Crunchy peanut butter + chocolate chips=happiness

Beth has introduced me to the best and easiest dessert treat ever! (Beth is my roommate while in Myrtle in the beach condo) Many a nights after rehearsal as we sit and watch TV....Glee is our favorite....the crunchy peanut butter and chocolate chips come out of the pantry. We each take our spoon, dip it in the peanut butter, cover that sticky lump with chocolate chips and enjoy, yum! So easy- so simple- and I never thought about it till Beth showed me! Beth, you are a genius! :)

We finished 'Shine' today and I found out that I'm the top of the staircase in the grand reveal of the number. It's nothing super exciting except it's a great way for me to tell people how to spot me during the show. It's actually the scariest spot considering that I have the most stairs to step down giving me a better chance of tripping and falling! That would be something to happen to me....knock on cyber wood!! ha! I think toward the end of rehearsal today our energy got a little low as a group so one of the dance captains, Mark, stopped and gave us a wonderful inspirational pick up. He reminded us why we are all here- the love of dance. And how this particular number really lets us shine that out. (no pun intended, well kinda) On this tour we will perform for hundreds of thousands of people all over the country. In those audiences there will be little girls that will look up to us and dream of being a Rockette one day. We truly have an amazing job and are so lucky to be doing what we love to do. Sometimes it's hard to remember that as we are jumping in and out of 40 degree ice baths, rolling out of bed at 5am to travel on a bus for hours for a show later that night, or shoving a swollen and blistered foot in a heel for hours. It felt nice to reflect on that positive moment and warm fuzzy feeling. I definitely benefited from being reminded of those things today because I've felt my attitude has been on the brink of falling to the dark side. We ran the whole number after his pep talk and I think our cast had it's first magical moment. We really came together as a group and danced as a team. It felt great. We have a really good line this year......GO A TEAM '09! Oh ya, and today we also had our first theme day at rehearsal- fosse day. We wore all black and a red lip, not that far off Rockettes I know, but you have to start somewhere, right?

SHOW SCHEDULE!!!

Here is our tour schedule- all 31 cities! Let me know if I'll be in your neck of the woods or if you want to make a fun Holiday vacation to any of these wonderful places. I love to see familiar faces along the way!

11/9 - Hamilton, ON 7pm

11/10 - Hamilton, ON, 7pm

11/11 - Hamilton, ON, 4pm, 7pm

11/12 - DARK

11/13 - Montreal, QC, (4pm), 7pm

11/14 - Montreal, QC, 11am, 3pm,7pm

11/15 - Ottawa, 6pm

11/16 - Toronto, ON, 7pm

11/17 - Toronto, ON, 4pm,7:30pm

11/18 - Toronto, ON, 4pm,7:30pm

11/19 - Buffalo, NY, 7pm

11/20 - State College, PA,7:30pm

11/21 - State College, PA, 1pm,7:30pm

11/22 - Cleveland, OH, 6pm

11/23 - Grand Rapids, MI, 7pm

11/24 - Ft. Wayne, IN, (4pm), 7pm

11/25 - Columbus, OH, 4pm,7pm

11/26 - THANKSGIVING/DARK, Memphis, TN

11/27 - Memphis, TN, (1pm), 4pm,7pm

11/28 - Memphis, TN, 1pm,4pm,7pm

11/29 - Birmingham, AL, (4pm), 7pm

11/30 - Knoxville, TN, 7pm

12/1 - DARK

12/2 - Philadelphia, PA, 4pm,7pm

12/3 - Norfolk, VA, 8pm

12/4 - Winston-Salem, NC, (4pm), 7pm

12/5 - Winston-Salem, NC, 1pm,4pm,7pm

12/6 - Columbia, SC, 5pm

12/7 - Charleston, WV, (4pm), 7pm

12/8 - Louisville, KY, (4pm), 7pm

12/9 - Cincinnati, OH, 4pm,7pm

12/10 - Lexington, KY, (4pm), 7pm

12/11 - Greenville, SC, 7pm

12/12 - Greenville, SC, (1pm), 4pm,7pm

12/13 - Greenville, SC, 1pm,4pm, (7pm)

