I Heart That! Dance: The Blog

The Ginger Diaries: Let's hear it for the Senior Ladies

2010-12-28T20:09:00.020-05:00

Well, Oireachtas season has come and gone and I'm now enjoying the brief lull that we experience in the Irish Dance World... the month of December :)

Over my long weekend, I had the chance to must about my Irish Dance adventure over the past 15 years and I have an urge to wax poetic about a topic near to my heart.

As a Senior Lady, I look forward to competitions (whether a local feis, the Oireachtas, or the Worlds) to visit and enjoy the company of my friends all over the world. What I find remarkable, is how amazing the Senior Ladies competition actually is.

Posing at the 2010 North American Championships

Senior Ladies are so much more than just dancers and competitors. Some of my closest friends are studying to be physicians, volunteer in third world countries, have their own photography business while working full time, are interns at major corporations, school teachers, etc etc, etc ;)

It can be extremely hard to balance a "full time" career or interest and then try to find time to practice and attend class, sometimes hours away from where we live. We dance because we truly love it and can't imagine our lives without it.

I find that in my "advanced Irish Dance age" that it's hard to keep up with the "youngins" with loads of energy at class. I'm the dancer sticking my head out the nearest window or door in the dance hall in trying to suck in some cold air while clutching my inhaler until I hear "Colleen! Let's go, you're up next".

I found this picture in my Twitter pics before the Oireachtas: worn out after a lot of dancing at class!

I should own stock in Icy Hot, Biofreeze, ankle wraps, and epsom salts (one of my TC's favorite remedies)

I have to mention that nothing is more satisfying than when I leave dance class, covered in sweat, and feel like I really mastered a step or a move that was giving me issues. It's another reason why I love dancing; it is so satisfying to watch hard work pay off.

I know my time left in Irish Dancing is short. The time and dedication required that are necessary to dance at a competitive level is huge. At the end of a long work day, the last thing I want to do is practice by myself for another two hours a few nights a week, but once I put on my shoes and turn on the music, nothing else matters. For a brief moment in time, my focus is on making my hardshoe rhythm follow the beat of the music and making my softshoe lively and effortless.

Rising to new heights (LOL) during my reel at the 2010 World Championships

Some day, my competing days will be over, but one of the many wonderful things I'll be able to take away from this "wild ride" are my friends.

Me and my wonderful friend Katie, both wearing the same pants at a feis just because we thought it would be a fun idea!

I've met some remarkable dancers and friends over my adventure. My dance friends have held me up in my darkest times. No matter what the hour, I know I can log onto Twitter, Facebook, Dance.net, or pick up the phone and I can talk to a dance pal when I'm feeling down. I have been lucky enough to meet some of my best dance friends online before seeing each other in person at a feis or major.

We've laughed, we've CRIED, and we've gotten into some fun "shenanagans" (practicing in the London Victoria station at 11PM on a Thursday in October, getting lost on a tram in Amsterdam, shopping on Black Friday in full wigs and makeup in a mall while at the Oireachtas).

Out to dinner with my lovely UK friends at the 2010 North American Championships

When a person is dancing stage, we only get a quick glimpse of their personality and style. The real treat is talking to the same dancer side stage or after a long day of dancing and getting to know the person behind the wig, dress or vest, and shoes. I've met so many people from around the world, both in person and online, who share a love for Irish Dancing but also have so many diverse interests.

Having a laugh with a lovely friend after a long day at the 2009 World Championships in Philadelphia

We may be in our "twilight years", but we are still dreaming, just like the u8's, of reaching our end goal: whether it is to finally master The Blackbird set piece, dancing on a school performance team, winning a Prelim competition, dancing solos at the Oireachtas, or recalling at the Worlds.

This post is for the Senior Ladies who keep dancing, even when looked down upon by others for continuing in a art form that is generally geared for younger competitors.

For those who sometimes have to eat toast for a week to afford the next major while paying student loans and car insurance (*sheepishly raises hand*)

For those who work hard to come back from injury and long to dance a step in class

For those who never give up, who always give 100%, and have a smile on their face while doing so.

There has been an e-mail thread being sent around the this holiday season and one of the lines in the e-mail definitely rings true for me:

"The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money...or the most awards.They simply are the ones who care the most".

Irish Dancing, no doubt, has been one of the best things in my life. I may not remember a feis result from a few years ago, but I do remember the adventures and fun of each car, train, and plane adventure with some of my best friends.

To all the Senior Ladies: Thank you for being my friends, for enriching my life, for supporting me in my quest to be the best dancer I can be, and inspiring me with your character in the Irish Dance world and beyond.

Keep hornpiping,
Colleen

The Ginger Diaries: OMG, shoes!!

2010-10-31T23:45:00.023-04:00

Greetings and salutations! It's that time of year again! The both dreaded and loved Oireachtas season *erie music plays in background*

You'll be hearing from me a bit more than usual this month, as the Oireachtas season always has me waxing poetic...

But I digress...

I'm sure many of you have seen the YouTube video called "Shoes". Unfortunately, due to it's non PG13 language, I refuse to post it here, but it is very hilarious. It reminds me of my own situation with my Irish Dance footwear!

When it comes to Irish Dance shoes and breaking them in... I am the most STUBBORN mule that you will ever meet.

I hate breaking in shoes!! I hate the toe blisters, I hate the heel blisters, I hate that they are so stiff and not my own. If I had the opportunity to only break in one pair of shoes that would grow with me for life, I'd be all for it.

My teachers especially hate my old hardshoes: "You're wearing those STILL?!?!?!" or "You can't be serious".

My shoes are actually a discontinued version, which makes them much easier to date. I'd say they are about 7 years old. They are the black flexi bottoms and the black sole has been replaced at least 4 times. The shoemaker actually told me that he could no longer patch them anymore, which made me very sad. I've also had them re-tipped at least 4 times.

I should have retired them after the Belfast Worlds in 2008. They had such a large hole on the bottom that you could see my socks. I had a panic attack, as I was leaving in 2 days and clearly didn't have time to break in new shoes. My dad, being very ingenious, slathered epoxy on the the balls of the shoe and we "painted" the coating in Sharpie marker so I was still able to dance.

Want to see how bad the shoes look? I'll warn you, they aren't pretty!

Here she is, a "normal" looking left hardshoe; perhaps the inner heel is looking a bit worn:

Ok, maybe the side view is showing a little more wear. I do love gaffer's tape, as I have an unnatural fear of falling every other second. Yes, I should be untying my shoes when I take them off; it's another bad habit of mine.

Now it gets gross. Check out the LAYERS of tape on the sole.. I'm talking 2 years of tape.

Let's see both shoes to survey the real damage! The white powder is rosin. My practice area at home and at the house I practice at during the week have wonderful plywood flooring, but I still get nervous about "slippage". A few badly sprained ankles has me very superstitious.

Here is the real meat and potatoes of my issues. I was able to dig under the layers of gaffers tape to reveal the epoxy my dad placed on my shoes could they could last for "just one more competition" aka the Worlds over 2 years ago!

One of these tips is NOT like the other!!!! I guess I'm a dominant right foot trebler ;)

My "practice" pair of softshoes are equally as gross. I have a "practice" pair and a "competition" pair. Not only am I breaking in new hardshoes, but a new competition pair for the Oireachtas so I can retire my pathetic looking practice pair:

These are a 2.5. They look like they have been stretched to a size 8 or 9!

The bottom of my shoe is being held together exclusively by gaffers tape and HOPE!

The bottom has seen better days too. I had better break in my new competition pair STAT!

Due to time constraints, I'm left to break in my new shoes whenever I can. I wear them around the apartment while I'm washing dishes, while I'm reading my blogroll, or even sitting at work. Good thing my desk/cube area is away from the general public, as this is what you would see:

Yes, my friends, this is me using my space heater (I'm perpetually cold) to try to soften the leather so it doesn't feel like I'm binding my feet like the Chinese used to do. My toe knuckles are actually protruding!

I definitely not recommend being as stubborn as me and waiting until 3 weeks before the Oireachtas to realize that my old hardshoes are very likely to fall apart as I walk on stage for round one.

Keep practicing, whether it is for the big Oireachtas, your next local feis, or major performance :) Believe in yourself and remember why you dance.. because you LOVE it!

Colleen

The Ginger Diaries: Road Trip!!!!!!!

2010-09-25T13:47:00.013-04:00

Hello everyone! How is your fall feis season going?

I’ve been working my tail off to master my Oireachtas dances and keep my “old” bones healthy, but before the summer ended, I decided to take a ROAD TRIP!!!

Every year, I try to go to a feis outside my normal region and combine it with a mini vacation.The beauty of Irish Dancing is getting to travel and visit new cities/states, and to make friends who love Irish Dancing as much as I do!

This year, I was able to fly to a feis in Clearwater Beach over Labor Day weekend. This feis kind of fell into my lap. I had pondered going on my own as I had Labor Day off from work and it would be nice to relax at the beach, but it would be no fun without a friend. I got a text 3 days before the feis closed entries saying: “Hey, I’m going to be in Orlando at my family’s timeshare Labor Day weekend and there is a competition in Clearwater; want to come?”

She didn’t have to say another word, as I had a free jetBlue credit waiting in my inbox to be used.

I arrived safe and sound on a somewhat bumpy flight thanks to Hurricane Earl.

Fast forward to the night before the feis…

It was probably the worst night of sleep before a competition in my life, even rivaling the evenings before I dance at the Worlds. Why, you ask? I was nervous about driving a rental car and navigating the Florida expressways for the first time, LOL! I can drive a rental car without having to pay additional fees for being a young driver (I’m showing my age here) but I’m so used to driving my own car that I was TERRIFIED of somehow messing it up. I was also worried because we were warned that parking at the feis hotel would be horrendous due to the long weekend and to arrive extra early.

Me giving the thumbs up at 5:55AM on the way to the feis. Yes, I drove through Central Florida with curlers in my hair like that and it was FUN!!

Even though I was dancing well after lunch, I got up at 5:45 and arrived at the feis at 7AM. It was crazy, but I found a parking spot in the garage so it was worth it.

I loved, loved, loved the feis. LOVED IT. And no, it’s not because I was lucky enough to place; that is just a nice perk :) I'm not affiliated with the dance school either ;)

Here's why this feis gets a major thumbs up:

1. The stages were raised so they had a "major championship feel" and painted with TrebleKote so I was less likely to fall on my toosh

2. Medal presentations for all 3 rounds in Open Champ and 2 rounds in Prelim

3. They ran the Senior girls' championship concurrently with another competition. I cannot express how grateful I am when a feis committee does this. Most senior championships at a feis have less than 10 entrants. Doing 3 rounds in under 15 minutes is extremely difficult at any age, but especially for me as I find my steps to be complex and stamina killing. The chance to catch a drink of water, a puff of the inhaler, to change shoes at a normal pace, and to not be yelled at to "HURRY UP, please" is awesome

4. Wonderful award ceremonies for each competition with a podium and fun modern music, like Cotton Eyed Joe for the little ones and a little Enrique Iglesias for us older girls

5. Thoughtful/fun awards and bonus competitions: These elements are not a "must" for me to attend, but I appreciate the thought that the feis committee put into the day. The medals were adorable and featured a beach umbrella and ghillies motif. Rainbow sashes for top 3 in Open Champs, which I was so pleased to receive! They also offered a a step down the line treble jig/hornpipe competition for Prelim and Open champs. It was great to watch talent of many ages on stage.

6. Friendly, thoughtful volunteers: Hats off to the parents' who ensured that the feis ran smoothly and provided up front communication weeks in advance about all aspects of the competition: weather, parking, vendors, and available shuttles/activities.

Rainbow sash! So fun and different!

Sorry, there are no pictures of me at the feis, as when you go by yourself, (Friend was watching the Opening Notre Dame game back in Orlando) it limits your options and I'm too shy to ask someone else.

Best part of all, after I was done dancing, I was off to the beach, located just outside the hotel doors!

Ahh, now THIS is the life!!

Yes, the white feet and orange legs are all the rage this year. I'm such a fashionista ;) My ankle brace also left some really pretty lines on my right foot.

I also brought the beach to you all and took a wee video! Of course, without realizing it, I'm dancing a bit during the beginning... it looks like part of the my treble jig lead.

Thanks to my mom, who found an old Park Hopper pass from when I was still in grade school, I was able to go to Disney World's Magic Kindom the day after the feis. You may be wondering: "Hey, Ging.. weren't you just in Disney World in July for the NAN". You would be correct, but I didn't have time to go into the parks, so it was great to be able to go and not have to worry about competing!

It was 95 degrees out and rained for an hour at one point in the afternoon, but we still ended up having a blast!

Everyone say, "Ooooh, ahhhhh"

I've never been to Disney around the Halloween season, only Christmas and Easter, so it was so great to see the cute fall decorations everywhere:

There was only one sad part in the day for me that was the fact that "It's a Small World", one of my favorite rides was CLOSED for refurbishment :( :(

Expressing my disappointment in the ride being closed:

We finished off the day with Disney's Electrical parade and then it was off to the Orlando airport early the next morning....

Well, I suppose I'd better stop waxing poetic and get to practicing! My Oireachtas is in 55 days and there is plenty of work to be done!

Have a fabulous fall feis season; keep jiggin ;)

Colleen

Whoa!

2010-09-03T21:23:00.000-04:00

So I was looking at the calendar the other day, and I realized that I Heart That! Dance is pretty quickly coming up on three years of being in business (our "birthday is in January :) ). If we were a kid, we'd have gone from infancy to being a walking, talking, grown-up food eating, toilet using preschooler. That's a big change, and the changes we've experienced both as a business, and in our personal lives during this time have been pretty darn huge too.

We've gone from the five items we were selling at our first competition table in March 2008 to a product line-up of over 50 including a wide range of bags, clothing, knitwear, papercrafts, bath & body and mineral makeup. And while we were developing patterns, researching suppliers and yes, CRAFTING these products (or putting hardworking crafters to work for us in papercrafts, bath & body and makeup) we were also doing the following:

Having two babies (Kaylee, Nicole's daughter, in 2008 and Laura, Ally's daughter, in 2009) and getting ready to welcome yet another Girl@IHTD to the team (Nicole is due with #2 in January). One of us has been pregnant every summer since we started, which confuses our repeat customers no end ("wait, weren't you pregnant last year?") :)
Buying a house (Ally, in July 2008), which of course meant MOVING. That won't happen again at least, because Ally refuses to move ever again. Ever, ever, ever.
Still training for dancing competitively (well, not when we were pregnant ;) ), and this past summer, STUDYING (Ally passed her BATD Highland Members exam the past July)

Let's just say the dishes don't get done very often. Anyway, you came here because I promised a post about "big changes" so I'd better get on with it!

We're Taking A Wee Break

Since Nic's going to be having her next beautiful baby after Christmas, we've decided to go on hiatus for a bit. This will also give us a chance to review our products and suppliers, something we desperately need to do after such rapid growth, but have had no time for since we've been busy filling orders (not that we don't love being popular, and the wonderful customers who made that true!!). So here's how this will affect ordering in the near future:

We will be taking LIMITED custom orders for Christmas delivery. We have a finite number of spots available (the exact number depends on what gets ordered) and we will take orders either until those spots are filled or until November 1st at the latest.
After November 1st, NO custom orders will be taken, but our stock items will still be available. You can always see what we have in stock by visiting http://iheartthatdance.artfire.com/.

We will resume taking custom orders in July 2011...sort of. This brings me to the next big change:

We're Changing Our Product Line

Believe me when I tell you that from an emotional perspective, we LOVE making all the bags, knitwear and accessories by hand for all you wonderful gorgeous dancers. It's a total thrill going to a competition and seeing one of our signature goods being used, or hearing from our customers how pleased they are with their purchase.

But from a financial perspective, the truth is we are simply not charging enough for what we do. Some recent calculations have shown that on a couple of the bags, we're only making $3 an hour, and that's not enough. In the past two and a half years, we've reinvested everything we made back into the business because we HAD to -- while we've taken a considerable number of orders the profits are too low and so we haven't seen a single penny make its way into our pockets. As much as we love what we do, we obviously cannot continue this way.

We don't know exactly what the "new" IHTD will look like in July, but there are a couple of things we are pretty sure of:

We'll still be selling the screenprinted clothing -- in fact, now we'll be able to focus on making some ideas we're really excited about come to life! And yes, applique will still be available on hoodies and yoga jackets!
Most, if not all, of the bags and handmade clothing will no longer be available through IHTD. Some, such as ghillie bags, hardshoe bags, wig bags, PJ pants and possibly the deluxe makeup bags may still be available to wholesalers or for schools looking for school gear or fundraisers.
Sew-on and iron-on applique patches of our designs WILL be available! So you might not be able to order one of our bags but you can get a lil IHTD style on one you've already got!

Some of the existing bags will find their way into Ally's new shop, The Piper's Wife, but the materials will be somewhat different and the price will increase. So, the moral of the story is that if there's something you have been wanting that's on the "hit list" now is the time to get it.

Again, we will be taking custom orders until November 1st or until we run out of spots, whichever comes first.

Did you seriously make it all the way to the end of this? You're awesome :) Please leave us your feedback in the comments below or via email to thegirls@iheartthatdance.com -- we value your opinions so much and we will try to answer any questions we can without actually being in possession of a crystal ball :)

xoxo TheGirls

The Ginger Diaries: The wonders of fake tan….

2010-08-15T17:03:00.013-04:00

Ahaha! I surprised you all by coming back so soon!! I figured I would wax poetic on something near and dear to my pale, pasty skin: FAKE TAN.

Fake tan is a necessary evil for yours truly. My natural coloring is translucent, so whether it’s a feis or a major, I have to buckle down and tan.

See, I wasn't kidding on the pasty ;)

I often use the wonderful Rimmel SunShimmer product that allows you to rub it on the day of, then wash off. It provides excellent coverage and a nice bronze color, as opposed to oompa loompa orange but as I said earlier, it washes OFF, very easily:

This lovely image was captured the morning of my competition at the All Scotlands last October. I have a habit of sleeping on my stomach with my hands on my thighs, LOL. I had to quickly correct my hand print before I went over to the venue. It's a really good thing that I even noticed at that early hour of the morning. I love Rimmel, but I now save it for the day of competition emergencies instead of the night before.

In addition, my past 3 dresses have had very light linings and my current one is almost entirely white, so I panic about a speck of dust hitting it wrong, let alone a nice orange streak.

My claim to fame is having embarrassing "feis day" white patches, streaks, or even whole back thighs be completely lilly white while the rest of me is "oompa loompa". Thankfully for major competitions, I utilize professional services. Of course, with my luck, I always have a HILARIOUS and somewhat awkward story to go with each tanning experience, so I’ll share two gems.

At the Worlds in Glasgow this year, I found a lovely company who would come to my hotel and give me a spray tan in my room. I, in my infinite wisdom, did not set an alarm the night before the appointment and the only thing that woke me up that morning was the technicians phone call to alert me that she had arrived at the hotel. I kicked out my roomie, still half asleep, and ran down the stairs to catch Susan, the tan lady. As she was setting up shop, she handed me some dark cotton underwear to use so I wouldn’t have to get tanner all over mine when I didn’t have a washer handy. Her next statement both shocked and horrified me: “Ok, I’m ready when you are. Just take your bra off and step into the pop up tent”.

WHAT?!?! Take off my bra and leave it off, in front of you??

I nearly choked on the water I was drinking.

I pleaded “Can’t I leave it on?” but to no avail as she said then I wouldn’t get a perfect tan.

