Happy Dance Day!

Today is the first ever National Dance Day! National Dance Day, is a movement taking place for the first time today that encourages people all over the country to get up and move. Dance Day is even being recognized with an official act of Congress. Created by Nigel Lythgoe, executive producer and co-creator of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE and founder of the Dizzy Feet Foundation, the aim of National Dance Day is to promote health and self-esteem through the art form of dance. And, just this past week dance was declared as an official sport and will added to the list of competitive sports in the Olympics!!!!

I LOVE to dance. I've been dancing since I was 5 and danced competitively in middle school and on my high school team. Now my moves can be seen on the dance floors of Minneapolis bars or in my bathroom while I'm getting ready. It's strange, but dance parties just seem to follow me wherever I go....I don't know how it happens. There are only a handful of things in this world that make me happier than busting a serious move. Here's proof.

 And, I'm not the only one in my house who likes to get down....

In honor of this glorious new holiday, I thought I'd post some of my all time favorite dance performances and videos. I pretty much wish I could post all of Britney's concerts, shows, performances and videos....but I'll do my best to pick my favorites and add some variety.

This is one of my all time favorite performances! I remember watching this live and freaking out at the dancing! It's Britney & N'SYNC from the 1999 VMAs.

This music video is a CLASSIC and was a obsession of mine for the better part of a year (I have the 'Making Of' movie for this....pretty amazing!) Backstreet Boy's Everybody!!!


This video is the mack daddy of all music videos! None other than Michael Jackson's Thriller.


Finally, this is my all time favorite TV performance! My head almost exploded when I watched it for the first time. It doesn't hurt that this is my favorite song of all time!


That's it for me today! HAPPY DANCE DAY everyone!!!

First Ever FASHION FRIDAY!

Welcome everyone to my first ever Fashion Friday!!! The point of F.F. is to recap, discuss and critique the newest season of Project Runway and fashion in general! Here are the rules:

-If you watch Project Runway, make sure to tell us your FAVORITE and LEAST FAVORITE design from last night's show! Feel free to hype up your fave designer or knock down the ones you despise.
-If you DON'T watch Project Runway, then post about anything fashion related....favorite celeb styles, the bangin' new shoes you bought, the ugliest pants you've ever seen....ANYTHING!
-Grab the button! You gotta! Just copy and paste the link from the right side of my page in to your post!
-Finally, make sure to link up (bottom of the post) so everyone can see what you're posting!

Sweet? Awesome? Ok....on to business!

Last night we got to meet the new Season 8 designers in a very awkward and seemingly staged set up all over New York. It's too early to tell, but there are already a lot of designers I like....personality wise that is. We'll see how irritating they get as the weeks go on, and of course, see how they design. All the contestants met Tim and Heidi outside the beautiful Lincoln Center (how cool that it's the new home for NY's Fashion Week). The designers were told that although there were 17 of them, only 16 (or less) would actually be making the show! So, each designer had to dig through their suitcase, find a favorite item of theirs and then proceed to pass it to the designer to the right! Each designer had a piece of another designer's clothing that they had to incorporate in their new design and they only had 5 HOURS to do it!

MY FAVORITES:

 AJ's design. I love this dress, minus the big silver bow (that definitely can go)! It's a little 80's, Sixteen Candle-esque but I really like it. It's fun, flirty, different, stylish. I enjoy it!

Peach's design. This is a little older style, but Peach is a little older and her aesthetic is a little older. I thought this dress was well made, thoughtful and super cute for summer. I wasn't a huge fan of the tulle in the back, but I know she had to do it to make that awful scarf she was given work. I'm interested to see what else she does this season. Right now, I think she's pretty darn funny too. We'll see if she get's irritating.









LEAST FAVORITES

 Casanova's design. YIKES. This was just straight up bad. Tasteless, poor design, ugly, trashy, yuck. yuck. yuck. Please tell me how he didn't go home??? So ridiculous. Selma Blair (the guest judge) kept saying it was" fascinating!" No it wasn't! It was gross!

Jason's design. Ok. This looks like a bed sheet and not in a "I"m cute and going to a toga party" kind of way. There's no shape and really no design. I like Jason, as a person so far, so I'm glad they kept him....but this was bad. Sloppy and bad.













The Winner!

Gretchen wins the first challenge! I did like this dress. It was beautifully done and she did a great job incorporating her given fabric. I will say I was a little underwhelmed. I get why it won, and like I said, it's cute but I wasn't wowed. But, to be fair, I wasn't wowed by any of them.













Peace Out, Thanks for Playing

McKell's design. Maybe I have terrible taste, but I liked this dress. I love the skirt, and if the top had a little more to it and maybe was a little bit more interesting, I think it would have been great. I agree that the styling was AWFUL! The hair, shoes and purse do not go with each other or the outfit. I am so angry that the judges sent McKell home. Jason and Casanova's designs were SOOOO much worse! What a rip off. And I HATE how stupid Heidi kept saying "One or more of you will be out." Yeah right, we all know you're starting the show with 16 designers. You're not fooling anyone you crazy German!







