Glitter Overload

Yesterday I spent 16 hours at a formal ballroom dancing competition and the glitter and glitz in that room filled all of my princess fantasies and then far beyond, which I did not even know was POSSIBLE, my fantasies I thought were pretty high. You see my husband’s parents are in town as well as my husband’s uncle and aunt. That uncle and aunt just happen to be professional dancers and are competing this weekend at the annual USA tournament, which is how I ended up at a formal dancing competition today.

In the beginning of the day we saw our Aunt and Uncle dance. The passion that they show and the love that they have for one another glows on that dance floor. At my wedding we were all envious of how elegant they dance but that was NOTHING compared to the focus on that floor this weekend.



And after their dance the dances just kept coming and coming. These people are so talented. I was prepared for all the adults, even the teens but my mouth literally hit the ground when I saw these tiny five year olds dancing better than I could ever dream of dancing.



I totally wanted to pick them both up and put them in my pocket for safe keeping. SO ADORABLE.

Of course I brought my good camera and I was curious to see if I could get good photos from an actual event. One in which the lighting was difficult, the subjects moved constantly and where I had to stay seated in one place. Not only challenging but also terribly rewarding. I was pretty happy with the photos I ended up with.



I still can’t get over the elegance of it all...





the costumes and makeup were outrageous...



the choreography extravagant...



and you could tell that they LOVE what they do.



their expressions show it all.



Most often it was a blur of motion on that floor, so much so that I would have been dizzy for WEEKS after trying one of those dances.



And although elegant some of those poses looked damn difficult. I think they have to remove some of their spine in order to get this one to work. And all done with a smile no less, or is that a grin of pain.



And the fun DID NOT END THERE. At the end of the day was the finals and as we settled down in our front row seats (SCORE) I glanced around the room and started jumping up and down in my seat. Directly across the ballroom from me was Len Goodman from dancing with the stars.



And then my Aunt pointed out Carrie Ann Inaba.



And just when I was gloating that NOW I have something exciting to tell my mother, Derek Hough walked in the room and sat down with Glen and Mark.



Every girl in the room swooned right there on the floor, I managed to keep my seat but not my cool. Now people living in Los Angeles are supposed to be cool, you are supposed to pretend you are not sitting not more than 20 feet away from celebrities, avoiding your eyes and pretending they don’t exist all the while desperately trying to tone down your beating heart but I failed miserably and totally lost my cool. I thought I could not be happier than I was at that moment, and then later when I exited the ballroom to use the bathroom (MOM REMEMBER TO BREATHE) I brushed shoulders with Derek. He was standing in the doorway to the ballroom, his back to me and stepped aside as I entered. Somehow I just kept my wooden legs moving. Ok just kidding, I did not actually brush my shoulder with Derek, but my mother in law ALMOST did. Does that count?

Although the pretty pink princess in me wanted to stay there forever, after 16 hours I was ready to take myself home. Ahh a tremendous day with a marvellous ending; God I love LA! Excuse me while I go bedazzle my wardrobe, with all the glitter this weekend my clothes now feel so drab.