Wednesday, August 30, 2006

susie's pics

from gianma's bday dinner at Sake Club...

chickenfillippo said something about taking both me and dianna home with him. but we know he'd just fall asleep anyway.



sasha and ricardo have beautiful eyes and hair. people want to commission them to have babies for them.



kissing frogs.



chicken and monkey. gay, period.



alexis and robin are cool as hell. i looooove me some robin and alexis (and their dog billie who was with us at this dinner). they introduced me and gianma.



haaaaappppy birthdayyyyy to youuuuu.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

year of the monkey


me and the monkey (gianmaria) celebrated our one year anniversary last week. who can believe that? not us.

he was all fidgety about what he was "supposed to do" for an anniversary. i had to break it down and tell him that you're not "supposed" to do anything. we do what we want. and we did.

we did stuff like eat indian food, then we stood in line for an hour to try to see Beirut but that ish sold out. we found our friend suzie at a bar and ended up kicking it with her, then we wound up at the 18th Street Lounge. it was packed, but it was a really fun night of running into old and new friends. our friends' band, See-I, was playing on the deck. i think everyone in DC must have been trying to be on that deck. luckily, i took off work the next day, and we had more fun.





my friend from high school (Rashida) and her boyfriend came up from North Carolina for her thirtieth birthday. her mom put together a surprise party for her. her dad fired up the grill for the party. daaaaaaaang that was good. later that night a group of us had some fun in adams morgan.



all of gianma's friends had a belated birthday dinner for him on sunday. we went to Sake Club. it was delicious! i took no pics because i dropped my camera at Madam's Organ the night before and thought i had broken my memory card. fortunately, it just wasn't loaded correctly.

yesterday we went to the Maryland State Fair. yaaayyy! my favorite part is always the petting zoo.










in other news, yesterday i looked at my calendar and to my surprise...for more than a week i don't have to do ANYTHING after work. no classes, no rehearsals, no shows, no appoinments, no NOTHING. squeeeee!!!!!

who wants to play?

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

eby loves...





for a long time i couldn't figure out what i loved to do, and what i am passionate about...

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

yay dancing and vacation!

i am still hungover from the whirlwind of the bellydance world that has enveloped me so completely for the last couple of weeks.

the fringe festival was fun! we started off cranky for some reason, but we had fun! raqs sahara and sahara tribal performed for two nights at nearly sold out shows. we busted out with our new cane piece, too. sahara tribal busted out with swords.



sunday was our student recital and it went great! raqs west busted out with the new SnakeCharmer urban fusion choreography that i busted out for them. bust out.



then saharabesque. this is our fun fusion show. this year it was stressing a couple of us out because we'd (of course) waited till the last minute to bust out with anything for our solos. but we pulled that ish together. i didn't get to see everyone's piece, but of course i crouched down backstage and stared wide-eyed like a kid looking at santa claus while Rachel Brice busted out. that woman, just incredible. i'm currently obsessed with one of the songs she danced to. it's called "Prenzlauerberg" by Beirut. listen to it. it's beautiful.



after saharabesque a bunch of us went to Busboys and Poets, then i went home at around 2am to pack. i got an hour nap then headed out into the night to fly to Costa Rica.

shoot.

i don't eeeeeeeven know where to start with Costa Rica.

that was so much fun. that was like summer camp. and i love me some summer camp.

i just didn't know what to expect. i knew we were staying at a resort, but i didn't know it was gonna be all like that. it was beautiful. check out my pics here and here. and it was RIDICULOUS fun. i met so many beautiful people. there were 60 plus dancers there from all around the world to learn from Rachel Brice and her very talented assistant Moria.

a typical day for me at Pura Vida would be:

8:30am - wake up laughing because the rooster out in the nearby coffee field is actually saying "cocka doodle doo" and i've never heard that before in real life.

9:00am - eat fresh pineapple, whole grain toast with butter and freshly squeezed juice (oh, so that's what juice is supposed to taste like?) out on the wraparound deck of the dining hall with lots of new friends.

10:00am - try not to topple over while doing yoga led by Rachel Brice (i think got better as the week progressed) and dance drills.

1:00pm - saved by the lunch bell cause i was usually about to die from hunger and/or the ass-kicking dance drills.

3:00pm - hardcore dance class. for real. like dripping sweat, cursing under your breath drills. i loooooove it.

4:50pm - slip out of class 10 minutes early to shower up cause i'm getting a massage and don't want to gross out the masseuse.

5:00pm - fall in out and out of blissful sleep while being rubbed (zaaaahhhhhh).

6:30pm - yummy dinner, talk of what trouble we should get into tonight. talk about the delicious boys who work at the resort.

as for the evening, mix and match:

a. go out on the town with Jorge or Emilio. cringe as the band plays RANDOM music. everything from John Mellencamps "Hurt So Good" to Kool and The Gangs "Celebration". yell "freebird" in between selections. watch the locals go nuts for this random-assed band. fall in love at first sight with local boys.



b. go to a questionable restaurant and bust out singing "Killing Me Softly" very loudly to Renee when it comes on the radio...then ask the confused waiter for "el cheque".




c. costa rica is chilly at night, so bust out and get into the outdoor hot tub and gaze up at the palm trees and the moon. watch OTHER people get in half naked...or all the way naked. hear amy remind you that you'll get scabes and rabies in said hot tub. watch your friends throw up gang signs in the outdoor swimming pool.



d. climb, soaking wet, out of the hot tub and put on your hoodie sweatshirt. go find your friends in a big yoga studio and volunteer to be "it" in a game of tag in the dark. spontaneously make the decision to flap your arms as you chase your friends so that you can be a terradactyl "it". watch your friends fall to the ground crying because your sweater is all wet around the boob area (from your swimsuit) and you didn't put on any pants or shoes, either.



c. fall in love with your masseuse. decide to follow him wherever he goes that night and possibly forever. he decides to walk down the (scary) street to a local bar. you and your friends tag along. risk getting ripped to shreds by super scary looking dogs who are LOOSE. almost pee in your pants while he tells you not to show fear.



d. watch delicious emilio play his guitar and sing songs in Spanish ("even 50% MORE delicious"). suggest "freebird" in between his selections.


that was one of the best weeks, EVER. i took like 300 pics. i saw monkeys, i saw toucans, i saw a volcano, i soaked in a hot spring...

i am so thankful for my life :)