I generally don’t utilize a lot of salon services as Irish Dancing is my personal money drain so I forget that people who work in the personal beauty “biz” are used to seeing people without clothing. It is also my impression that people in the UK might be a tad more open about these types of things.I did survive the experience and Susan did provide a nice dark tan that lasted a full week! She mentioned to me that her husband spray tans her when she wants to go out with her friends, which I thought was pretty cool!

I did end up exceptionally brown. Please reference my top pasty picture, then look at the picture below, and LAUGH! This was before I rinsed off; I call this my "Tahitian Beauty" look:

And I do give the thumbs up to exercise... sometimes.... but it doesn't always make me feel good..

Now we fast forward to the North American Championships in Orlando. I always book with a popular on-site spray tan vendor, who I love. They have great customer service, especially when I e-mailed the owner just few weeks before NAN when he had 95% of his slots booked. I had to add a face and neck tan thanks to my white dress and my fear of getting powder bronzer all over the neckline. He was able to adjust my appointment right on the spot without changing the time.

It was my first time getting a face and neck tanned as opposed to a full body and unlike in Scotland, the tanning technician so kindly let me keep a sports bra on ;) Unfortunately, looking back, that was a bad idea on my part. After I finished competing, it was time to CELEBRATE, for many reasons! I got myself all gussied up and went back to the Dolphin to meet up with some friends.

I should have selected a different shirt, as this look was presented to the world in this picture:

Uh, can we say shockingly hilarious?!?

I'm really surprised my friend Katie (in the green) still wanted to be seen with me with that kind of neckline... Another valuable lesson was learned. It really is better to go with a full spray tan in the summer... or coordinate your outfits to not display your awkward tan line.

So, all my dancer friends out there: Do you have such embarrassing tan problems as yours truly? Am I the only person who has her palms orange while the top of her hands are white the day before the feis?

Until next time, keep treble jiggin' (which I'm not a fan of at the moment, not one BIT!)

Colleen

The Ginger Diaries: Long time no see!

2010-07-12T15:41:00.019-04:00

Hey everyone!

Long time no chat! I’m actually typing this update from my car, waiting for dance class to start! I spend a good portion of my life inside my poor car (the state of the inside of it should prove my point) so I figured I would catch up now!

I returned from the Worlds and was busy catching up on sleep for about a week then promptly got very sick, which I’ve been trying to deal with for the past few months. Thanks to 2 MRI’s, I can confidently say, that YES, I do have a brain, since some people doubted that I did. Now that everything seems to be under control, (*fingers crossed*) I’m back in action and have a lot of posting to catch up on. Plan to hear from me a good deal this summer!

I’m known for having a bit of a travel bug, all thanks due to Irish Dancing. I find it unfortunate that while I’m sitting at my desk at work there are people traveling all over the world seeing beautiful cities and countries. Sadly, I have to work to pay my bills and make a living or I think I would be a professional traveler. I am lucky enough to have 17 paid vacation days per year at my current employer; all of those days minus the day after Christmas, are reserved for Irish Dance related trips and travel

About a year ago, I decided that because so many major competitions are in the same cities, year after year, due to the size of the venue that is required to hold all of us, that I would plan to travel to another city after the competition that didn’t involve Irish Dancing.

After the Worlds in Glasgow, which was fabulous as usual and 2 trips to Edinburgh,I was lucky enough to travel to Paris and Amsterdam. Please note that while it was sunny and 70 degrees in my hometown in March, it was SNOWING in Edinburgh, see! Those little chunks of white are SNOW patches:

I decided to enjoy two days in Paris and two days in Amsterdam.Day one in Paris was spent by myself and the rest of the trip I was accompanied by my lovely and very talented dancer friend Katie and her parents.

I was very proud of myself for figuring out how to get from the Paris Nord train station and take the Metro to the area where my hotel was located. This was especially impressive considering I was traveling with one very large suitcase, a large shoulder bag, and dress bag during the lunch hour. I’m sure the French were not enamored with me during that Metro ride…

If I learned anything from my Paris experience, it is: Make sure you learn and can properly execute the necessary French phrases to survive if you don’t know French as a second language! I was all prepared with a little tip sheet with phrases like : “Hi, my name is”, “I need help”, “Where is the toilet”… you know, the basics…. But it didn’t help me one bit when I got majorly lost trying to find my hotel.

Long story short: I was able to navigate the subway BUT didn’t realize the hotel was not exactly on the exit from the subway. After 2 hours, many tears, frantic texts to my French speaking friend back in America, and a taxi cab fleecing me, I finally got to my hotel. Paris itself was lovely. I had amazing weather, unlike the snow and cold that I left in Glasgow. Check out the Eiffel tower (Yes, I did take this picture :) ):

Day one was spent with me seeing a few of the sights (too many to describe in one post), taking advantage of my tour bus ticket, and perhaps doing a little window shopping. I ended the night at an Indian restaurant, as I knew they would speak English and didn't want to embarrass myself in an all French speaking restaurant.

Day two started off bright and early as I went to greet Katie and her family back at Paris Nord. I greeted them professionally with a sign, of course. It was too light to see in the picture, so Katie's dad fixed it up for me with the magic of Microsoft Paint! Bob is Katie's Dad's nickname, not his real name ;)

We spent most of the day at the Louve, doing more window shopping, and back at the Eiffel tower so we could take a ride up in it.

Here is Katie and myself standing on an observation deck in the Eiffel Tower on day two in Paris, which was significantly colder than day one and rainy! We were FREEZING while posing for this shot:

I also enjoyed a delicious Nutella Crepe from a street vendor!!

Another lesson that I learned on this particular trip is to always check the time zone of the area you are staying in.I purchased a 5 pound phone to use on the trip, but Katie’s parents also brought their own clock. We had to be at the train station at 5:30AM. Long story short, there is an hour time difference between London and France, and we woke up at 5:30 when we were supposed to be at the station. I’ve never ran so fast with a 70 pound suitcase in my life!

Next stop was Amsterdam!

Oh how I adored Amsterdam! I texted my mom on the last night and told her I wasn’t coming home. She “laughed” or text “lol’ed” in my face. I missed being stranded by the ash cloud of 2010 by 4 days. I’m sure all the Dutch on my flight home were stranded in Vegas;not that they would have been upset about that.

We started off day 1 by visiting the Anne Frank House, which was extremely moving. No photography was allowed but it really was a wonderful tribute.

We then walked to the Heineken Brewery for a tour and that was a BLAST! A+

On the end of night one, Katie and I played a little game called: Let’s try on what I didn’t wear in my suitcase. What I found was that I packed 7, yes 7 tank tops. It was SNOWING in Glasgow… what was I thinking?!?

Here I am being coy peeking out of the bathroom about to show Katie outfit number one:

On day two in Amsterdam,Katie and I managed to get completely lost due to my error understanding the tram system. I don't think we ever quite figured it out! We ended up in an extremely industrial part of Amsterdam, but did get to pass by the Olympic stadium built for the 1928 Summer Olympics!

We walked around the main shopping areas, explored a very large public market, took an amazing boat cruise, RAN by the Red Light district, and experienced what McDonalds was like in the Netherlands. Katie went to the hotel to pack while I met a cousin of one of the dancers in my school who moved from North America to work in Amsterdam. He explained to me that it is possible to hold an umbrella, write a text message, and ride a bicycle at the same time ;) Biking is the ONLY way to really get around Amsterdam; tram drivers even stop for bicyclists!

Here are a few shots from the fun we had in Amsterdam:

An absolutely beautiful tree right outside our hotel:

I was definitely grossed out by these "public" restrooms on the street:

Just hanging out in a wooden shoe, no big:

Me posing with some of my purchases in Amsterdam and some of Katie's. I walked around with these bags for 2 hours.... again during lunch, and again I probably annoyed people with all of those bags on a crowded tram ;) :

After all my adventures, I knew my suitcase was well over 50 pounds, so I purchased a 15 pound suitcase at the public market. Pushing two suitcases, a dress bag, and a large shoulder bag was NOT fun while rushing to catch my connecting flight home in Philadelphia:

What I learned from my 2010 Post Worlds extravaganza:

1.Irish dance accessories will account for half of your suitcase
2.Carefully check the weather of each of your destinations before departure. When a friend tells you need mittens, a sweater, and possibly UnderArmour, BRING what they tell you!
3.No matter what, you do not need to bring 7 tank tops on your trip
4.When looking at a map in a foreign city later at night, always do it with your back facing a wall , even when you are with a group of adults(Long story… not all Parisians are nice…)
5. Tour buses allow you to pick survey all the popular sights first, then you can pick which places you want to visit (I already knew this but it is worth repeating)
6. McDonalds: It's truly an internationally recognized restaurant and it's fun to see the differences in their menu items (FYI, my Happy Meal in Paris, had a piece of pineapple in it! I ordered a Happy Meal because it's one of the only things I knew to say)
7. The UK store Primark is absolutely fabulous for finding the necessary clothing and shoes you forgot to bring but its affordable pricing also can cause you to buy too much and overfill your suitcase
8.Comfortable shoes are a MUST, especially when walking many miles. Wear sneakers with a sundress in Paris; make a fashion statement. Maybe you'll start a new trend ;)
9. The Mona Lisa at the Louve is small, REALLY small, but breathtaking at the same time
10. Touring the world and seeing how other cultures live, work, and play is truly a gift and I'm so glad I was able to visit two countries I had never set foot in.

The best news of all is the fact that I get to travel to another country again next year, as I was privileged enough to qualify for the 2011 Worlds in Dublin at the North American Championships a few weeks ago! I can’t wait to start planning my trip! Any suggestions on where I should travel?

Until next time, keep on jiggin’. Hope everyone is enjoying summer feising!
Colleen

In Today's News...

2010-06-15T22:50:00.000-04:00

.... math is hard. But despite that, I have successfully completed the draws! Note that I have used the name associated with the entry that was picked. So without further adieu:

GRAND PRIZE

Tara Mills

Get The Look Kit & Deluxe Makeup Bag (Kickoff Prize #1)

Bridget

Advanced Highland Training DVD Set from FerlieFeet (Kickoff Prize #2)

Wallace (the first of the comments labelled "Wallace" on this blog post)

***Please make access to your Blogger profile public so I can email you about your prize***

Lucky Clover Necklace from As Luck Would Have It (Kickoff Prize #3)

Cee Jammin

Choice of Bag & McAleer Highland Gear Goodie Bag (Kickoff Prize #4)

Leah

Spa Package including PJ Pants and Ghillie Slippers (Kickoff Prize #5)

Jessica Bach

Ghillie Necklace from Triskelt (Kickoff Prize #6)

Bonnie MacNeill

FeisFaces Deluxe Membership (Kickoff Prize #7) -- Two of these were available!

Christine Newton

Hannah Jarvis

CONGRATULATIONS to our winners and thanks to everyone who participated! I hope you had fun (we certainly did here at IHTD) and I will be getting in touch with all of you over the next couple of days to make arrangements for your prizes. And remember -- Kickoff may be over but

Shout Outs are just beginning!

You can win $10 to use on our website EVERY single week for the WHOLE summer just by sending a shout-out to your dance friends here on the blog or on Facebook! Read the rules here:

http://www.iheartthatdance.com/contests/contests.html

The first Shout Out blog post will go up tomorrow so you can start commenting then! And don't forget, if you are using Facebook, if you and the person you are sending a Shout Out to are fans of our Facebook page, if your entry is picked you BOTH get $10. Woohoo! Same goes for Twitter!

xo Ally and Nic

Thanks for the Memories :)

2010-06-14T14:03:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been quite a week :) I hope that by following along with us every day during Kickoff you're feeling a little more prepped for summer -- new makeup, new clothes, new gear and even new ways to relax! I don't know about the rest of you, but I am PUMPED for these draws tomorrow!

But there's one more thing we think you need to be totally ready for a dance-filled summer -- a way to preserve your dancing memories! For those of you in the ID world, here's the perfect solution:

Have you seen this amazing website? FeisFaces is:

A online solution for recording and tracking your feis marks and results.
You may never choose to share your marks with anyone, but you will still want to register for a FeisFaces account so that you can dump those piles of feis marks and results that accumulate in a drawer or box after years of competitions! Keep everything online in one place, making it easy to see how far you've come in the past year, 5 years, and throughout your Irish dance career. Along with your marks, you can also record all other information about each feis - you can even write a journal about the day. Also, you can also see an updated list of local feis syllabi, competitor lists, schedules, and results all in one place.

An easy way to share those feis results and experiences with Irish dance teachers, friends, and family.
With the click of a button, you can share your entire feis or major competition experience (marks, results, journal, and photos) with whomever you choose: your TCRG, your best friend, Grandma and Grandpa, and your dance classmates. Only those to whom you give access will be able to see your feis results, though. Your information is secure and private unless you choose to share it.

And the basic membership is FREE! Sign up here

Pretty cool right? Of course I totally signed up The Peanut and I -- here's a screenshot of our Family homepage (the pic is me, Nic and our resident Blogger Of The Year Colleen):

I haven't put any feis results in, I've had blog posts to write :) I just love the idea of having ONE place where I can keep all my feis photos and results -- I used to do it on Facebook but nowadays my news feed seems to be all about people needing nails for their Farmville stables and I miss my dance friends updates ALL the time. Not that I'm judging Farmville players -- certain people who shall remain nameless (but are pictured above in green) had to have their mom check on their crops while they were at Oireachtas. But lots of the time I just want to see updates about DANCE, y'know?

And check this out -- a couple of great new features are coming soon:

Print out your Feis Journal for your photo album or memory book (FREE for Stepped-Up Members)
Order a Feis Faces Memory Book to commemorate a great summer, for a special occasion, or when you or your dancer move up a level! The books are made up of archive-quality pages digitally printed pages bound together in book format.

The lovely Colleen, inventor of FeisFaces.com has graciously agreed to donate TWO One Year Stepped-Up Memberships for our draw today! That's a $19.95 value for each of them -- awesome!

The Stepped-Up Membership provides the following additional benefits:

Receive email notifications for new feis information and posted results
Upload photos which are displayed with your Feis Journal and are included in your printed Feis Journal pages
Become a Feis Faces Affiliate to earn money back for yourself, your dance school, or your business
Print out your Feis Journals (in PDF format) for your memory book, scrapbook, or photo album!
Enjoy a 10% discount on any Feis Faces Memory Book that you order within one year (in development)

Want the prize? Here's how to enter:

Comment here to tell us your favourite feis or Highland competition!
Sign up for FeisFaces.com (remember, it's free!) TODAY and get an extra entry! Signing up takes under 5 minutes, and is totally worth it -- I can hardly wait to get started uploading my feis results and pictures!

Highland dancers! Wishing we had something like this for Games and comps? Well, I think I've got her pretty much convinced, but we'll see - let us know in the comments if you would be interested!

And that's all folks! Don't forget:

TODAY is the LAST day for ALL entries to be in -- so if you've missed out on a post, or forgotten to like the post link on our Facebook page, or haven't put in your five tweets today, NOW is the time to do it! EVERY entry into the daily draws gets you an entry into the Grand Prize draw!

And I'll see you tomorrow afternoon with the draw results AND the first Summer Shout Out post! Woohoo!! xo Ally and Nic

TheGirls@IHTD Say Relax

2010-06-13T11:33:00.000-04:00

EDIT: Hi folks! This was supposed to auto-publish yesterday while I was at Georgetown but it didn't go, many apologies! So I am going to put the final prize post up tomorrow and I'll be doing the draws June 15th.

So you now have until midnight EDT June 14th to comment/like on Facebook/tweet for entries!

In other news, have I told you all it is Recital Week From Hell around here? It was group rehearsal for The Peanut's ballet recital on Tuesday, Highland recital Wednesday, my niece's recital Friday, Georgetown Highland Games yesterday and Irish recital today (which reminds me, I'd better make this snappy since I have to go in about 20 minutes).

I don't know what the rest of you do after a week of crazy, but I'm looking forward to some serious me-time. And I just LOVE indulging in a book & my bathtub -- nothing like a hot bath for all those tired muscles. And then I put on my comfy clothes -- oh yeah! It's going to be especially delightful this time around since I'm going to be using our bath & body line in our three TOTALLY NEW signature scents!

You're So Pretty!

Sweet & fruity, this will make you a WMD (weapon of mass deliciousness) for sure!

Get Going

Fresh, clean and light, this energizing blend is guaranteed to get you jumping!

Blissful

Time to take it easy, rockstar! A calming blend to leave you relaxed and happy all over.

Sound good? Then you'll definitely want to enter for today's prize:

A Spa Package including:

Deluxe Sample Size containers of EACH of our fabulous bath & body products (scrub, whipped lotion, shampoo and conditioner) in one of our NEW scents -- doesn't have to be the same one for all products!

OCM cleanser (1.25 oz) & FAB moisturizer (4 oz) -- the perfect skin solution!

A full size bar of our scrubby Pumice Soap in your choice of scent

AND

One pair of PJ Pants in your choice of colour and applique!

One pair of our FAMOUS ghillie slippers custom made for you!

Woohoo! And that's not all for today -- remember I promised you a double prize day? Well here it is -- the lovely Kathi from Triskelt (one of our favourite shops ever!) has donated a gorgeous sterling silver ghillie pendant!! Check this thing out it is soooooo pretty!

Here's how you enter for each of these prizes:

1) For the Spa Package: Comment here and tell us which of our new scents you think you'd like best!

2) For the super pendant from Triskelt: Go check out their website and then write on the wall of the

Triskelt Facebook Page

telling them which of their products you like the best! Don't tell us here, or on our Facebook -- it must be on the Triskelt FB page to count! Include "for the IHTD contest" or similar so we know you want an entry into the contest!

Good luck! xo Ally and Nic

Stuff To Put Stuff In

2010-06-11T12:25:00.000-04:00

So, those of you who've been with us awhile know that I Heart That! Dance was born when Nic and I -- avid perusers of vendor tables at competitions -- just could NOT find the gear we wanted. Don't get me wrong -- there's a lot of REALLY good stuff out there on the market (and we both spent a lot of money at those tables -- and still do!), but it wasn't exactly what we were looking for. Too young-looking, not enough pockets, not sturdy enough (I in particular am pretty abusive to my possessions LOL), not big enough (or sometimes too big). Yeah, we're picky.

Plus, we LOVED the idea of having something personalized just for you -- your tartan or favourite colours, your choice of design, your name or initials. And so this became the "heart" of I Heart That! Dance -- that you could have stylish, handmade-quality items the way YOU want them.

Having said that, I, Ally, still have yet to make anything for myself. Pfft. But that's OK -- you first! Today's prize is:

Your choice of ONE of our signature bags:

Messenger Bag

Open-Top Tote

Garment Bag

Irish Dance Solo Dress Bag

Sword Case

Practice Mat Bag

or the new Champion Duffle! (see the pic below -- so new it's not on the website yet!)

The new roomy Champion Duffle (retail price $60 CDN) is fully lined with lined exterior and interior zip pockets. Your choice of design on the front pocket. Zip top. Top quality zippers and hardware throughout as usual :) The one shown here has our newest design "Float" appliqued on the front pocket -- a gorgeous Celtic knotwork butterfly, pick this one if you like a more intricate design or lots of colours! I think this is going to be one of our most popular items -- I only have this crummy picture of the one sample I made because the darn thing sold before I could get a better picture!

PLUS today's winner will ALSO get a reusable goodie bag from McAleer Highland Gear chock full of some great stuff:

Notebook and pen

A pair of mini shoes (cute!)

A tartan keychain change purse

Scottie dog Post-It notes

Pink child's watch with white Westie dogs on it (aww!)

A pair of spare black laces (total necessity for Games season!)

To get your entry into the draw for today's prize tell us:

What are the 3 most important things in your dance bag?

Want an extra entry?

