Okay...why do I write so many posts about dresses?

To answer that, it's probably because I'm at a time in my life where I need to get a lot of dresses (ie prom??)  And I don't think I ever mentioned to you guys what my prom dress looks like.  I bought it for next year in June on sale for $40.  The original price? $179.  Oh yeah, I'm good.

Anyway, here's what it looks like:
I like how it's purple, (my favorite color) but is still in the style of Belle's dress from Beauty and the Beast, which if you can't tell by now, is my favorite movie and she's my favorite princess... you get the picture.  This picture isn't all that great and it looks better on me than on the model.  I guess you can define better in your own way, but since I have bigger hips, the skirt puffs out more and looks more like a ball gown, without having too much dress.  I also like how the pickups are detailed with little jewels that remind me of stars, more specifically, stars in the Keidreian sky, which is described to be purple.  Also, it's a wonderful reminder of Calista and a great cross of my "Belle" and Disney's.  Here's a detail of the beading:

I immediately saw it and thought of a tiara.  I've always wanted to wear a tiara for prom because it's the one night of your life that you get to be a princess before your wedding.  I completely missed out on the cute little girl princess stage (I seriously never got a single Disney princess dress-up dress while my sister had a whole crate- I just wasn't interested)  I'm making up for it now.  Anyway, I found a few tiaras that matched it.


But I just couldn't get this little number out of my head:

It's $12 and it would be perfect on a small half-bun style like Belle wears.  And I'm not complaining about the price.  It's cheaper than Claire's!  Still, it's gold and wouldn't match the silver of my prom dress, so I had all but given up on this little simple circlet.
Until I remembered one tiny detail: I can't wear my prom dress for my piano recital! Or homecoming (if I go...who knows?)  As much as I loved my purple dress, in my heart, I still kinda wanted a yellow "Belle" dress.  And when I remembered my earlier fascination with Disneybound, I thought, what if I Disneybounded this?  So I've spent the last hour or so on the internet looking for a $50 or less yellow ruffled dress or a yellow dress with roses that would go with this, and it has to have straps.  I'm not liking the strapless thing very much, especially for a piano recital.  But a lot of the dresses have ruffles and flowers in places that would be highly unflattering on me but would look great on Elli (the bust area-yep, we're the extremes, I'm huge, she's tiny.  Not fair, but still)  And then there's this great one shoulder dress with roses on it that would be lovely, but it's not going to look good, I can already tell. Oh yeah, did I mention it had to be modest?  And that it either has to be knee length or floor length, nothing inbetween or I look shorter than I am?  Yeah.

This looks promising, if not really short.

However, those dresses that look kinda short on the models will look fine on little 4'9"er here. (nickname from my friend Goldie)

This is pretty, but a bit much for a piano recital...sigh $55, too...

Let's pay $40 for a fitted t shirt that got mauled by an angry person with scissors... and call it a dress!

Like I need sparkles there...and this is a shirt, not a dress.

Uh, looks like you forgot a piece of the pattern...can I have some fabric with my dress?

This is called Nom de Plume...now "One Jump" from Aladdin is stuck in my head...
one jump ahead of my doom, next time, gonna use a nom de plume...
Looks like a skating costume though.

Okay, done making fun of random immodest dresses... I need to go to bed.

PS:
I'm on the skit team for Vacation Bible School at my church this year. It's my last year, and I was hoping for a bigger part.  Most girls just end up being sheep or something.  This year's theme is The Luminous Mysteries, which is another way of talking about Jesus' ministry (Baptism in the Jordan, Wedding at Cana, Transfiguration, Institution of the Eucharist...something else I can't remember...) Anyway, the skits always do a wacky theme like Inspector Gadget, the Jetsons, game show... this year's theme was suggested by none other than me and Elli!

Elli used to sing this song on the way to church: "We're off to see Jesus, the wonderful Son of God!" sung to the tune of "We're off to see the Wizard"
...and yes, you've guessed it- we are totally doing Wizard of Oz theme this year!  whohoo!  It was like my favorite movie as a child.  And we just got parts today!  And I'm...not Dorothy, but I'm Glinda! The smart one who gives dimwitted Dorothy and her even dumber companion Scarecrow a Bible and tells them to find Jesus.  This means...I have to wear pink! ek.  Oh well, the things I do for drama... wonder what sort of costume I'll get?  Find out on August 5th, I guess.

