Sure, I had heard of the Black Keys, but that's really all I knew: the name. But when a friend asked me on Sunday night to go to their concert for the following day at Merriweather Post Pavilion, I thought: Why not? I love live music, and my only other plans for that night were to work out, so I cancelled my Pure Barre class to go to the show!
The first act was Ceramic Animal. I had never heard of this band before, but I liked their sound. In looking at their YouTube channel to find videos for this post, I saw that they haven't uploaded many videos at all, with their newest video from two years and the first video from seven years ago. In reading about them, the band is made up of three brothers plus two of their friends, and they self-produced and self-funded their first three albums. So maybe they're an older, scruffy band? Hopefully this tour will help boost things for them! Here are a few of their videos:
The second opener was Band of Horses. Just like with the Black Keys, I had heard their name before, but I couldn't tell you a single song they sing. I also enjoyed their rock 'n' roll sound, and I was particularly enamored with the fox design of their backdrop (in photo above). Why don't they have that on a tank-top?!
And then it was time for the Black Keys! My friend told me that it's really just two guys who are "the" Black Keys, and that they had a blues sound. I definitely could hear the blues influence in their music, but their beats were a little too fast for actual blues dancing, which is my jam. In doing some research, I saw that their bassist Richard Swift passed away in 2018, which is sad. I also learned that their duo name comes from a saying a friend of theirs used to use: he would call people he didn't like "D Flats and Black Keys." I knew black keys was in reference to piano keys, but I didn't get why they would pick that name since the two main guys don't play the keyboard. Now it makes sense!
I think the lead singer looks like an older, less attractive Ewan McGregor.
I was taken aback by the lighting/color effects that were used on the monitors: it was like they were trying to hurt your eyes and make the lead singer (Daniel Auerbach) look as bad as possible, all at the same time! Sometimes it felt like you needed 3D glasses, sometimes it was like looking through blinds, and most of the time the effects enhanced the wrinkles on the lead singer's forehead. Just, why? See what I mean:
But other than those visual notes, I did enjoy their show and their energy. Check out some of their videos:
Little Black Submarines (This was my favorite song of the night, although I wish the whole song were a ballad!)
Even though I wasn't familiar with most of this music, and it's probably not something I would listen to on my own, I still had a lot of fun. Going to a concert is way better than spending a Monday night at home!
*Apologies for my photos: I was taking pictures of the screens as opposed to the actual bands themselves. But I was thankful that we had seats inside the pavilion instead of on the lawn, because there had been a big thunderstorm before the show!
This past weekend I went to Jiffy Lube Live for the first time! I had never been to this venue before because I had heard such horror stories of the traffic and parking situation there. But my boyfriend was able to get $20 tickets from Goldstar to see OneRepublic in concert there. I figured I might as well have a fun time with him and then decide for myself if the venue is worth the hassle or not.
We arrived around 5:30pm so we could tailgate before the show. I think that was smart because we weren't rushing, and it meant getting into the parking lot was a breeze. So that part was easy! Gates opened at 6:00pm, so shortly after we made our way inside. There is quite the staircase to get onto the lawn (which is a little tricky when you're carrying lawn chairs), but the place is huge! I looked up the stats: Jiffy Lube Live can hold more than 25,000, while Merriweather Post Pavilion is closer to 19,000, and little Wolf Trap hovers only around 7,000. So this was quite the lawn!
We had brought our own snacks, so we didn't visit many of the vendors. But it looks like they have a good variety, from basic concert food (i.e. pizza, chicken tenders) to different things like tacos and plant-based burgers. There were also a TON of drink vendors. I liked that several were along the perimeter of the lawn so you didn't have to trek very far to get a drink. As with most venues these days, many of the drinks come in 16-20oz cans, which is a lot (plus your drink gets warm by the time you're getting to the second half of the can). But my boyfriend did buy us fun frozen drinks in plastic guitars!
