"Relaxing Piano Artists for Alzheimer's Research"
40 beautiful compositions from 20 solo piano artists.

Please help support Alzheimer's research by downloading this hauntingly beautiful album from iTunes here.

Proceeds from your purchase of this album go to support The Alzheimer's Association and the Alzheimer's Foundation, organizations involved in Alzheimer's research and patient care.

Thank you!



I am honored to be a part of this compilation of solo piano artists in support of Alzheimer's research.

Hi Friends,
I have some important updates for you this month including concert performances, special discounts, iPhone applications and more.

Concerts
I am very excited to announce that I will be sharing the stage again with my friend, David Nevue. We will be performing together in May in a small intimate venue and I am really looking forward to playing with David again. The concert details are as follows and I highly recommend that you get tickets for this one. It's going to be a great show you will not want to miss.

Michele McLaughlin & David Nevue in Concert
Date: May 9th, 2009 at 8:00pm
Location: Daynes Music
6935 South State Street
Midvale, Utah 84047
Website: http://www.solopianoradio.com/events.htm
Price: $15 Adults - $10 Child/Seniors
Tickets: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/60398 or if you prefer to
order by phone, please call 1-800-838-3006
Info: Join Pianists David Nevue and Michele McLaughlin for an amazing
evening of piano music that you'll be talking about for months to
come! An intimate event in a small, 60 seat room. You'll be up
close and personal with the pianists as they share their music and
the stories behind their songs.
Please join us, and bring your friends!

Sales & Discounts
For a very limited time only, you can purchase my new album, A Celtic Dream, for only $9.99. To take advantage of this special offer, go to http://www.michelemclaughlin.com/products.html and click on the "Limited Time Offer" link. Hurry - offer ends soon!

Michele McLaughlin On Your iPhone and iPod Touch
Do you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch? I am excited to tell you about a new application you can purchase that lets you stream Whisperings Solo Piano Radio, and my music on your iPhone or iPod Touch, on the go! To learn more about the Whisperings application and how you can listen to my music on your iPhone or iPod Touch, please visit http://www.solopianoradio.com/iphone_app.htm

Videos
Did you know that you can view videos of me performing and videos others have created that feature my music, including the animated video that won first prize in the 2009 SLMIMA competition? Visit my YouTube page to view them at http://www.youtube.com/user/nali22btm and if you like what you see, please rate the videos and leave me a comment!!

Follow Me (Social Networking)
Do you have a Twitter, Facebook or MySpace account? If you do, follow me and become one of my friends!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1016211188&ref=profile
Twitter: http://twitter.com/michelemclaughl
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/michelemclaughlin

Download
Interested in downloading my music? Visit my iTunes store at http://www.itunes.com/michelemclaughlin as well as my CD Baby store at http://www.cdbaby.com/all/nali22btm for high quality MP3's.

That's it for now. As always, you can contact me if you have any questions or would like additional information about upcoming events, albums, sheet music, or just to say hi! Until next time...

Michele McLaughlin
Pianist & Composer
http://www.michelemclaughlin.com

Hi Friends,
Happy Holidays!!! So many exciting things are happening so I'll get
right to it.

ALBUMS
My new album, A Celtic Dream, is now available at the following
sites:

CD Baby: http://cdbaby.com/cd/mmtunes10 where you can either buy the
physical CD for $12.00, or download a high bit-rate MP3 for $9.50. If
you order more than one copy, you also get a 20% discount.

iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=300297752&s=143441
where you can download each song for $0.99 or the entire album for
$9.50 without having to wait for shipping.

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/A-Celtic-Dream/dp/B001NGAFN2/ref=sr_f3_5?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1229557554&sr=103-5
where you can download the entire album for only $8.99 without having
to wait for shipping.

Direct: http://www.michelemclaughlin.com/products.html where you can
buy each album for $12.00 each with free shipping in the USA.

