carolinesmode35432pic: caroline’s mode

It’s still pretty rainy and cool here, but with spring around the corner, it’s impending bloom. I’ve pulled out all of my navy, white, and black t-shirts, I’m ironing my khaki shorts, and lovingly tying my scarves in anticipation of summer. I’ve got a pair of K. Jacques, and hopefully another on the way soon in the mail. What are your plans for your summer wardrobe?

I haven’t been blogging much, but here’s a list of several projects which are in the works, so you can see why I’ve had little time:

  • Still working on lining up a rehearsal space/a small studio apartment for when our lease expires at the end of July. We’ve visited/priced several likely candidates and are now just waiting for vacancies.
  • Downsizing. De-cluttering. Streamlining belongings.
  • My money for the next couple months is going toward buying a new amp/cabinet combo for my bass, so that I’ll have the big rig set up permanently at the practice space, and a lightweight rig for loading in and out of the car. So, sadly, no clothing purchases for a few months.
  • Job hunting for next fall’s teaching position (ugh). Still waiting to hear if they’ll have funding to continue at my current school, but not counting on it just in case.
  • Practicing more (4 hours a day on work days, more on weekends). Time to really build some skills if I’m going to be doing this for the rest of my life.
  • Putting together a book of charts and arrangements.
  • Going no sugar (except for eating fruit). As a life-long candy addict, this is hugely difficult. I read “Fat Chance” by Robert Lustig, after hearing his interview on NPR, and it opened my eyes to the impact tons of sugar in your diet can have. Tentatively hoping for a bit of weight loss to accompany the removal of sugar.

What are you looking forward to about summer?

 

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I’ve been taking a bit of a hiatus from the blog lately in an effort to avoid fashion and the accompanying desire to spend money on clothing. In a few months, my husband and I will have two credit cards and a car loan paid off, and I’ve been wanting to remove temptation as much as possible in the meantime.

We’ve decided to bite the bullet this summer and downsize to a 275-300 sq ft studio, after our current lease (an 800 sq ft apartment) expires. In addition, we’ll also rent a rehearsal studio for all of our instruments and practicing needs, so that will be a nice change from annoyed neighbors and restricted practice hours. Above is a picture of one of the floor plans in a building I hope we’ll be able to rent in July.

It will be a bit of an adventure, but I think it will allow us to save more money. Also, I’ve lived on a cruise ship for four years (sharing a room with four people), and for another job lived out of a motel room, and lived in a 115 sq ft studio for two years, so I think I’m better equipped to handle the transition than some.

Last week I boxed up all dishes except for 2 complete place servings; today, I gave away two armchairs and a coffee table. Things are looking less cluttered, and now it doesn’t take an hour to wash dishes (no dishwasher). Strangely liberating, and slightly scary at the same time.

I just built my first website today! I took a couple CSS and HTML classes a few years ago and finally got up the nerve to figure out how web hosting, etc. works. Here are the results:

http://www.jasonpalmerpercussion.com/

I’m proud that I built it all on my own, just using Text Editor (no DreamWeaver or any other programs). It’s basic for now, but as I learn more about adding multimedia, JavaScript, etc., I’m planning on making it more interactive.

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I’ve been a bit AWOL lately; last week was the Portland Jazz Festival, a pretty big deal for us jazzers in town. While we’re a mid-sized city, we manage to have a large festival that really stands up well next to any of the major festivals nationwide.

I played 3 concerts for the festival, and attended 3 others; now it’s time to hibernate for a week or so and recover. I got to see some of my favorites–Nancy King, Steve Kuhn, Joey Baron, and I also got to play with some of my favorites–George Colligan and Randy Porter. Now it’s time to get a little sleep!

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