UTAH: PART UN

Pictures and re-cap are coming in increments over the next week. Get on the edge of your seat people, these posts are going to BLOW YOUR MIND. Honestly they'll be pretty boring, but since this is kind of our scrapbook/journal I can't leave out our vacation. It might be our last one for a very long time.

So we'll start from the beginning of the trip...

In high school I had a very... colorful room. That's probably an understatement. This is just one portion of the room, a TV shelf painted to reflect the earth and the sky (I was DEEP). So it turns out my mom wanted a more subtle shelf for her craft room so it got painted white. This picture is the last remaining vestige of its former glory. I always knew I should have been a professional shelf painter. I would have made BANK in the brightly painted philosophically themed niche shelf market. Dang it!


After doing some chores we made a beeline for Cafe Rio - well you get thrown out of Rio if you dare to take pictures of their secret going-ons so this is a picture on the way to Rio. But it's debatable on whether we were more excited to eat or see the mountains again. I totally took them for granted before.


I also got to spend some quality time with Kster. Not only is she getting married in a little over a month (!!!!) but her and Adam bought a house in Orem. This is a picture by their front door. I got to see their fabulous book nook, fireplace, and huge downstairs. K, ash, and I have known each other for almost ten years. It's crazy to think how much we have all changed. Who would have guessed how we'd all end up:

Ash - married to Sam, living in Cali, has Parker, with another dumpling on the way
K- almost married to Adam, has a house in Orem, works in Provo
B - married to Brad, living in Southern Illinois, working in St. Louis

And we all have college degrees, I think we've done pretty well for ourselves. I'm glad I can actually be proud of my friends. Thanks for not going off the deep end guys! I do love them and I'm proud of all of us.

Wait, is this post supposed to be about Utah? Oops. More to come... I'll stay on topic next time.

M.I.A. (LIKE THE MILITARY, NOT THE SINGER)

Confession. I have been MIA. That might not be such a revelation but it's true. This blog has lacked over the last several weeks for reasons out of my control. I have a new position at church - second counselor in the Relief Society presidency. Talk about intimidating! So I went from hanging out with 11 year olds and making friendship bracelets to hanging out with ladies, well, several years older. So things have changed around here. My first big assignment was organizing an evening activity for all the ladies of the ward about family history. Confession #2 - I don't do family history. I know, I'm awful! But the truth is I was intimidated about the process and didn't even know where to start. So instead of skirting the issue for the next few decades I was faced head on with not only tackling the subject, I was actually responsible for teaching others about it!? Yikes. So I called in reinforcements (aka the women who are basically professionals) to teach the classes on family history and then I taught a class about doing your own personal history - blogging, writing in your journal, writing your own memoir, ect. Oh boy was I nervous! I was positive disaster would ensue and the earth would open up to swallow me whole and then worse they would kick me out relief society altogether. But you know what? We had fun. The night turned out great and everyone seemed to actually learn something. So over the last few months of this calling I've come to realize that the Lord does indeed work in mysterious ways.

We had that family history activity a few weeks ago and then last week my uncle coincidentally gets on facebook and starts sharing all these pictures from dad's side of the family. He had no idea that I've been going through my pedigree chart over the last few weeks wishing I had pictures of ancestors beyond my grandparents. But WAH-LA! There they were served to me on a silver platter. Thank you Right Click and Save Image As, you are lifesavers.

The above picture is of my great-aunt Rita. Isn't she fabulous? I'd take those glasses and cardigan any day.

So am I now some aficionado on family history? Heck no. But do I have a pedigree chart 4 generations back? Indeed I do. I can finally stop feeling guilty.

MARRIAGE: THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

I have two early memories of my Aunt Pete. When I was four years old I legitimately beat her at UNO (her words) and told her to, "try harder next time." I gave pretty solid advice as a kid. Since my family moved all over the planet when I was growing up we didn't get to see our extended family often, but when we visited Aunt Pet she would buy us Lucky Charms and let us takes sips of her Pepsi, so when we visited her one time when she broke her leg a little foot rub was in order. This is the same Aunt who "interviewed" Brad when we were dating to make sure he was allowed to be in our family. Good thing he passed, who knows were we'd be. Seriously, she is probably one of the funniest people I know.

