Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Looking beyond the surface

I love how I am learning that just because something is made one way doesn't mean it can't be changed with a little creativity! Over the past several months as I have become immersed in the blog world and discovering how many amazingly creative women there are out there, I have learned this lesson and I am now finding myself learning to not only take things I see at face value, but also to think about their potential and what they can become with a little TLC! It makes me think of some of my beginner dance students who are pretty rough around the edges when they start...but with direction, some encouragement, a little patience, and time it is amazing what can happen! (they performed this past weekend and were amazing! I am so proud!)

Thinking outside of the box is at times difficult for me in many areas, but I crave the ability to do so. And I admit that I am proud of one of my first attempts even though it is rather simple... 2 vases that I got for $3.27 a piece at Target! I wasn't thrilled with the grey, but loved the shape and thought they would look great in white. By the way...I love white, especially white dishes! My husband teases me about it and has even gone so far to say "Isn't white boring?" (tsk, tsk) It makes me want to cover the poor "ears" of all my lovely white dishes and say "Don't listen to him, what does he know anyway?!" ...He knows a lot actually and I'm proud of him for it! (sometimes he even helps me pick out which shoes to wear!)
Here he is doing "man" stuff and starting a fire...well gettin charcoal ready for the burgers he was making. And of course the kitty keeping watch

Anyway, I got a $.98 can of white paint at Wal-Mart and was so eager to paint that I didn't get a very good "before" picture of the original color.(I had actually painted the other side white already, oops! Like I said...a little eager)
I still have one more coat to do...didn't realize this until they were dry and back in the house. I love their shape and can't wait to use them on my dinning room table or even my mantel. My mind is buzzing with possibilities for them!

There is so much to be seen and discovered in this world if we only stop and take a few moments to discover it and look beyond the surface!

Finding Red


Last summer we planted 3 strawberry plants and had no idea how they would turn out. They multiplied but never bore any fruit. Well in March little white flowers started popping up and now everyday I am finding more and more red! It is so exciting and even a little strange to think that I have strawberries in my back yard. This could be because I never imagined myself planting anything other than flowers.

We have even been able to eat a few! It's amazing how they really taste different from the ones you buy at the store. yum! Now all I need is some vanilla bean ice cream covered with strawberries on top!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

A Night for Inspiration


(Not the greatest picture...the stage curtain)
This past Saturday I witnessed some of the most incredible dancing I have ever seen!! A group from the studio I teach and dance at went to Dallas for the night to see a performance of contemporary and classical ballet called TITAS Command Performance. There were 10 pieces total and each were a duet, or pas de deux in ballet terms. The dancers are brought in from major companies such as American Ballet Theatre in New York, Alvin Ailey, San Francisco Ballet, and so much more. They are some of the best in the world and we didn't have to travel all over to see them!

Anther highlight was Mia Michaels, choreographer for many things, but most recently recognized for her work on the Fox show So You Think You Can Dance, was there and received an award from the TITAS foundation. This only added to our feelings of being star struck... to actually see her there, here her speak, and see a piece she created especially for that night! Such a treat!

It is so hard to describe what I saw and I wish I had pictures and video to show you, but of course that was not allowed. It was amazing and some of the best spent $20 ever... no exaggeration I promise! I didn't get too many other picture of the night but here are the few.

Marlene, our fearless driver/dance director

Rachel while passing out the tickets

Some of the ladies in the van

Danielle and I after the show!

This past week I have felt dry and out of creative juice when it came to dancing, especially in creating choreography for my classes. It just seemed everything was zapped out of me. Going to this performance was the perfect medicine and exactly what I needed! I only wish I could reply the dances over and over again so that I might enjoy them more!

Family Fun


Most years for our family get-together at Easter (or any holiday or major function for that matter!) we are at my grandparents house for all of the fun and craziness that means family. This year was no exception and despite the chilly weather it turned out to be a great day. We all had lunch together and then my cousin Tiffany gathered up some help and went to hide the eggs! It was quite entertaining to watch it all... especially Tres, Tiffany's 15 month old, he was running all over the place and didn't seem to quite know what to do with himself!

