Erin Go Bragh! And Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Pictures are worth more than words

Thanks, mom for taking so many great pics!

The Eve of St. Patrick's

Starting on Friday evening, St. Pats shows were in full force. I danced with the Denver and District Pipe Band. We managed to hit up 3 different bars in just under 3 hours. Whew!  Since it was such a whirlwind, I didn't get the opportunity to take a lot of pictures... but I did steal some from a fellow dancer!



I wanted to try piping and dancing...



carried?

After those shows, a bunch of our Irish dance crew descended on Miss Stacey's place to enjoy some food and Irish spirits. I contributed a Chocolate Guinness Cake... none of which came home with me! It was a great celebration on St. Patty's Day Eve... and much needed moment to relax before the "real" craziness began!



getting our Irish on!




Irish mustaches?




Irish Kisses!

Roller Derby Halftime Show

I promised a video of our halftime show. It was finally posted!! Miss Stace had Jay record the whole thing...start to finish. So here is our 15 min halftime show.

You know you're an Irish Dancer when...

St. Pat's shows are not only on St. Patrick's Day.

This year, there was a concentrated effort to branch out and try to secure some new and different show gigs.  First up, performing during the Denver Roller Dolls Roller Derby season opener! The performance group was opened to Champs and upper Prizewinners... I was lucky enough to find myself in that group!! We were given a slot during the intermission... and the wonderful Mary Pearl (new TCRG) came up with some brilliant, fresh choreography!  Video to be posted once I figure out where it is.
We had an early pre-show warm-up and run through.

putting on shoes and stretching

running through pieces of the choreography

There was the inevitable backstage chaos with everyone getting dressed, wigged, made-up...

I was in charge of make-up for everyone!

the prep stage

But... when we finally went out and danced... it was AMAZING! The crowd was hooting and hollering, people clapped, cheered and stood up to watch us. The dances looked good and we all remembered to smile and enjoy ourselves. (Which obviously is important)

us "oldies" in the group

performing!

All in all, it turned out awesome and was a great way to kick off the performance season. 

Bennett Roller Derby performance group courtesy of Morgan Jones Photography

On a special note, it was the first time Stace and I had ever worn full wigs. And... I don't know if thats a look I am ready to go for full time for my feis style. (P.S. thanks to Stace for handing out her camera to get pictures!!)

Wigs!

Also... once again, my boyfriend proved to be amazing and awesome. He trekked along as a "roadie" for the whole experience and was prepped to lay out flooring, run for food, or anything else that might have needed to be done.  Best boyfriend award!

love this guy!

Can't wait for the rest of the St. Pats shows.... my feet, however, are not looking forward to it :)

Ski Weekend 2012

Next up - ski weekend!  Jay and I did this last year, took a 4 day weekend and headed up to the mountains to rent a house with some friends.  This year there were even more people in an even bigger house! But, it was a lot of fun just the same.  We headed up on Friday and got in a great skiing day! The mountains have missed a lot of snow this winter... so it was nice to have some good, fresh snow.

Heather and I taking a break

beautiful day at Copper Mt!

 The next day, we all took a break from skiing and snowboarding to enjoy an afternoon of tubing! Imagine sledding on drugs. Its sledding amplified. Its awesome.

Jay and I are ready for tubing!

taking the magic carpet up the hill!

crazy tubing group

the start of our tube train

We spent the rest of the weekend on the mountain or back at the house. Hot tub, food, beverages and friends all make for a great, great time. It was nice to get away for a bit.  And... I cannot wait until next year!

playing catch-up!

Despite my best intentions to blog more often, and more specifically about dance and all that... I have been slacking. So, to catch-up!
First up - hockey game! With Heather's beau in town, we tried to pack in as much fun Denver/Colorado stuff as possible.  As his time was waning... I decided that we had to make a trip to my alma mater, University of Denver, for a hockey game. In college, I went to every game I possibly could. There are so many good memories associaated with hockey games, I just had to share with Heather and Pontus!

GO DU!!!!

Jay stays focused on the game

Heather entertains us all during a break

aren't they just the cutest!

Hopefully Pontus will be back soon so we can show him Colorado in the summer. I do believe I hear rafting, hiking and camping hollering my name!!!