Oh, and AUNT Pete you ask? That's another story. Her real name is Sharon but she'll always absolutely be Pete to me. I think I'm going to give one of my children a perfectly sensible name and then call her Harold just for kicks. My children are going to love me.

So the point of this post is that when Brad and I went to Utah in July we received another wedding present- a quilt. Aunt Pete and Aunt Peggy shared the sewing duties (from seperate states) and then Aunt Pete put it all together and finished it up. I've been trying to use it every possible chance to wear it in and make it look loved. I'm so happy that I have something beautiful, tangible and long lasting from our newlywed days. Oh, and it turns out I really like getting wedding presents... so feel free to keep em coming!

ADDICT CULTURE

There are exactly 9 days until Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins is released. That leaves you 9 days to read the first book in the series: Hunger Games. Remember when I espoused its awesomeness last October? If you haven’t read it consider yourself lucky that you won’t have to wait eight months for the second book like I did. Even though it’s YA fiction, TRUST, it’s fantastic. You’ll thank me later.

Oh, and in case the male audience is wondering… this is nothing like Twilight. I’ve talked to quite a few males who are equally addicted.

I've also mentioned before how awesome Veronica Mars is, but here I go again. What do you do when there is literally nothing on TV and you want to spend little-to-no money? Why, you watch all the Veronica Mars seasons and observe husband get slowly engrossed. He got mad when I mentioned a plot point that had already passed because, “Hey! I didn’t see that one!” Just confess that you actually watch and LIKE Veronica Mars. You can stop standing in the doorway pretending to “leave the room” while you watch all 43 minutes of each episode, your secret is out. Besides it’s not like admitting you watch Top Model with me – OOPS.

If you're lame and can’t commit to the entire show then watch this video of quotes and see if you can stop yourself from buying all 3 seasons immediately (this is probably funny only because I'm familiar with the character... but don't you want to be in on the joke too?)

Confession. Brad and I have been Netflix-ing The OC. It’s a little embarrassing… but hey, if you can’t have a guilty pleasure than I don’t want to be alive.

Lime Chips. Brad and I are averaging a bag a week. I hear there is all sorts of hydrogenated oil and bad crap for you in these... but whatever... they are mighty tasty. Who knew lime PLUS chips could be so right?

CURRENTLY LISTENING

So yesterday afternoon I was feeling nasty and laid down for a "nap." Four hours later I woke up and instead of sleeping through the night I got up and went to the grocery store to get Brad some carrots and Ranch. He's been studying like it's going out of style and we're only two weeks into school. The least I could do was provide the kid a late night snack. So I get in the car and head to our local 24 hour grocer. It's 70 degrees, I have the windows down, I've just woken up from a refreshing nap and there is this perfect song playing to capture that satisfying late night/wide awake feeling... I've been listening to it non-stop today.

chick drummer: check
thick Scottish accents: check
leather jackets (this is imperative): check

Glasvegas - Geraldine

BEACH - MIDWESTERN STYLE

We went to "The Beach" last weekend, aka Carlyle Lake. Which turned out to be a lot fun. We took our bikes and rode around the southern trail and then spent a few lazy hours relaxing in the sand and having a picnic. It was a perfect last summer weekend for Brad because he had to start school again the following Monday. Who has two thumbs and complains a lot about studying now? THAT GUY.

CYCLE. BIKE. WHATEVER.

Did you know that you could technically bike from Alton to Chicago using only bike paths? Illinois is supposedly one of the friendliest biking states which is convenient for us because we aren't what you'd call experienced cyclist. We're working on the Hard Core though - spandex and power bars here we come!


Brad and his bike from 1982. I'm not sure, but I think this bike was ridden by his brother 11 years older than him. When he was teenager. We couldn't get the seat or handle bars to lift up so it looked like a fat guy in a little coat. Don't worry the problem has since been solved.

