january round-up

the rest of january was full of all kinds of random moments.  while still on winter break from school, the bean went back to millennium dance complex for some fun dance lessons:

and we were lucky enough to catch my friend amber during at least one session.

i picked up the crochet hook and followed a pattern to make this:

and while it looks like - well, let’s just say it - giant anal beads, with a few twists and flips it turned into this.

the bean and i realized that the delicious boba shop we’d discovered in nyc has a couple of locations in so cal, so we made the trek out to alhambra.  

the hub and i started going on morning walks together - we’d walk around the block a few times, or venture out a little further to grab a coffee at a local indie shop.  they were fun little dates, and it was nice to spend that time together.

the bean and i met up with the getalong gang to continue an annual tradition of getting together around the new year for some korean bbq.  unbeknownst to the kids, we decided to have everyone show up in matching kirkland sweatshirts.  they definitely cringed once we gathered and they realized what was going on, and we got a few looks as we talked and laughed through our meal together.

do you remember the party i attended last year where we were asked to dress as pop divas?  this year, the theme was “barbie.” this should have been an easy one for me, but i went through a few different ideas (thanks, amazon) before settling on one i felt comfortable enough to go out in public in.

january was also the start of “7ish at 7ish,” which is a 7:30am sunday boot camp class with anywhere from 4-7 of my best friends (depending on who’s available to show up).  we meet at a gym in pasadena and get our asses handed to us by my friend trish’s personal trainer - and then we pick a spot to go for breakfast immediately afterwards. heh.  this was our first session:

the class is always challenging, and we usually trade messages throughout the week about how sore we are.  but as much as we bitch and moan about it, i think most of us are secretly enjoying it…or, at least, are proud of ourselves for sticking it out. 

and here’s a random picture in my favorite hoodie to close it out.

get your jazz hands ready

almost immediately after laura's service, i hightailed it back home to help the bean get ready for her dance recital.  this is her third one, and i'd say this one was by far the easiest and most laid-back of the bunch.  the only hiccup was the costume - having ordered it several months ago, it was just a little on the snug side.  nothing like having to tell your kid to "take a really big breath and hold it for a second!"  oy vey.

also, i'm terrible at putting on blush.  i'd bought some cheap cream blush in a bright shade because i didn't have anything that actually showed up on her skin, especially onstage under bright lights.  we giggled through the whole process as i smeared it on, wiped it off, smeared more on, wiped more off. in the end i pretty much threw my hands in the air and just let it be.  the long wear lip stain pen i also bought for her worked out much better.  she managed to hold still long enough for me to put it on her without drawing all across her face, and with a quick braid in her half-up hair, we were ready to go.

the recital was at monrovia high school this year.  although this was one of my high school's biggest rivals back in the day, i gotta say - this school is really nice.  inside the auditorium, we joined the long line of frazzled parents and wiggly dancers to get her checked in.

the teen and i had split up so that she could save us a spot in the other line - the one that actually got us into the venue to grab seats.  they were first-come, first-served and we knew it would be a challenge to get a seat with a decent view.  look at this crazy cluster of humanity.

i'd warned the hub that the show was two hours long, with her part in the latter part of the second half.  i knew he wouldn't want to sit through it, so the teen and i just saved him a seat.  by the time we got inside, all of the good spots were taken (of course), but we realized that there was a balcony.  when we got up there, we found that there were only about four people who'd also made that discovery.  score!

we attempted to sit in the very front row, but the videographer had set up two cameras and very politely told us that the fire marshals had warned him not to let anyone sit in the same row as where tripods were set up.  and of course, he had one in the first two rows.  oh, well.  the third row offered the same exact view anyway.

while i was fully prepared to be less than completely entertained as i waited for my kid to take the stage, i was pleasantly surprised (as was the teen).  we watched every single one of the dances performed by groups ranging in age from 3 to teenagers, plus a few brave dancers who did solo numbers.  different genres were represented - ballet, tap, jazz, interpretive, hip-hop, latin.  it was all really fun to watch, and before we knew it the hub had arrived with a bouquet of flowers in hand for our little dancer.

and when i spied her class taking their place onstage at last, i grabbed my phone to take some (admittedly VERY blurry) pictures to share.  i've watched them practice this routine quite a few times, so i knew what to expect.  do you remember "hey mickey," that song from the 80s that cheerleaders everywhere did some sort of a routine to back in the day?  well, that's the song they danced to...sort of.  it wasn't the original toni basil version but a non-kidz bop one with more kid-friendly lyrics and the same bouncy beat.  i beamed with pride as i watched her strut her stuff and smile excitedly at the audience.  third from the left:

also, i was extra proud that she's at an age where they practice so much that they've got the routine down.  they don't need the teacher to stand next to them onstage, doing the dance along with them to keep them all focused.  nope.  they're real dancers, yo!

