The Apple-Pip Princess

This afternoon I got to see my beautiful and talented niece Tashena dance in CDT's production of The Apple-Pip Princess at the Capitol Theatre.  The program is based on the well-known children's book by Jane Kay.  A King has three daughters who all choose a keepsake from their mother before she dies.  Suzanna, the oldest, chooses a pair of scarlet shoes because they make her feel tall and important.  Miranda chooses a mirror because it makes her feel beautiful.  Serenity, the youngest, chooses a plain wooden box full of seven treasures collected by her mother when she was a girl.  They include raindrops, sunlight, a fragment of a rainbow, a starbird's feather, a spider web, a nightingale's song, and an apple seed.  The kingdom becomes cold and barren after the Queen's death so the King decides to choose one of the princesses to take his place and tells them they have seven days and nights to do something to make him proud.  Suzanna decides to build a tower of wood to show how important she is.  Miranda decides to build a tower of metal to show how beautiful she is.  Serenity decides to plant the apple seed left by her mother and uses the treasures in the box to make it grow.  The King chooses Serenity to rule because she has brought the kingdom back to life with her apple tree.

Tashena's dance is called "Raindrops" and I thought it was amazing because all of the dancers are in a tight formation which actually looks like a cloud with raindrops falling.  Tashena doesn't really like it because it is difficult to distinguish her from the other dancers.  She also thinks her costume is "humiliating" because it is a tight silver bodysuit with a hood.

I thought the program was absolutely fantastic this year and, as always, I loved watching Tashena dance.

Tashena on stage in CDT's production of Alice Through The Looking-Glass in 2011.

Tashena at the CDT production of North Star in 2010.

Tashena on stage for North Star in 2010.

Tashena at CDT's production of Coming Home in 2009.  Her picture was selected to be on the program cover and she was selected to represent the current dancers on a banner showing the history of Virginia Tanner Dance!

Tashena on stage for Coming Home in 2009.

We are so proud of her!

Nutty Ballet Slippers

My niece Tashena will be performing with Children's Dance Theatre this weekend at Capitol Theatre.  CDT is a prestigious performing group under the auspices of Virginia Tanner Dance at the University of Utah and I am very proud of Tashena!  I may be slighly biased but I think performing at Capitol Theatre is a pretty big deal!  Prima ballerinas dance on that stage.  Broadway stars dance on that stage.  Tashena dances on that stage!

I believe that Tashena deserves a treat for all of her hard work and I just about went into hysterics when I saw these cookies here.  You know my love of dunking Nutter Butter cookies into melted chocolate is second only to my love of gluing candy to styrofoam!  Simply microwave some pink Wilton candy melts for 30 second intervals until completely melted.  Then dunk the Nutter Butter cookies in the chocolate using tongs and place on waxed paper.  Put them in the freezer for a few minutes.  You can use a small paring knife to remove any drips (a trick I just learned).  Then take some white frosting in a tube and pipe on the inside of the slipper.  I put them back in the freezer for a few minutes before I piped on the bows.

Pretty cute!  Give these a try if you have any ballerinas in your life!

Note:  Go here for more information about CDT's upcoming performance at Capitol Theatre!

Linking here.

A Suitable Husband

For the month of March my book club chose the wonderfully satirical Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford.  After living in India for many years, Lord and Lady Montdore bring their daughter Polly home to England so she can participate in the London Season and thereby find a suitable husband.  But things go awry when Polly shows no interest in romance and things take a decided turn for the worse when she decides to marry Boy Dougdale, her mother's acknowledged lover.  The story is narrated by Fanny, a distant cousin, who avidly follows the foibles of her aristocratic and eccentric family.  Mitford, who was herself a member of the British aristocracy, reminds me of a 20th century Jane Austen who uses wit and snappy dialogue to poke fun at high society.  Love in a Cold Climate is definitely more character-driven than plot-driven, but when you have such perfectly lovely, snobby, scandalous, and frivolous characters it hardly matters!  I do think the book ends very abruptly but, overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it.