Visit our wonderful sponsor McAleer Highland Gear and tell us your favourite product from their shop!

Good luck! xo Ally and Nic

Lucky Charms!

2010-06-10T12:00:00.000-04:00

Day 3 of Kickoff! And have we ever got something SWEET for you today! Do you know somebody who finds a 4-leaf clover EVERY time she goes to look for one? We do! Read on to find out all about June, fabulous proprietress of Etsy shops As Luck Would Have It and I Sew Cute!

Tell us a little about yourself!
Born in the great woods of the North East a week before Christmas, nurtured by a crafty mom & Nana who knit, sewed, & baked all kinds of wonderful things. I learned a lot by watching them, but also enjoyed spending a lot of time drawing. My folks say I was born with a pencil in my hand! I was destined to become an artist or designer of sorts & now I freelance as a toydesigner/illustrator while being a stay at home mom to nurture my kids' blossoming creativity & mold them into decent loving people.

So, the first question on our minds is HOW do you find so many 4-leaf clovers?
Here's a blog post on my helpful tips: http://isewcute.blogspot.com/2009/07/im-looking-over-some-4-leaf-clovers-how.html My best advice is don't look on a very sunny day...it casts hard shadows & makes them more difficult to find. They're easier to find on a day or two after the lawn is mowed...and if it has rained...even better! They just stand out more when you don't have to dig around the tall grass for them. I swear I just look down & there they are... wherever I go...if it's grassy I'm sure to find at least one eventually.

Why did you decide to get into making resin jewellery?
I was hooked almost instantly after trying it years ago & have since put a tutorial on Craftster & my blog so other crafty folks can discover the fun of crafting with it for themselves.

Do you have any other crafty passions? What's your favourite project ever?

My favourite project ever is probably my 'kid table' which has hand carved legs made to look like different characters from familiar childrens' books & holds all my childhood treasures in the top (see the pic below!) I won a Craftster challenge with it about 2 years ago. I'm passionate about most every craft I do. If I'm going to take the time to make something, I throw myself into it completely.

What inspires you to craft in general?
It's a compulsion I was born with. I just can't not be making something...anything. If I'm leaving the house for any reason, I plan a project I can take on the road with me. There is always a sketchbook in my car & crochet hook in my purse! I am inspired by life...and watching my kids grow. I love doing craft swaps when I have time because I really get into working on something that another person can cherish. I get such a thrill out of making someone happy with the things I make & it's doubly fun to receive 'fun mail'. Currently I'm wrapping up the 'Hoop Up' embroidery swap on flickr & hear they're going to have a round 2. I'm sure I'll join up!

What's next for As Luck Would Have It and I Sew Cute?
For AsLuckWouldHaveIt: I'm working on some more items for men. Keyrings, tietacks, pins & cufflinks. The clover pieces I make are always going to all be listed at AsLuckWouldHaveIt from now on. For ISewCute: I have a bunch of my original cute embroidery patterns that I have to get listed...as well as new desings in sweet looking glittery resin jewelry. I'm open to requests at any time for either shop! Custom orders are my favorite thing to work on.

Thanks June! Isn't her stuff AWESOME? Especially if you are a glitter addict like we are :) And since we KNOW some of you are, for today's prize we've got

A gorgeous heart-shaped resin pendant from As Luck Would Have It with a real 4-leaf clover inside!

Guaranteed to be your next favourite good luck charm! Get your entry for today by visiting either of June's sweet shops and tell us what your favourite item is -- want an extra entry? Visit both! Post your choices in the blog comments below.

Don't forget!

Every entry you get into the daily prizes gets you an entry into the Grand Prize draw as well!

Happy shopping! (P.S. If you are inspired to buy from June, Etsy accounts are free and easy to sign up for -- kinda like EBay! And get something for us too, will you? ;) )

xo Ally and Nic

On Your Marks ... Get Set ... DANCE!

2010-06-09T13:25:00.000-04:00

Happy, happy Wednesday! Many thanks to all of you for your patience with yesterday's technical difficulties -- I live in the country and we can only get the satellite internet here. Most of the time it works but every so often there's too many rain droplets in the air, or an especially large cow gets in our line of sight or something, and the whole thing just clicks off :P

Anyway, after a look at the schedule for this week I've decided I'm going to have the double-prize day later in the week rather than today -- works out a bit better for our sponsors that way! Besides, today's prize is soooooooo phenomenal it deserves 100% of your attention :) So read on to find out.....

So, look. We aren't often quoting military themed cartoons from the 80's around here, but Ol' Joe had it right when he said "Knowing is half the battle". The consequences of not arming yourself with the right knowledge when you get out on the studio floor are at best that you don't train as efficiently as you could, and at worst an injury that could stop you dancing for life. Not cool -- we here at IHTD fully intend to be busting out our steps at our grandkids' weddings, and we want the same for you!

But we need your help, lovely readers, to do it!

To get an entry into the draw for today's prize, comment here and tell us your favourite dance or dance fitness resource (other than your teacher, who is obviously number 1!). It can be about Highland, or Irish, or dance in general, sports nutrition, cross training, mental preparation, ANYTHING that helps you prepare. Both online (websites, blogs, etc) and offline (books, magazines) resources are OK -- if its online please post the link!

Helping us out gets you an entry to win one of the BEST Highland dancing resources available:

A COMPLETE Set of Advanced Highland Training DVDs from FerlieFeet.com

10 times World Champions Deryck and Gareth Mitchelson present an invaluable resource for every dancer, competitive or not,working to improve their dancing. The dances are broken down step-by- step and then movement-by-movement with the dancers demonstrating ‘good technique’ accompanied by a technical commentary. The complete DVD set includes:

Vol. 1 & 2: Highland: Fling, Sword Dance, Seann Truibhas and Reel

Vol. 3: Jig & Hornpipe

Vol. 4: Nationals: Includes all 8 competition dances

Don't have a dance resource for us? Just want an extra entry into the contest? Visit our sponsor's website at

http://www.FerlieFeet.com

and tell us your favourite product from their shop in the blog comments for this post or on Facebook to get an ADDITIONAL entry into the draw (Warning! It's going to be hard to choose -- not only is this the home of the famous ToeandHeel GOLD ghillies but the teddy bears in Highland costume are sooooo cute :) I totally bought one for the Peanut -- shhh, don't tell her!)

And don't forget! EVERY ENTRY into the draws for the daily prizes gets you an additional entry into the Grand Prize draw. So lets say you're super keen and post with both a dance resource and your fave product from FerlieFeet TODAY -- this gets you FOUR entries into daily prize draw (two for each answer) and FOUR entries into the Grand Prize. Awesome!!

I also want to remind people that are entering through Twitter please please please make sure that if you have a private account that we are following you, otherwise we can't see your tweets!

xo Ally and Nic

Kickoff Prize #1: Get Your Game Face On!

2010-06-07T12:03:00.000-04:00

Did you know we have a real-life honest-to-goodness makeup artist writing web features for us? Her name is Kelly Babcock and she is AMAZING -- check out her portfolio on her website to see some examples of her work. PLUS I just saw her last week on the day before her due date and she looked fabulous -- if that's not talent I don't know what is (am I right, moms?) Her first web feature for us is a great step-by-step how-to on how to use our mineral makeup to get a natural, age-appropriate look for stage:

Application 101

With competition season in full swing we're guessing that some of you are thinking it's time to rework your look -- maybe you've got a new costume, maybe you're sick of never looking quite "right" on stage or maybe you're just tired of the same old stuff. Well, Kelly and TheGirls@IHTD want to help you out! For the summer we’re offering sample-size “face kits” for the special promotional price of $20 -- that’s 20% off the regular price! Check it out here:

Get The Look Sample Size Face Kit!

And today's kickoff week prize is:

*A Deluxe Makeup Bag appliqued in your choice of design or text and your fave colours!*

AND

*One of our Get The Look kits in your chosen shades!*

Want to win the prize? Tell us what YOUR biggest makeup problem is here in the blog comments (do it today to get TWO entries) -- and don't forget to "Like" this post link on Facebook and tweet about the contest on Twitter to get even more!

SUMMER!!!!!!!!! The Contest

2010-06-06T16:00:00.000-04:00

OMG summer is coming!

Feiseanna and Highland Games and DANCING oh my! And a new competition season means YOU need some awesome new stuff to get you through in style. What's that you say? No cash dollars in your pocket? Well, don't you worry 'cause TheGirls @ IHTD have got you covered!

ALL SUMMER LONG we're running Summer Shout-Outs, a great new contest that lets you earn money to spend in the shop just by wishing your dancing friends good luck at their comps or congratulating them on a job well done! PLUS we are getting it all started TODAY with a huge week long prize extravaganza with super prizes EVERY DAY from us and our very generous sponsors. You can win

IHTD Signature Bags and Costume Carriers
Hoodies, Yoga Pants & Jackets, Shorts, T's and Tanks
Advanced Highland Technique DVDs from ToeandHeel.com
Gorgeous Jewellery from Triskelt and As Luck Would Have It
DELUXE FeisFaces.com Memberships
Dance-Proof Mineral Makeup
Yummy Bath & Body Stuff PLUS our famous Ghillie Slippers & PJ Pants!

All the details on how to enter are up on the website here:

http://www.iheartthatdance.com/contests/contests.html

Now lets get ready for summer!

Congratulations Winners!

2010-05-31T08:33:00.000-04:00

And without further ado, the winners of the March MadLibNess contest are Jess by vote and Kathleen by random draw! Kathleen's entry wasn't put up for voting so as not to split the vote, but it's too funny to let it go unseen (any of the rest of you Highland dancers agree Christine Lacey is a world leader? ;) ) so here it is:

Dear Christine Lacey:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both smarmy and full of pickles as well as being the most soporific holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the fried green tomatoes, drink the molten gold and listen to the galumph that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all that mesmerizing peach fuzz?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a chihuahua is definitely in order! Wearing chartreuse, mollycoddling a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Argentinian and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do a curtsy I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my elbow.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Kathleen

It's also worth noting Kathleen is one of FOUR entries to feel the spirit of St. Pat's in her elbow ;)

In other news, the kickoff week for our amazing summer contest has been postponed until June 7th to 13th -- we are working hard on merchandising a brand new exclusive design for the Ontario Closed Highland Championships on June 5th, including a ghillie bag for every competitor and some sweet hoodies (yes, for the guys too!) and yoga jackets dancers will be able to order from our website after the event -- as with all of our signature designs, it will be available in your choice of tartan.

Samples of the clothing will be there at the competition registration desk to check out and try on!

Umm, MAY MadLibNess??

2010-05-11T18:51:00.131-04:00

So this is way overdue, my apologies. Part family chaos, part some supply issues with the business that needed my immediate attention, part a new job pour moi and most shamefully, my total inability to figure out how to get a poll INSIDE a Blogger post. Which I tried to figure out on my own using my mad programming skillz, couldn't do, and then found out the solution in 5 minutes by Googling. Arrgh.

So here's how it works: Read all of our hilarious entries below (you can visit the contest page on the website to remind yourself of the word list here. Also I've highlighted the words our contestants submitted). Vote for your favourite until midnight EST on May 24th (that's Victoria Day for our Canadian readers). The voting results can be seen at any time, but we'll make the official announcement of the voting winner and the random draw winner during our summer contest kick-off week between May 25th and May 31st.

Yeah, you read that right. SUMMER CONTEST! It's going to be (a) huge, (b) running all summer and (c) not very technically demanding LOL.

Entry 1

Dear President Obama:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both strong and full of Irish Dancers as well as being the most graceful holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the chips, drink the water and listen to the feet pounding that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all that fantastic feis?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a trophy is definitely in order! Wearing purple, smiling at a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Irish and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do front clicks I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my legs.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Amanda Bridgid

Entry 2

Dear Pol Pot:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both curly and full of chairs as well as being the most squishy holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the mashed potatoes, drink the mouthwash and listen to the thunderclap that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all those prickly pandas?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a smoke alarm is definitely in order! Wearing periwinkle, chafing a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Icelandic and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do a Grand plié I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my humerus.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Lauren

Entry 3

Dear Kim Jong-il:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both chubby and full of medicine balls as well as being the most hairy holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the spaghetti and meatballs, drink the bio diesel and listen to the screech that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all those lovely fish-sticks?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a shoe box is definitely in order! Wearing puce, twirling a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Peruvian and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do a hand jive I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my spleen.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Stefanie

Entry 4

Dear Queen Elizabeth II:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both colorful and full of shoes as well as being the most prickly holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the Moonpie, drink the Orange Crush and listen to the thud that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all that quick sock glue?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a cat is definitely in order! Wearing green, dancing with a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Irish and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do twists I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my nose.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Anna

Entry 5

Dear Gandhi:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both lovely and full of kilts as well as being the most delectable holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the shortbread, drink the whiskey and listen to the bagpipes that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all those inspiring lakes?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a horse is definitely in order! Wearing turquoise, leaping a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Scottish and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do a twirl I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my elbow.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Tara

Entry 6

Dear Mary McAleese:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both effervescent and full of panic buttons as well as being the most lupine holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the tofu dogs, drink the dishwasher detergent and listen to the wailing bagpipes that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all those frozen keyboards?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a capybara is definitely in order! Wearing lavender, failing a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Kuwaiti and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do a double treble I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my cervical rib.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Laurie

Entry 7

Dear Oprah:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both hilarious and full of double wigs as well as being the most shameful holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the bananas, drink the gatorade and listen to the dum-diddily-dum that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all that ancient duct tape?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a nappy/diaper is definitely in order! Wearing aquamarine, destroying a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Australian and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do a rock I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my ear lobe.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Rebecca

Entry 8

Dear Gandhi:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both bloody and full of fishing poles as well as being the most shiny holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the macaroni and cheese, drink the maple syrup and listen to the honk that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all those juicy alarm clocks?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, an acoustic guitar is definitely in order! Wearing teal, bending a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Finnish and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do a moonwalk I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my shoulder blade.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Jess

Entry 9

Dear Queen Victoria:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both expensive and full of mailmen as well as being the most bright holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the nachos, drink the radiator fluid and listen to the birds chirping that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all those bold parks?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, an airport is definitely in order! Wearing purple, swimming with a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Brazilian and especially DANCING are all highly recommended-- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do a moon walk I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my elbow.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Kira

Entry 10

Dear Michael Flatley:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both shiny and full of cactus as well as being the most scratchy holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the broccoli, drink the lemonade and listen to the bang that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all those wet apples?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a pillow is definitely in order! Wearing violet, laughing at a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Irish and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do a treble I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my wrist.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Rachel

Entry 11

Dear Ban Ki-moon:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both fruity and full of swords as well as being the most tartan holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the neeps, drink the single malt and listen to the clank that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all those amazing cars?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a pen is definitely in order! Wearing magenta, teetering a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Canadian and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do an assemble I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my ankle.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Kathy

Entry 12

Dear Dalai Lama:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and notjust in Ireland! It is both loud and full of Ireland as well as being the most colorful holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the beef jerkey, drink the Kool-aid and listen to the yelling that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all those wild sisters?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a dog is definitely in order! Wearing pink, dancing with a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Korean and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do an axel I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my belly button.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Sabre

Entry 13

Dear Obama:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both spacious and full of bobby pins as well as being the most hilarious holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the lasagna, drink the bleach and listen to the honk that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all those smelly balloons?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a donkey is definitely in order! Wearing magenta, gesticulating at a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Indonesian and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do spring points I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my spleen.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Margaret

Entry 14

Dear President Obama:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both sparkly and full of rainbows as well as being the most chewy holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the corned beef, drink the Guinness and listen to the Ta-Da! that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all that bouncy Sprite?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a wig is definitely in order! Wearing emerald, stamping on a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Scottish and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do a footloose I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my ears.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Maiti

Entry 15

Dear Netinyahu:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both prejudicial and full of riboflavin as well as being the most exotic holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the chipotle cheese curds, drink the Drano and listen to the squeak that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all those gelatinous cephalopods?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a disco is definitely in order! Wearing saffron, propositioning a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Narnian and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do a cabbage patch Ifeel the spirit of St. Pat's in my uvula.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have tocall me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Susan

Entry 16

Dear Dalai Lama:

I think St. Patrick's Day should be a national holiday everywhere, and not just in Ireland! It is both handsome and full of mailmen as well as being the most loose holiday on the calendar. It's only on St. Patrick's Day, as you eat the nachos, drink the iced tea and listen to the woof that you truly get to feel a little bit Irish! Shouldn't every country have the day free to enjoy all those hard doors?

If you need some recommendations on how to observe the holiday, a fireman is definitely in order! Wearing blue, dancing with a shamrock, maybe learning a few words of Scottish and especially DANCING are all highly recommended -- in fact, as a dancer myself, whenever I do a bell hop I feel the spirit of St. Pat's in my elbow.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, you'll have to call me later -- right now I have dance.

Love, Jenn

Thanks so much for reading and voting! Don't forget to come visit us during the week of May 24th to 31st for the final results and to take part in the summer contest kick-off!

The Ginger Diaries: My musings over March Madness and beyond

2010-03-30T01:01:00.021-04:00

Greetings faithful readers! Welcome to the end of March. I try not to wait till the last minute to post, but I have decent excuses, I promise!

It is currently 1:04AM EST on Tuesday March 30th. In a mere 14 hours, I will be headed to the airport for my flight to Scotland for the 2010 World Championships, hooray!!

A little Easter candy to help keep me awake!!

Unfortunately for me, I still have quite a number of tasks related to my full time job to accomplish before I leave the country, so it will be quite a late night/morning at this point. I'm a nerdy IT analyst by day and a crazed Irish Dancer by night; yes, I do dramatic "costume" changes a la Superman in the coat closet at work ;) My work teammates and other IT department counterparts do know about this tiny Irish Dance obsession I have and are wonderfully supportive!

So, how was everyone's St. Patrick's Day show season also known as March Madness? (channeling the NCAA university basketball tournament held every March if we do have non North American readers)

I personally find shows much more stressful than a feis. I get nervous for group numbers because I don't want to let the other members of the dance down if I miss my cue, fall on a slippery floor, or have a costume malfunction. The same goes for team dancing. I also work myself into a panic making sure I arrive on time and don't get lost while finding the building address. Brenda, my trusty GPS, helps me there ;)

While shows can be stressful, they can also be incredibly rewarding. The genuine smiles on the audience faces and their appreciative applause make performing a joy.

One of my best friends, who started my Irish Dance adventure with me almost 15 years ago, brought her son to watch me dance for the first time in a public setting. You can bet I'll try to get him to start dancing some day, only if he chooses ;)

Myself and Brody

Brody is much more interested in his cookie than posing; can't say I blame him!

I was also in charge of co-chairing a Pub Night to help fundraise for the Worlds. While it was stressful planning raffle baskets, food, musicians, and decorations, it was a huge success. The best part of the evening was my dad watching me dance for the first time in 9 years (He is Type A like me and a noisy, somewhat unorganized feis would put him in overdrive)

While I may moan and gripe about St. Patrick's Day and the work involved, Irish Dancing is something that I can't imagine my life without. Some days I wonder why I put myself through the intense pressure, long practices, saving my pennies for softshoes instead of going out to lunch, and sometimes putting my social life on hold for feiseanna, majors, and performances. Plain and simple... it's because I love it, it completes me, and makes me oh so happy.

I now present to you, how Irish Dancing has blessed me:

Life long friends who are support you in good times and bad

The ability to travel the world

Posing in front of Big Ben

Self portrait at the Giant's Causeway

To enjoy the simple and extremely random situations

A very scary clown building at the Syracuse Feis

Flexing our muscles in the official "Flex Area" in the back of a grocery store to warm up before a show

Most importantly, I find that no matter the competition result, I am so proud that I have worked hard and been able to accomplish so much in Irish Dancing. I never thought when I started my journey 15 years ago that I would still be dancing, no less at the World Championships for the 4th time. After the competition in Glasgow, it is off to Paris and Amsterdam for a vacation.

