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.
I've had food poisoning all day and am just now able to move into the kitchen to get this.
Yes, a roaster with rapidly melting ice cubes and chilly water for my feet. That's AC, people. And I swear, the sickly pallor of my legs is just because of the flash…
My lovely ma and pa took the kids for the day to play at their house (shady yard, splashing water, actual AC) and I've gotten lots of "come over anytime to cool off" from everyone. Thanks, all!
On the plus side, my new blog design is so almost done, I can taste it!
The part is Chasing Amy where he fixes her lighter? Armageddon? Married to Jennifer Garner? Winning!
It's rather early and I thought I'd get you started with a cure for your Monday.
I feel a little like Martha telling you about my "good things." Whoa. I mean, things that I enjoy.
Dear Yoga Toes, you are so great. You look ever so painful in the picture, but I think that is part of your charm. Maybe it's because I'm on my feet a lot, or have stuffed my feet into too many dance shoes, but prying my toes apart to squeeze your pedicure-like toe spreaders onto my feet is a delightful treat. Kicking my feet up on the couch or plunging them into a tub of cool water is icing on the cake with you, darling Yoga Toes.
If you check out the Yoga Toes link, the company that makes them will tell you why they are good for you. It seems like a load of hooey, but I've had them for a couple years and adore them. After you wear the crazy-looking things for awhile, then stand up, your posture really does feel different. They feel great on bunions and hammertoes. They even stretch out my feet, which is no small feat. (Hahahahaha!)
I got the classic aqua color, but find it really amusing that they come in different colors now AND different sizes. I'm pretty sure I have the small size, but most ladies could probably do the extra small if they weren't dancers.
Order a pair and throw them on while at work at your desk. A nice little vacay for your feet to start your week.
Turn your speakers down before you play this song. It's loud and nothing M.I.A. does is quiet.
Back in 2009, M.I.A. performed live at the Grammy Awards nine months pregnant on her due date with Kanye West and Jay-Z and some other guys I don't care about as much. She is BA. Her music will start your Monday OFF!
Getting home from work? Need a snack? My lovely student, Ms. M., gave me this fantastical recipe for…
Peanut Butter Popcorn
Ingredients:
– a big bowl of popped popcorn. I do mine on the stove, by throwing a couple tablespoons of coconut oil in a big stock pot with a couple kernels of corn, putting a lid on it, and cranking up the heat to medium-high. Once those random kernels pop, throw enough popcorn in the pot to cover the bottom (less, if you're on your own) and wait. Poppoppoppop until there's about three seconds in between the pops, then dump your pipin' hot popcorn into a big bowl.
Microwave popcorn is fine, too. But, I don't have a microwave. Try to get plain popcorn in that case, so you don't die of an overload of sodium and fat.
– 2 tablespoons peanut butter (or any PB alternative: almond butter is great!).
– 2 tablespoons butter
– 1 tablespoon brown sugar
– 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Combine the last four ingredients in a small pan until melted. Pour over popped corn. Enjoy!
I like to throw a lid over the bowl and shake up the mixture, so more of the popcorn gets coated.
Check out The Kitchn over at Apartment Therapy for their own version. And just check out Apartment Therapy; it's a great site for design ideas, DIY projects, recipes, and the like. I like their "Top Posts" and get lost on their site for awhile… Maybe wait for your coffee break.
This is not a great quality video, but it is great dancing. A) Slavik is pretty. B) I love Karina's dress (yes, from DWTS). C) Is she really crying at the end? D) It's beautiful.
Hope that kicks off your week in style. Here's some more style for you:
– a party of Bratt-ski-ine proportions for Memorial Day: more people than expected, lots of food (and leftovers), over eight hours of talking, eating, games and ridiculousness.
– an imperfect cake (how do you remove a cake from a pan?) and imperfect ganache that still tasted pretty good.
– a slightly red, white, and blue centerpiece. Thanks to all members of the Armed Forces, past and present!
– a trip to the river: family in hats, watching the boats struggle upriver against the speed of the current; hiking to find the Hidden Falls which were in fact, very well hidden, especially from us; wading in the cool water at the sandy points; a very flat tire; a very studly and patient husband; and a surprise stop for amazing Thai food at Taste of Thailand.
– eleven mostly consecutive hours of sleep in one night. (Best gift ever, G.)
– more teaching than I've done in awhile. Thanks, mis estudiantes!
– a trip to St. Cloud, MN (Marshall Eriksen) to teach the lovely group at St. Cloud Ballroom Dance Club some rumba and bad dance puns.
– a stop to check out the scenery on the way back from church.
It's hot and I still turn the oven on. There are some things that are so delicious and, yes, stupid easy, for which I will tolerate sweating.