Note:  I enjoyed it so much that I am planning to read The Pursuit of Love, which is the first book in the trilogy, and Don't Tell Alfred, which is the final book.

Bird Seed Wreath

I absolutely love waking up to the sound of birds chirping outside my bedroom window!  It is a sure sign that spring is here.  I don't know about you but I have a serious case of spring fever and all I want to do is sit outside on my deck.  I enjoy the birds so much that I have thought about buying some bird houses for them but then I found the idea for making an outdoor wreath out of wild bird seed here.  I had all of the ingredients except the bird seed (which I found at my grocery store) so I decided to make one.

To make a wreath you will need:

1/2 cup warm water

1 envelope Knox gelatin

3/4 cup flour

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

4 cups wild bird seed

Spray a bundt pan with some nonstick spray.  In a large bowl dissolve the gelatin in the warm water.  Wisk in the flour and corn syrup.  Add the bird seed mixing with a wooden spoon until it is well coated.  Pour into the prepared bundt pan.  Wet your fingers and press the mixture into the pan.  Let dry overnight.  Once completely hardened overnight it will come right out of the pan easily.  I added a burlap ribbon (which I got at Walmart) around the wreath and hung it out on my deck.

Definitely give this wreath a try.  I have already seen quite a few birds hanging around!

Speak The Speech Trippingly

Tonight I went to PTC's hilarious production of Laughing Stock.  It is a delightful homage to any actor who has had to pay dues by performing in summer-stock theatre.  Gordon Page, artistic director of The Playhouse, must somehow get through the summer with a group of misfit actors performing three plays in repertory.  In Act One we see the company rehearsing Charley's Aunt which is being directed by Susannah, a friend of the theatre's biggest benefactor.  She decides to emphasize the lead character's nonexistent gender identity conflict and has the actors improvise a scene as wild animals at a watering hole in Africa.  In Act Two we see the company perform Dracula with erratic sound and light cues, an actor who can't remember his lines, and an over-the-top performance by the method actor who wants to "morph" into Dracula.  Finally we see backstage at a performance of Hamlet where Yorick's skull has been misplaced and the self-important actor playing Claudius tries to upstage Hamlet.  The script, written by PTC's artistic director Charles Morey, is incredibly funny, the ensemble cast is superb, and the set, meant to replicate an old barn turned into a theatre, is charming.  I definitely recommend this play for a fun night of theatre.

Note:  This may be my favorite title for a blog post ever!  Do you get it?

Monday Motivator

"You never lose by loving.  You always lose by holding back."

- Barbara De Angelis

Behind The Mask

Last week I was able to take some of my AVID students to see the musical Zorro at Hale Centre Theatre.  When I saw this production several weeks ago I predicted that my students would absolutely love it!  They did!

I loved this production so much that I was actually really excited to have a chance to see it again (I think it is completely sold out) and I got to see the other cast which was a bonus.  When I talked to the students about signing up for this field trip I told them about the incredible flamenco dancing, the amazing swordfights, and the exciting story.  Some of them have been coming to my classsroom for days telling me how excited they were to see it.  I started to worry that it wouldn't live up to all of the hype and they wouldn't like it as much as I did!  I needn't have worried because they absolutely loved it too!

The girls in front of me told me that they liked the play last year but they loved this show!  Just about every student told me how much they liked it and thanked me for bringing them.  That made me feel so good!

Sometimes schools on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley, like Hunter High, get a bad reputation because they have a lower socioeconomic status than schools on the east side.  The students sitting around us displayed appalling behavior while my students behaved with the utmost decorum.  I was so incredibly proud to be a teacher at Hunter High School and I would take these students anywhere!

