Dance Recital, Day 2!

I showed up to babysit N&K again today, and they were dressed up and ready to go for another round of dance recital! The first thing they asked me was, "DID YOU BRING YOUR CAMERA AGAIN?" Well, sorry to disappoint, girls, but nope. I left it at home. So I busted out my handy-dandy iPhone and took some hilarious video footage and the occasional still photo. Enjoy!

Dance Recital, Babysitting Style!

I've had so much fun babysitting my favorite girls a couple of days this week. When I showed up this morning, the girls were already up and ready to go, dressed to the nines in their various dance attire. Nella even had her ballet slippers on.

The girls went to work right away performing a dance recital using the top step of the patio stairs as their stage. Cuteness ensued. Keagan readily filled the role of dance teacher, providing some improvised vocal music and calling out dance moves for Nella to complete. She was even so kind as to count Nella off saying, "8...3...5...7...2..." Meh...close enough to "5...6...7...8...,"right?

 

Of course we had to have some goofy faces!

 Crazy Keags!

 Goofy Nella!

Then the little dancers moved the show indoors to the basement, where the girls insisted all lights needed be off because "that's how you perform a dance recital..." Well, of course! Luckily, my flash allowed me to catch a few more great shots! We blasted some "Toddler Tunes" on the t.v. and the girls went to town!

We occasionally had to pause so the beauty queens could spruce up their "makeup" and brush their hair. Oh, the hard lives of pampered princesses! =)

 

But *THEN* the real magic happened! The girls busted out their princess costumes. MY GOODNESS these girls know how to layer on the sparkle!

 Nella made sure I was included in the fun.

 A little break for some rhythmic gymnastics and ribbon dancing with a boa!

 Looking beautimous!

 Nella wanted to put on her wedding gown and tiara

 Shall we count the costume pieces Keags layered on?

1. High Heels

2. Tutu

3. Arm scarves

4. Wand

5. Cape
6. Wings

7. Halo

And then we had some fun playing instruments! Well, at least Keagan and I did! Nella decided she didn't want to partake. Keagan made up for Nella's absenteeism by layering bells and tambourines on her arms while beating the drum. I think Keags is the Queen of Layering...so I guess the cape with the sparkly crown is befitting of her!

We had a blast, and I can't wait until I get to see them again next week, and hopefully throughout the fall while I'm home! =)

T-Shirt Transformation

Everyone has more t-shirts than they know what to do with, and 99.9% of the time, the t-shirts are way too big! The last time I went to a Rockies game, they were giving away free t-shirts, but of course, the only size they were handing out was XXL. I definitely don't fit comfortably into a size XXL tshirt, so I opted to do a little "snip snip here, snip snip there" (ten points for naming that reference) and altering my t-shirt to fit a bit more properly before attending the game tonight.

There are plenty of different styles and tutorials out there, but I opted to lace up the sides of my shirt with the band cut from the bottom of the tshirt.

Sorry the quality of the pictures is so terrible, but I just snapped some on my iPhone.

 

HUGE t-shirt: Before

 

After!

 

Cut the sides, the sleeves, and the neckline

 

The sides laced up with the leftover band cut from the bottom of the shirt.

There was no measuring - I simply cut and figured it out as I went. I figured no harm if I ruined a free t-shirt! I wish some of the edges weren't so jaggedy, and I wish it didn't fit QUITE as tight as it does, but that comes from me just hacking and chopping at the shirt. But I'd say this is a much better alternative to wearing a HUGE, baggy t-shirt to support the home team!

And HOORAY! The Rockies actually won this game! 

 

Before the game

 

During the game!

d bar Desserts...OH MY!

 I knew this place was destined to be delicious when I learned that Food Network's own Keegan Gerhard owned the joint, but my heavens was I pleasantly surprised! d bar Desserts is a tiny, wonderfully modern restaurant tucked in a more quiet part of Denver. You kind of have to be searching for it to know it's even there. I went with my friend Melanie who had been once before, and she was dying to sit at the bar...and for good reason! At the bar, you have a front row seat to chat with and observe (or in our case stare while drooling at) the dessert chef.

We started with dinner. YUM. Normally, I can be a pretty picky eater when it comes to eating out. I know what I like, and change kind of scares me sometimes...especially when it comes to those "fancy" menus - you know the kind (when you feel like an idiot because you don't know what half of the ingredients listed are and you're too afraid to speak up and show your ignorance!) But I was DROOLING over this menu! I couldn't decide...especially between their Soup and Sandwich (Tomato Basil Soup with a 3-Cheese Grilled Panini) or their Kobe Beef Sliders that came with a brioche bun, drunken onions, white cheddar cheese, garlic aioli spread and Parmesan fries. I usually have to request some kind of change when I order...think of that scene from 'When Harry Met Sally,' but everything sounded SO good I had to try it as the whole package. My only complaint about this meal? I wanted about 6 times the amount of food because it was SO DAMN YUMMY! Everything was sheer perfection.

 

How cute and modern are these dishes? I died when I saw the adorable little side of ketchup.

