Such Fun

 Issa officially has a prom date and dress! I'm not posting pictures per request, but we had the most fun.

Kai had big plans for a big ask, but his family is traveling for spring break and his mom said waiting until after they got back was too late, so he called Friday to ask her to prom. They are so darn cute.

And we went prom dress shopping with Allison, Allison's mom, and Nana. We went to the formal wear outlet in town after a lovely lunch at Colonial Inn. Issa had one of those glorious days where everything fit and looked amazing, and she had a tough decision to make. I really love the dress she chose, though! We found the perfect earrings there, and she has the shoes. I have a couple of purse options, and we are headed to the seamstress Wednesday for alterations! 

I can't wait to see it all come together next month!

A Weekend of Art

The past weekend was one for the arts. Saturday, Brad and I went to see the opera Orpheus and Eurydice at the Triangle Chamber Orchestra:

The music was beautiful, but the evening was utterly bizarre. I felt badly for the orchestra; it was their show but they were literally background for the vocalists. This particular opera also bring Eurydice back to life. Brad had to finally tell me he was done talking about it about two hours after the show. I went down so many rabbit holes about mythology and this particular opera.

Sunday, I went to the pottery studio, and I made what may be my favorite piece. Evan requested a Black Dragon mug:

It still needs to be trimmed and then glazed black, but I'm pretty tickled.

Sunday afternoon, we girls went to the ballet:

There were four beautiful pieces, but Chiarosicuri (translated clear dark) was a beautiful play on light and shadow where a male dancer had the lead. It was modern and interesting and I'm still replaying it in my mind.

This week is spring break for the kids, so it will be a little easier around here, which will be lovely.
 

Heart Full

This week has been an absolute blur of crazy. I worked late Tuesday, and we've just had a lot of pre-spring break extra. Yesterday, I was able to get in one of my nature walks. I broke every girl scout rule: I was alone, wearing a sweater dress and ballet flats, and I went off the main path to get to the water. It was so worth it, though:

I also took the time to appreciate the town's young artists' installations in the park:

And I ended the night watching Issa do pointe:

Their recital dance is so stupid cool, and I can't believe how much these three have grown since the days of bedroom pointe. I also love watching them collaborate with Ms. Brooke on the choreography. 

It was one of those evenings that just filled my heart in all the best ways.
 

Another Great Competition

Issa had another great competition this weekend! Her solo looked even stronger, and she placed fifth overall!

All three of her dances earned platinums, and her two team dances took second and fourth overall! What we are most proud of, though, was that the studio earned the Top Studio award again this weekend based on technique and sportsmanship:

Our team cheers for everybody--genuinely--and I love that. After the competition, a mom from another studio posted this:

 That's who we are. We had two girls get injured, and the team both rallied around them and went on to compete. Aside from the injured, there was not one tear shed or unkind word in the dressing room. 

It is just so lovely to be both competitive and kind...

Grateful for Greenways

Tuesdays and Thursdays are a little insane these days. I pick Issa up from school, drop her off and pick Evan up to take him to his wrestling club, come back and feed Issa, and then run her to dance. That leaves me about a half an hour before I have to pick Evan back up.

Thankfully, I've discovered that I can get to the greenway from his wrestling club, so I've started using that time to take a little nature walk:

It's absolutely beautiful, and I am enjoying seeing some animal friends and sharing a few minutes of peace with them. Yesterday, I also found a cool tuft of what I think is coyote fur:

I'm soaking in these few moments, and I'm so grateful for our town that is committed to greenways.
 

So Many Celebrations

I woke up Tuesday morning and realized I had completely forgotten to plan Pi Day. I opted to just hope everyone else had also forgotten.

No dice. Evan texted at lunch to let me know they had done a bunch of Pi Day stuff in math and to see if we were doing Pie at home. Of course...because I started that tradition years ago.

I was working from home since it's spring break, and I had a one hour break in between meetings. Just enough time to throw together a pie. I wish I had video of me flying around the kitchen trying to figure out what I had ingredients for. Tada: 

Toll House Pie! It was delicious and Pi Day was saved.

Sometimes I exhaust myself trying to keep up with all of these bizarre traditions I started, but then I get the text asking and I know they remember...and they will remember...and it's all worth it.

