The Little Yellow Dress

As some of you know I've been rehearsing the last month with my new performance group Soul Estilo (Soul Style). I've been loving it so far! Our instructor is really dedicated to the growth of the company and the development of its individual dancers.

Anyhow, this Thursday is the grand opening of our local salsa club...I mean it's the same club we always go to on Thursdays but it's slowly been developing into more of an exclusive salsa night where all the truly dedicated salsero's come to dance. As many of you know, in true "Salsa Snob" fashion, I don't really go dancing at the club on Friday's because it's more of a "clubbing" type atmosphere. So we are officially re-opening Thursday nights under a new name and new image! In honor of this special occasion my salsa group is performing our old routine in the infamous Little Yellow Dresses. Additionally we will be performing our new routine in none other than RED JUMPSUITS. Upon this notification I immediately had visions of ABBA flashing through my mind...


I haven't actually seen or tried on the red jumpsuit yet...so it should be interesting! Anyhow, for any of those in the local area, you should come, (11pm Thursday)...if for no other reason than to see the red jumpsuit! It should be quite the night.

Radom-ish

Yes, as the title implies this post is simply about random-ish. My itching desire to make a new post coupled with my inability to think of anything worthwhile to write about...leads me to outline some of the highlights of my week:

1. Wednesday night I attended "Ladies Night" at a local cycle shop with my roommate. I figured I might actually learn something considering my recent struggles with the bicycle pump. In addition to learning how to change a tire I was equally thrilled to receive a FREE multi-tool. That's right folks, the very first piece of cycling equipment I actually own!! I now have an array of different sized allen wrenches at my disposal for any tightening needs.

2. Thursday I completed my first 45mile bike ride! I have to admit I was pretty hammered by the time we got home and can't really imagine an additional 11 miles on the bike followed by a 13.1 mile run!! Needless to say I have a ways to go in my training. On another note, I was secretly THRILLED to get a flat tire about 20miles out into the ride. Okay, clarification...I was initially slightly panicked seeing as Ann and Steph were already a good 400+ yards in front of me. What if I couldn't successfully change the innertube??? How long till they noticed I was no longer sucking air a quarter mile behind them??? CRAP!!! Okay, remain calm...what was the first step the butch Trek representative gave us in changing a flat? Ah ha! I remember...move out of the road! Ha, ha...I'm happy to report Steph and Ann soon realized I was missing and with some help I managed to successfully change my first tire!!

3. My little sister (aka: Pea-Head, The Pea, The Turtle) was able to spend some time with me between semesters. She was a great sport in attending my usual "Salsa Thursdays", which I'm happy to report was definitely NOT a disappointment this week!

4. Friday, Pea-Head and I went out for a little hike. It was fun and conversation consisted of the usually "girl talk" that accompanies such outings. Just as I began to expound on the fact that the physical flaws in my butt may actually be stemming from the lack of a defined waist line, I had the pleasure of unexpectedly running into one of my professors from school!! Somehow I'm not surprised by this scenario...maybe someday I'll learn to have a little more public discretion.

5. Saturday me and Steph hosted a little "fun run" for our fellow running Guru's. It consisted of a little 6 mile run followed by a delicious pancake breakfast! If there's anything I get excited about besides, salsa, wake boarding, and more recently cycling...it's food! Thus I must report I made a delicious grilled portabello mushroom sandwich later that day from a recipe I found on-line.

All in all I'd say it was a pretty good week...except I wanted to go dancing Saturday night but ended up taking an extended nap from 8pm to midnight!!! Seriously, if you could have seen the disappointed look on my face when I woke up and looked at the clock at 11:56pm...you'd have been heart broken! Okay this really is the conclusion, and if you just read all this babble you are either:

a) a really good friend
b) my mom (yes, she has finally visited my blog)
c) very bored
d) a dedicated blog stalker

Well, whoever you are...thanks for reading.

