Ballroom in Boston

I was in Boston over the weekend for the Yankee Classic. Unfortunately, I spent A LOT of time in the ballroom and no time out sightseeing. Seeing as it was my first time to Boston, I was hoping for at least a few hours, but it wasn't happening. On Sunday I was working from 7:30 am until 9:30 pm with no break! One afternoon I literally escaped from the ballroom while things were very slow and put on my running clothes and ran up to Harvard. It was about 3 miles so I had to run pretty fast so I could see it, come back, put my dress back on, and act like I had never left! But it was nice to see the sights of MIT and Harvard and the scenery of the river. I did have some good scenery in the ballroom as Max (from DWTS) was judging over the weekend. I admit he was pretty gracious in taking photos with anyone that asked and giving autographs, etc. which it seemed everyone wanted. But he would then turn around and roll his eyes at me. Some people are so stupid in the things they say, I would definitely do more than roll my eyes after hearing some of the silly stuff that comes out of people's mouths. Here are some pics and a little video. The sound is bad, keep in mind that I took it with my phone, but you can see what I watched all day Sunday.

A Peacock in Miami???

The weirdest thing . . .I have a peacock that lives at my apartment. I really never expected to see a peacock in Miami, not that I know where I expect to see one. He/She lives in the trees in the front of our building. I often see him sitting on the wall in our driveway, as you see in the picture, just feet away from my car. It's a little shocking to pull around the corner and see that sitting there. Last night he was walking in the parking lot and stopped for the longest time at my car. I think he could see his reflection in it. I don't really like pets, so I'm glad this is as close to one as I get!

A Quick Trip . . .

I made a quick trip to Texas over the weekend. No work involved!! I flew in Thursday night to Houston. Friday afternoon we drove over to San Antonio to see Amy, Ben & Isabelle. Then Saturday we drove BACK to Houston. And on Sunday I flew home. As always, it was too fast and there was little just hang-out time. But I can't pass up the moments to see my family. It was nice to spend Father's Day with my dad! And it was nice to be around nice Texas-folk, in wide-open spaces, and men in cowboy boots! (You'll notice the picture Isabelle took of her crazy mom!)

Morning in Miami

I'm sure you all know that I jog in the mornings. Usually it is just around my 'neighborhood'. I look forward though to Saturdays when I go over to the Biscayne Bay Bridge for my 3.6 mile, double-round-trip jog. Although it is a good workout, the best part of the experience is the view. On one side is the city and port (on weekends there are usually 5-6 cruise boats docked there) and the other side is the ocean looking toward Key Biscayne. I LOVE the scenery and always feel energized after my weekend runs. Since I won't be home this weekend, I decided to get up early (5:45) and make the short trip over to the bridge. This morning was a beautiful sunrise over the ocean onto the city. Plus the view also included about 100 men on racing bikes! =-)

Sunday by the Sea

Yesterday I took a couple of hours to relax. My usual weekends are filled with errands, cleaning, Target shopping, birthday/holiday shopping, etc. etc. Since I'm gone a lot of weekends, the list of things to do while I AM home can get pretty long. Pretty soon there is no weekend, it's just more work. But yesterday, thanks to my friends on South Beach, I visited their pool for a 'picnic'. It was hot, but there was a nice breeze. And I'm always reminded of what a beautiful city Miami is when I'm sitting there at their pool.

MOVIE WATCHER

As you may, or may not, know, I'm an avid movie watcher. On the weekends that I'm home, I sometimes see up to 3 movies at the theater in a weekend. I guess it's my 'escape' out of my every day life. I regularly go to AMC theaters, where I have a 'movie watcher card' where you get 2 points for every ticket you buy. You get free popcorn, drinks, tickets, etc. as you build points. My point total as of this weekend was 606 points! So you can see how many movies I see at AMC theaters alone! So I am going to keep a running total here on my blog of my points and the last 6 movies that I have seen. I will give them my personal rating in case anyone is looking for an opinion before seeing a movie themselves:
=-) I LIKED it, a definite must see
=-l It was OK, depends on your personal likes/dislikes
=-( Don't waste your money!!

Blackpool

International Blogger!

So. . . it's official . . .I finally have a place to post my life! Amy had been at me for a while to do this and I told her if she would set it up for me, I would do it. In the meantime, Sarah also felt the need and got me going. Thanks Sarah! I expect it will take me some time to figure out how to do it, but then everyone can keep up with me! I know I am not the best at "keeping in touch", so perhaps this is the best way to do it.

I returned the beginning of this week from Blackpool, England. I was there for the Open British Championships. While these are not the world championships, where only two couples from each country are allowed to compete, this event has become the dancers world championships since anyone and everyone is invited to compete. In one event there were over 500 couples from around the world. My time is spent mostly watching and staying up on the current gossip. Which leaves a lot of free time. UNFORTUNATELY, Blackpool is like the armpit of England. It is typical England overcast, grey, rainy, cold plus dirty, nasty, boring and full of ugly people. I know that sounds harsh, but if you had to spend over a week there, you would have the same opinion. Strangely enough, it has one of the most beautiful, and largest, ballrooms I have ever seen. So for one week a year, the town is full of beautiful people.

There is a Starbucks there now, so many hours were spent there drinking and talking to pass the time. This year I was with all four of my bosses. The two guys from Dance Beat and then my boss and his boss from Arthur Murray. Good thing I had no desire to go wild there. I had a great time as always with Keith, Didio, and this year Tom at our nightly dinners and then into the ballroom. I've posted some pictures of my time there. The USA had a stellar year and won the Professional Team Match for the first time ever in over 40 years!