WHEN IN ROME

A few weeks ago Brad and I went a berry pickin'. We also drove our tractor and started listening to country music. I had to stop Brad at the wife beater though (I'm not a fan of the beer belly). Actually, we maintained our uptight yuppie personalities and merely loaded up enough to freeze for baking and breakfast cereal. My mornings have been much improved.

HOUSE FLIES ARE EVIL

So I promise I'm not a dirty house keeper. But the joys of having an old house means old windows and old doors. Lets just say the weather stripping gets a tad worn. At any rate summer brings out the worst in bugs and whatnot, which end up entering our slightly cooled home for whatever reason. I'm guessing it's my chicken dumplings.

I decided to start a revolution and hit those suckers where it hurts them most. And by "hurts" I mean "kills". This bottle - plus a gallon jug - did the trick. If I end up having a scary neuter-baby you all know why.

MARKETING THE FLEAS

Nothing like humidity and digging through old stuff to make your Saturday super exciting. Actually it was fun... but Brad was less than enthused, "It's called a FLEA market for a reason." We came out with three old books after Brad dragged me away from the boxes of vintage postcards. WHAT? We don't need 50 dusty letters addressed to Edith Lamona?

HHHHERBS

AND IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS

We’ve had some good times (Jeanine hitting Kayla in the face) and we’ve had some bad times (Russian Folk) but regardless we’ve all done a little more booty shakin’ and unnecessary tear sheddin’ in these past few months. Admit it! So let’s begin a two hour long plug for The Season 5 Dance Tour (did you know they are going on tour?) and Glee (did you know Fox has a new show this fall?). This is gonna be good people.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

…I liked the opening number better the second time around.

…Jeanine definitely got the biggest applause when they introduced the top 4. This bodes well people!

…Did Lil’C have to be on the panel for the finale? Couldn’t they just have “accidentally deleted his cell number?”

…Why didn’t I know that Frasier was in Fame? Now I’m totally see it. Actually I need no incentive. Even if they told me Nickel Back played in the background of every scene I’d be there. I’m one of those people that saw Center Stage 2. Yeah, I just admitted that.

…I’ll be just fine if I never see Oldie biting her finger nail again… I just realized she’s the only person this season that I didn’t learn her name. Huh.

I also realized I never gave the judges nicknames!
Mia (She’s that awesome, she doesn’t need a nickname)
Tyce (Oreo)
Shankman (The Shank)
Nigel (Dirty Old Man or DOM)
Debbie Allen (Oh, Child)
Lil’C (I Wear Glasses or I Say Things)
Mary (Screamy McGee or Bizarro Marie Osmond)

THE JUDGES PICKS FOR BEST OF THE SEASON & VARIOUS OTHER RANDOM DANCING

Philip & Jeanine – Tab/Nap “Mad”
They should get married. She’s hot, he’s sorta goofy. It’s the perfect rom com. This was the best Nappy Tabs of the season, for sure.

Jeanette & Brandon – “Ubertango”
This wasn’t as good as the first time they did it. But still 4 billion times better than most of the tangos.

Asuka & Vitolio – Louie “Dreams Are More Precious”
What? From the whole season? Really? I’ll admit that spin in the beginning is amazing. Otherwise this was just as blah as the first time. I still picture her as the girl crying into Vitolio’s shoulder holding her teddy bear (did I make up the part about the teddy bear?). Next.

Jeanine & Jason – Travis “If It Kills Me” aka Smooch Fest ‘09
Holy Moses! How long did that smooch last? I couldn’t watch!

Kayla & Max – Louie “Jum Bah Day”
This is where the “We love Kayla” train began. Ugggh. But I might have liked Max he stuck around longer; he looks like he’s potentially rife with funny quips.

Top 16 – Dimitri, Tab/Nap “Calle Ocho”
Sexxxy. This was one of the better group numbers this year.