12/14 - Charlottesville, VA, (4pm), 7pm

12/15 - Fairfax, VA, (4pm), 7pm

12/16 - Fairfax, VA, 4pm,7pm,

12/17 - Baltimore, MD, 4pm,7pm

12/18 - Washington, DC, 4pm,7pm

12/19 - Washington, DC, 1pm,4pm,7pm

12/20 - Washington, DC, 1pm,4pm,7:30pm

12/21 - Hershey, PA, (4pm), 7pm

12/22 - Hershey, PA, 4pm,7pm

12/23 - Richmond, VA, 4pm,7pm

12/24 - DARK, Orlando, FL

12/25 - CHRISTMAS DAY, Orlando, FL

12/26 - Orlando, FL, 1pm,4pm,7pm

12/27 - Orlando, FL, 1pm,4pm,7pm

12/28 - Orlando, FL, (4pm), 7pm

12/29 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL, (4pm), 7pm

12/30 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 1pm,4pm,7pm

12/31 - DARK

1/1 - DARK

1/2 - Charleston, SC, (1pm), 4pm,7pm

1/3 - Charleston, SC, 1pm,4pm,(7pm)

Hello Monday...ouch!

Oh how the day off goes by so quickly- and so does that nice, close to normal feeling that our muscles get to feel every Sunday. Not gonna lie, rehearsal last week kicked my butt. Nothing can really prepare you for Rockette season- dance class, pilates, even running a half marathon 2 weeks before you start will still leave you feeling whooped after those first few days. And just when I started to think that my hamstrings wouldn't snap if I had to reach over and tie my shoe, Monday hits. We actually got out 45 minutes early last Saturday, which has only happened twice in my 7 years of Rocketting, so I don't know why I thought they would be easy on us today. We learned most 'Shine'- the final number of the show- and even though it's one of my favorite numbers to preform it also twists your body in ways that isn't natural. (For you who saw the show or read the blog last year, this is number that we get to wear the awesome costume...it looks like we are just dripping in diamonds!) We'll finish up 'Shine' tomorrow and then be able to check off 2 of the 9 numbers we have to learn. I'll catch ya up on last week....we learned NYAC or 'New York at Christmas.' This is a beast of a number clocking in at about 16 minutes long between riding on the bus and busting a move. In this particular number we start by riding a New York double deck bus through a virtual tour of Manhattan at Christmas time- passing by the tree in Rock Center, central park covered in snow, and of course Radio City Music Hall! I'm on the top deck of the bus this time, last year I was on the bottom right behind the driver's seat, so I'm excited to be doing something a little bit different...also may be excited to be doing a little more sitting! (top of the bus gets to do most of the "bus-ography" sitting down while bottom deck has to stand and fling their legs out the window) Yes, I'll admit I like to wear the lazy pants when given the chance. The number finishes off with us gasping for air as we do our famous eye-high kick line in a very festive Times Square. That's pretty much it- I think I've you up!

Pics

Here are some pics of the tour so far....

Melissa and I are enjoying the beautiful beach day!

The pier by our hotel

Myrtle Beach!

Saturday night a group of us went to go see Fame to celebrate our first week in rehearsals...

...warning, bad movie! Bad great opportunity for a bad jazz pose!

Alive and Kicking!

Arena tour 2009 has officially begun! I'm back on the road again- this time hitting 33 cities! Double from last year! It's going to be an exciting adventure and I invite you all to take the journey with me. I'll do my best to keep ya up to date with everything happening in Rocketteland!

We started on Tuesday of last week- apologize for my late start, got a new mac laptop before I left home and just turned it on!! (ps- LOVE my new computer, it's so pretty!) This time rehearsals are in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I was a little bummed about not returning to Connecticut this year, but after the beautiful beach day I had there is no looking back. So we are here for a month, living in beach condos by night and kicking in the Waccamaw by day. Let me explain the Waccamaw...the Waccamaw is where we rehearse. It's an old abandon strip mall- I don't know how Radio City found it- and the Christmas Spectacular moved in, turning D-list stores into rehearsal studios, costume shops, and cast lounges. It's really bizarre, funny pictures to come...

This season I'm lucky, and not so lucky, to be in my same line-up spot as last year....third from center on stage left! The not so lucky tag is coming from the fact that the show actually has a smaller line of Rockettes this year- 18 instead of 24. So this means everything is different! All the formations, travels and counts are new. Needless to say, I'm cozy where I am, and SUPER excited that my friend Beth is standing next to me on my short side- just like last year!

I'll leave you all with a funny pic from the first day of rehearsal. It's Christmas time again! Ha! And we gotta ice so our bodies don't break!