Introducing Me..# 6

Introducing Me:  # 6: Someone You'd Trade places with for a Day

This may be in part of me watching a certain show right now, but typically this is a hard questions for me to answer. I like being me. I try to think what other people would say..someone historical? nah. an actor/actress? not really. a family/friend? too weird.

I'm watching the  The Next Great Baker on TLC and I'm wondering what it would be like to trade places with Buddy Valastro for a day.

I've always been fascinated by dessert/cake decorators. The talent, patience, and attention to detail. How quickly they work and how beautiful it all looks in the end. I'm confident that I could turn out a descent cake if I had the right tools, but some of the things they do are just insane to me.

Buddy himself seems to be absolutely talented and an extreme professional. Minus all the drama on his shows he seems like a class act guy. It'd be quite an experience to trade places for a day with him.

Since this isn't possible, I would some day like to meet him, but it'd be even better if I could learn something from him one on one..anything. And that's even less likely, haha. A girl can dream!

# 6: Your Views on Mainstream Music.

I bite. I listen, but I get more annoyed almost everyday. The songs that never go mainstream and some artists who never do are far better and maybe that's just because their not over played. I love new music and for anyone who hears something they love and thinks I may not know, please share! It's a choreographers dream for good, unheard song that allows their audience to think and get wrapped up in the song just as much as the choreography.

Signing off,
Ida Jade

Introducing Me.. # 5

Introducing Me: # 5: Favorite Memory


Without doubt, my favorite memory to date. My Wedding Day.
7.31.10

I don't think it all hit me until this very minute

You can tell I'm looking right at him and absolutely NOTHING else =)

Our handwritten vows =)

First Kiss as Mrs. Grabiak

Our Balloon send off was perfect =)

We took 5 minutes to ourselves right after the recieving line and I'm SO happy we did,
it was a private, calm, and beautiful moment.

Got to love our wedding party<3

Traditional ride around town..a complete suprise from Ron, my Father in Law

"I Got a Feeling" Our Entrance =)

My perfect Maid of Honor and I enjoying a delicious meal =)

Our First Dance "Amazed"

Dancing with the rest of our wedding party =)

Such a beautiful cake thanks to a dear friend

The Bridal/Money Dance. What hoot and a good time..I was so exhausted after this, haha!

Our dance floor didn't go empty ALL night.

P.E.R.F.E.C.T.I.O.N <3

An absolute, fabulous day. Nothing could have made it any better.

# 5: Things you want to say to an Ex

I'm skipping this. I don't really have anything to say and I didn't even know myself when I was dating them. Josh has helped me with all of that and I couldn't be happier with the way my life has turned out.

Signing off,
Ida Jade

Introducing Me.. # 4

Introducing Me:    Day #4: Picture of Your Night

I have a few. It's been a good day/night. Today was Josh and I's "Christmas" since he works on Christmas Day. We were having Ellie Mae open her presents and enjoying our time together watching some Christmas Eve football when I got a call from my mom.

My mom and her boyfriend, Scott, came to visit us as a suprise. Was not expecting that at all! I'm so happy because when I wake up in the morning on Christmas I won't be all alone. We had a nice day watching football and catching up. We all ended up taking a short nap and then we all got ready to head to the casino.

The casino this year gave all of their employees a $25 gift card to Walmart along with a certificate for 2 free meals at there all you can eat buffet. Josh, and I were planning on going anyway so we decided to keep the same plans. After dinner, I showed them around.

Christmas Eve, came early for a few poker players. We were there right when they were handing out the prize money for a bad beat jackpot. For those who don't play poker this is a very good hand that gets beat by another really good hand. The person who gets beat would probably be thinking they had it in the bag until the "bad beat" comes. The casino just started this jackpot 10 days ago so it was pretty impressive that it hit this early and on Christmas Eve, how neat! The "loser" won close to 27K to my understanding and the rest is divied out between the winner (who gets more than the other players) and everyone else at the table. It was pretty cool to see.

After dinner we came back home and hung out some more and wrapped some presents. We're all headed to bed now, but it was a really good night. Better than I even imagined. =)

Here are some pictures and even a video. Enjoy!

