the grossest holiday dessert EVER

i was watching the end of Semi-Homemade (AKA mostly-STALE) on Food Network, and Sandra was preparing a "swanky" xmas dinner (read: gaudy silver sequins table-scape with sparkles galore and stupid little plastic shit everywhere). first of all, she made a hot-mess of a cranberry glazed turkey. she plated it on what was literally a pound of rosemary and sage- it looked like she scooped the dang thing out of a grassy field and put it straight on the plate. then, she crowded the platter with entire pears all around the bird and then, as if that wasn't enough, she sprinkled cranberries all over the dang thing. this country-looking ordeal woulda been maybe even cute had it been on a rustic xmas table prepared by martha stewart or something, but it just did NOT go with the whole silver sparkle mess. ANYWAY, that is not the gross part.

so, she goes to make dessert- and, being Sandra Lee, she doesn't want to actually bake anything. so, she takes store-bought chocolate muffins- NOT cupcakes, muffins- and cuts the tops off (which everyone knows is the best part and pretty much the only reason to eat a muffin). then, she scoops out the center of the muffin and fills it with cherry-pie filling fresh from the can. THEN, she takes a big ol' piece of foil and wraps it around the entire bottom of the MUFFIN and creates this heinous foil-ledge around the whole thing- like a big crinkly garish foil rim. THEN, she takes frosting and pipes poofy white frosting stars onto the foil ledge, all around the cherry pie filling. just in case you didn't totally feel like puking by this point, she really pulls out the big guns. she takes a green FRUIT ROLL-UP- oh hell yes- and cuts a thin strip which she proceeds to tie into a bow. she then adheres this fruit roll-up bow to the disgusting frosting foil-rim of the cherry-goop-filled MUFFIN and dots the bow with yet another big glob of frosting. and then, for the grand finale, she takes a RED HOT and sticks it on top of the frosting glob. it was the grossest kindergarten hot-mess of a dessert i have ever seen. i seriously think i got that exact thing from one of my students last year.

it's iced-up to the maxxx here in k3- every single bit of nature is silver and sparkling and kind of looks like it's from a doctor seuss book. i'm kickin it with my sibs and enjoying some wicked good relaxation. i hope you're all toasty and warm and happy and healthy!!!

xoxoxo
BT

picture post

first of all, i will apologize that none of these pictures are of people. only things. the first thing we have here, above, is an awesome old subway car that was running one evening. it was very strange. must be a christmas thing that the city does? i don't know, that's what the wreath is telling me. anyway. it was cool enough that i rushed to take a photo of it-- something i do not normally do.

this is katz's, the jewish deli where the famous scene from when harry met sally was shot. i felt so at home...i could feel the faces of all my jewish ancestors shining down on me. pastrami sandwich, corned beef sandwich, pickles (full brine and half) and a kasha knish. at one point during the ordering process i actually had a moment where i had to say, "actually, instead of the kishke i'll have a kasha knish." try say that 10 times fast.


this was our dinner at babbo, which is mario batali's restaurant for those who don't read food blogs and stuff. though, probably everyone who reads this does. anyway, it was the bahoommmbbb. this was our third course of four-- the osso bucco for two (this plate was just for one-- they split it up after showing us the whole thing on one platter). notice the marrow-filled bone, standing like a proud momument. the rest is saffron rice, crispy garlic greens of some kind, and chestnut gremoulade. it was our belated anniversary dinner.

this is the window display i was talking about. it was at the bergdorf goodman. i don't know if you can really tell what's going on from the photo-- but to tell you the truth, i couldn't really tell what was going on when it was right in front of my face. and that is what made it so awesome.

okay. that's all i got. sorry there aren't any pictures of people. well, actually i've got one-- it's a photo that we took on the actual day of our anniversary when we got home late on a flight from st. louis and ate our year-old wedding cake from the freezer (it was actually quite good).

I Feel It In My Toes!

"Christmas is all around us!" Last Friday Kim and I got together for a little Love, Actually and cookie baking! I mean, you kind of have to when it's Christmas. It was fun to watch it and be like, "I've been there; I know where that is!" Also, how awesome is this: Natalie (the Prime Minister's girl) lives in Wandsworth, the dodgy end, and I live in Wandsworth, the not so dodgy end! I'm actually not even sure where the dodgy end would be. I mean, our neighborhood is pretty residential/nice.