Cycling Rite of Passage

Sorry it's been while since I've posted and the bloody toe keeps popping up at you every time you check my site. Personally I am quite thrilled every time I see the larger than life size bloody toe pop out at me...but apparently not everyone is equally excited about having that image burned into their retina's! Go figure??

In my haste to come up with a new blog topic I have decided to give you a run down of my afternoon ride. Today was the third day out on the road bike. Naturally with no major mishaps up to this point I was feeling pretty confident in my cycling skills. Thus, I volunteered to fly solo and brave the 5 minute ride to Steph's apartment by myself!

In preparation for my solo voyage and subsequent ride I decided to check my tire pressure and top off before I left my apartment. In my feeble attempts to inflate my tires a little more I miraculously managed to completely deflate both tires!! After a good twenty minutes of grunting and covering myself in bicycle grease I managed to fill the back tire but remained completely evaded by the front tire. By this point it was obvious I was not smarter than the bike pump and would need some help in discerning the problem.

Ultimately I had to confess to Steph my struggle with the bike pump and ask her to meet me at my place once again. In my defense, the inner tube had somehow developed a tear and thus all the air was escaping as quickly as it was being pumped into the tire. I then sat back and marveled as Stephanie changed that inner tube in what was quite literally two minutes tops!!! I'm pretty sure she could win some type of award for that!

Okay, so Steph, Ann, and I finally set out on our ride! It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and I figured the odds of having another cycling mishap the same day were pretty slim. Well folks, never underestimate my ability to defy the odds!! Probably ten blocks down the road my stupidity struck again! As I approached a red light I cautiously unclipped my left foot in plenty of time to stop and catch my balance. I'm pretty sure there was a strong gust of wind or something because after coming to a complete stop I somehow managed to lose my balance falling toward my right side. Not a problem except for the fact my right foot was clipped into the the peddle making it impossible to catch my fall and further more dragging the bike down on top of me.

Yet, despite the humiliation I was somewhat glad to get this "cycling rite of passage" out of the way. It's like being bucked off a horse for the first time, it's bound to happen sooner or later and I feel like I have less to fear once I get the first time out of the way. The rest of the ride went without a hitch...Steph kicked my butt as usually and I sucked air in my pitiful attempts to even keep her in eye's sight!

Okay, sorry that was a bit longer than anticipated but thanks for reading...here are some pictures.

This is me and Ann posing after the ride. I do wear a helmet riding but since you are all now keenly aware of my large head insecurities you can understand why I am not wearing my helmet in this picture. Neither am I wearing a lick of make-up, so please do not copy this image for blackmail purposes.

This next photo is of my battle wounds acquired from the fall. I know, it's pretty sissy looking, I'll try to crash harder next time I decide to fall.

The risks of salsa

I realize most of you will find this revolting...but I simply couldn't help myself. With all my races lately I've managed to bruise one of my toenails pretty good. Any of those who have experienced a black toenail know it can be pretty painful. Something as simple as putting on a sock exerts enough pressure on the nail to cause a slight wince of pain. Well, now imagine having that same toenail stepped on by some heifer's 3 inch salsa heel!! Here is the result:

To bad there wasn't a little more blood, that would really be sweet. I'm twisted I know, but I just think it's funny to see my french manicured toes in an elegant pair of gold salsa heels covered in blood! This actually happened to my big toe on the opposite foot last Thursday, (sorry, no pics available). That one had more blood, but the nail bed wasn't black underneath like this photo. On that note...enjoy your lunch :)

The ULTIMATE Vanity!

I recently had a conversation with one of my dear aunts, (whose identity will remain anonymous....So-J), in which I told her she was sufficiently hilarious and opinionated enough to join the blogging world (How thoughtful of me, I know). Her exact response was,

"A blog seems like the ultimate vanity--believing that people want to read my ramblings."