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 3

It has been more than a month since I took in a concert by the Utah Symphony!  I actually didn't have any concerts scheduled for March but when I noticed that Rachmaninoff would be on the program this weekend I had to get a ticket.  I love me some Rachmaninoff!  The concert began with the Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg by Richard Wagner and continued with Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations.  Both were absolutely lovely.  But the main event happened after the intermission: Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3.  While it is not as well known or performed as often as his Piano Concerto No. 2, I think this piece is absolutely amazing!  There are sections which are incredibly dramatic and powerful and then there are sections which are beautiful and romantic!  It is considered to be one of the most technically challenging piano concertos in the classical repertoire and the soloist, Stephen Hough, played it magnificently!  So much so that the final notes where still reverberating through Abravanel Hall when the entire audience jumped up for a standing ovation that did not abate until he performed an encore!  It was an incredible performance and I really enjoyed it.

Jazz vs. Nuggets

If you are a sports fan there is nothing better than watching every member of your favorite team play extremely well to score a decisive victory.  Unless, of course, you are watching your favorite team do the above against a most hated division rival!  If that is the case, as it was tonight when the Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 121-102, your joy knows no bounds!  I always eagerly anticipate and simultaneously dread any meeting between these two teams and tonight was especially fun.  The match-up was pretty even during the first half of the game with the teams trading baskets until the final minutes of the second quarter.  Then the Jazz went on a 20-4 run, including two three-pointers from Devin Harris, to take a 63-55 lead into halftime.  Then the Nuggets completely fell apart in the third quarter.  They missed eight baskets in a row and let the Jazz have their way with them.  To make matters worse, Arron Afflalo was ejected from the game for a flagrant foul against Gordon Hayward at the end of the third quarter.  The Nuggets did tighten up a bit in the fourth quarter but it was too little too late.  All five Jazz starters ended the night in double digits with Gordon Hayward, the birthday boy, scoring 15 points.  The bench also made a significant contribution led by Alec Burks, my favorite, who also scored 15 points.  It was not only a great game for the fans but it was the sixth straight victory for the Jazz which moved them into seventh place in the Western Conference standings!

May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

I absolutely love The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins!  I read it on a plane to San Diego three years ago and was completely riveted by the story.  To say that I have been looking forward to the movie would be an understatement!  I just got home from the midnight screening and I was completely blown away!  To be honest with you I really disagreed with some of the casting decisions, especially Lenny Kravitz as Cinna.  However, now that I have seen the movie, I feel that the casting is spot-on.  I loved Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, the girl who volunteers to be the tribute for her district in the annual Hunger Games competition to save her sister.  I think she displays both vulnerability and steely determination in the role.  I also loved Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, the other tribute from District 12.  He is completely endearing and the scenes showing the developing relationship between Peeta and Katniss are fantastic!  I had my doubts about Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, the mentor to the tributes from District 12, but he carries it off in my opinion.  At first I really didn't like Kravitz's portrayal as Cinna, the stylist for the District 12 tributes, because I was expecting someone more metrosexual.  But he definitely grew on me!  Stanley Tucci is brilliant as Caesar, Donald Sutherland is suitably icky as President Snow, and Elizabeth Banks is hilarious as Effie!  The movie is amazing!  So many scenes are even better than I imagined in my mind, especially the Tributes' Parade with the costumes of fire and the launching of the tributes into the arena.  I was fascinated with how the filmmakers portrayed the manipulation of the game.  Great digital effects!  The scene where Rue, one of the other tributes, dies was one of the hardest for me to read in the book and I had lots of tears during this scene in the movie, especially when Katniss salutes District 11.  Midnight screenings are always a lot of fun and the audience seemed to be very enthusiastic, cheering and applauding many times!  Overall, I was very pleased with the adaptation of this amazing novel and I highly recommend it!

Be Our Guest

Tonight I was able to go to Beauty and the Beast at the Capitol Theatre and, even though I have seen this musical several times, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  The story of learning to see the good inside people, the delightful characters, and the enchanting song and dance numbers make this a popular musical for children and there were many in the audience tonight!  I love how the costumes really bring the cartoon characters to life, especially Lumierre with candles instead of arms and Gaston with all of his muscles!  I always really enjoy the song "Gaston" because it is so over-the-top and the song "Be Our Guest," with all of the dancing dishes and silverware, is always a lot of fun.  Every time I see this show I am always so thrilled when the Beast is magically transformed into the handsome prince.  I can never figure out how they do it!   It is a great production full of extremely talented performers and I recommend it for a magical evening.

