Friday, August 31, 2012

back with the boys


Tonight the boys will play a little festival near Vienna and after months of tour withdrawals I'm back with the team :) Cheers all around!
I'm back in Vienna for a couple days after an amazing time in Salzburg, lots of pics and funny stories to come. Feel like I need to detox for the next week from all the partying and sleep depravation :)
Happy weekend everyone x

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

end of an era

Amazing friends and a truckload of the greatest memories... good bye EheG, it was a pleasure being a guest too many times to count :)

Monday, August 27, 2012

blueberry picking






Ruth is the queen of getting this bunch of besties together and to end the era of EheG she got us all together to go blueberry picking and make jam.
It was a ridiculously hot day and we ventured out to the blueberry field (isn't the scenery amazing). The lady working the booth almost crushed our hopes when she told us that there is nothing left but we can go and get some raspberries haha. We went to the blueberry bushes anyway and took whatever we could find, which turned out to be 2.5kg before heading to the raspberries and filling another bucket. Just in case we didn't find any we had reserved another 2kg from the blueberry lady. The berries she pulled out of the fridge were the best treat we had after the scorching sun beat down on us!
I had to go back to work but the girls were busy bees in the kitchen and made delicious jam. Voila.

Monday, August 20, 2012

work and play










Weird to think that two months ago I knew only a handful of them and all of a sudden it feels like we all went so summer camp and work hard and play when the lights go out :)
So many beautiful people inside and out! Love them.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

current obsession

such a sweet song... reasons to like Giantree listed here :)

Injustice
Hate it more than anything. Too much of it happening in the world all the time.
Working for the Salzburg festival is like falling into a big black hole - you have no idea what's going on with the rest of the world. So self-absorbed! Anyway I was so disappointed when I read the news yesterday about the Pussy Riot verdict.
Say what you want, but we need a lot more people standing up to fight for freedom, justice and a better world. You can read their closing statements here, I highly recommend it. 

Thursday, August 16, 2012

a follow up on words

Last week I wrote about words and why they matter. How much hurt they can cause and on the other hand how much life they can bring.
With this in mind I started thinking about the words we speak over ourselves. I know it's got a lot to do with self image and partly that is sadly shaped by what others have said about us in the past.
All these things are so connected and we have to be careful not only about how we speak about others but also how we speak about ourselves.
The first time I ever went rock climbing was a scary endeavour. For a start: I'm afraid of heights. Anyway all my friends seemed to be climbing and as we all went camping in Italy it was a given that I was going to try it. It is nothing short of miraculous that I managed to climb up, I tried to give up several times but I owe a lot to Jetty for pushing me way out of my comfort zone and saying "You can do this!" over and over again. Let me tell you standing on top of that rock was amazing, but climbing up is the easy part. Trusting the person on the ground, that you can't even see anymore, but mostly trusting that thin rope to hold you is terrifying. So the whole way down was me telling my soul to be still, praying I'd make it down alive haha (Don't want to know if I would have told myself that I can't do this, having a melt down on the mountain... I'd probably still be there!!)
I guess David knew about this whole dilemma when he was writing the Psalms, he speaks to his soul and tells it to worship or stop being downcast.
There is so much power in the words we speak to ourselves. Maybe we have to scratch "I can't do this", "I'm not good enough", "why should this happen to me", "why try" out of our vocabulary. You haven't even tried! How in the world do you know if you're not good enough, can't do it, etc...
One of my friends is struggling to believe that anything good will come his way right now. Which is a mystery as it's nothing short of spectacular where he is right now and how he got there. Why would it stop right there? But he speaks about this situation with such negativity that it's crazy! Not believing in himself or in anything it seems. You have to be careful that these thoughts don't take root in your mind and go round and round.
Funny thing is, while I was walking up the hill the other day, I was praying or rather screaming that God will reveal himself to be his flippin shepherd. Yesterday he tells me that he read Psalm 23 "The Lord is my Shepherd" haha
If He speaks well of you, why even bother speaking bad about yourself! It's a lot of wasted energy ;)

