Shut up! I'm actually smiling in a photo!?

Here's a photo of me from dancing on Saturday. It will shock many of you, but sometimes I actually do smile!

Mini Rant: your questions are so NOT funny.

If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm a twin. There is still some debate whether Anna and I are identical or fraternal, but people tend to go berserk when they see us. We went to the same University and even majored in Economics together, so for a certain period in our lives we were bombarded by "twin" questions and grew accustomed to them.

However, after college Anna moved to Dallas, and I moved to DC. The twin questions stopped other than when we visited each other. Most of the questions were asked when we went salsa dancing together. People were shocked to see the two of us at the same place and the staring, pointing, and dumb-founded looks persisted to follow us from Dallas, to DC, to Seattle, and even to Paris.

For the last month that Anna has been visiting me, the questions have made their way into our lives again. Below is just a small sample of the ones we get often:

*Are you you or your sister?
*Are you the good twin or the evil twin?
*OMG, are you twins?
*Do you have any funny stories about being a twin? Like if you dated someone and the guy mistook one for another? [really, that would be funny?]

People, please stop! We've heard these questions a zillion times before, and they are really not that amusing. We really don't look that much alike: and if I take my glasses off, we would not all of a sudden become even more identical. If you pinch Anna, I would not feel pain, and if you have more chemistry dancing with her than with me, we don't necessarily need to know that.

Ok, I feel a little bit better to get that off my chest.

My sister: a star!

On Saturday, Anna and I went to Salsa Room, something I haven't been able to do prior to Anna staying with me (the place is not metro accessible). There was a bachata contest, and Anna entered with Parker as her dancing partner. I knew there was little chance of anyone else being better than them.

There were 8 couples total competing, and there was only one couple who danced at the same level as Anna and Parker. After 2 rounds of dancing, the audience applauded for their favorites, and Anna & Parker moved into the finals with another couple....that couple was HORRIBLE. The girl was a total skank: not only could she not dance to the beat, but she was pretty much just grinding on the guy. Unfortunately, it seemed she knew a lot of people, who clapped pretty loud. For a few moments I was afraid the skanky couple would win the contest.

Thankfully, the judge announced that this was a dancing competition, and the deserving couple was Anna & Parker. I was thrilled!!!! Anna absolutely deserved it! I was so proud :)

Today in the morning one of the girls who used to be in my rueda group emailed me congratulating me on the win...lol: I wonder how many people are going to think it was me dancing and not Anna :)

He's BACK!!!!!!!!!!

Remember last year I wrote about my love for Dancing with the Stars show? It is back!

And the best part? My favorite dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy is back this season. Love him! A lot :)

That's all I have to say for now...

Say What???

Monday at Lucky Bar one of the guys that I've been dancing on and off for years called me over to meet his friend. In way of introduction, he pointed at me and said "This is the girl I am going to marry if she gives me a chance." Seriously? This is the same guy, who a few years ago asked me if anyone was "doing me hard."

Do I hear wedding bells? No way.

Oldie but Goodie

Last night I went dancing at Z. I wore my cute black tiered spaghetti strap top, put on some glitter (I still have it from 7 years ago when Anna gave it to me for my bday), did my makeup, and sprayed myself with a bit of perfume.

I left my apartment at 8:15. Got there by 9. The minute I stepped inside, I knew it was not going to be a good night. There was hardly anyone there (again!). And the people who were there, were not the people I dance with. So I stood around, trying not to look pissy (which is hard even in the best of situations) and hoping that the 2 or 3 men that I typically dance with would ask me to dance. And they did, but I still only danced 7-10 songs for the entire hour!

The highlight was dancing with an 80 y.o. man I wrote about a while ago (therefore the title of this post). He was incredible! I am amazed he has so much energy at his age. But I was somewhat scared he'll have a heart attack from being so energetic and because my top was slightly low cut :) Not to worry, everyone has survived.

I left at 10 pm. Got home by 11 (there were delays on the Metro and TONS of people coming from the Nationals game). Such a disappointment. Maybe I should find something else to do with my Thursdays...