Australia So Can Dance winner “Shot you Down”
The best part about being Australian is the accent, why didn’t they let her speak? Don’t tell anyone but I might watch the Australian So Can Dance during our month long hiatus. Don’t judge! I heard it’s good.

Jason and Ruby – Some Indian Guy “Jai Ho”
I couldn’t have guessed this one from a mile away. One of the most complicated bollywood numbers on the show? Hasn’t there only been two? Whatever. PS - Dude. Jason is such a skank.

So now they are bringing out the top 4 and making there first elimination. Sweet, apparently Evan is doing the butt dance. I’d recognize that oversized shirt anywhere.

KAYLA in 4th place. Knew it. Girl. Perfection. And Star. Lamest comment of the season. I think we’ve done enough damage on the Kayla front, now she’ll be that “Really annoying blonde girl from season 5.”

Evan & Randi – “Koop Island Blues” aka The Butt Dance
I love them, they were the only partnership that I really got attached to, and this dance was in my top 5 of the season for sure.

Paso Doble from frickin last night
What? We just saw this last night. I know it was really good, but come on! Where are the Crash Test Dummies? Where is Addiction? Where is Kupono? Where are Wade’s numbers?

EVAN in 3rd place. Is he going to keep dancing? Heck yeah. I know he wasn't the best dancer, but he really might have been everyone's favorite. Well almost everyone's favorite. Even still I didn't want him to win. He's such a cutie, tear. I hope he's officially brought back Gene Kelly now.

I’m going to say right now that I stand by my prediction from a few weeks ago and predict Jeanine the winner (Brad witnessed me typing this!).

Kupono & Kayla – Mia “Gravity” aka Addiction
That was still so good. Mia has done it two yeas in a row now – definately my favorite dance of the season.

Rage Boys Crew – I was so hoping that Nigel would come out in the middle of the routine and start dancing with them.

Brandon & Janette – Dorianna Disco
I got a call during this number so I totally missed it, who doesn’t know it’s the finale? Mine was off but they called Brad’s phone. Sneaky!

Melissa & Ade – Oreo “This Women’s Work” aka The Cancer Dance
Okay, fine. That dance is one of the best of the season. Do I smell some sort of golden statue next year? Did you see Christina Applegate? Lance Bass? This thing is star studded!

Top 8 Perform
One Singular Sensation with special guest dancers: Your Judges (or Joo-jez)!! This was kind of lame, but I loved seeing Oreo ham it up.

Did Wade trademark his routines? Why didn’t they do the Robber Dance or the Crash Test Dummies? We only saw Bird Face for exactly 3 seconds. Lame. Oh, well. Let’s hand the cash over to Jeanine and start the count down to season 6.

WINNER ANNOUNCING TIME

So who gets the shortest reign as America’s Favorite Dancer? JEANINE.

Woo Hoo! Obviously I agree with this. She’s got the personality, the moves, the looks (Nigel agrees on this aspect too), and she’s just fun. Plus she could cut diamonds with those calf muscles. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with her!?

What she'll remember most from this experience is:

1) Right now. (Great answer)
2) The other dancers (She had to say this)
3) Travis' piece for her and Jason (I'm sure you will!)
4) Cat (who wouldn't?)

Go here for a cute interview of her after the show.

As for Brandon… thanks for dressing up dude. I think it’s funny that you’re the only person who doesn’t get an exit reel. And honestly I wouldn’t have been upset if you’d won. Let’s face it, you are awesome, but Jeanine had it in the bag. Kisses!

Expect a “Best Of” youtube post coming soon. I think next season my posts will be shorter and thus more timely. Nicknames will continue and vicious attacks on lifeless dancers will continue, but instead of a play-by-play I think I’ll just do highlights and lowlights. So until 4 weeks from now when we start this process all over again – this is B signing off on another season of SO CAN DANCE.

Peace out suckas!

WHY DO ALL THE NICE GIRLS LOVE A NASTY BOY?

With Paula off Idol Mary is officially the craziest person on television. Let’s see what she has in store for us tonight… This is So You Think You Can blog blog blog.

