a bite of winter

It's really cold today. My husband was off from work because it's Veteran's Day in the US (it's called something else in Canada but his whole team is off, basically) so after drop off, I made breakfast. Had to make a quick Wegmans stopover for a bag of potatoes and some bananas but we were done eating at 9ish and by 9:30, we were at Valley Forge for a walk. When we arrived, the only company we had was a lady and her toddler. It didn't seem like a wise idea for someone to take their little one out for a walk on such a cold day but I guess that's how they develop tolerance. The little one was so cute all bundled up in knits. I had a winter coat on but the sweatpants weren't enough. I could feel the prickly cold with every step. The worst part was the wind. What a sight though, as it blew the leaves. I took my phone out to take a video too late but when the first big gust landed, the sea of dried leaves that suddenly swirled up and flew off in one direction was reminiscent of a flock of birds. 

I managed to get some practice and recording time in as well. I just couldn't figure out why the metronome sounded distorted so will have to address that on my next session. I think I can play the guitar track even without a scratch track to follow but only if I can get the metronome working properly. Otherwise, I may have to use a different metronome not in the DAW. I also heard back from Guitar Center and the lessons coordinator/director asked me how my demo went. My conclusion, I told her, was that I could work with either teacher so the schedule will have to dictate the choice. She also invited me to a free guitar lesson on Saturday, which would be great time for me to meet one of the other teachers. I'm pretty excited. 

After picking up my daughter from school, we decided to go to Panera for an early dinner. For me, it was lunch/dinner as I had spent my lunch time recording and just had Pringles and Little Bites for a snack while in the car line. I had the steak sandwich with the french onion soup and she had the mac and cheese with bacon and a baguette. I also managed to get some bagels for the next few days. It's crazy that the Tuesday Bagel Pack is now $10 when it used to be $7.49. It's a baker's dozen. I usually load up on my favorite Asiago bagel when buying on a Tuesday. 

In the car, we're listening to the new Taylor Swift album. Initially, it bored me a little because nothing was familiar. The songwriting was typical Taylor Swift but it is quite heavily produced. With a lot of electronic drumming and Taylor's voice so loaded with plug-ins, it was ripe for dance remixes for sure. Loud Luxury certainly wakes up The Fate of Ophelia and I found myself enjoying the single, playing all three versions of the song in their entirety. I also have The Life of a Showgirl on repeat. It's fun. I asked my little one if we were to duet The Life of a Showgirl, would she be Taylor or Sabrina and she picked Sabrina Carpenter. Yey, I get to be Taylor hehe. She gets to sing the line about Kitty's mother who took pills and played tennis. Hmmm... reminds us of someone, maybe? Hahaha.

Playlist Recommendation: The Fate of Ophelia (single), Taylor Swift & Loud Luxury