My Exciting {LONG} Weekend

Happy Fourth (erh SIXTH...) of July, beautiful people!

Man, a LOT has happened in the last few days- a lot of REALLY unexpected excitement and fun!

It started on Friday when my brother Jake came to stay with me; we ordered pizza and watched Evil Dead (the newer version... I covered my eyes through 70% of it but it was a pretty great scary movie). The next morning we went to the farmer's market and then breakfast and while at breakfast I received the confirmation text I was hoping for from a friend about a really exciting one day trip with some of my theater people!

*BELOW* One of my favorite photos I have ever taken/editted! Miss Nathalie Mostrel performing aerial silks!

Fast forward an hour later, I am sitting in the front seat of a four seater private plane in a fancy outfit getting ready to fly to San Francisco to see Beauty and the Beast at The Orpheum!! Oh, and YES I flew the plane (with some major support from our pilot/friend Jaison). I am typically afraid of flying but being so close to the controls and getting to learn how everything works was comforting and made the experience more fascinating than nauseating. Plus, WOW the view was just breathtaking. A short hour and a half flight took us to our landing in Oakland- a fancy private airport with a fancier bathroom (the bathroom had two full bottles of fancy hairspray, a bottle of fancy dry shampoo, and a huge bottle of Jergens lotion... oh and TWO different classy jars with TWO different sizes of tampons... talk about luxurious, right?).

We hopped aboard the BART and made it to the Orpheum with enough time to grab a quick meal and settle into the theater. This was my first time seeing a professional show in San Francisco and five years since I have seen a professional show (2011, Jekyll and Hyde in Pittsburgh) so I was beyond excited. The Orpheum is beautiful and we had some pretty great seats- mid center, orchestra- I could see the entire stage AND the facial features of the actors simultaneously.

This Beauty and the Beast was the best I had seen yet! My mom sweetly reminded me that when I was six we saw Beauty and the Beast in Disney World and Belle gave me a flower from her hair which caused me to sob

with delight. Since then I have seen Beauty and the Beast at least two other times (high school versions). The reason for seeing this show in particular was because I was travelling with a future Belle and future Beast who will be performing the roles in spring 2017 at Ferndale Repertory Theater! I always love getting to see new interpretations of characters and this particular production had a unique and BRILLIANT Gaston played by Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek. We all left the show feeling inspired to go forth with our crafts.

We returned that night after a short and beautiful plane ride home. Flying home at night was almost more beautiful than flying at day (which I didn't think was possible!) but we were just so close to the stars without a cloud above us... ah so beautiful. Dante picked me up and happily listened to my exciting retelling of the day the entire way home. He is always so supportive.

Sunday was a perfectly lazy day spent with my love celebrating our one year anniversary which was July 1. We set up a mattress in our living room and moved around some furniture to create the ultimate relaxation pad. We had brunch at our favorite restaurant- The Alibi- a little dive bar that has the best food and bloody mary's in Humboldt County and then spent the rest of the day/night just enjoying each other's company and watching funny videos on the internet. It was exactly what both of us needed since we are constantly busy. Plus, it was a nice tribute to how we celebrated finding each other last year when I had set up a tent and air mattress in my backyard and we just camped for a night under the stars. After already dating for a few months we looked back on this night as a good night to remember as our anniversary. A year later and I am still constantly finding new reasons to love him.

Monday marked the Fourth of July! Dante and I had plans to head down to the Arcata Plaza where 4th of July fun was happening all day to enjoy the festivities and see our extremely talented friend Nathalie perform on aerial silks. She absolutely did not disappoint- super entertaining, excellent musicality, and just beautiful to watch- I mean LOOK at that photo at the top of this page... enchanting! We also caught the Humboldt Rockers, a local hip-hop/break dancing troupe in Humboldt. Lots of fun booths and so many adorable patriotic children- it was a great way to celebrate. Above is a candid shot I snapped while Dante was deciding whether or not he was feeling the music enough to break out his moves.

AND THEN SURPRISE! I receive an email titled "HELP" sent from my former teacher Leira Satlof the Artistic Director of Ferndale Repertory Theater. A cast member of their currently running show was facing an emergency and needed someone to cover her role for the final four performances THIS WEEKEND which meant two full days of memorizing lines, one rehearsal to learn blocking and quick changes, and then four back to back performances in three days. Wow. Leira felt I would be a good and capable fit so I took her vote of confidence as enough reason to convince myself that I could do it. So.. surprise... this weekend I'll be performing in White Snake at Ferndale Repertory Theater as a few different ensemble roles. I read the script last night and it is a truly beautiful enchanting fairy tale love story. The cast is made up of some of my peers from the university and the community under the direction of a sweet woman named Catherine Brown who I have worked with as a costume designer many times. It's going to be a busy week between incorporating myself into a show for closing weekend AND preparing for the opening of my opera in two weeks but performing is my passion.

Despite my busy week, I have made some BIG steps towards planning and creating a consistent blogging schedule. AND be sure to check your inboxes later this week because I am sending out my FIRST NEWSLETTER EVER! Sure I originally intended to get the newsletter out on the first of the month but I'm cutting myself some slack since life isn't always schedule-able. The newsletter is gonna include what you can expect to see this month on Happier Healthier Singer as well as some exciting news about my FIRST OPT-IN FREEBIE {air horn}!

Make sure you are signed up for my monthly newsletter! You can find the subscriber box on my home page OR on your side bar to the right. And don't be a stranger on social media! I love new friends xoxo