I will be sure to have many pictures and stories to share when I return in April :)

It is now 2:00PM EST.... and I have finally finished, with 1 hour to spare. Nothing like last minute.

Until April, keep jiggin'!!

The Ginger Diaries: You have WHAT in your dance bag?!?

2010-02-28T16:41:00.055-05:00

Greetings all! Happy end of February! I'm sick and tired of the snow that's been dumped on my neck of the woods, so roll on spring!

Today I'd like to discuss a somewhat amusing subject that all Irish Dancers can relate to: What exactly is in our dance bags? Is there a small life form growing in there? Maybe a bubble/poodle sock we haven't seen since 2002?

I have a very bad habit of "dropping and running" In fact, my nickname in the family is the "Queen of Drop and Run". I stuff things in my dance bag and go off to the next practice,performance,country...

I gained inspiration for this post from a popular YouTube video tag of "What's in my purse", like the video shown below. No worries parents, this blog is rated G for all, so I picked a post that anyone can watch. You would be surprised how many consonant and vowel bombs (if you get my drift) can be unloaded in one video, but I digress:

If I showed everyone what's in my purse, you would most likely hyperventilate from laughing so hard. I live out of my car and purse; it's not a pretty sight at the moment. My purse of choice is a very large Puma bag that can hold half of the contents of my bathroom :)

Luckily for everyone reading, I had a feis last weekend, so my dance bag is remarkably cleaner than usual. So, let's take a peek at what was in my bag yesterday:

So here she is! Totally and completely stuffed to the gills and the zipper is only about 75% functional, but it's nice and compact, so I know my limits on how much of my dance items I can squish in there...

Should we open up the zipper and see what is inside? I have to admit, I was frightened to look...

Looks pretty kosher to me, let's keep going...

Ahh, yes... the Irish Dance essentials! Here we have my very old hardshoes that I refuse to give up. I am a stubborn mule about them; they are my BABIES and I will not break in new shoes *pout* We also have my practice ghillies and my feis gillies. Also shown are my 4 pairs of elastics to keep my hardshoes on my narrow "boat" feet.

Here we have some "feis leftovers". They generally don't stay in my bag too long after a competition, so I can make room for other unnecessary items! Shown are my lovely mint green bloomers, a hair doughnut so I can find my inner Marie Antoinette, 1 hair elastic, and 1 bottle of Rimmel Sun Shimmer. I use my Rimmel as "touch up" tanner, as I usually do a horrible job with my self tanner. I'm so pale I have to start tanning 3 evenings in a row before a feis.

Fairly self explanatory ;) I like to not offend my fellow dance mates with questionable scent sensations after my 400th Drunken Gauger set in a row...

I'd like to call this picture my "Ode to being an 'OLD' Senior Lady". Ibuprofen for those muscular aches and pains and/or a headache from 12 pairs of feet dancing in hardshoes at one time, my inhaler for when my exercise induced asthma comes out to play (Usually at the most inopportune time, like at the Worlds) and Biofreeze, which is the magic that pushes me through each dance class.

Continuing with my tired Senior Lady theme: Cough drops to keep my wee lungs open and actually processing air so I can finish my reel without collapsing mid step,as well as my ENERGY BOOSTERS, so I can keep up with those little wipper snappers (U8's and U9's) who keep on dancing even after their turns! We have a lemon protein bar, some delicious (NOT) orange energy Gu, and a packet of Gatorade!

Tissues! For all those moments in your life, like: Dance Class: *sob* I cant, I just can't do the hornpipe stamina again, please put me out of my misery. Feis: *whimper* I can't believe I just danced off the stage (been there, done that twice in one feis season) or why didn't anyone tell me I had lipstick all over my teeth? On the way HOME from dance class: *sniffle* Why does "Chariots of Fire" make me emotional every time I listen to it?!?

Handy tools of the trade! Gaffers tape that I slather all over my shoes to at least try to prevent me from falling on my toosh, one fabulous blister band aid, and scissors that are useful for much more than just cutting tape, shoelaces, clothing strings...

You can never have too many of these! Bobby pins help me attempt to keep my curly, unruly ginger POOF in line from start to finish at class or a feis.

The randoms!! Arguably the best finds in any dance bag, as it makes me wonder "What was I thinking when I placed that item in there?" I spy with my Ginger eye: my practice and general usage iPod, (I am an Irish Dance music JUNKIE, I constantly need fresh tunes or I get bored) Boots brand facial cleansing wipes that are particularly useful post-feis before going out to dinner, shoe polish for my held together with "love and tape" shoes, 1 empty bottle of sock glue, a headband to again help keep my hair out of my face, and a set of iPod speaker parts... the parts for the speaker whose power supply blew out a year ago, whoops :-x

And LAST but certainly not LEAST

Antibacterial spray: Because small children, though adorable and endearing, are full of lovely germs ;) I spray liberally before, during, and after class. Sometimes I spray their hands too!

Just to make everyone giggle a bit more, I have BONUS FOOTAGE of two of the shelves in my apartment bathroom! I can count 8 personal health/injury care products in the photos below. How many do can you find? *hint* One of the items is Tums, which are for pre-dance class or pre-feis nerves, haha.

I couldn't believe I had all of those products just sitting on the shelf. I couldn't make up that arrangement if I tried! All my non-dance friends get a great giggle looking at what's in my apartment. Therapy wobble boards, ice packs, muscle rub... I think that's what most young adults have in their apartment, right?!? * crickets chirp loudly*

*******************************************************************************

Not to end this month's blog on a "Debbie Downer" note, but Aly and Nic have graciously given me the opportunity to share my thoughts, so here I go:

As some of you may know, my 21 year old brother Scott, the ONLY person Oliver (the family cat from January's blog) loved, passed away suddenly a month ago. It has been an extremely emotional month and will be for a long, long time. I want to thank all of my Irish Dance friends for their love, support, online and real hugs, and their friendship. My Irish Dance family is as much of a family as my blood family: Always there for a chat or a shoulder to lean on.

Scott was a brilliant poet and a master of the English language. He had the ability to craft poems so beautiful and so thought provoking that it was astounding. I also needed a dictionary and thesaurus to read them, but that's beside the point ;)

While I'll never do him justice, I'd like to share some of my thoughts:

Carpe Diem! Do what you love and always follow your dreams. Take the time to tell the people you love how MUCH you love them. Don't sit around waiting for life to happen, go and DO it! If you have always wanted to go skydiving, pick up the phone and make an appointment.

At the end of a bad feis or a plain old "no good, very bad" day, just remember that a brand new day is right around the corner. Laugh, live, love and ENJOY LIFE!!!

Also, a little Scotty-ism: Always dress smashingly from head to toe; you never know what occasion you may need to be prepared for. ;)

I take comfort that I now have a very special guardian angel watching over me. Scott, look out for me buddy. I miss and love you!

******************************************************************************

So, what does everyone have in their dance bags? Any interesting finds?

Until next month my friends!

Keep on jiggin!

Colleen

See Colleen's January post here! And stay tuned for March's issue, coming soon!

Crafty For A Cause: Album Of Life And Love

2010-02-14T18:37:00.005-05:00

As some of you may be aware, we've got a fabulous new crafter here at I Heart That! Dance: Head of Papercrafting and Senior VP in charge of Things Which Require Gluing, Laura Church! Proud mom to both a Irish dancing daughter and son, she'll be filling out our shop with her amazing cards, scrapbook kits and other fun stuff during the coming year.

And we are extra happy to introduce her work by blogging about a wonderful charity effort she is involved with: The Boom Effect. "Sonic Boom" is the alias of the daughter of podcasting pioneer Tee Morris, co-creator of Podiobooks.com, writer of four social media books, and the first novelist to serialise his novel.

Tee's wife Natalie passed away suddenly on January 5th, 2010, leaving him raising his daughter alone. From The Boom Effect:

The podcasting, writing, and social media community gathered around and within days had raised over $10,000 to cover funeral expenses and other pressing bills Tee was facing. This response was incredible, and showed just how much Tee has touched the lives of others.

However now, as a community we are turning our attention to Sonic Boom’s future. She is only five now, and relying on Tee to provide everything for her. We have the aim of providing a trust buffer for her, so that she can go to college if she wants.

Nothing is going to replace her mother, but the funds raised will give more opportunities . So writers, podcasters and creative types of all stripes are offering up items for auction.

Laura, a self-proclaimed Podiobooks addict, has donated one of her amazing pre-made scrapbooks for this auction -- her page for the event can be found here:

http://www.theboomeffect.org/?p=219

The auction will occur online during the webathon February 27th in the 11am-12pm Crafts timeslot!

For all the details on how to bid on this or any of the other great items in the auction check out the Info For Bidders!

Lots more images of Laura's Album of Life and Love can be seen on her Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23343036@N07/

And stay tuned to the shop for Laura's exclusive new IHTD products!

The Ginger Diaries: A four legged's pal's mission to thwart my Irish Dance stardom!

2010-01-23T23:22:00.038-05:00

Hello again everyone. Happy 2010!

Now I’d like to introduce you to a very special member of my household..

Meet Oliver

*holds a few seconds for a collective “awww”: 5, 4, 3, 2…*

Ok,now that you have that out of your system…

Oliver is the "family" cat that lives at my parents’ house. I certainly wouldn’t want to claim sole ownership of the cute yet incorrigible little fuzzball.

I travel to and stay my parents house to attend dance class on the weekends, as I live an hour away from one of my school’s locations. Oliver only has to tolerate me on the weekends.

Oliver is not a people person. He’s not a mean or outwardly vicious cat; he’s just a cat with a fierce independence streak. Oliver doesn't sit in laps, nor does he really like to be pet or loved by people (The only person he really adores in the family is one of my brothers, the middle child). He’s quite content to find a hiding place in the house or claim ownership to any bed he fancies, much like Goldilocks. He then will give you annoyed look if you try, to say sleep in your own bed, when he’s occupying it, much like this:

Oliver and I are like oil and vinegar. I tend to “love him up” a tad too much. An extra hug here or there really ruffles his feathers. He only goes into my room for my bed, since I’m not there most of the time, or to look out the window to dream of being a free cat in the great outdoors.

"Please, someone... anyone.. let me outta here!!!!"

For the most part, he avoids me like the plague and trots very quickly away from me if I’m in his general direction (thanks to my affinity for forehead kisses).. except in one special situation ;)

The basement in the house is his domain. It houses all of his basic needs (food, restroom, toys) plus oodles of hiding spaces. The only place he really wants to “play” is in the basement, which unfortunately for me, is the only place I can practice when I’m here on the weekend.

The fact that I’m occupying his basement whilst practicing makes Oliver think that I’m there to cater to his every whim; I can’t very well shut him out of his “room”, so practicing becomes somewhat of a challenge, as I’d like to illustrate below.

Picture this: It’s a cold January evening and a fire has been set at the hearth.

Hmm, does anyone see Oliver basking in the glow of the flames?!?

Well… maybe he’s enjoying the peace and solitude of his personal kitty bed in the kitchen?

Nope! He must be on the move, maybe hiding under a bed or near a heat register… I guess I’m in the clear to practice!

I did have my camera running during a few test trebles. Usually this gets him running into the basement from wherever he may be lurking. Unfortunately, like most animals, they don't do something when you want to catch them in the act.

However, just a mere 10 seconds later, a certain someone appeared, trying to lure me into playing by showing some affection, instead of practicing my hornpipe drills!

Please excuse the nasally Northern voice. (Anyone want to hazard a guess at where exactly I'm from based on my accent?) You never really know how horrible you sound till you get it on camera! *mucho embarrassing*

So, being a dedicated dancer, I continued my quest to get some work done by ignoring my practicing "buddy"...

As you will see below, Oliver stalks in the background during my practice sessions, usually looking pathetically at his favorite little orange ball and then glancing longingly at me, hoping against hope that I will stop my work and play a little game of fetch. He is also fascinated with the mirror that I have in front of my singular floorboard to practice. He has come dangerously close to knocking the whole thing over.

Anytime I stop to: think about what I want to work on next, have a sip of water, or change music from my hornpipe to my set, he will come up and rub against my legs to attract my attention. Yes, this is the same feline that runs away from me at any other opportunity.

In the clip below, he also manages to knock over the camera…he’s lucky it just fell back on the chair:

I really hope my TC's don't find this.. sorry about the arms and hand, it was for demo purposes only ;) :-x *nervous giggle*

So in the end, I really do think that deep down, Oliver has a secret evil plan to make sure I can never get a good practice session done when I’m at home. Thanks to my little fuzzy friend, it’s a pretty safe bet I’ll never be the next Michael Flatley ;)

Maybe he’d be a little nicer to me if I didn’t do things like THIS:

Don't you wish your pets had thought bubbles? I'm not sure I'd like to know what he's thinking anyway ;)

Until next time, keep jiggin'!

Colleen

Read Colleen's February post here! Or check out her intro here!

I Heart That! Dance welcomes a new monthly blogger!

2009-12-22T07:52:00.004-05:00

Are you sick of the holiday hustle and bustle, shoveling snow/putting up decorations, and the crowds at the mall? Worried about how many holiday cookies you can consume and still fit into your costume?

Are your dancers’ toes itching to jig in their snowman adorned woolen socks? Can’t wait to hear the sounds of accordions and fiddles drifting out of a school gymnasium on a Saturday afternoon at a feis?

Never fear!

Starting in 2010, sit back and relax and read the monthly musings of a Senior Lady’s adventures in Irish Dance!

My name is Colleen aka Ginger (ginger pants, ginger snap, you get the drift..)

Your friendly guest blogger jumping on the beach in San Diego

I’ve had the great fortune to be in the Irish Dance world for over 14 years, traveling the world and doing what I love.

Stay tuned for hints, tips, and tricks of the Irish Dance trade, as well as a story or two on fascinating topics as “Fake hair and You: How to change your hair to any color of the rainbow in as little as two minutes” and “New Brand Name Irish Dance Dress = Raisin Bran for dinner”.

See you in 2010!

Colleen

Check out Colleen's January post here!

Cyber Monday? Who cares?

2009-11-30T08:46:00.000-05:00

But it IS St. Andrew's Day, so we're having a BOGO! Buy one of our in-stock items in our Artfire shop:

http://iheartthatdance.artfire.com

and get a second item of equal or lesser value for 50% off! AND you can still use our 10% off discount code on your entire order!

The sale will run until midnight EST TODAY ONLY Monday November 30th.

Now for some fine print: The 50% is off the ORIGINAL price of the item. Remember to use the coupon code for the 10% on checkout, and we will refund the 50% off one item once we get the receipt from Paypal. We can also send a revised invoice if you prefer so you don't have to pay first and get refunded, but we won't remove the item from the shop until payment is complete. If you want to do it this way just send us an message right on ArtFire via the Contact Artisan button with the items you want or an email directly at

thegirls@iheartthatdance.com

Thanks for looking and happy shopping!

The Sun Will Come Out.. Tomorrow

2009-11-21T12:10:00.010-05:00

Well, according to the current weather forecast anyway. The point being, it is not out TODAY, which is the day I had planned to take photos of all our stock items and list them in our Artfire shop.

But, with deadlines fast approaching for shipping (see this post) I really want to let you guys know what we've got in stock and ready to ship! So I'm going to post a list -- if you want anything, just send us an email at thegirls@iheartthatdance.com and we will send you a link to make the credit card payment.

If you'd like to see a picture of something, just let me know and I can snap a quick one -- it's taking the e-commerce worthy fancy schmancy ones that take sunny days and lots of time.

Now for the list (tartans used in applique are listed where applicable). Links will be added as the items become available over at Artfire (note the prices there are in USD)!

Pajama Pants: $25 Canadian + shipping & tax where applicable

Long-Sleeve Shrugs: $35 Canadian + shipping & tax where applicable

Legwarmers: $30 Canadian + shipping & tax where applicable

Regular Length (18"), Black, baby blue stripes, royal blue & silver shamrock embellishment

Messenger Bag: $45 Canadian + shipping & tax where applicable

Open-Top Tote: $40 Canadian + shipping & tax where applicable

Practice Mat Bag: $35 Canadian + shipping & tax where applicable

Rockstar design, Dress Royal Menzies (royal blue & white) tartan applique, Navy Twill

Deluxe Makeup Bag: $25 Canadian + shipping & tax where applicable

Sword Carry Case: $35 Canadian + shipping & tax where applicable

Throw Pillow Cover: $17.50 Canadian + shipping & tax where applicable

In addition to the things listed here, we also have a wide variety of MP3 player felted cozies (like this one), Zippy makeup pouches and hair accessories in stock! Just send us an email at

thegirls@iheartthatdance.com

if you are looking for something in particular!

Wheeee!

2009-11-17T14:38:00.003-05:00

All your Christmas shopping problems solved -- come check out the great offerings from the vendors at Diddlyi! Plenty of special deals for Diddlyi members too!

Click on the banner to go to the main catalog page or come check us out here:

http://mag.diddlyi.com/2009/11/gift-ideas-from-i-heart-that-dance/

REMEMBER: Ordering deadlines for Christmas are fast approaching! See our Shipping Deadlines post for more details.

Shipping Deadlines!

2009-11-13T22:42:00.004-05:00

Hoping to get it in time for Christmas? Here are our ordering deadlines:

These are based on the holiday shipping information from Canada Post for regular parcel service (expedited within Canada). **EXCEPTION** International surface shipping takes 4-6 weeks, so that deadline has passed for custom orders. The dates shown in the chart are for air shipping -- please contact us for a quote!

Missed the deadline? We've got options!

1) Buy a Gift Certificate from the online store! You get the confirmation and web code in your email right away.

2) We can certainly finish your custom order before Christmas past this deadline, and would be happy to email photos of the finished product to wrap up and put under the tree. We will also ship ASAP in the hopes that it will get there on time!

3) We will ship using overnight and 2-day courier options where available -- please contact us for a quote!

Featured Items For Irish Dancers Part Deux

2009-11-11T13:57:00.007-05:00

Good afternoon IHTD shoppers! Here are the last two products destined for the inaugural issue of the Diddlyi Christmas Catalog:

Pajama Pants

Stay comfy and warm with these 100% cotton flannelette pajama pants in a selection of cute colours and embroidered with your choice of text and design! Any five-letter or less word is included in the price so YOU choose anything you like to make your pants one-of-a-kind. Additional letters available at a cost of $1.50 Canadian.

Ready to order? Visit the homepage:
http://www.iheartthatdance.com
Click on Knitwear & Clothing then PJ Pants
$25 Canadian + tax & shipping

Tote Bags

Great for carting around your dance stuff or anything else, these durable and spacious tote bags can be embroidered in your choice of five Celtic designs or your monogram. Match your solo or just pick your favourite colours -- a wide range of fabric choices for the applique means we can make YOUR bag perfect for YOU!

Ready to order? Visit the homepage:
http://www.iheartthatdance.com
Click on Bags then Open-Top Tote Bags
$40 Canadian + tax & shipping

And don't forget -- these are just a few of the great gifts for dancers we have available this holiday season! Check out our online store for dress bags, dress protectors, messenger bags, knitwear, bath & body and dance-proof mineral makeup too!

Featured Items For Irish Dancers

2009-11-09T23:15:00.006-05:00

Well, it's that time of year y'all. A chill is in the air, kids are on their best behaviour and everywhere you look it's all sparkle and the colours of the season. Yes, that's right, it's time for... the Oireachtas!