G'night people...

Story ideas already...

So I woke up this morning- actually dragged myself out of bed at 6:45 am (I usually get up an hour earlier than that, but I was up late babysitting last night and didn't get home til midnight) and somehow managed to have an idea for a story in my head.  Oh, the crazy things my tired brain comes up with.

Anyway, tentatively titled "The Time Traveler's Daughter" and going to be used for next NaNoWriMo (in November, not Camp NaNo) if I can get a plot, it's about a girl growing up in modern times who discovers that she's not from this time period.  Things that tip her off are her height (she's really short, and humans have been getting taller every generation)  her ideals, what she believes in, ect, ect. Not sure, I'll have to do research.  But it turns out that her father was trying to time travel and she was playing with it and accidentally got transported to the year 2012.  The machine may have made her younger- maybe back to a baby, I'm not sure, these are just swirling life smudges (Beauty is Blind reference!!!) in my head.  But it does wipe her memory, and she is adopted (most likely) and raised in modern times, until she starts thinking "I feel like I'm in the wrong time period" which is the thought that triggered this whole idea.  And maybe there's a romance.  And there will be 3rd person flashbacks to her grieving family in their time period and her dad trying to fix his machine to find his daughter.  And maybe her dad comes and finds her.  And there should be a bad guy- but who?  And maybe I'll actually write this in 3rd person for a change.  I'm thinking Mina for her name, but I'm not sure I'm crazy about that.  And I don't know what time period she's from.  Maybe the late 1800's?

What are your thoughts?

Opening night for the play tonight!!!  Wish me luck!  My aunt is coming up from Arizona for my sister's confirmation.

All right.  Adios!

Acting is a Dangerous Sport...

So, today we were practicing Act I, Scene I (well, actually all of Act I...) and we got the part where I, as Madame Rondeau (the "Maurice" of this Beauty and the Beast tale) decide to take the Beast's coveted rose as a gift for my daughter after the Beast has allowed me to stay in his castle.

Anyway, before I can even get a hold of the rose, he comes storming in, crying, "Thief!  Thief!"  I throw my hands up in front of my face to protect myself, crying, "Mercy! Mercy!"  while he grabs my arms and tosses me across the stage.  It's a sort of dance move, the way we do it, so that no one gets hurt (by no one, .I mean me.  I'm the one who gets tossed to the ground.)
Well, we've gotten it to work really well- and had only been painful (for me at least) the first time we tried it, since we had to do it multiple times in order to figure it out.  Well today... (they say a picture's worth a thousand words, so since I'm in a doodley mood- here're some paint pictures I made.  Beast=brown, Me=blue, hard stage=black pain=red)

"Theif!"
"MERCY!"

"I'll show you mercy!  The mercy of the Beast!"

WHAT'S SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN:

WHAT HAPPENED TODAY:

Stage Manager's eyes bulge, people gasp
I'm thinking: Ouch.  That's not how that's supposed to work. OW!  That really did hurt!!

Anyway, I stuck it out.  A lot of people didn't quite figure out what had happened until later.  One girl was like, "Yeah, I heard something bang." To which I replied.  "Yeah, that was my head."
Then I said to him, "You do realize that when you tossed me today, I hit my head, right?"
Him: (sheepishly) "Yeah..."
Me: "We need to work on that some more..."
Him- "Yeah."
I'm thinking: "I know we need to practice... but I'm not looking forward to being tossed to the ground more times than I need to in a given day.  I have serious thrill issues...
As my drama teacher put it, "You almost killed her today.  You NEED to figure that out."

Hence we had to practice tossing me to the ground for ten minutes straight.  I'm still not sure how this is all going to work out, but I'll find out tomorrow.  I have to also work on the part where wolves are taunting me.  As long as I get to stay on my two feet, I'll be happy.  I have more of this falling and what not to look forward to tomorrow- dress rehearsal's on Saturday!!! AGGG!

I'm tired and my head's a bit woozy and I'm just slightly wacked out- or maybe that's normal.  I don't think I have a concussion, because you are dizzy and sick to your stomach when you have one- I'm experiencing those on a really low level, so I might have a very minor concussion... whatever.  I'm okay.  I think.

