Grand Rapids Public Musuem

Yesterday, I made a quick trip to the Public Museum here in Grand Rapids. It was conveniently located across the street from our hotel. Somehow I waited until the end of the week to get to it, but it happened nonetheless. I loved the "Grand Rapids" pride it had. I think visiting a local museum is a must. I knew nothing about the city and left with a wealth of knowledge. This picture is a re-creation of the streets of downtown Grand Rapids at the turn of the century.

This is a giant steam engine that was used at one of the many furniture stores. Grand Rapids was known as the "Furniture City" and to quote a sign I saw, "people all the way from Nebraska even ordered their furniture from Grand Rapids."

They had many furniture displays, this being one of my favorites.

They had a really cool 1950's dress exhibit. These dresses were worn by 2 sisters at events all around Grand Rapids and the University of Michigan. There's a story next to each dress about the event.

A Visit with the Michigan Barrys

After our family-less Thanksgiving in Dayton, we were excited to get to Michigan where my Grandfather's brother and his family live. We headed over to Lansing (well, actually DeWitt) from Grand Rapids on Monday afternoon for dinner at cousin Marilyn's. I know, you're already confused. There were 20 family members there including 5 really cute kids. You should quiz Steven on all their names next time you see him.

Obviously, I'm in the orange. I wore that sweater so you could find me in any picture and if I was lost in the woods. My cousin Emily is in the black. She'd be my first cousin, once removed. That means her mom and my mom are first cousin. Are you all following along and taking notes?

The two kids in this picture are Chase and Ava. They are Emily's brother Josh's kids. So I guess that makes them either 2nd cousins or 1st cousins, twice removed.

Seated on the couch are some more first cousins, once removed. From the left; Tim's girls Emma and Andrea and then Emily.

I'm sure you can spot me, holding the newest member of the Barry clan. Charlotte was born in August and is Emily's daughter.

A Christmas Post

Click to link to a blog about fashion on tour.

I want this elf so bad. Doesn't he just scream cuteness??!! I found him at Von Maur one of the last days I was home in October. Maybe he'll still be there in January?

It's Christmas in the pit. I started this book to get in the holiday spirit. It's super long so it should last me a couple weeks.

Our tiny Christmas tree in the pit. Thanks, Concertmaster Will.

I found this nasty, old poinsettia backstage yesterday. Of course we needed it in the pit. I added a few ornaments to make it super festive.

Long Lost Toledo Pics

I have to say I enjoyed our time in Toledo. We made a road trip to Cleveland to see the Kings and we both made our maiden voyage to Ann Arbor. My cousins Phyllis and Marty came to see the show too!

This is the cutest stage we've had so far.

The newspaper ad for Les Mis in Toledo. I find this hilarious.

Dressing a Musician

A fellow tour mate and blogger, Rachel, did a little photo shoot with me and our violist yesterday. Her blog is called Fashion on Tour. In the spirit of our upcoming photo shoot and interview on her blog, I decided to go a little further into whys and whats musicians wear when performing. These are just my favorites and my opinions and probably don't jive with others, but I have been doing this for quite sometime and I've had my share of fashion mishaps when performing. Trust me, I can remember the concerts where I wore that shirt that was see-through or those pants that were too tight. I can't remember the music because I was too focused on my comfort level.

Here's an example of a great pant to wear for a concert. I love tuxedo pants. They are a quick way to make you feel really dressed up and ready to play a great concert. I have a pair of Calvin Klein tuxedo pants that I bring out whenever I have an "important" concert.

These are my go to pants for performing. They are from the Limited. I think they make a great pant. They hold up really well after laundering and you never have to worry about pressing them. Which is a total plus when you're driving to and from gigs. 

For the pit something more casual is just right. Playing 8 shows a week means comfort is key. These are my favorite pit jeans. They are from Sebastian McCall. They are a medium rise so you aren't spending the whole gig pulling up your pants. They have a little stretch in them too so you can actually breathe when playing.

I love this top because the detail is high. This means while I'm playing the audience could actually see it. Having a cute detail in the middle or bottom gets lost once my horn is up. This is also a stretchy material, again making it easier to breathe. 

I love this flowy top. The sheer sleeves make it fun and unique. It also would look great on a string player as they were bowing. The flowy sleeves are perfect for that. This top is also great for that "post giant dinner" show when you don't want anything clinging to you.

