Jazz Concert and Photography Workshop

It has been another busy couple of days at our house. Have you noticed that we aren’t home much during the summer? When Dan can take time off of work I try to work as many things into our schedule as possible. However Dan isn’t really into photography so I went to this one alone while he spent a little time in the office. Other than that we have been glued together this weekend like usual.

Peter White, Gerald Albright and Rick Braun In Concert:

Friday night we went to Rams Head Live in Annapolis to enjoy some live jazz. Fortunately Dan got home from DC with enough time that we were on schedule. Those of you who are local know that the traffic around DC is unpredictable. I think because it is summer the traffic in DC was lighter than usual.

Above is the best shot I got with my phone. For the next concert in August I will use my “real” camera and get some better photos to share. It as hot Friday night and I didn’t feel like going down front for pictures.

One nice thing about going to jazz concert is that they are frequently better live than they are on CD, not something you normally see from mainstream musical artists. They played one song that they somehow compared the classic Bond riff with Bob Marley. It sounds like an odd combination I know but it worked.

For those who are thinking of attending a concert at Rams Head in Annapolis they do have a veggie sandwich (no cheese) which you will need to ask them to hold the mayo, and a roasted red pepper hummus that are both vegan once you eliminate the mayo.

Photography Workshop:

Even though we got home late Friday night I had to get moving early this morning to be at the photography workshop near BWI at 8:30am. This meant we had green smoothies for breakfast because they are fast. I grabbed some coconut water to take with us because was hot again today. You didn’t expect me to leave the house without some sort of snack did you? :-)

The photography workshop was a lot of fun. Of course I am now convinced that I need to upgrade my camera. However with the new floating family member I should probably practice a little restraint on that front. I will probably buy another lens and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom soon though.

Since I had posted on my individual Facebook page  that I was at the photography seminar Jenn (from the restaurant) posted that she thought about attending the workshop too because she had just purchased a new camera and hasn’t used it yet. I offered to teach her what I learned on Saturday. If Jenn and I don’t find time to get together before the boat arrives we can take pictures while we are out sailing. Emily, our friend who graduated from MICA and who works in wedding photography wants to take some photographs from the boat too. Looks like the boat may end up being a frequent subject doesn’t it?

Lunch:

After the photography workshop Dan and I can home and had a quick lunch. This one included: julienned carrot, diced tomato, shaved cucumber, sliced bell pepper, golden raisins, lemon zest, lemon juice and was topped with chopped walnuts.

To accompany the salad I made a simple quinoa dish with sesame seeds, granulated ginger, and sunflowers. This was for protein and extra calories since the salad was so light.

Errands:

After lunch we had a few errands to run. I always have books to return to return so we stopped at the library. This time I did something completely out of character and didn’t pick up any books to bring to bring home since I don’t have time to read them. However I didn’t come home empty handed either. While I was there I found 6 music jazz CDs that I wanted to listen to.

Dinner Out:

We were already out of the house so you know what happened next right? Yes of course we had dinner out. By now I am sure you are starting to see why we know everyone at the restaurant by name as well as quite a bit about them. They probably see us more than they see their own families. LOL

Today was “Shorty's” (6’7” tall Michael hence why I call him Shorty) birthday and since we came into dinner early the gang was just finishing up cake at the bar. Somehow I know part two of the birthday celebration included adult beverages at another bar. ;-)

While I was out the photography class I picked up an extra handout for Jenn. She told me a bit about the camera she bought and how she picked it up because it was a good deal on Woot. Smart girl right? We talked about photo composition and that we will take pictures from the boat is we don’t get together before then.

We chatted with Aimee for a while and are planning to go to DC early August when her schedule settles down a little. Will (formerly from the restaurant) is going to try to join us too. Are you starting to notice that we aren’t like “regular customers”? ;-)

Ian wasn’t thrilled that we didn’t let him know that we were coming in for dinner tonight so that he didn’t have anything planned for us. Of course that didn’t matter to us in the least. After the obligatory hugs and catching up Ian told me what he had to work with in the kitchen and asked me if I wouldn’t mind making up my own dishes and that the guys would execute whatever I came up with. We really are spoiled and we know it.

Since Jerome had made a vegan lentil vegetable soup with started with two bowls of that for our first course. Sorry the photo is dark I was playing the manual settings on my camera.

Ian has a tomato, mozzarella and pesto salad on the menu which I decided to make a vegan version of. Since I knew he didn’t have any baked tofu on hand I asked them to sauté a little tofu and serve that with sliced tomato, cilantro lime sauce all served on a bed of mixed greens. We enjoyed this so I will be baking some tofu this week so that I can make my version of this to share with you soon.

For our entrée I took a chicken and olives dish that Ian has on the menu and made that vegan which wasn’t difficult. Obviously they needed to hold the chicken and I asked them to add chickpeas and mushrooms. The dish also contains roasted potatoes, snow peas, onions and garlic in a white wine sauce.

Here is another picture I took messing around with my camera.  Not bad I thought. 

We didn’t stay long this evening for a few reasons, one there was a line a people waiting to be seated and there was a large group of ladies who were extremely loud. Sitting near them was not a pleasant experience. In fact they were so loud I couldn’t hear Dan across the table if that tells you anything.

Ian sat at our table to chat for a little while before he left for the evening. He is going on vacation the last week of August and then his kids go back to school. In order to get him to the boat while the kids are still off of school he may end up being the first one there besides us which is fine with us.  We both love spending time with Ian.  I still haven’t figured out how we are going to schedule things to make it easier for everyone else. I am thinking of some sort of online scheduling program we can call access but haven’t narrowed it down yet. If you have any suggestions feel free to let me know.

Happy thoughts:


• Both Dan and I enjoyed the jazz concert on Friday. The nicest thing about live jazz is that it is frequently better than recorded jazz. Peter White, Gerald Albright and Rick Braun were all very lively. It was definitely a good show and a nice way to spend a Friday night.

• The photography seminar by Okello Dunkley Saturday morning exceeded my expectations. Too bad I didn’t take this when my camera was new. Oh well, better late than never right. It is nice to use my digital camera more like my old film camera which I loved. Do any of you use Adobe Lightroom? I had never heard of it but seeing what could be done with it on Saturday I am adding that to my wish list. ;-)

• We had a nice relaxing dinner out on Saturday. Dan and I both like seeing everyone as much as we like going out to eat. This is why I keep mentioning that you need to find a place close to home where you can be regulars too. Everyone goes out of their way for us which is extremely endearing. There are not many vegan restaurants near us and we are extremely fortunate to have an omni restaurant that will make us special dishes whenever we come in. Having worked in a restaurant before I know isn’t the easiest thing in the world which makes me appreciate the effort even more.

• We had a nice trip to the farmers’ market this morning too though we did get there a little later than usual. We talked to Paul (one of the owners of Calvert Farms) about his boat while we shopped. Calvert Farm is the CSA we belong too and I highly recommend them to anyone who is local. Next we stopped to see Rudy (the owner of Cat’s Paw Organic) for more shopping and talking. Yes, I do talk everywhere I go before you ask. I have always been very verbal. LOL

Signing Out:

For some unknown reason I didn’t sleep well last night so I am moving a little slowly this morning. At the moment we are sitting in the family room listening to some jazz. However I do need to get a few things accomplished today.

Talk to you again soon, hopefully tomorrow. I hope you have a great Sunday!