I tried to go shopping yesterday but failed miserably. I just couldn't stand the crowds around Oxford Circus (which earned it's name with all of the crazy Christmas hooplah). I've been looking for a game called Cat Attack for my brother-in-law, but it's sold out everywhere I go! Grrrr.... or rather Hissss.....

Anyways, I've got my coffee 'date' today, and I'm kinda nervous. Wish me luck! Oh, yeah, and I'll see most of you this week! Yeehaw!

I Feel it in My Fingers

hi friends. i just watched Love, Actually and it made me nostalgic for FP's basement and HoWink's old living room and basically just all of those good old times of being together and being all up in it. you're all off and married and grown up and here i am still in my little edgewater house. somebody's gotta hold down the consistency i spose!!

tomorrow's our big holiday party at the boss's house. i bet ATP is as excited as i am for some hilarious dance teacher convo and gift exchanging. i hope there's sangria!!

hey, a certain dance company was listed as Best Dance of 08 in the Tribune! special.

i miss florida on the real. sun, palm trees, dancey dancin with no worries. gotta keep it real here and figure out how to harness that feeling of awesomeness.... even with it blizzarding..... (though it is pretty outside!) did i tell you that florida state has a special foot-jacuzzi in the student lounge specifically for the dance majors??? luxury.

xoxo
BT

new york post

hey you jokers! agent thumbs reporting live from nyc. i am telling you, my social calender has never been so full. it's shocking-- coming from montreal where i hibernate most of the time and prickle when the phone rings, to this-- it's good, i think. a good dose of social life medicine.

our place in brooklyn is pretty sweet and we have gotten to eat many delicious meals and seen HECKERS sights. i saw one of the most bizarre but amazing christmas window displays ever (not that i've seen that many in my life) which i will post when i get home.

yesterday was a dance extravaganza. we last-minute went to see the alvin ailey matinee-- because!-- we were at brunch with some friends of will's who were going and i was like oh i have a friend from st. louis that is in it, and they were like who? and i was like antonio douthit? and they were like wait that is the same kid that our friend nate who is in the shower knows! this city. so we sort of had to go because it was right around the corner and i wanted to shout-out my old friend.

the show was...meh. i don't know. it was educational? i mean it was cool to see ailey which i have never seen before. but firstly, they seemed reeeeally loose. like they hadn't been well-rehearsed, or like they were slacking for the saturday "family matinee." or both. and i was like, i paid a lot of money and i want to see some TIGHT DANCING, people. and, we saw "suite otis" which is famous i guess, but the costumes were hilariously gross and the moves were so 90s jazz played. i don't know, ailey is just so... historic, and i get it, i get it. beautiful strong black bodies, great. revelations, great. and most people eat it up-- it was the kid of audience that erupted in applause at the cheesiest lift.

needless to say, i saw my friend afterward and that was awesome. and we ran home to meet sam and alex to go see PINA. holy crap, guys. it ruled. there were so many little morsels of awesomeness that i wanted to remember, but the list started getting so big that i couldn't keep track anymore. and it's so nice that pina has that schtick were the dancers do something breathtaking and you're like OOH caught it, but then they repeat it like 10 times. ba da ba ba ba! i love this woman. not that there weren't weak moments in the show. but i simply cannot complain.

a highlight of the show was also when, during intermission, i turned to will and said "sure puts alvin ailey to shame!!" and the girl next to him turned in and goes HEY, i work for ailey! HAHA...oops. this city is TOO SMALL!

oops-- i have to go. i'll write more when i get home.

thumbs

i <3 tallahassee

OMG i am so behind!!! i've been in flo-rida since last last tuesday, and i haven't been able to regularly check in on this treasure trove. i just read the last like 6 entries all at once and realized that i have some crazy-ass friends who are so totally awesome. it made me feel warm and fuzzy and also kind of cracked-out at the same time.

florida rules. being a professional dancer on a choreographic residency rules. palm trees and flip flops and seashells and the ocean and no teaching rules.