First, it helps to have an icy glass of water nearby. Lemons and limes are a bonus. A sharp knife is handy in case of intruders.
Sweet potatoes are awesome and I would eat them everyday. Sweet potato "fries" are great, as are the similarly prepared sweet potato "chips."
I took four sweet potatoes and cut them into strips (holy moly, my arm was tired!), threw them in a bowl with some olive oil, salt and pepper and baked them at 425 degrees (in the oven) for ten minutes or so.
These are the uncooked ones. Notice I have no pictures of the cooked food this round. That's because I was too excited to eat it and couldn't be bothered to whip out the camera while I was shoving food in my face.
Then, six tilapia filets (from Aldi's frozen food section- they were HUGE filets and might have been a dollar a piece- great deal) dipped in milk, then thrown in a pan of corn meal, flour, salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, and parmesan cheese. Broiled for 8 minutes to perfection!
I realized we didn't have any tartar sauce and was beyond grief, but then mixed up my own with trusty ol' mayonnaise and dill relish and joy! once more.
Of course, we had to have dessert, so I threw some blueberries and M&Ms over ice cream and ate it really fast before it melted. This, strangely, I got a picture of.
Goodness.
Most of the prep was cutting those…dang… sweet potatoes. Then, nothing but chucking it all in the oven and watching it cook with the ladies while sipping lemony-lime water (take that, scurvy!) and sweating.
After rearranging my ladies' bedrooms, I was left with one wall of the Green Room completely blank. It was a lonely wall to the left of the door and it made me a little sad every time I was walking in to get the Mae Cake. It was short spurt of sadness, to be true, because after you round the door there's a party in the corner, what with the actual furniture, tissue paper flowers, and cute kid.
I had seen artists' canvas on sale at Michael's, so I decided to try a project I'd seen: fabric-wrapped boards.
After stopping at Michael's where I bought a two-pack of 11"x14" and 8"x10" canvi (I'm pretty sure that's the plural for "canvas"), I stopped at Jo-Anne Fabrics to grab a few fat quarters that match my proposed color scheme.
I unfolded my little fat quarters in jubilation, realizing the green pattern was even better when it was unfurled. I also realized I should probably iron my fabric before trying to glue it on the canvas. I'm really glad I didn't get lazy on this one and decided to make the trip up two sets of stairs to turn on that iron.
Instructions are pretty straight-forward for this one.
Put your canvas on the fabric and cut your fabric with enough extra to wrap around the sides.
Put a decent trail of glue (I'm using Quick Grip by Beacon) around your canvas's backside, then fold the sides of your fabric onto said glue. Next, fold in your top and bottom fabric and press onto the glue. Ta-da!
I did the easy version on my three boards for the Green Room, where I folded the fabric in like I would wrap a present. It's a little bulky and I think someday I'll cover the edge with some awesome ribbon or contrasting fabric. But this way, it took maybe three minutes each to make.
I happened to have one 11"x14" canvas left AND this amazing fabric that I had bought the other day at Crafty Planet which was burning a hole in my… sewing machine? I couldn't figure out what I wanted to make out of this fabric, but I kept thinking, "I just want to look at it." Light bulb! (You must say that like Gru says it in Despicable Me and you haven't seen that, you have heard the greatest bad-Russian accent ever.)
Well, here it is:
Ahhhh. You're so pretty.
I decided to try a different technique on this one.
I cut the corners of the fabric, so there would be no fabric folded up on the edge. It was a bit more putsy and a pain in the arse. It probably added a whole three minutes to that board! Lame!
Really, it looks great, but I'm a lazy crafter, so I liked the first way better.
In any case, I got these great wall hangings for about $4 a piece and 15 minutes of my time! Woohoo!
The ladies liked them enough to pose for a picture.
They're in their jammies there. They might have the same size on. And by "might," I mean, they do.
Last year, I made it a major goal to become part of the Elite Squad at yelp.com. Yelp is a new-fangled Yellow Pages where you can rate and write reviews of businesses, check their hours, find them on a map, and the like. To become an "elite" member, you write a bunch of reviews, compliment other members, check into businesses, and basically hang out on their site a whole lot.
Part of my plan in gaining Elite status was to promote the Snelby (I named it myself) area at the corner of Snelling Avenue and Selby Avenue in St. Paul, MN. I have no official affliation with any of the businesses there, besides the fact that they are awesome.
First of all, the anchor store of Patina is in the Legacy Rose building that got a major overhaul a few years back and really started turning the area around. The Heritage Rose building next door got its turn at a big time reno soon after the success of the Legacy and now there is nothing but fun.
Down the magical alley pictured above, lives a little house where the caretaker for the buildings used to stay. And in that house, there are fantastical clothes and shoes to buy at Allee. The store is great in and of itself, but it's owner also runs Nina's Coffee Cafe in Cathedral Hill, so it gets double points.
