Anatomy of a Day in the Life of a Lady of Leisure

I'm currently entering my third week of non-day-employment, and am finally settling into a groove. I keep remarking to myself how uncanny it is the amount of things I can get accomplished when my mornings and afternoons aren't spent parked behind a desk. Slowly but surely, my body, house, personal relationships, and music career are getting the attention they deserve. My dry-cleaning lady and I are on a first-name basis and I can finally walk in my bedroom without stumping my toes on some sort of clutter. I have, by no means, gotten everything done, but I finally feel like items get crossed off my to-do list instead of staying parked there for weeks at a time finally to be addressed in haphazard fashion. I'm enjoying what others think may be mundane because I finally have the leisure to get those types of things done. I'm also getting a taste of what domestic life feels like. Rather than just taking care of myself, I'm practicing taking care of a household (which my darling mother keeps reminding me I'm not quite equipped to do right this second).

So what does a typical day look like in my life of leisure? It's not all track suits and soap operas, I assure you. I'm getting my condo ready to put on the market, planning the wedding of the century, and soliciting work so that I don't... you know... starve.

The biggest difference is my waking time. My internal body clock has still been waking me up at 7 am, but now I get to stay in bed and watch West Wing re-runs on Bravo. I get up when I feel prepared to get out of bed rather than over-sleeping and rushing to get into the office on time. I try to do something around the house whether it's purging junk from the loft or scrubbing down the balcony, cleaning out my closet or meeting with a contractor. I go to coffee with a girlfriend or drive down to Chevy Chase and take an aerobics class in the afternoon. I run errands like grocery shopping or picking up dry cleaning or getting my oil changed. When evening falls, it's time to go to work, and I make sure that I'm doing something music-related even if I'm not teaching or leading a rehearsal. If class or a lesson is cancelled or I don't have a scheduled rehearsal, I go to a quiet place and spend time preparing scores or planning a rehearsal. And once all of that is done and the Maestro is finished with his rehearsal, we spend some time with one another so that we don't forget what the other looks like.

My work may be evenings and weekends, but above all, I finally feel rested and un-rushed. I've become a priority in my life again, and the change of pace is a breath of fresh air. I surely don't expect it to last forever, or even for much longer, but for now, my life of leisure is a fantastic shift in pace.

How to be a (non-starving) artist

Part of my new full-time job is convincing my mother that I won't starve from being a professional musician before I become Mrs. Maestro next October. I admit the thought of it is a little daunting, but possible nonetheless. The most notable change will be in the way I get paid. About the only thing that I'll miss about former-hateful-day-job-that-shall-remain-nameless is the income direct-deposited into my checking account every other Friday. Instead, I'll get paid in large chunks by contract for each gig I complete. I'll get some mad money to supplement that income from teaching private voice, and hopefully that will amount to about half of the green that I use to... you know... not starve. I just have to practice pacing my spending so that I can make those large chunks of cash last until the next one appears. And to survive, I just have to close a show every 4-6 weeks and teach between 20 and 30 hours a month.

So how close am I to making that happen?

Well, I already had existing contracts for gigs ending in December and January, so I have no worries until then. I've booked contracts for gigs ending in March, May, June, and July, so I'm out of the woods for 6 out of the 11 months before the Maestro makes an honest woman out of me. I'm working on a contract for a gig I really want for February and haven't quite figured April out yet. I'm continuing to hustle, and am about halfway there to not allowing my mother's worst fears come to life.

I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

Until then, I'll leave you with a video that reflects my daily sentiments...

Hello? ::pats microphone:: Is this thing on?

I know, I know... it's been a long time. I'm not even sure if anyone's still subscribed to this bad boy of a blog I started eight thousand years ago. It wasn't my intent to drop off the face of the planet, but life ran away with me. I was working 70 hour weeks and had all sorts of other crazy things going on. And while my life isn't so much slowing down but taking a new direction, I feel myself having "unfrivolous" and interesting things to share and actually having the time to share them.

So without further ado, I'm going to give you the quickest update of my life since February 1st, 2009*:
-I started teaching children and liked it! It's the perfect balance of instructing the youth of America and not-being-in-a-classroom to suit my delicate proclivities. I've music directed The Wiz, Godspell, and now Fame with this awesome group of advanced teenagers and love it more than I ever thought possible.
-I also music directed The Full Monty with an awesome group of guys in Baltimore and the Maryland/DC non-union premiere of RENT.
-I worked my last day at hateful day job this past Friday and have never felt happier in my life. I'm slightly afraid that I might starve, but I'm trying to make a go of music directing theatre and teaching voice full time.

...and... finally, the cream of the crop of updates...

-I'm engaged! The Maestro asked me to marry him in August and we're in the process of planning our big Baltimore wedding for next fall.



So what do I have to say? Why'd I come back to this wild and crazy blogging world, you may ask?

Since I'm finally living the life that is in line with my creative objective for this corner of the 'net, I'm running with it. I want to document my time attempting to make a go of being a professional musician in Charm City and provide insight to anyone else who might be trying to do the same. Also, in the process of planning our upcoming nuptials, I've been stalking bridal blogs along with all of yours, so I want to have an opportunity to share pretty things with you guys. I don't think I'll be attempting to be a bridal blogger. I think that there are plenty of people who already have that job on lockdown, but I'd love to share pretty things that I come across never-the-less.

Also, I never stopped trying out new libations, so I'll also be resuming Wino Wednesdays

So there you go, folks. What has everyone been up to since I've been on blogger sabbatical?

*The deplorably long-ago last time that I stopped past this little corner of the Internet.