Howdy Ya'll!

Welcome, and thanks for reading my blog! The experiences I'm sharing here are a random assortment of all the new and exciting adventures I find myself going on in this amazing city. It's a new day, a new world, a new life...and all it takes is a little moxie. So come along for the ride...It's sure to be thrilling!

Moxie: The ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Clowning Around

Just a little insight into what I do every Saturday (and some Mondays)...


You can also check out this cool video of my circus instructor performing (she's the main performer on the bottom).  I'm not quite to that point yet...but just ye wait! :)

Monday, November 15, 2010

The New Adventures of Old Emmy

A couple of weekends ago I finally got the chance to get back down to Boremont for a visit...but I mainly had one mission...to bring Emmy (my sweet little poodle) back with me to Big D!
I had a great visit with folks while I was there, and it was a much needed break (I even got a day off! woop!) but the best part came when I was packing up the car to leave and actually got to let Emmy jump in the car like she always begs to instead of having to sadly tell her goodbye and that she had to stay.  I have no doubt that dogs can show emotions...you should've seen the way she jumped and hollered when she figured out she was going!
The drive was pretty uneventful though Emmy found it fascinating...

before she decided she might as well get comfy because we were going to be in the car quite a while...


She had fun exploring when we got to Dallas, and made herself right at home in my living room...

After a week of settling in, we took a field trip this Saturday to the Farmer's Market Fall Festival, and while she didn't like the curbs so much (schizo?), she did love traipsing around the flower section

Of course she's had to adjust to walking everywhere on a leash, playing nice with other pups at the apartment complex, and attempting to jump onto my much-higher-than-before bed (not to mention I've had to adjust to picking up after her bathroom trips...ick!) but we've had a blast so far together and I can't wait to see what new ventures we might find ourselves on. :)


On other notes, The New Adventures of Getting-Older-By-The-Day Courtney have included a great weekend spent with my Best Beaumont Buds in Big D (talk about alliteration!), the filming of the TV show Chase in our office building (making us all think they were installing metal detectors in our building before we realized it was fake), a thank-my-lucky-stars-I-didn't-start-a-fire incident with a foil-wrapped potato and a microwave, an Afro-Jazz master class taught by an amazing choreographer from NYC (which left me unbelievably sore the next day), a not-so-pleasant week with a broken car starter, and of course lots more Saturday mornings spent in Circus School :D


Bedeeb-bedeeb-bedeeb-a-that's all folks!



(and for those of you that haven't understood the underlying reference in this entire blog post, there's a show called "The New Adventures of Old Christine." Google it.)

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Greatest Show On Earth!

The Greatest Show On Earth...is right here in Dallas. 
Inside of a giant building hidden in the middle of a block of corporate offices for places no one has ever heard of is Lone Star Circus School...the only professional circus school in Texas I might add. 
It may just be the best kept secret in Dallas, but I'm on a mission to share its wonders with the world!

Last Saturday morning I got up early, pulled my hair back, removed all my jewelry, selected an outfit abiding by the many rules, plugged an address into my GPS and headed off for my first day of CIRCUS SCHOOL...a little nervous about what to expect but totally ready to find out. 

I arrived early enough to look around and get a feel for the place, watching the end of the children's class before mine.  A dozen or so little kids scurried up the silk ropes as easily as a monkey would and contorted their little bodies into whatever shape the instructor happened to be requesting at the time and they all had huge smiles on their faces.  Yup...I was in the right place.  Now I was just hoping that it really was as easy as they were making it out to be.  Seriously, they're all scrawny, uncoordinated 7 year olds...how hard could it really be?!

That was my first mistake...thinking it would be easy.  I'll admit I had a fantasy in my head that because of all my years of dance that it would come so naturally to me and the instructor would compliment me in front of the class stating how she'd never seen someone pick it up so easily and that I was sure to be a star.  HA! That bubble popped real quick.

The trampoline warm-up was cool, the stretching was easy, and the ab toning section was challenging but not altogether impossible.  At that point I was feeling pretty good about myself. 