The random things that make me cry

Last night I went to see a free screening of The Year My Parents Went on Vacation. One of the lines in the movie struck a cord with me. It talked about a goalie on a soccer field, and how he is a solitary player who can't fail and is always expecting the worst. The line made me sad because I can absolutely relate to it.

This was a beautifully shot and acted movie that won many international awards. If you have a chance to see it, I would highly recommend it!

One of the big parts in the movie was the World Cup that took place in 1970 (soccer, obviously). All of a sudden, as I was sitting in the theater full of strangers, I realized that my dad was only 20 years old in 1970 and for some reason it made me incredibly sad and the tears began falling...and never stopped. At moments I thought I would not be able to breath. Once again, it's this bizarre combination of being in a public place and surrounded by strangers, that gives one a feeling of anonymity and allows emotions to completely flow. Still, you are not completely alone at moments like these.

I left the theater with mixed emotions: happy I saw the film, yet disturbed by the feelings it brought up in me. The only remedy for my "condition" was to go salsa dancing. Luckily GT was there: I can never not be in a great mood when dancing with him.

The good, the fruity, and the bad....

Yesterday I was looking forward to a night of dancing, but first, there was some cooking to be done, as I'm testing 4 recipes for Robyn Webb this week. Sunday, Paige and Cara came over for tilapia tacos. Last night I invited Anna and Wendy for salmon with fruit salsa. Afterwards, Anna and I were going to go salsa dancing.

The food was great: the mangoes and pineapple were perfectly ripe, and the salmon was tender and spicy! I combined the leftover salsa with rotisserie chicken, mayo and red pepper into a salad for today.

The company, needless to say, was also great.

What wasn't great was that St. Paddy's day completely messed up with my salsa dancing because Lucky Bar chose to cancel Monday salsa just this one time. Instead, Anna, Wendy and I watched Dancing with the Stars and then The Bachelor!

Age is not an issue!

Last night at Zanzibar, Flip Brown celebrated his 78th birthday. This is the 3rd year in a row I have witnessed his bigger than life personality. There was a birthday dance when all the women lined up and danced with a birthday "boy," but I never participate. At the end of the night Flip asked me to dance: I honestly felt honored! He's the oldest dance partner I've ever had and I don't think I have half the energy at my age this man has at his!

Here's a little about him:
James “Flip” Brown, a Zanzibar regular celebrates his 78th birthday Wednesday at Zanzibar. Flip got his nickname when he became an acrobat at age 12. He became part of the Flying Nesbitt’s acrobatic team at age 15 and later became a member of the International Clowns Basketball Team. He toured with the Fabulous Magicians Basketball Team. He has appeared on several national television shows including the Josephine Baker Show, the Sammy Davis Jr. Show, the Ed Sullivan Show and many more during his career. He performed with the Goose Tatum Show and Marques Haynes Show. Both were stars with the Harlem Globetrotters As a dancer he worked with the Cracker Jack Dancers and the James Brothers during his career.

Good bye, my darlings!

Tonight was the first time I went dancing at Zanzibar after quitting rueda practices. I was slightly apprehensive that my regular dancing partners might have forgotten me, but the night turned out just fine! Quite a few guys were happy to see me back and told me not to go away for such long periods of time. One even said he thought I eloped and gotten married (as if!).

Sadly, my salsa shoes did not make it to Zanzibar with me. They have served their time, and I now have to find a replacement. I've had the shoes for at least 3 years and they have traveled with me to Puerto Rico, Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle, Philadelphia and New York....great spins and great memories.


Maybe it's time I finally invest in real salsa shoes?

I Quit!

No, not my job.

After a long period of whining and complaining about how I no longer enjoy my rueda practice, I emailed the group and told them I can no longer commit. I so hope I don't regret this decision.

Moving on.

Need to find something else to occupy my time.

Abuse

Abuse

stepped on
kicked
shoved
pushed
hit on the head
ignored
and literally tripped
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that was my salsa night tonight
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and yet I come back
in hopes of twirls,
dips,
close embraces,
smiles,
and that rare feeling of flying
and attainable happiness

To Quit or Not To Quit

Just as I was about to quit rueda practice, I saw this video and it reminded me how much fun we have.

