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.

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  • The Sugar-Free Thing

    Hahahaha.  When I wrote the post title, I accidentally wrote "The Sugar-Free Thong".  That is something very different. not this. ever No, this is just about giving up sugar, not my choice in undies.   I started doing a no-refined-sugar thing about two weeks ago and wanted to tell you how it's going, because people…

  • To Offset 3 Cadbury Creme Eggs…

    If you're like me and overindulge once in a while (btw, I always have to look up whether it's "once and awhile" or "once in a while" and it makes me feel dumb every time), possibly by eating 3 Cadbury Creme Eggs or devouring a "box" (bag? carton? what are those things?) of Oreos in a…

  • Just Do It

    Some of you laugh when you read my posts about running (I think this one did it for a couple people).  That started me thinking about how I started running.  And more so, on how I kept running.   Here's some interesting things to think about if you're starting, or have started (and you're kind…

  • 10 Kitchen Tips For The Cooking Impaired (Part 1)

    I am not a great cook.   I burn bread, overcook fish/chicken/leftovers, don't like to measure ingredients, often don't read the entire recipe and wing the last 25%, make dishes that taste like… nothing, undercook pasta/rice/any other grain you can cook, and only make things I would like to eat (aka, it's sweet or spicy…

  • List of Last Week’s Labors of Love

    – I'm the victim of a perp!  Someone stole my camera (yeah, that new one ) and my gin.  What?!…  And LB's delicious whiskey, which she ironically had here for safe keeping.  I'm fine (don't feel scared or violated or anything needing therapy).  But I could use a good punching bag.  I'm quite pissed.  I'm…

  • been enjoying your Jamba Juice, then “WTF!” found out the nutrition facts?

    Mmm, I do enjoy a Jamba Juice every once in a while.  Orange Dream Machine is my fav.  Oh my Lord, it tastes like an Orange Julius!  But with vitamins!  Right? Well, yes.  But check it, the ye olde ODM (16 oz., yo)  from JJ has: 350 calories 76 grams of carbs 71 grams of sugar…

  • The Garden of Good

    I'm a first-time gardener.  Oh yeah, there were those tomato plants I grew in fifth grade for a science project and that summer after we bought our house where I had some sunflowers and tomatoes, but I have never Gardened. I was going to Garden last year, but Minnesota's weather (and my motivation, let's be…

  • About Me… Or “How I Started Dancing”

    About eight years ago, I was heading towards a degree in Art History and a career as a museum curator. On my way to study one Sunday, I heard some Afro-Cuban music on the radio and thought, “I think you can dance to this.”  I called up the nearest dance studio and scheduled an introductory…

  • The Sarlacc and… Alcoholic Beverages

    I made the magic bread with buckwheat flour this week.  Besides the dough looking like a key player in Return of the Jedi, it turned out pretty well.  Buckwheat bread dough… Or the Sarlacc… Source: starwars.wikia.com AKA nerds  It also made pretty smashing pizza crust (because you can also use no-knead bread as pizza dough).…

  • Discovery: Brewer’s Yeast

    "It's soooooo good on popcorn, and, like, you'll love it."   Upon that advice from some very wise 11 year old twins that I know, I bought Nutritional Yeast the other day.  Well, I thought I bought Nutritional Yeast, but it was Brewer's Yeast, a slight, but definite oversight. Brewer's Yeast has a crapload of…