Tomorrow night I am performing for the Winter Opera St. Louis “Masquerade Ball”.  I’m concertmaster of the orchestra (we had three performances last year), and Gina Galati (artistic director) asked if I would play a couple of pieces for the program.  The dinner takes place at Dominic’s Trattoria in Clayton.  I haven’t been there but I am told it is delicious (I get paid plus dinner 😉 ).  I am also excited to wear one of my cocktail dresses versus the usual “all black”.  I don’t have a mask to wear, nor would that work well for violin playing, unfortunately.

Speaking of Italian food, I am excited to go visit Chris’s family in Long Island and the Bronx over Christmas.  We recently purchased our plane tickets to visit for a few days.  The food will be fantastic, I’m sure!  I realize it’s just the end of October, but nonetheless the stores are practically in full Christmas spirit, so it’s hard to not be excited already.  I purchased some lotion at Bath & Body Works yesterday, Twisted Peppermint Flavor.  The saleslady said the whole store would be holiday-ready by November 1.