Community

I take ballet at least once a week at a ballet studio close to my apartment. Last week I decided to take the morning class instead of the evening class since I had the day off. The morning class was filled with elderly women, all retired, who probably have been taking class since the studio opened. For those of you in the dance world, you know who these women are!

During the first combination, a young woman came in with a baby in a carseat. No one blinked an eye as we continued with class and the teacher gave the next combinations. The baby woke up during the barre work and started to cry, and the mother immediately shushed and took the baby out. A few funny remarks from the teacher and everyone continued as normal.

What happened next in class made me extremely happy. During the break a few dancers came over to the mother and complimented her. As class progressed, women started holding the baby for the mother so she could dance. Complete strangers were helping this women so she could enjoy the class! For one combination the mother held the baby while learning but another woman took the baby when the mother's group danced. I even offered to hold the little one! When class ended, three women took all of the woman's belongings and helped her to her car. One of the women who helped left saying, "It takes a village!"

 I told her how wonderful it was that she brought her baby- it was a pleasure to see! I love how the community in the room did not even flinch to help this woman who was trying to dance. I can only imagine how hard it is to take class when you have a little one and I give her major points for actually doing it. This is one of the many reasons I love being a dancer. Whether we know each other or not, there is a common bond and love for dance that unites us.

I am still trying to find my dance and non-dance community here in West LA. I have made a big push in the past 2 months and I have made some real progress! My smallgroup at PCC has been a great joy and I have been connecting with people from my past. I had a great community in DC and NYC and I feel a strong community is important for a healthy life.

If you know anyone in West LA-let me know! I would love to meet them!

2014- The year of not touching my face

Although the New Year is well underway, it is never too late to try and improve yourself. I love New Years Resolutions and here are mine this year:

1. Stop touching my face and focus more on other people's faces. I am a face toucher. Specifically,  I am constantly touching my nose, brushing my hair, and rubbing my eyes. I need to stop and I feel 2014 is the right time to end the face touching madness. I don't really feel the need to focus on other people's faces but my grad school professor once told us to give a positive replacement action in order to stop the negative one. That is the only positive one I could think of but I am open to suggestions.

2. I am really setting up myself for failure with this next one- staying put. I moved across the country in 2013 and I took 10 cross country trips. How can I make a group of friends in LA if I am never here?? My zodiac sign claims that I need to travel often but I am not sure my wallet agrees.

3. Be artistic. I never wanted to be a choreographer or have my own company but my current job requires me to choreograph at least 12 more numbers before June. I have been relying on minimum creativity (like doing Nutcracker) for my pieces but I should challenge myself as a choreographer. The electric slide won't cut it!

4. Stop buying things. I love to shop and as Madonna's Material Girl song came on during my shopping binge at the 4 story Forever 21- I realized I have a problem. My closet is full! I do not need to buy clothes because they are on sale or because I might get fat one day and want to be prepared. I should only buy food.

5. Lay easy on the groupons. I adore groupon and I spent 3 months using them when I first moved here. However, now I am stuck with a bunch of classes at mediocre gyms when I could have saved that $$ for a trip (augh, I am already thinking of breaking #2)

I am sure I had more than this but after 8 days of the New Year I seemed to have forgotten them.

6. Don't forget your resolutions

First post of 25

Hi!

I knew I wanted to write a post about my life in LA and it seemed too perfect I am turning 25 today. I am still not sure what I want to write about but here are a few items worth noting.

I was reading my blog post from Septembet 5th and I realized not much as changed. I have the same job, I go to the same dance studio, I miss dancing in NYC, and I am still a terrible driver. I am used to having a totally different life every few months so consistency different for me.

Things are good- and have stayed that way. Living in LA has an ease to it compared to NYC. I just feel more relaxed and things get done. I had to work this past weekend and I am so drained from it, I am not sure how I worked so much in New York.

I enjoy meeting with people and my friend circle is slowly growing. I just got a new small group and I am meeting people in the dance community. I was fortunate enough to dance for a choreographer here in LA too! Very randomly I have been reconnecting with people from my past like my old dance teacher or a junior high classmate. I am pretty happy about it!

I got a crockpot and I am obsessed- SEND ME YOUR CROCKPOT RECIPES!!!!!

Here is the link the group number we did in Hwood! I promise my next post will be more thoughtful~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbQZb_pbmeM

-Chrissie

Life in LA

When I was growing up I always hated LA. My parents would drive me up for various dance related things and I always thought Orange County was much better. Now that I live here, I am learning there is so much I did not know about LA. Here are the things I am learning:
1. Manhattan Beach is possibly the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. Walking along the beautiful houses is a site to be seen!
2. Venice beach has little canals that look like Italy. Today I walked along the Venice Canals and I saw all the canoes and people outside reading.
3. I will have to pay for parking. Always.
4. West LA is not that big. I have seen the same people at the gym, the grocery store, and out on the town. Sometimes this is a good thing. Sometimes this is not a good thing.
5. The Marina Del Rey Costco is the busiest Costco on the mainland. No matter what time of day I go, it is packed.
6. The time difference to the East Coast really does suck. I hate not being able to Facetime with Vienna in the evening and so I have to call at 6am PST in order to see her. Last time I was barely awake but just seeing her face made me happy.

Here are things I miss about NYC:
1. Taking contemporary dance class. I found a great ballet studio but I have yet to find a place to do Contemporary work. I really miss being able to take class at any hour of day.
2. Walking places. The only place I can walk to is Single Ralphs (It is just a regular Ralphs but mainly single people shop there. Maybe I should shop there more?)
3. My friends. I love my friends here but I can't help but miss my crew back in NYC.....

                                                               The Venice Canals!

