I went salsa dancing at a club the other evening and was thrilled that I had my 365hangers photoshoot beforehand, because my hair was curled and ready for a night out. It’s always fun to see what others are wearing to the club. I usually stick with something simple that I can move in, preferably dark colors. A smart pair of Capri pants and a cute top along with my dancing heels is my norm.

On this particular evening, there was a bit of a faux paux if you ask me. I witnessed a female dancer wearing a tutu! If it had been a Halloween party, I wouldn’t have looked twice. But there was no occasion for this mishap. Did I mention that she was wearing a corset too? Yes, she was. It seemed impractical and most likely uncomfortable for her and her partner who was most likely running into the tutu as she spun around the dance floor.

My favorite outfit of the evening was a simple royal blue dress that cut off a few inches above the knee. It was a loose fit below the waist and fitted in the bust. The neckline was fitting for this girl’s figure and there were short-capped sleeves. The dress was pulled together high at the waist with a thick black belt and funky black earrings to tie it all in. It was a classic example of how to pull together a simple and comfortable outfit for dancing the night away.

I’m proud to say… I’m a huge Britney Spears fan! I went to see her Circus Tour concert at the Honda Center back in April, and a friend of mine got me free tickets to go see her show again last week at the Staple Center. There’s nothing like a Britney Spears Concert. It’s a high energy performance with set changes, aerialists, amazing dancers, martial artists, awesome musicians, contortionists, hula hoop-ers, gymnasts, and fabulous costumes.

As I walked into the restroom, I realized that I was surrounded by girls all dolled up in their cute mini dresses with sequins, make-up and hair done as if they were going out to the club. The far majority of these beautiful girls had great taste in fashion. These girls knew their body types and dressed in the most flattering way possible. There’s always a few fashion fau-paux in the crowd along with the crazy costumes emulating Britney. It was evident that everyone was dressed and ready for a night of entertainment and fun!

I was excited to see that there were all new costumes for the show, although I feel like the new costumes “played it safe”. When the tour first opened, the costumes were very unique and even tacky, but they held to the tradition of vaudeville and circus through the centuries. I’ll admit there were a couple of costumes in the beginning that should have been thrown out, but they really made a strong statement and added to the illusion of the whole performance. This time around, the costumes lost their edge. Any pop artist can get away with a corset, diamond mini dress, or rhinestone bra and fishnets. All of the costumes looked great, but seemed a little too simple in comparison to the original costumes.

The biggest costume let down was at the opening of the show. Britney is lowered from the ceiling, standing in a big diamond hoop like a ring-leader in a circus. She wore a short diamond dress that reflected light throughout the entire stadium. It was a beautiful dress, but not nearly as prominent of a statement as her previous costume. Originally, she came down wearing a red jacket with gold shoulder pads, tassels, and buttons down the front like a traditional ring-leader of a circus. It was an exciting and powerful statement that got the audience hooked into the circus world the moment the show started. I wish everyone there last week could have seen that.

An afternoon at the farmer’s market is just what I needed to put a smile on my face.

It was a beautiful sunny day riding my bike down to the marina and loitering through the many stands with plants, fruits, vegetable, homemade jams, nuts, and granola. It’s fun to taste test different fruits and juices.

You can look at two bundles grapes that look the same from first glance, but when you actually try them, they are two different tastes. I highly recommend that everyone should take a trip to their local farmer’s market on occasion. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you will find. You can even find some good deals that beat what a grocery store has to offer. Surrounded by pleasant people and supporting local growers is a good way to become a bit more involved in the community and environmentally active.

San Francisco

I went to San Francisco for a couple days with a few friends. The eclectic town filled with artistic inspiration and historical undertones juxtaposed Mammoth Lakes lifestyle. Shopping with the girls was overwhelmed with colors and prints of all sorts on clothing, artwork, dishware, and more. There’s fun fashion everywhere you look in the city. Never a dull moment for the eyes. Thousands of things to look at in every direction. We explored Haight St, Korea town, Pier 39, Belden Place, ate at Mona Lisa, and had a drink at Martuni’s Martini’s. The trip consisted mostly of estrogen filled conversations, good food, fun window shopping, chocolates, drinks, laughs, and hugs. Traveling back on the 120 we stopped at the greatest little cactus farm. I bought several new succulents for my garden. Can’t wait to re-pot them when I get back to the city.

My time in the mountains went by too quickly. I’ll miss the simplicity of the small town and friendly familiar faces. I love the endless sea of trees, wildflowers, rivers, creeks, lakes, rocks, high-rise mountain ranges, and vast view of stars. There’s tranquility in the quiet of the small town. When I’m here I feel like I can finally slow down and listen to my own thoughts. I find a little bit of clarity and meaning in life every time I visit. It’s a nice break from the craziness of Los Angeles freeways and traffic.

Mother nature always finds a way to put things back into perspective for me. I realized that I’ve established myself in this community over the past year and a half. I’ve met some good friends that I know I will be able to re-connect with every time I come back to visit. This town has grown on me. I hope that everyone finds a place in life that they can escape to and find a little piece of peacefulness.

The other day while I was blogging about my igoogle home page, I was looking at my “self-meditation” widget and clicked on thingstobehappyabout.com. It was the first time I had clicked on the link. A smile shined across my face as I looked at a colorful map of positive things to click on: wish list, things to be happy about, zen garden, words of wisdom, lesson plans and more. I was inspired to create my own list of “things to be happy about” and a “wish list” of things that I want to do and experience in life. The list of things to be happy about makes me think of all the wonderful things that there are to be grateful for, while the wish list motivates me to make things happen in life. I already have over 100 things on my list of what I’m happy about.

Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Watching some enjoy eating something that I have baked or cooked
2. Long hugs from unexpected friends
3. Digging my hands and feet into wet sand
4. Re-potting plants
5. Looking at a peacock feather as the sun glistens on it and the wind dances with the plum
6. Taking notes in the margins of a book
7. Admiring the beauty of a stranger passing by
8. Playing inside a duvet cover as you put it over a quilt
9. Finding someone with the same size hands as me

10. Taking a picture of something, so that you will remember that moment every time you look at it

When I open up my laptop Internet home page, it goes to my igoogle.com. If you don’t already know what that is, it’s a fun home page that you can create yourself. You can add “gadgets” or “gWidgets” to your page. A gadget can be a link to your email accounts, facebook, news, quotes of the day, weather, calendars, pictures, and tons more.

The banner of my igoogle page is the coastline of a tropical island with a forest of palm trees, crystal blue water, and a wooden dock. Directly below that are my first three gadgets… pictures. The first picture is “photos to ponder,” a volcanic mountain range in New Zealand with bright blue pools of water and white clouds. The second picture is “National Geographic Pictures,” an Urban Prairie Dog, which looks like a chipmunk standing on his hind legs and reaching his front arms toward the sun. The third picture is “Places to See,”Havasu Falls, Arizona.

My second row is the “Are You Happy?” gadget, which has a quote: “Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life.” –Burton Hills. Next to that is the “Self-Meditiation” from thingstobehappyabout.com and “Inspirational Quotes and Pictures.” The current inspirational quote is, “What lies behind us, and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson. The picture for this quote is a forest with lime green trees and milk chocolate dirt.

The rows of gadgets continue with “Dictionary.com word of the day”, weather, Date & Time, facts, Quote of the Day, CNN.com, LA Times, Movies, youtube, facebook, and myspace. I use all of my gadgets very often. Most of the time I use the bookmark menu. But I do love glancing at the top of my home page and finding inspiration in the pictures and quotes.

Yesterday, I went to see the movie Julie & Julia by Nora Ephron, with one of my younger sisters. It was a fitting movie for the two of us to see together since we are both lovers of baking and cooking. My sister is currently going to culinary school, and I mostly have a sweet tooth that compels me to bake yummy desserts from scratch as frequently as I can find an excuse or special occasion to do so.

The film toggled between the stories of Julia Child as she goes to Le Cordon Bleu culinary school and writes her cookbook back in the 1950s and Julie Powell’s experience blogging for 365 days as she attempts to cook over 500 recipes from Julia Child’s cookbook.

It was entertaining to watch a film about a woman who blogs on a regular basis. My project with 365 Hangers is very different from Julie’s cooking project. She has something specific to write about each day. I, on the other hand, have an unlimited number of subjects that I can blog about. I have lists in my head and note pads of brainstorming ideas full of topics that I could write about.

Every day there are multiple new experiences that inspire thoughts I want to put down in writing. Sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin. Blogging is still very new to me. I’m merely a week into this new world.

My inspiration comes from things that I am passionate about, have an opinion on, or think about enough, that I feel it’s worth writing about. I’m excited to see how my portfolio of thoughts develop over time. I anticipate learning how to gather my thoughts in a cohesive manner and create effective pieces of work that are clear, concise, easy to read and relate to; as well as thought provoking and interesting.

I’m an ambitious person. This will be a fun adventure, while I creatively develop a voice of self-expression.

Contrast works and, in this case, it’s proven true with black and white on Ava’s hourglass body shape. Take a risk with your body shape and you’ll be surprised how variations can work miracles. Knit dresses are a better choice for curvy body types.

This easy dress not only brings casual comfort but the pattern adds fun element to make this look more catchy. Having it tied at the waist is perfect for an hourglass body shape to accentuates the curves. Can’t go wrong here!

I woke up this morning to go fishing down by the Marina. I put on my new black string bikini from Catalina Island, applied my sunscreen, and packed my backpack. I like to keep my wardrobe comfortable and simple; cargo pants and a plaid pastel colored button down shirt, is what I wore over my bikini as I headed out the door. I love being outside. The ability to leave my car behind and travel on bicycle wheels or my own two feet is freeing. I rode my bike around the marina and saw a few people kayaking and waterskiing. My new friend Casey lives right on the water in the Marina, where you can fish for bass and halibut. I’ve never been fishing before and people are always telling me they’ll teach me how to fish, but it never happens. Today was the day I finally held a reel, learned to cast, and waited for the bite.

As I walked up, I met an adorable dog, named Charlie, who rooms with Casey. He’s very territorial and seems to own the futon in the living room. After small talk and a quick tour of his apartment, we headed down to the shoreline right under the bridge. The sand between my toes felt wonderfully invigorating, though there were some strange little critters biting at my feet as I waded into the water. I was excited to bait my tackle and learn how to get the shrimp firmly attached to the hook so that it stayed in place. The hook was inserted at the base of his belly and traveled through the center of the shrimp’s body and finally made an exit up near the head. You have to get the majority of the body secured at the curve of the hook where it is less likely to shift around.

It wasn’t long before my rod started moving around. I was so excited that the bass were after my bait. With Casey’s help, I reeled in my first catch. I have to admit, holding the little bass in my hand after reeling it in was the apex of my fishing experience. I removed the hook from the side of his mouth, supporting his jaw with my right hand as my left hand pulled the hook out. The fish was then safely returned to the water and swam away in the marina. It may seem pointless, but it was fun!

Take risk in this unusual color and make a statement of you being a fashionista. This look shows the hourglass body shape at its best. Nothing but curves at all the right places.