more competitions

so... its been a while since we've updated our blog, but we have been crazy busy. here is an update on how competitions have been going for us:

March 18-10 Tri State Challenge. This was a smaller event in Stamford, CN. We took 1st in Rising Star, and 3rd in open pro smooth. we were supposed to dance showdance but had a 24 hour flu bug and was throwing up all day and we weren't able to dance the event. in fact we scratched showdance because i didn't finish throwing up until the event started and that left us just enough time to get ready in time to dance open pro. and let me tell you, it was the worst round ever, all i could think about was making it through the event and not falling over, so its pretty miraculous we even made it to the final, let alone 3rd. so yeah, not a great weekend for us :(

April 1-3 San Francisco Open. This was such a fun weekend!!! we didn't not dance all that well, but we had a really great time!!!! we took 5th in Rising Star, 3rd in Showdance and we didn't make the open pro final (the first final we didn't make, and it sucked!! oh well, i'm sure it won't be the last time we don't make a final, but it still doesn't feel good) however, we had so much fun exploring san francisco. i'd never been before and it was such a fun city to walk around in. we went to ghirardelli square and down to the fisherman's wharf for lunch. then we went to that crazy steep hill with all the switchback roads (i can't remember what it is called). i have to say, i LOVE san francisco.

April 8-10 Costa Rican Classic was incredible. It wasn't a huge event, but it was really fun to have a reason to travel to costa rica :). we took first in Rising Star, 2nd in Open Smooth and for the first time we competed American Quickstep, which was a surprisingly fun event. Also, last minute we danced Open Standard and didn't take last, we took 3rd place!!! Overall we didn't do much except hang out at the resort we were staying at, and the weather wasn't that amazing, but we had a GREAT time with our friends Azamat and Christine.

May 20-22 American Star ball. This was a smaller competition held in Atlantic City. We were really anxious going into the event because travis was sick and then i got sick so we weren't able to practice and feel very prepared for the it, but we had a great weekend!! we took 1st in Rising star, 1st in open smooth (which was a HUGE surprise to us) and 1st in show dance. so pretty much we couldn't have had a better weekend. plus on top of that we got to wear costumes from our sponsors for the very first time!!! and our costumes turned out AMAZING!!!!

May 27-29 A La Carte. This was an even smaller event held in Springfield Massachusetts. However, still a good weekend for us. we took 1st in rising star smooth and 1st in open pro again. :) i think it really helped our confidence knowing that we had such great costumes and a sponsor that believes in us.

June 17-19 Yankee Classic. this was a great event held in Boston, MA. (we love going to boston since it means we get to stay with our friends the baldwins) this was another great weekend. we took 1st in rising star, 4th in open pro smooth and 1st in american quickstep (yeah for the quickstep, i just wish we could compete it more often) we were very happy with our dancing, but more than that we had a great time hanging out with richard baldwin (charisse was out of town and we missed her). on saturday afternoon we went to a steak house featured on the travel channel (our favorite place to find new restaurants) and although the quality of the meat wasn't fantastic (they go more for quantity there) it was a fun experience and a great excuse to get out.

June 29-July 3 Manhattan Dancesport Challenge. this was a HUGE event and Definitely our BEST and most exciting competition in our professional career. We took first in rising star, which was exciting since we were able to beat a couple we've never even come close to beating before. then the next night we took 6th in open professional smooth, which was mind blowing since the other 5 couples to make the final are all established US finalists!!! it was also exciting because we did NOT expect to make the final (of course you're always hopeful, but it doesn't mean it will happen) and after we did make the final most of the other finalist came over and gave us big hugs and congratulated us, so it was really exciting to be grouped and seen with all of them on the floor with us, and also knowing that they were excited for us too. i can't even put into words how incredible it felt. we have never danced as well as we did that night!!! It was also really cool because we took 5th in the Viennese Waltz (my absolute favorite dance). then the next night we took 3rd in Cabaret. unfortunately we didn't dance our cabaret as great as we have other times. But we still felt good about it and received good feedback, so we are motivated to continue working hard.

In Other news...

We have been diligently trying to pay off our Students loans and as of March 1st we are officially done with them!! We are so excited!!!

To celebrate Travis bought me a GORGEOUS Coach purse and wallet (and yes, they are real!) from the outlet malls in vegas. I LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!!! and made it so worth all the sacrifices we have made to pay the loans off so quickly.

To celebrate for Travis we bought a HUGE (no joke, HUGE) porterhouse steak (1.5 inches thick) that he is planning on grilling up tonight. I think i got the better end of the deal, but i know he is so excited to devour that hunk of beef tonight! :)

AMAZING NEWS!!

While we were in vegas we had the most exciting thing happen to us!! Nick and Lena Kosovich, owners of Lenique offered us a full costume sponsorship!! His and Hers (usually only girls get sponsored)!!! Its so unexpected since this was only our fourth pro comp, but we could not be more excited about working with them!!

