Baby Shower #2

Peyton and I were honored with our second baby shower over the weekend. This one was more of the traditional ladies-only baby shower, held at San Jose Country Club, and it was absolutely beautiful. The shower was hosted by my mom's friends and attended by our families and my childhood/family friends. It was ballerina themed and I loved all of the adorable details. I had a wonderful time and we were definitely spoiled with so many fabulous gifts! Peyton and I are very blessed to have such amazing friends and family to share in this special time with us.

Such a blessed mama-to-be!

I love this table arrangement style for a shower. It reminds me of a big family dinner and that way everyone gets to see and talk to everyone else in attendance.

Even the cupcakes had little ballerina tutus! As part of my pregnancy scrapbook, I am having everyone guess the date on which they think that Peyton will actually arrive. Her due date is currently June 4th, but it's ultimately up to her when she comes so we will see!

Peyton has so many monogrammed and personalized things now and I am obsessed with them all. The embroidered gifts on the banner were made by our family friend from The Embroidery Shoppe. Hopefully Peyton takes after her mommy and loves monogrammed things as much as I do. I can't wait to hang her quatrefoil monogram in the nursery soon! It came from this Etsy shop, Southern Nest.

The favors at each place setting were these adorable ballerina cookies! Some of them were pink or white tutus and some were pink or white pointe shoes.

Me with my mom, grandma and aunt

Time to start opening gifts! 

Peyton is all ready for gameday! I wish I could find a cute dress like this in my size :)

I can't wait to use this awesome diaper bag. Although it does have quatrefoils and my monogram on it (duh), it is gender neutral in color so Jared won't look so ridiculous carrying it for me :)

Peyton's Aunt Erika already spoils her like crazy with all kinds of adorable goodies.

Dear Peyton, please do not spit up on this beautiful handmade knit gown that Great Aunt Laura gave us or I will probably cry. Perhaps this will be one of the outfits for the newborn photo shoot that we then display in a shadow box afterward never to be worn again. It's just too delicate and pretty.

Childhood friends :)

Me and Peyton's "aunt" Lindsay

Grandma GiGi and Auntie Erika

The grandmas...GiGi and DeeDee

Me and Auntie Erika

We just can't wait to be mommy and grandma DeeDee!

My amazing hostesses. Thank you ladies for a beautiful shower!

Also, in case anyone was interested...my dress is non-maternity and I got it at Nordstrom Rack for half the price of what it currently is in regular department stores. I might have to go back and buy another one in my regular size for post-baby bump! 

Winter Olympics

I absolutely love the Olympics. I get super excited for them every two years and I have been anxiously awaiting these games for months now. I love how patriotic everyone becomes during this time and it always serves as a good reminder of what a great country we live in. Plus, it's nice to just set all that political crap aside and focus on the amazing athletes from all over the world. These athletes work unbelievably hard dedicating their entire lives to get to this point, for just a few moments of Olympic glory. I love hearing their stories and sharing in their triumph.    

The Winter Olympic Games are being held in Sochi, Russia this year. While it looks absolutely beautiful there, I highly doubt that I will ever actually travel to Russia in my lifetime. I know a lot of people have been concerned about terror attacks, safety and the conditions of the accommodations for the athletes and visitors attending the games in Russia, so I pray for the safety of everyone involved for the remainder of the games.

My favorite part of the Opening Ceremony was when they incorporated ballet into their storytelling of the history of Russia. As a former dancer, I love a good ballet. If I did ever travel to Russia, the number one thing on my must do list would be to see the Russian ballet.

Of course, figure skating is my absolute favorite sport in the Winter Olympic Games. The team competition for figure skating has definitely been the best part of these games for me thus far. Obviously, the skaters from the USA are my favorite, but this 15 year old girl from Russia, Julia Lipnitskaia, is out of control. I'm not really a fan of her performance quality because she skates with very little emotion or facial expression. She doesn't really get into character or act while she is skating, she just goes through the motions in a very serious manner. She is purely technical; however, she is virtually perfect in her technique. Watching her tricks and unbelievable flexibility is completely mesmerizing. Her two amazing routines this weekend helped Russia win gold in the team competition. She skates again next week for individual medals.