Dance

Its been a while since I posted. A long while. For that, I apologize. This new year has started off crazier than last year ended... my personal time has been shrunk to - not a whole lot. On the positive side of things (because its best to stay positive) I have taken it as my GOAL to make this year of dance better than ever. Push myself more, be in better shape, be happy about how I dance at competitions... and try not to think about how young the &overs are now.

"I do not try to dance better than anyone else, I only try to dance better than myself" - Mikhail Baryshnikov

I found the quote above... and while Mikhail Baryshnikov is not an Irish Dancer... one can aspire to dance like him.  I have this quote pinned to my wall at work. And I try to remember... I can only do better than I can do. Not someone else. Push myself, dance my best, work my hardest. Unfortunately, Irish Dance is so very subjective... so while I may feel that I danced my best... the judges may not agree with me. The opposite is true as well... I may not feel that I danced well enough to be placed... but sometimes there it is.

We recently had the first feis of the year, WinterFeis. Last year I missed it since I was out of town... this year I was daunted by the task of ALL. NEW. STEPS. Whew. I didn't do all of them. But I tackled most! And... there is definitely room for improvement.

Winterfeis action

Dance... is going to be my main focus and goal. Being healthy and happy in that aspect of my life will hopefully tumble over to work life. :) Bring on the dance!

A new year, a new age...

Its 2012. And I just got another year older. Happy belated birthday to me! I luckily have some great friends (and wonderful boyfriend) who helped me turn another year older.  Jay and I invited people over on Saturday night to celebrate. Our tiny place was packed full of people! Despite the snowy conditions... :) Its good to know I have such amazing friends!

thats a lot of people!

 On my actual birthday, my mom took Jay and I out for a celebratory lunch! I decided to order the biggest drink available... and there was much rejoicing.


Jay and I share a giant drink on my birthday

 On Monday, I convinced Jay, Heather and her boyfriend Pontus to play hooky for the day and come with me up to Copper. They had gotten a couple fresh inches of snow... and there was no one around! Perfect birthday present to me!

soo cute!

beautiful day!

All in all, turning one year older wasn't too bad. It was a lot of fun!! Now to tackle the rest of the year....

Ringing in the new year

Happy 2012! I can't believe how quickly 2011 went by. Strange to think just how much has changed within the past year.  And... how much I want to do in this coming year. But first, I wanted to share how I rang in 2012. With friends of course!!  Lots of laughter, a little booze, and a whole lot of fun.


there was a little bit of this...




smiles all around!




a little bit of that?




a whole lotta this




cheers!




and our whole fabulous group!



Happy New Year!!!! Make this year be as fabulous as you want it to be!!!

Proud Big Sister Moment

Since dance is on a holiday hiatus... I can't update that aspect of my life. However, I can share a proud big sister moment with you! My brother, whom I've mentioned before, has had some huge things happen in the last month. HUGE. For example, he's been working his butt off in school for the past year+, all that hard work paid off when he was offered a job even before he graduated! Hooray!! Sadly... it will take him all the way to Texas... but I suppose that won't deter me (much) from visiting him. The second HUGE news... is really the biggest of all. Baby brother graduated!!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS BUD!!!! With Top Honors, nonetheless. 4.0 for my kid bro. Nice.

Andy's small group (AET guys)

Mom and Bro

Getting his diploma!

Gradumucated!!

Top Honors!!

Sharing a bit of home

So... once again, its been awhile (again) since I have posted. Its a tough time of the year.. with all the holidays and such.  BUT.. I wanted to share a little trip that Jay and I took last week. We headed to IL for a  vacation in my stomping grounds. Chicago!  Jay had been there before... but this time we did the whole, "thats my high school" "thats where I did ____" "thats where I used to live" "thats where...." and so much more.
We started the trip with dinner at Portillo's. Yumm..... Portillo's.  Best known for some seriously yummy Italian Beef.

drool drool

 The next day, we headed downtown for some time at the German Market, dinner at Miller's Pub and the symphony!

The next day, Jay and I headed back downtown for a day at the aquarium.  I loved going there as a kid, so it was fun to share that excitement with Jay!

Jellies!

Jay and I

 The last full day we had in IL, we headed back downtown again to spend time with Miss Claire. She calls Chicago home now... so it was great to catch up with her!!  We spent the day wandering around the city... and finished the trip off with a dinner at Gino's East (yum pizza!) with Miss Fujii! Drinks followed with Miss Eileen. It was a great trip!!