So with that established...yes, I am the ultimate exemplar of vanity and somewhat deranged to think people want to "read my ramblings". But this is not news to most of you, or myself...thus I will continues to pretend I have slew of dedicated blog stalkers who thrive on my weekly updates.

Okay the actual purpose of this post is slightly less exciting to most everyone but myself, and that is to update you on some recent highlights in my life. The picture below features Lizzy and I trying to strike a sexy salsa pose in our sweats before the start of the Moab Half Marathon last month.

I like to think we look pretty hot! Additionally, I thought it was the perfect lead in to my updates.

1. I ran the Moab Canyonlands Half Marathon last month. It was a little chilly this year and I didn't PR, but all in all I made it to the start on time and didn't have to stop for any unexpected pit stops...so it was a good run.

2. Me and my friend Steph have decided to do a Half Iron Man in June. That means a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. I've got the swimming and running down...the biking will definately take some work...which leads me to #3.

3. I went out on my first official road biking excursion this past week. My dear sweet visiting teacher let me borrow all her gear including bike, helmet, shoes, jacket, leg warmers...the whole nine yards. Which led me to the conclusion road cyclists are gear heads....meaning I think half of what they love about the sport is having lots of gear. Admittedly I felt pretty official and all the more like a poser as we set out on our first ride. Despite the fact my thighs were burning after mile 2 in my futile attempts to keep pace with Steph, I'm happy to report I successfully clipped in and out of my pedals without any major mishaps.

4. Okay, here's the big one...Unbeknownst to most of you, my salsa instructor has been running auditions within the dance company during the past week and a half to select members as part of a more advanced performance team. I just found out today that against all odds (quite honestly)...I somehow managed to make it!! Thus I'm now part of the Soul Estilo performance group!

Okay, it's officially 4am and my body hates me for running yet another half marathon this morning followed up by an hour of salsa rehearsal this afternoon and 3 hours of salsa at the club tonight! Good night.

Happy Anniversary!

I thought it was about time I made a salsa related post. After all, I am the guera salsera, which for those who don't know, it means the white salsa dancer. Which I might add has a few great perks and benefits in the Latin dance scene:

a) Latin men seem to love white girls. Well, they love girls in general...but especially white girls. Therefore you are pretty much guaranteed a dance on every song based off skin color alone.

b) People naturally assume you don't know a thing about Latin dancing if you're white. The complete lack of expectations makes it easier to impress.

c) You avoid having to carry on conversation while dancing if the guy you're dancing with only speaks Spanish.

I'm pretty sure there are some more...but we'll leave it at three for now. In other salsa related news February marked the 1 year anniversary of my very first introduction to salsa!! I realize this is very difficult for some of you to imagine...Crystelle without salsa!! Sad but true...what characterized my frail existence before this point in my life?? Shamefully I must say I was often spotted at the local seniors center getting my groove on with a little Country Swing! Rest assured I have amended my ways and have pretty much Salsa-ed my life away consistently at least 3-4 times/week since my inauguration.

Coincidentally, (and most appropriately timed), I performed at my very first salsa congress this past February with my salsa team. It was AWESOME to say the least. I never would have thought I'd be swooning over some type of Latin Emo with his shirt unbuttoned to his naval proudly showcasing his "bling" on top of his naturally hairless chest! (Luckily my mother is too busy to even glance at the nonsense I'm posting on my blog...but just in case...I'm kidding mom!) Anyhow, I found it only fitting to commemorate the entire occasion by buying myself a new pair of salsa heels. Which after 6 long awaited weeks finally just arrived!! Check them out: Mamacita!!! In case you need the specks on these beauties I will outline them for you:

-Women's size 7
-Black Satin
-2 1/2 inch heel
-suede soles
-very HOT!!

That concludes my very first salsa post. Hopefully you have found this post informative in one way or another. Additionally, if you have not yet cast your vote on my look-a-like survey below please read on...so far DJ Tanner is in the lead, but I still have high hopes for the Japanese animate #2