Utah Visit

Its always good to go home. And this time I was REALLY looking forward to it. Ive been doing so much traveling lately and have been meaning to squeeze in a trip to Salt Lake but its been extra difficult these last few months. When I found out my Brother and Sister-in-law moved back to Utah from Washington DC with their newborn baby girl, that sealed the deal! I booked my flight while I was in Baku and couldn't wait!!

Joe and I stayed with my sister-in-law Jessica and baby Jayda :) We were still experiencing a bit of jet lag from Baku so we would fall asleep before this newborn and wake up before her! lol so funny. One morning, Jessicas mom Pamela came over and took us for a little morning hike in Draper, it was so beautiful. It is that perfect time of year when all the leaves are changing and it hasn't snowed yet. Having four seasons is definitely something that I miss about living in Utah. Its such a beautiful place!

Hot pink leaves!

Draper Temple.

Me and Joey in the opposite of hiking gear. We didn't pack for this little adventure. I was actually wearing flip flops.. oops. But it was so worth it. Pamela gave Joe a full blown tour experience. I loved it! 

Ok, this picture needs no explanation.

Two things baby Jayda loves, TV and Joe :) She barely took her eyes off the tube but she somehow managed to always find Joey's finger. lol She had a little crush on him and it was soooooo cute to see him with her. I'm pretty sure I sat on the couch and held her for 8 hours. She is the best baby, I only heard her cry once.. and the rest of our visit she was just ALL smiles :) It was so good to catch up with Jessica too, since my brother Bryan was out of town. She is such an amazing mom already and Im so proud of her! I can't wait for our next visit. 

Giving back to Musicians Institute

Now that I am back in LA for a little while (about a month). I wanted to make myself as useful as possible. I contacted the school I went to while I was living here in LA a few years ago. I attended MI in Hollywood as a Vocal student and then later as a Keyboard student. I had the best time at the school, I met some amazing people and made some great friends. My auditioning skills were insanely polished and I truly feel like my time at school gave me the confidence to put myself out there more than I ever had before and shortly after leaving school I started booking jobs. So THANK YOU MI :)

I recently reached out to them to let them know I would be around this month and if they needed anything to let me know. When I heard back from them I was so excited because they offered me a spot as a guest career counselor. While I was going to school, I met with a few counselors so I understood what the position would entail. It's mainly successful industry folk that they bring in to listen, encourage and give helpful advice to aspiring students. And the fact that I get to be one of those individuals now is incredible. I hope that I can be as helpful as possible and inspire musicians and singers to gain as much confidence as they can and start putting themselves out there like I did. Im so thankful for my time at MI and I'm even more grateful that I get this amazing opportunity to give it all back!

If any students are reading this, I'll be there every Friday this month (October) from 4-6pm, go sign up!! :)

xoxo

Nicole

Baku 2012

Here is a map of Azerbaijan I found online. Mostly for myself so I could figure out where the heck I was! lol We stayed in the Capital, Baku and it was lovely... for the first few days, then I started feeling like I was in the twilight zone.. Honestly, THE WORST jet lag ever. It was a full 12 hours difference from LA. So every morning I would wake up at 2 or 3am craving lunch.. UGH! 

The FIFA World cup is a competition between the top 16 female soccer (football) teams in the World! And I had the pleasure of performing for one of the three events held in Baku. Jennifer Lopez performed at the Opening Ceremony and Shakira will perform for the Closing next week!

RiRi's poster. These we everywhere!!! :)

View from my hotel room. We were fortunate enough to stay at the JW Marriott (Absheron) and I LOVED it!! It was beautiful and the Spa/Gym was SOOOO nice! I'm pretty sure room service hated me because I was calling every morning at 4am ordering something stupid like a cheeseburger or pasta.. oops. Damn jet lag.

Poppy and I walking around on our day off.. I had to do major research online to see if these shorts would be appropriate to wear.. the only other bottoms I packed were long pants and it was hot as hell there!!! Thank you TripAdvisor ;) Apparently, the Country which is 93% Muslim is pretty secular in culture. So with the exception of some random cat calling, I was fine :)

No idea..

"Old Town"
 I was expecting something much different considering Baku is one of the Worlds oldest cities.. Unfortunately this Old Town was just a series of street vendors selling some pretty elaborate rugs and refrigerator magnets.. boo! 

Flag.
 People kept saying it was the biggest flag in the World. Up close it did look monstrous,  so I did some research and turns out Guinness has recognized this as the Worlds Highest Flag. It is hoisted right next to the venue we performed in so I was able to see it everyday for a week!! 

Caspian Sea.
OMG can someone please tell me if this is where the Little Mermaid is from!? I spent the first 3 days singing the entire soundtrack, but mostly Ursula's song "Unfortunate Souls". Theres a part where she says "...Come winds of the Caspian Sea" So I just figured... ;) I am a nerd and did some online searching and some smart ass said the Little Mermaid is set in a fairy tale place made up by Disney..(Jerk) He's probably right but I'm just gonna go with my theory, it was based under the Caspian Sea, and I was JUST there! So cool :)

Posing 101. Tyra would hate me.

This is a place we went for dinner one night and it was delicious. I had a hard time eating there (Baku) in general because I am a picky eater and the 12 hour time difference was messing me up quite a bit.. but this night was just what I needed. SO YUM. It also turned out to be the lounge we went to for the pre-party, the night before the show. I can honestly say that was one of the funnest nights of my life!! Good spot.

Dinner @ChiNAR

We likey.