Speaking of Heidi. What did you think of her new hair? A much darker blonde and a shorter cut! I don't like the color, I think she looks much better as a blonde blonde. I do like the cut though! However, last night it looked like she just walked out of a romp with Seal....it was a mess!

All images from MyLifetime.com

If you can't get enough P.R. then head over to the website and check out the blogs from past contestants. Carol Hannah Whitfield (Season 6), Laura Bennett (Season 3) and my all time fave contestant Nick Verreos (Season 2) are back and blogging about the current season! Check out Nick's blog HERE, it's hilarious! Only problem....he hated my favorite two dresses, sad day!

OK, ladies! It's your turn! Let's hear it! Grab the button! Link up! Let's talk fashion!!!

Recaps, Reviews, Predictions and Ideas

So much to discuss today! Let's start with my book REVIEW of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson.

Like everyone else I've talked to, I loved it! It took me about 50 pages before I really got in to it. The first 50 are pretty slow moving, but trust me it's definitely worth getting through. This book was dark, suspensful, thought provoking and well written. It was so well written, in fact, that I was super creeped out and had a hard time falling asleep while reading it. It definitely is dark and contains some pretty graphic and horrific scenes, so readers beware. I know they are in the works of making a movie based on the book and I really, REALLY hope they do it justice. It's such an interesting story with a lot of details that need to be included to make the story successful! According to IMDb, the film version has a predicted release date of December 2011 and shows Daniel Craig playing the role of Mikael Blomkvist (for those of you who have read it). I'm not going to give a summary or synopsis in case any of you are still waiting to read it, but I highly recommend it. Do it now, before the movie comes out! You'll be glad you did. And, I'm super excited because one of my friends has recently finished the two sequels to the book and is letting me borrow them!

Next up on my reading list, Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin.

Since it is Thursday, you all know you've got a So You Think You Can Dance RECAP and PREDICTION coming your way! Last night, the final 6 dancers each danced one routine with an All-Star, one routine with a fellow contestant and a solo in their own style! It was another great night filled with amazing talent. Since there were a billion performances, I narrowed it down to my top 3! 

Robert & All-Star Kathryn in a Stacey Tookey Contemporary

This routine brought tears to my eyes. The concept was a soldier leaving their loved one for war. The choreography was excellent and Robert and Kathryn were breathtaking. The concept really resonated with me and the whole thing was just beautiful. 

Billy and All-Star Ade in a Stacey Tookey Contemporary

It was a great night for Stacey Tookey! She choreographed two amazing routines! I loved this one. It was about a high class man and a low class man and at the climax of the routine they realize they know each other. Both dancers danced in completely different contemporary styles and the contrast was amazing. The music was perfect, choreography was perfect, concept was perfects, characters were perfect and the dancing was perfect. One of my favorite of the season. 

Billy & Robert in a Nakul Dev Mahajan Bollywood

 This was my favorite routine of the night! I LOVE Bollywood and it was so fun to see these two amazing dancers do it! I want to find a Bollywood dance class to take! I know it would be ridiculously hard, but the routines always look so fun and what a great workout! Both boys did a wonderful job!!!

Now, for the hard part. Tonight two dancers are going home and the FINAL FOUR will be revealed.

I think Jose is going home for sure. He is without a doubt the worst of the remaining dancers. He's as sweet as can be and I love him, but he isn't formally trained. He is a phenomenal B-Boy, but is having a rough time with the other styles.

I think Kent and Lauren are shoe-ins (and will be the final two) but who will be joining them?

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I think Billy, Robert and AdeChike are all deserving of being in the Final Four! I will say the Robert has surpassed Kent as my favorite! I absolutely love him and he gets better and better each week. Plus, he's easy on the eyes. I wasn't the biggest fan of Billy and up until last night would have picked AdeChike, but Billy Bell was outstanding last night. I thought his solo was the best of the group and I think he landed himself a spot in the top. I guess we'll just have to see what all the crazy teenage girls voting came up with!

All images from Fox.comhttp://www.fox.com/dance/

And, finally, for my big IDEA. I know from reading all your wonderful blogs that a lot of you are quite the little fashionistas. Because of your fabulous fashion sense, I'm guessing quite a few of you watch

Season 8 starts tonight on Lifetime and I cannot wait! There's 17 new designers and the show is now 90 minutes long! 

So, my big idea is to start one of those fun little Linky games! I figure this way we can all give our two cents on the season as it progresses and follow along with what we're all saying. This doesn't have to be a big dedication post, just throw it in with whatever else you're posting about every Friday. Just pick your favorite and least favorite designs from the night before. Then, feel free to share your favorite designers or rant about your not-so-favorites! And, if you're feeling really inspired share some of your favorite fashions, style icons,outfits, tips....anything you want! And of course don't forget to grab this super sweet button I made

See you all tomorrow for the first ever FASHION FRIDAY!!!!