there may have been just a little bit of kiddie twerking.  heh.

and the finale.

the teen glanced over at me and then did a double-take.  "are you crying?" she asked.

um, duh.  do you KNOW me at all?

although some of those tears came from a different place, considering where i'd spent my morning.  i couldn't help but think of laura and feel incredibly sad that she would never get to watch her little girls perform in a dance recital like this.  there were some very bittersweet thoughts running through my head as i sat up in that balcony.

just a handful of dances came after that, and then it was time for all of the groups to come out for their curtain call.

outside, we caught up with our friends rocky and both of her mini-mes.  the girls posed for a quick picture together before we were pulled in opposite directions.

one last selfie, minus the teen who'd had to leave to get to work on time.

so yeah...i'd thought that we were done with dance.  but after watching that performance?  uh, no way can i let that come to an end.  she'll still get to take the summer off, and then she'll start up again in the fall.  i asked her if she liked ballet or tap better, and the answer i got was a little surprising:  "mommy, i think i want to try jazz."

okay then.  let's do it, kid.

busy, busy bean

it's hard to believe that the school year is more than half over. the bean has been super busy with her activities, and it's always fun for me to watch her and reflect on how far she's come.

like, her cheer squad celebrated the end of the season this week. the girls received certificates and did a little performance for their parents out in the playground. 

her coach is pregnant and due sometime this summer. since it's still up in the air as to whether she'll be back next year, i figured i'd get a picture of them together. 

afterwards, she got to pick out a treat from the snack bar. not surprisingly, she went big with an oreo ice cream bar. 

she's also super hard at work at dance class. rehearsals for their annual recital are in full swing, and parents were invited to sit in on class this week to observe and take pictures and video. this was the first time i'd gotten to see the dance they're learning for the performance, and all i can say is that it's super cute and i can't wait to see the whole thing. 

i got an email from the director of her dance studio inviting her to join their competition team for tap. as i watched her in class and saw how well she was doing, it made sense. but when i asked her about it, she didn't seem very interested at all. looking over the guidelines for team dancers pretty much solidified my initial reaction to decline. it's a pretty big commitment for at least a year, and if she isn't even really that into it...well, maybe we can revisit it next year. 

school is going really well too, with a very positive parent-teacher conference followed up by a glowing report card. yesterday was the awards assembly for the second trimester, where she accepted a certificate for bible verse memorization. 

later, her teacher stopped me to say that she had actually earned an award for citizenship too, but because she was limited on how many of those she could give out she had to just do it verbally with us. since the bean had earned one last trimester too, i was totally fine with that. it's always good to hear nice the things about your kids, so i liked that she took the time to tell me about it anyway. 

gymnastics is going really well too. i'm still amazed at how much she's learned to do, and at yesterday's class she earned the "star" card again for the first time in a long while. 

with all those activities, i guess i shouldn't be surprised that we're at birthday parties every weekend, huh?

practicing to be brave

at the new dance school i found after leaving the craziness of the last one, the bean has been improving in a huge way.  like, this instructor actually teaches them the positions!  and uses proper terminology for all of the steps!  it's amazing and we're pretty happy there.

they're gearing up for a big recital next month, and the theme for their routine is the movie "brave."  i love this, because i really liked that movie and think that merida is adorable.  costumes arrived recently, and we were invited to participate in a local "celebration of the arts" showcase.  it wasn't mandatory, so not everyone was there, but it was kind of cool to get a bonus dress rehearsal to see how things were going.

this kid, man.  such a ham.

this seems to be her new favorite pose.  oy vey.

"mommy, look, it's like i'm shooting a bow and arrow!"

with one of her BFFs.

and another.

the actual performance went really quickly, and she was so excited and proud to go up there and do the dance.  we're definitely not missing class between now and showtime, though.  although i was stuck sitting in the back, i could tell which one was my kid...she was the one who was always a beat behind.  muahahahahahahaha.  definitely my kid.

when it's time to change, you've gotta rearrange

it's hard to believe that the bean has been taking dance lessons for almost two years now.  seems like just yesterday when she put on that leotard that was still so big on her and headed off to her first tap/ballet class.

while it's been awesome to watch her learn the basics and twirl and dance around and stuff, the other benefit to these lessons has been meeting new people - for both of us.  she got pretty tight with a few of the girls in her class, and in turn, i found three fabulous friends in their mothers.  we've been through the trenches together - remember this?

and then they all came to the bean's birthday party last year, too (along with my friend champagna's daughter).  i didn't get to catch all of them together, so just pretend you see all four of them here.