My favorite figure skaters of this Olympic Games are a pair that has been skating together for 17 tears. Representing Team USA, Meryl Davis and Charlie White are amazing and very entertaining to watch. Not only are they incredibly talented skaters, but they are so good at portraying a character and being emotionally involved in every performance. They did a fantastic job in the team competition, helping Team USA win a bronze medal. I can't wait to watch them skate again this week and hopefully win a gold medal because they are definitely the best pair in this Olympic Games.

Watching the Olympics is a little sad for me this year because it is missing two of my favorite things, wine and girlfriends. For the Olympic Games in the past, I always spent my evenings snuggled up on the couch/bed with a bottle of wine and some awesome girlfriends watching the events and cheering on the good 'ole USA. One of my favorite memories of living in my sorority house in college was watching the Olympics with my sisters. I vividly remember a group of us rushing into my room every night and piling on top of my twin-sized bed with our plastic cups of wine (yes, this was one of very few occasions in which I actually snuck alcohol into the sorority house. Sorry, Lori and Kelley). It was such a blast. In fact, to this day whenever I see anything that has to do with the Olympics, I think about those girls and that memory.

During the most recent Summer Olympics in 2012, my sister-in-law, Erika, was living with us. This totally worked out in my favor because her and I would always out vote Jared on what we should watch on TV every night :) Poor guy had to spend the entire summer watching gymnastics and The Bachelorette. During the Olympics that summer, Jared would come home from work to Erika and I camped out on the couch with a bottle of wine and some snacks getting overly excited about whatever event we were watching. We got especially rowdy when gymnastics was on.

Now, this year I am all alone in my love for the Olympics. I just have to sit here and watch all by myself while Jared works on his MBA school stuff at night. No wine and no girlfriends. Sad face. I did get to watch two nights of the games with my mom this weekend which was fun. And on the nights I'm at home watching by myself, Erika and I usually text back and forth throughout the whole thing so it's kind of like we are watching together. The Olympics hold a very special place in my heart. I get so overly invested in people and sports that I know absolutely nothing about, but I love every minute of it.

I can't wait to see what the remainder of this Olympic Games will bring...hopefully a lot of medals for Team USA! Go America.

Christmas Cheer

I have had a really hard time getting in the Christmas spirit this year. I put my Christmas tree up the weekend before Thanksgiving and I still have not finished decorating it. I just don't feel like doing it. I thought that being pregnant would make me feel extra festive this year. Not so much. Unfortunately, I still spend all day fighting off a variety of unpleasant symptoms as well as just feeling crappy and exhausted overall. Whoever said, "oh you'll feel so great once you get to your second trimester!", lied. I'm still waiting for my pregnancy "glow" to set in. Until then, I am going to focus what little energy I do have on Christmas and the fact that we get to find out the gender of our baby in two weeks!!! I feel like once I find out the gender of the baby, I will be much more in the mood to nest and start doing the fun pregnancy things.

Last week was full of fun activities to get the Christmas season started!

On Monday night, my mom's church hosted a ladies dessert to celebrate the beginning of Advent. My mom, sister-in-law and I attended the event with our cousins and Miss Flo, the mother of one of my mom's best friends. It was a great way to kick off the true reason for the Christmas season. 

One of the girls in my small group and I were put in charge of decorating our entire church for Christmas. For two days, Ella and I worked hard putting up decorations. My main job was decorating the two Christmas trees on the stage. First, I had to build the two trees and fluff them. Then, it took me 8 hours to decorate them. I am very OCD about my decorating and I have to make everything perfect which is probably why it took so long. Plus, I had to make the two trees match which was pretty difficult. Each tree has 100 Christmas ornaments in addition to the life-savers that I also turned into ornaments. Each life-ring represents one person who someone in our church helped come to faith in Christ this year. Between the two trees, there are 185 life-rings in all. In total, I had to hang almost 200 ornaments on each tree. And you know I couldn't just hang them anywhere, I had to strategically place each ornament. No wonder I've been neglecting my own tree at home. Ella and I had a blast decorating the church and I am so proud of the work we did. I loved attending service yesterday and seeing everyone worshiping in the midst of our festive decor.

