Back again, only different than before...

Hello, Hello. 8 months later, and decided to start up the blog again, because well.... tis the season!

 A lot has happened since my last post, so I guess I should do a little update. 

:)

Let's travel back in time:

SPRING!

 Spring Quarter was a bittersweet quarter: Sweet because some of the most memorable moments of this year occurred during this quarter; Bitter because I had to say farewell to some of my closest friends that I made when I first started at UC Irvine. I got to perform with two ensembles that I love dearly: Etude Ensemble & Jazz Ensemble, and I also danced alongside my best friends in my old roommate and one of my first friends at UCI's thesis. It was a quarter of new friendships, dance & music performances, pub nights, and all sorts of wonderful. 

View of the Commencement Ceremony: UCI Class of 2014 feat. President Obama

Jamie Nishimura's Thesis <3

SUMMER!

In front of the Colosseum 

1. Rome!! I went to Rome this summer  and it was probably one of the biggest highlights of my year. I got to work and perform with super talented composers and musicians from Rome and improvise on stage with fellow UCI dancers. I experienced the beautiful ancient ruins of Rome and was constantly overwhelmed by the amount of history each part of Rome held. I immersed myself into the busy life of Rome and got myself lost in the city where I found some of my favorite things: little streets with no names, a cafe that opened up to a hip urban bar at night, and fountains constantly surrounded by emerging artists and university students. The experience of Rome is something that I will forever cherish, and I'm so happy to have been given the opportunity to go on this trip. 

NY/VA Photo Collage

2. After my Rome trip, I made a pit-stop on the East Coast! I was in NYC for a couple of days to watch a couple of shows, take some dance classes, and visit old friends of mine. Then I went over to Shirlington, VA to visit my lovely niece Lucy Evangeline Rogers who is the definition of the cutest baby in the world. I'm biased, mainly because she's my niece, but already she is full of spunk and personality and it's probably because she has the coolest parents ever. She's now almost 10 months old and likes crawling, biting things, and giving a mean stank face.

SKC

3. After being away from California for approximately a month, I finally drove back to dear old Half Moon Bay and worked for the remainder of the summer with Steve and Kates Summer Camp! It was my second consecutive year with Steve and Kates, so it was nice to return to a familiar environment. Always a trip when you see that some of the kids you were a counselor for last year have grown significantly taller...

FALL

 Fall Quarter was something that I was looking forward to starting, and by the end of it, I was glad to see it go. I had about the roughest fall quarter to date with a whopping 38 Units (Intro to Earth System Sciences, Poetry, Journalism on the Edge, Choreo Project II, New Slate Dance Concert, Jazz III , Contemporary Dance Immersion, Senior Seminar, Laban Notation, Jazz Ensemble, and Etude Ensemble) because I thought it would be a good idea to dive myself into school (spoiler alert: IT WASN'T A GOOD IDEA). Despite the tears, stress, and an overworked state of mind and physical being that Fall quarter brought, I survived, passed all of my classes and made Deans Honors List! *pats self on back* I've never been so happy to see the end of a quarter. 

Photo from Cierra's Choreo Project

"Moji" New Slate Dance Concert 2014, Choregraphy: Elke Calvert, Photo: Skye Schmidt

Now: 

I'm currently on Winter Break where I'm enjoying days where I can sleep without having to set an alarm, spend time with my family since it's rare to get all of us in the house at the same time, and binge watch on Doctor Who, American Horror Story, and The Office. Why did I start this blog back up again? Probably because of the sudden surplus in leisure time I have due to this break. But mainly, this blog was kind of a writing outlet for me.Writing is something I've always loved, and it's nice not having to write up something for an assignment every once in a while. Hopefully I'll be better about updating this little thing for the upcoming year. :) 

Update Part 2: I'M AN AUNTIEEEEEEEEEEEE & Going to ROME

Also, Just wanted to let THE WORLD KNOW:

My sister gave birth to a beautiful little girl by the name of Lucy Evangeline Rogers on April 13th, 2014!