My Per Diem. And its last moment in my possession. You were good to me, Manat :)

I had a great time in Baku, but I am happy to be back in LA. The show was so much fun and I can't wait for the next one! Next stop for me is Salt Lake City. I am the only person in my family who hasn't met the most beautiful baby girl, my niece Jayda Faye. It has been KILLING me but I'm finally coming for ya sweetie!! Obnoxious proud Auntie photos to come!

over and out.
xoxo

Nicole

Recap of 2012 so far..

I’m baaaaaack ☺ I know it’s been awhile (almost a year!) since I’ve blogged but I have good reasons! If you are super bored and want to hear how I’ve spent the last year of my life, please read on.. 

After wrapping up the LOUD tour last December, I was excited to finally see my family in Utah, celebrate Christmas and then get back home to LA. I can’t tell you how comforting it was to be back at Mommy’s house, sleeping in a nice warm bed.. Especially after sleeping in a moving bus and/or a hotel room for a year! Ouch, my back ;) But seriously, the Tour was unbelievable. There is nothing on earth that can prepare you for a World Tour. It was like living through a crash course of life on level 10.. or something dramatic like that.. I feel like I learned more in one year than I have in my entire life. And for that, I consider myself one lucky girl. 

 I was keeping up ok with this little Blog while I was on the road because I was on a strict schedule. I knew exactly where I was going to be every second of every day. So even though I was traveling from place to place, I still had a sense of consistency. Now after the tour ended, that’s a whole different story, and actually the story of how I came to be living a gypsy life this year.. 

After Christmas in Utah, I went back to LA. Back to my studio apartment in Hollywood, that I hadn’t seen in months. After about a week of being there, I started to feel claustrophobic and I knew I had outgrown it.. not just the apartment, but my life there. I knew it was time to move on. 

For a long time, I told myself I would go on a World Tour, and then after that, I would move to Europe for a year to work on my music. So in January I turned in my 30-day notice at my apartment. And by February, I was on a plane to London, England. My original plan was to move to Berlin, but I hadn’t picked up the language as well as I thought I would.. oops. German is hard! So I told myself that England would be the next best thing because it IS in Europe, but I get to speak English.. Although at times, British English sounds like Chinese to me.. ;) Anyway, I was living in a lovely house in Wandsworth, which is just south of Chelsea in London and I was beyond excited to start this new chapter of my life. With one World Tour under my belt, I truly felt like I could take on the world! I’ve never been more excited to write and record my own music. I finally felt inspired and wanted to lock myself in a studio and get it all out. Things were going according to plan for a couple of months. I had a few songs recorded and even played my first gig in the UK as a solo Artist. It was great. But as the year went on, I found myself popping in and out of the country for work, and it just felt like more work was coming. Thankfully, I spent most of the summer touring again performing at various festivals , TV and award shows. However, it took me away from my adventure in London, which had only just begun… 

Sometimes life doesn’t work out exactly like you plan it (and I definitely planned this one out hard core) but that’s ok. It was difficult, but I decided to put my project on hold for the moment. Not only was I working/traveling too much for it to make sense, my heart wasn’t in it. My vision for this year was to be 100% dedicated to my music, my project. That was the only way it was ever going to mean something to me. And I still feel that way. So “project on hold” for now.. 

Meanwhile, I was basically back on tour, and the beautiful house in Wandsworth sat (and currently still sits for a few more weeks... damn lease) empty.. I fought hard to try and make this year work out like I planned, but in the end I realized this year was always just going to be busy. Someday, I’ll have a house with a yard and a couple of bratty kids driving me crazy.. That is an upcoming chapter for sure. But I waited and worked my whole life to get an amazing job and have singing be my career. Now it is, and that sometimes means living out of 2 suitcases, mostly sitting at an airport or on a plane, in a hotel room or on a bus, but most importantly on a stage singing for sometimes thousands of people and nothing can compare to that feeling.. On a separate note, I will say that I am a Master Packer now. And to be honest, I can’t think of anything more exciting than doing what I do. I am thankful. My boyfriend makes fun of me when I say “blessed” because that word gets overused (he’s right) so I say THANKFUL. I am. I sometimes forget to say that because life has been so fast lately. 

Anyway I’m back in LA for the moment, you guessed it, working. And I must say, the weather sure beats London’s! lol I’ve said it before, I love that city! And when the time is right, I’ll go back and spend some real time there.. Cheers for now London..

So to recap the work for this year so far, well what I can remember: The Grammys, The Brits, some Japanese festivals, a few charity events, SNL, American Idol Finale, summer music festivals in London, Norway, and Sweden, the VMA’s… I’m sure I’ve left stuff out.. and now, I’m sitting in a hotel room in Baku, Azerbaijan. A place I never even knew existed. I’m actually looking at my two passports right now. Yes, I said TWO. A few months ago I had to order a second one because I filled up the first! Unreal. I know some people that don’t even have a passport. And I have 2. Stop the madness! ☺ 

I guess the point of this long ass entry, is to say that even though my year didn’t turn out like I planned, locked in a studio recording music in London, I really cant complain. I’ve actually grown quite fond of my new life on the road.. I had big dreams as a kid, but nothing I ever dreamed could compare to this. I am happy. And I get to sing every day. Life is good. I have no idea what I’ll be doing next year, to be honest I don’t even know where I’ll be next week. But I think if its anything like the last 2 years, this Blog is fixing up to be pretty interesting… 

 Peace and Love 

Nicole, the Singing Gypsy ;)