Passion in Jazz

A lot of people hate to har or see the word passion when it related to a job. I hear that on some occasions, but the job that absolutely blows that theory open is being a jazz musician. Anyone can play the notes, but only a true jazz musician can feel the groove, the jam, the rhythym that makes jazz the soulful, masterful work that it is.

Last night I went to hear the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, led by Wynton Marsalis, at UNC’s Memorial Hall. What an experience!! These guys were feeling every piece (although admittedly, some more than others it appeared) and bringing this soulful real music to life.

As I was sitting there bobbing to the beat, it was amazing to watch the pianist, an unassuming guy, gyrate to the beat and tap his foot rhythmically what underlaying the foundation of each piece. Beautiful. And Ali, the drummer! His facial expressions say it all. He was feeling the percussion, head bobbing, body swaying, expressions matching the music. Ah man! It reminds me why I love jazz soo much!

And to see these guys, who are clearly doing what they love, inspires me to find my place in that realm. When can I find the job that brings a smile to my face just making it happen. I’m not there now, although really good at what I do, but I’d like to be there. In a place where people look at me while I’m doing my job and can tell how much I enjoy it.

Thank you JALC for reminding me of that place, and for bring a smile to my face for 90 minutes straight last night!

DIY T-shirt Necklace

So last week I got ambitious and made myself a jersey skirt. I love it and have worn it many times since (i'll show it to you in another post). But as I was making it and creating a lot of scraps, I decided to make a matching necklace since I'd seen soo many tutorials on pinterest. This is the one I based mine off of. And this is what I did:

First I cut about 2" wide strips of fabric. I didn't really bother to measure except to note that I wanted 3 different lengths of braid. Below you'll see that I measured the lengths as I braided, instead of at this step

Then I grouped the strips into bundles of 3 and sewed the ends together. The type of jersey I used didn't naturally curl under, so I fudged it and tried to make sure the fabric stayed in a tube as I braided. I also safety pinned the end of the braid to the couch to hold it in place while I worked.

Here you can see the three braids that I made. I wanted the middle one to be different, so I threw in a strand of black jersy to add some contrast. You can also see how I laid them out the way I wanted to necklace to lay to make sure the lengths were what I wanted.

Here's a close up so you can see how the raw edges of the fabric don't really show, and the middle braid has a black contrast.

Then I grouped the ends together and sewed them. (It didn't say to do that in the tutorial, but I was afraid they would pull apart). I took another scrap of fabric and wrapped it tightly around the sewn ends and made a side seam. Then I turned it inside out, tucking in the ends to form the look below.

And this is the final product. Forgive my grumpy face, it was late when I took this photo!

It was a fun and super easy project that only took me about 2 hours to complete. AND I got lots of compliments when I wore it to work with my jersey skirt!