Jazz vs. Thunder

Wow!  Another fun and exciting game at the ESA tonight!  This time the opponent was the Oklahoma City Thunder.  Kevin Durant and company have been known to give the Jazz a fair amount of trouble but they were no trouble tonight!  I was really impressed with Jamaal Tinsley who scored nine points in nine minutes to give the Jazz the lead in the second quarter, a lead they would never relinquish for the remainder of the game.  The Thunder did come within one point late in the fourth quarter but Paul Millsap took care of that with an incredible slam dunk, ending the night with 20 points.  Al Jefferson returned to the lineup to score 16,  Devin Harris had an impressive 15 points, and Gordon Hayward had a fabulous three-pointer giving him a total of 11 points.  Once again the crowd was completely out of control and they went into hysterics when Jamaal Tinsley dribbled the ball through Nazr Mohammad's legs to get a basket in the fourth quarter!  It was so much fun to watch the Jazz (finally) beat the number one team in the Western Conference 97-90.

Note:  This was the fourth win in a row for Utah and their sixth straight win at home!  Go Jazz!

Monday Motivator

"When you change the way you look at things the things you look at change."

- Wayne Dyer

Leprechaun Cookies

Here is one more quick and easy treat for St. Patrick's Day.  I found these adorable leprechaun cookies here and just couldn't resist them!

They are made from golden Oreo cakesters, gummi peach rings, gummi fruit slices, and a bit of frosting from a tube.  Unwrap the Oreo cakesters, place them on a plate, and then place in the freezer for about ten minutes.  This will make them easier to work with.  While the cakesters are in the freezer make the hat and beard.  For the hat, cut a green fruit slice in half vertically and use your fingers to roll one of the pieces into a narrow strip.  Then place it below the other piece.  The fruit slices are really pliable and easy to work with.  For the beard, make one cut in the peach ring to open it up.  Cut a few slits on the inside of the ring so it will stay open and lay flat.  Attach the hat and beard to the cakesters using some vanilla frosting from a tube.  Just hold the candy down until it stays put.  Then use some chocolate frosting to make some faces.

Give these a try!  The kiddos will love them!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Note:  Do you have any fun plans for tonight?  I will be chaperoning the prom!  The junior class officers caught me in a weak moment when my judgment was somewhat impaired by cold medicine!

Shamrock Cupcakes

I like to make cupcakes to celebrate holidays so when I found these shamrock cupcakes here I knew I wanted to try them.

Bake some cupcakes and allow them to cool completely.  Then make some of your favorite buttercream frosting, tint it green with some food coloring, and frost your cupcakes.  You can make the shamrocks while the cupcakes are cooling.  For each shamrock place three yogurt covered pretzels with the pointed sides together on waxed paper.  Use a broken pretzel for the stem.  Microwave some white chocolate for 30 second intervals until melted.  With a spoon pour some of the melted chocolate in the middle of the pretzels to join them together.  Place in the freezer for about ten minutes to harden up.  Then take some green frosting in a tube and outline each shamrock.  Place a shamrock on each cupcake.

Give these a try or go here to see the shamrock cupcakes I made last year using green gum drops.

Jazz vs. Timberwolves

Tonight's contest between the Utah Jazz and the Minnesota Timberwolves was a really fun and exciting game and it took an overtime to decide the outcome!  I haven't been to a Jazz game for quite a while (and I haven't really been out of the house for quite a while because of a nasty cold) so I was really looking forward to cheering at the ESA tonight (albeit in a much softer voice than usual).  The Jazz gave me a lot to cheer about.  First of all Gordon Hayward played like a madman scoring 26 points, 18 of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime.  He had a few three-pointers and an exciting dunk in overtime!  Speaking of three-pointers, it seemed like Devin Harris was hitting them all night!  He ended the night with 18 points which is the most I have ever seen him score at the ESA.  Paul Millsap scored 16 points and provided the most drama of the evening.  During the final 3 seconds of the game he went for a layup which would have put the Jazz ahead (a brilliant play in my opinion) but the ball rimmed out sending the game to overtime.  Millsap continued the excitement by stealing the ball not once but twice in the final minute of overtime allowing the Jazz to solidify their lead.  Finally, I was thrilled to see my favorite player, Alec Burks, get some significant playing time tonight and score 15 points.  The crowd was in an absolute frenzy (including the cutest little old man in front of me who was giving everyone high fives) by the time final buzzer sounded giving the Jazz a 111-105 victory.

