You guys, I am seriously exhausted this week.  I’m singing in the Verdi Requiem with the Louisville Orchestra (and if you’re local you should totally come… it’s going to be great!)  We’ve been rehearsing every day, and today was the first full dress, on stage with orchestra etc.  Let me tell you, standing shoulder to shoulder with 150 people under hot stage lights for 3 hours, singing music that is seriously hard, is not as glamorous as it sounds.    But… the music is fabulous and it will be worth it.  Just watch out for fainting sopranos!

So in lieu of actual blog fodder this week, I’m going to answer a recent comment, and then talk about things I don’t have time to make right now!  And I’d just like to say… I don’t always have time to reply to everyone, but I appreciate so much when you stop to comment!

Emma in France “Is it just me or are you going back to red hair again? Perhaps it’s just the green in the blouse bringing out the red tones. Looks great anyway!” You know, that’s actually a funny story.  I haven’t had my hair dyed in about 6 months.  Do you see roots?  Yeah, me either.  I have apparently managed to end up with hair the same color as my natural color, which of course I had no idea what was, since I haven’t seen it in over a decade.  Apparently now my hair is red.  Which is fine, albeit weird, but I’m still probably going to dye it more brown, since I still don’t love how the red limits the colors I can wear.  I have no idea how it ended up this color, especially when I started out like this:

Oh yeah… I rocked that early 80s haircut.  And I loved that dress.  But anyway, last I checked I was a blonde (though darker than I was at age 6, obviously) so it’s really weird that it’s turned reddish now.

I also have had a few questions about how I set my hair in pincurls, so let me recommend a youtube channel for you… LisaFreemontStreet does tons of vintage hair tutorials, especially 40s, which are my favorites.  I don’t usually do actual pincurls – I use pillow rollers, which you can buy at the drugstore.  They’re little sponges covered in cloth with wires through the middle.  You roll the hair and then twist the roller to make it stay.  I usually wash my hair and then dry the roots partially (so it won’t set funny in the back.)  I roll my hair, using a setting lotion, and then sleep in the rollers (I wear a scarf to cover them… oh yeah, it’s pretty attractive!)  They are much more comfortable to sleep in than the foam rollers you can also buy, since they are small and very soft.  The look is similar to rag curlers.  My hair is naturally somewhat wavy, at least underneath, but has always been hard to curl, so I generally blow dry it straight.  Curling it this way, it will last until I wash it out.  I sometimes use the caruso steam rollers you can buy at Sally Beauty also… they make a nice long lasting curl, but not as tight, and you don’t have to sleep in them.  After you take out the rollers you have to brush the curls out, and I recommend watching some of the videos to get an idea about that, because at first it looks pretty frightful… you just have to keep brushing!

I really love vintage hairstyles, so I’ve been trying some of these out.   I’ve always been terrible with my hair, so if I can do it anyone can!

Last weekend I decided that this week would be “finish Salina” week.  Um… yeah.  I have had zero time to work on that, and this weekend we may be going to Cincinnati (Marc’s grandfather passed away 2 weeks ago, and we need to help his parents clean some things out.)  My schedule this year has been tough on my knitting – before I was always traveling and waiting around, so I had lots of incidental time.  Now that I’m home, it seems I always have something that needs to be done- plus I’m doing a lot more performing, and lately those groups are taking up a lot of time (last weekend, for instance, I was on retreat, learning all the music for a spring concert.)  Sewing requires dedicated time, but not necessarily over a long period.  But don’t worry if I’ve been all about the sewing lately – I am not giving up knitting, I’ve just been soaking up all sorts of information.  I do love to learn new things, and I am nothing if not obsessive about learning to do things the right way.  And I really need some new clothes.

I’ve been looking for cardigans to make when I finish Salina.  My black cardigan was purchased in, no kidding, 1998.  It’s not really black anymore.  I’m still deciding on what pattern to make, and considering my glacial progress, I have time!

I do have loads of fashion inspiration though.  For instance, I love everything Emma wears on Glee (and Marc and I are way more obsessed with that show than we have any right to be!) So I have a new blog added to my blogroll… WWEPW (What Would Emma Pillsbury wear.)  It’s possible that we went as Emma and Ken for Halloween.  No one knew who we were, but hey we had fun (it’s better if you can see that he’s in gym shorts and I’m wearing rubber gloves.)

Ok, enough randomness – hope everyone is having a great week!