My albums will make excellent stocking stuffers and gifts this
holiday season so order your album(s) today!!

~~~~~

AWARDS
The Swan Lake Moving Image and Music Awards (SL:MIMA) used two of my
songs in their competition this year. My song Enraptured was used in
a video entitled "Die Welt ist ungerecht" by Marcus Loeper and my song
Winter Solstice was used in a video entitled "Run" by Kiss Gravi
Andras. Excitingly, the video by Marcus Loeper using my song
Enraptured won first place in the category of "Animation". The videos
can be viewed here
http://www.newagepiano.net/wocms.php?siteID=47&viewArtistID=50&viewVideoID=51
For more information on the SL:MIMA competition, please visit
http://www.swan-lake-award.org/wocms.php?lngID=1

Both songs are also featured on a new CD compilation called "Music In
Motion" which can be purchased here
http://www.newagepiano.net/wocms.php?siteID=44&viewArtistID=97&viewAlbumID=198
This compilation includes 20 pieces from these world class pianists:
Brian Kelly
David Nevue
Gary Girouard
Heinrich Mende
Jennifer Thomas
Jo Blankenburg
Jose Bonet
Kamil Goerlich
Kathryn Toyama
Keith Wiley
Louis Landon
Michael Dulin
Michele McLaughlin
Roger MacNaughton
Shokolat
Stanton Lanier
William Zeitler

~~~~~

REVIEWS
Reviews for several of my albums, including my newly released "A
Celtic Dream" can be found here
http://www.michelemclaughlin.com/press.html Look for more reviews in
the months to come!

~~~~~

CONCERTS / PERFORMANCES
I will be in Los Angeles on January 17th, 2009 performing with David
Nevue, Joe Bongiorno and Joseph Akins. If you're going to be in the
LA area that weekend, come and join us. Concert details can be found
here http://www.michelemclaughlin.com/calendar.html. Several more
performances are in the works for 2009, stay tuned for updates as
details unfold.

~~~~~

TWITTER / FACEBOOK / MYSPACE
Want to know what I'm doing all day long? Follow me on Twitter,
Facebook and Myspace and become part of my group of friends! I'd love
to include you in all the excitement!

