shingles which was no fun at all.  Maybe pacing myself will be my new year's resolution.  I am actually really excited that I was asked to play a viola solo in a concert in May so I've been thinking about cutting back after December is over and just focusing on that for the spring time.  We shall see.