Photo by Lindsey Tran via my lovely Karey...
I’m about to state the obvious… Ready?
Ballet is hard. Really hard.
But it’s not hard in the way that I expected it to be hard -- my body
isn’t crying; rather my brain is. See (for me) it’s hard in the way that the New York Times crossword puzzle is. It’s a bit of a brain tease. I can’t remember the moves I’m supposed to be doing, I can’t get my feet to do the right thing at the right time, I am furrowed in thought and concentration (and frustration) during the entire 90-minute weekly class...
The upside of the situation is all that mental angst makes me forget that I’m actually exercising, which is a bonus given my history of hate re: the exercising. I’m all about being active, I just don’t really want to be reminded that I’m being active while I’m being active, so I lean toward the family bike ride, the living room dance party…all the things you sort of get lost in and forget that you're actually (yes) exercising.
So the mental gymnastics is good for that, but for my ego, well…not so good. I’m not sure what it is about my personality that expects I’ll “get” things right away. I am frustrated easily, and then I’m not very nice to myself. Remember "
the summer of self-improvement"? Yes, making a Polish chandelier is hard too. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. We’d have a glut of Polish chandeliers out there waiting to be snapped up. But it’s hard; it takes work, that's what makes it special…a good thing, yes?
my new ballet shoes...
Last Saturday at my second (!) class (and I’m not sure why I felt I should be channeling Natalie
Portman in just my second attempt
ever at ballet, but alas I was), during a particularly tricky series, I was quietly chanting under my breath, “
I can’t, I can’t, I can’t…” I’m a real positive girl, clearly.
The incredibly lovely and graceful (and much older) woman standing next to me in class (and who is very much a beginner but somehow far more zen about the entire enterprise) leaned over and whispered, “
say you can, embrace your inner-ballerina”.
Now a statement like that would have normally made me giggle and maybe even roll my eyes, but she was right, if I’m going to do this thing, I need to
do it. After all, for the past year and a half, during the girlie’s classes, I’
ve been watching the adult ballet class intently (albeit the advanced class) longing to be doing what all those amazingly graceful, strong people were actually doing (not thinking about doing).
So next class I’m embracing the inner-ballerina friends, full on. I’m not afraid...
It seems like our weekend consisted largely of thwarted plans... We were all set to host a little dinner at our place for a few friends on Friday but had to cancel at the last minute upon the discovery that the Millster had strep throat (which we somehow missed despite her constant grumpiness and frequent declarations that it hurt to swallow...umm yes, stellar parenting). So Friday evening quickly morphed into "cozy movie night on the couch", and it was pretty delightful, I have to say. On Sunday, I was supposed to do another little shoot for Chakra but was thwarted by the gloomy, cloudy weather (sunlight just makes for much prettier photos). Bryan and the girlies had already planned a day-trip to visit his folks, so all of the sudden I found myself with the better part of the day totally and completely free. This is a pretty rare phenomenon... so rare in fact that I spent the first 30 minutes wandering around aimlessly trying to figure out what to do with myself. (I did immediately shut down my computer for fear of squandering my freedom getting sucked into the interwebs.) After a bit of mulling, I ended up tearing through the house cleaning out drawers and cabinets and closets. I was a tornado of productivity. It was a pretty impressive scene, resulting in six (big!) bags of stuff delivered to the Goodwill. (Is it odd that I find taking stuff to the Goodwill a total rush?) But wait, there's more...I also conjured up a hefty pile of clothes to bequeath to my sister and unearthed a few more goodies from my closet to offer up over here in the next week or so (speaking of which, that swell A.P.C Madras dress is still up for grabs!) I capped my ultra-productive day off by watching the Oscars in their entirety. I was up (at least) two hours past my bedtime. I'm living large here friends. So... did you notice that I skipped over Saturday? Well that's because I may have attended Audrey's school fundraiser/auction dressed as Sarah Palin from Sarah Palin's Alaska (the auction theme was "Reality TV") and Bryan may have been dressed as a moose (that I shot). I also may have had a couple of cocktails, which may have resulted in someone bidding for court-side seats to a Dallas Mavericks game...and winning. Yes, all that may have happened, but I'm not saying for sure. Hope your weekend was fantastic (and that you didn't attend any fundraisers sporting an updo, glasses, a parka and a button that said "grizzly mama"...hypothetically of course). 
Jordan's
Mid calf skirts
Big baubles
Brilliant bangs
Mad height
Sweet seats
Fresh flowers