Flirt Boutique is a lingerie store that moved to Snelby from good ol' Grand Avenue. They have amazing girl-style underclothes and also carrying really simple and fun earrings. Weird combo, I know. The ladies that work there are very helpful and are great at helping the menfolk get something fancy for their lady.
Need a snack before continuing? Stop in to Two Smart Cookies for one of their delicious chocolate crinkles. *drool.*
Patina, as mentioned many times here, is great for a little brain vacation. It has the funnest junk.
A. Michele is a sassy women's store on Selby that has rockin' clothes, accessories, and strangely, baby stuff.
If you ever need a period dress for a party, head to Lula's Vintage Wear and whoever is working there will help you find a great circle skirt or leisure suit to impress your date with. They carry some quality vintage gear for ladies and men and shoes, belts, necklaces, hats, the whole shebang.
Now I need a coffee.
Gold Card at Starbucks, baby. This location was right down the street from my old workplace, so I know and love it.
The kids are getting restless. Take them to Fire Station 14 down Snelling Avenue to visit with the nicest bunch of firemen in the world. The guys were my next-door neighbors for many years and fed me, entertained me, lent me tools, and installed an air conditioner for me. Good guys. They love kids and showing off their place, so it's a good field trip.
I haven't even crossed Snelling Avenue yet! But in any case, you should head out 94 to the coolest intersection in MN and spend a little time and dough. Then give me a ring and stop by to see me on your way home.
I'm actually not going to talk about peanut butter. This is surprising because besides any frozen concoctions (popsicles, Frappuccinos, frozen grapes), my favorite food is peanut butter.
Nope, I'm talking fast-action recipe today. Monday (wait, it's Tuesday; but let's say it's effectively a Monday because of the holiday) is apparently my recipe day. I plan my meals for the next two weeks or so and get in the swing of cooking after lazy weekends.
Just like any other busy lady, I'm prone to stopping for some fast food on busy days. Little Caesar's is right behind my workplace and is a deliciously-terrible habit on late work nights.
But sometimes, my health conscience kicks in and I remember I have a super-fast and easy standby recipe that actually fulfills some nutritional requirements. This recipe didn't really sound great when I first heard it, but I was brave and tried it and love it.
5 Can Soup
1 can chicken broth
1 can creamed corn
1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can tomatoes with green chilies
Combine and heat. I love serving it with a scoop of sour cream, some shredded cheddar, and smashed tortilla chips. You can throw in some cooked chicken or ground beef for extra protein. G and the ladies love it.
When you're done, you can five empty cans that you can make fun things like this with:
– tin can lanterns. Chris and I made these for our annual holiday party two years ago and they are FUN to make! It is a great way to get out a little aggression. We made lanterns like the ones shown below, but I love the idea of the second picture below!
Oooo!
– garden planters. "Free" tin cans + spray paint + green things = *love.*
– the discovery that my "no time to do my hair!" look results in super-awesome hair after it's dry and I take out all the bobby pins (there are eight).
– another fun discovery after two hours at work was that my no-time look resembled Pebbles' hair.
Not this Pebbles…
This one…
See?
If you don't know who that first Pebbles is, don't feel bad. You probably don't know what this song is either…
Maybe you were born after 1990, I don't know. You know who does know that song? This guy…
But he might not to know all the words to this song…
If I lost you somewhere, don't feel bad. I had to keep the male following of my nonsense happy (there are five!).
– some pretty awful attempts at writing CSS code and trying to design my own blog.
– another night out on the town for fun without the babies (hence on referred to as FWB, or "fwib" [it's fun to say]) to the ye olde Dubliner to hear the awesome debut of Broken Spoke. *like* in Facebook parlance.
– the realization that I need to wear an apron when I cook, since I am always wiping my hands off on my clothes.
I bought this apron in Dixon, IL. (Shout out to the Bratts!)
It is spelled D-I-X-O-N. Not Dickson. Just so you know. Common misconception.
There's a baby bump picture for you, too.
– two delicious pizzas. Check out the fast hands helping me.
– a sneaky veggie-infused "milkshake." I tricked all of us ladies into drinking a good amount of juiced spinach. Yes, the top layer is green. Juiced spinach and carrot, vanilla yogurt, cherry juice, protein powder, and ice. It was tasty, believe it or not.
– really tasty "chicken parmesan," no questions asked.
– a trip to the playground or two.
– a visit with my great aunt to pick up a new-old mixer and then the use thereof.
After taking a vote on Facebook, I made some chocolate ganache to top a white cake (the vote was for chocolate sour cream or ganache frosting on a chocolate cake). The cake is baked and cooling right now, and the ganache is, I don't know… setting? I've heard good things about ganache and really wanted to try it, so I happy the ganache won out this time.