SHE IS THE CUTEST!!!!

Lucy Evangeline Rogers <3

Flashback to the very first day Jackie and Phil told us about baby Sesame on the way!! 

TEARS OF JOY

I seriously can't wait to meet her officially... I've already met her through Facetime but she probably doesn't remember because she was sleeping. Also she was like four days old and I don't think anyone can remember stuff from when they were four days old. She's got such a cute derpy face. HEH. I'll be meeting her in the summer after my Rome trip...

Which leads to my ROME trip!

I'm officially going to ROME with seven other dancers from UCI-- three undergraduate students(including myself) and four Graduate students. This was actually a really last minute decision, but I've decided since I wasn't able to study abroad this summer, I can DANCE abroad-- which is basically like studying abroad. It's going to be really cool because we are working and collaborating with musicians at the University of Rome and doing three performances there. Last time I was in Europe I was in Austria performing with my old dance studio.... and it was the best time of my life, though I admit I was quite young at the time and didn't really understand how precious it was. SO i'm super excited to go again to Europe for dance. I'm also just really excited to travel to Europe satisfy my traveling crave I've been having ;)

Also who knows, maybe I'll meet an Italian popstar who will ask me to impersonate his Italian popstar duo partner that looks coincidentally exactly like me and then I'll have to sing and dance and present an award at the italian pop music awards and then---- oh, right that's the Lizzie Mcguire movie.... woops.

I'M READY FOR MY OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE MOVIE! Lexi Friday takes on ITALIA WOOOO

Update Part 1: Dance Escape & first UCSB/UCI Exchange Performance

It's been a while since I've updated, but I've finally found time to blog a little bit before things start getting crazy again. 

I'm in my Spring quarter at UC Irvine, and it's so far been a great quarter-- although I'm finding it incredibly hard to find motivation in doing homework.

I just got finished with two dance shows this quarter:
1. Dance Escape

Dance Escape was a great Graduate choreography show, and I was really lucky to have been casted in two very different but equally awesome pieces.
The first piece I was in was called "81?728" choreographed by Cara Scrementi. Cara was a choreographer that after seeing her piece in New Slate this year, I knew I wanted to work with during her time here at UCI. Her choreography is so quirky and brilliant-- I was more than ecstatic when I saw I was casted for her piece. Though her choreography was a bit of a challenge for me because of its precision and intricacy, it was something that I was really proud to have worked hard and perform it with other talented dancers. Also, I really loved the music we danced to... I'm still listening to it even after the show is over!

Listen to:
Adieu by HitRecord
My family's role in the world revolution by Beirut

A++ songs, yo.

Here's a cool photo from her piece!

I'm in yellow on the far right in the back... Check out Emily (front, center) and her super amazing leg!
Photo By Lisa Bates

The second piece I was in was called "And then what happens?" choreographed by Steve Rosa. I've taken social dance from Steve earlier in the year, so I already had in mind that this was going to be a really fun piece. And I was right! It was a lot of dancers I've never danced with before, so it was great being able to meet some new dancers. We were a pretty goofy cast (in the best way of course!) and it was never a dull moment in class and on stage. Steve was a blast to work with and I definitely had a lot of fun.
Here's a photo of us embracing our weird selves ;)

The second show occurred right after the weekend of Dance Escape::

The dance ensemble I'm apart of ,UCI ETUDE ENSEMBLE, travelled to Santa Barbara to do a research performance exchange with the dance department over at UCSB. It was an amazing experience and definitely too short. We spent the day in SBm took pictures at the beach, and performed Donald Mckayle's repertoire from "Songs of the Disinherited" as well as our Dance Visions piece "Even as the river and the sea are one."

I wish we had more trips like these, because it was such a great way for our ensemble to bond-- even if it was for a brief time. The only thing is, I wish Mr. Mckayle was able to come with us. :(

Here are some photos from the trip!

