Isabella Jayme, 2009 Sally Paxson Davis Memorial Vocal Scholarship recipient

Congratulations to Isabella Jayme for winning this year’s Sally Paxson Davis Memorial Vocal Scholarship.  Isabella is a student of voice coach, Stephanie O’Dea at Darlington Arts Center in Garnet Valley, PA.  Isabella’s song choices were Handel’s Bel Piacere and Goodnight My Someone from Music Man.  Accompanying Isabella on piano was Dawn Stevens.

Annual Sally Paxson Davis scholarship auditions are held at Darlington Arts Center every fall and is open to voice students ages 14-20 in the Delaware Valley region.  The scholarship covers voice lessons at the center for the Spring 2010 semester.

Following in the footsteps of her mother, Adele Warden Paxson, Sally was currently serving as chairman of the board of  The Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. Founded in 1934 by Sally’s grandmother, Helen Corning Warden, The Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) has become known as the world’s premier full-scholarship opera training program. (excerpt taken from AVA website)

Congratulations and thank you to Stephanie, Isabella and Dawn.

Ahhh!  Having left the Land of Enchantment a little over two years ago,  my husband and I and litter of four were in search of the nearest and most authentic mexican restaurant that could match those we frequented in sunny Albuquerque, Rio Rancho and Santa Fe.  Alas, one after another, mediocrity led to major disappointments within a 15 mile radius.  In desperation, any restaurant with the word “el”, “tortilla”, “cantina”, “burrito”, “taqueria”  became our destination.  Finally, this weekend my husband and I en route to Starbucks caught site of a little restaurant called the Red Sombrero sandwiched between your typical strip mall storefronts.  Yes, the Red Sombrero.  We’ve seen it before but nodded it off as just one of those 5 pounder stuffed with rice in thai peanut sauce burrito joints.  But that it is not.  I went for the $2.29 taco with pork, onions and cilantro with lime nicely seasoned.  Perfect.  My husband’s chicken enchilada plate was superb.  Finally. Whew!

And while the kids were off to grandma’s, we took a drive into Philly and visited our old neighborhood at 10th and Locust.  Not much has changed other than a few restaurants down the block.  For lunch we stepped into Kanella, a Greek restaurant that served undeniably delicious, fresh and real food.  They had a great wait staff not shy to have interesting conversations with you and still stay on top of things.  We met the owner who told us about their evening fare. Very nice.  BYOB. Kanella’s is our new favorite Philly place to eat.

My relationship with the blogosphere has been spotty at best lately.  The latest entries came quite easily, exploiting our sudden and voracious appetite for live concerts.

Dare I go deep…but all this frolicking around having a smashing good time means nothing without a family and a home to return to.  We keep each other on track, bittersweet at times, but in the end we feel better about ourselves and about each other.  It’s a bit of a generalization.  Not all families are good for each other.  I know, I see it all around me.  And it can be quite sad. 

Richard

Quick pictures from a splendid evening.  I’ll recap later cuz there’s so much to tell….especially after you meet the band!!

Keane, Tower Theater

Tim

Tom Chaplin

Congratulations to Isabella for winning the senior division at the 2009 Athena Scholarship competition at Darlington Arts Center.  Isabella’s current voice teacher is Joshua Graves. 

Her two song choices were: Nina by Pergolesi and I Attempt From Love Sickness by Purcell.  A word about the Athena Scholarship at Darlington Arts Center:

In honor of former director Athena Sophocles, this scholarship is awarded for private music lessons at Darlington and is granted solely on the basis of ability and talent to Middle and High School students. Auditions are held in the spring of each year.

Thank you to Joshua and Dawn Stevens (accompanist) for their talents, time and guidance.

We  found this interesting pic art of Obama as we meandered down a narrow street near our hotel.  BTW, the graffiti art in Barcelona was amazing.

If you can interpret this, please do.

Arc de Triomf

We are back from Barcelona and, well, I’ll let the pictures do the talking. These are just a few of hundreds I took on the trip.

streets of Barcelona

La Sagrada Familia

Montserrat

a tapas restaurant

the Barcelona Cathedral

a candid moment

sipping cappuccino

A Good Friday procession on La Rambla

another shot atop Montserrat

Parc de la Ciutadella

Hey!  Bella here! Just wanted to send my thanks to everyone for remembering my 14th birthday!  Whoo! Hoo!  Does anyone remember what my mom was doing when she was 14?  Don’t answer that one.

Special shout out to Fairy Godmother, Lola and Lolo, Tina and Nick!

Another outing to see and hear new music as presented by one of the greatest inventions of all time, satellite radio.

The Whigs and Dead Confederate will be playing at The Note in West Chester, PA.  It should be a great up-close and personal show.  Although once again folks our age will be the minority in a crowd teeming with beer smitten college kids, I’m sure I’ll find a way to enjoy myself.  How can I not with my cool hubby.

The Whigs

Right Hand On My Heart

Like A Vibration

Dead Confederate, The Rat