A Little Bit of Risque in the Evening!

"Hit it up, get it up, won't let you rest,
Hit it up, get it up, this is not a test,
Hit it up, get it up, gotta give me your best,
So get your ass up, show me how you Burlesque!"

That's right! The girls and I headed out last Friday night to the Kavon Themed-Dinner Theatre for a Cabaret-Inspired Burlesque dinner show! I'm sure many of you have seen Christina Aguilera's and Cher's movie Burlesque and thought it was awesome. Well, so was the show! Needless to say, it was quite a different environment, but it sure was an evening filled with laughter, dancing, and fun!

The week before, I was Skyping with my grandma and she told me about how her and Pop-Pop took my Busi to a Burlesque show years ago, and she told me all about Busi's reactions to the 'strippers!' I laughed so hard, and could not WAIT to go, simply because my grandparents went to one as well!

Photo credit: Danielle

When we arrived to the show, we were greeted by the waiters dressed in only pants and ties, and the waitresses dressed in corsets. We had an extensive list of Schnitty options to choose from, and were given a glass of bubbly to enjoy. One of the waiters got his picture taken with us and at the last minute, he shoved his tie in my mouth to make it a bit more risque! So the tie in my mouth was totally involuntary on my part, but I can't say I minded too much!

After we ate our dinner and drank our bubbly, the show began. The dance crew started off with some songs from Burlesque. We all sang along with them and laughed as the men paraded out in their actual American 'thongs' (not Aussie flip-flops) and the women got up on the tables and danced. The girl who jumped up on our table was too sweet. She must have known by looking at us that we were going to feel a bit awkward about her dancing right in our faces, so before the song started, she quickly threw in a "sorry, girls," and then proceeded shaking her butt. How thoughtful!

Photo credit: Danielle

A few minutes later, everyone jumped to their feet as these lyrics came blasting through the speakers:

"It's just a jump to the left.
And then a step to the right.
Put your hands on your hips.
You bring your knees in tight.
But it's the pelvic thrust,
That really drives you insane.
Let's do the time-warp again!"

That's right! Finally, the Rocky Horror Picture Show songs came on!! I'll be honest, that movie creeps me out just a bit, but I cannot help myself from loving the songs. I remember my sophomore year when Lexi, Pam, and I went to the live performance of it at Etown. We were pretty much in shock the whole time, but luckily for me, I learned the time-warp dance and I was able to dance along with Tori and Yoshua Friday night! It was too fun.

Photo credit: Danielle

Then for me, the topper of the night occurred. I was picked for a competition! Looking back now, it was probably stupid to even volunteer at a Burlesque show, but what's my motto? "Hey, I'm in Australia!" Plus, I never get picked for anything. Of all the times I raised my hand to feed the dolphins and was ignored, and now, at a Burlesque show I get picked! Anyway, I was chosen for a certain competition. I'm not going to tell you what this competition entailed, so if you really want to know, you'll have to ask me in person ;) But the best part was that I WON! Yup! I got a pretty classy plastic champagne glass with a creepy skeleton hand on it, but I WON! I will treasure that glass forever. hahaha

The night was a blast and now I can say I've actually been to a Burlesque show, and maybe Grandma and I can compare dance moves we both learned! I wonder if she won a competition, too?! Anyway, I highly suggest an evening such as this one, especially if you're looking for a fun night out with the girls. I suggest ordering some Margaritas to share while you sing your heart out and dance away! You only live once, and life is too short, so have a blast! If anyone ever goes, you'll have to let me know!

Well I am down to three final weekends Down Under. This week is actually dedicated to school assignments. I know it's crazy, right?! But this weekend it's off to Hunter Valley Vineyards with the wonderful Danielle for the Lovedale Long Lunch Wine Tasting extravaganza, so I'm looking very much forward to that! Check back to hear the details! 

Cheers!
XOXO

Skype Lovin' with my Sister Sheila: Prom and Birthday!

Elyse's Sweet 16 last year

So one of the downsides of being abroad is missing out on big days at home. Between last week and this coming week, I will have missed my 'not-so-little anymore' sister's junior prom; her seventeenth birthday; her tennis County Tournament; my best mate, Lauren Stevenson's big 21st; my Zack Davis's big 21st; the anniversary of my Busi's 93rd brithday; and mum's day! Luckily for mum, she gets to open her Australian mother's day card soon, and maybe even get a little surprise! What an eventful week in Jarrettsville!

But all thanks to the lovely invention of Skype, I was able to share and capture part of the memories, all while creating another memory in itself. Seriously, how many Skype birthday parties are you invited to?

So May 4th, well Cinco de Mayo here, I woke up early so I'd make it to the party on time! I was fashionably late, but hey, I couldn't get my computer to start right away! Once again, like at my dad's Skype party, my wonderful and creative mama had my room decorated with streamers, balloons, presents, and cake.


I did a little decorating on my end of the world, too! I drew up a little 'Sister Sheila' birthday poster with a festive kangaroo and hung it up so Elyse could see it in the screen shot!

When the birthday girl showed up after tennis practice and indulged in her delicious home cooked dinner of steak, asparagus, and potatoes, we sang to her and she made a rather long wish then blew out her candles. It only took her four breaths to get all seventeen blown out! Talk about getting old, Elyse!

