I’m someone who has a foot in two worlds – the business world and the music world. I’m what you call a “Baroque Soprano,” which is a fancy way of saying I sing early music. Hildegard is a hero of mine. I’ve sung her works for decades. So when Kristi said her name in the plural, I lit up and was like, “The what, now?”

Kristi described a group of women leaders in the arts, who formed a collective that brought together women in the world of classical music. Led by Stacey Brightman, who is the VP of LA Opera Connects, The Hildegards launched their first symposium last Sunday, February 9th, in downtown LA at The Colburn School.

For years my brother-in-law has been telling me I need to go into business for myself. For years I’ve nodded my head and said, “Yes, yes, you’re right.” And then I’d set my alarm for 5:30 a.m., get up and walk with my friend Susana around the lake, come home and get ready for work, wake my daughter and get her ready for school, take her to school and then drag my ass to the office to work for someone else.

We’ve been the House of Ill for the last month. And here’s a photo of my snap peas.

Over the month of December, I fell into the habit of reading the BuzzFeed articles in my news feed about great gifts for under $20. I scrolled through endless crap, with a beginner’s optimism that I would find something useful.

Sometime last Spring D was at the mall with her friends and they stumbled on a sale at Forever 21 where everything she bought was $5. She’s worn a school uniform for the last three years. Now she’s trying to build a wardrobe she can wear to high school on a budget. Sure, Forever 21 is trashy, but the prices are appropriate for a teenager, and my girl is totally mod when she puts an effort into it. Nothing too wince-inducing comes home.

I was called in to interview for a great position in a wonderful arts non-profit that was ALL THAT. And I totally blew it.

I wrote a kickass cover letter to my resume, because I knew it was going to be read by a human being, not a bot. This was, hands down, the best cover letter I think I have ever written. My commensurate experience was artfully connected with everything they needed in a development director, and in one paragraph I succinctly described why the arts are important to human beings. I was on fire.

And then I showed up and sucked ass.

About eight weeks ago I planted my first successful vegetable garden in LA, and have been so delighted with the results that I asked for seeds for my favorite root veggies for Christmas. The lettuces in the box in the backyard are growing like gangbusters. For someone who previously couldn’t grow anything in LA other than a succulent, this blows my mind.

My friend Libby’s grandmother saw photos of my garden on social media and her response was, “How thrifty of you, Corey!”

This made me pause. Am I thrifty? Is that a good thing?

Mid November E and I looked at our accounts and decided we could splurge on one big gift for D, something she really wanted, a Nintendo Switch. The week before Thanksgiving I looked for the best deals, and landed with a good deal on Cyber Monday. I missed the big one-day sale that sold out in less than an hour for $50 less. If you want to save, wake up earlier. Lesson learned.