it's really been quite a great time here. it's like being at camp and also being in the dream of "real" professional dancing all at the same time. waking up in the morning with nothing on the agenda besides going to rehearsal for 6-7 hours is pretty dreamy. tiring but dreamy. being able to expend all of your energy in a day on nothing else but contributing to a creative process is such a freaking special thing. we just did a big showing today, and peeps (and there were some old-school dancey hot shots there) seemed to really dig what we've been doing. it's some crazy but cool stuff- the project is all about piracy and sampling and appropriation. we've been learning lots of dances off of youtube- i introduced them to wuthering heights.......needless to say, everyone is in love and good old KB will probably be making some sort of appearance in whatever this big show turns out to be. we also made a big dance to Single Ladies, which is freaking hilarious. i think we're gonna post it on youtube, so i'll let you know when that happens.

the group dynamic has been good for the most part- just little dramas here and there, but nothing major. mostly it's been wicked fun for me and my ladies (L.B. and J.M.) to stay up late talking in our room and then turn the lights out and stay up later talking in bed- it's like 2 weeks of slumber parties! and dance!!! we're at a residence inn, so we have little kitchenettes for cooking funny meals in the assortedly random kitchenware that they provide. i could go on and on and on about it- it's truly a special time of life.

so, that's basically been my whole life and brain and everything for the past week and a half. i leave on saturday morning and will probably be very sad to leave the gorgeous spanish moss and sun. i have absolutely no concept of time- i've never experienced december in a warm climate, so i feel totally confused about the fact that it's almost christmas.

i hope you're all happy and healthy and making up for my lack of x-masly focused activities!
xoxo
BT

three bucks, two bags, one me!

fancy pants, i applaud you. it takes real concerted energy to meet new people, especially to follow up once you've met someone new. i had lunch with a new friend yesterday, too, and it felt really good. i'm just waiting to get to the point where i can invite someone over to do nothing. you know what i mean? but for now, that honor is reserved only for those reading this blog.

so me and will are going to nyc tomorrow. i'm pretty excited. i've been jones-ing for some nyc eats for a long time. sometimes i think about the trip and i wonder what we will do in between meals! because that's really all we plan for and care about. for some reason, everyone from montreal and their brother is going to new york this weekend, so we are also driving a few of our friends. we don't have a real reason to go, except for me wanting to see PINA BAUSCH on saturday night at BAM! that is truly what made the trip official. i will be seeing it with sam friedman and i'll tell her y'all say hi.

our new thing when we travel is to stay at vacation rentals as opposed to hotels or with friends. it's way cheaper and you get a whole apartment to yourself and you don't have to impose on anyone or sacrifice walking around naked and picking your nose (which i hate to do-- sacrifice, that is). just as a tip to anyone who is taking a trip-- always look at craigslist and at vrbo.com to find a good place to stay.

ummm. what else is new? we have hecka snow here. i've been studying my french. and cooking a lot! i made an awesome thai chicken red curry the other night and then i made pork chops with tomato fennel caper sauce and then tonight we're going out for pierogis again. in fact, the guy at the little restaurant knows us really well, and last week he was really confused when we tried to order potato pancakes with our usual order of borscht and pierogis ("you don't want the usual?). all i've ever wanted my whole life is to walk into a restaurant and have someone ask me if i want the usual. i can't believe i've achieved it at such a young age!

lastly, a book recommendation: i'm not finished with it, yet, but i've been reading "the nine," by jeffrey toobin, about the supreme court. it is fascinating. except the parts about the 2000 election are really stressing me out. very hard to relive.

and PS all the stuff about blagojevich is so crazy! what an awful idiot of a man. and his wife doesn't sound that nice, either. i always think that rumors of crooked behavior are just that-- rumors. it's always so surprising to me that stuff like that happens, or that the mafia exists. like when my airbags got stolen from my car, i was like wow, the black market actually exists! anyway.

PPS if anyone has any recommendations of things to do or places to eat in new york, please drop a comment

Ladies Who Lunch

Well, I went to my first AWC even yesterday, and it was..... Well, I'm not sure. It's too soon to tell, I think. I don't know that the holiday lunch was the best time to meet people since a lot of them were reconnecting with friends they hadn't seen in a while. Everyone was very nice, though. It definitely reminded me of the first week of college when you're out of your element in a new place, trying to meet new people, trying to give off a good impression, but inside feeling like a twit who just wants to go home and hang out with her friends, except you can't because they all live a million miles away. It was like that first week in Shephard all over again!