Twitter: http://twitter.com/michelemclaughl

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/michelemclaughlin

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1016211188&ref=profile

~~~~~

CONTACT
As always, you can contact me anytime by emailing
michele@michelemclaughlin.com or by writing to me on my Guestbook at
http://www.michelemclaughlin.com/guestbook.html. You can also contact
me using Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace as noted above. I would love
to hear from you!

That's it for now. I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season.

Sincerely,
Michele McLaughlin
http://www.michelemclaughlin.com

Check out the latest review of my new album, A Celtic Dream:

A Celtic Dream
Michele McLaughlin
2008 / Michele McLaughlin
51.8 minutes

"A Celtic Dream" is pianist/composer Michele McLaughlin's tenth album and was inspired by a recent trip to Ireland, the land of most of her family's ancestors. Many of the pieces have an infectious energy and upbeat drive, while others are more subdued and reflective, creating a rich palette of moods and musical colors. In her notes about the individual pieces, McLaughlin tells the stories behind the music, giving a bit of history about the places she visited as well as aural illustrations for some of the Celtic legends (these notes are also on her page on CD Baby). The melodies of all of the pieces are excellent and very expressive, but McLaughlin's left hand tends to get stuck into a repetitive pattern. This is an effective device from time to time, but can wear a little thin with too much usage. Most people won't hear it, but my piano teacher's ears get rather distracted by the repetition. Overall, this is McLaughlin's strongest work to date.

"A Celtic Dream" begins with "Summer Solstice," a bright and sprightly piece that celebrates the longest day of the year and the sun's journey through that day. Energetic and joyful, it sets the stage for the rest of the album. "Slainte" is a Gaelic toast to good health, and this little piece seems to celebrate just about anything and everything - a delightful confection. The title track slows down the pace to more of a ballad and is one of the more beautiful tracks on the CD. My favorite piece is "Irish Rain." Here the repetitive left hand pattern mimics rain falling while the right illustrates the mist that comes with the rain. Mysterious and melancholy, it evokes feelings of longing as well as the chill that comes with a misty rain. "Lament" reminds me of David Nevue and how he often creates strong emotional feelings with utter simplicity in his musical lines. "The Clurichaun" is a lighthearted delight. The Clurichaun is related to The Leprechaun and runs around at night raiding wine cellars. When he finds one he loves, he stays and makes it his home, guarding the cellar forever. A mischievous elf, this piece is full of fun and energy. "For The Lambs" is a tribute to the spring lambs who were free to roam and play in the countryside of Ireland - sweet and joyful. "From Where We Came" is gorgeous and is dedicated to Ireland, McLaughlin's ancestors, and their rich history. Melodic and very flowing, it's a lovely tribute. "Carrowkeel" is about the largest passage tomb cemetery in Ireland that dates back to about 5000 BC. Very dark and dramatic, it's a impressive closing for the album.

"A Celtic Dream" is quite a musical excursion and rekindles my desire to see Ireland myself. It is available from www.michelemclaughlin.com, cdbaby.com, and amazon.com. Good stuff!

Kathy Parsons
MainlyPiano.com

12/1/08

Get your copy of A Celtic Dream here.

Hi Friends,
Great news! For a limited time only, my new album A Celtic Dream,
will be available for a special pre-sale introductory price of $10.00
each and free shipping inside the US.

To take advantage of this special offer, please click here or go to my website.

My new album will make excellent stocking stuffers and presents this
holiday season! Be sure to order now for a discounted price of $10.00
each. This offer will expire in a couple of weeks when the album is
officially released.

I appreciate your support of my music! Enjoy!
Thanks,
Michele McLaughlin

Last night, in an unprecedented historical moment, Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States of America. For many, this is a joyous and wonderful end to a long and important election, and a hopeful and desired change to the future of our country and our world. To others, it is a heavy disappointment. During Obama's speech last night, he said something that I felt was a very positive message to those who do not support him. He said "And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president too." I truly believe that Barack Obama will be an excellent leader. I believe he will bring the changes to this country that he promises, the changes that we so desperately need. And I believe he can unite our country in a way that has never been seen. If you did not support Obama, please open your minds to him now, and look positively toward the future with optimism and hope that he will do a great job. Any step toward unity and peace that our country makes together moving forward is a positive step that we should all look forward to. I am personally very excited that Obama was elected. This has been the most important election of my lifetime, I have never been as moved by a candidate as I have been with Obama, and I have never felt so emotional about a political event before. The man inspires people, he moves people, and he touches their souls. To me, that is a great beginning to a hopeful, peaceful, and positive future.

