I'm baaack!

I'm home from Missouri and it was a successful recital! I had a great time rehearsing with the pianist, and then performing, as well as getting to meet and talk to some students and faculty at the college! It was all very exciting and I would love to do more recitals like that in the future. And the hotel I stayed at was so beautiful!

A king size bed all to myself? Check. And an entire bathroom in which I can spread out all my little bottles of lotion and stuff? Double check. Swwweeet.

And a beautiful atrium.


With a fountain and glass elevator, which made me feel really high-class.

I did my morning runs down the Historic Route 66!

And spread some Operation Beautiful love along the way, including at all the airport bathrooms. :)


Before I left, I treated myself to a St. Paddy's Day cupcake from a local bakery. You can be jealous; it's OK.

(Eaten during one of my long teaching days.)

And on a completely different week, I bought a salted caramel cupcake from a different bakery! I promise, I actually do eat a lot of veggies and non-sweet things, too! :)

(And I made it last 3 days, so there! ;-)

The promised healthier stuff, including my marvelous lunch from today:

-Cod from Whole Foods, cooked stove top in EVOO with salt, garlic and pepper (my first time cooking without someone else around--it was seriously so easy and it's really not THAT expensive at WFs)
-brown rice
-broccoli and peas
-avocado

It was AMAZING! And I have 2 more pieces of frozen fish for similar meals!

And a different meal:

-tempeh
-sauteed veggies
-carrots

Also delicious!

My work was giving away free bouquets of flowers from Trader Joe's that they were just going to throw away! So these have been decorating my table for the past week:

I think they're lovely! :)

Finally, one more chocolate review:



This chocolate is very smooth, while still having some subtle complexities. It is very rich, while being perfectly balanced in sweetness. Good mouth feel and melted quickly in my mouth. It would pair very well with some red wine. Overall, it's excellent!

OK, I'm playing a fun indie rock show tonight and then tomorrow is the half marathon! I'm kind of nervous for it, but also quite excited! Wish me luck! My only goal is to finish, as I am HIGHLY under trained due to the left shin injury forcing me to take so much time off. I'm just telling myself:

"Run when you can, walk when you must, crawl if you need to. Just don't give up!"