The Blanket

Some of you may have heard me talk about Sarah Craft. Sarah was my roommate when I lived in Silver Spring, MD and now she lives in  Japan. Well one of my favorite stories we have together is the night we met. I had been in DC for about 0 minutes (really 2 days with my family and one on my own) and after my first day of being an intern I decided to go to small group. But first I needed a blanket to sleep with (after all it was the terrible winter of 2010) and so I picked one up before the group met at the diner. I picked the best one- a full size down comforter-and they only had a queen duvet so that is what I got.

I walked into the diner carrying this big white lump and sat down and made some new friends. I honestly do not know who was sitting next to me or across from me, but sitting diagonally was a girl rocking a turtleneck. She seemed to laugh at my odd jokes and a few weeks later she asked if I was interested in being her roommate.

Living with Sarah and Rosa was amazing. Our apartment rocked (gym and a pool) and these girls were legit. I was invited into their tight group of friends and I instantly had 10 best girl friends in Maryland. I would  Sarah or Rosa to wake me up sometimes and they would have to find me under my twin size blanket- (YUP IT WAS REALLY A TWIN! MARSHALLS-YOU LIED TO ME) That year was a lot of change for me. I had a break up, I started working full time, I danced in a company, I learned how to deal with people, I took public transportation, I learned how to dress for the snow, I learned how to gchat with 8 people at once etc. And I came home to a big white blanket every night.

When I moved to NYC I shipped the blanket off and it barely fit in my biggest box. I stuffed it in with my memory foam and saw it a few months later ( I did not need a down comforter in a NYC summer). I had four different apartments in NYC and my blanket was by my side.

This brings me to today. Tomorrow is my last day in NYC as I am moving to LA. (Yup, moving again). More has happened in NYC than I thought could happen to a human and now it is time to go. I started packing a few weeks ago and most things were easy to pack or toss. Cowboy boots- yes. Hangers-no. But then I came to the blanket. It would cost more to ship than it was originally. I probably don't need a down comforter in LA as the weather is always perfect. A twin comforter with a queen duvet doesn't even make sense. I was leaning towards a new blanket.

And then I thought of Sarah. I thought of all the memories with that blanket. I thought of the girl that I was when I moved to DC, and how bright eyed she was. I thought of my friends and how much they have shaped me into the person I am today.

I vacuum sealed the blanket. You will see it in my new apartment not just because I found a big enough box, but because its comforting to me. Kind of like a huge security blanket?

 I have no idea what new adventures LA will bring, but I know I want to come home to that blanket. Good days, bad days, my blanket will be there. Just like the friends I have made and the people that have supported me.

Maybe I will get a new pillow instead?

an overdue update

I apologize. The purpose of this blog is to keep people up to date about my life. As my last post was in March 2012, I can honestly say I have failed. But a new year and new resolutions means I get to try again. Here it goes:

The recap of the past 9 months:

1. I graduated from NYU with my MA in Dance Education and K-12 Certificate. I made amazing friends, learned about dance ed, and hopefully launched a new part of my career..
2. I student taught at two amazing sites- PS 372 and JKO High School. I could not have asked for better cooperating teachers and I had to keep blogs about my experiences there. (those are pretty personal so I can't share those)
3. I moved apartments. Twice.
4. I joined a small group at Redeemer and decided to attend Redeemer.
5. I went back home 4 times (Pollo asada fries....I want some right now......)
6. I worked a bunch of jobs.

Here is what is happening now:
1. I am teaching at the Joffrey Ballet School, 3rd Street Music School Settlement Preschool, Chabad Jewish Preschool.
2. I am an HR intern at Roosevelt Management Company doing temp work for less than 10 hours a week.
3. I moved apartments and I now live with 4 other girls in an amazing apartment on 101st
4. I got a Costco membership
5. I am incredibly blessed to have my small group, the broodles, my CA friends, and family constantly supporting me
6. Vienna Lin Chuang. If you don't know who she is or how I feel about her- then you are not my real friend!

NYC continues to amaze me and I am incredibly lucky to live in my favorite city. However, the tides are turning and I am looking into other cities to move to. Any suggestions?

I AM STILL ALIVE!

Oh Hello WORLD!

Yes, I am still alive. It has been a crazy few months and here is a bit of a recap:

1. I went to UGANDA over Christmas break on an NYU study abroad. In a nutshell, we learned Traditional Ugandan dance for the first week and then taught Ugandan children modern dance the second week.

2. I am working at the Joffrey Ballet School, Jumpstart, and the Children's Aid Society. YIKES! Filling out so many time sheets is so annoying, but I need to work!

3. NYU 2nd semester.......oh lord. We are physically in class more and I wish we were not. We talk a lot this semester and it kind be VERY boring. I really want to get more hands on but at least I am on SPRING BREAK NOW! I have never felt so overwhelmed though and I will be doing homework for spring break.

4. I have an ADORABLE niece named Vienna that I really cannot get enough of. I Facetime all the time and I go to Connecticut to visit once a month.

5. Last week I went to Penn state to represent NYU at the American College Dance. It was a lot of fun and it was very inspiring to see what other colleges are doing.

6. I am thoroughly enjoying the new classroom I am in for Jumpstart. The kids are so cute, they love me, and they are so happy to be there. One of them talks like Elmo and randomly cries but as soon as you distract him he forgets about his tears.

7. I love my roomies.....but we are going to have to move if our landlord does not renew our lease.

8. LINsanity- love it! Pintrest- LOVE IT MORE!

9. I start student teaching in July!

10. I miss dancing. I love taking class and I wish I could enjoy all the classes NYC has to offer.

Despite all my complaining, I really do love living in this city. I enjoy the fast pace, packed days, and the many things to do here. I am making great friends and I have trouble keeping up with everyone. I miss California a LOT especially since it is cold here but it looks like it is heating up soon!

What is going on in your life?

-Chrissie