YES WE CAN!!!

Hi Friends,
I am so excited to announce that my new album, A Celtic Dream, is complete and will be released mid November!!! A Celtic Dream has 15 new original compositions, all themed around and inspired by my trip to Ireland this last March 2008.

The song list is as follows:
1. Summer Solstice
2. Slainte
3. A Celtic Dream
4. Irish Rain
5. Across The Burren
6. Finn McCool
7. Lament
8. The North Sea
9. The Druid's Prayer
10. The Clurichaun
11. Lough Glenveagh
12. Causeway Coastline
13. For The Lambs
14. From Where We Came
15. Carrowkeel

The stories behind the songs can be found on my website.

I have added 4 of the songs from A Celtic Dream to my MySpace Page for a sneak preview of the album. I would love to hear your feedback on the new songs, so please leave me a comment or send me a note!

Be on the lookout for final release dates as well as special introductory prices and discounts. Updates coming very soon!!!

Thanks!
Michele McLaughlin

Last night I, Michele McLaughlin, had the extreme honor to share the stage with Kurt Bestor and David Nevue, two musicians who I have admired for many years. The evening was perfect. The concert was a huge success. And I had so much fun playing piano with my new friends.

The concert started at 7:00pm, but David, Kurt and I arrived at Baldassin Pianos at 5:30pm to set up and practice the layout of the concert. Baldassin Pianos has a very nice performance hall with a gorgeous Fazioli on stage. Guests started arriving around 6:00pm and as the concert start time neared, the 100 seat venue was full.

David started the concert by playing one of my personal favorites, The Vigil. After his opening song he then introduced me and I played three songs. David then took the stage again with two more songs, after which he introduced Kurt. Kurt played three songs, one of which was an absolutely fantastic improved patriotic melody. We then took an intermission to mingle with the guests while they stretched their legs and bought CD's. After intermission David played an improv piece to bring people back to their seats, and Kurt and I joined him on stage. We then took turns playing two more pieces each, starting with me, then Kurt, then David, and again. After we each played our two songs, we then held a drawing and gave away three Whisperings artist's CD's to audience members. As we wrapped up the show, David, Kurt and I participated in an improv together, starting with David playing an improved bass piece on the piano, with Kurt and I taking turns improving the melody piece, and then Kurt finished up with an amazing improv off of our original improv for the grand finale. It was so much fun, and filled with such energy that we received a standing ovation.

After the concert, Kurt and his wife Patrina, David and his wife Julie, and Stanley and myself, enjoyed pizza, drinks and excellent conversation at our house. It was really nice to spend some time with everyone and it was a great end to an incredible night.

A very big thank you to David and Kurt for the amazing opportunity to share the stage with you. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and look forward to performing with you again!

View photos of the concert here!!!

Hi Everyone!

Are you interested in seeing what I'm up to during the day? Well, now you can. Twitter is a website that allows you to post short comments throughout the day as a kind of play by play account of your daily activities.

So, if you're interested in my music and what I may be doing all day long, you can follow me on Twitter or by inputting this URL into your browser http://twitter.com/michelemclaughl

Hope to see you there!
Michele

Toward the end of July, my husband and I were sitting around missing Europe and wishing we could just whisk ourselves away for a week or so to some distant location away from the US. So, in a spontaneous travel mood, we jumped on the Internet to see what travel deals we could find. Luckily enough, we found an amazing deal to Paris, one that was way too good to pass up, so we rearranged our busy summer schedules, booked our hotel and flights and a couple weeks later we were on our way for an amazing and unforgettable six days in Paris, France.

The trip was unbelievable and Paris is now on my list of favorite places visited. I couldn't have imagined a more delightful city and was way more pleased with the visit than I expected. A short summary of the trip is as follows:

