A few competition photos!

Hi everyone.....

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO WISHED ME WELL AT THE COMPETITION!!

I'm finally starting to feel normal again....and put my house back together after the flurry of ballroom preparation.

I would like to share a bit of my ballroom experience with you and a few outfits too.

This simple black dress and boots was the perfect, comfortable outfit to wear to drag all of my ballroom finery into the hotel and get settled.  In this picture, I already have my ballroom makeup on: I did it the morning at home before I left.

Ballroom eyes...fake lashes and all...

the back view of my hair after the hairdresser prepared it for the first day of dance.

......my curls for the after competition events (some of my pics are a bit out of sequence)

My hair for the Saturday International Style dancing....

.....torso shots of my dance dresses (this is one of my 2 International Standard style dresses)

...American Smooth style dresses

The black dress above is my dress for the evening professional show.....its a formal event; the pro-am competition is over and we all gather to watch a glitzy professional show and competition.

I wore Latin style dance shoes with my dress for the formal event...

...and a Lia Sophia necklace, of course

and this dress.

At the pro show, after the pro-am comps are over, there is an awards ceremony in which the top 10 ballroom teachers are chosen.....

qualification is based on how many entries the teacher has and how many of those entries have placements in the top three.

That's Marcel!!!  He placed in the top 10!

There are at least 60 or more instructors and its quite an honor to receive this recognition.  I'm so happy for him.

My Peyton....looking a little bored....

I love that pouty face.

My hubby and Peyton

Surprise....I even tried my hand at American Rhythm (ChaCha, Rhumba and Swing).  I'm a BALLROOM girl all the way, but did this for fun.  I rented this dress....

I definitely think I will be dancing this style again; and I'm going to have a dress made....a simple tank style top with a skirt that comes mid thigh and is trimmed in a big Ostrich feather boa at the bottom.  I had a blast.

As soon as some of the other pictures start to trickle in, I will post them.  

By the way,

I place first, second and third in most of my dances....

except for the scholarship dance (money!)...

I place 5th out of 20....

which is ok.

I had a great time....

I've never danced so many dances at a comp before and it was tiring!

But I had a magical time.

Can't wait to catch up on all of your blogs!!!

Wiped Out!

Hi everyone....I'm sorry no pictures today.  I'm wiped out after this competition.  I've invested so much time and energy in this comp...danced in many, many events over three days.

I dance well, won quite a few dances..now taking a break to recoup for a few days.

I can't wait to get back on and see what all of you are up to.

I've read you lovely comments and will respond once I've recouperated a few days!

Getting My Ginger On.....

I'm off to bed.....I've spent many weeks working on this competition and tomorrow I will see if it has paid off.
Well....no matter if I win or don't win...I know it has paid off....I'm a much better dancer than I was.
Still battling an injury...but looking forward to a long and exhausting and fun weekend of dance and sparkle...

By the time you read this....I will either be sleeping or 'getting my Ginger on'!

See you after the competition!

 Competition week is here!

Before I yammer on and on about that...I want to express my heartfelt appreciation for the wonderful support that many of you have given me.
When I started this blog, I never imagined that I would receive such an outpouring of love and support.  I'm teary while I'm writing this....I'm just blown away by the kind expressions I've read.

I appreciate you beyond words!  I have so much fun with this blog; and even more fun connecting with you on YOUR BLOGS.  I've "met" so many wonderful people.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.




 Oh yeah, competition week is here!  I'm excited and irritated at the same time.  I'm mostly excited, but I have an injury that has impaired my ability to practice at my highest capacity.  I gave in and went to see the doctor today.  I have a high ankle/calf ligament injury and possibly a little tear.  I won't find out until after the comp and taking the meds doc prescribed.  I think I mentioned in a past post that I slipped in a store on a wet floor and turned my ankle.  I fell on my hands and knees.  I felt pain, which intensified over the week...but I related it to the increased in time spent dancing.  It was only after nearly two weeks of pain that would not go away and continued to intensify, that I had to admit that I had an INJURY and not just sore muscles.

Kind of looks like a princess dress.  Or a fairy tale dress.

I'm stubborn.  I tried to avoid the doc.  Finally, during my most recent lesson on Sunday, I had to address it.  I gave in.  

Now I'm on prednisone and an anti-inflammatory med.  

My doctor knows that I won't pull out of the comp, so he told me how to treat it....gave me the meds and said...do not dance without wrapping it!!

