Ballet and Blouses

Phew, have I been busy! Today is my first day off in 2 weeks. The Opera ended May 14th and load- in for ABT was May 15th. I LOVE working with ABT. The Company and Crew are great people and for the most part I cant believe I get paid to dress Ballerinas and watch from the wings every night.

Also, in my spare minutes I made a shirt for my dear friend Katie G. We went to college together and worked at American Girl Theatre together too. She is going to be a bridesmaid in a friends wedding this weekend, but Katie prefers to wear mens clothing and asked if I would make her a shirt in the same color as the bridesmaids dresses. I love to help a sista' out so I said Yes! and we went to work. First we ordered a swatch of "Matisse Blue" fabric from J. Crew and I did some hunting to find a matching fabric. It turned out to be a bit of a challenge to match the color but we decided on a beautiful silk dupioni for only $10 a yard! Sweet.



We used McCall's Pattern 4079. First I made a muslin and we had a fitting. Good thing, too, because it needed a lot of adjustment. The main problem I think was that the shirt pattern was meant to be worn a bit slouchy and oversized, but we wanted a more tailored fit. Sooooo, I adjusted the armcye, made an FBA dart and shortened the arm length, too.



I think it turned out really nicely. Oh, also I had the button holes done at Johnathan's Embroidery. It took 5 mins and cost $5 to have 10 small holes done. It is sooo worth it to save you time and end up with beautiful, professional button holes.



I handed it off to Katie today and it looked great on her! I'll update with pictures from the wedding next week!

***UPDATE***
There she is on the far right! The color was perfect!

How Glad I Am...

to have all of you in my life! I hope this song makes you feel glad too!

Today is my 28th Birthday!

I have the feeling its going to be a very good year.



This is a video of maybe my 9th or 10th birthday. Im opening presents from my friends Emily and Sarah. After this they are coming to see me perform in the Nutcracker, then spend the night, as went many a happy birthday growing up. My main concern continues to be "when are we gonna eat?"

One Year Anniversary!

I cant believe how this year has flown by! The past twelve months have been full of so much love, and not just between E and I, but from our family and friends as well. Thank you to everyone in our lives who support us and help us be the people we are. I am such a lucky gal!



"I promise to be your constant friend and faithful partner. I accept you entirely for who you are, and I promise to love you unconditionally, in sickness or in health, whether we are wealthy or in need. I promise to always encourage and inspire your creativity. I will celebrate your strengths and learn from your weaknesses. I promise to laugh and dance with you down every road our lives will lead us. I will love you for as long as we both shall live, and even after that. We are one heart, from now throughout eternity. I love you."

Pass-the-baby!

A few nights ago Tricia, Alayna, Julie and I enjoyed a lovely sunset picnic and a little game of pass-the-baby in Astoria Park!

The Rescignos

Hey guys! Super excited to see The Rescigonos at the Duplex tonight! They are my dear friend Tricia's twin brothers and their Cabaret show is hilarious! Check out the funny:

What happens in Buffalo...

Phew, am I pooped! Just got back last night from a fabulous weekend in Rochester/ Buffalo for my sis-in-law Chandra's Bridal Shower/ Bachelorette party!



The shower was beautifully arranged by our sis-in-law Lauren and Chan's Maid of Honor Stephanie. The food was amazing and the games, favors and company were so much fun.




Look how big the babies are getting!

After the shower we headed to Buffalo for Gay Bingo! Hosted by drag queens, this is not your grandmother's bingo!


A Drag Queen explains the rules to us.

Different letter/number calls evoke a specific chant such as Caller: "B 10" Players: "inches, from the floor!". Also, whenever someone got Bingo the Caller counted to three and the players all pointed to the winner and yelled "BITCH!" It was so funny!


Aunt Judy won the first bingo!



Then all the girls checked into a hotel and got ready for a night on the town! We danced the night away till about 4 am! Yeah, I cant remember the last time I was at a night club let alone till 4 am, but we had a great time.



It was so much fun to celebrate with Chandra and get to know all her girlfriends! Now I'm looking forward to the wedding even more.

Weekend Visit

Loved having my girlfriend Tara in NYC this weekend!

Race for the Cure

My bloggie friend Erin is joining the Race for the Cure. Please help her reach her goal as she runs to honor her awesome MIL Debbie and to help end Breast Cancer.

A good Friday

I had a lovely day Friday with Tricia and her darling little Alayna May.



What can be better than chatting with your girlfriend while watching Curb Your Enthusiasm, eating pizza and cuddling that adorable baby??

Happy Birthday EP!

Today was Eric's 27th birthday and I still can't believe these were the seventh birthdays we've celebrated together. For breakfast I made whole- wheat Cinnamon Pancakes. Yummy!



Then our friends Sam, Vanessa and Nick came over for dinner- BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches and Mac n' Cheese. For dessert... Pumpkin Spice cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting!



EP likes!

My moves...

Goin to the Derby Diva's hotel party, in my new tunic, with my favorite pregnant lady. It's gonna be CRAZY y'all!! I may have to pull out my moves...

Im excited!

Things I'm excited about:

1. Lost tonight.



2. FreeAmy Butler patterns.



3. Surly's birthday on Friday.

Showered with Love

I had such a fabulous time at Tricia's baby shower this weekend! It was so fun meeting all of her family and friends. I was made to feel very welcome. Oh boy, did this girl clean up! She got so many amazing gifts for little "Sweet P".



I was so pleased that my special gift was well received. I wanted to give something personal so I hand painted these four little onesies.


My favorite is the green sweet pea pod with pink bow. You can check out individual pic's on my Flickr feed.



Oh, by the way, they're calling her "Sweet P" for now because they are keeping her real name a secret until she is born. Cant wait to meet the little lady in just a few weeks!

Sweet P

Hey guys! meet my friend Tricia!



We met at American Girl and she is super awesome! She is also super preggers! Her little "Sweet P" is due March 10th, and I couldn't be more excited! She is my first NY friend to have a baby, and she only lives about 4 blocks from me, so I can visit whenever I want! Right Tricia?

Anywho, I am so excited to be traveling down to Delaware tomorrow for her baby shower! I cant wait to celebrate, meet her family and have an out-of-city sleep over. I'll give you the full scoop on Sunday when I return. Here is a sneak peak of my gift.



Happy weekend!

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!


source

Goodbye Mamma Mare

Sadly, Mary Ellen Pernice lost her battle with cancer this week. She was a beautiful women, inside and out, and she will be greatly missed. I'm headed to New Jersey this weekend for the funeral. Please hold us all in your hearts.

Taniya

I want to be friend with Taniya Nayak from Designed to Sell. Im pretty sure we would get a long great. Plus, Im positive she has a thing with the red headed carpenter Lynn. We all know how I feel about redheads!



K, just admittedly spent about 30 minutes reading her blog and she is happily married, but not to Lynn. Oh well. Still love her.

Send Love

My dear friend Krista and her family need your thoughts and prayers. Her Mom is currently battling cancer for the third time. She is fighting hard but needs our help. She is such a generous, loving and beautiful person who means very much to me and so many others. Please send as much love as you can spare their way. Thank you.

Kathleen is Legally Blonde!

Listen to my girl Kathleen as Elle in the National Tour of Legally Blonde!



Miss you girl!