Big Plans, People, Big Plans

A while back I posted about J and I possibly moving to a nicer place closer to Coffee Buzz. After looking at a couple of places and really weighing the options we've decided to stay put. We figure with a deposit, 1st month's rent, a pet deposit and the general cost of moving it will be at least $3,000 to move! It seems silly to spend all that money when the place we have is pretty great. We have a pool, we're close to our families, we're not too far from work but far enough to keep life and work separate. We made the decision that we'll stay in this townhouse until we're able to buy a house. It seems pointless to move from townhouse to apartment to townhouse when all we really want is a house. So, until we can afford to make that happen---we'll be staying at our current place.

BUT, in order to make myself feel better about staying I've gotten the go ahead to spruce up the pad!!! I figure I might as well make it as cute as I can because we may be here for a while and I have some major plans! I pretty much want to upgrade every room in the house. I thought I'd walk you through each room, show you what it currently looks like and share some of my plans and ideas for each space. And PLEASE, let me know what you think, if you have ideas or completely hate what I'm doing! I've seen some of your places and some of your re-decoration skills so I KNOW you know what you're doing!

KITCHEN:

OK, so my biggest beef about our place is the kitchen. It's tiny and has very limited cupboard space. I've been browsing some online stores looking for a hutch or buffet or something to add to our little kitchen nook. Well, my amazingly awesome BB came across an amazing piece while perusing Craigslist and without even knowing I was in the market sent me the link saying "I feel like this is something you'd love." SHE WAS RIGHT! 24 hours, only $140 (!!!!!!) and a helping muscle from J's dad and this beauty was in our nook.

 My plans for the rest of the space are the following:
-Paint the area pale yellow!
-Paint hutch (it's a little dirty and has some nicks and scratches...just needs to be freshened up!)
-Find wall decor for wall opposite of hutch (I have a few ideas...we'll discuss later)
-Stock and organize the hutch giving me tons more cabinet space in the kitchen! YAY! :o)
-Get decor for the counter tops (I'm thinking pasta jars, or cool bottles for olive oil. ya know, something kitchen-y)

DOWNSTAIRS BATHROOM:

I don't want to change too much in this bathroom, because I love the blue and brown and I LOVE my turtle wall hangings! I would like to paint in here though. My good friend, Jessi, recently gave her Master Bedroom a makeover and I LOVE what she did with the walls (check it out here). I was thinking of doing that same wall treatment to this bathroom, only with a pale blue paint color! Thoughts?

FAMILY/LIVING ROOM:

I don't think I need to do too much to this area....just decorate. I don't want to paint in here just because it's a huge area and the walls go up the stairs, into the downstairs hall and into the kitchen. If I paint this room I'd pretty much be painting the whole place, and I'm just not willing to spend that much time on it, right now at least.

J and I bought this awesome print of the Twin's new stadium, Target Field, and the rest of the Minneapolis skyline by Michael Birawer! I love it! We're going to have it framed and I'm thinking of hanging it over the couch.

Because this is the totally opposite of the the colors in the other painting over the fireplace, I'm thinking I want to bring that upstairs (it's the colors of our bedroom) and find something else in this color scheme for the fireplace. I also want to get some pillows for the couch, some new lamp shades for the wall lamps and I'm thinking of staining or painting the end tables black and getting a new coffee table.

 Then there's this console table. I cannot decide what I want to do with this. One idea was putting a tall table lamp and a cool sculpture, or do artwork above the table. I desperately need your ideas on this one! 

GUEST ROOM:

This room is huge so we use it as a guest room and an office. I have big plans for this room.
Here's my checklist:
-Paint the room gray, with a darker gray accent wall behind the desk (I want to try and give the space the feeling of two separate areas)
-Paint the bedroom furniture white
-Get new bedding (I want THIS)
-Redo/Organize "entertainment area" (get a new TV stand)
-Get THESE for above the bed!
-Use my favorite Black & White landmark pictures from NYC for wall art

OUR BEDROOM:

I love our bedroom furniture so I definitely won't be changing that and our bedding is pretty new, so that will be staying too. I think for this room it's just a matter of decorating and eating up some of the massive wall space. I am contemplating painting it a light blue, but depending on what I find for wall art, we'll just have to wait and see.

Then, there are a couple of things I have already done and am really happy with!

These art pieces were made for us by J's step-mom, Judye. I absolutely love them. They are so unique and mean a ton because they were handmade just for us. I love them in this space because they fit perfectly, are super interesting and liven up the dreary stairway!

I just recently upgraded our entry way as well. Here's a Before and After of the space (sorry for the blurry phone pics):

BEFORE

AFTER

I got everything from Target! The cube shelving was on sale! The baskets fit in the cubbies perfectly, so I got three of those for scarves, hats, mittens, etc. The got a smaller matching basket for the top for keys! Then the wall art hanging above says, "Live Well. Love Much. Laugh Often." I love it! I may need to hang it a little lower though. Now we have a place to throw our shoes, key and my purse which has been keeping the kitchen counters cleared and the shoes out of the way!

Alright, so you've seen every room of my place and heard my ideas! Now, lay it on me. What's great? What sucks? What ideas do you have?