Ha, gotcha :D OK, in all seriousness, I know many of you are wondering what to do this holiday season to treat yourself or your favourite dancer, say thank you to the TC who saw you through another year of competition or to make sure your dancing BFF gets the perfect gift. Well, we're here to help.... and it's not just us!

Coming soon, the fabulous folks over at Diddlyi will be presenting an all-ID Christmas Catalog (you know, like Sears, only probably with more rhinestones :) ) Those of us who are vendors over there will be participating to present some of our gift ideas for you guys, plus there will be some great contests with AMAZING prizes! So if you are not a member of the Diddlyi community don't wait to join in the festivities --sign up here:

http://www.diddlyi.com/

In the meantime, I can at least tell you what we'll be featuring in the catalog! Based on an informal poll of the lovely IDers and ID dance moms over on Twitter, here's the first few items we have decided to go with:

Ghillie Slippers

They really are as comfy as they look :) Totally adorable ghillie style slippers are hand-knitted from 100% wool and felted to your size!

Ready to order? Visit the homepage:

http://www.iheartthatdance.com

Click on Knitwear & Clothing, and then Ghillie Slippers

$30 Canadian + tax & shipping

Legwarmers

A dancer favourite! Knit with very soft yarn to keep your legs toasty warm during warm ups and between dances (plus great for keeping your poodle socks clean at a feis). There's an adjustable elastic tucked into the cuff at the top, so they are sure to stay up! Comes in either plain or striped and decorated with your choice of embellishment if you like: flowers, hearts, stars, or shamrocks.

Ready to order? Visit the homepage:

http://www.iheartthatdance.com

Click on Knitwear & Clothing, and then Legwarmers

$30 Canadian + tax & shipping

Wig Bag

Keep your Irish dance wig frizz free with this satin lined bag. Drawstring handle closure -- opens flat so you don't have to stuff your wig in there and ruin the curl. Applique on the bottom in one of our signature designs or your monogram. The photo on the far right is my wig, cooperatively modelling for the wig bag shoot -- note that the bag isn't fully open here.

Ready to order? Visit the homepage:

http://www.iheartthatdance.com

Click on Bags, and then Wig Bag

$20- $25 Canadian + tax & shipping

Check back soon for our next installment of featured items!

This Is Why There Has Been No Blog Posts Lately

2009-11-08T20:48:00.001-05:00

Just follow the pink arrows :)

This is Laura, otherwise known as Lil Sprout, and she's been keeping me on my toes since August 15th :) So not so much time for blogging :P

But we're getting back into the swing of things and so there's LOTS of good stuff to come -- promise!

I Heart My Dance Parent Photo + Story Contest Winners!

2009-07-03T18:39:00.009-04:00

The Girls @ IHTD are so happy to announce the results of our I Heart My Dance Parent Story and Photo Contest!

UNDER 17 WINNER: Kelly-Anne C.

No one other than me in my small family of three, my mom, my dad and I, dance, but everyone shares the spirit. Since the age of three, both of my parents have been very supportive of my Irish dancing. My mom got me started into it, and was the one that would bring me to competitions, class, and shows. Things were great.

When I was about ten years old, my mom went through a rough time medically. She had a less than perfect medical history to begin with, but at this time a doctor put her on a high does of medication, which gave her seizures. My mom lost her license, and her freedom. Simple things are now a chore, harder than ever. My mom lost one of her greatest joys, that was being able to attend every class, every competition, and every show. As hard as she tries to attend everything she can, it is very difficult for her. My dad pulled through amazingly well. He brings me to every competition he can possibly get to, to multiple classes a week. Both my parents were very supportive in my transferring of schools this past summer.

I find it amazing everything that they will do anything for my dancing, just because it is something that I love so much. Even through the recession: my dad losing his job, and our family finding it hard to pull things together, they found a way to still send me to dance. My dad has since gotten a job and my family is starting to recover. He is bringing me to more competitions, because he knows that that is something I enjoy.

I am a dancer in the Preliminary Championship level. I'm not used to placing, and when I started to place recently, my dad would be the first one up in the front – taking pictures of me, trying as hard as he can to catch my smiling face. A part of me knows that I owe my improvement in dancing to him. He helps me in more ways than he knows, driving me to practice, or lending me the car to go; paying for whatever I need for dancing; putting up with the repetitive accordion music he listens to day in and day out; building me a practice stage, taking me for runs to build up my stamina... there is so much more, but I can barely name everything that he does for me and my dancing. Without my parents, I wouldn't be where I am now in my dancing career, and I hope they are with me in this right until the end.

UNDER 17 RUNNER-UP: Emily C.

My mom is the reason I make it through any competition alive. She sees to it that my bun is in place, my outfit is neat, and every inch of visible skin is slathered with sunscreen. She helps me focus, talking to me when I need to talk and warding other people off when I need to be quiet. She is always proud and supportive, whether I win it all or don’t even place.

But these aren’t the best things my mom does for me. She supports me even more when it’s not competition time. She drives me four hours away once a month for dance classes, and in between she pushes me to do my best. She never lets me get away with “that’ll do,” but always makes sure I work as hard as I possibly can. She manages to balance challenging and supporting, pushing and loving. I don’t know how she does it.

All of these are wonderful, and they are all reasons why I “heart” my dance mom. But they aren’t the biggest reason. The biggest reason is abstract, intangible: it’s the life lessons she never fails to impart. “It’s your attitude – not your prizes – that matters most.” “Do your best, and I’ll be proud of you.” And most of all, “If the journey isn’t fun, it’s not worth it.”

This is what will still be with me years from now, when my turnout is gone, my elevation has faded, and my point has vanished. And that’s why I love my dance mom.

WINNER OVER 18: Hannah J.

I would like to nominate my Mom, Heather, for the I Heart My Dance Parent contest. My Dad passed away almost three years ago, and my Mom has done everything she can to keep me in the Irish dance scene. Although she hasn't come to a feis with me in many years, she stays by the phone to hear how I've done at each competition. She attends all of my dance dramas each year, and often helps fund part of my competitions since I have to travel to attend feisanna.

With my Dad's death, my Mom has had to take on many extra responsibilities, but she never ceases to remember how much Irish dance means to me. Her support has been invaluable! I come home from class each night to her waiting to hear how I did, and any stories I have to tell. She is truly an inspiration, and this summer she is hoping to make a vacation of my next feis; this is very exciting, and I know it would mean even more if she won this contest and could see just how much I appreciate all she does for our family. I love you, Mom; you rock my poodle socks!

Congratulations to our winners, and a BIG thank-you to all who entered -- as usual you made our choice very very difficult!

Stay tuned to the blog for your next contest and chance to win some great merchandise from I Heart That! Dance -- or sign up for the newsletter and get advance notice delivered right to your inbox (sign-up is in the green box right here on the blog in the right hand column).

Guess where the TransCanada Etsy Team Road Trip is now?

2009-06-26T15:36:00.003-04:00

It's visiting us! Check out the whole post here:

http://transcanadaetsyteam.blogspot.com/2009/06/trans-canada-road-trip-iheartthatdance.html

and don't forget to take advantage of our great Canada Day Promotion -- all the details are here:

http://iheartthatdance.blogspot.com/2009/06/summers-here-ready-for-road-trip.html

Thanks for looking! :)

Meet Our Nutritionist!

2009-06-25T14:37:00.005-04:00

The Girls @ IHTD are so excited to present our latest blog feature -- introducing Registered Holistic Nutritionist Sarah Sinclair!

Sarah Says: It wasn’t until I started attending Highland Dance competitions on a regular basis, accompanying my boyfriend-now-husband “Glen the Piper”, that I began to appreciate dancing as not just an art form and expression of culture but as a sport. At first I was taken with the beautiful traditional costumes, the stories that accompanied the various dances and the unique sound of the pipes. But as I became more familiar with the steps, movements and nuances – it became very clear that this was no “hobby”. This was indeed a sport – just like any you’d see at the Olympics – and certainly just as physically and mentally demanding. Having a daughter who took lessons for two years, I started to learn about the importance of daily practice, regular instructional classes and almost weekly competitions. A dancers’ life is not his/her own – s/he dedicates hours every day on his/her craft.

However as time passed, I started to notice that one very important element seemed to be missing from the dancer’s “toolkit”. Ask any world-class athlete about their training and they will tell you that they keep a coach, manager, psychotherapist, RMT (Registered Massage Therapist) and Nutritionist in their corner. If you want to have world-class results, you’ve got to train like a world-class athlete. Now, before you get scared off and think – “OMG, this is going to be so hard” let me tell you a little about myself. I am a Registered Holistic Nutritionist – so what the heck is that? A RHN is professionally trained to consult with individuals about their dietary needs. We look at each person individually since we believe that everyone has different needs, and believe in the body’s innate ability to heal itself when provided with the proper nutrients. Having said that, there are certain “rules” that apply to most everyone – and those will be discussed here.

When you look in the mirror – what you see is 10% determined by genetics (your basic shape and the way your weight is distributed), 10% determined by level of activity (the amount of muscle tone) and a whopping 80% determined by your diet. Diet not only affects the amount and type of fat we store, but also your energy levels, moods, and overall health.

Over the next few months, this five-part series will discuss several different nutritional aspects crucial to the success and health of athletic dancers. Each part will also include “homework” – something that you can do right away to improve your current health and performance.

Part #1 The Importance of Proper Hydration

Part #2 Avoiding Illness to Maximize Training and Performance

Part #3 Achieving Higher Levels of Energy and Motivation

Part #4 Fueling the Body During Training/Practice Season

Part #5 Fueling the Body on Competition Day

So stayed tuned right here for more! We'll be bringing you Sarah's posts about once a month, with Part 1 coming the first week of July. If you are a Highland dancer attending SDCCS 2009 pop by our booth to pick up an advance copy!

Sarah R. Sinclair RHN is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist living and practicing in the London Ontario area. She graduated with Honors from the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition and is available to consult with individuals about their specific nutritional needs, speak to groups on a variety of health related topics and provide articles for publication. Sarah believes that optimum health and the avoidance of disease can be achieved simply and effortlessly by making small, manageable changes to one’s diet and lifestyle. Sarah can be reached at (519) 474-9169, or emailed by clicking here.

Can’t wait to get started?

Try this: Start every morning with a piece of fruit instead of juice. The fibre found in the flesh of the fruit will help keep you feeling fuller longer, and increase the bulk in your digestive system leading to healthier bowel movements. Processing fruit into juice results in the loss of many nutrients. Giving your body these extra vitamins first thing in the morning gets you started off right. Eat the fruit about 20 minutes before any other foods since it digests much quicker.

Summer's Here! Ready for a Road Trip?

2009-06-20T10:08:00.007-04:00

Join the TransCanada Etsy Street Team for their cross-country celebration of Canada Day this year to learn a bit about our country, a lot about our artisans and take advantage of some great specials. And what road trip would be complete without some souvenirs? We've got two amazing prizes on offer for participating buyers -- a fabulous goodie bag valued at over $350 US and a gorgeous t-shirt rug designed and woven by Pegg of Five Forty from t-shirts donated by team members from all across the country. Just check these prizes out!

One of the things that makes our team special is its diversity of sellers: we have textile and fiber artists, soapers, paper-crafters, book-binders, jewelry makers and more, with many of our team members focusing their efforts on eco-friendly and sustainable crafting. There are 20 great participating shops -- spending $10 US in any of these listed during the promotion gets you one ticket into the raffle for our prizes (winners to be announced July 2nd). Or you can get one ticket without purchase by writing a short essay describing your favourite Canadian thing (place, person, food, book, band, artist, etc). Tell us why you love it and what it means to you, then send in your entry by contacting Sara of PiggyTails Stationary through her shop.

You will need to sign up for an Etsy account if you haven't already -- it's free and easy! Check out the step by step instructions here:

Register for Etsy Now!

Then go peruse the fabulous offerings from our All-Canadian team :)

Jewelry and Accessories:
Enthral.etsy.com
stringmealong.etsy.com
seaglassdesigns.etsy.com
designedbyrj.etsy.com
offthehooks.etsy.com

Handbags:
iheartthatdance.etsy.com
laurabucci.etsy.com
rikrak.etsy.com
paisleybaby.etsy.com

Cards and Journals:
pixel8ed.etsy.com
MyHandboundBooks.etsy.com
piggytailsstationary.etsy.com
prairiepeasant.etsy.com

Bath & Body:
carvelcountrysoaps.etsy.com
bovinebubbles.etsy.com

Clothes:
tangente.etsy.com
inkyspider.etsy.com
willowcatvintage.etsy.com

House and Home:
fiveforty.etsy.com
kootsac.etsy.com

Handmade Supplies:
tooaquarius.etsy.com
claychicks.etsy.com
rjcharms.etsy.com

Thanks so much for looking! Stay tuned to the TransCanada Team Blog for features on all of these artists during the promotion -- and don't hesitate to contact us if there are any questions, as always, we're here to help :)

Summer Vacation!

2009-06-12T13:38:00.006-04:00

Well, sort of :) Maggie and the Ferocious Beast (aka Ally's sewing machine and serger) are getting some well deserved time off this coming summer when Ally has her baby in August. So this means that the sewing side of the business will be on hiatus until mid-October when we start to accept custom sewing orders again for Christmas.

So the last day to place orders for custom sewing items will be July 5th. To encourage early orders, we're offering 15% off any custom sewing items on orders placed before June 30th (in-stock items not eligible).

Orders can be placed on the website here:
I Heart That! Dance Online Store

Here are the important dates!

June 15th
Last day to order for pickup at Scotdance Canada Championship Series 2009! Let us know in the Message to Seller box on the Checkout page if you want to pick up your order at the competition and we will refund any shipping charges. Please note, only limited custom sewing orders will be accepted at SDCCS to ensure on-time delivery!

June 30th
Last day to order for 15% off custom sewing! Use the code IHTDCAN in the Message to Seller box on the Checkout page.

July 5th
Final day to order custom sewing items until October 2009!

I Heart My Dance Parent! Story and Photo Contest

2009-05-11T08:46:00.005-04:00

With Mother's Day just passed and Father's Day around the corner, it wasn't hard for Nic and I to choose the theme for our next contest :) We think it's high time to show some appreciation for the hardworking folks who help make the dance world go 'round -- the parents!

So here's the deal! Send a short story (500 words or less, and less is really OK :) ) telling us why your dance parent means so much to you, and how they've influenced your dancing experience. Entries must be accompanied by at least one photo of you and your dance parent, but you can always send more pictures. Email your entries to:

ihtdcontests@gmail.com

Entries are due June 21st!
Winning entries will receive a $30 credit to the IHTD store (plus free shipping on that order) and be published on the blog and website!

Now for the rules:

1) This contest is open to both Highland and Irish dancers this time, but you must be a dancer or a former dancer and write the story yourself (little ones can get some help typing from a parent or friend, but the words must be theirs!)

2) There will be three categories divided by age, roughly a) under 10 years old, b) 11 to under 16 years old and c) 16 and over. The final divisions will be done depending on the number of entries we receive to give all entries the best chance at winning a prize, and if we get a lot of entries we will offer runner-up prizes in each category as well.

3) Your "dance parent" doesn't have to be your Mom or Dad -- it can be any person you feel supported you in that parental way for a significant part of your dance career. So Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles, Brothers, Sisters, Family Friends, etc are all eligible. Lucky enough to have more than one fabulous dance parent in your life? Write about them both!

4) The only person NOT eligible this time is your teacher! Why? We'll be having a special contest later in the year to honour them, so save your great teacher stories and pictures for then.

5) As always, if you win the contest we will need permission from anyone featured in the photo before publishing, so PLEASE include their email addresses with your entry.

Feel free to send us an email if you've got any questions, we're happy to help as always :)

And don't forget! Sign up for the newsletter (little green box in the right-hand column here on the blog) before May 15th to get the free shipping code!

Spammers We Ain't

2009-05-06T09:00:00.003-04:00

I hate email spam. HATE it. It clogs my inbox, and I actually resent the 5.6 seconds it takes to delete and/or unsubscribe. Plus the sneaking suspicion that as soon as I unsubscribe from Big Corporation's Annoying Email List they immediately sell my address to someone selling generic drugs. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way.

So why should you subscribe to OUR newsletter?

Well, because we're not spam :) You'll hear from us only about once a month, the newsletter will be chock-full of useful information about new products, informational features, contests and upcoming sales PLUS as a thank-you for being a loyal reader we'll have regular newsletter-only specials. And if you decide it's not for you and you unsubscribe, nobody but nobody is ever getting your email from little old us.

Signing up is easy-squeezy -- there's a green box right here on the blog in the right hand column. Just fill out the required fields and press Submit and you're good to go. You will be sent a confirmation email immediately with a link for you to confirm your subscription -- you will NOT receive the newsletter until you've confirmed. As a thank-you for signing up we're offering 25% off the purchase price of one item ordered before June 30th (your confirmation email will have the code to use).

Our inaugural issue will go out May 15th! And to celebrate our brand new newsletter we are offering free shipping for a limited time to subscribers -- note that you must sign up for the newsletter before May 15th to receive the newsletter with the free shipping code!

The Big Winners!

2009-05-03T19:40:00.000-04:00

Drumroll please! We here at IHTD are very very pleased to announce the results of our first-ever Oireachtas Rince Na Cruinne Photo Contest! We had loads of great entries, but we HAD to choose winners and the following photos won our hearts with their smiley faces and sweet sentiments. We just KNEW that some of the best folks around were Irish dancers, just scroll on down for the proof in pictures!

WINNER ($50 Prize) : Team Spirit!

In the photo: Kate, Darcy, Kelly and Erin, Rince na Tiarna
Photo and caption by: T. Regan

"This is what the WORLDS experience was for us -- a culmination of 10 years of friendship, love and lots of fun together!"

RUNNER-UP ($25 Prize): Some Brotherly (and Sisterly!) Love From Philly

In the photo: Patrick and Brigid
Photo and caption by: PER

"After almost thirteen years in Irish Dancing, the thrill of both children dancing at the same Worlds, the first one in the United States and more importantly, that they didn't mind posing together for a photo for their mom. Taken in the center atrium at the Kimmel Center by me on Friday, April 10 after the 19 - 20 Men's first two rounds, and after the U16 Ceili first recall round (which was at the Marriot, my daughter ran the five blocks after her team had danced in order to catch her brother's first round)."

RUNNER-UP ($25 Prize): Duct Tape Really Does Work For Everything!

In the photo: John Cuilliane and three generations of Murphy Irish Dancers. Mary Jo, Tricia and Michael (Michael is only 5 years old and really enjoyed watching the dancers!)
Photo and caption by: E. O'Connor

"The highlight of my Worlds experience in Philly was when our student, Andria C., was presented with her medal and she got to take a photo (see second photo attached below) with our friend, John Culliane. John was brilliant as Master of Ceremonies during the Ladies 18 - 19 year old competition. And with a large competition like this one, his sense of humor made the day! During this competition, a lot of head bands, glitter, beads/sequins and bobby pins were flying off of the competitors onto the stage. John came up with a great idea and made a big ball of duct tape (shown in the photo) to help him collect all of these items so that the ladies would not slip. At one point in the competition, he said that since we already have the sock glue, we will now need to invent some hair pin glue! The audience roared in laughter."

In the photo: John Cuilliane and Andria C.
Photo by: E. O'Connor

A BIG congratulations to all of our winners and thank-you to ALL of you who submitted your fabulous photos for consideration, we will definitely be doing this again next year :)

Stay tuned to the blog for future contests and your chance to win more great prizes from I Heart That! Dance!

Go raibh maith agat! Or, THANK YOU!