Monday, August 13, 2012

life lately and what's ahead


The last couple weeks have been mental, way more relaxed than this time last year but still too many rehearsals, dress rehearsals and opening nights than anyone should have in a month. It's been great, crazy, funny (thank God for impromptu stage parties), exhausting and even times where you don't know wether you should laugh or cry.
On the other hand I could sing you a song about a God who provides, big time! I'm so excited to be moving back to London. Now that accommodation is sorted and my flight booked, the days are numbered and a few celebrations in Vienna are in the making before I take off. Nothing like getting everyone together before leaving.
There will also be two weddings to attend, one of them doubling again as a college reunion hip hip hooray and since I'm in the area a quick trip to see my Swiss friends and Simon! Life is full and exciting.
Every now and again I still manage to sneak in some fun time with my friends at EheG though and I'm thankful for nights where we just get to hang out and order pizza and have some drinks :)
Have a fantastic week everyone xx

Sunday, August 12, 2012

along the river

Somewhat of a nature post.
I've been going for walks to balance a lot of sitting around during rehearsals. As I live next to the river, most days I end up trekking up and down next to it. You are still in the city yet it feels like somewhere  in the middle of the country side. One day I brought my camera along and decided to just shoot wild flowers growing along the way...









Love the variety and makes me think about the amazing Creator who made them all :)
Happy Sunday everyone x

Thursday, August 9, 2012

adventures in baking

Has anyone ever stumbled upon The Forest Feast? It might just be the most picturesque food blog I've ever come across.
They had a peach ricotta tart recipe up a few days ago and as I had nectarines sitting in the kitchen I decided to make it.


Definitely doesn't look as pretty as the one they pictured but it was delicious! Plus these are ingredients everyone will have sitting in their kitchen in the summer and it is dead easy :)

my glorious - tap tap revenge

The boys, well their music is featured in a game for smartphones and the ipad. They made a few videos for it but this one's my favourite.

I remember filming this last year when we were playing in Vienna with the lovely JJs. The very last scene is my favourite and not because I walk out of an elevator but because of what happens next haha
Anyway they are back in Germany this weekend playing Open Flair in Eschwege. 

Sunday, August 5, 2012

on words

I'm not a very articulate person.
Mostly my mouth is way behind in expressing what I've been thinking. For example after a conversation I think of the perfect things to say, but while I'm in it I can't say it for the life of me. It's annoying but I doubt that it will ever change.
I've been thinking a lot about words lately. Probably because the work environment I am in now can be brutal when it gets stressful. People snap and I guess it is their way of venting and letting off steam. Things get blown out of proportion and there's a lot of talking behind people's backs involved. You would think that everyone should be too old to do that, but sadly it isn't. Sometimes I even wonder if people just make up things because they need to bitch and moan about something. Weird thing about it, it always snowballs!
In the process of all this, I've had a couple people come up to me and express how hurt they get by the tone of those yelling at them and I all too well know that feeling. It leaves you feeling miserable, recking your brain as to what you did wrong.
I detest yelling, I don't ever raise my voice (maybe when I fight with my brother). Can't even shout in dangerous situations when you yell to help someone - I'm too quiet and people can't hear me haha I don't feel the need to shout and to be honest I really don't see the point in it. The worst is when people say beforehand, "Don't take it personal". What does that even mean? Of course you will take it personal, it was directed at you.
The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about words and the tongue and the way it works and doesn't work:
"The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit."
"Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."
"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."
and than the killer verse to bring it all together:
"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."
Isn't that crazy, yet we still talk to people as if they don't matter.
Maybe it is my firm believe that every person is precious and worthy of honour, that I watch my words. Rather not say anything before I say something stupid. Not that I'm better than anyone else - I fail all the time - but I know that I better watch my mouth. Things once said are hard to take back and I'm pretty sure I've hurt a lot of people by saying stupid, unconsidered things or the way I said them.
Let's all be better at this and speak life over people instead of destruction. The world will be a better place for it.
Happy Sunday everyone x

Friday, August 3, 2012

Das Labyrinth

It's opening night!!!
There will be a live audio streaming on OE1 from 7.30pm tonight, if you're interested.
If you're in Salzburg you can go and watch "Das Labyrinth" on the 20th and 31st of August on the Kapitelplatz. There is a large screen and for the first time they are live streaming certain operas and concerts and showing other productions from this year. In addition they still have operas from previous years on the big screen. It is a full schedule, for more information click here.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

walking and working

It's been lots of rehearsals and late nights over here (can I just mention how amazing cast and crew of this production are! Loveliest people and so far no drama), but in the morning I go for glorious walks, even the occasional run. Hooray for stretching and moving around after sitting for quite some time!
The thing with Salzburg is, that you don't have to go far to feel like you're in the countryside. Since we have the prettiest scenery around I brought my camera along...