Sunday Salon: Summer!

Wow, I haven't posted a Sunday Salon since Spring break at the beginning of April! That just shows how busy my life has been for the past few months.

My life in books: 

My reading has definitely slowed down over the past year as I've gone from reading three to four books a week to reading about one book a week. Again, a sign of how busy life has gotten. But, it's okay actually. I am feeling less pressured by reading and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that in the fall I left both of my book groups. That was a really tough decision, but now I only read the books I want to read, not books others have picked out for me. I am also not doing reviews for publishers or authors, which has helped contribute to me choosing my reading materials.

This summer I've only read YA so far, which feels perfect. It helps with my job of suggesting books for students and it means the reads are easy for summer. However, I've got a shelf and a half of adult books that beckon to me each day so I may have to read a couple of them this summer as well.

What's going on in my life:

The end of the school year seemed to fly by with weeding the library collection and moving the books so that we only use the main room (we have a horrible back room where students love to hang out and cause mischief so we're trying to empty it out). I am going to finish that job today and it is going to feel SO GOOD!

April through June was also really busy with my daughter's dance. There were competitions with solos and group dances and then tons of extra rehearsals for the end of the year show in late June. It is all really fun, especially since I really enjoy spending time watching her dance and hanging out with the other moms.

The last week in June we rented a house in Hollywood with another mom and daughter while the girls attended a hip hop intensive at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. We moms spent our days driving around Los Angeles (everything takes so long to get to there!), getting food for the girls, running errands, and near the end, shopping for costumes. The week culminated in a fantastic dance show! Not only did my daughter love the classes she took all week, but she was invited to be a part of Lil Beasts (shows above with the Choreographer/Director, Willdabeast), a dance crew that makes videos and performs at awards shows, etc. Nothing has happened with it yet, but she is super excited.

The first week in July we headed to Las Vegas for the PULSE dance convention, our favorite of all the ones we go to. The teachers/choreographers are incredible (most do work on So You Think You Can Dance as well as choreographing for Beyonce, Lady Gaga, the Jacksons, and more), the people are fun, and I just love watching the amazing dancing. It turned into a very successful week for my daughter:

• The group piece she performed in won Choreographer's Pick so they get to perform it again in November
• She earned the highest scholarship and is now a Protege (special status, free conventions for a year, special clothing, gets to work closely with the choreographers, etc)
• She was signed by an agent (Clear Talent Group, the best in the business for dance!) for dance and commercials.

I have no idea how this will all affect our lives, but I am sure it's going to be a wild ride! It's funny, she cut her hair short and all this amazing stuff has happened since. I swear the haircut has made a huge difference!

Next Sunday we're off to New York City for another version of the PULSE dance convention. She is performing in another group piece, we're seeing Wicked, and doing lots of other fun NYC things!