Christmas

Hope you all had as wonderfull of a Christmas Holiday as I did!





Christmas may be over but Nutcracker is still going strong. Check out the NY Times Slideshow

On my window sill...

are my beautiful Ikea tins filled with yummy home made treats and my gorgeous Birthday Tulips from Katie!




I hope you are all having fun, staying warm and traveling safely over these next few days!

Nutz of Yore..

Speaking of my Nutcracker days of yore...

Nutcracker Sweets

Check out this treasure trove of information on ABT's new production of The Nutcracker! There are lots of behind the scenes peeks and interviews. We start tech. rehearsals next week and now I'm even more excited than I already was! I think the last Nutcracker I worked on was at NCSA in 1996 dancing as a party child. Come to think of it, a few of the ABT company members were with me there, too. Small world.

Rockettes Open Audition

Every time I go to Esprit I walk by Radio City. Do you ever wonder whats going on in there during the day?

Its beginning to look...

a lot like Christmas! Im gathering my new Holiday decor:



Gold Star
Star Dish
Lantern
All Ornaments

Chritmas Craft Idea

Paper covered ornament:

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paper ideas: poetry, sheet music, vintage childrens books illustrations

Looking Forward...

November is slow for me as far as the Opera goes. This job is unique in the fact that you are hired for specific Operas, and the performances of those specific Operas are spread out over weeks, even months. Neither Boris nor La Boheme have performances right now. La Bo has four shows in December, then I pick up Tosca in January, Nixon in February as well as La Bo again, and then Boris resumes in March with my final show being Tosca April 16th- then ABT's season begins one month later.

In the mean time Im selling away at Esprit and looking forward to a short run of ABT's new production of The Nutcracker at B.A.M. This means I will be spending my first Christmas in New York! My parents and sister will be joining me up here for the Holiday and I think it will be a really fun and unique experience to celebrate in the City! Now I have a real excuse to buy and decorate a tree!

Christmas Crafts...

I want to make these felt ornaments!

Highlights of Christmas Week

I'm back in the city after a fabulous week with my family! So many people were utterly shocked that Eric and I didn't spend our first married Christmas together.

Example: They: "Hey Marissa! Where's Eric?" Me: "Oh, he's at home with his family." Them: "What! Why?".

I guess I can understand it, but it didn't seem the slightest bit weird to us. We've never spent a Christmas together. We dont buy each other presents. We both value our family time sooooo much that neither one of us can even fathom the idea of not being with them at Christmas. Also, because our respective parental units live so far apart from each other, we could never split the time between them. Thus, we were apart our first married Christmas. We both agreed that until we have a child, and Christmas becomes about them, we'll continue to go our separate ways for the Holiday. Sure I missed him, but I see him almost everyday! I only see the fam. maybe twice a year!! It was a wonderful holiday full of love, and my hubs was only a phone call away.

Highlights of Christmas Week:

1. Watching Bry dance.

2. Margaritas at La Caretta with my girls!

3. Sausage Gravy Biscuits.

4. Getting my family hooked on Lost

5. My new iPod and One Yard Wonders.

Hope you had a fabulous Holiday as well!


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Nutz in Richmond

Happy Holidays friends! Im here in Richmond, VA to see my sis do her thang as a snowflake/ flower in The Nutcracker!. I hope you all get to where you're going safely, and get to spend time with friends and family. Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone had a very happy holiday! I got to go down to NC for a few days and spend Christmas with my family. It was such a great trip!





My favorite gift?



The Thomas Paul Kabuki tote from my wish list! I was a little more excited about it than I expected. I just love it so much!

Stocking Stuffers!

Stocking Stuffers I love for (around) $5.00


$5.00 Stocking Stuffers by Costume Diva

Clockwise from left:
Lavender Hand Therapy Cream from Crabtree and Evelyn = $7.00
Lindt Lindor Truffles (dark chocolate is my fave) = about $.50 individually
Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Rhubarb = $5.00
Honey Vanilla Chamomile Tea from Celestial Seasonings = $2.99
Joann Fabric Gift Card = any amount you want!
Floral Nail Buffer from The Body Shop = $4.00

I took the challenge presented on Creature Comforts: to make a style board for an outfit that goes from Christmas dinner to New Years Eve.

Christmas to New Years by Costume Diva
This site polyvore.com is pretty awesome to make inspiration boards on!

Christmas Craft!

I found this super cute and easy Christmas Tree craft project on TheSmallObject.com via the awesome blog How About Orange. I decided to try it out and.... I LOVE the result! Here are the steps if you want to make your own!

First I made patterns. 4 semi circles at 10", 8", 6" and 4". The Small Object has a pattern you can print out- http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesmallobject/2065152899/


Then I used iron-on interfacing on the underside to give the fabric some weight and reduce fraying.


Next I used a zig-zag stitch all the way around each semi-circle.


Then with a glue gun- I glued each semi-circle into a cone, overlapping about 1" on the bottom.


Finally, I stacked the cones and secured each one with a dot of glue at the point.


Voila!