Anyways, I met 2 nice girls from Chicago (actually, one was from Naperville). We went shopping after lunch, which was a trip in itself. England goes insane with Christmas, and that has never been more apparent to me than when I was standing in a department store by Picadilly Circus, staring at a mountain of bizarre Christmas puddings. I mean, I worked at Marshall Fields during Christmas season, but that was nothing, NOTHING, compared to the insanity of here. Decorations out the wazoo, bad music, and crazy ladies pushing to get the best deals. It is all prevelent, and kinda creepy.

Well, that's all I've got to report for the time being. I just emailed another woman from the club who lives in my neighborhood to see if she'd like to get coffee. I felt like I was asking her on a date. After all this effort, I've got to have a cup of tea.

School and girls

I love reading what you're all up to. So even though my life is pretty boring right now (thank god - I've had enough of the drama recently), I will tell you what I've been up to, because maybe it will be interesting to you.

Still don't have a new job, though I keep receiving emails from the places I've applied saying they're "no longer filling the position". And the current Boss keeps hinting that she has a job for me. So now I'm thinking about going back to school for my Masters. I would just go back to do the Masters program at NU that I've already taken several classes in for my undergrad. So I could probably be done in a year and a half if I worked really hard on my thesis. It's an idea. Although one of you has already reminded me of how much I absolutely hate school. Thank you for that. I need to remember.

My husband is going to New Orleans for five days WITHOUT ME to visit his brother. What am I going to do alone for five days? Can I make dates with you guys? He leaves on the 18th or 19th. Girls' night at my place on Saturday, the 20th?

thoughts of the evening

Two quick things tonight:
1. I was just thinking of this foreign lady I used to work with at my last job. She used to write in emails, "Keep you post it" instead of "keep you posted". Hilarious.

2. Why is it so difficult to find a good plant pot in Chicago in the winter?! I've been to like 5 places looking for a simple 5ish quart pot for my new ZeZe plant. It's Chicago for crying out loud! A major major city with no good planting pots.

Gram and I are going to sleep now. Hope you all are well.

Rachael Ray Hohimer

I cooked tonight!!!!!!! I can't remember the last time I cooked a full meal by myself. And I don't just mean heated up stuff or mixed stuff or chopped stuff. I used 1 pan and 2 sauce pots!!! The delicious dish: my mom's beef stroganoff. So good. Ground beef, garlic, sweet onion, flour, sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, egg noodles, a side of green peas and a glass of red wine. I know this may be a simple quick no-brainer meal for most of you, but my version of cooking usually involves something frozen or something microwaved, so this was a big deal for me. I think I'm going to start trying to cook every Sunday night. Wish me luck!

Oh, and G's cousin just had a baby boy!!!!!

New Scotland Yard, American Women, and Ondine

That's what my week in a nutshell. On Tuesday I went to New Scotland Yard (London's Police headquarters) to get fingerprinted. I'm not a fugitive or anything; I just needed to send them to the FBI to prove that I am and have always been a law-abiding citizen. Once proved, I can apply for and hopefully obtain a job working with kids here in the UK. It will just take another month at least.

I also joined the American Women's Club here in London. A friend of Dina's highly recommended them, so I thought I'd give it a try. They have lots of different groups (including a Spanish conversation club), and a least I'll meet some new people. My first event was their weekly pub night and.... it was me and two lovely ladies who were closer to my dad's age. They were very nice, and they promised me that there are ladies in the club that are my age, but because of the holidays, this was the smallest turnout at pub night ever. Oh, well. I'm going to their monthly meeting tomorrow, so hopefully I'll meet some more people.

Now, as for Ondine, I went to see it on Friday at the Royal Opera House. It was very good, but nothing like the story my friend had printed online for us to read prior to the Ballet. We really liked it though, and going to the Ballet here is a trip. They really do it up with 2 half-hour intermissions for you to go eat & drink in their beautiful 2 story restaurant area. You can actually pre-order dinner and dessert and have it waiting at a table for you during intermissions. We just got wine and watched all of the fancy people. I really liked the story and crazy water nymph dancing (or whatever Ondine is supposed to be - I never got that part). No gargouillades, though.

Anyways, that's what I've been up to here in London town. This week brings a possible Christmas market, the holiday meeting of the American Womens club, and who knows what else. I'll keep y'all posted (get it?!)