Day 1 - Arrive in Paris at 5:30am, take the metro to our hotel in the Montparnasse district, check in our bags, explore the nearby Montparnasse Cemetery, walk to Notre Dame and explore the cathedral, come back to the hotel for a short nap to help with jet lag, take the metro to the Eiffel Tower and ride the elevator to the 3rd floor (the top was unfortunately closed) for the most amazing views of Paris, eat a delicious crepe on the bridge over the Seine River, metro back to the hotel.














Day 2 - Metro to Notre Dame to climb the bell towers and see the famous gargoyles, visit Saint Chapelle Church to see the gorgeous windows, walk through the Latin Quarter neighborhoods and see the Pantheon (resting place of Victor Hugo and Rousseau), walk back to the hotel.














Day 3 - Metro to the Louvre and explore for almost 4 hours, walk 3km to the Arc de Triumph and climb to the top, metro to the Pantheon again to see the inside (it was closed the day before), metro back to the hotel.














Day 4 - Take the train to Versailles and spend the entire day exploring the palace, gardens and Marie Antoinette's' estate.










Day 5 - Metro to the Rodin Museum (amazing sculptures), walk to the Dome Church to see Napoleon's Tomb, walk to the Museum d'Orsay (my favorite museum on the trip!) and spend several hours exploring the artworks, metro back to the hotel.










Day 6 - Explore the catacombs of Paris (WAY cool and a must see if you go to Paris), metro to the Red Light District (Montmartre) to see the Sacred Heart Cathedral, metro to the Opera District to see the Opera House (gorgeous!!!), metro to the Picasso Museum, enjoy a fancy dinner for our last night in Paris.
















Some points of interest:
1. Paris has the most amazing metro system and it is incredibly easy to use. 11,50 Euro for a book of 10 tickets, it was a very cheap way to get around. I was blown away with how extensive this metro system is and enjoyed it more than any metro I've used.
2. The Eiffel Tower is more amazing in person than you can imagine. It definitely has the "WOW" factor. Go see it!
3. The catacombs are creepy and mysterious and amazing. There are more bones here than I expected and I was completely fascinated by it. A must see!
4. The temperatures in Paris in early August are in the 70F-80F but very humid. There were short bouts of drizzle almost every day... we were glad we took our umbrellas!
5. The food in Paris is good, but not amazing like Italy. Crepe stands are delicious but slightly overpriced for what you get. Cafe Indiana had the most delicious food (there are several there, check it out!). Café's are cheaper than restaurants, but not by much. It is very easy to spend a lot on a meal, especially when you factor in the exchange rate from Euro to USD. Ouch!
6. It is possible to walk 2-3 miles per day, even with using the metro when visiting Paris. In addition, expect to climb hundreds of stairs (I think we climbed a good 1500 stairs at least). Bring good shoes!
7. You can buy a museum pass in Paris that gives you access to 60+ museums plus line jumping rights. It is completely worth the money (60 Euro) and a major time saver. It also works on some of the monuments (Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame Towers, Saint Chapelle, etc) as well.

Too much fun! It's good to be home but now I'm trying to get caught up… I can't believe summer is almost over!!!

Hi Friends,
I hope you are all enjoying your summer. I am always amazed at how quickly the time goes by and am shocked that it is almost the end of July. The summer here in Utah has been pretty mild, temperatures have been comfortable, the weather has been delightful, it has been one of the best summers I've ever had.

...

SHEET MUSIC
Exciting news!!! I've just released 34 new pieces of sheet music from my albums Dedication and Reflections. Many of you have inquired recently about the availability of some of these pieces and I'm happy to say that they are now ready and available on my website. The released pieces are as follows:

Album: Dedication
1. When You Were Still Around
2. La Mia Famiglia Bella
3. Drifting Through Antiquity
4. The Music Box Angel
5. Just You & Me
6. The Eternal City
7. Brandon's Song
8. Learning To Fly
9. My Little Darcy Lou
10. Palamidi Fortress
11. A Sad & Sorrowful Goodbye
12. Dedication
13. Venezia
14. Dream Come True

All songs from are Dedication $3.75 each, or you can buy The Complete
Set (All 14 Songs) for only $25.00!

Album: Reflections, The Best of Michele McLaughlin
1. I Love You
2. The Beginning of Forever
3. Without You
4. The Greatest Gift
5. Elysium
6. Russian Music Box
7. Coming Home
8. Surrender
9. Just Because
10. A Fresh Start
11. An Evening With Friends
12. Not Without Flaw
13. What You Mean To Me
14. Enraptured
15. A Tale of Courage
16. Learning To Grieve
17. The Fairies Dance
18. The Lonely Ballerina
19. Sunday Morning
20. Swept Away

All songs from Reflections are $3.75 each, or you can buy The
Complete Set (All 20 Songs) for only $25.00!

Visit my website to purchase and enjoy your sheet music now!

...

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
