The Great Outdoors

Wild Alaska!

Over Memorial Day Weekend, 10 of us went camping in the great outdoors. Literally, the great outdoors.

We went to Holgate Arm housing Holgate Glacier and Holgate Cabin. From Seward, which is a 2 hour drive south from Anchorage, we took a 3 hour charter to Holgate. There were 15 foot swells and half the party was extremely sea sick.

Holgate is a primary kayaking destination.

During the 3-day visit we saw in order... Sea Lions, Sea Otter, Puffins, Dall Porpoise, Black Bear, Bald Eagles, more Black Bear, more Sea Lions, and last but not least Orcas!

Pictures are of the Holgate Glacier view from the cabin, and the cabin.

Map of Anchorage, Seward, and pin point of Holgate.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=59.875155,-149.820557&daddr=&geocode=&hl=en&gl=us&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=0&sz=8&sll=59.871111,-149.918611&sspn=1.428287,2.834473&ie=UTF8&ll=60.408428,-149.567871&spn=2.810846,5.668945&t=p&z=7

My Desktop

This painting is by Laura McCabe out of Brooklyn, NY.

I have an artist a day app on my homepage. artistaday(dot)com This one came up in Mid-September. I set it as the background on my desktop at work and haven't changed it since.

There's a need to keep this image close to me, maybe someday I'm going to look at it, and the string will have untangled itself.

Where my ladies at?

I want to give a shout out to these 4 women.

SHOUT OUT! Okay there.

Seriously though... from Left to Right -

Carla, Fleming School of Dance, Erie, PA! Holla! She's my Erie Twin, I was born there. This woman is the sweetest pea you'll ever meet. And when she's says the 'F' word, you know she means it.

Sooz, Tribal Sooz dot com, Orange County, CA! Sooz is one of my FC ATS Sisters. I look up to Soozy Q. She is really a magnet that you want to be around. Oh, and she is freaking hilarious! This woman can break the ice in any crowd.

Shay, or Sharon Moore thee main squeeze of InFusion Tribal and Mandala Tribal Belly Danceout of Seattle, WA. She's my most down to earth diva, and I adore her for it. She is also brilliantly funny and an amazing writer. I follow her blog if you want to check it out! Oh and out of the 5 of us, she has the most well maintained fab hair-do! Props!

Quinn, my one and only lady of Gypsy Fire Belly Dance, Bend, OR. Quinn (Queen For a Day) is truly a queen to be respected and adored. She has the most beautiful earlobes with their own gravitational force. We're both pretty sure that we're blood or at least intensely spiritually related. Quinn is also one of the funniest people I know. I can turn to her with anything.

Then there's me, and I swear I'm not drunk in this photo. At least, not that I remember.

These four women are my own personal guardian angels. I met them in San Francisco in March 08, and sparks were a flyin'! I thought they were so cool, still do. We all reunited in SF this last February, and really sealed our bonds for life. Every one of them completely and wholly accepts me for me. I am so lucky!

Adam and Kris 4-Ever

This was my hardest year on American Idol. I love love love Adam and Kris for very different reasons. Secretly, I had hoped Adam would win, but wasn't disappointed by the verdict. Kris is a heart throb, but so is Adam.

See? I am so torn between them! The whole season, I wanted them to start making out.

I'll definitely be supporting these boys in the future!

A + K = 4Evr!

Chrysanthemum Crush

I fell in love with Chrysanthemum's some time ago. I've always been facinated by things that I can't quite wrap my mind around. This flower is one of them. The petals seem endless like it is constantly in bloom. They kind of remind me of the March of the Penguins movie where they are all huddled together. Hee.

The chrysanthemum I am most attracted to is the Irregular Incurve Type, or Ogiku in Japanese.

This October I'll be getting a chrysanthemum half sleeve with filigree!!

Welcome to my Blog!

I hope you enjoy taking a peek into my life getting to witness what drives me, inspires me, what makes me laugh, what makes me cry, and everything that I get out of bed for....

This is primarily for my out of town friends and all of my family. I miss them all and love them everyday.

As you know, I teach and perform American Tribal Style (ATS) Belly Dance. I am the director Gypsy Horizon (GH) http://www.gypsyhorizon.com/ Belly Dance in Anchorage Alaska.

My belly dance and life, guru and goddess, is Carolena Nericcio creator of ATS and founder of FatChanceBellyDance (FCBD) http://www.fcbd.com/

Because of her inspiration and gift, I have met some of the most incredible women in my life. I have met life long friends. Intelligent women who are my sisters, mothers, and girlfriends.

My dance life consumes my life! They are one in the same and I love it! It is such a huge part of me day in and day out. This will be an ongoing topic in my blog, so get used to the Acronyms!

You'll be belly dance saavy before you know it!

I hope you stay connected. I'll update you with lots of useless information as much as possible!

Love

Carrie