41 down ... eleven to go...

What: #7 See a concert at the Kerrytown Concert House

When: November 25th
Where: Kerrytown
Why: There are beautiful venues to hear music in this area, and I've spent many hours doing so. Hill Auditorium. Michigan Theater. Fox Theater. Another much smaller venue, the Kerrytown Concert House, has very intimate seating for smaller chamber pieces. We saw Brahms' Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34. Both Elizabeth and I spent most of our school years playing in ensembles, so are used to being around musicians and live performances. It was unique to see in this setting, which is an historic home converted into this space and the musicians set up in the living room area. That would be so relaxing at the end of a long day, to come home and have musicians serenading me!

The size of this venue means that as audience members, we were mere feet away from the performers, and as they were on a platform, I noticed the feet of the string players more than usual, and how much they kick around and shuffle their feet and twist their toes under their chairs. It was nothing, however, compared to the intimacy between the pianist and her piano. My friend and I tried to be mature about it, but we eventually started passing notes to each other about what we were seeing. It went like this:

"I think the pianist might be getting the piano pregnant!" - E

"I was just thinking that she's making sex faces!" - S

"And movements...I had to look away!" - E

"Doesn't she know what she looks like?" - S

"Like a full-on maniac!" - E

So yeah, we had to employ all manner of techniques to keep from laughing, and every time the song started to climax, I started to get really nervous about what I'd be seeing. I had to find a distraction, and I found that I really focused on the sound of the viola. The viola?? Yes, it surprised me, too. I love the cello, but was drawn to the smooth simple notes being played by the viola. 

Overall, the piece they played wasn't my favorite. It reminded me of times in music rehearsals when we would sight read a piece, getting the right notes, but without the feeling behind it. Plus, I'm a bit of an orchestra snob, and if it's not a top tier ensemble, I'm just a very harsh critic. The combination of the pianist (honestly, I can't convey in words how outrageous it was, but trust me, it was soooo awkward!) and the fact that we were surrounded by all gray hairs, it just wasn't our cup of tea, so we left before it was over. Luckily, I had enjoyed a cup of hot cider with my dear friend, and lots of laughs, so that made it a great night!

40 down ... twelve to go...

What: #19 Wear a wig on a day other than Halloween

When: November 16th
Where: South Loop, Chicago
Why: A couple years ago, I dressed up with my friends as a trio of Raggedy Ann dolls and for the first time ever, wore a wig as part of my Halloween costume. Ever since, I've wanted to find another opportunity to wrap my hair up and don a new do. While the venue where this took place was not at all the traditional place to wear a wig - it was a sports bar where my college roommate and I watched the Michigan/Northwestern football game - at this point in the year, I can't get too fussy about how I'm getting items crossed off my list. I will say, this was an exercise in ignoring weird looks from strangers. There is no way my hair looked good, or normal. Or as sexy as it was supposed to look. The color, the cut, the accompanying outfit...it wasn't working. Maybe I'll stick with red yarn braids from now on!

39 down ... thirteen to go...

What: #16 Go to Second City in Chicago 

When: November 15th
Where: Chicago
Why: Visiting Chicago is always an enjoyable treat because I get to hang out with people I care about and thus my time is spent grabbing take-out, playing dominoes, chatting on the couch, and watching a favorite flick. This doesn't lend itself to getting out to see too much of the traditional offerings of the city. Over the years, I've definitely had some very cool city experiences - a boat tour featuring amazing architecture, ice-skating in the park, an outdoor concert at Millennium Park, etc. Second City is now added to that list of cool Chicago experiences! The show was pretty good, and the improv is really cool to watch. There were interesting themes (overuse of technology, aging, political issues) that were turned into pretty funny fodder. I really liked Katie Rich; she did a very similar skit to this...not entirely appropriate, but clever. And who knows, maybe one of these faces will be the next Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, or Stephen Colbert!

38 down ... fourteen to go...

What: #72 Hail a taxi cab

When: November 15th
Where: Uptown Chicago

SJP doing it right!

Why: Most of the occasions that I find myself in a big city, I'm visiting friends who take charge of our transportation needs, or I have my own car, or I utilize public transit options. Somehow, getting a cab always seemed like a luxury. Also, and quite possibly the bigger reason I avoided it, hailing a cab always seemed like a skill that was finely cultivated by years of city living, and as a suburban girl, I was untrained in the art. The whole process involves a series of gestures and keywords that the cab driver requires of his (or her) savvy passenger, and frankly, I just don't have enough street smarts to crack that code. Still, it seemed that hailing a cab is always portrayed as a cool worldly activity, so I wanted to give it a try.

During a weekend getaway to Chicago, we misjudged Friday evening's rush hour and ended up many blocks away from our restaurant with about seven minutes before our reservation. My footwear was decidedly more fashionable than functional, so a cab was really our only option. After getting up my courage and one failed feeble attempt, I was able to confidently flag down a cab that was going in the other direction and, through a series of aforementioned gestures, communicated that I needed to be going the other way and success, we were swiftly swept away in our taxi to our destination! 

37 down ... fifteen to go...

What: #93 Shop with the assistance of a personal shopper 

When: November 10th
Where: Somerset Collection

Better than trick-or-treating!

Why: Shopping is not my favorite thing. It is the combination of the effort involved in sorting through racks and racks of articles of clothing along with the actual high price of fashion. I tend to stick with a couple stores where I can walk in and pick out essential pieces. This, however, lends itself to creating a wardrobe of predictable attire, and at this point in my life, I'd like to be a little less predictable. When I spoke with the personal shopper at Nordstrom to set up this appointment, she asked basic questions: shirt and pant size, color preferences, general style, reason for wanting to update my wardrobe, etc. If any of you have spoken to me on the phone, as this individual did, would you peg me to be an 80-year-old woman who craves to dress just like any member of the Golden Girls clan? Well, this is apparently the vibe I put out in my description of my dream clothes. I'm not uber-trendy, but I keep up with my Glamour magazines and watch TV shows from this decade and so I'm quite certain I knew what style I was describing, and yet, there I was, faced with a room filled with Bea Arthur's wardrobe. 

Definitely a "don't" in my book!

Weirder yet, even after the shopping assistant met me and saw how these clothes looked on me, she continued to bring me more of the same! Eventually, we both had to get a little more direct in our requests ("less long weird sweater tunics, please" and "more things with coral colors, less things with accessories sewn onto them"). The whole process started to click and we worked up a sweat trying on these new clothes! Then the reality set in and we had to start asking how much something was before putting it on, because believe me, you do not want to find out the best pair of boots that you've ever put on in your life costs $1,000. Luckily, she was pretty good about sticking to the price point she was given for articles of clothing, even boots. Still, there was some rationalizing to be done before making the final purchase. We looked at individual pieces and said things like "If I keep this for 5 years and wear it once a week, that's only like $1 each time!" or "Well, I could have spent this on a plane ticket and have nothing to show for it; this I'll get to wear as long as I want!" or my favorite "If I clean off my bookshelves and sell 100 books on Amazon, it'll definitely pay for this!" Despite our reservations about the sums of money we spent, our personal shopping assistant informed us that most customers spend an average of $2,500 up to $20,000 on a typical spending spree. Jaws dropped. I assure you, neither of us spent that much, not even combined, but we'll still look like a million bucks!