The Latest

First let me say...I've missed you too! I love hearing from my blogland friends, and thank you for checking in on me. I promise all has been well but with sick children and My Hero traveling every week, there's been a bit of an adjustment period. Something had to go and that was my blogging. It will have to take a back seat for a short period. Falling but not forgotten.

Now for the fun stuff:
My Nutcracker (12 year old daughter who loves ballet) and I (just the 2 of us) went to....

a very fun place, beautiful and chaotic at the same time.

Oddly enough, not very quiet,

but can be tranquil if you find a nice spot to sit and eat your lunch which you picked up that morning at the corner grocery as you walked to your ballet class.

This photo should give you a hint if you look at the gold shiny statue in the background (especially if you watch the Today show).

And this is the photo from our hotel room. That's right, Times Square. My Nutcracker and I went to New York this weekend to do a weekend curriculum called Passport to Purity by Dennis Rainey. The weekend focused on the importance of waiting until you're married to have...well, you know what. It was a wonderful venue to have those "odd" conversations. It was nice to decide on "when" to date and "who" to date and what certain kinds of peer pressure look like before you are actually "in the moment". Overall, a smashing success!

Highlights:
My daughter took a ballet class at "Steps on Broadway" (a ballet studio in NYC) from Gelsey Kirkland. Anyone know who that is? Probably the most famous American ballerina of all time. A tragic figure in some respects but seems to have come out on the great end of life. Her battle with a hard childhood, anorexia, plastic surgery, drug addiction and difficult relationships with Mikhal Baryshnikov and others led her to write the book, Dancing on My Grave. There were many parts of the book I didn't let my daughter read but some of it was beneficial in knowing what goes on in the mind of dancers.

Another highlight was getting a fitted for pointe shoes from a professional fitter at Gaynor Minden. Click on all of those pictures, it's exactly as it's shown. The showroom is in the Chelsea neighborhood in the most precious brownstone. See photos. There's a lot of controversy over these shoes in the world of ballet for various reasons but I swear they have cleared up a lot of "issues" we had with the other shoes. Mostly "fit" issues.

Another highlight:
Seeing Ground Zero...no pics but a haunting experience. Our tour guide said that New Yorkers really came together after that and everyone washed off their "ugliness" and became kind and genuine to each other. We really noticed it being tourists. Everyone was more than generous.

And the last highlight:
Wicked.

The Broadway musical. Encouraging story, full of forgiveness and learning to come out on top when the world is less than kind. If you haven't seen it...it's a flat must. Costumes are outstanding, story...phenomenal. Singing...to die for. I'd recommend it for all ages. Even my sports loving, corporate executive, never go to a museum husband would have loved it. We'll definitely see it again.

We also saw West Side Story....wished we had seen Billy Elliott or Jersey Boys instead. Those got great reviews.

In short, it was a wonderful weekend and a much needed getaway for me. I'll be thinking about it for ages! Now, for a little quilting...I'm doing the signature blocks, due at the end of this month. If you are not signed up for it, but are one of my readers, I'd love to have one of your blocks in my quilt. If you're interested, post a comment and I'll send my address to you and send my signature block to you as well.

Please know, all is well. And as they say in New York,
Take care.