One down, four to go...

...bellydance performances, that is. Last night I danced at Indian Oven. It was an improv set of nearly 8 minutes. It had been a while since I'd done improv so I was a little nervous. It went really well, though, and I had a great time. (I also made $20 in tips, which was nice.) We rounded out the evening hanging out with some of our favorite people until way too late, and loved it. In all a fun evening.

Next up: a (yet to be) choreographed solo performance and (not quite polished) troupe performance for the Middle East Club on Wednesday. Then I'm performing those same solo and troupe dances at SpringFest, a big all-day bellydance festival in SLC on Saturday.

After that I have three weeks before doing troupe and duet performances at Club Cairo. *phew*

It feels like a lot of dancing when I'm in the thick of it, but I'm loving every minute.

Dancing at the Indian Oven

Bellydance is returning to the Indian Oven! There will be one Dance Night per month at the Indian Oven, starting Saturday, Feb. 27th. I'm performing at this first event!

Baby laughter

Little laughed for the first time yesterday, and I got video. Such a cute little chuckle.

More sewing and beyond...

Yes, more sewing. But it was for a good reason! I'd made a birthday banner similar to the one in the above photo for Doodle's birthday. I used a mishmash of fabric scraps from my stash, and it turned out well. Some friends who came to Doodle's party loved it, and kept talking about how awesome and clever the banner was.

Fast forward to last week, when I learned that one of those friends was throwing a surprise party for his wife. I asked him if I could make a banner for her party and he said "that'd kick ass!" So I quickly whipped up the banner in the above photo, and brought it to her party the following evening. They *love* it, which makes me happy.

Close up:
The letters are applique'd on (ironed then sewn), and the whole thing is sewn to a long strip of bias tape. Some of the fabrics were selected for silliness (bees for the letter B, tie dye because I love it), and some because they're familiar (I made a purse for their daughter A out of the blue H fabric last year, gift bags out of the D fabric, and a skirt for daughter S out of the purple P fabric). I'm very pleased with it.

Then here's the weird thing: academic interest in my banner. One of our friends' friends is an Extension faculty member in sewing and design stuff. She teaches classes on sewing, classes on designing dresses... you get the idea. So she saw my banner and approached me about making a How To sheet which would then be published in a peer-reviewed manner. A peer-reviewed sewing publication?! I barely feel like I know how to sew!!! So I'll be talking with her sometime in the next couple weeks, and may get a publication out of the deal. Totally crazy!

Babies + tie dye = awesome

See?

Bday#28

I had a great birthday last week.

We went to our favorite hot springs the weekend prior, and finally got to bring Little in the water. He LOVED it. So we're 2 for 2 on babies who love hot springs, which is awesome.

I didn't get to sleep in on my bday, but that's okay. Doodle started to stir at 6ish, and rather than let her go back to sleep, J turned to her and said "Guess what day it is... Mama's birthday!" With that, Doodle was up and out of bed and ready to bring me presents to open, pronto. It was so cute I forgave him for the early morning.

I opened presents (including a Learning To Knit kit from my knitty mother-in-law - Thanks!), ate the delicious breakfast J made for me, then enjoyed a mellow morning of hanging out with my favorite people at home. J went to school for a few hours, then came home early to make me a yummy dinner.

I thought that'd be the extent of the festivities. I was wrong. I went to bellydance early for some costume fitting. While I was waiting for practice to start, my sneaky fellow dancers brought in a cake, fully ablaze, and sang to me. Totally unexpected. It was quite sneaky, and I loved it.

Thanks everyone!

Adorableness

Yep. Totally adorable.
(No, I'm not biased. Why do you ask?)

Crafting...still...

I seem to have gone off the crafty deep end being home with the kiddos. Projects I've started or am thinking about include:

• making 8 necklace/earring sets for my bellydance troupe. - I have all of the earrings done, and one necklace done.

• making my first real quilt. Think at least twin-bed-sized. - I completed my first panel today, and got the fabric cut out for 6 more panels tonight. It'll be 25 panels total.

• double-layered circle skirt for Doodle. - DONE. Finished this today. Not sure why I thought the glittery fabric wouldn't be so bad once it became a skirt. Holy fairy orgy, Batman! The GLITTER! It is EVERYWHERE. We're going to be finding glitter in things for YEARS thanks to this skirt. But Doodle loves it, so I grin as I pick another 10 pieces of glitter off of Little. For the fifth time today.

• fluffy flirty skirt for me, out of that ridiculously bright polyester I mentioned before. - Still in the designing process, trying to decide whether to make a gored skirt for myself now, or wait until I lose a few more pounds of baby weight. Besides, it's still effing cold outside (high of 35ish yesterday felt sooo nice), so I have nowhere to wear the skirt right now if I do get it done soon. Okay, this one can wait.

• corduroy skirt for me, from thrifted 70s rust-colored corduroy. - Still designing, waiting for a skirt book from the library.

• corduroy jumper for Doodle from same corduroy. - Still in the designing process, need to borrow a friends' pattern.

• another quilt as a gift - this one will be simple and pretty quick. Nothin' fancy. - I'm repurposing a thrifted duvet cover, keeping one side intact while hacking apart the other side to make blocks for a big, blocky quilt. I have a vision, but not all the material. So it's technically still in the designing process too.

On top of this I have a bellydance improv solo performance at the end of the month to prepare for (Indian Oven Feb. 27th, 8pm! More info soon), and more choreographing of our troupe music before late March (Club Cairo on March 27th). Plus keeping the house from becoming a total disaster, not neglecting the kiddos, feeding the kiddos, spending time with J... yeah, I may be trying to do too much. Again. Always.

I'll post periodic updates on my list if for no other reason than to help me feel accomplished. And because, as J will confirm, I love lists.

Redwoods

After the rain
Originally uploaded by Humboldt State University

Photos like this make me realize how much I miss the North Coast and the redwoods sometimes. I can almost smell the forest after a rain... *sigh*