Ironically, this hasn't been the first time I've gotten hurt in a play.  I was "Village Woman 1" in Jack and the Magic Beans and I got wacked in the mouth by the troll's staff.  (Some kid- not the girl who played the troll, mind you, was messing around with it)
In Tom Sawyer, I don't think I got hurt- but I did get to throw shoes at Huck Finn, which was fun.  I was a school girl nicknamed "Pup" I had a regular name, but I don't remember it.
As Hermione, the spy in "Kilroy Was Here" I had to wear shoes that were WAY too small (I have tiny feet- so I asked for 5s and got a pair that said 5 but fit like 1s.  They were puny and left marks on my feet for hours afterwards.  That was how I figured out that my left foot was bigger then my right- the lines stayed longer on the left foot and the right one wasn't as squished.)  I also ran out over these steps for a dance and totally tripped (in said tiny shoes) and scraped up my leg.  It was a rehearsal, but I got up and kept dancing all the same.
In "Cinderella of Loreland" I don't think I managed to do bodily harm to myself, despite the fact that I was wearing heels...(as the Fairy Godmother) though the fairies that were supposed to follow me around (8 girls between the ages of 11 and 14) were always lost and fighting and "she's too bossy" "she won't practice" "she thinks she's so much better than us..." UGG.  Worst. Play. Ever. To be in- I could never find the fairies, so I guess my stress level was harmed.
And obviously, here in "The Enchantment of Beauty and the Beast" I have gotten hurt.  I wouldn't be surprised if I get hurt again.

I don't know if I'm just a klutz or if acting really is dangerous.  I think it's more of a combination of the two.

I'm back

I've survived the week.  Yay for me!  Let me tell you how my week went
MONDAY:
-blogged
-edited "Changes" my original song I'm performing at MacPhail on Sunday
-took two music quizzes (aced them both)
-started studying for Astronomy test
-started music paper
-enjoyed the one peaceful night of my week

TUESDAY:
-started working on plot outline for a play for my writing class
-started thinking about what to do for 3 points of view scene for writing class
-visited with Mia and Lindsey after Astronomy- had to get coffee from the college's coffee shop because I was nodding off in class!
-reached the level of "Word Dynamo" on Dictionary.com during lunch
-wrote two poems for a poetry contest: "Storm Child" and "The Color of Sound" (I will post them in a separate post for organization's sake
-acted out my first scene (Act 1, Scene 1) at play practice.  Was chased by a wolf, thought to be crazy, frightened by a beast and a magic looking glass, tempted to take a rose, and then nearly killed by said beast.  The Beast and I have to work out a "dance move" (or something inspired by a dance move, anyway) to throw me across the stage safely.  Should be interesting
-raced to dress rehearsal for Stations; stayed there till 9
-took notes for writing quiz while waiting for my turn to go on stage
-planned out 3 point of view scene
-studied for Astronomy test

WEDNESDAY
-studied like a madwoman for astronomy test ((even during the youth group performance of Stations, but I was backstage))
-aced writing quiz, even though I studied only half the chapters (I thought it was 2 & 3, but it was also 5-7.  Luckily, it was a short online quiz with a longer time limit and I knew how to use my book's glossary)
-studied even more for test- could not grasp the concept of Hydrogen fusion
-practiced a short scene'
-raced to Stations performance

THURSDAY
-walked a long way through the rain (I love rain and storms- see "Storm Child")
-took my astronomy test *crosses fingers*
-finally settled on a plot outline- Letters from If (after going through several, well, two.  Back Row Band and Shadow Stories.  Got discouraged and ended up writing an outline for a 3 act play... took all day and was 3 pages long)
-started working on 3 points of view- Back Row Band
-did piano lessons in the morning and started a Beethoven Sonata
-stayed for play practice, but they were doing my scene last, so I spent most of it doing my plot outline.
-found out that we might be doing The Secret Garden musical from pioneer drama next year, along with their version of Rapunzel, which is supposed to be really funny, or The Importance of Being Earnest.  Was just chatting with our director and all of us juniors are begging her to do a musical next year for our last senior performance... wow, I feel old.
-ate at McDonalds for dinner (chicken sandwich and a parfait.  Yum.  now I'm hungry.  Darn it)
-first "real" performance of Stations.  went very well
-got home at 9:30 and stayed up till 11:30 writing my 3 points of view scene, since it was due at midnight.   Another kid in my writing class who played Peter in the Stations posted his stuff at 11:15.  Made me smile.
-went to bed