Miss Ellie Mae behaving (for the most part)

My momma and Scott =)

Ellie's new favorite toy. It did havea cute little santa hat, but that's off already.
It grunts, rattles, and squeaks!..watch ;)

#4: Bullet Your Whole Day..(whoops pretty much did this)

*Worked til 3 AM at the bar
*Couldn't fall asleep until 5 AM
*Woke up around 10 AM
*Made our NFL Picks for the Day and snuggled up
*Order PapaJohns Pizza, Wings, and Breadsticks for lunch (like we do every normal Sunday of football)
*Started watching RedZone around 12:30PM
*Mom called around 3PM or so to let us know she was crossing over the WV line
*Hurriedly wrapped their gift (stainless steel pots and pans)
*Caught up and exchanged gifts
*Watched the late games (4PM) and took about an hour and half nap
*Woke up around 6:30PM and sat around for awhile until we all got ready
*7:30PM headed to the casino for dinner at the Epic Buffet
*9PM tried to got to Martins and Walmart of find neither open, whoops!
*9:30PM stopped at 711 to get some Mt. Dew for my mom and me
*Sat around the rest of night talking, watching tv (including a roast on Larry the Cable Guy)
*12AM Caught up on my blogs that I follow and wrote in mine
*1AM Heading to bed now

There you have it. =)

Signing off,
Ida Jade

NFL Picks/Update - Week 16

I'm tardy. I'm late. I'm busy and haven't blogged in forever and I'm highly disliking this. Trying my hardest to get back on board.

Josh and I have started doing our NFL picks on our own. We compete against one another and enjoy this time together. Ellie Mae, even participates. Whenever we pick the same team she picks againts us. Sadly she won last week.

Here's what happened today:

So far Josh and I are all tied up and Ellie is behind by 2. We'll see how we do by Monday night. Wish me luck!

Signing off,
Ida Jade

Introducing Me..# 3

Introducing Me:  #3: Cast of Your Favorite Show

My favorite show ever? I was going to give you three, but when I pulled up this photo I dismissed all others. This is my absolute favorite! Nothing beats Boy Meets World!

Boy Meets World. Best Show Ever.

# 3: A Book You Love

Without going for HP I have to say this was one of my recent favorites. I read it while in NYC in '09 and I just love it. Not many books actually make me LOL (Laugh Out Loud), but this one definitely did.

 

Signing off,
Ida Jade

I need your opinion..

All advice and comments are appreciated. I would usually not bring business into my personal blog, but this will be my first ad I've designed for my Real Estate business.

Here it is...

This is going out in a few days, so what do you all think (family, friends, blog followers)? =)

Signing off,
Ida Jade

Doing Something I Love

I forgot how much I love to teach.

Okay so I didn't "forget", but I haven't taught a full dance class in around 2 years.

Thanks to a friend through Real Estate, I was connected with a highschool dance teacher who is allowing me to come and teach every so often. My first time was Wednesday.

Tuesday, Josh was working and I had some things to get done, then in the evening I had my Holiday Work Party at the casino. They had a really nice buffet, music, dancing, and a 2 drink minimum. It was fun, but the majority of us ended up at a local watering hole afterward. I stayed for awhile and had another drink or two and headed home. I couldn't fall asleep because of how excited I was and when I did fall asleep I woke up an hour and half before my alarm went off. I think it was a combination of nerves and worrying I wouldn't hear my alarm.

I got up early, got changed, and headed out the door. When I arrived the teacher came to get me and we headed through the schools hallways to the gym and then down to the dance studio. The studio was so nice! It was even larger than my "upstairs" dance room at my dance studio. I can't say that I didn't get jealous of how fortunate they are. I made sure to stress this to them and let them know they should not take this for granted.

I stretched ahead of time and when the first class arrived the teacher introduced me and then let me talk about my experience. I gave the same 'ole speach each time. I joined gymnastics when I was about 8 years old because my parents thought I was a klutz; that's probably because I was. Once I started I added on dance and competed in both. I took to dance a lot more and by my senior year I was in 17 routines for my recital. I told them about auditioning for the Radio City Rockettes twice, and from there I introduced the style.

We were to learn lyrical jazz, since they had been working solely on jazz the past few weeks. I explained how lyrial (lyrics) is meant to tell a story and it's a great way to express yourself. It's personally one of my favorite styles. I asked them if they were a fan of Adele and of course they were and I then informed them we would be dancing to 'Set Fire to Rain'. They all were quite excited.

We did a quick warmup and then I had them show me the jazz routine they had been working on. Afterwards, we got right to learning the choreography I had prepared. Going in to it I was nervous about difficulty and what they could do so I choreographed 3 similar dances with a step up in complexity in each one. That seemed to work really well. All 6 classes learned and loved it. They all got about a minute into the song in the matter of a 35-45 minute class. Not bad.

They all seemed to love it and the teacher now wants to use this dance as their mid-term "exam". I'm thrilled! It's such a great feeling being back to this. I've been invited back to teach a hip hop class in January and I'm nervous all over again for that, but if I've proved anything to myself in doing this..I'm great under pressure. =)

It feels so good to be back to it...and with that I would like to show you a few pictures from my dancing/teaching days. Enjoy!

My First Nationals Competition in Wildwood, NJ

Hahah, my first Jazz Class "Funky Town"

One of the First classes I taught, my Junior Jazz Dancers =)

Rockette Intnesive Performance in Pittsburgh, PA at Point Park University

Signing off,
Ida Jade

Christmas Decorations!!

