About Me

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Writer. Aspiring Pinup. Journalist. Liberal. Hippopotamus. Dancer. Fashionista. Makeup Junkie. Risk taker. Seamstress. Photographer. Hoarder. Music Addict. Incurable Optimist. Shoe Collector. Tree-hugger. Feminist. Listener. accident prone. Mad Men watcher. Sailor without the mouth.
Showing posts with label ballet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ballet. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

No. 41, 42 Ballet Shoe Saves





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With three of my seven days a week spent in ballet tights and ballet shoes and ballet buns, I'm super surprised I took this long to take pictures and save my ballet slippers and the walking shoes I use to warm up in.
With only a week left in the Shoe challenge I'm kind of intimidated by the 17 pairs I have yet to save. (two have technically been saved just need to be blogged about so maybe just 15 then? As if that's any better...)
Yikes!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

A Hippo's Home Haul

I feel like after all of the adventures I had this past weekend I have a TON of things to blog about, but I just don't have the time to talk about it all at this very moment. It really deserves a well written post and I know if I write it now it won't do it much justice. However! I am WAAAY too excited about some of the things I purchased, I HAVE to share them with you.

First of all, I went out of town for a car show/mini-family vacation, but I went on a very tight budget.
The only things I was letting myself purchase were:
*Cuffed Denim High Waisted Shorts.
*Santa Maria License Plates
*Vinyl.

Well, I mostly stuck to my list, but because we were on vacation dad let me spend a little more than I had planned. First thing I had to try were these sodas we found at a booth at the car show. The small company was family owned and the two daughters of the man who makes them were running the booth, it was like buying from a bad-ass lemonade stand. haha.



While we were at the car show I was becoming frustrated, I thought surely with all of this vintage repro clothing I could find the perfect high waisted shorts... but no luck. I actually almost bought this gorgeous sailor dress at the last minute because everything was 50% off, but I stuck to my guns and thought, the shorts will be worth it!! We decided to hit up the mall after the show and look in a vintage repro store they had there called Lady Luck. Except, they had moved locations and I had no idea where they were now. Sadness consumed me.

So I bought a top, a makeup brush and black liner to make me feel better. (only spent $17 on those three things, even when I'm shopping for therapy I'm cheap)
My dad called around and found out that the store had moved to the Pier-side mall at Pismo Beach, which we were headed to the very next day! Excitement consumed me.

Dad knew how much I wanted new plates so the next day we drove to the town's auto mall but couldn't find the Ford dealership. :/ booooo. So we went to Pep Boys and they couldn't help either so I just bought Hildy some pinup air freshener. (Hildy is my car by the way, named after the journalist in "His Girl Friday", one of my favorite movies of all time)
On our way to the beach we saw a billboard for the Ford Dealership, it wasn't in the auto mall, but about a block or two from where our old apartment had been. Whoops. :P

Well there I was, feeling slightly defeated that nothing on my list had been mine yet, when we finally got to the beach. I walked into the store and there was no denim in sight. I asked a sales woman, she knew exactly the type of shorts I was looking for, but they didn't sell them. However, she did point out these sailor shorts by Rocksteady that I quickly fell in love with. They were the perfect shade of Navy, and once I tried them on I knew there was no way I would be leaving without them. I really just want to wear them every day for the rest of my life, but that would make my outfit posts really boring I think...
After that I was really excited, I could get my plates next time (now that I knew were to get them,) I got my shorts, and now it was onto the next town to get my records! If you are ever in San Luis Obispo California and love records, or music or collectibles in general, you HAVE to go to Cheap Thrills on Higuera street.
I got a Big Band collection with 6(!!!) records inside, in perfect condition, as well as a ballet record for when I practice at home :)


I'm really proud of myself for pretty much sticking to my budget and not going crazy over the vacation.

That being said I bought more shoes when I was back in town went I went shopping with a friend. :P
Embarrassment has consumed me.
These were only $25 and they're 6 inches of absolute fantasticness. Because sometimes you just got to live a little...

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Pay No Attention to the Hippo Behind the Curtain

:D I've been awarded for my ultimate brilliance in the blogging world!
Heehee.. I'm kidding, Kerry over at My Orange Stilettos (who is a fellow journalist and AMAZING dresser) gave me the award, which entails me to reveal 7 things people may not know about me!
I've actually been wanting to do a post about my Bucketlist, so I'm going to go ahead and shake things up a bit by sharing with you seven of the about 45 things on the list I want to do before I die.

(In no particular order of course:)

* Get On Pointe *

I've been doing ballet for less than a year, so I've got QUITE a ways to go, but I've always been really good at learning things with enough practice. Starting ballet was such a wake up call to how I treat my body. I was stretching muscles I didn't know I had, eating differently because I needed the energy and lightness, and changing my attitude about how athletic I really needed to be. I'm definitely not saying I was overweight or anything like that, I just didn't have the flexibility and strength I do now. The only strength I did have was in my feet and toes, which I attribute to wearing heels all the time. I remember the first time my teacher referred to me as a dancer, and told me with enough hard work, she could see me getting on pointe, it was such a rush! There's this drive I have now that I didn't have before and I want to use that to get on pointe someday, someday soon.