I will be sharing the stage with two amazing pianists in October... Kurt Bestor and David Nevue. This will be an unforgettable and enchanting evening of solo piano music by two of my favorite artists, and of course ME! I will be performing some of your favorites as well as several new pieces from my upcoming album. There are only 100
seats available in this venue, so be sure to order your tickets now at Solo Piano Radio to reserve your seats for this amazing night of music.

Whisperings Solo Piano Radio Proudly Presents:
Michele McLaughlin, David Nevue and Kurt Bestor in Concert!
Saturday, October 18th, 2008
7:00pm
Baldassin Pianos
441 West 300 South
Salt Lake City, Utah
Tickets are $20 Adults and $10 Seniors/Under 18 and are on sale now
at Solo Piano Radio
We hope to see you there!



Also, if you would you like to have me come play a concert in your area, please let me know by visiting my website and clicking the "Demand It" button, or send me an email! I would love to perform for you!

...

NEW ALBUM
My tenth album is under way and nearing completion. Most of the songs for this album are written and I plan to begin recording in September/October. The album is scheduled for release in December and will be the first of my eco-friendly CD releases. I will also be performing some of the new pieces from this album during my concert in
October. Stay tuned for updates and special offers as the deadline approaches.

...

REVIEWS
My album Reflections 2000-2005, The Best of Michele McLaughlin was recently reviewed by Kathy Parsons of Mainly Piano. The review can be viewed at my website.

Do you want to help my music grow? You can help by reviewing and rating my music. Just visit my website and leaving me a review in my Guestbook, and post
reviews on my CD Baby Pages, and also post comments and reviews on my iTunes and Amazon pages as well. Your generous comments and ratings can help further the growth of my music and are greatly appreciated. Thank you!

...

That's it for now!
Sincerely,
Michele McLaughlin

Yes folks - the headline is correct... I have a new grand piano. :)

Some of you may be wondering why? Why would I get a new grand piano when I already had a perfectly good grand piano? Well, let me explain!

The piano I owned was a Yamaha DGC1 which means it was a GC1 with a Disklavier on it. What is a Disklavier? Well, it's a digital recording/playback system which allows the acoustic grand piano to record digitally the song(s) you play into it. The DGC1 is a smaller grand piano - only 5'3" in length and because of the shorter length, the piano lacks that "umph" you would hear on a larger concert grand. The DGC1 is also the at the lowest end of the Yamaha pianos in quality, price, size, and calibur. Lately, I've been wanting better. Something I can enjoy playing, something I can record quality music with, something I can perform with (I'm thinking about doing In-Home Concerts), something bigger, nicer and more Michele!

So, I started thinking about what kind of piano I could buy, or more to the point, afford. For those of you who don't know, grand pianos are very expensive. Just to give you an idea, my very low grade, entry level Samick baby grand (my first grand I bought in 2003) was a mere $7000. My second grand, the DGC1, was a slightly larger $28,000. My dream piano - a brand new Steinway B, $78,000. The Fazioli that I played on in November with Jennifer Thomas... $200,000. Yep folks - it's all a matter of what you can afford and I can tell you right now that I cannot afford a Fazioli :) So the question had to be asked - "What can I afford?". This question pestered me for days and ended up causing me a couple of nights of restless sleep. The choices were narrowed down to the following:
Yamaha C7
Kawai RX-7
Shigeru Kawai SK5
Used Steinway B
The choice was extremely difficult but in the end I opted for the Yamaha C7 because of the good value I got with Yamaha for my trade-in. I would have loved to buy the Steinway, but it was just out of my price range :( So sad!!! Someday... someday :)

So the next step was to make sure the piano would fit into the living room. Our living room is 13x20 but only two of the walls are usable because the kitchen connects with the living room and so it makes it a little difficult to arrange. We have a large picture window that is 8 feet in length on one wall, and a fireplace and two beautiful stained glass windows on the other wall. The DGC1 was positioned in the corner of the fireplace wall, but that worked well because the piano was only 5'3". The C7 is 7'6", so it wouldn't fit there. That left us with two options: 1) put the piano along the shorter wall in front of the fireplace, or 2) put the piano along the longer wall in front of the picture window. My husband and I spent the day rearranging the room with the DGC1 to see how the C7 would fit. In front of the fireplace just didn't look good, but in front of the picture window left us with no room for the couch. Dilemma... quandary... problem... puzzle... predicament... pickle! After some consideration, we decided to bring up a rattan chair from another room that we bought when we got married. It's a really nice dark rattan chair from Pier 1, and I was delighted with how it fit nicely into the corner by the