2009-04-15T20:46:00.000-04:00

Wow, what a week :) Worlds is over for another year, and 2009 saw over 6000 dancers attend the historic first ever time this prestigious competition was held in North America. For Nic and I here at IHTD, we were pleased to welcome over 3000 unique visitors here to the blog over the duration of the week!

So our first and biggest "thank you" goes out to fabulous journalist and dancer S.J. (three cheers, woohoo!) Her witty, thoughtful and well-written posts made us feel like we were hanging out sidestage enjoying the Worlds experience right along with her and we are going to miss reading all her observations big time! Many of you felt the same, as about half of our individual visitors returned daily to find out what she was up to (and sometimes more than once a day! Nice to know I'm not the only one with the "obsessive refresh" habit :) ). You can read her article in the Irish Times here! S.J., you're welcome back here at IHTD anytime, and if you ever make it north of the border, the Timmy's is on us ;)

Second on our list of thanks is all those who participated in the Great Worlds TweetOff 2009 -- loads of people took the plunge and signed up for Twitter to follow along with S.J., Diddlyi, "irishdance" and our favourite shutterbug Steph of RincePix among others -- thanks a million to irishdance and Steph for their tireless posting of results despite wonky commentary and occasionally misbehaving Twitter (I know I lost count of how many times I saw the wretched FAILWHALE). I personally heard from a number of dancers and dance parents -- so great to meet all of you, and I hope we can all do this again sometime soon!

And finally, thanks to all our visitors for coming by during your busy day to take a peek -- we hope you enjoyed your stay, had fun reading S.J.'s posts and maybe saw something you liked. We're dancers here ourselves, and we love hearing from you, so if you've got any comments of questions don't hesitate to drop us a line via thegirls@iheartthatdance.com.

And don't forget! If you DID make the trip to Philly this year and took loads of pics, while you're uploading them to your Facebook fire one off to our Photo Contest (deadline April 24th) and win some free stuff!

Reflection on Worlds

2009-04-13T20:52:00.001-04:00

Above: Rince na Tiarna dancers and Dean Crouch (swoon!).

Thanks to the RNT families for sending me these photos to post :)

It was the first day back to the real world for me. I headed into the newsroom and tried catching up on stories I'd put on hold, and I attempted explaining just how amazing Worlds were to my classmates and co-workers.

How do you do that, though?

As a retired Irish dancer, I really appreciated seeing such talent in the competitors at Worlds, and I know just how much sweat and energy they spent perfecting those bicycle jumps, leap overs and pony walks. It was truly mesmerizing to hear the clear, rhythmic trebles at lightning speed. To everyone outside of the Irish dance community, the competitors at Worlds just looked like really good dancers. But to me, and the rest of the Irish dance world, we were in awe of the raw talent and unbelievable dedication of the dancers and their teachers.

I think Dearbhla Lennon had explained Irish dance best when she told me that it is tradition. It means the same as it did to our grandparents, but we've put our own twist on it. I was honored to be part of history when our generation's "twist" was moving the competition to America. I wish my grandpa (who was a very proud Irishmen from Buffalo, NY) had seen the day when Worlds came to the states. I'm sure he'd be first in line for those pricey dance drama tickets :)

Aside from the new tricks and costumes, it was refreshing to see new faces in the vendors area, along with the tried and true vendors who've supplied our shoe buckles, sparkly earrings and bubble socks for decades. Jeanne from Head For The World showed me how the buckles of yesterday have been *blinged out* with crystals and rhinestones. Even the bubble socks are sparkly and fabulous! She even showed me the wig spray that some dancers use to mask their natural hair color and match their wigs. Yowzers. Am I that old? I feel like it was just a few summers ago that I slept uncomfortably with a record-breaking 216 foam curlers in my hair! Ugh, then washing out the tangled knot of hair after dancing all day. Does anyone else remember feeling like they'd gone nearly bald washing out those curls?

It was an exciting reminder of the evolution of the Irish dance community to see new faces in the vendors area too. I met two really sweet girls who are in the beginning stages of starting up BeMe, a company dedicated to providing individualized keepsakes for dancers. Right now, they're concentrating on selling custom Irish dance jewelry boxes. I asked them how it felt to jump into the feis vendor scene when so many of the other vendors are established, recognizable companies. The girls didn't seem to mind being the newbies on the block, and they said that some of the other vendors were extremely helpful and provided advice and friendly conversation.

And, of course, there were the old favorites like Fay's and Rutherford shoes. Memories of my adolescent years as an Irish dancer came flooding back when I saw the stacks of CDs and boxes of Irish chocolate bars. I used to LOVE going to these vendors to scope out the newest dance practice music and grab a mint Aero Bar. For old time's sake, I purchased a CD: Dean Crouch's Top Box. Even though I stopped feisin' years back, I love hearing new twists on classic jigs, reels and hornpipes.

Speaking of Dean, I never did get an interview with him. But I did run into some ecstatic dancers who were fortunate to snag some quality time with Dean. In fact, with their permission, I've posted photos of Rince na Tiarna (Buffalo, NY) dancers and THE Dean above.

Now, I sat through days of dancing at Worlds. Sometimes I'd sit for hours at a time without so much as wiggling my legs. I can't begin to imagine how much effort goes into providing the live music for the dancers. HUGE kudos to the musicians who not only played for hours, but played BEAUTIFULLY. They mixed up the tunes to keep things interesting, and seemed to pour their souls into every bar, making sure each dancer had music just as lovely and melodic as the dancer before. And, if I'm correct, there were two musicians at each stage. It's not every day that you get to hear some of the world's most talented musicians play for hours on end. I'm pretty sure the Drunken Gauger is permanently etched into my brain. I swear I hear it playing in my head as I try to fall asleep, and I lilt it as I walk up the steps at the office.

Here's to hoping Worlds makes it back to North America again soon. I can't imagine another 24 years without experiencing a week like that again.

Sunday. Sunday. Sunday!

2009-04-12T19:59:00.000-04:00

Worlds are wrapping up today, and I'm waiting to hear how the dance drama pans out. Arrived in Syracuse late last night and immediately crashed in my own bed. It was so wonderful being in my own bed, without 20 or so strangers snoring around me :) Ah, the life of a hostel hopper.

As promised yesterday, I have a few updates and some fun stories from my last few days in Philly:

1. Jean Butler rides Amtrak.

We all know how much I love JB, and how exciting it was to meet her. I told everyone, sent Facebook messages, even called my mom back home in Buffalo to tell her I'd met THE gorgeous redhead from Riverdance.

As if there wasn't enough JB excitement in my life, I ended up sitting in the same Amtrak train car as her. I had been waiting at the train station for an hour, when I suddenly saw that distinct red ponytail out of the corner of my eye. It ended up that we were both heading to NYC's Penn Station on Amtrak. So, somewhere near Newark I got up and asked her to sign my press pass. And she remembered me!

"You're Miss Hornpipe," she said to me.

Haha! I can't wait to tell Thomas Miner, the editor at Hornpipe that Jean Butler made a reference to the magazine.

How's that for an amazing end to the most exciting Irish dance week ever?

2. Coca Rocha was not at Worlds. I have the inside scoop!

Also at the Amtrak station, I met a lovely mom and daughter who were heading to NYC to stay with a friend. The two are from Vancouver and were in Philly for Worlds (the daughter competed in the competition for the first time).

I asked them about their trip to NYC, and they informed me that they would be staying with a former Irish dancer from back home, who is now living in NYC as a model. The mother then disclosed that the friend was quite recognizable, a model by the name of Coco Rocha.

Coco Rocha! Recognizable? She's the queen of fashion these days!

I'd reported earlier (via Twitter) that Coco was listed on the Worlds t-shirts as a competitor, and I wondered if this could actually be true.

FALSE.

I asked the duo from Vancouver who told me Coco was nowhere near Philly, and that she was in the Big Apple with a very hectic itinerary. The daughter made a few calls to Coco, who was waiting for their arrival.

So, why list Coco's name on a t-shirt?

She's enrolled in dance classes in NYC--that's true.

Competing at Worlds? Fib.

3. The Rince na Tiarna dancers reflect on cross-cultural Worlds interactions and the funny things the Irish do with their hands.

I popped by the Kimmel Center Sunday morning to squeeze in a few more interviews and wish the Rince na Tiarna dancers good luck for their team dances. The girls were hilarious and candid about the international interactions fostered at Worlds.

They admitted that they love mimicking accents, especially the Irish accent.

And they said you can tell the Irish teams from a mile away. It's all in the hands, they said.

The hands?!

According to the RNT girls, the Irish grasp hands very daintily. Whereas the American girls grab and clutch each other's hands until the feeling is lost in their fingers. They said that backstage the ceili teams harmlessly joke with each other about the stylistic differences among the teams.

The girls also squealed with excitement when I asked them whether they'd run into Dean Crouch. They certainly did. A few of the girls whipped out camera and cell phones to show me the photos of them and Dean. Too cute. I've asked the girls to email the photos to me, so I'll post them once I get them.

4. New vendors on the block?!

In a later post, I'll introduce the gals of BeMe. They make nifty custom creations, like jewelry boxes, specifically for your Irish dancer.

I interviewed the girls earlier in the week and continued to check in with them throughout the week. More info to come, along with photos of some of the cute jewelry boxes featuring spinning Irish dancers (you know, like the spinning ballerina?).

Home. Finally :]

2009-04-11T23:29:00.000-04:00

Just got back to my apartment in Syracuse, NY. Lots of exciting things to update you on, but I must get some sleep, so I'll leave you with a few teasers:

1. Jean Butler rides Amtrak.

2. Coca Rocha was not at Worlds. I have the inside scoop!

3. The Rince na Tiarna dancers reflect on cross-cultural Worlds interactions and the funny things the Irish do with their hands.

4. New vendors on the block?!

And probably a lot more! So check back tomorrow night for some wrap-up posts, highlights from the week and more photos. In the meantime, I've uploaded a few photos courtesy of Photography By Harrington.

A close encounter with Jean Butler. And it was lovely.

2009-04-10T20:51:00.000-04:00

I rounded out a full week in Philadelphia by interviewing my Irish dance idol, Jean Butler.

Yes. THE Jean Butler. The original female lead dancer for Riverdance.

It was an impromptu interview and, I must say, I crept up on her like a cat. I swore I'd seen her watching the senior men competition, but couldn't tell if it was really her. I figured it's Worlds--there are hundreds of gorgeous, thin, tall redheads running around the venue. I got a much clearer look at her when she left the senior ladies competition. And that's when the Jean creepin' really began :)

She was sitting outside the Verizon room with another woman. Jean had gone up to get herself a coffee/tea in the snack line and made her way back to the table. I calmly approached just as she was getting up to grab another packet of sugar. The awkward conversation starter went something like this:

SJ: Excuse me. You're Jean Butler?

JB: Yes, I am.

SJ: Could I ask you a few questions. I'm covering Worlds for Hornpipe Magazine and a few other publications.

JB: (laughs a little) Sure!

She was extremely gracious, considering I totally cut her off while the poor woman was trying to get a packet of sugar. She answered every question thoroughly and honestly, and very clearly. As a journalist, I REALLY appreciated her concise and insightful speech. For such a short interaction (3 minutes max), she gave me lots of good quotes. And she smiles when she talks. It always makes my job easier when I feel like I'm not a total bother.

So, journalistically, I was proud to have stolen a few minutes of Jean's time and managed to get quality quotes (you'll have to read Hornpipe Magazine for that info later!). But I was personally so jazzed to have spoken with THE Jean Butler. This woman is the epitome of an elegant dancer.

Jean, I learned to love the slip jig because of you!

Happening around town...

2009-04-09T22:50:00.000-04:00

Irish dancers have taken over The City of Brotherly Love.

My hostel is a hearty 20-minute walk from the Kimmel Center, but I seem to run into dancers everywhere around here. Just got out of the shower and was asked by a young woman in the bunk across from mine if I was an Irish dancer. It happens that she saw my program on my bed while I was in the shower. She's a newly-minted TCRG who's here for the dinner this weekend, and she's checking out some of the dancers from her old school back in Canada. Seems like an impressive woman. If I'm correct, she's studying astronomy at Harvard, at the graduate level. Smart cookie and an Irish dancer? Recipe for success.

Also, for any Macy's shoppers who love the seasonal window displays, you'll be elated to know that Macy's has dedicated a window to the Worlds! The window is sponsored by Siopa Rince, and it showcases two dresses. I'd heard that they're changing the dresses every so often, but I've only seen the two in the photo above the last two days.

Michael Flatley made his slated appearance this afternoon/evening. I'd been waiting for days to get a confirmation on time and location for his press conference. The CLRG folks were helpful, but my understanding is that a second party actually coordinated Flatley's appearance, and they were responsibility of notifying the press. Unfortunate for them, they did not notify ME. So I can't speak too much to Flatley's message or appearance in general :(

And it looks like the only people exempt from the "no video recording whilst dance in progress" rule are the folks over at Philly's NBC affiliate. They have a video here that shows some dancing and an interview with Seamus O'Se who is coordinating press coverage for CLRG at Worlds.

Try Something New, We Dare You :)

2009-04-09T10:11:00.000-04:00

Getting a new outfit or solo dress? (eep!) Or just looking to update your competition look for 2009? Or maybe, like us, you just got sick of makeup that disappears before your last round, looks fake and cakey, or destroys your sensitive skin. Well, we've got a suggestion for you: Mineral Makeup!

Handmade by 7 Minerals, our all-natural foundations, blushes, bronzers and eyeshadows contain no harsh chemicals or preservatives, making it very gentle on your skin, even when you wear it weekend after weekend. Best of all, it STAYS PUT and looks natural on stage. Oh, and did I mention yet that we offer 140+ colours of eyeshadow? Click here and here for the colour charts!

Here's what our testers are saying:

"This makeup stays on very well. It feels light and smooth. It was easier to put on than my regular feis makeup. I thought I looked good with the full face for dancing..... I loved the [eyeshadow] colors for my solo! I really loved this makeup for dancing. It is very showy and great."

"I used just the blush on her ( she is 8) and thought it was perfect. The color was very light and closely matched her own natural coloring. It blended well so I did not feel she was overdone. I have used Bare Minerals "hint" on her before and liked this color better. The color seemed to stay on even when she "glistened" LOL!"

"This makeup does not smudge or run like the old liquid and cream foundations from my past. If I blot sweat off my brow I don't take half my makeup with it! It also looks more natural in most lighting making it perfect for the younger dancers who don't want to look "made up"..... I like being able to deepen the colors easily or wear them super sheer."

Wanna give it a shot? Now's a great time since for the month of April we're offering the following special: Buy $30 (Canadian) worth of mineral makeup and get the lined Zippy! makeup pouch FREE! An example is shown above (pink with purple heart) but YOU CHOOSE the applique design and colours. And yes, this does include our always-available Deluxe Sample Jars $4.50 each or 3 for $12 (Canadian)!

Ordering is easy! Visit the website and make your choices from the selection in Mineral Makeup. Check out the Zippy! Lined Makeup Pouch page under Accessories to see the available choices for colours and applique, and just include your choice in the "Special Instructions To Seller" box on your checkout page. We'll confirm via email before sending anything.

This offer is good until April 30th!

Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down.

2009-04-08T20:47:00.000-04:00

This is not true for Irish dancers on the Verizon stage.

Seemed like the dancers engaging in lively leaps and terrific trebles all fell victim to a slip, a wipe out, a falter--whatever you want to say. The reality is, the dancers were all over the floor today. It hurt me to watch them hurt themselves.

At one point, the announcer warned the side-stage girls to scrape the bottoms of their shoes on cement before hitting the stage. Still, dancers seemed to do exactly that. HIT the stage. And man, did some of them hit that stage hard. The announcer hypothesized that dancers who'd previously practiced on carpet (the whole venue is practically carpeted) were polishing the bottom of their hard shoes, causing the dancers to lose the friction necessary to stay on their feet while dancing.

My non-ID friend Cindia, who follows me on Twitter, said that it sounded like I was reporting from a wrestling match.

It really did get to the point where someone slipped, fell, slid, flopped or rolled an ankle every time a new set of dancers came on stage. I thought that maybe the floors were getting scuffed up and warn, possibly causing the stage to be slippery.

Who knows what was really happening? It was bad though. Whenever a dancer fell to the floor, the adjudicators would ding a bell and the dancers were called off (or assisted off, if seriously injured) stage. They'd then have to repeat the step later. It seemed like dancers were re-dancing steps all the time.

I hope everyone is OK after such a tumultuous day on the Verizon stage.

On my way home I saw a sign (above) that pretty much sums up my advice for those dancers who haven't yet graced the Verizon stage. Be weary. The Verizon stage just might be laced with booby traps!

CAUTION! Watch your step

... else you'll be re-dancing. And that will probably tick off the dancer next to you who simply killed (in a good way) that performance the first time 'round.

Links from today!
FeisResults.com: Girls 15-16
FeisResults.com: Boys 15-16
FeisResults.com: Ladies 16-17
FeisResults.com: Mens 16-17
FeisResults.com: Minor Girls Ceili
FeisResults.com: Minor Girls Figure
Unfortunately Milton Baar has had his press pass withdrawn, but you can still see some photos from today here.

Boys can rock fur and feathers too

2009-04-08T19:03:00.000-04:00

The boys borrowed the mummers' wacky colonial pirate hats?!

opening ceremony clip

2009-04-08T18:53:00.000-04:00

This is a clip of the opening ceremony with the Philadelphia Mummers and a few Irish dancers that join them on stage. As it was explained, the mummers had to march through the town playing loud celebratory music before it could officially be declared New Year's Day.

Notice their costumes are a lot worse than ours ;)

Brushes with ID elite!

2009-04-08T11:24:00.000-04:00

Sorry for not getting a post up yesterday. I'll put up a couple today to keep everyone up to speed with what's happening here in Philadelphia.

Besides being glued to my seat for most of the day watching girls u15 and u14, I did conduct a few fascinating interviews with Irish dance elite! First I met up with CLRG chairperson Sean McDonagh to find out a bit about how the worlds came to be in the states.

He explained that a bunch of cities were suggested and that a small CLRG committee was charged with making the final decision based on a number of factors (venues, hotels, cost, etc.). Boston and Philadelphia were top choices for an American venue, but Philly eventually won the showdown, particularly because the Mid-Atlantic region has hosted the Oireachtas here for a number of years, and they city has always managed to accommodate the number of dancers.

Mr. McDonagh and I also talked about the changed face of Irish dance, and how schools are popping up around the world, as far as Tokyo and and Ukraine.

What surprised me was the fact that 60% of Irish dancers come from North America. And, at this year's worlds in particular, 75% of competitors are North American. Wild, right? I just submitted a story for The Irish Times that is scheduled to be printed this weekend that further discusses the significance of this trend in the US.

After that, I spoke to some vendors about the economy's role in buying feis gear. Once that story's done, I'll submit it to Hornpipe Magazine. More on that later :)

Then I met up with the two female Australian world champions, Fiona-Gaye Moore (won in 1980) and Nicole Zepcevski (2006). We talked a lot about Irish dancing in Australia, and the difficulty of traveling to worlds from Australia. Regardless of whether the worlds happen in North America or Europe, these Aussies have to sink a lot of money into traveling for big competitions.

Later I interviewed Dearbhla Lennon of Dundalk, County Louth. That woman is beautiful! And she's a fellow journalist ;) I'd never met a lead dancer from Riverdance AND Lord of the Dance.