And I only visited the restroom once early in the night, so I can't speak to how long the line gets for the ladies room. But it looked like there were a lot of stalls, and each had a clever label attached to it so that when you closed the door, it pushed a button and turned red so you knew that stall was in use. I like useful tricks like that! I also appreciated that they had paper towels instead of hand dryers. So much faster and more efficient! Plus I needed to wipe the sweat off of me from being outside in the humidity!
There were actually TWO openers for the show, so we definitely got our money's worth! The first opener was John K (not to be confused with John Kay). In doing my research for this post, I found out he was on American Idol not once, but twice! He has a very pop-like sound, and a voice kind of like Justin Bieber. I really liked his music! I didn't end up stopping at the merch table, but part of me was tempted to get his CD! Here are a few of his songs:
The next opener was NEEDTOBREATHE. I had never heard of this band before, although I did end up recognizing one of their songs. I liked their southern rock (i.e. country-like and sometimes bluesy) sound. A woman near us was a big fan and told us that the band got their start in Christian rock, so that gave us some context about their music. I almost bought some of their merch, too! Here's a taste of what they do:
Brother (I had heard this song but had no idea who sang it!)
Before the main act came on, both my boyfriend and I got warning notifications on our phones about a possible storm and even flash flooding. Part of me thought we should just leave right then to avoid the bad weather. But then we would have felt silly if it didn't rain, and we would have missed the big band. So we stuck around, but it did end up raining. Luckily we were prepared with umbrellas as well as chairs that kept us off the ground. We still got a little wet, but not nearly as bad as some people! We did get a short break in the rain, and I thought about leaving then, but we had only heard a handful of OneRepublic songs at that point. So we stayed and sat through another bout of rain. But they were worth it!
Before this show, the only song I could associate with OneRepublic was Apologize:
But they have a lot of other hits that I didn't realize were theirs! I had heard some of these songs plenty of times of the radio, but I didn't know who sang them. Now I do!
I also really enjoyed the mini-set (if you will) that Ryan Tedder, the band's lead singer, did in the middle of the show. It sounds like he is a really talented songwriter and has written songs for many other celebrities.* The list is very long, but here are a few he sang that night:
It really was a great show! We left before the first encore so we could beat the crowds (and get out of the rain). And because of that, it really wasn't difficult to leave the venue, either. I don't know what all the fuss was about! I have missed SO many country music concerts because I was avoiding this location, and for no good reason! I'll definitely need to come back!
A Midsummer Night's Dream is my favorite Shakespeare play. It's such a fun love story (that involves magic and fairies, btw), and it has a happy ending. I saw it at the Synetic Theater in 2013 (read that blog post here), and I saw it again as an outdoor show with the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company in the summer of 2018. I never get tired of it, and I always like to see new versions and reinterpretations of a story that has clearly stood the test of time.
The Folger Theatre is still closed due to COVID-19 (and perhaps renovations?), so instead they put on this play in the National Building Museum. The museum is a very cool venue because it has a HUGE atrium where you can fit nearly anything. They have hosted inaugural balls there, and I took a yoga class in there once when a tall, fake-grass hill was installed in the room. For this play, they created a playhouse within the atrium. I walked through a foyer that was supposed to give you the feeling of walking into a forest, and there were drawings of several of the characters within the foyer. Then there was a curtain, and once I walked under some bistro lights, I entered the real theater part. And it was beautiful:
Stage designer Jim Hunter (left) and production designer Tom Cisek. Image found here
The set, which looks like the inside of a castle, works well in representing the location for all of the scenes: within the palace, in the middle of the forest, etc. And while it was beautiful in the light (since the play started at 8:00 p.m. in the summer, there was actually a lot of natural light in the space for some time), the space transformed with wonderful lighting once it got dark:
As for the actors, I thought they all did a very good job! I was particularly impressed by Jacob Ming-Trent, who played a very funny Bottom, and Nubia M. Monks was giving me all sorts of Angela Bassett à la How Stella Got Her Groove Back vibes (plus, she has the most beautiful gowns throughout the show!).