My mom and I attended the opening night of the local Nutcracker in downtown Jacksonville. There are a few different productions of The Nutcracker around Jacksonville, but the First Coast Nutcracker is the best one in my opinion. I danced in this production year after year when I was younger and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra performs all the music live during the performances which makes it a great all-around experience. Even though it's pretty much always the same (yes I still remember all the choreography), going to see The Nutcracker every year is one of my favorite holiday traditions.
 

Another favorite holiday tradition of mine is the Festival of Lights 5k race. My mom and I started walking in this race a few years ago simply because the route takes you through the beautiful neighborhood of San Marco and we loved looking at all the Christmas lights along the route. Last year, Jared's sister started doing the race with us and now Jared's mom joined us as well this year. It has sort of turned into a "girls' night" Christmas tradition for our family. Jared comes too, but he actually runs the race so we just do our own separate thing. I love this race because it is at night and the entire route is lined with luminaries. The people who live in the neighborhood decorate their houses and sing Christmas carols for us as we pass by. Tons of walkers dress up or decorate their strollers and pets, and it just makes for a fun overall event. This year, the walk happened to be on the same night as the ACC Championship game, so of course we had to sport our FSU face tattoos at the race and support our Seminoles!

Remembering 9/11

I can hardly believe that it has already been 10 years since the attacks on September 11th. So much in our lives has changed because of this event. 

It is especially interesting for me, as a teacher, to talk about 9/11 with my students. To them, this historical event is something that they hear about from their parents or read about in a textbook. My current students were only a year or two old in 2001, so they have no personal memory of the event. It's interesting to hear their perspective on this event that they have no recollection of living through, whereas, I remember every detail of that day like it was yesterday.


I spent the summer of 2001 in New York at an intensive ballet program. I returned home in late August with a new-found love for the Big Apple. About three weeks later, we were back in school and I was a freshman in high school at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. I was in my morning ballet class when one of the other teachers wheeled a TV into our dance studio. The news was on and they were talking about how a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Centers. We were all shocked and confused, thinking that this must be some sort of accident or mistake. Our ballet teacher said that she would leave the TV on in the background, but that we were going to continue with our class. As we continued dancing, we could see the reflection of the TV in the back of the room through the mirror that we were all facing.  In the middle of a combination we were doing, this is what we all saw in the reflection of the mirror... 9/11 Second Impact


Although we were all horrified and confused by what was happening, we continued on with our school day since all of this was occurring so far away from where we were. All of our teachers kept their TVs on so we could watch the news during class and I remember watching the live coverage of the attack on the Pentagon during my Algebra class. Soon after, my mom came and picked me up from school early. I spent the rest of the day glued to the TV in absolute awe that I was witnessing a day that would surely go down in history. Being the little historian that I am, I taped all of the live news reports from that day on my VCR. I also saved all the newspaper front pages from the days that followed. I still have all of those newspapers and VHS tapes. 


I've been back to New York a few times since 9/11/01 and the skyline still looks abnormal to me. Prior to that day, I always remember being in awe of the New York skyline every time we went to visit because it was so beautiful. I am so glad that I got to experience it first-hand before it was forever changed. 

Take a moment today to remember those heroes who were lost on September 11th and those who are still defending our country's freedom everyday. Fly your flag today and let everyone know that you are proud to be an American. Remembering 9/11 

Give a Weekend, Save a Life

When I was in college, this was always one of my favorite weekends of the school year. It was no secret around the Phi Mu house that I absolutely loved Dance Marathon! I would try and recruit anyone and everyone to participate in Dance Marathon because I truly believed that it was one of the best experiences that you could have at Florida State. Now that I am an alumna, I still wish that I was at Dance Marathon every year when this weekend rolls around.

Dance Marathon is the largest student-run philanthropy at Florida State. The concept started at Penn State University and now tons of schools all over the country participate in a similar event. DM at FSU raises money for Children's Miracle Network and FSU College of Medicine. Every year, about 900 students at Florida State participate as "dancers" in this event, and an additional 1,000 students volunteer in different capacities to facilitate this event. As a "dancer" you are required to stand for 32 hours...no sleeping, laying down, sitting, kneeling, squatting, etc. I know it sounds crazy, but it is definitely do-able.