The lady with the best damn pants in town

P.S. HoWinkle, they played the new Killers song in the bar/club place I was at on Saturday night, and I danced extra big just for you. I also noticed that I was doing tap with my toes this time instead of petite allegro. A lot of perididdles. Perhaps it was the change in music - more rock/pop than techno.

Serendipitous

Though I'm not happy about working Saturday night, at least it's "The Food and Wine of Spain." Mmmmmmmmm.

Bulls and Posties

Ok, so... my name comes from a horrible interpretation of Colby's name because I can't hear things correctly.  I haven't talked to a lot of you recently since I came to the loverly San Fran... but I figured you might all like to see how I spent Thanksgiving this year:

That is all :-)

I'm so sorry that didn't work!

Since this is my first blog and I have to catch up, it’s very long.  I’m sorry.

First, my reactions to all previous blogs: A bathtub in the bedroom sounds amazing.  “Would you like some underwear?” is a great blog name.  You should have said, “You’re the teacher, maybe you should work harder to motivate me.”  I CANNOT believe that they pass out camp chairs now in the ballroom.  FPants, I claim you on the 21^st, 22^nd, and 23^rd of December; is that allowed?  For those of you in Chicago during those days, I’m setting up a jazzercise class at (the dance studio where I work) one of those days.  (The boss) used to teach aerobics and we’ll get her to do it.  I’m not kidding.  Which day works best for you, FPants?  It can be after work hours so everyone can come.  I’M NOT KIDDING.  Agent Thumbs is right!  CODEWORDS are critical to our success.  HoWinkle – the experience you described about the karaoke is, I think, something that all of us here can relate to.  We’ve all, I’m sure, been at some point subjected to the, “you’re a dancer, do a dance” demand (I often get it from my inlaws).  It’s exactly as you describe – it makes you want to puke.

And now… a story.  Today at work, (the boss) asked me to sent out an evite about our upcoming staff holiday party, so I took a photo of said boss and photoshopped a santa hat onto her head and put the photo, real big, as the main photo on the evite.  I’ll send it to you (some of you have already received it).  Let me know what you think.  I haven’t gotten the boss’ reaction yet… I’m pretty nervous to hear what she thinks.

And a personal apology.  I’m sorry I haven’t blogged yet.  I really mean it.  I believe this blog can be a really powerful tool to increase our love and understanding of such dear friends.  You are all such beautiful, talented, warm women with whom I hope I can share many good times in the future. 

You may be asking yourself, “How is Addicted to Posing so eloquent in her apologies?”  And the answer is… practice!  Yes, for those of you who care, I recently wrote a very eloquent, very sincere apology letter to a certain girlfriend of a certain brother of a certain husband.  Yes, I apologized.  I was told by the brother that if I gave a sincere apology to the girlfriend, then I would, in return, receive an apology “for whatever it is” I think he’s done.  Sounds like a great deal, doesn’t it?  Anyway, I was the bigger person.  I DID IT.  Also, I apologized for all of you too because she felt that you were also all being mean to her.   You’re welcome.

Go see Twilight.  It’s unbelievably sexy.

 

I'm so sorry!

bizzness

So I just flew back into town tonight from another biiiiizzzzness meeting in D.C. I still feel like I'm playing dress up in my suit with my laptop briefcase. What a crazy world this is. Oh, and last night, there was a thank you dinner event for all of members of our steering committee.....and........there was karoake. And I was forced to participate in an all girl singalong of "My Guy". I'm not even kidding. They all kept pushing me to lead us in a group dance and I almost puked.

Pants - I once took a cardio kickboxing class at Cheetah that also made me feel like a goober. To paraphrase something Agent Thumbs once said, It just really seems like something we all should be able to do. Alas, it's extremely tough. I had trouble picking up the combos in the ballet class last week - maybe we are losing our memories already? I'm hoping that gets better.

Thumbs - Happy 1 year!!!!!!Holy crap I can NOT believe it's already been a year. Wow.

Have you guys heard that new Killers song Human? I'm absolutely obsessed. I seriously listen to it like 10 times a day. It's perfect for working out, riding trains, driving, and walking in crowds. I bet it would be awesome for cleaning though I haven't done it yet. (I only discovered this song on Saturday - cleaning is definitely due). The only thing that could make this song better is if Arcade Fire was singing it.