I was going to use some food coloring to make a red, white, and blue cake in honor of Memorial Day, but I forgot… The end.
– a request. To anyone who's reading this (ooo, that's YOU!): would you mind subscribing to my posts? There's a button at the bottom of the page that will talk you through how to subscribe, in which case you get updates sent directly to your email. Neat! You can also subscribe through Typepad by clicking on… something. Sorry, I should really figure that out.
UPDATE!- If you are one of the over 500 million people who have a Facebook account, if you click on "follow" button at the top left of my page, you'll get new posts in your news feed.
Otherwise, I recommend using the button (it's orange) at the bottom of the page to get new stuff sent to your email.
Thanks!
– a million scans of Pinterest and Facebook. You evil, delightful timesucks. Many thanks.
I'm not a doctor, nor have I played one on TV. But there are a couple products that I use almost every day that I think are totally worth the time and money to use. And by "a couple," I mean three.
This is the magical juice of goodness. It's 10 times more effective as an anti-inflammatory than aspirin. Tart cherries have some fantastic chemical combination that makes them fight inflammation AND block your brain's ability from receiving pain signals. They're also high in melatonin, so it can be helpful in getting a good night's sleep and fighting fibromyalgia and arthritis. No other fruit has as many anti-oxidants as the wee tart cherry, so I'll throw in that it helps guard against cancer. And duh, it has a Vitamin A, C, and potassium, and even iron!
I've had random excruciating pain in my shoulder joints for a few years and nothing seemed to make it better. I would wake up in the middle of the night, cry for a bit, eat half a pan of brownies, then settle in on the couch with some 30 Rock DVDs for several hours of severe discomfort. The pain would go away completely in a day or two, but it would come back every six weeks or so.
I read and heard from a couple people that cherry juice was good stuff, then saw it on sale at Target, so I tried it. I've been drinking a small glass of this every day for about three months now and I have not had any shoulder pain. I highly recommend it to everyone, plus it tastes great.
R.W. Knudsen has some great products. They're all earthy and whatnot, so that's great, too.
Almond oil? Doesn't smell like almonds. You actually have to get it scented with almond… scent.
This is what I found out after I read the almond oil is great for your skin. I checked out my local Garden of Eden store and got a great deal on some almond scented almond oil. Generally, it's used as a massage oil, but every night, I rub a couple drops all over my face. "Really? Oil on your face?" you say. It seems stupid and I can't believe I tried it, but my skin feels great and I haven't broken out since I started doing it about a year ago. It probably helps that I do a little face massage (start at the center of my forehead and rub in little circles to my temples, then from my nose out to my cheeks, chin out… you get it) and it really doesn't feel oily. Hey, Jackie Kennedy was a fan and she was gorge, so just try it.
Here's the obvious one and the most expensive suggestion I have: massage. I'm not going to list the benefits because there's supposedly 7,789 or so reasons massage is good for you. I happen to have a super-bomb deal going with a massage therapist I know where we trade massage for dance lessons, but I would spring for one on my own as often as possible.
Here's my personal benefits: it feels great, I like the music, and it's time alone where no one asks me a more complicated question than "is that too much pressure?" Awesome.
I had to fire my web designer today. She was terrible; absolutely no idea what she was doing and she wouldn't acknowledge it until she had wasted five hours of my time. I mean, who voluntarily tries to design a website without knowing any CSS or HTML code?
If you see this girl, do not let her convince you she knows anything about computers. She does not.
In other words, I apologize for the lack of post the last few days. I've been trying in vain to upgrade Riot and Frolic with a little swank and swagger, only to discover that I can't do what I'd like to do. If you happen to know any gobildigook code for making a blog look fancy and will work for cookies, hamburgers, or ballroom dancing, you let me know. Until that person makes an appearance, I'll be sticking to the status quo.
In an effort to cheer myself up from my techno-fail, I'll share some fun with ya.
I needed a win today, so took an out-grown Mae Cake outfit and started cutting it up.
Flowery, buttony things! Most of the buttons are from my good friend, Ms. Brown. *drool.* Donated craft supplies. There's going to be some rolled flowers out of the green stuff and maybe a yo-yo in there, then it'll go on… something. Neat. One point for Kate.
More good times? Costco. We just joined after everyone told us it was awesome and I made a field trip to see one with my auntie. Here's my fun buys from there:
I think these two juxtaposition themselves nicely.
I have to say, we bought the vodka just for the BA label. But now I'm reading more about Prairie Vodka and it seems pretty neat all around.
That's all the screen time I can stand today, but I have a great plan for the coming week, so stay tuned!
Riot and Frolic 