Dance Marathon has been at Florida State for 16 years now and has recently been altered from that way it was run when I was a student. Dancers now spend 20 hours on their feet and dance in shifts. During my DM experiences, everyone who signed up to dance had to spend 32 hours straight on their feet. When I was a freshmen and first heard about this event, I thought that standing for 32 hours straight would be nearly impossible. However, I was easily talked into participating in the event because I have always been quite the philanthropy enthusiast. In addition, our Phi Mu chapter has always been big on participating in Dance Marathon because DM benefits Children's Miracle Network, which also happens to be Phi Mu's National Philanthropy.

DM 2006 - Freshmen Year

After my experience freshmen year, I was hooked. I made myself a promise that I would dance in Dance Marathon for all four years that I was in college. So when the time to register rolled around sophomore year, I was the first person in Phi Mu to sign up. I also convinced my best friend, Casey, to dance with me. That was her first and last year dancing in Dance Marathon :) 

DM 2007 - Sophomore Year

After Casey almost killed me for making her endure the horror of standing for 32 hours, we decided that she could just be my "dancer buddy" for the next 2 years and bring me goodies during the event. Dance Marathon my junior year was both amazing and terrible at the same time. I was so pumped for that year's event because I was President of Phi Mu that year and determined for us to place in the awards ceremony. My little and grand-little were also by my side and I was so proud that my whole family was dancing that year!

Unfortunately, that year took a turn for the worse 2 days before the event was to happen. I got really sick and was diagnosed with a kidney infection. The doctor told me not to participate in Dance Marathon, but I was determined to not break my promise to myself so I danced anyways. About half way through the event, the DM Staff had to force me to leave the dance floor because I was so sick and a liability to them. Against doctors orders, I returned to the event at the very end just in time to see my Phi Mu ladies take home the 2nd Place Overall award! 

DM 2008 - Junior Year

Dance Marathon senior year was bliss. Having participated the 3 years before, this year was a piece of cake. I was a pro at this point. My room mate, Rachel, was our DM Rep. for Phi Mu this year and I pretty sure that everyone wanted to kill Rachel and I on the morning of Dance Marathon because we were so excited and peppy! It was truly a wonderful way to end my 4 years at FSU and all my hard work for Dance Marathon. Phi Mu even took home another 2nd Place Overall award!  

DM 2009 - Senior Year

Participating in Dance Marathon for all four years of college is something that I am so glad I did...even if I did have to stand for 128 hours :)

To anyone who has ever participated in Dance Marathon, you know what it takes to get you through those 32 hours. It might be Red Bull, board games, coloring books, candy, Starbucks, smoothies or that bucket of rice to give your feet a massage.

For me, it just wouldn't be Dance Marathon without...

The official line dance...

Using the Kappa Sig boys as a place to take a nap at 3am...

The opportunity to wear a ridiculous costume for no reason...

...and one of the best experiences of a lifetime :)

To everyone who is at Dance Marathon this weekend, just keep dancing! Remember that you are making a huge difference in someone else's life, and even though you are tired and in pain now, when you look back on this experience you will be so glad you did it! I'm so proud of you :)

For more information about Dance Marathon at FSU: http://dm.fsu.edu/

The Nutcracker

I LOVE The Nutcracker! I could seriously just end this blog right here with that statement. I have always loved going to see The Nutcracker, ever since I was a little kid. In my mind, it is not officially Christmas until I go to see The Nutcracker. We always went to see the show when I was little and then in the 4th grade, I started performing in the local Nutcracker. After that, I didn't really get to see the show because I was always in it, but that was so much better so I didn't mind. In the past couple years, I have gone back to my spot as an audience member, but still doing the dances in my head as I watch them on stage.

I have seen many different versions of The Nutcracker, but my favorite is still the one that I was always in. However, when I was in middle school my mom and I saw the New York City Ballet perform The Nutcracker in Lincoln Center. It was amazing and of course nothing can compete with the New York City Ballet, especially since we got to have our picture made with some of the dancers (snowflakes) from the performance, which is super cool when you are 13 years old. Honestly, I would still think that was cool now.

My absolutely favorite scene from the entire show is the snow scene. It has always been my favorite scene and when we saw the New York City Ballet performance, they had a live choir singing with the symphony for that part and that made it even better. Every year, I get all excited when it starts to snow on the stage even though I already know that it is going to happen.