We all chose a set of silks (I purposely chose the light pink to match my carefully selected outfit) and the assistant instructor came over to help me learn the ropes (haha! pun!)
Let me pause here for a second and tell you a bit about these instructors...2 of them are well over 50 yet have the best bodies I've ever seen in my life.  They're in incredible shape and if they weren't so nice and friendly they'd be really intimidating.  The assistant who helped me out a bit was maybe a year older than me, but still had that amazing body.  I found out she got into the silks only a year ago, and came from a dance background like me...so there's some hope for me yet!
Ok, back to the story. 
So the first thing I had to learn was to climb the silks.  Logically, in order to do the pretty tricks, you have to get off the ground first.  The move is simple to learn and looks pretty easy.  NOT! Half of the move requires the person to sustain themselves on the silks using only their hands...I do NOT have that much arm strength! The other half requires a fairly simple leg maneuver that creates a "step" on which you can rest for a second giving your arms a break before they have to lift your entire body weight up a few inches again.  It's ridiculously hard but I managed to get a few feet off the ground a couple of times and the instructors keep insisting I'll get the hang of it soon. 

After I mastered the climb (or rather, my arms gave out and the instructor decided to give me a little mercy) I learned a few tricks on the loop and then learned how to make a stable base on which to balance enabling me to get into some more complicated positions that look really cool but don't require near as much effort as just climbing up the darn thing. 

All in all, it was a blast.  I was surprised how fast you can learn some basic tricks that look really cool with only one hour and a half class.  I was not prepared for how sore I'd be the next few days though! That's one intense workout.  They should be selling THAT on late night infomercials! 
I can't wait to go back, and have already recruited a few friends to come along as well. So if my career in marketing doesn't work out...I can always run away and join the circus ;)




Monday, October 4, 2010

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “To talk of many things: Of shoes—and ships—and sealing wax—Of cabbages—and kings—"...But more importantly...of my new apartment! 


All but a few boxes have been unpacked, the stove has been initiated (with a burnt pot of chili), the couch and TV have already learned to be my friend when I'm home sick, the first load of laundry is finishing up as I type, and I've already had to fork out a month's rent...yep, I'm officially moved in...and ya know what? It's all worth it.  


Everyone said there's nothing like living alone, and they were right.  It's so quiet when you wake up in the morning, there's no one to judge me if I want to leave a dirty dish on the counter for a day (or two), I can sing to the music as loud as I want (well almost as loud as I want...I do have neighbors), and I can burn a pot of chili as many times as it takes to get it right and no one is the wiser.  

In short, it kinda rocks! (Plus, my 10 minute "commute" to work makes life so much easier!)


OK, I know you're all only reading this hoping to see some pictures...so without further adieu...
The Living Room:


The Dining Room:
I still need a few more corks (hint hint)


The Kitchen:


The Boudoir:


The Bathroom:

Thanks for visiting and hope you enjoyed the tour!
Remember, my door is always open...except when it's closed. :)


P.S. Special thanks to mom and dad for helping with the big move! I had a great weekend with you and you're both invited back for a trip that doesn't involve so much manual labor. Love!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Feeling Blue?

I am!
This week Blue Man Group opens their first theatrical tour right here in Big D! We had the chance to meet the Vegas Blue Man Group last week for some promos and it turned out to be a blast! If you're thinking you should be jealous of me and my fabulous job right now you'd be right :P

Along with Blue Man Group, this past week has been full of new show openings at the theatre...Mariachi Vargas, Shemekia Copeland and James Cotton, MOMIX, and T Bone Burnett all made their way through the Winspear doors.  (And no, I didn't get much sleep)  It's been a busy week to say the least, but there's still nothing better than being able to see so much of the performing arts world everyday.  :)

On another note, I had a fantastic Labor Day weekend with a few of my favorite people!
Saturday I met my mom and grandma in Old Town Spring for some antiquing that turned out to be quite productive. I picked up some great old Samsonite suitcases that I'll turn into my nightstand in my bedroom (Clearly I've been watching too much HGTV!)

And being the royalty that we are, all three generations couldn't turn down the crown!


Sunday Carolyn and I did some damage to our pocketbooks at the mall before heading to JOHN MAYER JOHN MAYER JOHN MAYER! (did I mention we saw John Mayer?) As always, the concert was fantastic and I had a great time catching up with CJ all weekend.