Thumbs - what is this about going to court to substitute your maiden name? Are you talking about how you and Katie used are using maiden names as maiden names and middle names?
Wouldn't it be better if we were all just HoWinkles?

i am... JOSB

yo yo yo, jokers! it's jenny olivia shore butler here. OFFICIALLY. changed my license, changed my social security. all i have left to do is my passport (and actually 100 other things, too). but yeah, so they don't let you substitute a last name for a maiden name without going to court (katie-- i think i remember this happening to you), so i got me FOUR names now. JOSB. holla! it only took me a year to do it. but isn't it fitting that i changed it on my first anniversary, to the day? not that any of this matters-- to you all, i am known simply as agent thumbs.

we spent most of our anniversary at various airports. but it was very nice and intimate! when we got home we made chicken noodle soup (i am sick) and ate some of the top of our wedding cake that has been in the freezer for a year. will had our friend sarah come in and take it out of the freezer on sunday so that it would be thawed by the time we got home. it was DEELISHIS. actually it was a really nice day. i didn't think it would feel like a big deal, but it sort of did! the year passed so fast. and we still like each other!

i hope everyone had a good thanksgiving. i'm going to go eat some chicken soup and a biscuit. bye!

PS i hope everyone has seen this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVEGfH4s5g it is like fosse meets hoochie mama and... i like it.

Moving Through Space

oh wow. yeah, step class is crazy business. i hope you had a wicked soundtrack. i took a class at Cheetah once called "Hot Bod", and i remember feeling much like an asshole. you go, Fancy Pants.

i hope everybody had cool thanksgivings. i just returned from the K-Thrilla, and it was nice. hangin out with my bro and my sis and my fam. good food and sing-alongs. i leave for Florida tomorrow. haaaaay! 2 weeks with LP, dancin it up. we got this awesome choreographic fellowship thing: i'm kinda nervous about the fact that i'll be a real professional dancer for 12 days. i hope i can deal. i hope i feel like Jodie Sawyer.

LP just performed at Harold Washington. it was so bittersweet, remembering our Raizel time there: Jenny running into the plate-glass window, the security guards yelling at us to get the hell out, Jenna wearing black underwear OVER tights, us thinking Jenny was going to have a robot-nose-brace for her wedding, us eating rice krispie treats on the stage and getting yelled at, the little kids asking, "why'd ya'll change clothes", katie talking in a Q&A about getting a pedicure, me eating saltines and gatorade for breakfast pretending like i didn't have a bday hangover during the saturday morning show.... what a blessed time that was. but for real, it made me want to fly around with an umbrella and skim forks on the floor. our LP show was waaay less cool- though 2 of my crazy Columbia students came to see it and asked me afterwards, "so ya'll was supposed to be aliens, right??" i can assure you that sadly we were not. must have been all of those martian dance moves i kept doing.....

now i have to read all of my NU papers about head-tail connection and sitz bones-heel connection and parallel and undercurve and juicy plies. dance is amazing.

love,
BT

The Day Step Class Kicked My Ass.....

Was a very sad day indeed. I took my first step class today, and not only was I dying by the end, but I had a hard time picking up the choreography. I mean, I haven't taken class in a while, so perhaps my learning skills need sharpening. However, this stuff was complicated, and there was the step platform to deal with. We were leaping over it, chasse-ing across it, doing grande battements off of it, drag turns around it, and even pirouette-ing on it. I mean, this stuff was out of control! The final combination was like a minute long. It beat me, and I felt like a goober.

Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving to you all! We're having Eric and Kim over for a turkey celebration on Saturday, and I'll be thinking of all of you!

By the way, y'all best step up the bloggin'.

Legs, Bums, & Tums

I'm still thinking of good petite allegros for you. To start let's just do....
glissade, jete, temps leve, temps leve, pas de bourre, pas de chat, assemble.
Both sides; add beats as you see fit (I'm expecting them at least on the assemble, ladies; I mean, come on!).

Anyways, I'll be in Chicago a few days around Christmas. If you're around, I'd love to hang out. We get in on the evening of the 20th (Saturday), and I'll be there until the evening of the 27th (also a Saturday). I'll be in Austin that next week, but then I come back on the 2nd and stay until the morning of the 4th of January. Let me know if anyone is going to be around - book your dates with me now, as they are going fast!