There are a number of Nutcracker shows put on every year in Jacksonville. I performed in the First Coast Nutcracker, which of course is the best one in my opinion. It is at the Times-Union Center and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra provides the live music for the show. So not only are you getting to see a ballet, but an orchestra performance as well. The woman who choreographs the show currently is the same woman who choreographed it the first year I was in it. She was also my ballet teacher when I attended Douglas Anderson (the performing arts high school here). I guess when something works well for you, you don't change it. I say that because most of the choreography from the show is exactly the same from when I was in it. So I usually sit there and do the dances from my seat :)

Knowing that I am obsessed with The Nutcracker and must go see it every year, Jared of course got me tickets again this year. My last day of school before winter break was this past Friday, so in celebration of a break from school and the holiday season we went to The Nutcracker. I must say I was rather jealous of the some of the performers walking around in the lobby after the show. One of these days I am going to start performing in The Nutcracker again, maybe as one of the party scene adults or something :)

Have a magical holiday!

Christmas Spectacular

My mother and I love to go to New York City together, especially at Christmas time. Since her and I are both itinerary crazy people, and we don't believe in sleeping on vacations, there is no one I'd rather go to New York with than her. When we go together, we basically don't sleep and we walk everywhere. No taxis for us, and we only ride the subway if something is more than 30 blocks away. While, in New York we always make it a point to go and see a Broadway show or two. However, since New York City is so magical at Christmas time, our favorite show is The Rockettes' Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall.

We have seen the show twice in New York and I would see it every year if I could. Aside from loving Christmas, I always wanted to be a Rockette when I was a kid. I've been a dancer since I was 3 and when you are already 5'10" by 13 years old, being a Rockette seems like I pretty good career choice. Obviously, my dance career subsided in college and I probably will never become a Rockette like I always wanted to, but they still hold a special place in my heart.

Back in October when I heard that the Rockettes were bringing the Christmas Spectacular to Jacksonville, I had to buy tickets. And what better person to take with me to the show than my mom. Especially since her birthday was on October 12th so I could give her the tickets as a birthday present. She was very excited to go, of course, since we haven't seen the show in years.

Well, we've been waiting since October, but the night finally came. Last night, we went to see the Christmas Spectacular at the Times-Union Center in downtown Jacksonville. I love going to the Times-Union Center because it is a very special place to me, having performed on that same stage that the Rockettes were about to perform on many times. My mom even made the comment to me that the last time she was there, I was performing in The Nutcracker.

Prior to going to the show, we went to eat dinner at the Jacksonville Landing (next door to the Times-Union Center) and see the big Christmas tree at the landing. When we arrived, there was a performance going on in front of the Christmas tree. All these little girls (probably 4-5 graders) were performing their Christmas-themed jazz routines for everyone at the Landing. It was fun to watch them because I remember doing the exact same thing at their age. We enjoyed our dinner and headed over to the Times-Union Center. The place was packed. I kept laughing at all the men who were there with their wives or girlfriends, looking like they obviously did not want to be there, but they were earning their brownie points.

Our seats were actually really good; much better than the first time we ever saw the show in the nose-bleed section of Radio City Music Hall. As I was watching the show, I kept glancing at the all little girls sitting around me. They were so enchanted by the show and I could remember feeling the same way the first time I saw it. The show was absolutely fantastic! However, there is something about seeing it in Radio City Music Hall that makes it even more exciting.

The Rockettes are my favorite part of the show, but the ending of the show (which does not include the Rockettes) is absolutely beautiful. This scene tells the story of Christmas with a live Nativity which includes live animals! Yes, there are actually live sheep and camels on the stage. I love that they choose to end the show in this way. After watching 1.5 hours of the "fun" Christmas things (Santa, etc.), it is nice that the end of the show reminds you of the true meaning of Christmas. It is definitely the most beautiful Nativity that I have ever seen.

After the show, mom and I had to compare it to the show we saw in New York of course. It is very much the same, but on a smaller scale. The stage at Radio City is huge and there is really no other stage that can compare to it. There are less Rockettes in this show, simply because no more would fit on the stage. However, if you have never seen the show in New York, you would never notice it. Aside from the minor changes in the show, the quality of the show is amazing and definitely at the Radio City standard. The show is only playing in Jacksonville for two more days, so if you are going to see it, I promise that you will love it. If you ever make it to New York City during late November-December, the Christmas Spectacular is a must-see!