*Go to Every Beach in California*

I've lived in California my whole life. In fact, the farthest I've ever been away was the Hoover Dam, and even that doesn't really count because It was after a quick trip to Las Vegas. I hear people talk about moving to other states, or even just going to other states for college and I always think to myself, I could never do that. I complain about it alot, but I really do love the weather we get! I could never ever ever live somewhere else. Other countries and states seem lovely to visit but, for me at least, that's about it. I think my greatest reason is because of how in love I am with the Pacific Ocean. I swear to goodness, whenever the random question comes up of "If you could have any super power what would it be?" I always answer, "To be able to breathe underwater, so I could be like a mermaid but keep my legs." The first time my parents ever took me to the beach my mom said I was her little fish, because even after I was pruney and my lips had turned purple from being so cold, I still didn't want to get out of the water. Someday I want to be able to say I've visited that beautiful ocean from every point on the California coast, and I really think I will.

* Meet Jimmy Fallon *
Ok so this is a random one just for giggles, but seriously, I have a HUGE crush on Jimmy Fallon. (Yes I know he's married and too old for me but.. whatever!) He's sooooo funny. Ever since I was a little kid, if I had a crush on you it was because you were funny. He's just SO lovable, his personality is so fantastic. I love that he's able to laugh at himself, and never takes his humor too far. I read an article about him when he was on the front page of Rolling Stone and I just fell even more in love with his personality. Oh, and he's Irish. Always a plus in my book. I just wanna meet him!

* Chase a Tornado *


I've never really found the right explanation for this one. Maybe it was because the first time I saw the Wizard of Oz I watched Twister the same night.... I have no idea what it is but Tornados absolutely fascinate me. California has never been known for it's tornadoes, we've got earthquakes to deal with (even though in my 19 years of life I've never felt one. Lame!) so I don't even remotely know what makes them so amazing to me. I guess it could be the fact that I am a complete adrenaline junkie, or maybe because I am fascinated with how powerful the world is, and despite all of our advances we've made as a civilization, we are always at it's mercy. This post by one of my favorite bloggers ever is exactly how I think I would feel if I ever did get the chance to experience one. I assure you the read won't disappoint.

* Stay Somewhere Haunted *

For a while I truly believed my 84 year old house was haunted. My things would move around, I'd hear noises at night, I was convinced that something other worldly was happening. No, I wasn't a kid, this was a few months ago when I was watching Ghost Hunters nonstop and Paranormal Activity scenes kept flashing in my brain. Laugh if you want, but if YOUR house was built in 1927 you'd consider it too! (There are actually some reeeally old houses in my area, just down the street there's a house that, story goes, an old Japanese woman lived there, but in the1940s she was removed from her home to an internment camp, and died before she could move back. They say she haunts her old house but idk, it's just a story) I'm really proud of my crumbling old house, even if it does need a new coat of paint and more closet space. But I know my house isn't haunted, and that's fantastic, but I do someday want to stay in one of those crazy old haunted houses that gets turned into a hotel for tourists who want to feel freaked out on Halloween. I wanna be one of those lame tourists!

* Restore a Classic Car By Myself *

The earliest memories I have of my childhood are all set in the back of a 1966 Chevrolet Impala. The big heavy metal seat buckle and black leather seats used to burn like crazy in the Bakersfield summer, so much so that my mom used to put damp towels on the seats so we wouldn't be too uncomfortable. I remember all the streets we couldn't go down because the car rode too low to go over the speed bumps, and in a car that shook whenever you went over 50mph, the freeway was out of the question. But we put up with it, because that was part of it's charm.
We could have had a minivan or some other vehicle, but that wasn't really us. We've always been a car family, always got looked at when we drove down the street. My dad was always working on something, every weekend, oily hands and a sweaty brow. My mother was no stranger to the mechanics of it all either, always aware of everything happening under the hood of the car she'd trust would keep her and her children safe. As knowledgeable as they are, I'm always really bitter they let me stay inside playing with Polly pockets when all of this was happening. I'm not totally useless, I mean, if a classic car drives by I can usually tell the year and model and all that, it's just the mechanics of it all that I want to understand. I want to be one of those girls who looks good siting on the hood but knows exactly whats going on underneath it. I adore my parents, because they're the reason I get all excited when I hear the sound of an engine purr, but someday I do want to be able to own my 1950 Ford Shoebox and never have to take it in to a mechanic.

*Run away With the Circus/ Learn to Tightrope Walk*

Ok so this is my last one, and yes, it's really random. I LOVE THE CIRCUS. Not circuses of today, but old timey, 1930's type circuses, with their air of magic and mystery. (Think, "Water for Elephants", or 1939's "Freaks") I (of course) would do a burlesque bit in the freak show, next to the bearded lady and double-headed snake. And while the chances of me joining a traveling circus in the 1930s is pretty great, if that somehow does seem to fall through, I want to at least learn how to tightrope walk. With the balance of a ballerina and super strong feet, I feel like it could totally be possible.

Thank you so much again to Kerry, this post was really fun to write and I hope you all feel like you know just a little bit more about me! (Pictures with me in them are my own, the tornado pic is from Aura Joon, and everything else was googled)

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Adventures of Vintage Hippo's Ballet Tights

After the exhausting late night practices outside in the cold weather and the soft tumble in the washer and dryer, the warm of body heat was a nice change. Anxiety and excitement was felt through every fiber. Toes curled in and out in anticipation, the nylon creating delicate friction in the soft canvas, where little holes were fraying from a rough night out on the concrete. Now how in the world did that tiny little lipstick smear get there? Oh! It's finally our turn!



Toes needed to be pointed more, those turns needed to be more centered, glissades looked like chasses, thank goodness the video didn't show my awful pirouette!

But the ending was nice. Kinda like the karate kid trying to do ballet, but nice all the same.


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Tension over. Butterflies gone. Leg muscles constricted lazily in pink pastel enjoy the feeling that vacation is finally washing away the muddled worries and only leaving bright and shiny hope for the future.