I can't believe you go to Pilates, Melissa! That's too hardcore for me. I'm going to a lovely class today called, you guessed it, Legs, Bums, and Tums! I am not sure what to expect, but I hope that it's like jazzercise. I miss jazzercise, and I think I'm going to revive it. I should go to this class today with some scrunched legwarmers, a high hipped leotard, and a belt. Also a sweatband. I'm ready for action!

hey! i'm on the blog!!! it's totally late at night and i should be sleeping!!

melissa, pilates studios are gross. i am glad you broke their dang stupid torture spring. there is nothing magic about that lame ass circle thing.

jenny, i feel you. if you can't find the dang 1, what the heck... i just make all of my combos in like 5's and 7's and then count them all off with "1, 2, 3, ready ready go!"

katie, please make up some petit allegros for us. my entrechat trois are getting crummy from all of this silly modern dance teaching.

in other news, the fall concert at NU was totally freaking great. on the real, i kid you not. there are some smart peeps there who are making cool shit and dancing it pretty darn well. i felt proud of my kids and also a little like, whoa i only made silly dances with pipe-cleaner glasses while i was here.... suz lee was, as per usual, in her blue rolling chair just inside of the ballroom door. they now pass out those camp chair things so you can have a back to your bleacher seat. it kind of makes you have swass and a weird trapped feeling, but i guess it's an upgrade.

i gotsta go to bed. i am feeling, despite the meditation music flowing from my ipod right now, some wicked anxiety. tomorrow's my last day of like everything before i go home for thanksgiving and then leave for florida with LPP on monday. crazy! it's super exciting and cool, but i have lots of administrative and teacherly tasks to finish before i head out of town. i haven't told my columbia kids that i'll be missing their last 4 classes yet, so i hope that goes over smoothly..... they will probably freak because that's what they do.

i hope you're all stretching your hamstrings twice daily and making up some new choreo and beating your pointe shoes with a mallet to soften the box.

wouldn't it be better if you weren't a bad teacher?

howinkle!

"wouldn't it be better if we all worked harder?" oh my god. who do these people think they are? they don't know us. they can't judge us. don't they know that some of us are (or were recently) really good dancers?

it kills me. i went to a modern class last week and the teacher had us doing a runner's stretch (runner stretch? runners' stretch? it's really weird to be typing such things out) and made a really big deal out of our head being totally aligned with the rest of the body. but then, she told us to look at our front foot and make sure everything was aligned there, too-- knee over ankle and all-- but then she came past me and scolded me for not keeping my head up! i was like... OH NO you did not.

and THEN, i took a modern class a few days later where the teacher couldn't find the 1. her phrases were all counted in 8s, but she could not-- for the life of her-- start the phrase at the proper place in the music. these people should have their teaching licenses revoked! oh, and the second time i went to her class she did all the exact same phrases, hadn't added anything onto anything, and couldn't even figure out the left sides. i was like, girlfriend... i see right through you, and i am not impressed.

did northwestern make us this way? or are we just a bunch of sharp-minded dancer ladies who happened to find each other?

anyway, melissa, i am proud of you for going to an insiders pilates class. if you ever feel awkward about being in a class ever again, just remind yourself that-- at the very least-- the class is in english. katie-- i think you should post petit allegros to the blog and we should all take videos of ourselves doing our interpretations and post them. and on that note, i go study my french. we have a tutor who comes to our house now and it's really intense. c'est tres intense. j'ai besoin d'etudier. hardcore.

BON NUIT

wouldn't it be better if we all work harder?

So I took a Pilates class tonight and I got the impression I had invaded a private exclusive class. I got there a little early and just followed along with what everyone else was doing. I took a big black mat and the pilates circle and the wooden bars and the padded rectangles. I had no idea what these things were. Any pilates class I've taken before was just a blue mat on the floor and maybe a circle. But I took all the parts to fit in. Turns out there weren't enough for everyone and there were regulars there that didn't get their equipment because of me, the new girl. Then I broke the spring on the clasp of the strap and I think the instructor was pissed. She also told me "isn't it better if you work harder so you have to do less repetitions?" I didn't realize I wasn't working hard enough. I just thought my legs were supposed to be at that angle!! I don't know. I need a lyrical jazz class I think.