 

Happy Birthday!!!

Birthdays should not fall on Mondays--especially Mondays after time changes--but we were very happy to celebrate these two last night:

We went to our favorite restaurant, Luna, for dinner, and while they did not sing they did put candles in dessert:

 It was so good to all be together and celebrate two fabulous women. And for the record, sangria was enjoyed but those truly are water bottles on the table!

A Biltmore Birthday

We girls headed to Biltmore this weekend to celebrate Mom and Shannon's birthdays! We arrived in time to celebrate with a bubble toast:

Friday night we had a casual dinner at Cedric's and just enjoyed catching up.

Saturday was a very big day! We explored the barnyard and artisan crafters in the morning before we became crafters ourselves! The outdoor department is expanding their offerings, and we were part a new program in dried floral art:

They had all kinds of pressed flowers--many from the estate--that we could arrange then glue into glass frames:

We each made a very different frame, but we all had such fun:

We finished there in time to do a little shopping and have lunch before we explored the gardens. Each of us chose our favorite beds. Shannon loved the double daffodil tulip combo:

Issa loved what she called the Easter tulips:

I loved the double tulips:

And Nana loved the pansies:

We made it to the Conservatory to see the orchids this trip, too:

We spent the afternoon at the Renaissance exhibit--the last of the art shows--and became Venus:

We ended the day with dinner at our favorite restaurant.

The whole weekend was filled with so much laughter! Issa truly is big enough to be one of us now, and it was fun to just soak up some time away. Mom has declared she is already loving her 70s, and our goal is to keep it that way!

 

Not An Adventure Kitty

We use our garage as Brad's office and family dojo/yoga/meditation space. Inks goes out to do yoga with me every morning, and yesterday Jet and Tora decided they wanted to go out with Brad in the afternoon.

They are not fans, and they both refused to come out from under the steps. Brad finally could get ahold of Tora, but Jet wasn't reachable.

After a few hours, we decided to try again, but she wasn't under the stairs. Buddy found her behind some bins, and she was hunkered down and terrified. I finally got my hands on her:

That's how I ate dinner. With a Jet on my chest. She had to be touching me at all times last night, and she has to be within sight of a human today. Bless her heart. She is not an adventure kitty.
 

A Great First Job

Issa has been working at the studio since August, and she loves it. She was promoted from front desk assistant to Assistant to the Director. Yesterday, this post appeared on social media:

 It is so cool to see her included as a member of the team. She was so excited to see it, too.

It has been a great first job! She has learned a ton about navigating the work place, communicating with colleagues and customers, and general business practices. She has also enjoyed having some spending money and building her savings. I'm so grateful that she has been able to learn from and with this team, and I know the skills she has gained will serve her well.

I Work in a Pretty Place

I work in a beautiful place:

 I had a meeting end super early yesterday, so I decided to take the very long way back to my office. We have a gorgeous lake on campus, and it was particularly pretty yesterday. You can barely see it, but the ducks are back, which means I will be visiting more often.

Lovely Weekend

We had another lovely weekend. Issa spent most of it at the studio for a choreo weekend, but Brad and I were able to go out Saturday night! We took Mom to a new to us tapas place, and then went to DPAC to see Jagged Little Pill:

The show was all Alanis Morrissette music, and it was a really powerful story. The dancing was also extraordinary.

I also finished book number seven:

I didn't love it. It's a collection of sci-fi short stories, which is not really my favorite. It was the neighborhood book club book, though, so I powered through!
 

What a Competition!

I've started to write this post every day this week. We had an amazing first competition last weekend:

It was our first time at That's Entertainment, and they happen to use butterflies, which made for great pictures:

And they had a livestream so the boys could watch from home:

Issa had an amazing solo run, and she actually had time to eat real food:

Issa still spends a lot of her time with the littles, and she helped this duo warm up:

I love her teaching faces:

Issa's two team dances did super well in the afternoon--both scored well and Vulnerable won the Entertainment Award!

Issa won second overall for her solo, and I will be forever grateful for the choreo and love Stephanie has given her:

As a studio, we earned the top award for choreo, technique, and sportsmanship:

This is the first competition where Issa has been truly calm, which is lovely. She also earned an Elite Dancer award; it is so lovely to see her hard work pay off!