If only I wasn't as frustrated as I am. And I'm sorry for talking so much about it!

P.S. Thank you Jenny for identifying which pants I was wearing since I could not figure that out from the original video :)

Say What???

Here's a little background story: This summer I saw a really cool dancer at Zanzibar, but he danced completely differently from anyone else and I thought I wasn't cool enough to dance with him. Well, he asked, I said yes, but after he attempted to "drop" me on the floor, I was so scared of a) falling and breaking my neck b) breaking his back that I said "okay, this is enough."

Fast forward a few weeks...Anna came to visit me and danced with this guy a few times in Lucky Bar and then I also started dancing with him. It was still slightly scary, but my comfort level improved, and I began to look forward to dancing with him again.

Fast forward a few months: I think I have a crush on him.

Last night: I was at Lucky Bar and the guy was there and we danced and it was fun and then he said that he wanted to tell me something before I left for the night. Thoughts raced through my head. Was he going to ask me out? Ask for my number? What else could it be?

I danced my last dance for the night with the guy and told him I was leaving. He walked with me towards the door and said: "I have to tell you something." "Okay," I said. "I really, really like you, but there is one problem," he said. My mind began racing again...is he illegal? does he have children? What could it be??? "I'm married," he said.

WTF??? Why do I have crushes on unavailable men!? I could not really come up with anything to say, so I suggested he start wearing a wedding band.

Mini Dancing Video

Here is a mini short video from yesterday's practice. I'm dancing w/DeM in the background. Enjoy :)

P.S. I'm wearing my new awesome red necklace!

Watch me dance!

Hi, all.

Below is a video from Wednesday's practice with my rueda group. Let me know if you can see it. We tried this new move that I suggested we call Pisa (like the leaning tower of Pisa).

Triple Chocolate Threat

(I promise this is my last posting today)

Tomorrow my rueda group is going to have a mini holiday party before our practice. I decided to make chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and a little chocolate chip on top (I LOVE chocolate).

The first five
14 for the party
Stacey, this is yours

(the best part is that I somehow managed not to eat a single one just yet!)

Watch me Dance!!!

Last month I took my love of salsa dancing to a new level. With encouragement from DeM I joined a rueda group. What is rueda? Check out the full definition and history on Wikipedia, but basically, it is a salsa related dance. Couples form a circle and the leader calls out the moves, which every couple performs simultaneously. The male partners also move from one girl to another. To me, it's a combination of line dancing and synchronized swimming.

I was super nervous at my first practice because I never took formal dancing lessons (other than my one class in hip hop and 6 tango classes), and have never seriously considered joining a dancing group. To my relief, it was a blast! Fun music, really nice people, beautiful studio, and although many of the moves were new to me, I was able to keep up.

So far we've had 3 practices and I'm looking forward to more. There is a talk of us performing some time in Spring. I need to get my body ready for those costumes ;)

Take a look at this short video from last Saturday's practice (the video effect is actually in reverse!)

(Zuzu was missing)

Dancing with the Stars

I love Dancing with the Stars and haven't missed a single episode! Of course the fact that Maksim Chmerkovskiy is such a hottie doesn't hurt.

Coincidentally, the show is on Mondays, the night I go salsa dancing at Lucky Bar. It is at Lucky Bar that I often feel like a star. After 5 years of dancing, I'm pretty good (in fact, people often think I'm a Latina), but being good doesn't count unless I am dancing with someone who is either at my level or better.

This past Monday was one of those magical nights when I danced with four of my favorite dancers! I love dancing with different guys because each one has a different style, allowing me to learn new moves. One of them, I should have asked for his name, is just awesome! His moves are inventive, unpredictable, artistic and never boring. You can tell he dances from the heart and hasn't simply memorized a few moves taught in a class. When I dance with him, we are totally in sync and I feel like we are on a stage with everyone's eyes on us; I just wish someone could tape us dancing so that I could see what others see when they look at us dance.

When I dance with my favorite guys, especially when it's to the songs that I love, I feel like I'm flying! It's one of the best feelings ever.

Here's to more dancing!!!