Rotimi Agbabiaka is rocking that gown! But the bug-fairies? Not into it. Image found here
There were parts of the play when I really enjoyed the new, modern interpretation. I did like how Monks and Rotimi Agbabiaka played two sets of royal couples: Hippolyta and Theseus in Athens and Titania and Oberon in the fairy kingdom. I also thought the twist of Titania tricking Oberon into falling in love with Bottom (as an ass) instead of the other way around was interesting (and female-empowering). And as for the magical flower she used to drug Oberon, I thought it was fun that these flowers lit up AND emitted a swirling smoke to show their mystical power. This version threw in some singing too, which was mostly blues or gospel in style, which I loved! (Pre-pandemic, I was a blues dancer, and hearing some of those songs made me want to dance!). I also appreciated the inclusivity represented in this show: there were actors of all different backgrounds, and I think two of them had slight speech impediments. I'm glad that so many people who wants to be an actor can have opportunities to perform in local theater!
I know Hermia (Lilli Hokama) is supposed to be a young woman, but for a play, couldn't she have a prettier costume? Image found here.
But there were some parts I did not enjoy as much. While some of the costumes were beautiful (even Agbabiaka was killing it in that bright pink ballgown!), the four Athenian lovers were just wearing regular clothes; Helena and Hermia (played by Renea S. Brown and Lilli Hokama, respectively) were dressed like they walked out of Clueless. And during their playful fight scenes, they started undressing... Why? I also didn't like the interpretation of the fairies (played by the same people who are the "actors" for the play within the play). I think of fairies as being pretty and graceful, but these characters were insect-like: they each had five or six feathery antennae, flitted about in tic-like motions, and were accompanied by an awful helicopter sound that represented their movements. They were more awkward than cute.
However, those are minor in the grand scheme of things. All in all, I enjoyed this show. It was performed in a gorgeous venue, and the set-up made everything feel more intimate (I was in the second row and felt like I was part of the action!). And again, the actors did a wonderful job, and I definitely laughed out loud a couple of times. It was a fun night out, so get your tickets now!
This past weekend I got to see the Broadway musical "Six" at the National Theatre. My friend, who is also really into theater, originally bought the tickets, but her husband was sick, so my boyfriend and I went as a date night.
I didn't know anything about the show other than that it featured a story about the six wives of King Henry VIII. Anything I know about Henry VIII comes from watching The Tudors or the movie The Other Boleyn Girl. So my knowledge was limited, only knowing that he tried many ways to get out of marriages that he was no longer happy with. I didn't even know there had been six in total!
Now that COVID seems to be less of a risk (fingers crossed!), the theater actually provided paper playbills (as opposed to digital ones, which are so annoying). Someone wrote up fun little bios for each wife, sharing stats from her birthdate and the age she got married to her possible interests and the details of her death (if applicable). I liked having even just a little background information like that to prepare me for understanding the characters of the show.
With its modern music and lyrics, this show feels more like a Beyoncé/Sasha Fierce concert than a play. You are immediately immersed in a female-dominated universe featuring beautiful women in sparkly, metallic costumes and intricate hairstyles, each including a crown of some type. Even the band backing the singers was all women! The pop numbers are very catchy, and with the choreography, you might think you're watching a live music video. It's certainly the most fun history lesson I've ever had!
I don't want to share too much in fear of spoilers. So here's a video of the opening number so you can get an idea for yourself (if you want):
Clearly this is a very female-focused show. My boyfriend wasn't the biggest fan, so I would definitely suggest it as a girls' night out! (Speaking of which, if you haven't seen "Once Upon a One More Time," that's a great female-empowerment show, too! Read my blog about it here.)