the ladies even helped me during the party, when i was frazzled and couldn't seem to pull it together.  i was so grateful for their help.

admittedly, the fun part for me when it comes to taking the bean to dance classes is having that hour of hanging out with my friends.  i'm kind of an unlikely addition to the group, though - there's rocky (so named for the incredible ring she wears), who's tall, slim and gorgeous beyond belief.  and there's sassy, who's always so stylishly put-together and cheerful.  let's not forget blondie, who has endless patience and the sweetest personality.  and then you have me - frumpy, clumsy, and likely a decade older than them all.  heh.

there have been so many crazy schedule changes for the dance classes in the last few months.  then you add the holidays in the mix and it was just a nightmare trying to keep our normal routine.  and i was bummed when blondie's daughter had to drop out of tap/ballet for a number of reasons.  but rocky and sassy and i managed to get our schedules coordinated enough to put the girls into a tuesday class that worked for all of us.

it was during our first tuesday class that the shit hit the fan.  when the kids came out to switch from tap shoes into ballet slippers, the teacher - who's also the owner of the studio - decided it was a great time to inform rocky and sassy that their girls were having trouble keeping up.  she kept hammering the point of the annual recital and how they absolutely had to catch up or be in danger of not being able to participate.

the recital?  IT'S NOT UNTIL JUNE.

it was so incredibly awkward and uncomfortable as she stood there and basically berated the girls and their mothers for falling behind and holding the class back.  didn't matter that part of the problem was that she kept moving the days and times for our class around, which interfered with rocky jr.'s soccer practices.  and because the holidays are always nuts, sassy jr. had taken the month of december off.  not to mention that the studio was closed for half the month anyway.  and, um...they're FIVE.

the worst part of this was that she unloaded all of this information at full volume, within earshot of pretty much everyone in the studio at the time, and the girls were sitting right there on the floor changing their shoes.  she pointed at them as she spoke, and spewed her venom while the kids watched with wide eyes and heard every word.  it was awful.

when she swept back into the classroom and shut the door to resume the class, we stood there in a shocked silence for a few seconds.  although she hadn't singled the bean out, i was reeling from the way she had chosen to handle things.  and i could tell that rocky and sassy were furious - well, duh.  after class, sassy caught her by the door and politely told her that she didn't appreciate what had transpired.  i didn't hear what was said, but i saw how the owner looked at her, nodded brusquely, and brushed her off.

i've actually been leery of the owner for quite some time.  she was the bean's very first instructor, and even as she was surrounded by 3 and 4 year olds, she was always harsh and rather mean.  i was so grateful when she assigned a different teacher to the class.  but now that she's once again teaching my kid's class...well, enough is enough.  and it's not even like we can complain or anything, because she owns the damn place.  ugh.

and then later on, i found out that she made the receptionist call sassy and tell her that sassy jr. was no longer allowed to continue in her class.  jigga-wha??  sassy and rocky and i were texting back and forth madly, taking it all in, and it looks like we're on the hunt for a new dance studio for the girls.  this one ain't the only fish in the sea, and i really have zero desire to support a business run by a woman who has no tact and was such a royal bitch to small children.  eff that noise.  we'll finish out the month and then we're blowing this popsicle stand.

so, hey, locals?  got any suggestions for non-competitive dance studios in the glendora-san dimas-la verne area?  help a sista out here.

to the hip hip hop, a-you don't stop

wanna hear something awesome?

the bean added a new activity to her weekly line-up.  and it's the most fabulous class ever - hip-hop dance.  oh, yes.

now, i'd heard that there was a beginner's level class for 5-year-olds.  while talking to the receptionist at the dance studio about it, the owner happened to walk by and overheard our conversation.  when i told her that the bean's birthday is in october, she nodded her head and said "oh, yes.  she can start the class now if you're interested."  BOOM.

i hadn't really been all about committing to any saturday classes before, because i like to keep our weekends open, but i figured a measly 1-hour class would be no big deal.  not to mention...well, this was just going to be too good to miss.  and we didn't even need to buy any special gear for it - all we needed was comfy clothes that are easy to move in, and a pair of tennies earmarked just for this class.  easy enough.

she was a little confused as to why she wasn't decked out in tights and leotard for a dance class, and i was a bit concerned about how she'd react to a different teacher and a whole slew of new kids (all of which were older).  but i should've known better - she strolled right in, introduced herself to the instructor, and started filling her in on how she'd just spent four whole nights in a hotel on vacation.

i stood outside the door and watched through the window, giggling and beaming with pride as i watched my little dancer go.  they did a bunch of stretching exercises first.

she was a little lost as she watched and tried to follow along, but she did just fine.  and the kids in the class seemed really sweet as they smiled at her and tried to stay out of her way.