Even though I was wishing for more main course, I was thankful for the portion size because I had ZERO guilt in ordering a dessert all for myself! (Granted, Mel and I both sampled each other's choices, but we mainly indulged in our individual plates)

I had THE HARDEST time deciding because I kept seeing the 3-layer chocolate cake (which is served with a side of mini milkshake). It looked so completely sinful and decadent that my mouth was watering for it all night. But another dessert, by the name of d = mc2 caught my attention, so I had to ask about it.

The menu read: "milk chocolate ∙ peanuts & praline ∙ salted caramel ∙ rice krispies ∙ chocolate ice cream." I was intrigued by the crazy combo of ingredients, and when the waitress mentioned chocolate mousse, I was sold. We then got to watch the intricacies of our desserts being prepared before our very eyes. It was amazing to see all the various components going into the plate, designed beautifully by the Dessert Artist, Briana.

 

My dessert: d = mc2

 

The mousse with salted caramel. The bottom layer was a crust of praline, peanuts, and rice krispies...which afforded the PERFECT crunch (especially the rice krispies) for this texture eater! 

 

Mel's dessert: molten chocolate lava cake with fruit and vanilla ice cream

 

The artist at work

 

Many of the other delicious desserts being prepared. How can you NOT drool in this situation?

 

All in all...GO HERE! The place is amazing! Want a buddy? I'd be happy to go again! =)

It Finally Happened...I Cleaned My Room!

FINALLY! I did a pretty thorough job purging my room of unwanted items when I first moved home this summer, but then my life fell in to disarray with being so sick and then devoting all my time to garage sale preparations and teaching! My room was driving me CRAZY, but I just didn't have the time or energy to do anything about it. Today was the day, however! I knew once I got home from teaching that the rest of the day would be devoted to cleaning and organizing the living daylights out of this place! 

Granted, I'll be tearing the place up again soon to repaint and redecorate, but for the time being, I get to live in peace (and cleanliness!) I also just wanted "before & after" pictures for the makeover that's to come (probably in August)

I didn't have anything on these shelves, then I realized how dumb it was that I wasn't displaying the HUGE array of picture frames I have! Plus, I was able to hang up my awesome 'Amy' canvas by Lani! =)

As much as I love it, this wall will be no longer come the makeover. I'm just at an age where I want all my walls the SAME color! =)

I even deep cleaned my bathroom! It's clutter-free and sparkling! =)

Maui Medical Mystery...Mono?!?

Update Time!

So my doctor just called. We chatted, she told me my last blood draw showed improvements in my liver counts and other stuff. Good, good. Then she said, "Well, your Epstein-Barr came back positive...so...you have mono!" 

WHA?!? I already had mono two summers ago, and I know you can get it again, but COME ON! I didn't have any traditional symptoms but swollen lymph nodes the first time around, and this time, I yet again did not display any traditional symptoms...aka extreme fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, swollen spleen, and sore throat. Yeah, this explains my loss of appetite, chills, headache, bloating (aka stomach pain and sense of fullness, in my case), sweats, and even my rash that broke out all over my body (yes, I was one of the lucky 5% of folks who break out in rash), but yet again, I've not had extreme fatigue or any other of the tell tale symptoms! This is just too weird! I guess I'm just allergic to Dustin and his kisses. =P Regardless of the mono, we're pretty sure there was something else fishy going on in Maui to make me THAT sick! Heaven's to Betsy was I sick!

Anyway, this means the multitude of antibiotics I was on really didn't have a point. Mono has no cure besides playing the waiting game. I have to continue to lay low as to not wear myself out and go get more blood drawn in 2 weeks to see that my numbers are continuing to make their way back to normal. 


I had to chuckle at this gem found on the internet (honestly...the things you can find!)
Viewer Question: If you had mono once, can you get it again or does your body build up an immunity to it like with chicken pox?

Doctor's Response: The chances of getting mono a second time are somewhere between next-to-nothing and nothing. Dr. Hal B. Jenson, an expert on mono and its cause, the Epstein- Barr virus (EBV), has stated that: "Second attacks of infectious mononucleosis caused by EBV have not been documented."

Look at me go! I'm a revolutionary medical case! Put me down in the record books! This is exciting! *Please note the sarcasm. Clearly that Dr. Hal B. Jenson is no expert of the Epstein-Barr virus. Even I knew you could get mono more than once. It's just unusual!*

I'm just happy I'm feeling fine, but gosh darn. I'm one of those rare cases who winds up getting mono more than once. Let's just add this to the list of other freak medical issues I've dealt with at the ripe old age of 22. Good grief! 


For your viewing pleasure, here's a recap of my third ER visit at Littleton Adventist Hospital back in CO. This trip was momentous. After arriving wrapped in our CO Rockies fleece blanket, shivering in the 104 degree heat, I got a morphine drip AND oxygen! Those were novel items on my list of hospital gizmos and gadgets I'd encountered in the last week!

Oh, and since I'm sure you're all wanting to see this, here's what my rash looked like on about Day...3?

I'm happy to report that now you can't even tell I had a rash. And my itching has subsided! YES! =)