It was extremely exciting meeting with such talented and important people. Rumor is Michael Flatley will also be making an appearance. Possibly tomorrow. I'll see if I can't manage to run into him as well :)

Links from Tuesday!
FeisResults.com: Girls 13-14
FeisResults.com: Boys 13-14
FeisResults.com: Girls 14-15
FeisResults.com: Boys 14-15
FeisResults.com: Minor Mixed Ceili
Yet more great pics from Swoose.net including...
....Ally's favourite dress so far, second from left (three guesses why, LOL)

Get Yerself A Little Something Nice

2009-04-07T10:35:00.000-04:00

With the World Championships of Irish Dance happening right now in Philly, and with championship season in full swing for the Highland dancers, it occurred to us that there is probably a lot of achy, tired dancers out there!

So, we're having a special :) Order yourself (or your favourite dancer) a pair of our super-soft PJ pants ($25 Canadian, your choice of applique) and our unbelievably comfy ghillie slippers ($30 Canadian) and get three of our deluxe sample size bath & body products FREE (your choice!). These are BIG samples and last a long time -- a great way to try out our all-natural boutique products before you buy the full sizes.

Plus, just for those ouchy feet, we've got a brand NEW product -- Overnight Foot Repair! Lighter than other overnight foot creams but just as nourishing, with invigorating peppermint essential oil, this product is a great way to soothe and refresh your feet. And if you go for our special we'll send you a FREE sample of this product as well -- enough for three treatments, you don't need much!

Ordering is easy! Visit the website and get your PJ Pants and Ghillie Slippers under Knitwear and Clothing. Check out the Mix n' Match Minis page under Bath & Body to see the available choices for the samples, and just include your choices in the "Special Instructions To Seller" box on your checkout page. We'll confirm via email before sending anything.

This offer is good until April 30th!

Thanks for looking and BIG good luck to all dancers for a successful championship season!

The Spill

2009-04-06T23:11:00.000-04:00

Today was the day I finally got to see Fiona Dargan dance at Worlds. And possibly see her take the top spot on the podium for a second year. But it didn't work out that way this year, and it's really a bummer.

I was a Rince na Tiarna dancer growing up. Once I got to high school, I started helping out with the beginner classes--showing the kids how to point, skip in circles count the music, etc. Fiona was one of the little ones in the beginner group. She and her sister progressed so quickly. The kids just have natural talent and they legitimately love practicing. They have a blast in class.

So I made sure to be in the Verizon auditorium to see Fiona dance. When I ran into her the day before, I'd told her that I'd make it a point to cheer on RNT. I missed her hard shoe round, but caught her just as she was beginning the slip jig. I was totally in awe of her skills and charisma on stage. Those leaps looked effortless.

But she took a sudden spill and crashed to the floor, immediately clutching her ankle. I saw Mary Kay (Rince na Tiarna TCRG, ADCRG) a little bit later, and she told me that Fi was hurt pretty badly (Achilles tendon, I think?) and that she didn't want her to risk injuring herself more by dancing if she recalled. Fi recalled, but ended up having to withdraw from the set round.

I wish I could have seen her win the title (again). She's one of those kids that is truly inspirational, and I think she's the perfect example of an Irish dancer. She loves dancing. She's the sweetest kid around. She supports and encourages the dancers around her and is extremely modest.

Next year, Fi :D

Links from today!
FeisResults.com: Girls 11-12
FeisResults.com: Girls 12-13
More pictures from Milton of Swoose.net!
AWESOME photo essay of Opening Ceremonies from IrishPhiladelphia on Flickr

Day One: reflection

2009-04-05T22:51:00.000-04:00

Back at my homey hostel in Olde City part of Philadelphia, thinking about how much I enjoyed the day.

I had some preconceived ideas about Worlds, and just heavy competition in general. I read some pretty nasty, sharp-tongued comments on the Voy boards, so I prepared myself for catty moms and prissy children.

Wrong.

The families were genuinely so nice, extremely considerate and warm toward each other and me. I talked with lovely family from Australia that was elated to have the Worlds in the US. They explained the popularity of Irish dance in Australia and New Zealand and posed the question, "Are we next?"

Seems like anything's a possibility now that the Worlds have expanded beyond Europe. Representatives from CLRG and the Philadelphia's mayor addressed this theme--that anything is possible, and that you shouldn't rule anything out. So what do you say, CLRG. We going down under any time soon?

The atmosphere felt soft and fuzzy for most of the day, especially the opening ceremonies. Dancers marched on the stage carrying flags representative of every country with a CLRG-registered school. The audience roared for even the most obscure countries. Flags for Ireland, USA and Canada came to the front of the stage, and the national anthems for those three countries were sang.

Then, my favorite part! The Philadelphia Mummers. Don't know much about them, but it was explained that a group of colorfully-clad men parade down the street on new year's day. Their outfits are a mix of clown apparel, pirate costumes and colonial gear. It's hard to explain, so I'll post a video tomorrow. Anyway, they performed a high-spirited series of songs. The lively conductor/band leader managed to lure Irish dancers onto the stage to join the performance, which ended in a conga line of color. Boys and girls danced and jumped to the music played by the mummers' band. I'm serious, it's really difficult to explain. I hope the video gives you a better idea of what I'm trying to say.

Another big day tomorrow. Can't wait to see the olders girls dance. Hope you're enjoying my tweets on Twitter!

Some links from today!
FeisResults.com: Boys 12-13
FeisResults.com: Boys 11-12
FeisResults.com: Boys 10-11
FeisResults.com: Girls 10-11
Yay, pictures! From Swoose.net

Day One

2009-04-05T13:10:00.000-04:00

The first day of Worlds has been thrilling. Particularly the costumes.

Is it just me or does feis hair get bigger and bigger? As soon as I entered the Kimmel Center, I was overwhelmed by all the curls, and the not-so-natural bleach blonde hues that so many of the girls were workin'.

Then the sparkles blinded me. Eye makeup was so extremely sparkly. I want to say it looked like beauty pageant makeup, but it really didn't. It's more like theater makeup. Applied very generously to the eye lids and lips.

Now, I'm somewhat accustomed to seeing Irish dancers with orange legs and ridiculous hair, but Philly locals are a lot less understanding. I overheard a Starbucks employee trying to explain to one of her regulars that the Irish dance championships were in town, thus the costumes, hair and crazy face paint parading through the coffee shop. The regular didn't understand at all. You could tell he was trying to connect these wild getups with Irish step dancing, but the connection just wasn't happening. So that's what the rest of the real world thinks when we're dropping serious cash on gigantic, gaudy rhinestone earrings and bottles--by the dozen!--of sock glue.

I watched under 11 girls with Kevinah and Fiona Dargans, RnT friends from back home in Buffalo. Waiting for the recalls at 3 p.m. Younger boys recalls were just announced not too long ago. Gotta get the scoop on who's coming back for round 2 sets!

Results for the day begin at 5 p.m. Make sure to follow me on Twitter (sjvelasquez) for results updates in real time!

Will Smith got jiggy with it in Philly. And so will I.

2009-04-04T22:09:00.000-04:00

Just made it to Philadelphia and settled in the hostel where I'm staying for the week. It seems like a nice place, and the other travelers are from around the world. Seeing as I'm here for Worlds, it seems appropriate that the theme of this week is international.

Had my first Irish dancer sighting at the 30th Street train station. Cute mom and daughter duo from Ireland. They're not dancing--decided to head over to the states to cheer on friends from their dance team back home and maybe sell a few out-grown solo dresses. I asked them how they feel about having Worlds a world away. Mom replied that it seems fair to bring the competition over here, considering Irish dance's popularity continues to snowball here in the states. Besides, she said, it's expensive for Americans to travel to Europe annually for the competition.

Tomorrow is day one of the anticipated competition. I had the chance to visit the Johnston dancers of Syracuse, NY a few days ago. Four of their girls have been practicing like crazy. Check out the video on the web site for The Syracuse Post-Standard. I wrote a story that will run in tomorrow's paper. I'll link to that when it goes live online.

As a total Worlds newbie, I've been studying the schedule and desperately trying to figure how to catch all my favorite dancers. As a Syracuse reporter, I'm obviously following the dancers from that area. But, I'm a retired Rince na Tiarna dancer (of Buffalo, NY), so I'm really excited to see the girls from RNT.

And, of course, there's OPERATION: Dean.

That's right. It's a personal--I guess professional, too--goal to find Dean Crouch and get an interview with him. What a fascinating and talented guy.

Anyway, I better get prepped for tomorrow. For regular updates between blog posts, follow me on Twitter (sjvelasquez).

SJV

PHOTO CONTEST!

2009-04-02T22:37:00.000-04:00

So, we know this is a little last minute, but we are just getting so excited about the upcoming World Irish Dancing Championships we've decided to have a little contest.... A photo contest!

We want you to show us the single picture that defines your World's "experience". When you think back to Philly in 2009, what will you remember? What is that one image that captures what World's means to you?

When you've got it, send it in with a title and a short caption describing what it's all about to

ihtdcontests@gmail.com

Please include your name and a working email address in your submission, as well as the names and email addresses of any people other than you in the photo as we will have to contact them for permission if the photo is chosen as a winner. We will only post the first initial and last name of the person who submitted the photo if it is chosen, and we can omit even that if you would prefer!

Photo entries are due APRIL 24th, and winning photos will be posted the following week here on the IHTD blog! Winners will be notified by email also, so make sure your address works :)

But what do you win?? We'll award one grand prize of a $50 (Canadian) gift certificate to spend on the IHTD website, plus free shipping for that order anywhere in the world. We'll also award at least two "runner-up" prizes of $25 (Canadian), and probably more if we get a lot of entries. If we get no entries, we will buy $50 worth of ice cream and cry ourselves to sleep wondering why nobody loves us -- no pressure to enter though LOL.

Now for the rules:

1) You don't have to be competing to enter the contest -- dance parents, siblings, teachers and spectators are all welcome to contribute! Professionally taken photos are NOT eligible (if you're just really really good with a camera, that's OK :) ).

2) Your picture doesn't need to include dancers, but it must have something about it that clearly indicates it was taken at Worlds 2009 (no photos from last year's dance school Christmas party please ;) )

3) If your photo does include people other than you as subjects, make sure to include their names and email addresses in your submission email. If your photo is chosen, we need to get permission from anyone in your photo (or their parents/guardians if they are under 18) before posting it to the blog.

4) We abide by the CLRG regulation about photos taken of dancers on stage during competition and therefore will NOT accept any photos of this type. If the photo was taken "whilst in motion" but you are practicing backstage or otherwise not competing when the photo was taken, that's fine.

Feel free to send us an email if you've got any questions, we're happy to help! And we can't wait to see your pictures :) Don't make us go buy that ice cream!

Anticipating the Big Jig

2009-03-30T20:47:00.000-04:00

Hello fellow Irish dance enthusiasts!

Thanks very much for the very warm welcome. I'm really looking forward to jumping straight into the I.D. mania in Philadelphia, and giving you all the details and dirt. So, if you have specific questions about the buzz at worlds, be sure to shoot me a message or comment on my blogging and/or tweeting.

This is my first trip to worlds, and I couldn't be more excited to see THE BEST dancers from around the globe. And, let's be honest, DEAN CROUCH? Love him. You think I could get an interview with him? I'll try ;)

Way more news is coming, so keep your wigs on tight.

For now, be sure to check out the official Irish dancing world championships web site launched today.

Extra Extra!

2009-03-30T15:56:00.000-04:00

Boy, are we excited around here! Like many Irish Dance enthusiasts, we are anxiously awaiting this year's World Championships in Philidelphia -- and also like many of our fellow IDers, we're not going to be able to make it ourselves.

Enter S.J. Velasquez, a journalism graduate student and retired Irish dancer -- she's been writing for The Syracuse Post-Standard and was also recently contracted by The Irish Times to travel to Worlds and provide coverage. Way to go, S.J.!

The extra good news for the stuck-at-home folks like us is that S.J. is going to be taking advantage of all this newfangled social media to send updates back from Philly! She's going to be on Twitter (more on that to follow) periodically throughout the competition AND making a daily blog post RIGHT HERE on the IHTD blog! Wheeee! We are beyond happy to welcome S.J. as a guest author here and hope our visitors will have a great time reading her posts.

So the blog part is easy, just come on back right here! But what about this Twitter business? I thought some people might find it useful to know how to use this unique (and crazy addictive) new site so they can follow S.J.'s updates. Also, I'm sure some people are understandably cautious about signing up for yet another internet site, so I'm going to try and hopefully answer some questions about Twitter and personal information. Here goes:

WHAT IS TWITTER?

Ask anyone this question and they'll tell you: Twitter is micro-blogging! But what the heck does THAT mean? Well, rather than taking the time to make a big rambly blog post (much like the one you are reading) on Twitter you can pop over to the website and type in 140 characters or less of anything you like to update people on what you are doing. For those familiar with Facebook, Twitter is much like the status line. You just type it in and off you go. In addition to typing in one of these "micro-blogs" yourself (called tweeting), you can also "follow" other people and their "tweets" will show up on your Twitter home page.

SIGNING UP

1) Head over to the Twitter signup page at https://twitter.com/signup.

2) Enter your name and a user name -- note that everyone will be able to see both of these, so if you would prefer not to use your real name, just don't enter it. For example, when I created the IHTD Twitter account I entered "iheartthatdance" in both of these fields. Then password and email -- your email will NOT be visible to the general public, so be sure to enter one that works. This is the email Twitter will use to notify you if you have direct messages or if someone follows you.

3) The next two screens allow you to find people to follow. First up you can sign into your Google/MSN/AIM etc to find out if your contacts from these places are on Twitter (Facebook does something similar to this as well). The second screen suggests some "celebrity" Twitter users you may wish to follow. I did neither of these things -- if you're like me, be sure to click "Skip this step" which is UNDER the big button that says "Continue", and unselect any of their suggestions. Otherwise you end up following a bunch of people you may not be interested in.

4) Click Finish. Here you are at your home page! From now on, you can find it again at http://www.twitter.com/home (you may be prompted to log in again) and other people can find you at http://www.twitter.com/yourusername.

USING TWITTER (and getting those Worlds updates)

1) To "tweet": Just type whatever you like into that box at the top of your home page that says "What are you doing?" Watch the number counter --it will tell you as you get to that 140-char limit.

2) To follow others: Go over to their Twitter profile and click the button that says "Follow" underneath their profile picture. S.J.'s profile is here:

http://twitter.com/sjvelasquez

and of course we'd love it if you'd follow IHTD here (don't worry, Ally is notoriously bad at promoting, so there are very few commercials :) ):

http://twitter.com/iheartthatdance

3) Protect your updates: Don't want your updates to be public? Click on "Settings" at the very top of any Twitter page while logged into your account. At the bottom of the "Account" tab is a little box called "Protect my updates" -- check this and any tweets you make are private and only viewable by those you have allowed to follow. S.J.'s account is like this -- when you click "Follow" on her profile page it sends her an email and she can either approve or decline the follow request. If you want to restrict the people reading your tweets, this is the way to do it.

4) Replying to someone's tweet: See something you just have to respond to? Hover your mouse pointer over the right hand side of the box containing their tweet and you'll see a little arrow pointing left. Click on that and it will put "@theirusername" in your tweet box -- type your message after this! Then when they click on "@Replies" on the right hand side of their Twitter home page they will see your message whether they are following you or not (provided your tweets are public). And of course, you can check to see if someone has replied to one of your tweets the same way.

SOME FAQ's

Twitter has a great FAQ list here that should answer most common questions:

http://help.twitter.com/portal

I think the key things to note for those concerned about privacy and internet security is that (a) nowhere do you have to identify yourself or give your real identity and (b) by protecting your updates you can prevent people you don't know from reading your tweets. If someone manages to follow you that you didn't approve (maybe you thought they were someone else) you can always choose to block them. And there's no rule that says you have to tweet yourself at all! So you can absolutely safely follow S.J.'s updates (and us too :) ) without fear that you are revealing anything about you or your family that you don't want to.

So, not strictly business related...

2009-01-27T16:28:00.000-05:00

.... but too exciting for me to keep under wraps :) And since Nic forgave me for putting up that picture of Ivan last Mother's Day, I figure she'll probably forgive me using IHTD blog space to make this wee announcement!

Ahem.

(Drumroll).

I (Ally) am pregnant! Phil wants me to say "we" are pregnant, but after having been pregnant once already with The Peanut, I can conclusively say that's a load of, well, you know. I have double-checked, and it is definitely ME who is tired and sick and craving blueberry pie filling (yes, just the filling). It is also definitely ME who has popped like a jar of Orville Redenbacher. Mmmm, popcorn.

Anyhoo, now that you all know exactly who to feel sorry for ;) it looks like the Lil Sprout will be arriving sometime mid-August, with an "official" date of August 13th. In the meantime, Nic and I will be carrying on with business as usual, and now that the "morning" (albeit morning in multiple time zones) sickness is slowly subsiding I'm hoping to be back blogging and Twittering and updating our shops on ArtFire and Etsy more regularly.

But for now, I need to go make some popcorn :)

Hey Fabric Addicts!

2008-12-02T19:02:00.000-05:00

I got yer justification right here :) Along with a picture of my sewing room closet (yes, I DID clean it prior to taking the picture!) so you don't feel so bad about your stash. I didn't get it all, my camera doesn't have a panoramic setting :P

Now back to the justification bit -- this list was posted on the Irish Dance forum of Dance.net by the lovely Jess Knight, one of the world's most talented Irish dance dressmakers, in my humble opinion! She tells me she got it from a ballroom dress-making auntie, which just goes to show you the longevity (and obvious usefulness) of such a list:

Ten Good Reasons to Buy Fabric

It insulates the cupboard where it is kept.
It keeps the economy moving. It is my duty to support cotton farmers, textile mills and fabric shops.
It is less expensive and more fun than psychiatric care.
I'm participating in a contest - she who dies with the most fabric wins.
It keeps without refrigeration, you don't have to cook it to enjoy it, and you'll never have to feed it, change it, wipe it's nose or walk it.
Because I'm worth it
Like dust, it's good for protecting previously empty spaces in the house. Like the ironing board, the laundry basket.. the dining room table.
It is not immoral, illegal or fattening. It calms the nerves, gratifies the soul and makes me feel good.
Because it's on sale!
Buy it now. Before your husband retires and accompanies you on all your shopping expeditions!

That last one's my fave :) The only reason I don't have to hide all of my purchases from my husband is because he thinks all fabric is $2/m. I don't like to think about what might happen when he learns otherwise ;).

Every Life Needs a Little Celebration :)

2008-11-30T09:47:00.000-05:00

And IHTD has a big one this week :D This past Friday we snagged our first ever Etsy Front Page spot with our Dress Green Gilles open-top tote! We're easy to find on the page -- I'll take any money that that's the first time a pair of ghillies and a highland jacket has ever made the Etsy Front Page either!

So what do we do when we want to celebrate? Throw a party? (not often -- too lazy) Eat chocolate? (US??? never, we're all about the clean living :P) Typically, we go shopping, and this time was no exception. FABRIC shopping, that is! In addition to a bunch of fabrics I bought to make Christmas presents, and therefor can't show here, I got some great bag-making stuff -- first, some twills in funky colours (pumpkin and teal, my faves!)

And some gorgeous rich silk brocades --- the green especially had me salivating. And since they were on sale, I can use them for bag linings at regular price! I have enough for three bags a piece and experience shows they will go FAST!

Any other fabric addicts out there??

Pajama Pants and Ulterior Motives

2008-10-16T11:58:00.000-04:00

So, PJ pants are something we've had on the to-do list for a while, but I think what finally moved it up the priority chain was realizing that EVERYONE gets to wear their Pjs to dance competitions except us when we're selling. So the only legit way for us to wear our PJs while we're vending is to sell them! AHA! Then we're not just being lazy, we're showcasing the product.

