Schlo Mama Road Trip: Part 1

I moved out of Virginia today. 

To my friends that have welcomed me in VA, Thank you for your beautiful and creative support. This past year has been a time of huge growth in my life and sharing it with you and growing together is rewarding and humbling. VA and AMGT peeps, I miss you already and I hope to see you next May at graduation (or the UK Course!!)

*ROAD TRIP: Part 1*

Arlington, DC, Alexandria, Tennessee 

We packed and loaded the car all day yesterday and hit the road early this morning. We made it to Cookeville TN, tomorrow we visit the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. 

Seeing GMU Arlington

Alexandria for oysters

Alexandria crystal player, amazing tones

Iwo Jima memorial

Arlington National Cemetery 

The National Tree in front of the White House

White House!

Smithsonian National Gallery 

My mother. She needed to erase something.

Uh... I don't think this guy feels very well...

Smithsonian Natural History Museum

Wine tasting stop #1: Narmada Vineyard

Wine tasting stop #3: Pearmund Vineyard

And in this one we are showing off our wine stained teeth, 

an offering to the wine gods.

You can't see #2. 

In which my car, Fancy Grace Manners, gets attacked by a carwash.

In which we visit GMU Fairfax main campus, 

that is George Mason leering over my shoulder.

We got to Tennessee!

In which we learn more about TN BBQ. And Sharpie walls.

So far we have been having a wonderful time :)

I am so very excited to get back to Houston to see John Darling.

Love & Light
JSchloHard

Ketchup and The Future

I have not written since June. What a slacker!
A lot has happened since that time;

• Summer school, including a class in Brazil...
• A Trip to Alaska to see my friends and family, and to help celebrate a besties wedding,
• A Trip to Texas to celebrate John Darling and my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY (that was nice :D)
• Multiple visits from John Darling here in VA... the spontaneity of some of the visits!
• Work at Center for the Arts as hospitality and artists services!

...And now I am finishing up the Fall semester, preparing to leave Virginia and head back the way I came. I am getting sad already knowing I will be leaving some amazing people here in Virginia, people who have opened their hearts and let me in... knowing full well that I am a bit crazy and a bit unusual, they have been so kind and accepting. There are friendships here that I will definitely miss a lot. Thank jeebus for Facebook.

The end is in sight. The train that brings me to the end is starting to roll on the tracks and I can only continue to check things off my 'to-do' list and hope that I have planned accordingly.

Here is the Master Plan...

1. Finish the fall semester (if it doesn't kill me first)
2. Jo Mamma comes to VA
3. We pack all my stuff (and sell most of it!)
4. Jo Mamma and I drive to Texas for Christmas with the Inlaws
5. Celebrate New Years with John Darling
6. Take off for Edinburgh... start internship with the Royal Lyceum Theatre!
7. May 17th GRADUATE with a Masters in Arts Management
8. Participate in one last course that travels to London...
9. End of June- Forever..... move BACK IN WITH MY HUSBAND FOR GOOD!!!!!!
10. Find a job and rule the world.

But right now?? Work calls. Off to work the Shanghai Ballet tonight!

xo
Love & Light
JSchloHard

Ps. One of my besties is pregnant. I will be an Auntie again :) I am so excited for the Maples! Check out her blog, Maple & Me, and see how she and Mr. Maple live life in the frozen north... www.annalgh.wordpress.com

AND check out the inspired beauty of intentional living with my other Besties blog, Bunchberry Farm ! Her words are inspirational and endearing... www.bunchberryfarm.blogspot.com

Inspired community

This post is pretty late. But whatevs. Deal with it people!

So last month I had the pleasure of helping out with The Empty House Studio to produce an evening of deliciousness and inspired cooking. 

The chefs (quote from Sarah Coffin at The Empty House Studio): "Katie and Jonathan live in NYC... having worked in kitchens like Blue Hill, Parm, and La Mar. This intimate evening will be a great chance for them to share their love of beautiful, seasonal, food done well."

... And man it was good. Each plate was inspired for each guest, using seasonal delicious delights. We hustled around this beautiful home and serviced a few tables for a dining experience that lasted about 3-4 hours for each individual table. It was fun. And pretty. And tasty. And inspiring to see and work with people that love food, community, and artful intentions that fully embrace the power of creativity. Sarah has a much better write up about the event here... "the pixie and scout or love in age of restaurants"

Misc. pictures from that evening: (missing is a pic of chef Jonathan...)

The Pixie and the Scout

Sign by Henri

Setting up

before the madness

Katie prepping

Katie plating cheese and charcuterie

salads

dessert- strawberries with creme basil and strawberry granita

No pictures of the entrees, we were just too busy!
Needless to say my food loving brain and belly were inspired. Soon after I went out and bought a bunch of the seasonal veggies they used and got back in the kitchen.

I also deviated from my usual 'no bread or sugars' for the Pixie and the Scout evening and for my meal because... I don't have to explain why to you, look how delicious it all was!

MY dishes days later

roasted beets, steamed beet greens, prosciutto, 

goat cheese, fennel greens, fennel root

fresh rosemary bread, truffle oil, salt and pepper

roasted beets

I love having a fancy shmancy cheese/meat/beer/wine store a block away!!!

Prosciutto, rosemary bread, strawberries, fennel greens, truffle oil

Call your mother!

XO
JSchloHard

AMGT Spring 2013: In Doodles

I finished my finals.
Done with the first semester of graduate school... whew!
That was fun/difficult/inspiring/challenging/enlightening... all the things always!
Let's do more in a few weeks! Summer school, aw yeah.
Thank you to my friends and family for the support that you have all shown. I appreciate it :)

Management... It has been quite the shift for me... not just physically... to recognize that there is work for me to do off stage. Acting has been a HUGE part of my life for way over ten years. I am working to see that this is a progression and not a different path all together. My life acting and my life in arts management can and will live together, they cannot be separated. This I must believe :)

Now I am cleaning up the wreck that comes with the end of the semester, putting away the notebooks, cleaning out the binders, prepping to welcome another onslaught of school work that I volunteered for.

In my program I recognize how many artists are involved in this choice as well... most of us start with the art and never let it go...
One thing about being back in school that I greatly missed is DOODLING. I forgot that I used to doodle and draw every. single. day. and that it was a simple and small outlet for creative energy that I have really really missed! I have embraced my doodling and decided to save them all from this semester. I swear it helps me concentrate in class.

The following is titles  "Masters in Arts Management, Spring Semester 2013: In Doodles."

Things I've Seen Thursday

Spring jumps straight to summer...

My immediate world is consumed with two things only.
School & the multitude of blossoms that have appeared.
The entire DC Basin is looking up, gazing at the trees in their "Peak Bloom" with colors of white, light purple, magenta, light pink, greens, and yellows.
I pause briefly under trees to breathe in the sweet freshness that their flowers create as they signal to the many big bumble bees "I am here, take what you will."
I am sorry, my dear friends and family in Alaska... but you will not want to hear this next bit...
It is 90F today. And it is glorious. Scary, because I know this is just the beginning of the extreme heat that the DC area experiences... but it is very nice to be somewhere warm in April.

Below is a big long album of Things I've Seen while out on my daily walks.

Enjoy the blooms...

This is a dream picture for me... VW van and the blooms!

GIANT bumble bees!!

Carpets made of petals...

Love & LIGHT!
JSchloHard