Dance and zombies

It's the day of the show, y'all! T-minus 3.5 hours 'til curtain and I'm buzzin' with the typical pre-show excitement!! Tonight the fall student dance concert opens. Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE what I do?!?

Also on the weekend agenda... umm, nothing much else, ha! The concert will take most of my time (I will be at the studio tomorrow from noon until about 10pm) and I've been so exhausted this week (see previous post) that all I want to do Sunday is lay around in my sweats and pass out candy to the kiddos. My costume will be Exhausted Dancer, hope it doesn't scare the kids, lol!

I have to make one last shopping trip to Walmart for the show... bandaids, fake zombie blood, spirit gum for my fake gash wound and makeup remover for said blood and spirit gum. This isn't for my Halloween costume... I get to be a zombie in the show!! Yes yes y'all, we are featuring a zombie dance, it is SO much fun! Pictures next week ;)

Happy Halloween, loves!!

xoxo
J

My happy place

The wind is howling outside. If it were summer, I'd be worried there was a tornado on it's way! Today was so cold and it was so gray this morning, it just broke my heart... so it begins, *le sigh*. Several months of cold, bleary, dreary, gray yuck.

Okay, I'm leaning a bit to the dramatic side... this is Colorado, which means Thanksgiving could be in the 60s - heck, even Christmas could have freakishly warm weather like that! - and the sun prevails the majority of the time, even when the temps are in the single digits. I'm very tired, so my drama meter is running high. Bear with me.

I was at the studio tonight, of course, but instead of regular rehearsal, we were running tech rehearsals in preparation for the latest dance concert, which will take place at the end of this week. Choreographers have been calling extra rehearsals as show time draws near, per the norm, which means I'm packing even more into my already tight schedule. I'm exhausted. I'm incredibly sore. I'm bruised and banged up. My feet have floor burns and bleed if I don't keep them bandaged (gross, but the life of a dancer... we do not have pretty feet). But I am happy.

I dread the cloud that settles upon me during winter, growing a bit darker each day until spring reappears, but I realized something tonight. Dance helps me fight that dark cloud. When I'm inside my little dance universe, I'm transported to a happy place. The cold, blustery, gray yuck outside can't touch me. I walk through the doors, inhale and exhale my first few dance breaths and it's game on. All the yuck outside fades and is forgotten.

Despite my stress, exhaustion and pain I was reminded today of my happy place. And I am grateful.

Bisous, bisous!

J

F-i-n-a-l-l-y

Good grief, Friday, what took you so long!?

I hate hate hate weeks where I wake up everyday thinking it's farther into the week than it really is. Makes me crazy!

I have no epic plans for this weekend. I'm simply happy that it's the weekend.

Oh, I'll do things...

Like sleeeeeeep!

Take my sweet time getting out of my sweats and into real clothes, then eventually venturing out to shop a little for some real clothes.

My shopping bags will say "Ross" on them, but a girl can dream...

Continue watching the Firefly series (I love the movie Serenity and finally started watching the series the movie was based on, per many friends' suggestions), and hopefully catch up on Grey's and Gossip Girl episodes online... as usual, dance rehearsals cut into my TV shows. The nerve!

Maybe go to the gym for some cardio kickboxing goodness, but sleep might trump this plan since the class is on Saturday morning...

Read. Write.

Cook something scrumptious. My meals are quite basic during the week (I'm talking sandwiches, canned soup and eggs cooked in various ways) due to one tightly-crunched schedule, so I like to get crazy in the kitchen on the weekends. I've been craving squash and cinnamon and cardamom and wine, so we'll see what ends up on the table...LOL... so me during the week

(Both images from We Hear It)

A string of rehearsals on Sunday. Which means I won't get out of my sweats on Sunday.

Any epic plans for your weekend?

Happy weekend, my lovelies!

xoxo J

News Brief - the grumpies, the 'Bucks, aerobics and blonde hair

The latest Jessi News Brief...

I miss Blog Land, but life is such right now that I just can't read, comment or write as much or as often as I used to. I pop in when I can and am keeping up with you all as best I can... I miss obsessively checking in everyday, but such is life right now.

Dance is going alright, but I still want more. Last night I was watching choreography created by my school peers, and I got really emotional. It was a rush of knowing that I am exactly where I belong in life, that the dance studio/stage is home, mixed with sadness that I can't do it to the extent or capacity that I desire. I know I need more... I haven't taken ballet in a couple months now and I can see and feel the absence of ballet conditioning. I'm still jonesin' to find myself a jazz class to start building that vocabulary, but I just can't take on more right now. My schedule shifts come November, so we'll see... I get so frustrated with myself because I want to have a better attitude, to be grateful with what I do have, grateful that I get to dance, but I'm struggling to shake the grumpies that are lingering like a bad cold.

Like dance, I want to do more with my Avon business than I am or can right now. When I started my business I fantasized about jumping right in to having a huge customer base, my own home office (completely furnished, of course) and rockin' the crap out of my business so that it is my only income source... I have such an entrepreneurial spirit, desperately wanting to be my own boss, create my own schedule, all with the goal of having a flexible schedule to work around dance. See? The grumpies.

Okay, okay, I need an attitude adjustment here... I think I'm going to take a cue from the lovely Liz over at It's Unbeweavable and list things that are making me happy right now... hope she doesn't mind!

Salted beverages at the 'Bucks. Pumpkin spice, schmumkin spice... I'm all over my custom Starbucks beverage, a salted soy caramel macchiato. It's not on the menu, but they'll make it for you if you ask. I should trademark it as the Jessi Special. If you're a sweet-salty fan, try one the next time you make a Starbucks run.

Pumpkin. I may be indifferent to pumpkin spice lattes, but throw some pumpkin puree into muffins, pancakes or cake and you have my attention. I whipped up some pumpkin pancakes last weekend, topped with a variation of cream cheese frosting that I concocted, with much less sugar than frosting and runnier, so a kind of cream cheese "syrup", if you will. The roomies and I inhaled them.

Boots. I just found some flat, black Report booties for $16 last week at Ross. I've hardly been wearing anything else since.

Aerobics classes. I adore aerobics classes. Every single class I take I get nostalgic for when I was an aerobics instructor once upon a time, thinking I should re-certify (another thing on my perpetual wish list). I'm going to toot my horn here, so please forgive me... but I was good. And I think that I'd still be good. Friends tell me I should teach Zumba, and I have forever and a day wanted to teach Tae Bo or some other cardio kickboxing offshoot. Maybe I will someday pursue this. Someday.

Last, but not least... my new hair!! I give you Phase 1 of my Blonde Transformation...

Gearing up (sorry for the crappy quality, I took these with my phone)

Foiled!

Phase 1 complete!

I think I look better blonde... My hazel green eyes have just popped and I have more color in my face. I feel like I have to wear less makeup. I was a bit worried I'd look washed out, considering how fair skinned I am, but I feel the contrary happened... my complexion seems warmer. And based on the compliments I get, I don't think it's all in my head, lol! I'm planning to go even blonder, in due time :).

Happy Hump Day, everyone!

xoxo

J