I know, I know, pure genius. Yes, we're very proud of ourselves :) Anyway, the finished product is shown above, modelled by the lovely Kirsten who was nice enough to make dance-y looking poses in the parking lot outside our Highland studio in between classes. These are WAY too big for her (I made them for me) so they aren't this baggy. Just big enough to be comfy :)

The other thing that prompted the PJ venture was this awesome flannelette -- lightweight, warm, super soft and hello, ARGYLE! This stuff comes in a bunch of matching patterns and colours -- you can see in the picture below that the back of these pants are actually a dots print which matches the argyle on the front.

And it wouldn't be an IHTD product without some applique -- I went with a trinity knot heart here in Dress Royal McKellar tartan and white cotton eyelet, but I could do it in just about any colour and pattern (initials? stars? flowers? shamrocks?) Limited only by your desire to keep them machine washable (which these are on cold and tumble dry low)!

I've got this flannelette in pink, lavender, sky blue and kelly green and the pants will be $25 plus shipping (and tax, if you're in Ontario). Stay tuned to the website, and thanks for looking! :)

Some More Ready-Made Products Available!

2008-10-14T08:05:00.001-04:00

Well, we've been working hard coming up with new products, and have a bunch of great things to showcase over the next few days. For today I'd just like to show off some of the ready made products we've got in stock right now and ready to be shipped!

Pillows! Of course these can be personalized with your own initial in either our signature heart font (hearts can be replaced with shamrocks, flowers, stars, whatever you like!) or the block script. We've got some super soft minky fleece in stock to make the bases in a bunch of colours so just let us know what you're looking for.

Two more messenger bags -- that means we've got four in stock in total!

iPod/cell phone/camera cozies! Lots of great colours available.

For the latest in ready-made products you can always keep an eye on our Etsy shop as they usually get listed there first!

http://www.iheartthatdance.etsy.com

Happy shopping :)

Many Caffeinated Beverages Were Harmed In The Making Of This Feis Table

2008-10-07T18:03:00.000-04:00

People's exhibit #1: Taken at Newmarket Feis, far too early in the day for that much Diet Pepsi to have been consumed.

But it turned out all purty! The lovely organizers gave us all the table space we desired, which was awesome because we had so many new products to premier.

Yes, the rumours are true -- the girls at IHTD are selling MAKEUP! Mineral makeup to be exact, handmade for us by a lovely seller in Wisconsin with a great track record for her fabulous concoctions. Can you say 140+ shades of eyeshadow?!? For you IDers who've been trying in vain to match your solo we've got your back :) We'll be adding the full price list and colour charts to our catalog and website shortly, but for now if you want to try it out we are offering 3 deluxe samples for $10 or $3.50 each -- a very inexpensive way to try out the latest and greatest trend in the world of makeup.

Also brand new for Newmarket were some gorgeous handmade cards made especially for us by a former Irish dancer -- everything from Thank You cards for your favourite teacher or dance parent, I'm Reel-y Proud of You cards to tell your number one dancer just how you feel and yes, Christmas cards! We still have a few left -- $3.50 each or 4 for $12, and if you want a bunch we can do even better on the price.

All of this should be appearing on the website soon but in the meantime if you want it right away just send us an email!

Ready Made Products Available!

2008-06-13T09:05:00.000-04:00

Looking for something for right now? We've got some ready made products in stock, left over from the table at the Kathleen Fearon Feis -- two messenger bags, pictured above, and two pairs of ghillie slippers in Medium and Extra Small (an example pair is shown below).

More pictures of the bags and their linings can be seen on our Flickr! If you're interested, just send us an email -- bags are $40 each plus tax and shipping, slippers are $30 a pair (plus tax and shipping).

Thanks so much for looking!

Testing, Testing!

2008-06-12T09:11:00.000-04:00

Hey Dancers -- would you like some free stuff? Of course you would :)

We are currently recruiting Irish and Highland dancers for a testing panel -- if you're chosen we send you three or four packages about every month starting in July. You try out the product, let us know what you like and dislike and that's that! It's totally free (even the shipping) -- there's no catch (just homework! -- we send out a detailed questionnaire with every package that you fill out once you try it).

How to apply?
Just send us an email at thegirls@iheartthatdance.com or visiting the website. We'll send you a list of questions that must be answered and returned to us by June 24th (two weeks from today). The chosen panelists will be notified June 27th and the first packages will go out later the next week.

Who gets chosen?
Out of all the dancers who entered we'll choose 10-12 from across different countries, age groups and competition levels. So this is NOT first-come, first-served! As long as you get your answers to the questionnaire in by June 24th you're eligible to be considered!

Any rules?
Well, just a few :) You knew that was going to happen right? LOL

1) Anyone under the age of 18 must obtain permission from your parents. There are more details on how we'll be verifying this permission in our application.
2) You must be a dancer. If you are younger, you can have your Mom or Dad help out answering the questions though! We'd really like our projects to be dancer-entourage friendly too :)
3) You must be prepared to return answers to our questions on your packages within the week (this will all be done by email). So if you're off on summer vacation for all of July and August this probably isn't right for you -- but don't worry! We'll be recruiting a new panel early next year!

Thanks for reading through all that! Again, just send us an email by clicking on the name link above and visit our website to learn more about our current product (or check out the posts here!)

http://www.iheartthatdance.com

or our Facebook fan page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Heart-That-Dance/9887371055

Can't wait to hear from you!

Nic and Ally

NEW Sword Carry Case!

2008-06-10T11:42:00.000-04:00

Introducing a brand-new much-requested product for our fabulous Highland customers -- a durable carry case for your practice swords embroidered in any one of our signature designs.

The one shown here was made for the lovely Miss Rachel of North Carolina in her Dress MacBeth tartan (she has good taste obviously, that's my tartan too! LOL). She chose the Sword Dance design, but any one of our designs could be used, as well as the applique monograms we use on the pillows.

The base of the bag is very fine wale heavy-weight black corduroy (other colours and textures available). The end is reinforced with black vinyl and the top opens with a heavy duty zipper. The bag is gusseted so there's PLENTY of room for even obnoxiously big hilts :) The carrying strap is adjustable.

Here's a close-up of the embroidery design!

If you'd like one of these bags just send us an email! Total cost is $35 + shipping (and PST for Ontario residents).

Kathleen Fearon Memorial Feis Fun!

2008-06-03T23:40:00.001-04:00

Well, here we are! Our very first feis table, held at the Kathleen Fearon Memorial Feis (that's Brampton feis to you ECR dancers :) )

We had a great time! -- a little busier than the two tables we had done at Highland competitions, LOTS of dancers came by to see our shiny stuff and we had a bunch of great vendors as "neighbours". It was hard not to go shopping ourselves! On one side we had the lovely family from Faery Reel and on the other the fabulous ladies from the Canadian division of Camellia Rose -- both of them super nice to the newbies, thanks you guys!

Thought you all might also get a kick out of seeing some works-in-progress -- here's a couple of pictures of what Nicole's kitchen table looked like the week before the feis, and the final result:

In case anyone's interested, we have two pairs of the ghillie slippers left over (in Medium and Extra Small) and loads of hair ties -- email us if you'd like to order!

NEW! IHTD hearts Essential Goodies!

2008-05-25T11:13:00.000-04:00

The girls at I Heart That! Dance are very happy to announce a fabulous new partnership! The lovely Sonia of Essential Goodies makes luxurious bath and body products, and has blended 3 signature scents just for us! We've got yummy orange Creamsicle, delectable Caramel Apple, and refreshing chocolatey Peppermint Patty ---- mmmmmmm!

These delicious scents are available right now in vegan Sugar Scrubs and Whipped Body Frostings -- and we're offering them in a special Foot Care package! Get one travel sized jar each of the scrub and frosting in your choice of scent, plus a reusable heart-shaped zipper pouch (great for hairpins, earrings, lipstick and all the rest of the stuff that gets lost in the bottom of your dance bag)

We love our Essential Goodies products, so please go and check out Sonia's website www.essentialgoodies.com for even more great stuff! All of the Essential Goodies products are made in small batches and use only the best essential or fragrance oils and the freshest ingredients. There are no harsh ingredients, a minimum amount of preservatives, and of course nothing has been tested on animals.

Moms R Us!

2008-05-11T10:06:00.000-04:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY EVERYONE!

I just want to say, it's been really nice knowing all of you! I won't be around much anymore, because Nic will be killing me dead immediately after she sees this:

Honestly, the risks I take to keep you people entertained. I found this on her Facebook while I was looking for pictures of her Mom to feature in today's blog post -- this was taken at her wedding (duh) and Ivan is making that face because apparently the organist started to play the wedding march AT THIS EXACT SECOND. Oh yes. Hence the face. And who can blame him, really? Nic's Mom, on the other hand, is cool as a cucumber! And laughing a little, from the looks of things. Way to go, Mrs. S! Gotta hold it together for the kids, right? I had to put this picture in too, so you can all get a better look at the mother-of-the-bride's fabulous purple dress:

Also in the hopes that a picture of Nic looking radiant will stop her from opening that can of whoop-ass on me ;) And of course here's my Mom (otherwise known as The Only Reader Of This Blog)-- this is actually one of the few pictures I have of her on her own!

Most of the time there's another wee person in the frame -- The Peanut, or my nephew and niece (who are really not so wee any more :) ). She's sitting on the quilt I promised her for Mother's Day 2002 -- I'm a little hesitant to tell you all that this picture was taken immediately after she received it, on, ummmm, well, Christmas Day 2003.

Hey, you can't rush art. :P

I'm not going to try and explain fully here what motherhood means to me. Either as a daughter or as a mom myself. I think it's one of those things that is profoundly in the present tense, if that doesn't sound too crazy. I know I tend to concentrate on the future (and I know I'm not the only one who does). Motherhood and my own relationship with my mother tends to ground me in the present -- it's a foundation when you're feeling shaky, a platform when you're feeling brave and when you're ready for some life renovation motherhood helps you with both the demolition and the rebuilding. It's a stairway where the top is always in the clouds, so every single step has to be taken on faith.

So, thanks Mom. Both official IHTD Moms :) For showing us how to climb the stairs.

Put Your Sunglasses On

2008-04-27T23:08:00.000-04:00

So, as it turns out, I've been thinking a bit about my middle school/junior high days, which for me was the mid to late 80s -- anyway, here's an iconic image so we can all share in the nostalgic fun:
You know what else was fun about the 80s? Actually pretty much the only thing that was fun? The COLOURS! After the first Highland Games of the season at Loch Norman a week or so ago, plus with the first feis of the season round these part coming up next weekend, we've been surrounded by the colours we love most. Tartans in all sets and colours, and sparkley solo dresses in every shade of the rainbow. So fun :) And I bought new glittery makeup to match my new solo, wheeee! Even The Peanut is rocking the colour these days, here she is showing off her latest creations, all decked out for the beach:

Naturally all of this is coming out in our crafting --- here's a couple of our newest products, premiered at Loch Norman: First an iPod cozy made of felted knitting and embellished with a felt and tartan flower (Dress Teal McRae), complete with crystals.

And these are the three remaining hair ties, also with felt flowers (the tartan one is Dress Royal McKellar) -- the rest of them flew off the table. One wee lass bought three, and insisted on wearing one in her hair and one on each wrist as bracelets :D

Now that I've finally taken pictures, all of this should be up in the Etsy shop soon. Plus stay tuned for some VERY exciting news about more of our new products!

Adventures in BlogLand! Or BlogVille? Or Blogania?

2008-03-18T14:51:00.000-04:00

Well, it's Ally here and I am waiting for about five different things to finish up so I have a couple minutes to come by and post some bloggy things that have come up over the last few days.

First, I'd like to say thanks to all of you who commented on the St. Patrick's Day post yesterday! My Mom, who up until now I thought was our sole reader (I think she is hoping for pictures of The Peanut, actually ;) ) and Dad read them all and were just tickled pink. Mom is going to read the post and the comments to Nana the next time she goes in, so thank you again for all the lovely responses!

The second little blog-esque event is terribly exciting -- we were featured on another blog! Fellow Etsy seller Bluepebble, who makes all sorts of astonishingly beautiful jewellery in her Etsy shop, did a feature this past Saturday of Irish Etsy finds in honour of St. Pat's! And guess who was right at the top of the list? Us! With our blue and green Royal McGregor tote bag (pictured above)! Here is the link to the whole post:

http://bluepebbledesigns.blogspot.com/2008/03/saturday-etsy-finds-ireland.html

There were many amazing finds and we were all over happy that we were included! Thank you Bluepebble!

And finally, we got tagged by Tiffani at RicRacSally in one of these Meme thingies -- we have to say 6 bits of randomness about ourselves. I'm going to try and do three for me and three for Nic (so forgive me for talking about myself in the third person :P ):

1) Ally has a 44" stuffed muskie (that's a fish) hanging over her fireplace. His name is Carl Thomas and she decorates him for holidays and birthday parties.

2) Nic can play the theme from "Riverdance" on her flute.

3) Ally had 52 My Little Ponies as a child, and her favourite was the green one with the clovers on its bum.

4) Nic has a neighbour whose dog barks LITERALLY all day long. It's so pervasive, we think maybe its a recording. No living animal could make that much noise everyday and not strain something.

5) Ally will only eat eggs if they are baked into a cake.

6) Nic used to have a cabinet door in her upstairs bathroom. No cabinet, just the door, mounted on the wall -- an odd aesthetic decision made by the previous owners. That has since been renovated :)

And now who to tag? Hmmmmm......

Lynn at The Rose Cottage
Lori at Faerie Window
Yippee Vintage
Nicole at DesignedbyRJ
Susan at SimplySusan
Hyla at My Fairy Babies

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T11:00:00.000-04:00

Well, it's that time of year again, folks! It's Ally writing today, and Nic and I are wishing you a very happy St. Patrick's Day! What's everyone up to?

It's an interesting sort of holiday, and has meant a lot of different things to me over the years. Fun green crafts in elementary school, Shamrock Shakes (which I still maintain taste like toothpaste, ugh :P) in high school and a night of partying so prodigious it required about as much advance planning as New Year's Eve during university. Most recently, as an Irish dancer it usually means shows (hooooooley!) and therefore new choreography it takes me forever to learn :)

But there's a couple of things that are kind of special to my family that have remained pretty consistent over time. One, my Dad's birthday is March 18th and ever since I turned 19 I have been giving him the exact same thing: a night out with steak dinner, a movie and as many pints of Kilkenny as he can handle. Here's the man himself, with the Peanut at the beach:

Last year, timing and busy lives being what they are, this put us having our wee night o' birthday hijinks on St. Patty's Day itself. And although we chose a pretty nice restaurant, it was a pretty nice restaurant with a bar, and so it was packed with people wearing both green, and in some cases, their green beer. Fine by Dad and I -- we sat on a corner of one of the booths and had our drinks and did some people watching. Or rather, person watching. This guy across from us was totally, 100% asleep. His friends thought it was hilarious, and were taking pictures of him, so the rest of us decided to get in on it. Somewhere this guy has about a million group shots of random strangers with him drooling on the table front and centre. And I'm sure you can just imagine what these students thought when they found out what Dad did... "Dude, you're a PROF! That's like, awesome!"

The second is that my Nana left England, and her Irish-born mother, on St. Patrick's Day 1946 to come to Canada and marry my grandfather Carl Gorlick. Here she is, holding up the first quilt I ever made, which was for her, and laughing because Phil is telling her to "work it" :)

A few years ago Nana wrote her story down and this is what she said:

I wanted to go but then, I did not. Why would I leave my mother, my friends, my home town and my country to go to an unknown place. Ah! But then Carl was waiting for me in that unknown place. The taxi arrived to take me to Windsor train station. I turned to Mother to say goodbye. Mother got up, came over to me, put her arms lovingly around me and said "Go with my love, it will always be with you, now go and do not look back!"

Nana never saw her mother again, as she passed away a couple of years later. So St. Patrick's Day has always been a day of remembrance for my family as well as a day of celebration. I remember when I took up Irish dancing (a little later in life than the average), Nana was overwhelmingly supportive right from the beginning. She'd watch my steps, telling me stories about learning the heavy jig from her Mum as a girl. I carry a picture of her, and her mother with me when I compete for good luck. When I'm nervous I imagine them telling me to get on with it :) It really helps!

Nana had a stroke in December 2006 and is now in long-term care. Things aren't the same as they were, of course, but the sassy bright spark that took a leap of hope to come to Canada in 1946 is still in there. She still claps with her good hand when I show her new steps, tells me I wear too much brown and laughs when I tell her stories about the Peanut.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Nana.

Tiptoe-ing through the tulips with the CSST!

2008-03-16T16:20:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the big day! With Spring right around the corner (as hard as that is to believe sometimes) the Cottage Style Street Team on Etsy held our first ever team promotion, TulipMania!

The idea was put forward by our very own RicRacSally -- since we all craft in such different media (from textiles, to jewellery, to mixed media collage and more!) we all made an item in our craft of choice with the central theme of tulips. I'm pretty sure you can guess what WE chose to do here at I Heart That! Dance :) Oh you guessed it, a bag! We've got a whole bunch of this very unique pink and purple tartan around, and a bouquet of spring tulips on this slightly smaller version of our zip-top tote was the PERFECT solution!

The applique' also uses gold holographic lame' and green tissue lame' with rayon and metallic threads for a little bit of pop. It's lined in a cute green, pink and purple print, with one interior zip pocket lined in a shocking pink jersey with a wee bit of sparkle. OK that last part is a lie -- there's a LOT of sparkle!

The best part to me is the interior zip off pouch -- made of 100% cotton purple velvet and the lining print, this zip-top pouch actually zips right into the bag when you are on the go and then zips right out when you need it. So you can keep your craft projects, camera, or whatever else you might think needs protecting from your gum wrappers, lip balm, fabric store receipts that you are hiding from your husband... oh, is that just me?

So as you can see, crafting for this challenge was a blast! And hanging out with the CSST ladies on the Big Day? Awesome :) Want to check out the phenomenal tulip items put together by this brand new team (and who wouldn't?) Just click here and prepare to feel like spring has sprung :) For some amazing examples check out this treasury by CatnipStudio:

The Most Fun We've EVER Had In A Blizzard!

2008-03-12T22:15:00.000-04:00

For those of you who live in the Greater Toronto area, you'll know that this past Saturday, the day of the HDA Indoor competition, was also smack in the middle of a 36-hour blizzard. But it turns out the IHTD Girls and Highland dancers are like the post office -- neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow shall stop them..... or however that's supposed to go. :)

So we and a bunch of brave dancers, teachers and dance parents arrived at Maple High School bright and early in the morning. OK, bright-ish. And we're very happy to report that our first ever vendor table experience was a blast. We got so much positive feedback from people coming by our table, and actually managed to sell a bunch of stuff! Yes, really! The small size shrugs sold out in a matter of minutes with orders for more, and we took a lot of custom bags orders as well. Even sold two bags right off the table -- one in a Purple McRae to a teeny weeny Primary hardly bigger than the bag (she liked the purple kitty print inside :) )

The best part? Seeing the smiles on girl's faces when they placed their custom order, and actually seeing people wearing and using our stuff! I don't think either of us were prepared for how good that was going to feel -- we're dancers too, so we know how hard it is to find things that are unique and just your style. And we are just so happy we can be a part of getting you something you love :)

So here we are at the end of the day, tired and contemplating a tough drive home but still so ecstatic we're practically giggling. A BIG thank you to everyone who came to visit our table, we loved chatting with all of you. We're definitely planning to do this again, at Highland and Irish competitions and we look forward to meeting more of you there.

And now we'd better get on with filling orders! Yay!

Price List Available!

2008-03-05T21:35:00.000-05:00

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