London favorites nr 1: musicals!

My husband and I try to go to London every year in February. We love to see new musicals and to shop and eat there. This year was a bit more difficult, so we didn’t visit this year.

But… I wanted to go soooo bad, so we saved some money, we found a tiny hole in our busy schedule and I booked us a last minute 2 day trip to London.

Yay!

Normally we go four days. And then we like to see two musicals a day. (I know, we’re nuts, but we love it. And in a way, it’s a business trip too!)

So this time, we’re trying to squeeze in three musicals in two days.

We’re going just after Whitsun, so I can’t write about this trip, but I will tell you some of my highlights over the past few years!

This post is about musicals, musicals, musicals…

Singin' in the rain was one of my favorites. I loved the dancers. The old fashioned musical jazzdance and tapdance were gorgeous and it’s such a shame it’s not a part of many modern musicals.

We were in the front row and got wet… But it was totally worth it!

Matilda was also awesome.

As a musicaltheatre teacher it’s so great to see lots of talented kids on one stage. This is not a musical where there’s also a kid (like Miss Saigon), it’s a musical done by kids and supported by some adults.

Absolutely fantastic and my dream for our musicalschool.

The photo under Singin' in the rain was the stage of Matilda.

Avenue Q is one the first musicals I saw in London. 

I was with two friends and we also visited a lot of shows.

The last night, I decided to go to Avenue Q. Again. Second time that week. I was sitting in the second row and one of the actors winked at me, obviously recognizing me from a few nights ago. Awkward. I love musicals, I love to see a lot of them, but I am not a girly fan who asks for autographs and stuff. Again, awkward. Thankfully, the next time I saw the show was two years later. 

We will rock you! I can see this one over and over again.

In fact, I’ve seen it twice in London, once in Cologne (Germany) and once in the Netherlands. And it doesn’t get boring. I love the Queen music, the weird story (which is the worst actually), the great singers and the Bohemian Rhapsody in the end.

Nice little story:

A couple of years ago I was auditioning for a show (can’t remember which one). The pianist asked me what I was going to sing and when I said: “Somebody to love”, he was soooo excited.

He had been playing piano in the We Will Rock You orchestra for three years and totally missed that show. When I finished, he complimented me and told me how well I sang it. Cool! I've never sung that song better than that time. He was fantastic.

On the right we were visiting Shrek (loved it too).

The worst show I’ve ever seen in London?

There are two. One was Dirty Dancing. Great singers, great dancers.

But nobody puts Patrick Swayze in a corner.

It wasn’t the real stuff.

The second awful show was a play. Can’t remember the name. It was so dull.

My two friends went with me, because it was cheap. Why I went? Orlando Bloom was in it.

But listen to me my friend: Don’t ever let that be a reason to go to a play.

I’m so excited. Next week London!

Check back tomorrow for my favorite shopping and sightseeing in London!

Happy high five!

It’s a miracle. I’ve discovered there’s a DIY-er inside of me. One that actually finishes stuff. 

Did some awesome things this week!

1. Photoshoot.

I’m a terrible photographer, but a while ago I decided for my blog to take better pics. I’ve learned a lot since then. And now… I did a photoshoot of my beautiful pregnant friend! I’m still not very good, but I was pretty surprised how good it turned out.

2. Bear.

Made a bear cake for my pregnant friend (who is really not me! But I’m respecting her privacy, so am not showing a full picture of her). The cake is not that special, ‘cause I bake more often than I DIY, but I like the colours and flavours. There’s vanilla cake, cinnamon cake and chocolate cake.

High five!

I’m busy preparing everything for our musical The Wiz of Oz this weekend, so it’s a quick high five today!

Five top things:

1. Seeing my cute neeces again.

Don’t we look a lot like each other?!

2. Icecream!

Cinnamon icecream with sugared pieces of cinnamon inside. Yum!

3. More icecream!

My birthday was Sunday and my friends and hubs took me to my fave restaurant. This was dessert :-)

4. Cute notebook.

The same friends gave me this cute notebook! Handmade by her sister, I totally love it! (and do you recognize our logo on it? Cool!)

5. Flowers.

Bought myself some flowers! And yes, one vase is a Coca cola glass and the other one's a wine bottle.

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth!

Happy weekend!

Friday.

So after the very sad news my aunt had passed away, I was going through a lot of crazy things.

One moment so mad at myself for being too busy to visit her, other moments feeling better. Feeling guilty for feeling better.

Feeling joy seeing my students, who gave a lot of love this week. Most of them not knowing I was so sad.

So, here we are at the end of the week. The beginning of a weekend I do not want to start. Tomorrow is the funeral. But this is life. And we better celebrate it, than sit on our sad butts.

And because life always has a bright side, I better look at it today :-)

My five top things:

1. A nice present.

Our intern is leaving us and gave me two sorts of tea, chocolate and a box for tea. She is so sweet.

2. Villeroy and boch.

We have very expensive mugs, but we love to use them everyday. Why wait for special occasions? These are the espresso cup, the coffee mug and the tea mug (which I used for my cappuccino that morning).

3. Dinner date.

I saw my sweet and funny friend (and niece) Latoya and her boyfriend again, after months of not seeing her. She cooked us a delicious pasta and a Salad Caprese. I will leave out the part where we watched old videotapes of us lip syncing to the Backstreet Boys.

Oops, sorry for the weird iPhone-is-taking-a-picture-shadow.
And btw, the strawberry mint tea is great! 

Life.

So we run a business.
It's succesfull, it makes me happy, it makes other people smile and it's full of love. Lots and lots of love.

But running a business is also very hard work.
People always say how you can manage your own time, that you can take the day off when you want to. That's not true of course. Who is going to teach when we take a day off? Who will be answering all the emails? Who will do my work? Exactly, no one will. So I have to do it myself. If I decide to get up two hours late, I'll go to bed two hours late too.
But yes, this business is our choice, so I'm not complaining.

Except today.
I have been working for 5 weeks in a row now. Not a single day off. I counted my working hours one week and decided never to count it again. Insane. But still, not complaining.
So let me tell you about the part I hate.
You can't see your friends and family often and run a business at the same time.
And I missed some important stuff.
I couldn't see our nephew eating his cake on his first birthday.
I couldn't play silly games at the babyshower of my very dear friend.
I couldn't visit my sick aunt in the hospital.
And she died today.
She. Died. Today.

You can probably imagine how I feel.
And you may ask, is it all worth it? Well, the answer is probably yes. Some kid will say something sweet to me tomorrow and I will smile, thinking this is just life.
And life is not supposed to be easy. And though bad things happened, lots of good stuff happened too. Lots!
It is just called life.

But today, life sucks.