Riot and Frolic

a mostly ballroom dance, but also a bunch of other stuff, blog

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about

I own and rock people’s faces off teaching ballroom dancing at Dancers Studio in St. Paul, MN. My husband and I compete professionally in American style and wrangle eight children in our spare time. I’ve been teaching and competing in ballroom dancing for over 25 years and have lots of opinions on it. I am an expert by any means, but there are quite a few dancers who are better than me and I have a solid knowledge of basic technique, so suck it.

Category: Domesticality

  • Media Frenzy

          12 Lost In The World [feat. Bon Iver] I don't buy a lot of books.  Or music.  Or movies…  Anymore.  My friends buy books and then tell me to read it as they put the book in my hand.  I listen to the Current or all my favorite tunes on my computer and if…

  • A great day and the rug

    Man, Wednesday afternoon rocked my socks off.  Not only was it payday, but it was B-U-T-ful outside and my little ladies, G, and I went for a picnic.    Down to the river with some KFC, potato salad, sun and bare feet.  Miss Georgia (now referred to as "Mae Cake" by big sis) flirted with…

  • Dogs, dance, and the obvious statement

      08 Good Day Sunshine   I'm trying not to name my next child after any of my friends' dogs.  You're not making it easy: Stella, Gracie, Penelope, Scamp…  All good names.     KISS more when you dance.  No, no, not that kind…  Or else you end up with my last point…  Keep It…

  • List of Last Week’s Labors of Love

    – Four loaves of various types of bread. Maybe a loaf that had too many scoops of flour.  The ladies are very distracting sometimes. – A mended $5 IKEA pillow.  It didn't need mending until I got it home from IKEA and decided to rip off the "do not remove" tag, instead of being a patient…

  • List of Last Week’s Labors of Love

    – One ugly room painted a new B-U-T-ful (sound it out!) color.     More of this project later. – "Really fun" trip to IKEA with a fruitful purchase of a drying rack. – Not-quite-whole-wheat bread, but it tastes good. – A roast chicken and the accompanying chicken stock.  Gosh, it looks gross. – 10 glasses…

  • Lemon Face

      05 Lemon Grove Avenue   You must listen to this awesome song while reading this post. It is much more officially spring today than that bunk March 20th date this year.  The spring equinox brought us a chilly 44 degrees and a blizzard warning in northern MN.  Today, it's 70 degrees and sunny and…

  • Unpaid Programming

    Mother's Day is just around the corner of your calendar, and now that I sometimes remember I'm a mom, I will share with you (dads, daughters, sons) the things that moms love (mainly me).  And the things you should buy for them (mainly me). Time.  Let's face it.  It's great to be alone sometimes, knowing…

  • List of Last Week’s Labors of Love

    – Oatmeal Bread – Beginnings of Vanilla Extract – Seven Dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies – One Bedroom Primed for Painting (the Gopher is no more!) – One Nifty Blog (see here) – One Etsy Store (nothing listed, yet) – Four Loads of Laundry (including cloth diapers) – Seven Trips to the Gym – Eight Hours…