Wade Robson Group Number

That was cute. I kinda wanted it to evolve into an entire musical where Brandon is the jerk jock and Evan is the loveable underdog and then Kayla and Jeanine byotch slap each other… anyway so yeah, dance… Brandon and Kayla stood out the most. Jeanine sista, you need to pick it up! I must quickly rant about the camera work though, when Brandon and Evan were dancing across the stage they kept changing the camera to the two girls NOT DANCING… I just wish they would leave the camera panned out sometimes. The finale is not the time to get artsy.

Jeanine & Evan - Sonya Number

I loved every part of this (especially the JLegend song). I wish Jeanine and Evan would have partnered more, I think they could have done some cool stuff together. Again, Jeanine is looking a little sluggish. The judges didn’t love this, but I still thought it was good.

Brandon & Kayla – Tasty Oreo Number

Did Tasty Oreo mix up his costumes with Sonya? There was a weird disconnect for me between the costumes, music and dancing. I thought they both did really well with the choreo they were given but they should have been dancing to an Imogene Heap song. SO not there fault though.

Brandon & Evan – Diddy’s Choreographer’s Number

First of all is she wearing biker gloves and headphones and red nails and spandex?

It’s true Brandon got down and dirtier but Evan’s “nasty” faces where so much more entertaining. And what’s the nastiest thing that Evan has ever done? I don’t know; maybe forget to send his Grandma a birthday card? Poor guy. I still really liked this. The fact that he is so innocent looking made this routine that much better. And look here I am talking about Evan and none of the attention is on Brandon. Exactly. He may have danced it better but everyone will remember Evan from this.

PS - Good story about this song. Somewhere there is a tape of me and my childhood best friends Chloe and Michelle rollerblading a choreographed routine to this song. That we did ourselves. And made our parents pay to watch in the basement. CLASSIC.

Kayla & Jeanine – Mia’s Number

It’s too bad that Jeanine has some trouble with the outfit because I thought beside that she out danced Kayla. I think this could have been a bit more dynamic, but I still liked it.

(Kristin, Kayla is totally playing the Am I Smiling game, right? And she’s losing miserably because she thinks she’s fooling us.)

Evan & Kayla – Melanie & Tony Number

Finally! Evan gets a kiss. It was from Kayla, but oh well. I really liked Evan in this but Kayla looked a bit hunched and hurried. I didn’t think she stole the show at all. Whatever Mary. And holy crap! The audience chanting his name, so cute when he teared up.

Jeanine & Brandon – Louie’s Number

People I think this is your final two (I typed this before Nigel said it). That was quite the intense dance and I have to say I’m a fan. They were both strong enough to pull off the character and the steps. Good work kids. But okaaaaay Nigel we all get that you think Jeanine’s hot but calm it down man. You’re like 50 years older than her. Yuck.

Also, I feel a bit dumb bringing this up but Steve mentioned in the comments of the last post that it looks like Jeanine has gained weight. Which I agree but she’s still like a size 2, right? I mean it’s not like her pas de deux partner is gonna need a crane to lift her.

SOLOS

Brandon – Okay so that was crazy amazing, but Brandon, honey, pick DIFFERENT MUSIC. I can’t take you seriously when you are taking yourself serious enough for all of us.

Evan – I’m so glad that Evan cut his hair from last season, I forgot how long it was before. I’m excited for Ryan next season, but do you really think they’ll put almost the exact same dancer in the top 20 again? He has a huge following, but I think maybe not… As for Evan’s solo, it was not as good as some of his others. Too bad. But it doesn’t really matter at this point.

Kayla – I’m not just a dancer, I’m also a performer. Lame. And cheap shot using the song from the amazing Niel & Sabra routine. Seriously though, I was eating peach cobbler while she danced and the cobbler got me distracted so I didn't even watching her. Oops. Oh, well.

