WELL today was an odd Tuesday because of the day off yesterday... so was it more like a Tuesday or more like a Monday?! Hmmm, big important questions happening here.
I'm really just kidding, today was actually a pretty darn good day in the grand scheme of things! I hit my snooze button a lot but still wasn't late for classes, I had an awesome jazz class and two super healthy and yummy meals today, and I even got some extra time off during the day to read and clean because mix was canceled! The story of this day is... I'm feeling energized!
Sometimes when you manage to achieve the trifecta of eating healthily, exercising your body and getting those endorphins and creative juices going in a dance class, AND you have time to organize and de-clutter your life.... it's like winning the lottery!!
My first healthy meal (#6 I think?) was a really simple spinach salad with blueberries, strawberries, and feta... and a drizzle of olive oil. I really dislike salad dressing, but it's important to get a little bit of that good fat in there to aid your body in absorbing the nutrients from the spinach! I didn't know that until my mom scolded me for not putting any healthy fats on my salads... Oh, and I had a water with lemon to speed metabolism-- I really need to kick it into gear for Chicago!
For dinner I managed to be pretty darn virtuous, too! I wanted to get in some complex carbohydrate to give myself energy for the night ahead of rehearsal and homework, so I cooked up a sweet potato to be the base of my meal. I had marinated chicken earlier in the day with lime juice, tamari, honey, garlic powder, and coconut oil so I could just stick it in the grill. I chopped up the chicken when it was cooked, along with steamed broccoli, to go on top of the sweet potato, and sprinkled the whole thing with some skim mozzarella. I had never tried this recipe before, but I had gotten the idea from a pinterest picture, and it ended up being delicious!
It doesn't look very pretty, but it certainly tasted great!
Here is dance class #1 of my 30 Day Challenge! I had a jazz class last Thursday but forgot to get a picture, so here is the official FIRST dance class.
Look at Natalie being a total diva, she's so cute and sassy!
I love Jazz with Natalie because it's like an exercise for your body AND your mind. While you work your butt off, she's saying all of these crazy-smart facts about the body, philosophical and scientific ideas I've never even heard of, and emotional observations.... I think I've never had a more kick-ass professor who teaches me more in once class about my body than I ever thought I could know. Today she lectured us on the formation of physical habits while we were in our straddle stretch. There's nothing like a good Natalie treatise, I could listen to her talk for hours.
After dinner, I spent some time before rehearsal running through some music I would like to get into my book soon!
Minutes: 30
Repertoire: "Change It" and "Backwoods Barbie"
Technique Worked: I spent a lot of time focusing on brightening up the sound and finding that "country twang" that Dolly is so famous for! It's definitely middle voice- heavy, so I used those exercises to warm myself up and engage that resonance.
Musicality Worked: When I worked these songs for two of the casting directors the Senior class worked with this Spring, they really wanted to hear me "go for it" and stop being so timid. I spend a good long while trying to be a little reckless and get a bigger sound out of myself after warming up the solid technique and setting the foundation for myself to build upon.
WOW, today was a busy day! 2 healthy meals, 1 dance class, and 1 daily practice session... Now it's on to Chicago rehearsal.
Thanks for checking in with me!
XOXO
Jadi Rae