Okay, so normally Mondays are my "not my favorite" and "love me some" posts, but I feel the need to post about Christmas.

I finally finished decorating the way I wanted to. Last year we had only had our house for a little under 2 months so finding and buying things to decorate with wasn't the easiest. This year, I've put a good bit into it. So exciting..here's a look!

Yay, Christmas! 13 Days!!
Show me your Christmas decorations!

Signing off,
Ida jade

Introducing Me..#2

Introducing Me:
#2: Picture of you and the person you've been closest with the longest

This is really hard for me to choose. Besides family, I've been close to two of my friends for just about the same amount of time. I'm honestly not sure which I've known longer. So I'll do both, it's only fair.

Ber aka Amber

and just because I have this uploaded already, us when we were younger =)

If it weren't for our mom's we never would have met one another. Our mom's met at their workplace, Hilltop Lab Animals, and became pretty good friends. The first time they hung out outside of work my mom brought me along to meet Amber, 4 at the time. I'm pretty sure we hit it off right away. I'd like to say we've been friends since, but we've definitely had our ups and downs. Some how though we always wind up back together. We had some growing up to do, but now that all of it's in the past..we're closer than ever. I really hope she moves this way in the next year or so. Love you, girl! =)

Keishy aka Keisha

Ahaha '05 NYE

I'm not sure exactly when we became friends, but I know it was around the same age. My parents were friends with her neighbors and through them I met Keishy. We spent a lot of time together, one of our favorite memories was playing with our Lion King figures over the phone. Good times. As we grew up our classes weren't together and we saw each other less and less, but we always remained friends. Finally in 11th grade we had multiple classes together and reconnected all over again. I don't see her nearly enough, but she's always there and I know it goes vice versa. Love you, Keishy Babe!

# 2:  Something you feel strongly about.
I am completely against Affirmative Action. It's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard of. I could go on an on about and as a matter of fact I have; I once did this as a college assignment. If it weren't for Josh I never would have realized how terrible it is, but it's absolutely ridiculous. Race has nothing to do with your job performance. The fact that there are "percentages" that companies must abide by is asinine.

You know who should get the job?! The best man for the job, no matter their race or sex.

I know there are still backward thinking people, but I honestly think our society can figure this out on their own...it's the best man for the job, not who their parents were and what genes they wound up with.

As Peter Griffin would say, "It really grinds my gears!" Haha!

Signing off,
Ida Jade

Introducing Me..# 1

Introducing Me:
#1: Picture of yourself and 15 facts

1. I've been lost and locked in the Radio City Music Hall in NYC for around 15 minutes, after attending a Rockette Experience (class, tour, and mock audition).

2. I'm writing a book.
3. I used to be an extremely picky eater. I've gotten a lot better, but what bugs me most isn't taste it's the consistency of some foods. For instance..I have yet to find a dressing I like. The consistency is gross to me. Weird, I know.
4. Through Dance and Gymnastics I've met Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Shannon Miller (Olympic Gymnast), and Dominque Moceanu (Youngest USA Gymnast..winning at the age of 13..my idol and the reason I started in gymnastics and later transitioned into dance)
5. I love tequila. Jose Cuervo is my favorite and I actually hate Patron. To me, tequila is meant to have salty "bite" and I feel Patron is just too smooth.
6. I don't think I could go one day without using sarcasm or sexual innuendos.
7. I've found my career in Real Estate.
8. I LOVE Pittsburgh and especially our sports. Steelers/Pens/Pirates<3
9. I was pulled over for the first time in October. Not bad for being 22. It was for making an illegal left turn into the casino. (FAIL)
10. I've been up and down the east coast and to Quebec, but I have yet to go west of the western end of Tennessee. This is going to need to change quickly.
11. I really disliked highschool. I always hear people say how they miss it..and really I don't and I know I never will.
12. I despise being called young or looked at differently for my age. I've done alot in 22 years, more than most do in their life. I am young, but do not judge me because you think I have "no experience".
13. With that being said, I'm a kid at heart. I work extremely hard, but I am so easily entertained. I still enjoy watching the Disney Channel and Josh makes fun of me for it, but it's simple, clean humor. I like that, makes me relax and not have to think about the list of things I need to do (which is pretty much always a mile long).
14. I have my career as a Realtor and I have 2 jobs in addition. I work at the Casino as a Chip Runner and I bartend as of last week. I'm pretty much a workaholic.
15. I've worn hoops every day since 7th grade (okay, so somedays I don't leave the house and they don't get put on..but just about every day). I even wore hoops the day of my wedding.

# 1: 5 Ways to win my heart.

Thoughtfulness

Dancing.
Take me Dancing. =)

Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Auntie Anne's.
Especially their Lemonade.

Hugs.

Signing off,
Ida Jade