Sisters

Originally uploaded by horseballerina.

Mollie and Eli stopped by en route from Pensacola to Miami via Tallahassee on Friday and took me out to dinner at Don Pablo’s. I got to see about half of their honeymoon pictures from Peru and do a little catching up.

Saturday was a styling workshop followed by a social at Unified. It was a BLAST. I wore my showstopping blue dress and the famous silver stilettos. Amazingly I danced for 4.5 hours before surrendering and putting on my WAY less sexy buy WAY more comfy flats and heading home. I met several new dance partners including Tony and Curt. But my favorite was Javy, who I had seen dance at Pontiac and was told “he’s incredible – you have to be really good to dance with him!” So when he asked me to dance I was understandably nervous. But he was really sweet when I told him I was a beginner and told me “doesn’t matter how good you are. We dance ’cause it’s fun!”

And of course there were disproportionately more dances with Gordon, my PDC (that’s Personal Dance Coach) than anyone else. He had me doing some crazy advanced moves and taught me to dance bachata and double spin. I don’t know if it’s because I’m more familiar with his leads or if he’s just really good at it, but he makes me look good. If you didn’t know better, you might actually think I know what I’m doing when I’m dancing with him.

Yesterday Wendy and I drove down to Orlando and had an only mildy productive shopping trip at the outlets and malls. But we had a really productive dinner at Smokey Bones with Justina, my internmate and future roommate for next year. She seems very laid-back and cool. I think it will work out well. She’s not sure she wants to do a residency or anything (unlike certain other crazy types) and that might be cool because it won’t be two gung-ho super driven types together. One of me is probably plenty!

Mollie and Eli stopped by again tonight for a repeat of our nice but very abbreviated visit on their return trip. We didn’t have time to break out the pictures because they were already running late. And Eli didn’t get to meet Maverick and Sam this trip. Maybe next time they can come see my little farm.

Salsa_Shoes

Originally uploaded by horseballerina.

No, really. I didn’t have a choice. What was I supposed to do, keep sticking to the floor? Plus they were reduced to 60% off and it was a deal, as Don Corleone would say, I couldn’t refuse. And it doesn’t hurt that they just might be the hottest pair of shoes I have ever seen.

Now I just have to figure out how to dance in 4 1/2 inch stilettos, including spinning, without killing myself. Actually I have been practicing at home in them and my balance is fine. But the balls of my feet get sore faster than in the shorter heels. Saturday there’s a styling workshop (for all levels, yay!) followed by a salsa social. I am trying to get brave enough to wear the sexy shoes.

At Pontiac last night after class, I danced the first song, a merengue, with Ganesh. I have learned leads better, so it went more smoothly until he tried to get way fancier than I can follow and knocked me in the face with my own arm! I danced a few songs with Kenji, who taught me some “suave” moves as he calls them. He is a fantastic dancer and very sweet with us clueless types.

But mostly I danced with Gordon, who has appointed himself my own personal dance coach. He is full of tips and also encouragement when I do something well. He also told me that if I go to class every week and “dance EVERY practice dance” (he adminoshed me because I wasn’t) and go to Pontiac EVERY Thursday I can be at the top levels in three months. This, and my amazing teacher Carine telling me that I have talent, make me wish I’d started sooner.

Most of my hobbies, as far back as I can remember, I have engaged in with considerably more enthusiasm than ability. Tee-ball, basketball, softball, horseback riding, surfing, rock-climbing, kayaking, pottery, drawing, painting, sculpting. I have loved doing many things over the years but not because I am particularly good at any of them. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d say this about any kind of dancing, let alone salsa. But for the first time ever, I feel like I really might have the potential to be GOOD at something. Fun. Not school, which is really the only other thing I’ve ever been good at.

So, see, I HAD to buy those shoes. It’s an investment!

Dance Lesson

Originally uploaded by horseballerina.

And really, what other kind is there? I am completely falling in love with dancing despite the fact that I often feel goofy, clumsy or confused and occasionally all three. Because other times I feel like a hot mama. I’ve been to a few classes now and learned the basics of two different styles of salsa, casino and L.A. My timing and coordination is improving every time. And – get this – I’m dancing in heels!

For my first class I wore the cute but highly sensible shoes Mom insisted on for the wedding, mostly on account of the stairs I had to go up. I was glad I listened to her when I learned that my escort was to leave me at the bottom of the stairs and I’d have to climb them solo. The shoes are stable, safe, and extremely ill-suited for salsa dancing. They completely lack spin. I stuck to the floor instead.

After my first night I was actually brave enough to go out with a group of people to the Pontiac Tavern, this cute little place downtown that plays Latin music on Thursday nights. Everyone was SO nice. There’s a group of regulars including people from the classes, and everyone dances with everyone. It was the first time I ever danced with a guy and didn’t have to worry about whether he thought it meant I wanted to go home with him! (Besides Brothers, which was great for just that reason – they didn’t want to go home with you anyway!)

After dancing with Danilo, I realized this whole idea was a stroke of genius. Given my penchant for dark-haired boys with big chocolate eyes, I wonder why I didn’t think of it sooner. What a great way to meet just such boys, many with adorable accents, and all of whom dance well. Sheer genius.

Somewhat ironic that the seed was planted while dancing with a blond, blue-eyed Jewish boy. You really just never know.

Salsa dancing and kickboxing. What in the world, you are probably asking yourself, do these things have in common? Other than a lot of moving around. But more importantly they are two activities which I have sort of always kind of meant to potentially investigate in further detail and they maybe think about perhaps starting. So what better time than New Year’s?

I have been recently bemoaning the copious amounts of ass-sitting I’d been doing this semester. And I haven’t really felt motivation to “seriously” ride my horses – mostly I’ve just hacked around and gone on trail rides with the girls. Enjoyable certainly but hardly any sort of workout. Then I went to Mollie’s wedding and had a blast salsa dancing with Josh. And I thought hey, what a great way to get some exercise. Especially the next morning when I tried to get out of bed and realized that four hours of dancing in heels does quite a number on your quads when you never wear heels let alone dance in them.

The kickboxing thing, I dunno. Maybe all the Bond movies Dad and I have been watching. And Stacy has gotten big into kickboxing and is very enthusiastic about it. Not to mention that she looks amazing! Again, sounds like fun and good exercise. I guess I just decided that ass-shaking and ass-kicking were infinitely preferable to ass-sitting. And I have some time right now so why not?

Some other things I’m going to do this year:

1) Not take life so seriously. It is a dance, after all. How serious could it be?

2) Spend more time with my precious family and friends before I disappear into the internship abyss. I miss them already.

3) Go to Kentucky to “be fabulous” as Wendy says. Knock the socks off Rood and Riddle.

4) Love my life. I already do, but it never hurts to include it again!