Ok, I can't ignore the laundry waiting for me any longer...But I will add one more note:

I'M MOVING INTO MY APARTMENT IN 11 DAYS! woop woop!
Have a great week ya'll! :D

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Everything but the kitchen sink

A few weeks ago mom came up to visit and I had the pleasure of playing tour-guide (and a very good one, if I do say so myself) and showing her around my new digs. We saw pretty much all of Dallas in 2 days, and while exhausted, we had a blast.  I took her to see Beauty and the Beast at my theatre where she got the special tour (led by moi)...
We also spent an afternoon in one of those paint-your-own-pottery joints making tile trivets for my new kitchen! I think they came out great! (once again, not biased at all!)
Before firing...
After firing! Voila!
After mom's visit to the Big D it was my turn to head down to Boremont and pack for the big move coming up soon.  It was a jam-packed weekend full of bubble wrap, paint, and rubbermaid boxes! It's getting exciting preparing for my first apartment and me and dad even got to try our hand at refinishing furniture...HGTV style!
I've had quite a few adventures recently in the Big D...
My bud Kevin invited me to my first ever Cowboys game and it was a blast!




There was also a Red Bull exhibit at the Galleria featuring works of art made entirely of Red Bull cans...It was pretty cool!
And sadly, I also attended a fish funeral...in true Texan fashion, we held a funeral for Parker's dear fish Pearl right out in the front yard...the whole dirt-tossing, let's-say-a-few-words, shabang.  Really. LOL It was actually quite sweet, but trying to be serious and overlook the humor of the situation was really quite a task!

So there ya have it...fish funerals, Red Bull ants, Cowboys stadium, pottery, and Broadway....we have it all in the Big D!


Monday, July 12, 2010

MI CASA ES SU CASA

I'm almost, officially, definitely, maybe, a grown-up now.  haha

My list went a little something like this:
Get a degree.  Check!
Move to Dallas.  Check!
Get a job.  Check!
Get an apartment. CHECK!!

whew! finally! I didn't think I'd ever make it this far with (knock on wood) everything going according to plan.  But it has! Today I was officially accepted for my first apartment! I'm sure you're all thinking "It's about time!" but I've been so busy and finding the perfect apartment in a new city with a new job is a task worthy of any HGTV expert! Once I finally narrowed down a neighborhood I liked (Lakewood) it was just a hop, skip, and a jump (with the assistance of my apartment locator) to finding the right place and I'm so excited I can barely sleep! I even plan out my next shopping trip to Ikea in my dreams!

So as of September 20th, I'll have a brand new Dallas address all my own! Bring on the housewarming gifts! just kidding...sort of. :D

Here's a few pics for your enjoyment...and planning of housewarming gifts...hehehe (still only slightly kidding)


and on a side note...check out the Wyly Theatre (one of our buildings in the AT&T Performing Arts Center) made out of LEGOS!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Taking Off...and Landing Home

Well I was finally forced to spend some time alone with my laptop, quietly whispering "update your blog" to me as I stare back at the screen...that's what time spent waiting at an airport will do to you.
It's been almost 6 weeks since I wrote a blog post and I'm well aware that it's a bit overdue...

My job has literally taken off...it's been a crazy, busy, too-many-hours-in-a-day, wild ride...but so worth it so far! I work pretty much 14 hour days and work almost every weekend with some festival or event I've signed us up for...but honestly, I love what I'm doing and so I don't mind that sometimes I'm so busy that I can't update my blog for 6 weeks.  Sometimes you have to stop writing about how much fun life is and just enjoy it for yourself...so that's what I've been doing.  I haven't taken time to stop and smell the irises (I always liked them better than roses) but that's ok because all the while in the back of my head I'm reminding myself how lucky I am to have my dream job and that eventually, when things slow down and the day to day gets a little mundane, I'll be able to reflect and remember just how much fun I had.
Six weeks is a little long for me to update you all on everything I've been doing but here's a few keywords:
gaybingo
wildflower
B-52's (yes, the band that sings Love Shack)
Tap
Sesamoiditis
Avenue Q
Cast Party
My Papa
Mother's day
Birthdays
Spring Fling
Happy Hour
Game Night
New Friends
Old Friends
HAPPINESS

So that's the past 6 weeks in a nutshell.  I promise to upload a few pictures when I get back to Dallas...but it's a bit of a hassle in an airport. 