Even as the River and the Sea are One

Original Class of 2014 <3

Class of 2015 <3

Dance Visions

Last week I performed my first show in exactly a year since Billy.... and of course, I got to perform with my lovely Etude Ensemble!

Let me tell you, words can't even begin to explain how great it was to perform again. I MISS IT!!

Photo Credits: Skye Schmidt

Random thoughts on random things and I have a midterm tomorrow.

Procrastination is deadly. 

I have a midterm tomorrow.

I really want to see Vampire Academy, for a reason I can't seem to place my finger on. 

Oh, I have a midterm tomorrow.

I think I'm going to get boba tea. Boba tea sound so good.

Maybe not, I have a midterm tomorrow. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I got Boba tea. Shh, Don't tell. Green Tea Ice Cream Cooler with Boba Tea. I don't know why I capitalized the first letter of each word.

Anyways, I have a midterm tomorrow.

AHH Procrastination.

I procrastinate procrastinating. 

Literally though. 

I think to myself, I'm going to study later because I want to watch this episode of Pretty Little Liars.

But then I procrastinate watching Pretty Little Liars because I am on here. 

I have a midterm tomorrow. 

I am writing to you at the calm of the storm. It's been a few hectic days with writing essays, reading articles and somehow managing to make it to 8 am classes. Tech Week is about to begin for Dance Visions (the dance show that I'm performing in) and I know it's going to be hell. 

I realized that the last time I performed on a stage is almost exactly a year ago. 

My last performance with Billy Elliot was on February 17... and my first performance with UCI will be on February 11. A year has flown by.  

Same person, different year. 

A friend of mine brought this video to my attention and I seriously can't stop watching it. 

Thought of You- Ryan Woodward

Graceful choreography, simple yet intricate sketches and a open-ended concept... I've been watching this video over and over again and have been feeling inspired to choreograph a piece. I can't get over this video. It's so simple and beautiful, and the artist really made his sketches flow so well with the song. I WISH I COULD DRAW.

I have a midterm tomorrow.

Bye. 

New Her Campus article!

Hi internet!
 Just wanted to post about my latest article with Her Campus! I did the "Campus Cutie" section for the month, so I decided to interview an old friend from SPOP (Student Parent Orientation Program at UCI), Konstantinos Kaplanis. I remembered he also had a lovely twin brother, Thanasis Kaplanis, so I figured, why not do a twin edition for Campus Cutie?

Konstantinos and Thanasis Kaplanis- HC Campus Cuties of the week!

They're stunning, ain't they? ;) haha, they've got great personalities, and were so kind to let me interview them last december! It was interesting to see what they're involved in at school, what they think of twin telepathy, and just how they're similar/different. 

 

Please check out the link below to read more about them!! (and give this blogpost a lovely +1 ! )

Campus Cuties TWIN edition!

A Year in Review

It's been a long year. It had it's ups and downs, but alas, it's just another year. Here's a collection of photos from some of the best times of 2013:

Season's Greetings

It's been a while since I've posted anything on this. Funny how I was so determined to keep this updated every week, but alas, I'm terrible at keeping promises/commitments. Something I'm going to try and work on this upcoming year.


Significant events that happened since I've last posted:

• My SKC co-workers are actually really awesome and I'm glad I was apart of such a fun camp. It was a long week each week, but overall I enjoyed it. I also learned how to make friendship bracelets so that was cool.
• Fall Quarter of UCI started out rough, but slowly got better.
• I joined the Whovians Club and Her Campus writing club (again) and it was probably one of the best decisions I made this quarter.
• I sort of like Linguistics and I absolutely hate Bio Sci- Life Sciences.
• I really love my Etude Family and still can't believe I'm apart of the ensemble.
• I'm staying an extra year of school (I'm not graduating on time because of the year I took off) and I'm still kind of training myself to accept that it's okay.
• Because I'm graduating in 2015 and not 2014, I am planning on picking up a minor in Literary Journalism. I realized that I really enjoy writing and I want to get better at writing. Hopefully that can turn into a major, if I work hard enough in my time at UCI. I'm also thinking about business/management as well... 
• My ankle is slowly but surely recovering. 
• oh and I'M 21 (and invincible)

Anyways, I'm home for the holidays! I drove home from Irvine for the first time by myself. That was kind of a big accomplishment for me since I absolutely loathe driving, so I was really happy about that.