Leprechaun Hat Favors

Here is another fun favor or treat that you can make to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!  These little leprechaun hats are made of the extra small Ziploc plastic bowls which come in a pack of four from the grocery store!

Paint the outside of the bowl and both sides of the lid with some green acrylic paint.  Let them dry completely and then add another coat.  Once the bowls are completely dry fill them with some candy (I used Rolos because I wanted it to look like gold) and place the lids on them.  Turn the bowls upside down, glue some black ribbon around the "brim," and glue a "buckle" made out of some yellow felt on the ribbon.  They are easy to make and the plastic bowls are fairly inexpensive if you are making them for a group of kids.

I found the original idea here.  Give them a try!

St. Patrick's Day Rainbows

Do you need a cute little favor or treat for St. Patrick's Day?  It really doesn't get any easier than these adorable St. Patrick's Day rainbows found here.  All you need are some cellophane bags, a bag of rainbow Twizzlers, a bag of Rolos, and some green ribbon.

Lay your cello bags flat and place a few of the Rolos in the bottom.  Take a purple Twizzler, bend it in the shape of an arch, (they are extremely pliable) and place in the bag above the Rolos.  Continue with the rest of the Twizzlers in a rainbow pattern (blue, green, yellow, orange, and red).  Then tie the bags with green ribbon.  Quick and easy!  The best part is that each bag of rainbow Twizzlers has the exact same number of each color!

Definitely give these a try.  They were a hit with my Dad!

Monday Motivator

May you always have work for your hands to do.

May your pockets hold always a coin or two.

May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.

May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.

May the hand of a friend always be near you.

And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

- Old Irish Blessing

Monday Motivator

"Every single person who's drifted in and out of your life is part of your divinely chosen experience.  So, give thanks for all of these people and take serious note of what they brought you."

- Wayne Dyer

Nothin' But A Good Time

Tonight I went to see the musical Rock of Ages at Kingsbury Hall and I cannot even begin to describe how much I loved it!  I have been looking forward to it since last summer when many of the songs were performed at the Utah Symphony Broadway Rocks concert.  After I heard all of the 1980s arena rock songs that are in this show I knew I had to see it!  Can a show based on the music of Journey, Bon Jovi, and Foreigner be anything but awesome?  The story takes place in a club on the Sunset Strip called the Bourbon Room run by a former rock star named Dennis whose band once opened for the Alan Parsons Project.  The janitor, Drew (born and raised in South Detroit), wants to be a rock star and one of the waitresses, Sherrie (she took a midnight train going anywhere), wants to be a Hollywood star.  A rich developer wants to tear down the Bourbon Room to make way for trendy box stores so Dennis decides to ask the band Arsenal, featuring lead singer Stacee Jaxx (wanted dead or alive), to perform their farewell concert there to give the club some publicity.  Will the Bourbon Room survive?  Will Drew and Sherrie get together?  Will Stacee Jaxx have a successful solo career?  This show is so much fun to watch with lots of great songs like "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," "I Want To Know What Love Is," "Waiting For A Girl Like You," "Keep On Lovin' You," "Here I Go Again," and the feel good finale "Don't Stop Believin'."  I must admit that I was singing out loud during "Sister Christian," which was one of my very favorite songs back in high school!  I recommend seeing this show if you ever have the chance!

Note:  I absolutely cannot wait to see Tom Cruise play Stacee Jaxx in the movie.  It is going to be hilarious!