Katja is not a fan of the winter months, which always seem to drag on for much too long. Still, she’s not one to let the cold weather (or anything else, for that matter) get in the way of her constant search for fun and new adventures. Or to keep her from looking anything less than glamorous while doing so.
And, on the rare occasion that the cold keeps her from venturing out, she stays nice and cozy in style. Because even at home one should be glamorous.
Although Katja hasn't been on a plane since her trip to Vienna (thankfully this will be remedied very soon, as she's off to London in a few days), she has, of course, been doing some traveling. In fact she's been quite a regular on the Amtrak to Boston. Not quite as glamorous as flying the friendly skies, but just as long as she's going places she's happy.
Not surprisingly a lot of her activities in Boston revolved around Boston Ballet. One of these was Glass After Class, an event for the Young Partners of the Boston Ballet, which consisted of a class and then drinks afterwards. This, of course, was a wonderful mix for Katja, as she loves ballet, and she loves her wine. Not together of course, although perhaps that would make her less terrified of turning.
Katja also made her way up to Boston for the Boston Ballet gala, Le Bal Epoque. She and her friends enjoyed a leisurely dinner at the Four Seasons' Bristol Restaurant before heading over to the Boston Castle, where the event was held, for drinks and dancing. She had a fabulous time, but then how can one not when there's an endless supply of bubbly. Katja was not, however, a fan of the venue. It felt too cavernous and had very little charm, and is also home to a steakhouse. What can she say, she can be a bit of a snob at times (and as a vegetarian does prefers to stay as far away from steakhouses as possible).
As much fun as the gala was, her favorite trip was to see Onegin, which is one of her favorite ballets. Although she can't say she thinks much of Onegin as a character (a self-involved jerk, really), she thinks it is such a beautiful and moving ballet, and that anybody who has the chance to go see it should do so. In fact she saw it twice.
She also got in a performance in New York, something that she surprisingly hadn't done in a while (too busy traveling and getting up to other things). Although she is generally not a fan of fairy tale ballets, she decided to check out Les Ballets de Monte Carlo's Cinderella, a modern version by Jean-Cristophe Maillot, at the City Center. It certainly didn't rank up there with Onegin (but then little does in her opinion), but she enjoyed the performance, and loved that Cinderella's feet were not shod in glass slippers, but instead dipped in gold.
While Katja is not a fan of fairy tale ballets, she does like fairy tales in other contexts, such as the Fairy Tale Fashion exhibition at the Museum at FIT. She thought the clothing was amazing, and loved the design of the exhibition. If only she could have taken some of the outfits home with her...
Of course the trip to the Museum at FIT was just one of her many museum visits, the cultured girl that she is. She especially loves when art is combined with bubbly (something she's probably mentioned once or twice before), and was thus happy to attend a member event at the Museum of Modern Art for the newly opened Marcel Broodthaers: A Retrospective. While she can't say that the show, dedicated to a Belgian poet who at age 40 turned to the visual arts, was her favorite, she did find some of his work amusing, and enjoyed perusing the exhibition.
More to her liking was Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist inRevolutionary France, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She loved the beautiful portraits, many of Marie Antoinette, but also of other glamorous ladies (much like herself, if she may say so). And while the queen may never have uttered the infamous line "let them eat cake," Katja thinks that it's always a good idea to do so.
On the subject of cake, and since Katja hasn't been able to travel abroad these past few months, she decided to attend an event that would make her feel like she was abroad (and which involved lots of sweet treats). She thus made her way down to DC for an Evening of Viennese Waltzing at the Organization of the American States, which, unlike the Boston Castle, is a venue very much to her liking. The evening, which took her back to her fabulous New Year's trip to Vienna, began with bubbly in the beautiful fountained courtyard, followed by dancing in the ballroom (the evening officially starts with the Grand March), and a decadent dessert buffet. Needless to say she had no qualms just diving right in and trying the many treats. You only live once, after all.
And there's always ballet to burn those calories...which don't count on the weekend anyway (or so she's been told and is more than happy to believe).