My mom wants to know why we hate Kayla (by WE meaning K, J, and I). Well Nigel summarized it well. He basically said she’s had no personality this season but is technically good. That’s our beef. She’s like the stepford wife of So Can Dance. A robot who dances well but says stuff like, “I loooove to act and model and dye my hair and have perfectly pale skin.” It’s not catty it’s the truth, we never said she was a bad dancer. But I much prefer Jeanine’s missteps and annoying laugh and big teeth. See the difference? So much more fun.

Jeanine – What the folk? I love that she said she freaked out before going on stage for the folk dance because of the COSTUME. And during the Travis Wall number, a non choreographed smooch from Jason? That rascal! I knew it! I’m glad she had a strong solo - I feel a lot better.

In case you're wondering, in an otherwise blah season this is how I feel...

Tomorrow night I'm hoping we see the Addiction piece and the Crash Test Dummies piece (Bird Face!). Those were my favorites of the season.

UPDATE: Go here to view all the dances from last night. Go here to read a very long article from a fan who was in the audience yesterday, he/she got to talk to the judges and dancers after the show and Brandon admitted that the judges actually watch the solos during rehearsals and offer feedback. Interesting!

CAN. NOT. GET. THIS. SONG. OUT OF MY HEAD.

As delightful and adorable as it is… I would really like to move on in life. I can’t even understand what he’s saying so I have this song playing on repeat and I don’t know the words. AWESOME. Here, some one please take it!

Matt And Kim – Daylight

HARRY POTTER 6, A HISTORY

Brad and I started the week attempting to watch all the H-Pott films in order. Yeah that didn’t happen. We watch all of 1, then parts of 3, then ¾ of 4, then skimmed through 5. I feel like I owe it to H-Pott, but we just couldn’t make it happen.

I did stay up late the night before making t-shirts. I had a really hard time coming up with something that was clever but not obvious. I think I failed on both accounts... but what can you do? What follows is a play-by-pay of "opening day."

8:54am – Skimmed a few reviews, it sounds like this thing is going to be a bit less dark and funny and all the reviews I’ve seen have been positive. I hate to say it but I like the dark, and Funny Hermione usually doesn’t work… We’ll have to see.

…more stuff…

8:00pm – We walk out the door and went over the usual “Got the keys? Wallet? Tickets?” Then I said “You know we should just make sure the movie really starts at midnight.” And what do you know, as soon as we look at the tickets we notice the time is correct but - What’s this about July 15th? “Wait, what is today’s date?” “At midnight it will be July 17th.” “Awesome, we are two days late.” There was wailing and gnashing of teeth mostly in my direction because it’s an unspoken rule that I take the reigns in this department… oops. So I called the theater manager and pleaded for him to at least give us a partial refund and what do you know, we aren’t the only idiots in America. He quickly understood our dilemma and offered to give us vouchers. We ended up going to the 10:50 showing that night. I wore my shirt, Brad did not. Good times were had by all. BUT we missed out on the mayhem of opening night, the Harry look-a-likes, the nerdy spell casting, and the Dumbledores and Hermiones dueling each other trivia style. Boo. I was disappointed.


So I’m sorry to disappoint but I don’t actually have a Harry Potter 6 play-by-play. But I do have my random impressions and thoughts compiled in to a weak sauce review. That’s just as good, right? Enjoy.

REVIEW *spoiler alert, read at your own risk*
I learned long ago that books ruin movies, so it’s been at least 3 years since I read this. As a Harry Potter fan not totally immerged in the books I really enjoyed this. Brad didn’t as much, but he doesn’t write the blog so his opinion doesn’t count. Here were my thoughts.

