Year in Review 2023

January

9 – I had a 90 minute massage with cupping (my first since Missoula!) and it was heaven.
10 – Daryl and my 14th anniversary!
14 – Three years at Taproot Theatre Company
15 – RoadCompany recording
17-26 – TTC tech weeks
26 – I saw Deb Perelman (of smittenkitchen) and J. Kenji López-Alt at Town Hall Seattle with my friend Lia.
27 – A Woman of No Importance opens at Taproot
Whole30 year three
Books read: Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner, Smitten Kitchen Keepers by Deb Perelman, A Bend of Light by Joy Jordan-Lake
Bag nights (sleeping bag nights; camping): 0

February

4-13 – Ski n Soak Vacation!
- 7 – Ski Look Out Pass with approximately four other people. I had a GREAT private ski lesson!
- 8 – Got lunch with my friend Katie then walked to campus and chatted with folks for a couple hours. I discovered my resume is posted as an example in the back hallway. ❤️
- 9 – We ski at Lost Trail with Brian and Caitlin. Such a fun day at my favorite place to ski! That night we head to Jackson Hot Springs for the evening.
- 10 – After Brian and Caitlin made us breakfast in our cabin, we parted ways. We go soak at Elk Horn Hot Springs on the way to Georgetown Lake area.
- 11 – Ski Discovery Ski Area. Another beautiful day and great day of skiing!
- 12 – We stopped in Missoula for the day and I got to spend time with my favorite Clare
14 – Taco date with Annie
18 – Ski at Blewett with Daryl, Mike, Micky, and Riley
23-26 – Wintergrass Festival in Bellevue. I got to run lights for ten hours of shows and attend the rest of the festival weekend for free!
Books read: Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson, La Gringa by Carmen Rivera, The Book of Will by Lauren Gunderson
Bag nights: 0

March

2 – Riley and I go on a nice long walk with Anya at Magnuson
5 – Ski at Blewett with Daryl and pups
9 – Daryl, Mike, and I attend a recording of LiveWire at Town Hall Seattle
14-23 – TTC tech weeks
18-19 – Blewett ski camp. We went on a fun night time tour by moonlight and headlamps.
24 – As It Is In Heaven opens at Taproot
25 – Solo date to Boundless at PNB. “Wonderland” by Penny Saunders, “Black on Black on Black” by Alejandro Cerrudo, and “Let Me Mingle With Thee” by Jessica Lang. The Saunders and Cerrudo were among my favorite contemporary works I’ve seen in a really long time.
Books read: Hidden Figures by Margo Lee Shetterly, The Wind at My Back: Resilience, Grace, and Other Gifts from My Mentor, Raven Wilkinson by Misty Copeland
Bag nights: 1

April

- 1- Taproot Gala at Triple Door. Daryl got to attend this year!
- 4 – Daryl and I start a four week bouldering class at Halfmoon Bouldering
- 10 – Tea date at Friday Afternoon with Clare and Patrick
- 15 – Steazy day of skiing at Blewett with Daryl, Mike, and the pups
- 16 – I got to visit my dad at a coin show in Tukwilla
- 20 – Youer did an event with Kula Cloth at Halcyon Brewing, around the corner from work. Anya and I met up there, and I ran into a lighting coworker as well. Daryl joined and then we shifted gears to go see A Midsummer’s Night Dream at PNB.
- 26 – My business cards arrive and I got to represent Taproot at the Cornish senior design portfolio showcase, so I got to give some out immediately.
- Books read: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, The Hello Girls: America’s First Women Soldiers by Elizabeth Cobbs
- Bag nights: 0

May

7 – Hike Wilderness Peak Loop with Daryl and Riley
9-18 – TTC tech weeks
19 – Jeeves Takes A Bow opens at Taproot
20-21 – Ski camp at Artist’s Point with Daryl, Danielle, and Riley
24 – See Jeeves with Daryl, Anya, and Ross
26-28 – Weekend in Spokane
- 27 – We see Lord Huron at the Spokane Pavilion – wow! What a concert!
31 – I give my two month notice at Taproot. Back to being a freelance babe.
Books read: Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz, The Book of Boundaries by Melissa Urban
Bag nights: 1