But since we're talking about airports...this one is the coolest! Well almost...Orlando is the coolest airport I've been to...but this one...it has no boring hard ugly benches...oh no...it has leather armchairs with a table and plug next to it...very comfy, stylish, and useful for airport blogging! :)

Hope you all had a great memorial day weekend and I'll try to keep my promise to update my blog more.  Thanks for reading!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Dancing, Singing, and Eating

My how time flies when you're having fun! Seriously though, I have no idea where the past 2 weeks have gone! It's been a whirlwind of new experiences. 
Work is still going great...This weekend I worked 2 festivals.  Dance for the Planet is a dance festival with master classes and performances all weekend long.  I got the opportunity to sit in on a master class taught by Janette and Jason from So You Think You Can Dance and it was amazing! Jason was extremely nice and very laid back.  Janette was more high-strung but still a great dancer and teacher.  It was very cool to meet both of them!


Saturday night was quite the adventure.  Patti's friend Amy's husband John is the manager for Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights band.  They played at House of Blues Saturday night and we got tickets.  From the start the night was full of surprises...we had dinner before the show with the band at the Foundation Room (which is decorated like Indian royalty with sari's on the walls and elaborate wooden canopies carved with more detail than you could imagine) The food...oh the food! I had root beer glazed chicken wings...which sounds weird...but it was so fancy and sooo delicious! The band was cool and very down to earth.  They just appreciate every single one of their fans.  Jonathan's girlfriend is an actress who will be in the Good Guys, which starts in May (and it's filmed in Dallas!) She was so nice and I really enjoyed talking to her surprisingly.  Anyway, we went down to the show and had a blast and even got a free CD.  It was a fun night! 
And here's the scene when we arrived home....

Sunday I worked the Spring Block Party at One Arts Plaza which is a residence/office building with about 6 restaurants along the bottom floor.  The festival had cooking demonstrations and tastings and wine pairings and live music and entertainment and would have been a blast if it hadn't been cold and rainy! BUT...I made friends with the restaurant I was near and got lots of free food and drinks from the nice men :)
Now I'm back to the old Monday/Friday routine and getting ready to party again this weekend for Griffin's birthday! I'm also trying an adult tap class tomorrow night...can't wait to get back in the game.
Hope everyone has a fantastic week!

*Love you Anita*

Monday, April 12, 2010

Life on the Ladder

The corporate ladder that is...
So it's been one week since I started my dream job at ATTPAC...and I must say...it ROCKS!
Everyone is so friendly, we've got some great shows to work on coming up, my boss is awesome, and I'm loving every project I've been given so far...in short...my job is going great!
I'll post more details once I get more settled...so far I've been going 90 miles an hour and have pretty much no free time when you add in work plus the million hour commute each day with the traffic...but I wouldn't have it any other way :)

In my few spare moments this weekend the Cadigans and I plus Skylar (Patti's friend's daughter) went to the Fort Worth Zoo and had a blast...it was great weather, though a bit cloudy, and that zoo was amazing! You can get so close to the animals (with the exception of the tigers...but really..I'm ok with that!) and they have such unique exhibits...my favorite being the bird aviary where you get to go in a cage with a zillion birds flying all around and landing on you and you feed them off this nectar stick and they just sit there and eat while you hold them...very very cool!




Monday, April 5, 2010

Fast and Furious

Okay Okay...I know I've been slacking on the blog the past couple of weeks but things got a little crazy....so you'll have to bear with me on this fast and furious blog post.
The Parrish family (Ray, Lisa, Allison, Jared, Maddie) came in town for spring break...I got a job (eek! still can't believe it!)...It snowed 7 inches!...I went back to Boremont for one last hoorah before starting work...My friend Dori had a beautiful baby girl (Olivia Mae)...Went to the fair where Christine bought a humongous cookie...I spent Easter in Kingwood with the Parrishs and Cadigans and now I'm anxiously awaiting the 9 hours and 24 minutes before I begin my new job.  :)  So...now that you've gotten the nutshell version of the past 2 weeks...here's a collage of pictures to go along with it.
Hope you enjoyed the pics...sorry for the short post...I'm off to catch some zzzzzs (9 hours and 20 minutes now haha)