I visited Saint Michaels, MD over the holiday weekend, and I stopped by Olivins, this little shop that sells all sorts of flavored olive oils and balsamic vinegars. I have tried and bought several of their products before, and this time I purchased a bottle of their meyer lemon olive oil. The store owner recommended making lemon cookies using the flavored olive oil and he shared the recipe with me (image above). I also found the recipe on the Love & Olive Oil blog, reproduced here:
Ingredients
·2 1/4 cups all-purpose
flour
·1/2 teaspoon baking soda
·1/2 teaspoon baking
powder
·1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
·1 1/4 cups granulated
sugar, plus more for rolling
·1/3 cup lemon infused
olive oil
·2 large eggs
·1/2 teaspoon vanilla
extract
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2.In a bowl, sift together
flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3.In a second large bowl,
combine sugar and olive oil and mix with a spatula until it forms a grainy
paste. Add eggs and vanilla and stir until smooth. Fold in dry ingredients
until just incorporated. You should have a fairly soft, oily dough.
4.Fill a small dish with
more granulated sugar. Scoop dough by the tablespoonful into balls and roll in
sugar to coat. Arrange on a nonstick or parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving 2
inches of space between cookies.
5.Bake for 11 to 13
minutes or until tops are puffed and crackly and edges just start to turn light
golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool
completely. Cookies are best enjoyed the day they are made, but will keep in an
airtight container for up to 3 days.
This recipe is identical to the one the store manager gave me, except that he recommended baking the cookies for 13-15 minutes. I ended up baking mine for just over 13 minutes. They did look a little blonde after coming out of the oven (although you can't tell from my auto-filtered photo!), but he was very adamant about not overbaking. (Which is funny, since the time he suggested was longer. But anyway...).
The dough for these cookies was very easy to put together, but NOT easy to roll. It was SO sticky! My apartment is quite warm, so that might have had something to do with it. In the picture, you can see some of the cookies look perfectly round (closest to the bottom of the picture); those were the first few I was able to make, and they have a wide crackling effect on the top. But after only a few cookies, my hands were caked in batter and could no longer roll the balls properly. So I gave up and used a cookie scoop to make round-ish drop cookies; rather than roll them in sugar, I sprinkled some on top. You can see how some of the other cookies still look pretty good, but others are lumpy and misshapen. And those secondary cookies have more, smaller cracks rather than several large ones like the "perfect" cookies.
In the end, I think I achieved the desired outcome that was pretty close to the original intent. The cookies were soft and delicious ("if I do say so myself," as my great-grandmother would say if no one complimented the meal she had just prepared. Sassy lady!) I'm not sure I would bother making this recipe again because the dough was such a pain to work with, but maybe next time I would wait until the fall to make them, rather than in the heat of summer. And I definitely would add this olive oil to my next boxed cake to add a yummy lemony flavor!
Since the Mariinsky Ballet's performance was cancelled in April, it had been months since I had seen a dance performance at the Kennedy Center! I am bummed that I'm missing the New York City Ballet's performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream (my favorite Shakespeare play), but I did get to see their "Visionary Voices" repertoire last night, which was very good!
The first piece featured eight dancers: four women and four men. The choreography came from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, so I was a little worried that the piece would be too modern for me (think of people writhing on the floor, having epileptic fits, etc.). But it wasn't like that at all! I will admit that I dozed off a few times while watching (not because I didn't like it! I had woken up before 6:00 a.m. that day and was just so tired...), but what I saw was very pretty (although repetitive at times; it seemed like each time I woke up I was watching the same dance moves again and again). I thought the dancers did a great job, although I think Alexa Maxwell was dancing with Victor Abreu, and she wasn't great at connecting with him as a partner; I felt like she was paying more attention to the audience than to him. But otherwise, I liked what I saw.
Jermaine Terry, a dancer with Alvin Ailey, designed the purple costumes. Image found here
The dresses with their pleated skirts were so pretty! I would have worn all of them! Image found here
Here's a video featuring some of this dance, along with an interview with Jamar Roberts, the resident choreographer for Alvin Ailey:
This piece was like watching a fashion show! The costumes were created by fashion designer Christopher John Rogers, and they were works of art (and featured at the NYCB 2021 Fall Fashion Gala)! While the costumes certainly made an impact, I am not sure if they added or took away from the dance. I was so focused on the clothes instead! The costumes were so colorful, which did not match the slow, somber music. Perhaps this was done on purpose: if the music had been light and fun, perhaps we as an audience wouldn't have taken the costumes or the dancing seriously. I wonder which came first: the choreography or the costumes? Did the costumes truly lend themselves to the dancing? Or did they obstruct the movement of the dancers?