Tiffany, the mastermind behind it all

Some of the crew hiding the eggs

Here come the kids
And they're off!

Tristan already counting his

Jori always seemed to find the ones up high

Kayla on the hunt!

The lovely lady behind it all...my Grandmother!

Tres seemed to simply love to dump out his eggs...

And then given them back... repeat!

Jori and her basket
Sisters!

There was much more I wanted to do with this post, but my internet or maybe blogger itself is giving me grief so I give up!

Have a wonderful day!




Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Dancing Feet


Isn't it pretty?! Well probably prettier in a tracing than the real thing anyway...

In the midst of being sick I have also been considering ordering new, fancy, shmancey, pointe shoes that are supposed to last forever from Gaynor Minden. Which is a good thing considering pointe shoes can for some last days, but for me it is usually a month or so....needless to say.. the $ adds up quick!!

Well since I don't live near a "fitter" I decided to try the online technique where you download a form, trace your feet (or you husband does if you have one), fill out a ton of info, take pictures, and send it all in. If only it could be that easey! I think we traced me feet 4 1/2 times(the half being only 1 foot), talked to the company 3 or 4 times...including Mr.Wonderful calling and talking to them (there is a reason I call him Mr. Wonderful!), my computer not downloading the right thing or submitting the form...and me stressing over whether or not this will all be worth it!

After my last call to the company, the lady said just mail it in. Which sounds crazy to me and a little archaic if you are supposed to have high speed technology at your finger tips! I guess in the end it is better to snail mail the tracings and pictures so the computer can't distort them. sigh. I really hope this works.

I'll let you know how it turns out and maybe the shoes will make my feet look like thisIn the mean time I'll keep dreaming!

(image borrowed from superstock.com)

Shop 'til you drop

Well now that the week is about half over I decided I would finally get around to posting about my weekend! It really started out great, but ended on a not so fun note with me getting sick...hence the delay in posting. Now I know writing only requires sitting in a chair and pressing buttons, emitting only small amounts of energy, but I'm sorry to say I just didn't have in me and instead preferred to be completely covered in my down throw, with a box of tissue, sleep and maybe watch a few episodes of Gilmore Girls. I didn't even go to ballet on Monday. That decision is always a hard one but since I have rehearsals and performances in three weeks I knew I needed to rest up and get better rather than push myself. ( I need to remember that today as I head back to class)

Enough of the not fun stuff!

Saturday ended up being a whopper of a shopping day, I'll tell you what! And it ended up being with a small contingent of my large family. We all met at a place called "The Farmhouse" (half of it looks like a barn and the other half a house) for a good 'ol country breakfast! This included both of my parents, my sister, my grandmother, grand pa Sonny, my uncle Brian and his fiance Jennifer, my wonderful husband (who sacrificed his Sat. morning soccer with the guys to be with me), and myself. whew!! Breakfast was great...filled with lots of laughs and good conversation...I only wish I could somehow capture it for you because to an outsider I can only imagine what it sounds like! Then we were off to First Monday Trade Days....Welcome to First Monday...an old shot but wanted you to get an idea of what this place can look like on a typical first Saturday of the month(every month). Oh the madness!

After our cars promplty got seperated, which led to parking on opposite sides of the "park", the vehicle I was in parked at the back and started off at the Convention Center. Right when we walked in we discovered this booth that was filled with laundry carts filled to the brim with every kind of linen you can imagine! And she had piles of quilts all over!
This is me feeling slightly overwhelmed...what you can't see is all the women on either side of me digging for their lives! (that was the overwhelming part)Me and my mom digging through the scarves with a little silliness in between.
And of course the proverbial "husband chair"...I guess so many men would flock to it that she eventually deemed it official!
I have a thing for aprons, even though I decided to pass on them that day...along with the quilt I carried around for a while, and the napkins I dug through! But by Sunday I was glad I had because I ended up with something better! I'll tell about that later...