 I will comply..this competition (the Indiana Challenge) is my favorite and a pretty good sized comp.  This won't be a money winning year...because of the new level...and I'm so new at it, but it will give me a good taste of dancing at the new level.
And...as you might have guessed, I will be wearing a "new" dress.

I'm actually renting this dress from a friend for this comp...with the option to buy.

It's used.  Its beautiful.  She has priced it VERY reasonably.  And would you believe that it is a dress I have been drooling over since the first time I saw it on the dressmakers web site?

I saw this very dress...I called about it and it was VERY expensive.  So far out of my price range.  The dress sold, and then it was consigned and my friend purchased it used.  

Saturday night, she brought many of her dresses to sell to the dance party at the studio. 

I was banned from nearly all, but not all dancing, but he way, by my coach and my athletic trainer/dancer friend who has been helping me tape and wrap it.

This gave me lots of fun girl time, trying on ALL of my friends beautiful dresses.

She offered me an INCREDIBLE deal on this dress.

I think I'm going to jump on it.

What do you think?  Its a once in a lifetime bargain.  I do have three other dresses...but I dance in several categories and styles now and need a couple more. 

Do you like it?

Please give me honest feedback.

Well...my friends...this will be my last post until after the competition.

Then I will inundate you with dance pictures.  

If there are any good pictures of me I will post them.  Let's hope!

I will definitely share pictures of other dancers and competition excitement.

I'll do my best to do my best.

Thank you for your support, your readership, YOUR BLOGS that I enjoy so much, you kind words, love and friendship.

An evening show

Because the competition is coming up next week...and there are several professional performances to watch, I'm playing with formal wear.

I would love to wear a simple black dress like this and beautiful silver accessories to watch the shows.

This dress looks so comfortable, beautiful and wearable.  I love that this dress has a hint of a sleeve and a ruched waist for a flattering on anyone fit. Its way beyond my budget...but I do have a beautiful black Ralph Lauren formal dress that I purchased at a consignment shop for a song.

I love playing around on Polyvore to create outfits that I can replicate more affordably.  You can never go wrong with black and silver.

The Saturday night professional performance will feature Iveta and Gherman.....who have been National and World Professional champions many times over.  I'm so excited to see them dance!

I wish all of you could see them too.  :)

An evening show by lisaanna featuring lace bracelets

A little bad......

I've been a little bad lately....

I've broken my shopping ban in the worst way...

I've actually retailed, which I usually don't do.

Typically, when I start a shopping binge, its an indicator of stress or pressure that I need to attend to.

Scarf, handmade and purchased at dance studio.  New York & Company tee shirt, New Balance yoga pants

The past year was tumultuous (losing my mom, her financial problems, my sister's drug addiction) in so many ways and I think that I've used shopping to cope. 

 I am happy to say that I don't ever used credit cards anymore and about 85-95% of my shopping is thrift.  I even purchase some household items thrift (not just clothes)....if it can be immersed in water for cleaning, I'm ok with it).

Thrift shopping is a mood lifter; I have fun finding great, high quality pieces at dream prices..but thrifting isn't helping right now, so I have to really dig deep and figure out exactly what has motivated me to fall off the shopping moratorium and use shopping to soothe my soul.

..... I need to understand what has triggered the retail binge.

Sigh.  In the meantime...here are a few of the outfits I've worn over the last few days.

I'm not wearing my beloved dresses lately.....its been too cold and I've been busy preparing for the  competition with extra lessons.  Its just not practical to wear dresses to practice in during comp time because of the intensity.

Add caption

Ralph Lauren dress

I'm working on this, but in the meantime.....here are a few of my dress choices ....

Michael Kors dress

Gotta love the black kineseology tape on my leg.   I need all the help I can get at the moment with this injury)

....

I've also purchased a few new Lia Sophia pieces; (at sample purchase prices) for show demos, even though I don't really need to.

 I intend to do some digging to see what is going on...why I'm using retail shopping as therapy.

In the meantime....I've also been practicing for comp on an injured leg and its concerning, considering the comp is less than a week away.

An athletic trainer/sports medicine trainer thinks its either a muscle tear or a stress fracture.
I'm dancing anyway.

Well, dear readers, I can only forge ahead with a positive attitude and try to work through the muck....achieve my dance goals and set a new restriction on my shopping.

One beautiful thing in life is that there are many second chances...
I intend to keep taking those second chances until I get this right!
I'm moving forward positively to ease my psyche restore and my physical self to 100%.

I'm renewing my shopping ban and my commitment to thrift and resale.  I'm going to dance this comp AND be the best I can be.
Thank God for allowing us all to try and try again.