Pants & Petite Allegro

I changed my name from "Adrift Housewife" to "Fancy Pants" for many reasons. First of all, "adrift" makes me think of boats, of which I have nothing to do. Also, despite the fact that I am a housewife, I don't like that title. I prefer "Domestic Engineer", which doesn't go with adrift. So, out with the old, and in with the new. People are always using "fancy" to mean "would you like", as in, "Fancy a cup of tea, love?" (Yes, they really talk like that here). This means that my name really means "Would you like pants", which is awesome because pants here is used to describe underpants. One can only refer to jeans/pants by saying trousers. Quite clever, right? I have too much time on my hands.

Now, on to the petite allegro bit. On Saturday night I found myself in a bar chatting with some friends. There was really loud techno music playing, and I realized that I was doing a lovely petite allegro in my head to the beat of the music without knowing. Mostly I was doing echappes (fourth to fifth, to second, to fifth, to the other fourth, etc. - one of my favorite enchainments). There were, however, some jetes thrown in for kicks, and I even found myself doing a brise vole (ladies, please correct my spelling). I was tapping out the patterns with my toes inside my shoes. Pretty dorky, right?

I joined a gym this weekend, complete with a personal trainer. I've got my second session today, and I can barely walk. Wish me luck!

The lady with the marvelous knickers

carnitas

well, here's a some photos of the carnitas i made-- in action, and in the pot. i used dave lebovitz's recipe-- i have his ice cream cookbook and have developed a trusting relationship with him.

recipe: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2007/09/carnitas.html

carnitas!

turducken

jenny, don't worry, i'm not slacking on this blog. i'm just waiting until the hilarity of the turducken for my first post! i mean, second post!!

houses

i'll admit it-- i am writing a new blog post because it is freaking cold here, and my laptop is so nice and warm.

so, we have been looking for a house here in montreal. the search is satisfying in many ways. first of all, shopping is fun. and it's basically the most intense form of shopping on the planet. second of all, it is a new thing to look at on the internet, and... I LOVE the internet. third of all, it gives me structure to my day. like, today, we're looking at a house at 2:30 when otherwise i wouldn't be doing anything. except i am going to a french modern class tonight because i just don't care anymore. and tonight is also pierogi night (the polish deli is open late on thursdays).

HOWEVER, shopping for houses in montreal can also be lame, and that is because they sell piece of crap rowhouses with crumbling foundations and a bathtub in the bedroom for like half a million dollars, which is because we live on an island in a river and so real estate is expensive if you want to live on that island anywhere near anything good. seriously though, a bathtub in the bedroom is a thing that they do here. they say the house is "renovated" but actually they just installed a bathtub in the bedroom. i just want to take these people by the shoulders and ask why. why.

so that's annoying. BUT. it is mostly fun. just 'cause it's still so cool that we can even pretend to be trying to buy a house. I AM JUST A KID! look at me, acting like i'm going to buy a house! "when was the roof last re-done?" "does the kitchen have a gas hook-up?" HA HA HA! look at me. but yeah, it'll just take a while to find something good that is a not a half million dollar sinking piece of junk. and lord knows, i've got time!

okay, well it's been fun blogging with you. (or FOR you, ahem ahem, no one has blogged except me.) i'm not mad, i'm just sayin.

jenny's moroccan pot pie

hey guys,
i thought i would kick this off with a kitchen creation. from my home to yours!

-dice up a large onion, 2 peeled russett potatoes, and a few large carrots. set aside.
-dice up a large chicken breast. toss it with 2 tsp cumin and paprika, plus 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and the juice and pulp of a large lemon
-heat up a large heavy pan with a few tbs butter, add the onion and saute for a moment
-add the potatoes and carrots. saute for a few minutes. add a cup or 2 of golden raisins.
-add the chicken. stir for a minute. stir in a few tbs of flour.
-add 2-ish cups of chicken broth
-cover and let simmer for an hour-ish, until everything is soft, but basically as long as you want.
-dump into a dish and put some store-bought refrigerated pie crust on top
-punch a few holes in the top
-bake at 425 until crust is brown and insides are bubbly (about 15-20 minutes)

fix it and forget it!