Downtown Cabaret

This weekend is Purchase College's Annual Downtown Cabaret. I am very excited to be a part of it this year.
The Cabaret is a two night festival that takes place at Gallery 151, a funky art gallery in Manhattan's lower east side. Music starts at 7:00 PM and continues until Midnight on both April 29th and 30th. The lineup is an eclectic mix of singer/songwriters, bands, choirs (gospel and acapella), jazz bands and sound design. Student artwork will be featured in the gallery and there will be two collaborative dance performances. One of the dances is going to be set to my song "Alice Unraveled". I will be singing live while Breegan Kearney dances a solo. I am very excited to see what she has choreographed, we are supposed to meet this Wednesday and rehearse.
I am also performing a set on Saturday night at 10:30 PM. Joe Endozo will be accompanying me on guitar. He always plays the right licks, he has a great ear for counter melodies. It's so fun performing with him.
Here's a sneak peak of one of the songs I will possibly be performing this Friday!

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter weekend!

Camomile Honey Poached Salmon

Camomile Honey Poached Salmon with a side salad

Microwave Gourmet!

I've been getting pretty creative with my meals lately. Trying to infuse new flavors into my food so I don't get bored. This was definitely one of my favorite microwave creations to date. The camomile and honey lightly sweeten the salmon complementing it's naturally buttery lightness for a healthy and quick dinner!

Here's the recipe:

Camomile Honey Poached Salmon
-one 6 oz Salmon Fillet (mine was frozen but I let it defrost fully before seasoning it)
-about 1/4 c strongly brewed camomile tea
-Spices: cinnamon, ginger, sea salt
-Honey

Directions: Season your salmon with sea salt, cinnamon and ginger. Place the salmon in a microwavable container with a lid. (I used a long, shallow tupperware) Pour the camomile tea over the fish so that the tea covers the bottom of the container and the salmon rests in the shallow liquid. (Do not drown your fish!) Drizzle some honey over the salmon (I probably used 1/2 T), cover the fish with the lid (leaving a small space for air to escape) and pop it in the microwave for 4-6 minutes or until the fish is cooked (depending on the thickness of your salmon).
Simple, nutritious and tasty!
Enjoy!

Album art!!

The deadline for my new album is coming up quick, so last night I sketched up an idea for the cover art.

Check it out:

It's not a finished product but you can get the idea. 

The Album will be titled "Bad Shark" and will feature nine (if I counted correctly) original songs.

We go into the studio again today. I'm so excited to start putting the finishing touches on the tracks.

Yesterday James and I wrote a really pretty violin line for tumbleweed and today my guitarist Joe and I will be finishing up the guitar parts.

I'll update on our progress soon!

Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather! I love spring! :)

Back to work

Well, spring break is over, I'm back at school and hopefully ready to get some work done. I had a nice break. I love being home and I tried to give myself as much of a rest as I could. I still am exhausted though. I have a massive energy deficit that is probably going to take most of this summer to fix, but that is what summer is for I guess. Now, however I have to get some projects finished.

I've got my album with James of course, which needs to be done by early May. That doesn't give us much time at all. We still have so much to do, recording instruments, I have to do more vocal takes and parts need to be written. Yikes. I can not believe how quickly the year is moving.

I also need to get more work done on the "Alice Unraveled" project. It's just so much transcribing, and I am miserably slow. I'll just have to chip away at it.
Mike's been hard at work on the arrangements. He sent me a demo of the song "Rose Petals" a few days ago and it is absolutely haunting. I'm really liking the direction the music is taking. Mike and I make an interesting team, we have very different styles and ways of approaching music but I think they are meshing into a really unique sound. His beautiful, dark arrangements give me momentum and keep me excited about the project.

All this plus my regular classwork seem to be endlessly piling up around me, and I've got my health to worry about.
I am happy to say though that my new paleo diet has been going excellently. I've had about six pain free days in a row which is pretty incredible. I have been slowly gaining strength and energy and I am really enjoying red meat! This diet has opened up a whole new palate of flavors to play with.

Kelly the Cavewoman?

I'm going paleo!

Lately it's been a struggle to gain weight, I keep getting sick and the foods that I am tolerating are naturally low in calories. So in my effort to put on a few pounds and get healthy I have decided to embrace the paleolithic diet!

It's actually going great so far. The diet is naturally low in lectins and cuts out many of the foods that I can not tolerate (grains, legumes, and dairy). The diet does allow eggs and nightshades (other than white potatoes) but I still can not eat those foods right now. I am hoping that once I heal I will be able to have eggs and nightshades again and will be able to cook any paleo recipe that I come across.
Paleo recipes focus on lean protein, healthy fat, and lots of vegetables and fruits. It also stresses healthy lifestyle and exercise to build muscle.
The food is simple, organic and tasty.

Here are some really helpful links about the paleo diet if you're interested:
http://paleodietlifestyle.com/paleo-diet-food-list/#food-list
http://www.paleodietfoodlist.net/
http://robbwolf.com/faq/

I've very optimistic about this diet change.  But I do feel a little like these old ladies:

Where's the beef!?

Almost There

Only a few more days until spring break. I am beyond ready to go home. It has been a very trying few weeks. I've been up and down, sick and healthy, inspired and exhausted but I know I can push through a couple more classes and midterms.
I've got a busy weekend lined up so hopefully It will move quickly.
I am recording vocals with James Perrella on Saturday and Sunday so I'm excited for that. Getting into the studio always cheers me up and gives me a boost of energy. It'll be good to have a couple more tracks recorded before I go home.
I also have a meeting with the production team for "Alice Unraveled". The project is starting to pick up speed. I think I've put together a great group of talented artists who can help me make this show happen!
So at least I will have lots to distract me before break begins. I can't wait to see my family. It's going to be a much needed rest. I also am going to see a doctor which I know is necessary. I just can't manage this on my own right now. I hope someone can give me some insight or direction. I'm worried that they will not know anything.

Cocoa Oh No!

This is kind of unfair. So I'm going to complain a tiny bit. I promise not to rant too long.

I think i have developed an intolerance to chocolate, or maybe just caffeine in general is bothering me. I have been noticed lately whenever I put chocolate in my smoothies I get this constant pressure headache between my eyes, my stomach gets unsettled and I become dizzy and disoriented.

I've been pretty good at dealing with all these new intolerances, but chocolate? Seriously? This one is not fair. So I need your help, here is a list of foods I am currently avoiding:

 -Gluten and all grains

-Corn

-Dairy

-Eggs

-Soy and all legumes (peanuts, beans, carob...)

-Nightshades (potato, tomato, peppers, eggplant...)

-Cocoa??/caffeine 

Basically I'm left with Fruit, most veggies, sweet potatoes (which are not nightshades, they are part of the morning glory family), nuts and seeds and meat (but I don't like red meat). 

Any ideas for a satisfying dessert/ meal? I'm running low on creativity.

I'm not positive, in fact I'm really hoping that some of these foods can be reintroduced if I give my stomach some time to heal. I would really like to have eggs, nightshades and chocolate back. Beans would be nice too. I'm pretty sure soy, gluten and dairy are out forever but I'm ok with that. They cause way too much pain to challenge it.

I appreciate any suggestions! :)