June

1 – Lighting Designer for CCBdance at BASE Experimental Arts
4 – Daryl’s birthday! Skin up to Naches Peak and then have a fun ski back to the car.
8 – Worlds To Come at PNB
11 – The Highwomen & Tanya Tucker at The Gorge with Annie!
17-19 – Ski camp weekend in the Goat Rocks Wilderness
27 – my birthday!
28 – Mariners game with my parents
29 – Daryl and I went out to dinner with my parents at Ivar’s Salmonhouse to celebrate our birthdays and my parent’s 40th wedding anniversary!
Books read: Happy Place by Emily Henry, Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita, All The Pretty Places by Joy Callaway, A Country You Can Leave by Asale Angel-anjani, The Bones Remember by Sara E Johnson, Thinning Blood: A Memoir of Family, Myth, and Identity by Leah Myers, Gilded Mountain by Kate Manning, Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P Manansala (Adult Summer Book Bingo)
Bag nights: 2

July

5-13 – TTC tech weeks
6-16 – Daryl on a High Pointing/Missouri trip
14 – The Hello Girls opening night – the first, and last, opening night I attended while on staff!
15 – Sydoney, Jeff, and Carissa were in town from Portland, so I spend the day tourist-ing with them. I love when the cit shows off for friends.
27 – Another Kula event at Halycon
28 – Last day on staff at Taproot!
29-30 – 11th Annual McIver Float with the Beech Haus fam
Books read: Lone Women by Victor LaValle, Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea, Tanya: Poems by Brenda Shaughnessy, Grace Banker and Her Hello Girls Answer the Call by Claudia Friddell, Never Say You Can’t Survive: How to Get Through Hard Times by Making Up Stories by Charlie Jane Anders, Witches by Brenda Lozano, Cat Brushing by Jane Campbell, Peg and Rose Solve a Murder by Laurien Berenson (Adult Summer Book Bingo)
Bag nights: 1

August

5 – After living here for five Augusts, we attended our first Lake City Parade
8-13 – Montana Vacation!
- 10 – Hike St. Mary Peak in the Bitterroot
- 11-12 – Hang out with zero obligations at Kreis Pond
- 12 – See our friends Rob & Nola (and pupper Gabe)
16 – See The Hello Girls with Daryl, Mike, and Ike
17 – After 4 years, 8 months of weekly (then every other week, then monthly) therapy, I was graduated to “as needed”! I’m so proud of myself and the really hard work I have done.
19 – Daryl flies us to Harvey Field for brunch
21 – First day of school for Last Drive To Dodge (stage manager)
23 – Riley and I take a long walk with Anya in the Arboretum
25 – Daryl and I drive up to Vancouver to see Vance Joy. The concert sounded good, but we spent 97% of it in line for food.
26 – Received my business license, so I’m officially Kathryn Louise, Theatre Magic Maker!
29 – Lia and I got brunch in a cute old Craftsman. I completed my Adult Summer Book Bingo card.
Books read: The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst, Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur, Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng, The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst, Swan Songs by Lee Scott, And Yet: Poems by Kate Baer, The Stars Are Not Yet Bells by Hannah Lillith Assadi, Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King (Adult Summer Book Bingo)
Bag nights: 3

September

11 – I found a Pilates studio I really like and start taking almost weekly reformer classes
11-21 – Last Drive to Dodge tech week. KCTS9/Crosscut was in the house recording a story on Andrew Lee Creech (playwright) and shot b-roll of me calling my first set of cues. Only slightly intimidating!
22 – Last Drive To Dodge at Taproot opens!
28-10/2 – Denver for Gab’s wedding!
- 28 – Flew to Denver (double masked!), then got dolled up for Gab and Brian’s wedding. We shared an airbnb with Lindsay and Tami. Such a wonderful day full of love and lots of hugs.
- 29 – Drove to Idaho Springs and spent a lovely day wondering. We drove up to Guanella Pass (11,670′) and absolutely felt the elevation.
- 30 – We drove to Hot Sulphur Springs and soaked at the hot springs. Set up camp in the city campground, then walked to the 2nd annual River Festival. On the walk back to our campsite, D tripped over a piece of rebar sticking up from the parking spot and dislocated his shoulder! I drove him to the hospital 17 miles away (that we very thankfully had driven by and commented on earlier in the day!) and the incredible folks at the ER got his shoulder reduced within an hour of him dislocating it.
Books read: Lady of Bones by Carolyn Haines
Bag nights: 1