After that, it was present time! I felt so honored that she chose to open my card up first! It arrived about a week and half ago, so the day finally came for her to see her surprise! She loved the boomerang key chain I put in there for her car keys! Then the rest of the presents were opened, one of the favorites being the tickets to the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre to see Legally Blonde on June 22nd! I'm pretty excited about that, especially the all-you-can-eat dinner and dessert buffet! O yeaaaa! As long as they let Elyse pull her chair up to the dessert table and place the apple crumb cake directly in front of her, it will be a successful evening. She also got some super cute clothes-thanks to mom and DAD'S great style taste- that I am oh so excited to wear... I mean see! After the gifts, we had a little fashion show as she tried on all her new clothes.

Finally, it was cake time! That's usually the best part of a party, right? Well, unfortunately Skype hasn't advanced enough yet to let me get a slice through the screen. Despite my drooling, my lovely mother kept saying,"Gee, Ash. I don't know what I did differently this time, but this is seriously the best icing I've made yet. I didn't change anything, but man, we can't stop eating it." Thanks, mom! My dad, being the gentleman that he is, didn't finish his slice so I wouldn't feel too left out. I told him not to waste the cake, there are starving college kids in Australia! Mom finished it for him!

It was another successful Skype party and it just reinforces how blessed I am to have my family. I know I am in Australia and I have so many events to look forward to, but honestly, it's the little things like Skyping home for big events that I really, truly look forward to the most, which leads me into my next story: Elyse's prom!!!!!

A Day at the Races!

Photo credit: BMW Sydney Carnival

And awayyyyyyyy we went! Last weekend, some of the girls and I fancied ourselves up and headed to Sydney for the BMW Sydney Carnival. The specific race we attended was the Schweppes Sydney Cup.

As soon as we walked up to the venue, the Royal Randwick, we knew we were in a foreign environment, not literally but socially! Everyone was dressed to the nines sporting dresses, suits, bow ties, stilettos, hats galore, and fascinators all the while sipping on champagne, beer, and cocktails, and placing bets!

I must say though, we ladies looked pretty sophisticated in our heels and dresses, and I bought myself a lovely glass of champagne and bet on some horses, so I think I adapted to the environment quite well!

Anyway, when we arrived, we took some time to walk around and watch a race or two, then Danielle, Gina, and myself headed to the giant tent to place our bets. We are definitely naive American girls when it comes to gambling. God bless the lovely woman who helped us out! Personally, I thought she looked a bit intimidating, but Danielle insisted she would be helpful, so I marched over and put everything straight forward. With a flashy smile, I simply said, "We want to bet on a horse, but have no clue what we're doing! Can you help?" I honestly saw a transformation in her mood as she began to explain all the different bets we could place: straight, single, place, combination, trifecta... There were so many! She basically told us to go look at a book, pick our favourite names and come back and tell her and she would set us up. Not as easy as it sounds. Do you know how hard it is to find a simple little book with the list of horse names?! They are not just sitting around and they're pretty pricey! But finally, we just ventured back to our woman, told her we couldn't find a list of names and she printed them out for us. Too sweet, right?! It's people like this that can simply make your day and experience all the better.

There is my disobedient, crooked horse!

So the three of us decided to place two bets. The first bet was on race four and it was an Eachway bet, I think??? I bet on horse number ten, Brightest, for two reasons: one, ten is my lucky number and was my soccer jersey number for my whole life basically, and two, I really liked the horse's name! Unfortunately, Brightest was exactly the brightest horse in the stable. As they were lining the horses up to be walked out, all the other horses were standing straight (I had blindly chosen my horse, so this was the first time seeing him after I placed the bet) and proper, actually obeying their jockeys.

Horse one came out, followed by two, three, four etc. Then horse number ten lines up and begins wailing his head in every which direction, completely ignoring any directions from his jockey! Great! He wasn't even standing up straight, but I took it as a sign. We were both crooked! (for those of you who don't know, I have scoliosis and very crooked hips, so I tend to use this as an excuse for many things!) I thought I had it in the bag at this point, but clearly I was wrong as I watched Brightest come in 7th place out of ten!

So the next race we bet on, we actually weren't there to see the results, but we looked them up later. We placed the Carnival Combo bet on the sponsored race. I got to pick four horses and any of them had to simply come in first, second, or third. I picked my four horses based on my family's birthdays. I picked horse 3, Niwot, for April 3rd, my daddy's birthday; horse 4, Precedence, for May 4th, my sister's birthday; horse 8, Permit, for August 20th (8/20), for my mum's birthday; and horse 13, Nextanix, for June 13th, my birthday! The race was held after we left for the day, so Danielle checked the results later that night. Niwot placed first! Both Danielle and I had picked him, so we were pretty pumped that we even won! All we had to do was take our ticket to the nearest TAB and claim our prize money. Secretly, I was hoping on making bank, so I was pretty stoked walking up to the ticket window. I handed the woman my ticket and was brought back to reality when she handed me $5.70 and told me to have a nice day. Well, I went straight to the store around the corner and spent my big winnings on a $5 dollar blanket. Seventy cents is left to spend wisely! Hmmmm, a gumball, possibly?

But, despite the small winning, we still WON and had a fabulous day at the races! As Danielle says, we felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. It was simply a lovely day out and a very grand experience!