After exploring the rest of the convention center, filled with antiques, old movies, jewelry, and so much more, we ventured outside and promptly got separated from my mom and dad. Did I mention how hard it is to stay together?!

I wish I had taken more pictures of the outside booths but I was too taken in by all of the wonderful things to explore and dig through! After about two hours of looking, and a little buying, I discovered second heaven! I absolutely love old jewelry especially the kind that involves vintage swarovski crystals. Oh! and the rhinestone necklaces which my husband even encouraged me to buy!This little picture does not begin to do justice the wonderful things this guy had and everything was 1/2 off! I felt like a kid in a candy store there was so much excitment and I think the owner was secretly laughing at me! I just couldn't decide and then when I thought I had decided I found another layer of trays underneath....anyway I came home with these two beautiesThe picture does not do them justice at all! They would have been $77 for both but I got them for $38 with the sale...yippee!!

We almost bought at least 3 different pieces of furniture while there including this corner piece I wanted for the dinning room. So pretty, but in the end I was glad we passed it by. The debate over this piece actually caused us to get seperated from my grandparents and uncle for the 2nd time...to which we spent the next hour trying to find them, finally giving up, then finding out they were headed to their car! Oh well, the time we were with them was fun.

I think we ended up walking and shopping for about 6 hours...still can't believe how the time flew. On of the pavillions we went in (not even sure how many they have on the 200 acres) had this booth that I could have looked at for at least an hour in and of itself.
I absolutely love this display and wish there was some way I could recreate it in my house or anywhere for that matter so that I could enjoy it more often. I seriously want collums like that in a house someday. And thank you to Mr. Wonderful for taking the picture even while you got in trouble for it....apparently there was a rule about taking pictures inside the Arbors, but we didn't know it until informed while he was taking the picture. Oops!

So after we had our fill of it all we went outside of the park grounds to a great little Mexican food stand and had tacos and tamales, followed by a little more shopping at a place called Paul Michael Company. Where we bought this:

Pardon the Kleenex...I have spent the last 2 days on that chair exactly where my husband left it after bringing it it. We will probably move it to a better wall in the office, actually the one I am sitting at right now.

Last but not least we stopped at the Dairy Palace for ice cream and headed home...which is when I started to feel sick. I am just sooo glad it was after the shopping! (smile)

Here is what else I came home with:
Silver candle sticks for $10
Glass ice bucket ( I think) $2, glass bowl with silver bottom $2, silver forks $1 a piece, silver tray $3, and the white container $1.I love this fun tablecloth that I got for $7. It was such a fun day...thanks for letting me share it with you! (If you made it this far-sorry for an extremely long post)

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Full blooms and treasure hunts to come

This is one side of our front yard and I wanted to share our Azalea's while they are still bursting with color. Our whole neighbor hood is filled with different varieties of Azalea's in all colors and sizes. The two sides of our front yard are a drop in the bucket compared to some! I'll try to get out and take some pictures before they all start to disappear. Already the pink dogwoods are fading to green and it makes me sad because they are some of my favorites!

Now onto treasure hunting... two weekends ago I convinced my husband to spend our Saturday morning going to garage sales with me. Even though we went to almost 20 different places it was a pretty disappointing outing and we only came back with a large frame for $2(which I painted black as soon as I got home), an old suitcase for $1, I have never seen so many childrens clothes in my life! It seems that and some adult clothing were all people were selling everywhere we went.
My silly cat, Mynx, freaking out at the strange object, aka drying frame, hanging from the tree! I thought she was going to pounce it!

Well this weekend we are going to venture out again, only this time to First Monday Trade Days, a flea market/anything and everything you can think of extravaganza! My mom, dad, sister, and possibly my grandmother are going to join us...so I am looking forward to the treasure hunt as well as time with people I love... now if only we could have Eddie Ross there to point us in the right direction!