5 Things

We were collectively saddened by the horrific events that took place last Friday at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut when a gunman entered the school and killed twenty young students and six staff members. There's been much discussion in the days that have followed, including a solemn address from our President, proposed legislation from our Senate, and as of this morning a press conference by the NRA advocating for armed guards in schools.

I don't profess to have the answers as to how this tragedy and many others like it could have been prevented. I am in support of stricter gun laws and I would advocate that more needs to be done to help the mentally ill. It's not one thing or the other; a myriad of issues need to be addressed for all of us to be safer. My heart aches for those parents, friends, and loved ones. I cannot fathom what losing a child, mother or sibling is like. If you're interested in helping the victims, read here.


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I was working on the below post last Friday when I heard the news about Sandy Hook. I was still working on 4. and 5. For now I'm going to circle back to 1. and 2. and just say that I'm extra thankful this Christmas for family and friends.

1. I rounded up some fabulous girlfriends (pictured below) for champagne Drinking Lessons at The Sorrento Hotel on Wednesday night. Seating was limited to 12 and it was hard to choose who to invite, but I'm thankful that I even have 11 girlfriends to invite and many more that I would have loved to invite!

We enjoyed ample pours of a Prosecco (I forget which one), Veuve Clicquot, and the Blanc de Blancs and Rosé from Ruinart— the oldest established champagne house. The Blanc de Blancs was my favorite.

2. I'll be home for Christmas (read in a singsong voice). I'm sad I will miss seeing my little sister this Christmas because she left for Navy boot camp on Tuesday, but I'm ecstatic to see the rest of my family and to have some time off from work.

3. I joined a gym about a month ago. I'm happy and thankful that I could afford to do so and to report that I've been consistently going at least three times a week. I've also become a fan of Zumba classes. Have you tried them?

Christmas Tunes

blurry Macy's star

I've been known to listen to Christmas songs in July if the mood strikes me. I'm also more than fine with stores putting out Christmas decorations the day after Halloween; I appreciate the people who put up their lights and trees just a little too early and leave them up for just a little too long.

Christmas Space Needle from SLU

I learned about Hey, It's Christmas - Vol. 2 last year from Rockstar Diaries and played it nonstop in the office.


Vol. 3 is now up, have a listen.

A historic election

I don't think I've ever posted about politics on this blog before (that's what twitter and fb are for) but last night was a historic one in America.

The United States re-elected President Barack Hussein Obama for his second term as the 44th President of the United States of America.

WA State voted to legalize gay marriage. (this makes me so happy, more than I can even express)

So did Maine, Maryland and Minnesota.

We ushered in a historic number of female US Senators, including Maria Cantwell from WA State. The 113th Congress will have at least 19 female senators, the most ever in U.S. history.

Colorado and Washington State legalized marijuana for recreational use.


I had a very good night celebrating with the WA Dems as the Westin in Seattle, just as I did four years ago. However, I can empathize with people who do not believe in what I believe in and who didn't support the people and initiatives I voted for. They are probably not having a very good day today.

While I was driving to the store on my lunch break yesterday afternoon, I thought quietly to myself, what if Mitt Romney does get elected tonight and Washington rejects marriage equality?  It made me achingly sad. Think happier thoughts I told myself. I'm proud of you, America.



 Just for fun, the rule on "an historic" or "a historic" from the OED.

A historic event or an historic event?

People often believe that they should use the indefinite article an in front of words like historic, horrific, or hotel. Are they right or wrong? Should you say ‘an historic event’ or ‘a historic event’? 

An is the form of the indefinite article that is used before a spoken vowel sound: it doesn’t matter how the written word in question is actually spelled. So, we say ‘an honour’, ‘an hour’, or ‘an heir’, for example, because the initial letter ‘h’ in all three words is not actually pronounced. By contrast we say ‘a hair’ or ‘a horse’ because, in these cases, the ‘h’ is pronounced.

Let’s go back to those three words that tend to cause problems: historic, horrific, and hotel. If hotel was pronounced without its initial letter ‘h’ (i.e. as if it were spelled ‘otel’), then it would be correct to use an in front of it. The same is true of historic and horrific. If horrific was pronounced ‘orrific’ and historic was pronounced ‘istoric’ then it would be appropriate to refer to ‘an istoric occasion’ or ‘an orrific accident’. In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, people often did pronounce these words in this way.

Today, though, these three words are generally pronounced with a spoken ‘h’ at the beginning and so it’s now more logical to refer to ‘a hotel’, ‘a historic event’, or ‘a horrific accident’.

I'd Wear That: Fall Uniform

If I could have one, this would be close to it.

A sweater over a dress. Perfect. Blazer. Perfect. Pumps, boots or even my favorite loafers and viola. I'd love to step it up in the work wardrobe department but since I sleep in until the last possible minute every morning, giving myself about 33 minutes from waking to walking the six blocks to work (I know), a daily uniform would be great for me. I might need to add tights though. This is the PNW and it's about to be freezing.

Photo credit.

5 Things: Fall Update

I love the fall. (So does everybody though, right?) Weather-wise, Seattle has been having an amazing late summer—early fall and I am all the happier for it.

A few things I'd like to share, in no particular order.

1. I quit Facebook for a while last month. It was only like 25 days or something, but it was refreshing and I felt a lot more productive during that time. Sometimes I will become fixated on the page of a friend, looking at their old photos, catching up on their lives. Some of these "friends" however are people I never actually see in real life. Then before I know it an hour has passed but at least I know what "Shannon" from high school has been up to the past 4 years! Who cares, Facebook, you crazy time suck. However, whether I like it or not, Facebook has become a big part of our lives (over 1 bazillion users) and the way we communicate; birthday invitations, other invitations, random bits about what people are doing on the daily. Is it important to know what the girl I may never see again from high school is up to? Probably not. But my friend who's taking a trip for a few weeks and what they did on it? Probably.

2. I've been reading more books lately. It's admittedly taken a very long time for me to recover from all of the reading that was forced upon me in college, effectively killing my desire to read for pleasure. I used to be an avid reader and wrote a few short stories growing up, but I think school really did a number on me and I started to think of reading long books or novels as a chore. A friend's mom recommended I start with some light reads to get back into it. Over the summer I read The Jane Austen Book Club, The Fifty Shades trilogy (don't judge), skimmed Steinbeck A Life in Letters (this book is massive), Paris I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down, Paris in Love (I was on a Paris kick), Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me (a very silly, quick read by Mindy Kaling) and I just started Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I have Cloud Atlas (there's a movie coming out soon based on this) and What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell in the queue.

3. A few weeks ago I went to an open audition for the casting of supernumeraries for the upcoming production Beethoven's Fidelio at Seattle Opera. Everyone who went to the audition made the cut as they were casting for a large group of "townspeople" for the final scene. I've been to rehearsals a few times a week since, and opening night is this Saturday. I'm maybe onstage for five minutes, but it's fun being a part of the action with the chorus and principals. Here's a little video about what we're doing.

4. A friend is saying goodbye to Seattle in a couple weeks after finishing his Ph.D. (congrats, F!). He had a fun going away party on Saturday night. As much as I thought I was ready for him to leave, I'm really going to miss him.

5. I am planning an extended trip to New Zealand next year. More about that in the coming months.

5 Things

Credit.

1. My birthday is tomorrow. As much as I'm not ready to turn 30, time won't wait.

2. Lots of fun plans this week: Mariners game, karaoke, mural concert, SAM  Remix, hiking, Dan Savage's play at Intiman and brunch with my girls on Sunday!

3. Fall acting classes.

4. Planning a little secret trip somewhere.

5. Remembering this:  "And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens—The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away."