fireplace, so I set out on a shopping spree at Pier 1 to buy the entire matching set of the furniture. Several hours and several hundred dollars later, the living room was transformed into a music room with some lovely seating. An armchair with matching ottoman and end table, a matching loveseat with matching ottoman and end table, and some gorgeous red, plushy, comfy cushions which contrast brilliantly with the purple accent pillows I already had. The room has been amazingly transformed and I absolutely love it! It's more open. We now can use the fireplace. The piano is displayed proudly in the picture window. There's actually more places to sit now with the new furniture than there was with the couch and the armchair that was there before. It's delightful and I love the new room so so much!

So, without further adieu, it is my proud honor to introduce to you my new and wonderful Yamaha C7!!! She is beautiful and shiny black. She is 7'6" in length and she is Yamaha's top of the line concert grand (only a step below the 9' concert CF11 grand). She sounds amazing and once she settles and acclimates into her new and loving home, she'll be pampered with tuning, voicing, regulating and piano technician TLC every 4 months. Michele is very happy! :)

Some would say that we travel a lot, maybe too much... but I wonder, can you really travel too much? I would be happy traveling 12 months out of the year. There are so many places I want to go, so many things I want to see. How can it be possible to travel too much???

Well, we took a trip to Ireland in March and for those of you who read our blog and looked at our pictures, you know it was a marvelous time. We had planned on going to Europe in June this year but decided not to because of the current exchange rate and weakness of the US Dollar. My husband and I are both regretting that decision as we would still be in Europe right now if we had decided to go.

Instead of Europe, we opted for 10 days in Cancun, Mexico. Cancun is very nice, but it was quite a different style of vacation for us as we are used to the GO GO GO style of vacation. Usually, we get off the plane, pick up our rental car, and spend the remaining time driving from one location to the next, exploring towns, castles, cathedrals, museums, ancient ruins, villages, etc. It's non-stop excitement for us from the time we get off the plane to the time we have to get back on and we love it!!

This vacation was quite different. We got off the plane, made our way through the barrage of time share sellers who practically accost you on your way out of the airport, to our airport shuttle that would take us to our resort. No rental car for us on this trip and we wonder if that was a mistake??? 20 minutes later, we arrive at Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort, South of the Hotel Strip, and completely secluded from everything in Cancun.

The resort staff are exceptionally friendly and helpful and the resort is gorgeous. We would actually recommend this resort for any who are considering a trip to Cancun. Our room is enormous - king size bed, two person recliner style jacuzzi tub, giant picture windows looking out into the courtyard and ocean view, shower big enough to fit an entire family, and AC that literally felt like the Arctic. This place was All-Inclusive too which meant that all our food, room service, drinks, liquor, etc. were completely free and included. Nice. We look around and wonder - what are we going to do here for 10 days???

Day one - Saturday - we explore the resort. They have a nice beach where you can kayak, jet ski, swim, wind-surf, etc. There are two enormous pools. There are 12 amazing restaurants to choose from which offered cuisine from Mexican, Japanese, Caribbean, Italian, Brazilian, etc. and the food was really quite delicious. Two huge gift shops with enough cool swag that you wouldn't even need to leave the resort at all to stock up if you didn't want to. Exploring was fun.





Day two - Sunday - we lounge by the pool and meet with our Guest Services rep (they require you to meet with a rep when you stay at the resort because they push time shares on you while you're on vacation...). The rep convinces us to attend the 90 minute presentation and the only reason we accept is because they give me a $100 gift certificate to the Spa where I gladly scheduled a hot stone massage :)

Day three - Monday - we attend the presentation, take a tour of the resort, see their super spiffy time share rooms, listen to their sales pitch, respectfully decline after heavy pressure, and then lounge by the pool reminiscing about our travels and being thankful we didn't fall into their sales trap. By now, with all this pool lounging, balcony reading, presentation attending, and doing, well, nothing... we're feeling pretty lazy.

Day four - Tuesday - we take a tour bus, with a tour group (have I mentioned before that we HATE tour groups???), to Chichen Itza to check out the Mayan ruins for the day. The ruins were amazing, but the visit was too fast and we wished we would have had more time there. A good reason to have rented a car and done this on our own schedule. Oh well. We ate with the tour group at a restaurant just before the ruins where I contracted some sort of horrid food poisoning or parasite - although I wouldn't know this until...







