“Everything was beautiful at the ballet…” – A Chorus Line
And it was! We had a great evening out at the ballet seeing Cincy Ballet’s Nutcracker and a late dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery right in downtown next to the Aranoff Center and the Fountain Square ice skating rink last night. It was nice to dress up for the first time since our wedding (note to future self – wear pants. No matter how cute a skirt and leggings under a peacoat may look – it’s just not worth it when its 20 degrees out) and go to a neat restaurant and relax with a Christmas classic. The dancing was high quality, they have a really talented adult company, and overall we really enjoyed it. We both noticed that the story of the Nutcracker has been tweaked a little over the years. For example, in ballets and productions in the past there were more fight scenes, and I always thought the little girl’s name was Clara, not Marie. This is the second reference I’ve seen this holiday season to the girl being Marie and not Clara. Weird. Cincy Ballet also features a free Ballet & Beer night for each show – you make reservations to attend a free open dress rehearsal or preview of the ballet show (which would normally cost anywhere between $30-75 per ticket) and you get free refreshments and wine and beer from local Cincy restaurants. That sounds excellent. Rock Bottom Brewery was neat too. Ted had been there a few times before when he attended a USITT technical theatre conference in Cincinnati two year ago with a group of other undergrad and grad students from MSU. He remembered liking it then and since it was right next to the theatre, we decided to give it a try for dinner. Rock Bottom Brewery features a full menu of urban eats and a handful of beers brewed there. Plus the view of Fountain Square all lit up for Christmas and the ice rink was pretty nice.
Tonight we tried out a new church down the road. While we liked the church we’ve been attending for the past six weeks or so, it’s very modern. There are a lot of ministries to get involved in and they do have a young adults group, which is nice. But there are lots of electronic technology, modern architecture and decorations, and the parishioner base in general is very young group. It sounds kind of bad to say this – but a lot of things there seemed so showy. So before we made a decision on which parish to join we decided to check out other churches in the area. We both really liked the one we tried tonight. It is a more traditional church with less showy features, no electronic gadgets, the rituals and hymns are more traditional, and there are a wide variety of ages in the congregation. The priest was really good, is very nice and had a great homily and the church reminds both of us – both in look and feel – of the Catholic churches & schools we attended as kids. The feeling of something familiar when everything is so different right now is a nice feeling. After mass they had an open house of the rectory right next door decorated for Christmas. Holy moly. We were in there for at least 40 minutes wandering from room to room looking at the amazing amount of gorgeous decorations! They had all the original, old-fashioned, antique decorations that really remind you of Christmas – fire engines, trains, dolls, nutcrackers and rocking horses beneath the trees. There were snow globes, realistic looking jolly Santa Clauses, snowmen, and reindeer. There were nativity sets, city scene villages, big colored bulb lights, old-fashioned oil and alcohol bubble lights, candles, old children’s Christmas books and garland and bows wrapped around the winding staircases. Every room had a tree in it, and almost everything was old. I don’t think either of us were really in the Christmas spirit until we toured that rectory tonight. It was stunning. That’s the stuff that reminds me of Christmas the most – the old, traditional, classic stuff – not all these modern decorations and things. So we’ll attend this church for a few weeks and give it time to sink in, but we really liked how familiar it was to us, so it might be the one we stick with.
Two days ago I wrote about feeling homesick – missing my family, friends and Texas at this time of year as I struggle to adjust to the cold, the snow, no job, a new state where we don’t really know anyone, and a Christmas season that wasn’t feeling too Christmasy yet (until Nutcracker and tonight that is!). Well, yesterday Ted & I received three care packages in the mail. What a blessing- and just when I needed some encouragement and a little taste of home the most, all three arrived. Talk about awesome timing. My sister and her husband sent us a really nice package of great quality loose tea – Stash Christmas Eve. I mentioned on this blog a while ago that I’ve been craving a hot cup of Christmas tea all season and I just couldn’t find it at any of the grocery stores in the area. So Kim & Tom sent us some really nice Christmas tea from Stash. I’m so looking forward to a hot cup of it tonight! The second package was from our family friend Marcia. She sent me a little figurine of an orange tabby cat that she bought in Scotland many years ago. She thought I might miss my Sancho (how did she know!?) and since she’s met Sancho before (Marcia is a cat lover too), she knew the little tabby in the figurine looks like him (and my old cat Rufus!) so she wanted me to have him so I could still have Sancho with me in a way. I was so surprised by how unexpected, sweet and thoughtful that was. I don’t know how she knew that I was missing him so much, but I’m so grateful to have the little tabby as a reminder of Marcia and Sancho. The third package was a care package from my mom and dad, full of goodies like homemade chex mix, rice krispie treats, holiday breads and a Christmas movie Ted and I are hoping to watch tonight. If I can’t have my parents with me, this is the next best thing. I love my mom’s holiday cooking and Ted and I both like Christmas movies. All three packages really brightened my day! We sure do have a lot to be thankful for!