We are also excited because they own a competition in Costa Rica at the beginning of April that we now "HAVE" to go to, so we can have costume fittings and talk designs. AAHH!! we are so happy!

travels.

Its been a while since i've blogged, but we have been traveling like CRAZY!! which has been really fun. We finally were able to get all of our routines to the point that we could start competing again, which is so exciting since we haven't done it in almost a year!! But in the last 4 weekends we have competed at 4 different competitions. here's where we have been and how we have done:

February 11-13 Montreal, Canada. we placed 7th in showdance and 2nd in Open Pro Smooth. we felt pretty good about the weekend, but it was our first in a while so we had quite a few jitters. our show dance sucked because we missed 2 out of our 3 big lifts, so we weren't very happy about that. but overall, not bad since it was our first one back.

February 18-20 Boston, Massachusetts. We placed 2nd in showdance, 2nd in Rising Star Smooth, 3rd in Open Pro Smooth. We were much happier with our dancing this weekend. Although we still missed one of our big lifts in our showdance. AH!

February 26 New York City. We placed 3rd in Open Pro Smooth. We didn't feel great about our dancing that night, but alot of people said we looked pretty good. so i guess that's worth something.

March 3-7 Las Vegas, Nevada. We placed 3rd in Showdance, 4th in Rising Star Smooth, and 6th in Open Pro Smooth. Although our placings don't seem as great we were SUPER happy with this weekend. this was the biggest of the competitions we've attended so far and it was much harder. In fact, we didn't even think we would make the final of open pro and we did!!! so we were very happy!! We also were able to do our first dance on ever, which was really exciting for us. And we were able to hit ALL of our lifts in our showdance!!!!! Also, we found out some AMAZING NEWS!!!! which will be coming in my next post... so stay tuned!

We are so happy to be back on the dance floor and could not be happier with how things are going! We miss everybody, but we are so happy we are here doing what we love. its definitely the opportunity of a lifetime!

MY FIRST CAKE!!!

here is my first attempt at decorating a cake. It's a red velvet cake with butter cream icing covered in fondant. I think it turned out pretty cute! now i just hope it tastes good...

new experience

So today Travis and I decided to give Bikram Yoga a try. I thought January 1st was a great day to try a healthy option. Neither of us have ever done regular yoga but when i heard about bikram yoga it just sounded too appealing to pass up.

Unlike regular yoga Bikram yoga is performed in a hot room (about 104 degrees F) and i have to say it was really incredible. During the process there were times when it was overwhelmingly hot but it felt so incredible to be stretching out and working your body in such a warm environment. Even travis admitted that he felt more flexible than he ever has in the heat. I definitely think we will try to keep going at least once a week.

Although i have to admit i have NEVER sweated like i did today. It was actually a little distracting to have so much sweat pouring out of your body from every pore, but when it was over it was really cleansing.

The Holidays...

Sorry i don't have any pictures but here is a quick outline of how we have spent our holiday time.

Christmas eve we had the day off from the studio so we hung out during the day, made a few goodies and then that evening we went over to hang out at Diana's. I have to say even though we weren't with our families it was really nice to be able to spend time with our "east coast" family. We had a great time with lots of yummy appetizers and treats, darts, and a giant puzzle everyone worked on together. All in all we had a really great time with everyone.

On Christmas we woke up, opened our presents, called our families and then went to Diana's again for Christmas dinner. Dinner was absolutely delicious! we had prime rib, homemade mashed potatoes and lots of other delicious side dishes. We also finished the puzzle and played some rock band. We love spending time with everyone and are so grateful for the wonderful friends we have been able to make since we've moved here.

As for presents our main gift to ourselves was a new TV, blueray player, TV stand and netflix subscription. However, travis also suprised me with some great cake decorating stuff and we are so excited to start experimenting with decorating cakes. And i suprised him with a set of his own darts (since we moved here everyone has dart boards at their homes and he LOVES playing whenever we go over). WE also received some great gifts from our friends and some of our students from the studio which we appreciated and loved. From Travis' parents we received a maglite flashlight (tradition his dad gives every year) and also some money toward our entertainment set up. From my parents we received new pajamas (which was so nice, who doesn't love new pajamas?) and also some money for our entertainment set up. Overall, it was a very wonderful Christmas.

The week between Christmas and New Years we didn't do anything special, just the usual at the studio every day. However, we did experience our first east coast blizzard. It was CRAZY! we were trapped at our house for 48 hours. We wished we had been trapped with friends, but it was really fun to actually have a snow day. We even had the day off from work. REALLY FUN!! who says snow days are for kids!

new years eve we did a show at a ballroom studio down on the jersey shore (about 1.5 hours away from where we live). it was really fun and the crowd was really great and really supportive. Then we left and drove back to Gary's to party the rest of the night with all of our friends. Unfortunately we were a little late leaving the shore and we had to spend 12:00 in the car, but at least we were together. Overall, it was a really nice night.

We wish we could have spent the holidays with our family and we miss and love them, but for our first Holiday away we had a really great time!