There were four separate parts to this piece, choreographed by Sidra Bell, who has her own dance company in New York.
i. the object is to slip: This is the part that really felt like a runway. As each of the dancers came on stage, you were more enamored with the latest costume than the last. There were big sleeves full of ruffles, hats that looked like lampshades, a green poof that reminded me of a mushroom... each one was special and unique, and what vibrant colors! It was actually quite a challenge to tell the men and women apart because they were all wearing these over-the-top, flamboyant designs. Who was who?
ii. communion: When the dancers returned to the stage, gone were the poofy sleeves and the exaggerated skirts. Now they were only wearing leotards that had been at the base of the extravagant outfits, leaving them looking more like acrobats than ballerinas. The bright colors and rhinestones remained, and the men's butts actually looked better in the tight onesies! Some of the movements were a bit too robotic for my taste, but it's all for the sake of art, right?
Even the men's outfits featured corset-like pieces and garter belts. Image found here
iii. protrusion: This was a pas de deux between Emily Kikta and Peter Walker. I have to admit that I don't even remember this part... Maybe I was still thinking about all the colors! But if I'm right about the distinction between the parts, I think this one started off with no music, which was quite jarring. Any time I hear a pointe shoe hit the stage too hard, I cringe a little...
iv. Gatherings of the Future: When all of the dancers stood in a line creating a rainbow, it finally hit me: was this piece shown in June to align with Pride Month? That would explain some of the gender bending, not only with the costumes, but also with some of the movements, like men lifting other men during the dance. I also noticed that some of the moves almost felt like the dancers were on balance beams, doing gymnastics instead of ballet.
When we went to intermission after this piece, the man in front of me said to his wife, "Not what I would want to wear." It's so annoying when older generations can't understand that everyone should be able to wear what they want, and that fashion isn't (shouldn't be?) binary. I always think of the Hunger Games Capitol, where the men and women all wear make-up, fun colors, big hair, etc. Why does this only have to be the case in fiction?
This one was very different, and a far cry from traditional ballet, but I really liked it! It was choreographed by Justin Peck, the NYCB's resident choreographer and one of the company's former dancers. The dancers wore athletic clothes, including white sneakers, which emphasized the true athleticism of dance. Such energy! And the ballerinas didn't look so sickly-thin with real clothes on! The music, called Partita for 8 Voices, was composed by Caroline Shaw, and seemed to be a mix of a capella and choir singing; it makes sense that there were eight dancers featured in this piece. Sometimes the dancers would even move as a group, which reminded me of a capella performances in college.
I think my favorite part was the female pas de deux featuring India Bradley and Claire Kretzschmar. I felt like I was watching an extended CoverGirl commercial or something!
The set was also beautiful. Eva LeWitt created the ribbon circles that fell from the ceiling:
Having not seen this dance company for nearly three years due to COVID-19, I am so glad I got to see this performance! Read my past blog posts about when I saw the New York City Ballet perform at the Kennedy Center in previous years:
Several of the bakeries are located along Rockville Pike (roughly), so one Saturday afternoon I drove up to Rockville with a game plan of which bakeries to visit and which desserts to try. Here's what I got:
I never would have found Gwenie's if it weren't for this article. It's tucked away in a random strip mall across from a warehouse used for CrossFit workouts. I went in and immediately found the purple slices of pie in the dessert display case. I asked what their best seller is, and the employee said the ube pie and the ube cheesecake are both very popular. Since the former was the one mentioned in the article, I figured that's what I should try.