- I loved the mood of this movie, ie: the filming, the score, the monochrome, the special effects… this is exactly how Twilight should have been filmed.
- I thought they could have explained the horcruxes a little better because DUDE the next two movies will be entirely about them.
- I honestly liked how the romance was played up a bit more. While reading the books that’s the one complaint I had. I saw Ron and Hermione getting together since book 3 and having to wait until the last 200 pages of book 7 was Ridikulus indeed.
- I thought burning down the Weasley’s house was such a weird thing to add to the movie, but they needed a quick way to show how evil Bellatrix and Greyback were and also to give the big impression that they were after not only Harry but everything he loves.
- I thought Draco was fabulous, for the first time I wanted more of him in the movie.
- The biggest improvement they could have made to the movie was adding the battle to the end. All of a sudden they walk in and kill Dumbledore? It looked too easy. Don’t worry I still bawled my eyes out when he died.
- I hope with the next movie they add more of Snape’s history, because learning about Snape you get to learn about Lily and James.

Next time we won't miss opening night... well we'll try.

A VERY 4TH OF JULY

** Swimming:: I love having a backyard pool.
** 104 degrees:: Plano’s high on the 4th.
** BBQ:: Turkey Burgers, sausage, and LOTS of guac.
** Poker:: I won, thankyouverymuch. I beat Brad at the final table with an Ace kicker. It was glorious. I think ME winning at poker will be our 4th of July tradish.
** Baseball:: 92 degrees at 11PM at night. Welcome to Texas! We sweated our buns off, but the Rangers won and the fireworks were pretty darn good too.
** TEXAS:: Have you seen the state flag? No one does AMERICA like Texas.
** Fireworks:: Ballpark in Arlington all fired up.
** Family:: I’m glad Brad and my dad got to know each other a little better.
** Sunburns:: We were in the pool for only an hour and Brad got fried, those Midwestern kids can’t hold their sun.

Brad and I made our way down to Texas to spend the holiday with my pops. A much overdue trip that coincidentally allowed us to also spend a few hours with K. And due to a generous paternal donation to the Bridget Wants to Start Cycling Fund, I bought a bike. It’s awesome and Brad is jealous, of course a post on this subject is coming soon. Happy 4th of July 1 month late!

YOU HAVE TO GO AND SEE THE MUSIC WITH YOUR EARS

Nigel makes a good point. This season hasn’t had any standouts we’ve just liked people when they’ve lucked out with good numbers… oh except Kayla has had some good ones and I still despise her. Either way I'm still glued to this show every week so if it ain't broke don't fix it. Let's get to the dancing! Never before seen partners, Evan doing Broadway again (!), Jeanine doing hip hop again (!), and Kayla being Kayla... good times.


EVAN/OLDIE: Broadway


“I’m marrying a married woman.” And a scandalous one at that! I think a lacy sheer top and mini satin skirt would be frowned upon in most churches. Eh, no matter. I thought I would like this number more than I did. It looked like Oldie fumbled a few steps but the judges didn’t mention it, so maybe those were intentional moves. And Evan looked a little sloppy, but less so than Oldie. The funniest part during the critique was when Cat said “Okaaaaay” after Lil C finally stopped talking. AMEN CAT.

Oldie’s husband is a little annoying, right? Those signs are kind of lame. Maybe they’d be cute if I liked her… whatever. How come she hasn’t had a hip hop number yet? They claim she’s diverse but all her numbers have been roughly the same. On the other hand Jeanine has had hip hop almost every week. Hmm. UPDATE – during the elimination show she does mention that she did hip hop once during a group number… doesn’t count sista.

EVAN/OLDIE: Ballroom


Ha! Oldie is the Cloris Leachman of season 5. Awesome. This was better than when he partnered with Kayla. But he lucked out with a quicker dance, I do agree with the judges though it totally looked like they went into slow motion in the middle.

EVAN'S Solo
Could he get any cuter? I just want to pinch his little cheekies and give him a puppy. Face cheeks not bum cheeks.

OLDIE'S Solo
BORING. Yeah Oldie, just go out there and kick. Greeeeat.

ADE/JEANINE: Samba
“H-O-T, HOT” Well not quite but pretty close. Ade looked a step behind her the entire way. But Jeanine’s my favorite so of course she didn’t anything wrong. Of course. That dress looked so fun (even with the required 97% of her body exposed) - I would love to go grocery shopping and sashay down the aisles in that number. It’s rural Illinois, I’ve seen stranger. I do have to give a shout out to Louie for updating ballroom. If I want to see awkward stiff ballroom I’ll watch Dancing With The Stars, no thanks.