when she's disconcerted or just needs a little comforting, she tugs on her earlobes.

and here's one of many videos i took through the glass.  seriously, folks...i die.


she's been to three hip-hop classes now, and when we showed up this weekend we were both pleasantly surprised to see that two of her ballet classmates were there too.  i really like their moms too, and because we'd been out of town and missed regular wednesday classes it was great to see them and get a little caught up.

oh, boy - the next dance recital is going to be ah-may-zing.

li'l dancing bugs

full dress rehearsal with a bunch of 4-year-olds is hilarious.  especially this one:

the performance was held at a local high school auditorium.  and it was quite a venue - ornate and beautiful and full of history.  part of a school that began in the 1800s, it was built in the late 1930s and featured everything from high school plays to the original von trapp singers and even served as an army base during the war.  bob hope and the desi arnaz orchestra played here, and so did the los angeles philharmonic.  pretty cool, i thought - despite the lack of a/c inside.  in late june.  yeah.

actually, during the dress rehearsal it was pretty comfortable in there.  granted, there weren't a gazillion folks inside and the temperature that day was in the high 80s.

off to the side of the stage was a small classroom that probably houses the band or chorus during the school year.  that's where the bean's class and the other younger dancers had their dressing room.  she and her friends had a ball playing in there while we waited for them to be called to the stage.  check out the li'l bugs in full costume and make-up:

as their turn approached, we headed into the auditorium and took a seat to watch the older girls perform on the stage.

i guess it's pretty normal for these things to run super behind schedule, as they fine-tune stage placement, lighting, music, and all that jazz.  the kids didn't give a shit and had fun bouncing in their seats and giggling together while we moms stood around tapping feet and checking watches.  heh.

finally, it was time.

do you have any idea how comical it is to watch a group of little dancers onstage together for the very first time?  they're trying desperately to remember their steps, watching each other and their teacher, standing just offstage doing the dance for them, and keeping one eye out in the audience to make sure mom's watching.  and of course, we are - lined up all along the front of the stage, cameras clicking away, and maaaaaaaybe wiping away a tear or two.  what?

lemme tell you, it's a damn good thing i got those shots - because when it was showtime for real, ain't no way i was getting this close to that stage.

the next day, we had to make sure we got to the venue on time.  since it was the one and only performance, it was gonna run on schedule for sure, and we actually arrived a little earlier than needed. and like the day before, the girls just had fun hanging out, snacking, coloring, and enduring more photo shoots.

i actually got into the auditorium just once - during intermission, when i went out to fulfill my duties at the snack bar.  luckily for me, they had more help than they needed and i was able to head over to our seats and say hello to my family.

oh - despite the odd "li'l bugs" that the bean was part of, the actual theme of the show was "wizard of oz."

when i headed back into the dressing room, their dance teacher was handing out these super cute cupcakes she'd made earlier that morning.

i don't really have any good photos of the bean and co. onstage in front of the audience.  i was, however, just beyond the curtain with the other moms, grinning proudly from ear to ear and snapping away as much as i could.  the photos i got are all blurry (like you expected anything else), but here's the bean as she exited the stage triumphantly.  and yes, the dance went just as it did during rehearsal - a hot ass mess - but because they're still so little, that added to the awesomeness of it all.

also completely predictable:  the tears that flowed down my face as i watched.  heh.

since their number was near the end of the show, we all decided to keep the girls in costume so they could join the rest of the company onstage for the grand finale.  each kid was handed a balloon and grouped together in ROYGBV order.

she was so enchanted by her balloon, tugging on it, smacking it and watching it pop back up, and otherwise just not leaving the damn thing alone - and as soon as i turned away for a second, it became untied and floated right up to the ceiling.  eff, man.  and she was so stinking sad as she watched it fly up and out of reach.  of course, there weren't any extras and she had to settle for holding her friend's hand to "share" a balloon for the walk through the auditorium and up to the stage.

i took a bunch of these shots from way at the back before i realized it was futile.  no way in hell can you see where she is in this mess, even though she's right at the front of the group.  and you can see that the whole rainbow theme just fell to pieces.  it was...uh, slightly unorganized.

let me tell you, it is such a freaking relief to have this shit over and done with.  they've been prepping since - oh, probably february.  and over the last month, it's been a total time-suck and rather stressful.  but it wasn't without its benefits - the girls got a lot closer, and so did their moms.  it was really nice to get to know them better and to have each other to lean on when we needed to vent or roll eyes or just do a little old-fashioned bitchin' and moanin' over it all.

and guess what?  in a few weeks, preparations will begin for the dance studio's annual holiday "nutcracker" performance.  and this year, i think the bean and her cohorts are actually old enough to take part in it.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.