Five for Friday - the "obsessed edition"

As we finish out our week here in, I find myself loving/obsessing about a whole handful of things that I clearly must share with you.

1. My new "piano"
Actually not a piano, but an electronic keyboard with touch sensitive keys that when you strike them a little hammer hits an electronic sensor, just like a real piano (minus the electronic sensor).

We went to the bike store last night to get Brad some gear for his ride this weekend, and were walking to Moe's (which now serves whole grain tortillas. holla!) for dinner when we walked past a music store. You know, your run-of-the-mill shopping center music store with kids honking on clarinets in the back, racks filled with books of etudes and scales, some random accessories for all your high school musical instrument needs... and some random keyboards of varying quality.

Since I grew up playing a real piano, I have always poo-poo'd keyboards. They never felt right to me; even the ones with weighted keys always felt too plastic. But because we live on the fourth floor in an apartment, with no end to that in the near future, having a real piano is just not a reality right now. So it's a keyboard or nothing. I had sadly resigned myself to it being nothing.

Until I randomly sat down at this piano last night (I refuse to call it a keyboard. A keyboard sounds like I should be standing in the back of an 80's hair band, rocking my graphic t-shirt and long stringy hair). I grabbed a book of sonata's (the same 17-minute long ones I used to play in high school) and sat down. And played. Played as if not a single day had passed. As if it hasn't been almost ten years since I seriously sat down at a piano. I was instantly transported back to that empty auditorium in 11th grade solo and ensemble where I kicked the butt of that ridiculously long Beethoven sonata, scored myself a superior and a spot in the state competition.

Anyway, back to last night... I'm sitting there, playing away, hardly listening to Brad and the sales guy talking, vaguely hearing words like "last one," "older model" and "clearance price." Before I know it, the piano I'm playing is mine. I may or may not have actually hugged it in the store (okay, I did) and squealed like a school girl.

It has pedals and a beautiful casing and a built in metronome and, best of all for my neighbor's sake, an outlet to plug headphones into. We go back to pick it up on Saturday afternoon, once they box it up all pretty. Hopefully Brad wasn't planning on anything productive happening Saturday night (or Sunday. Or any night next week). Because I have a whole book of sonata's to relearn.

2. these awesome city prints

I stumbled upon these this morning and have the urge to buy one for every city I have been to, frame them in simple black frames and line them up across my living room wall.

Heads of State, you guys are awesome. My only hope is that they continue to churn out all the awesome places in this country (world?).

Oh, and right now, they have a print for sale with benefits going to clean up efforts in the Gulf. If that's not a worthy cause right now, I'm not sure what is.

3. Cleveland
Long before I lived in our nation's capital, and before I became a beach bum Floridian, I was born in Cleveland.

The "Mistake by the Lake" seems to always get an unfair bad rap. I think it's actually a grand place, filled with amazing ethnic food, hard working people, some amazing cultural sites (hello? Cleveland Orchestra? Cleveland Museum of Art? Severance Hall? awesomeness.) and one of the best small breweries in the country, Great Lakes Brewing Company (Burning River used to be my happy hour staple). Perhaps now best known for the misery that their professional sports teams bring to fans (please don't leave, Lebron! And Tom Izzo, seriously?), one scoop of Mally's ice cream will bring a smile to any downtrodden Indians fan (62 year drought since the last World Series win? only the Cubs can claim a record worst than that!).

Over Independence Day weekend, we're headed to see my brother-in-law in Rocky River, catch a few Tribe games (I suppose going to more than one gives me a better chance of them not losing by 10+ runs) and check out all my old haunts. It is going to be a grand old time.

4. my husband

Duh, he's awesome. Just read the list above and this should be obvious: he bought me a piano. He lets me decorate our house with crazy travel-themed stuff. He's taking me to Cleveland. HE BOUGHT ME A PIANO (okay, still a little excited about that one).

He's the most selfless, loving, forgiving, sweetest, nicest person I've ever met. He mingles with my large Italian family with the same ease he mingles with politicians. And he mans the bbq grill like no one's business. He's riding in the Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure next week - 63 miles on Sunday morning (I'll be camped out at Panera with my coffee and wifi).

Oh, he also organized a big volunteer day for his office today. They're doing a mock disaster drill where they learn how to set up and run a mass shelter (you know, with the Red Cross and PB&J and cots and everything). I volunteered to be a victim; he said my services were not necessary. I volunteered to fill the roll of "aggressive member of the local media." While I would have been perfect, my services were again turned down. Probably better for them... there is a lot of pent up frustration you can harbor after doing media relations for over four years...

Anyway, Brad = awesome. That's all there is too it.

5. Cary Grant

Because it has been a few weeks :)