October

9/28-10/2 – Denver for Gab’s wedding!
- 1 – We soaked at the hot springs for a couple hours before heading to Denver. That night we get dinner and ice cream with Aria, Jordan, and Jackie.
- 2 – We go to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs for the day before flying home that night
8 – My parents were in town for a coin show, so we had them over for dinner. I made a yummy asparagus prosciutto pizza.
11 – I start working my way through The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
21 – Closing day for Last Drive To Dodge. I’m so thankful I was given the gift of stage managing this beautiful show.
23 – Michelle, Taproot’s Production Manager, and I were honored with the Melissa Hines Backstage Award at this year’s Gregory Awards!
24 – Boosted!
29 – We hike up Diamond Head at Blewett Pass and catch an incredible sunset
31 – Daryl and I see the Hadestown national tour at Paramount. WOW!
Books read: All That Is Wicked: A Gilded-Age Story of Murder and the Race to Decode the Criminal Mind by Kate Winkler Dawson, Starlink House by Alix E Harrow, An American in Scotland by Lucy Connelly, Murder Under a Red Moon by Harini Negendra
Bag nights: 0

November

6 – We make a trip to Astoria to see Jad Abumrad at the Liberty Theatre with Tammy
8 – Daryl’s friend Jenny came to down for a concert. We got dinner at Elliott’s Oyster House then got drinks at a speakeasy where we entered through a secret door in a bookcase!
11 – Daryl, Mike, Fisher, Ike, the pups, and I drove down to Portland and went to the Griz game with Liz. Definitely more Griz fans in the stands than PSU fans!
14 – Took myself on a solo date to see Little Women at Seattle Rep
16-21 – I get to spend the week working at Taproot: on book at tech for Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley, lighting hang & focus for Charlie Brown Christmas, checking folks in and being a reader at the Sister Act callbacks, and subbing at stage manager for Charlie Brown.
20 – Cascade Grotto hosted a screening of Subterranean, a caving film staring a couple of our Canadian friends!
23 – Poultry Day! Roast chicken with schmaltzy cabbage, bacon & leek dressing, butternut squash and white bean gratin, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and cranberry-raspberry pie. Yum!
24 – Go on a hike with Will
25 – Christmas tree hunting and a hike up Johnson Ridge
30 – White Christmas at 5th Ave. Daryl’s first time there!
Books read: The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts by Soraya Palmer, The Shadow Girls by Alice Blanchard, The Love Scribe by Amy Meyerson, And then She Fell by Alicia Elliott, Absolution by Alice McDermott
Bag nights: 1*
*a bag night because we slept in our bags on my parents floor 😆

December

5 – We see Audra McDonald at Beneroya Hall. She’s so incredible!
6-8 – Lighting Designer for Cornish College Dance New Moves at NOD Theatre
11 – Take myself on a date to see the proshot of Waitress The Musical in the movie theatre. Lighting Designer for one of the Acting Studio Christmas camps at Taproot.
13 – Daryl tests positive. We stay in different rooms, wear masks when in the same, set the air purifiers on high, and I move onto the couch.
21 – Michelle was selected as one of the December issue of American Theatre Magazine’s “6 Theatre Workers You Should Know” and I, and our COVID work, was mentioned!
22 – Daryl tests negative!
26 – At 4am, a neighbor work us up banging on the door and ringing the doorbell. There was a fire in our car port! Daryl doused it with the fire extinguisher while I called 911. Absolutely never thought I’d be thankful D had COVID, but it’s the reason we were home to put the fire out.
26 – First day of school for The Book of Will at Taproot (stage manager)
27 – Daryl and I go to The Nutcracker at PNB
Books read: Beer and Loathing by Ellie Alexander, We Must Not Think Of Ourselves by Lauren Grodstein, How To Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix, A Deadly Dedication by Margaret Loudon, The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill, Witches Get Stuff Done by Molly Harper, Unbound by Steph Jagger

Number of books read: 53
Total bag nights: 9
Taproot shows worked while on staff (Mainstage, Road Company, Acting Studio): 6
Freelance shows: 5
Theatre/Dance shows attended: 11
Concerts attended: 5

●2022●2021●2020●2019●2018●2017●2016●2015●2014●2013●2012●2011●2010●2009●