I was most excited to try this one, so I actually saved it for last, even though it was the first one I picked up! And did I save the best for last indeed! This pie is so good. From the flavorful graham cracker crust to the light creamy topping to the dense red-bean-textured ube at the bottom... everything is delicious. I'm bummed I only have one piece! I could demolish a whole pie of this stuff... Five stars for sure!
I certainly didn't need to buy a whole loaf of bread, but I love raisin bread, and coconut raisin bread sounded too good to resist! I also couldn't just buy a slice, so I had to commit.
First of all, this bread is tricky to cut into pieces. It has a wrapper almost like a cupcake liner, except the bread does not easily slip from the paper. I actually had to take a pair of scissors to cut off part of the wrapper to get the bread out, and even then the bottom of the bread stuck to the paper! So that was not convenient.
As for flavor, this mostly tastes like a sweet white bread (almost like a Hawaiian roll) with coconut and some raisins in it. It tastes good, but if you don't usually eat white bread (like me), you're kind of wondering why you're eating something with so few nutrients that isn't a true "dessert." The packaging might read "healthy," but that is a lie. I've had one piece now, and I don't want the rest of the loaf to go to waste, but mentally I'm already done with it...
I love both pistachio and raspberry flavors, so I knew I wanted to try this "notable croissant," as the magazine called it, from Lavande Patisserie. And it did not disappoint! The pistachio filling is so yummy, almost reminiscent of almond paste. The raspberry flavor it very light, since the croissant only has three raspberries on it (there is no raspberry filling). A very decadent breakfast indeed!
The magazine did feature Japong Bakery's Japanese cheesecake, but since I didn't want to buy an entire cake, I thought I'd try something else instead. I know that red bean is a traditional dessert flavor in much of Asia, so I thought I'd try the red bean mochi (especially because I do love chewy mochi!). This one mostly tastes like a sweetened roll. It took many bites to finally reach the filling in the middle. This dessert for me was a just a little "meh." Don't get me wrong: it tasted good! But it wasn't very exciting, since I felt like I was mostly eating a white bread roll. But people clearly like these kinds of buns: I saw one couple in the store buy a mix of at least 12 different kinds of buns, and another girl picked out five or six of them. So I certainly don't speak for everyone!
I refrigerated this dessert overnight, so that may or may not have been a good thing. The center had two different textures: one was more gooey, and one was more solid, so I wonder if the whole thing would have been gooey-er if I had eaten it as soon as I bought it. But even so, this was an interesting dessert. The filling is both sweet and savory. It's cheese, so the savory flavor makes sense, but it's also a dessert, so you're not quite expecting it. I thought it wouldn't actually taste like cheese, perhaps like how cannoli filling doesn't taste like ricotta. The crumbly crust is definitely sweet, so that evens out the flavors. I liked this treat, but I'm not sure it is something I would eat again. Next time, I'd try something else instead.
I also went to the Asian Bakery Café to try their white lotus seed moon cake, but they were sold out of it. And I stopped by Stella's Bakery, but the line was out the door! I guess it must be pretty good if it's that popular, but that was my last stop of the day, and I wasn't in the mood to wait. Maybe another time.
I got a free Ted's Tart from Ted's Bulletin in Gaithersburg after my Bar Method class. I picked out the s'mores one, but they all looked delicious (the cherry blossom one is a very yummy seasonable flavor)! The shortbread cookie base is so buttery; it's so hard to resist! Much better than Pop-Tarts!
I also got a free "snack" from Kung Fu Tea. Snacks included popcorn (which I don't like) or these boba chews, which are boba covered in chocolate. They are very chewy! I think I'd rather just have bubble tea if I am going to enjoy boba.
In the end, I spent about $30 for all of these treats, so I think that's pretty good! I was surprised how many of the Asian bakeries sell all sort of goodies, especially good-sized buns, for only about $3! No wonder other customers were buying so many at once. What a deal! For that price, I was entertained for an afternoon and was able to enjoy yummy snacks (or breakfasts) for the rest of the week. Not bad!
