In New York

This is me and my friend Erin on a cruise in front of Lady Liberty herself. Hair flying everywhere, well mine that is. (It's grown in curlier than it originally was in my opinion).
I've returned from said trip to New York and I have much to tell you!

Laughing

Lunchbox Theatre's Scarlet Woman is categorized as a film noir mystery. It should really be under the new category of satire of film noir.
The play originally was produced in the Edmonton Fringe Festival a year and a half ago and director Mark Bellamy and local actor Karen Johnson Diamond saw it and thought it was a gem. So Lunchbox picked it up. The original production debuted to critical acclaim in New York.

Warm

February has had some pockets of breaks. Time where I can actually cook and maybe rest a little. When I'm not reviewing dance for the Herald. Or getting push back from people for my review. Mostly from the company themselves.

I had my first dinner party! With people over who weren't my parents. I had some ladies over for Valentine's day and made Jamie's Pasta Peperonata and it went very well. I don't have photos, because it was all about just having people over and enjoying the time.

I did manage to make this dish from Smitten Kitchen that I've been meaning to make for a while. I love stroganoff and bourguignon , but I'm not into all the meat. My family cut beef out of our diets a while ago and even know I live on my own, I find it hard to eat it myself (unless someone else is cooking it for me). My buddy Kris makes Julia Child's recipe and it's quite good. So I saw this mushroom bourguignon on Smitten, and made it on a Wednesday night. My roommate told me this is weekend food because it takes so long. Yes, but since when do I have time on the weekends?

In the theatre.

It's been a full week with theatre, board meetings and more theatre.
Tuesday had me at Up Close, for the Calgary Herald. You can read my review here.
Wednesday, I was at Theatre Junction Grand's Haptic and Holistic Strata, a production that I've heard a lot about. Friday, I went to One Yellow Rabbit's People You May Know.

Credit: Theatre Junction Grand's website

Exploring.

Credit: Tim Nguyen / Citrus Photography

Ghost River Theatre's newest production Everything Is Terribly Nice Here isn't exactly happy go lucky theatre. It deals with big issues and takes on big questions. It's ambitious, to examine this conflict, to look at the complexity of religion and faith - and the aspects of belief that drives us apart.

Affectionate

Photo Credit: Trudie Lee

I attended Theatre Calgary's Pride and Prejudice last night, late in the run. So this review doesn't give much of a chance for you to catch the show, but I felt that I should put my thoughts down about the production.
I've seen a handful of productions of Pride and Prejudice, in film mostly. Haven't read the book, but loved the BBC version with Colin Firth. This is my first stage production.

Ambitious.

Back in May I had this ambition to be all supportive and urban and take part in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). My roommates and I and a couple other people have taken part. So since May, I've picked up a share of veggies and lugged them to my house where they have taken residence in my fridge. It cost me $140.
If my life wasn't on fast forward as it is, this probably would have been an pretty good idea. Support a local farm. Get veggies and know where they come from and how they are harvested. A hundred mile diet - sort of. Except my life has been all over the place. With Jenn's diagnosis, we've had very little time to actually use the veggies in our fridge. Lots of people have been dropping off meals, so our freezer is full, which is super nice. I've actually considered telling people, here is how you can help us: come over and cook our veggies. Seriously.

So though we had our hearts in the right place, taking part in a CSA has actually been a source of stress. Like when I come home from a play, after writing my review, I think about the swiss chard in my fridge that I'm sure is liquefying and I don't actually know how to cook anyway. I've had plans to make potato salad for weeks, because our share has a lot of potatoes. And kale. If I don't eat kale for another six months I think I'll be good.