I'll have more to write about when I'm not marathon watching Grey's Anatomy. In the mean time, Enjoy the Her Campus articles I wrote this quarter:

Her Campus Author: Lexi Viernes

Happy Holidays! 

Change is gonna come :)

Happy Friday! (Hey look, It's actually a post on Friday too)

I've got some really exciting news!!! I don't know if I can contain it all into one itsy bitsy little blog post-- so bear with me if it's a bit long...

To get it out of the way:

1) On Monday, I auditioned for an ensemble at my school called Etude Ensemble, which is run by the legendary Donald Mckayle. Etude is an ensemble of about 18 dancers who perform old and new repertory of Donald Mckayle. Ever since joining UC Irvine, I've always wanted to be apart of this ensemble, so auditioning for this was very important to me. And though I may have been running off of little to no sleep, it turned out to be a great audition!!! :D

I can happily say I am now apart of the Donald Mckayle Etude Ensemble at UC Irvine for the 2013-2014 year! Words can't describe how incredibly happy I am to have received the news Tuesday morning. Again, this quarter has definitely been one of the roughest life transitions I've gone through, so it was a blessing to hear news like this. It's inspired me to keep working hard and pushing myself to be the best that I can be-- and I'm so thankful every day that I am fortunate enough to be in such a great university that offers opportunities like this.

2) I just have been hired as a new camp counselor for Steve and Kate's camp! Yay, I have a summer job! I've always wanted to go to a summer camp when I was little, so I guess I'm living those childhood dreams! yippee

And now for some other highlights/lowlights of my week:


1) I trekked out to LA with a friend of mine to watch a small show called PopRocks on Tuesday the 28th! It was put on by Andy Mientus, Michael Arden, and Lady J and it was night full of seriously fun singing. I also met some really cool people. It was just a great night out and I loved every minute of it! Though I wish there were a couple of musical theatre covers thrown in there, the pop songs they covered were like candy for my ears :D

[Photo Credits to Amelia Lourdes]

2) Last weekend, I was supposed to go home to possibly train for a summer camp job as well as present a scholarship check to one of the new Beach Blanket Babylon Scholarship winners. However, unforeseen plans with school came up and I ended up not being able to go... Which I was pretty sad about because I had a good friend of mine in the competition and also knew of the other two dancers.

But, staying in Irvine worked out anyways because it was actually one of my dearest UCI friends 21st birthday so of course, I was able to celebrate his birthday with good company. Had loads of fun, and to put it bluntly: I have some really awesome friends.

3) I got to do a photo shoot over the weekend with one of my best friends here at UCI. She's always liked taking photos as a fun little hobby, so I'm really glad that she's starting to do more with it because she definitely has an eye for the camera.

Here's some snapshots :D

If you like her photography and want some photographs done for any occasion for a cheap price, please contact her at her Facebook Page ---> Lauren Woo Photography

As for the downsides of this week, I cracked the internal screen of my Droid Razr Maxx which was heartbreaking because it was definitely one of my favorite phones to this date-- What happened to the Gorilla Glass being unbreakable?! So I'm currently back to my old phone from last year, which I just reactivated. Thought it's obviously much slower and not as high tech as my Razr Maxx, it will have to do for the time being. It's funny going back and looking at all my old conversations and pictures from a year ago.

Another downside is that a lot of the seniors this year will be graduating! :( It makes me incredibly sad because I feel like I didn't get a chance to spend a whole lot of time with them this quarter... It's been extremely busy for them this quarter, and I really do hope our paths will cross again. In fact, I'm sure they will, because the Dance/Theatre community is really small (something I've realized over my year off).

And with that, I'm signing off! Nighty :)