I'm a huge fan of an empire waist shirt to perform in. Anything that stays away from my stomach when I'm playing makes me so much more comfortable. I'm a wind player, so yes I obsess about my stomach when playing. Plus, I love the detail on this shirt. I know this sounds vain, but if I feel good in my clothes I know I'll play better. It's all part of the show you put on.

Shoes must be closed-toed. Every group you play with specifies this. I love flats because I'm tall and heels mess up where my horn hits my face. Remember, the horn sits on my leg. If I raise it up with heels, I have to change how I play. I love this Steve Madden pair because they would look fancy but also comfortable.

These are a great little kitten heel. They seem like they would be sturdy. This is important for almost all musicians as keeping on feet on the group and solid is important to playing. I like the bow detail because it would peek out.

If I were to play in a heel, I would pick a wedge like these. The wedge would give me more support. They are also easier to walk in. I love the suede on this one too. 

Now pardon me for this slight change of topic, but I have to discuss classical musician soloists. I have gone to numerous concerts where the soloists has the worst style. I know these people do not have stylists, but I think maybe they should. Here is my biggest rule for soloists.

Don't wear spaghetti straps- sitting in the top row of a concert hall, we only see an ill-fitting dress. We have no clue the spaghetti strap even exists. 

Take this dress for example, you're the soloist for go for it: metallic, bright colors, shiny, lots of big details. That's what we want to see. I love the gold metallic dress and the one-shoulder is on the perfect side for a violin soloist.

This has opera star written all over it. The bright color and big collar will look great even from the nose-bleed seats. The big shiny belt is perfect too.

This is such a beautiful color. I love the flowy sleeve and big flower detail.

This is such a modern looking dress. The color would really pop against the black of an orchestra. The straps are just big enough that they would be seen from a far distance. The fit of this dress is really great too.

Miami Valley Huskers

We had a great time yesterday in Centerville, Ohio. It was there, just a quick 15 minute drive from Dayton, that we met the Miami Valley Alumni Association of the University of Nebraska. They reserve a section of a sports bar and watch the games together. They had prizes (of which I won two!), several contests, and group cheers. It made our Black Friday one of the best days!

While we were there, I started asking a guy I met about downtown Dayton. Where we're staying downtown it's like a ghost town. There's no one on the streets except creepy homeless men who hide behind trees. But there's this gorgeous hall, the Schuster Center, stuck right in the middle of all this darkness. The picture to the right is of the ceiling in Schuster Hall. It's one of the most beautiful halls we've played.

Back to my story about downtown Dayton, the guy said that Dayton made the huge mistake of not annexing any of the towns or suburbs in its vicinity. The actual city of Dayton has a very small tax base and therefore has no money to draw on for revitalizing its downtown. This was evident as we took the short drive to the mall in the suburbs. After about 10 blocks we were out of Dayton and in the affluent suburb of Oakwood, Ohio. It turned from devastation to beauty in mere seconds.

Here's an example of the gorgeous houses in Oakwood.

The guy continued on to explain the key differences that exist when a town annexes its suburbs. Take Omaha for example, Omaha has a full-time mayor and city council that has fought to annex every suburb all the way out to Elkhorn. As much as those of you in Elkhorn are mad about this, this is the reason why Omaha has a fantastic downtown area (among many other things). There are shops, entertainment, and restaurants. It's fun to go downtown to the Old Market. It's a destination spot. It's also fun to host things like the College World Series. I don't think they'd ever be able to do something like that in Dayton. The bottom line is Dayton doesn't have the tax base to support anything like that. They also have a part-time mayor and a hired city manager who can point the finger wherever he wants when something goes wrong. 

And when you look at the opportunities that the Omaha Public Schools have and compare then to a place like Dayton or even Cleveland for that matter. Cleveland has the same kind of problem as Dayton in regards to the suburbs. The OPS system assures that all schools no matter whether they're in the poorest neighborhoods get an adequate amount of funding. Seeing these cities and downtowns up close and personal makes this idea and way of structuring cities so clear to me. 

Today

Today I'm giving thanks for switching to GMAIL. It's the best email provider. They are changing their look and unlike my nemesis, Facebook, they are actually telling you how and why they're updating it. You can even watch a video about it so you understand the new features. So, thank you, Gmail. Just another little thing I'm thankful for today.