ADE/JEANINE: Hip Hop


Ummm… Nigel’s going THERE apparently, a stab at his wife’s divorce attorney? Ouch. As far as the dance goes I liked this. I think the Tab/Nap numbers have been a little weak this year. But I think it’s because they are consistently good so I’m expecting them to blow me away.

ADE'S Solo
It was good, but not as good as last week. Brandon is just a notch better AND he doesn’t wear a fro pick.

JEANINE'S Solo
Is it just me or does she look likes she dragging a bit? I can’t imagine how tired they must be. Still love her and hope she’s in the top 4. Besides Evan the rest have all the personality of toast.

BRANDON/KAYLA: Contemporary


Did we really need a dance about adultery? Anyway… so I really liked this. Using Nigel’s theory I think this may have saved these two for the top 4. Niiiice. I can’t believe I’m actually rooting for Kayla (even if is by default), I’m still bitter Bird Face is gone.

BRANDON/KAYLA: Disco


This was a little frantic. I like the routine itself, but I think Kayla looked a bit sloppy. They loved her, but there were at least 3 places she looked totally lost. Brandon is so good, I wish I liked him better.

Brad from the other room: “I think Mary’s voice just went into super sonic dog range. What is she talking about?” Oh Brad, exactly.

BRANDON'S Solo
Just when I was finally OVER this dance! Why did he do it again? He even wore the same costume - if black tighties can be considered a “costume.” It was still awesome, but still way over the top. And I GUESS he deserved the standing O for his solo. Whatever.

KAYLA'S Solo
Good enough. She totally copied Katee's hair and smiled like a fool, but she was still better than Oldie.

GROUP BOYS


These two group numbers were my favorite of the night. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: Sonya does the best overall combo of music, costume, and choreo. These same sex numbers are sometimes a let down, but I loved this. There was this AWKward moment at the beginning when it looked like Evan and Brandon where going to kiss and I was like: Oh Sonya, you can’t go there sister. Then the moment was over and we were okay.

GROUP GIRLS


Sure Jeanine, that hit was totally an accident. Wink, wink. I didn’t get to see Nigel’s inappropriate comments about Jeanine’s – ahem – gifts. But from what I heard they were a tad inappropriate. He’s been a bit saucy this season, no? As for the dance, I liked this one too. Sonya’s on a roll!

ELIMINATION NIGHT
Uh oh, I hope Evan waving goodbye at the end of the group number wasn’t foreshadowing his demise. Looking beyond the creepy clown theme the choreography was good and it was danced well. I don’t even hate clowns like my sister does but it was still a little disturbing.

Jessica & Will – Oreo’s piece
I guess Jessica’s ribs healed and Will got some dreads, niiice. In other news this was good stuff. Yeah, last season ruled.

Katee & Twitch – Mia’s piece
I totally forgot you go here. Yeah I forgot 1: how fun that routine is. And 2: That they make out at the beginning. However, I did not forget how much I love Katee. Tear. I hate to say it though, did Twitch look a little out of it? Did he quit dancing after last season?

Chelsea & Joshua – Dimitri's piece
That was soooo good. Ahhh Josh and the tight pants and has Chelsea gotten better?

Chelsea & Mark – Tab/Nap's piece
CHILLS. Every. Time. I’ll never get sick of this number, and they did it as good if not not better than last season. Brilliant.

TOP 2 GIRLS
Jeanine
Kayla

Come on even though Blondie is annoying she is good enough for the top 4… and really I’m just relieved it’s not Oldie

TOP 2 GUYS
Evan
Ade

I’m SHOCKED that Evan is moving on, but glad. And even though Ade’s fro pick totally took on a life of its own, I still liked him a lot. Oh well, Evan saved the top 4 from being dominated by the contemporaries and he's cute as a button.

I think we've got a pretty decent top 4 on our hands. Get excited!