Cuteness Upgrade

Apparently the acquisition of red and white heart-printed kinda alpine-style pom pom hat, white mittens with applique hearts and matching scarf constituted a "cuteness upgrade" one fine November morning in Pittsburgh, PA, according to the boys packing the truck. Sorry, pink and white striped hat/scarf set from Target - the cuteness has been upgraded. Although I may have to dial it down a notch - I don't know if these kids can handle it. We may go into cuteness overload. Ah, if they only knew how cute I really was, in a normal universe where I'm not forced to exist in sneakers and sweatpants. Grrrrrr...

Today was, if not a cuteness upgrade, certainly a convenience upgrade. Monday we were in the Carnegie Music Hall.
It is, don't get me wrong, absa-fucking-lutely gorgeous, and cute as a button - a really fancy button. It's like a doll's version of an opera house, and I couldn't resist quietly singing a little Mo' (Mozart, that is) in the halls. Nor was I alone - the acoustics are so good it was impossible not to sing, and the boys were all singin' away as well (although, surprisingly, no one else was feeling like Blondchen from Die Entfurung auf dem Serial. Whaddyaknow.) Anyhoo, music hall = good accoustics but also music hall = drums and pianos left everywhere, no curtain, no wingspace. All the set pieces (walls, doors, stoves, etc.) that usually live backstage were just chilling onstage, and we had to run up a flight of stairs for all of our costume changes, as flashing the children is generally discouraged. Add to all this business that we usually have six crew members and today we had...two. Now don't get me wrong, Antoine and Darnell kicked ass, but they didn't kick four extra people's worth of ass.

Now, today, in glamorous (ha!) Dayton, Ohio, we were once again in a sort-of musical hall; the Performance Place, home of the Dayton Philharmonic. However, this was a BIG theatre, with wings, curtains, dressing rooms and (be still my heart) a union crew who had already unloaded half the truck by the time we were out of the van! I know - hot fire. There was naught for me to do but sprawl out on the couch in the Conductor's Room I had generously bestowed upon myself and Other Actress. Ah - turns out it's good to be the Conductor.

After a convivial lunch at Pizzeria Uno, I drove our merry van from Dayton to Cleveland. It's gotten to the point where we've driven across Ohio again and again enough that I recognize some of the rivers (Hello, Big Darby!). Scary. As driver, I subjected everyone to an orgy of Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. It was pretty quiet - I'm guessing everyone was busy trying to asphyxiate themselves with carbon monoxide. Despite my best efforts to drive them all to suicide with Disney tween pop, we arrived in Cleveland in one piece, and enjoyed the chinese restaurant on the ground floor of our hotel.

Fortune cookie: You will soon recieve an usual gift.
Hmmm...I'm hoping it's, like, a shetland pony and not, you know, the bubonic plague.

Oh MAN election day is like scary Christmas. The anticipation is HUGE and I can't wait to see what happens but I almost don't want to know...AUUUUGH. Well, now there's nothing to do but sit tight in my Victoria's Secret Pink VOTE! underwear and wait...