Day five - Wednesday - I AM SICKER THAN CRAP!!! I might have to say that I've not ever felt this sick before - not ever - NOT EVER! The morning starts off miserably, we eat some breakfast to see if that helps me, it doesn't, so we consult with our tour group rep to see if we can reschedule our tour for the day (we were supposed to go to Tulum/Xel-Ha) which they kindly change to Saturday, and I spend the rest of the day in bed.

Day six - Thursday - I am still an unhappy, sickly mess. We reschedule our Xcaret tour for Sunday and I spend the rest of the day in bed. Wow - this vacation is SOOO much fun!

Day seven - Friday - I am feeling slightly better... at least enough to take my golf cart ride to the resort Spa to have my 80 minute hot stone massage which was heavenly. I return to the room feeling better, take a relaxing bath in the jacuzzi tub and spend the rest of the day reading on the balcony. Are you wondering where Stanley has been during all of this??? He has been the best husband in the world - helping me with whatever I needed, fetching me bottles of Gatorade to keep me hydrated, ordering room service soup and breads to keep me nourished, constantly switching the AC on and off to keep the room comfortable... he's the best!!!

Day eight - Saturday - I am well enough to actually go on our tour of Tulum and Xel-Ha. Our tour group only allots us 1.5 hours at the Tulum ruins which was a complete rip-off and the rest of the day is spent at Xel-Ha - a gorgeous lagoon where you can snorkel and swim. It was delightful, but the ruins were way cool and we wished we had more time there... another good reason to have rented that car! One of my favorite parts of the trip - Tulum is heavily populated by iguanas - giant ones and they are awesome. I love them and took way too many pictures of them.















Day nine - Sunday - we travel with our tour group to Xcaret, a giant eco-park which is like a combo of Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park, and the jungle. It had everything from aquariums, animals, botanical gardens, bat caves, butterfly pavilions, ocean swimming, snorkeling, etc. This place was cool and we had a lot of fun there. My favorite part of this day - the Sea Turtles. They are just so graceful and beautiful.











Day ten - Monday - we pack up, take our shuttle back to the airport for our flight home. Goodbye lazy vacation! We're already looking forward to Europe next year!!! I don't care what the exchange rate is - Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Northern Italy - here we come!!! :)

Hi Everyone!
This past weekend I traveled to Phoenix, Arizona to meet up with my friend and colleague, Joe Bongiorno, for an intimate concert performance at Steinway of Phoenix on Saturday, May 10th, 2008. My husband and I drove down to Phoenix from Salt Lake City, Utah (about a 10 hour drive) and had a lovely travel adventure. We met up with Joe the day before the concert and Steinway of Phoenix was wonderful to allow us 2 full hours of practice on Friday.

Saturday, the day of the concert, was as low stress as I could have hoped for. After a day of visiting with family and relaxing in the warm Phoenix sun, Joe and I prepared for the concert by setting up and playing the piano some more for warm-up. We had about 40 guests at the concert, which was a really good turnout considering neither of us are from Phoenix. We had an equal turnout of mailing list fans, Whisperings broadcast listeners, and friends and fans of Steinway of Phoenix. Joe and I pulled all the chairs in close around the piano and dimmed the lights for a more intimate concert experience.

At intermission we gave away some CD's of Whisperings artists and mingled with the crowd. One lady came up to me during intermission and asked if she could touch my fingers. She said that my fingers were the most beautiful she'd ever heard and that I play like I have 4 hands instead of 2. It was very sweet and put a huge smile on my face.

The concert was a huge success and both Joe and I made some new fans. In fact, after the concert we enjoyed a light dinner at The Cheesecake Factory with Joe and some of his truest fans from Phoenix, the Neal family. They helped organize this concert, and it was an absolute pleasure meeting them. Thank you Ken Neal and family for all your support!

I would like to give a very special Thank You to Joe Bongiorno for a wonderful visit and concert experience in Phoenix this past weekend. It was an absolute pleasure and honor to perform with you and I look forward to being able to share the stage with you again.

For anyone interested in viewing pictures from the concert, please visit my photos page.

I have also posted a couple of videos from the concert (including a brand new song called "The North Sea" which will be released in December on my new album) on my MySpace Page as well as my YouTube Page.

Enjoy!!!
Michele