FRIDAY
-got up at 6:00 am (crying because it was so early and I was so tired and stressed, literally)
-dragged myself out the door with a tuna and cheese sandwich for dinner, two granola bars, a can of Sunkist (the only caffeine I could find in the house- my mom didn't make coffee and I didn't have time to. It's orange juice, right?  That was my reasoning for having it for breakfast) and a toast, cheese and egg sandwich for breakfast.
-studied for communications quiz
-took said quiz
-received my take home sociology test
-received a in class discussion sheet for sociology class
-also was assigned half a book to read and a paper to write on it- not thinking about that right now.
-wrote my music paper
-stayed after for vocal practice and got to leave early!
-went to the library and picked up my movies and the last Song of the Lioness book on audiobook (they didn't have the regular book).  Not sure how I like the Song of the Lioness. I liked the first two books,  but I'm not sure about the last two yet.
-did the last performance of Living Stations and it was PACKED!
-Got home at a quarter to ten, my sister at a cast party, and finished my paper for music.  It was supposed to be 4 pages, but I only got 3 and a half.  I'll take the points off, and I turned it in at 11:30.  My teacher was kind enough to extend the due date for me from St. Patrick's day to March 23 since I didn't realize it was due on Mar 17 until the 19th.  oops.  (a week after the concert I was supposed to see, which was March 10th.  Didn't get that little detail)  I got it in with 30 minutes to spare.
-got into bed crying I was so tired- midnight

SATURDAY
-slept in until about 9 or 9:30- my siblings woke me up
-showered for the first time since Tuesday (gross, I know, but I had NO TIME at all and felt really nasty.  I'm clean now though)
-ate breakfast (toasted maple brown sugar pop tarts and chai tea... I'm weird, I know...)
-blogged
-tried to go on webkinz since my sister dragged me to Justice and they had the lil kinz on sale for $3, and this adorable husky caught my eye.  His name is Sterling.

THINGS I STILL NEED TO DO
-reading response 3 for writing
-all said sociology stuff
-watch movies :) (Juno and Beastly)
-eat lunch
-take a nap
-practice piano
-practice french horn (We're learning the music from How to Train Your Dragon in band- it's pretty epic.  If that link doesn't work, try this one.  Still have to keep practicing Nocturne)
-learn to sing "Pie Jesu"
-learn to sing "Last Rose of Summer"
-post me singing "Home" to youtube
-ditto with Journey to the past... wait, should record that again...with Sadie as Pooka!

*am listening to How to Train Your Dragon and it's making me happy because it's waking me up.  Seriously, this song can't not make you smile or wake up.  If you haven't seen the movie yet, you HAVE TO.  It's got enough adventure for boys to like, and it's cute and cool enough for girls.  Seriously, I really like this movie.*

Oh, and I heard a version of The Polar Express for band and it's so epic, I want to play it for Christmas! (actually, several versions)

Bye peoples.  Will post poems in a sec.

My crazy crazy week...AUDITIONS!!!

MY SCHEDULE (or why I won't be posting until Friday or Saturday)
Monday- solo and small ensemble contest: I'm playing "Nocturne" from a Midsummer Night's Dream by Mendelssohn on the French horn- wish me luck!  Get my sociology paper back

Tuesday: practice for large group contest after school... Flight of the Pegasus horn line at the end needs some serious work  Piano lessons.  Get my astronomy test back *crosses fingers*

Wednesday: youth group- my one day to myself this week

Thursday: Lee's birthday (remind me to post pictures).  Large group contest for band- have to skip Astronomy :( and be at school by 7:30 am.  AUDITIONS!!!!! AHH!!!!  Ahh!
-Okay Haili, are you done freaking out now?
-NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Okay, let me know when you are....

Friday- have to skip sociology because I have A honor roll lunch at Pizza Ranch... but I can only have cheese or fish pizza (do they have fish pizza???) or vegetarian...it's a Friday during lent and I'm Catholic.  CAST LIST!!!!!!! (I hope... otherwise I'll be insane all weekend... oh, wait, I already am!)

Quote from this morning:
Haili: Time to get up!  Time to get up and face the day, Lee!
Lee: (sleepily) What are you, some crazy person?
Haili: (without hesitation) Yep.  I thought we already established this.  I wrote a novel in a month, remember?