this week I love :: One Enchanted Evening

I know it’s cheesy but you’ll just have to forgive me for today’s title pun. It’s impossible to see South Pacific without singing “Some Enchanted Evening” for hours afterward! And that’s just what I did last night as my family attended the preview performance of Kiwi’s stage debut with her college theatre group. Although she is a true performer and has dreams of an acting career, Kiwi never intended to jump in right away. She especially never considered doing so at the county college where she finds herself. But one letter from a high school instructor earned her a scholarship into the drama program. With the first production being a classic musical, Kiwi also learned that she has a bit of vocal talent in addition to her gifts of dance and dramatic expression. She saw all those pieces fall into place this past month and threw herself into musical theatre as she embraced her new world.

Last night we were able to support our girl as she embodied a Navy nurse living it up in the South Pacific during World War II. Though her role was often used to transition scenes and carry attention across the stage, she truly lit up every scene she was in. With her broad expressions and gorgeous fluttering eyes, not to mention a fantastic Victory Roll hairstyle, Kiwi drew attention whenever she entered a scene. (I’m biased, but I think many others would agree!) She also led the chorus in dance numbers and debuted her singing voice in two short segments that did not require all eyes on her. Judging by her bright smile during the curtain call, I think she loved every minute of it!

The production itself was well-done and quite enjoyable. It was beautifully lit, conveying emotion through color and shadow even when the actors said very little, and I was particularly impressed with the set design and the transitions between scenes. The lead actor, Blake Rice, was also practically perfect with his rich singing voice elevating the entire musical. Though his leading lady was not his equal in song, she often captivated with her dramatic performance. The remainder of the cast provided laughs and lightness as a cohesive unit so that the action moved well. I expect the next two weekends will see the cast excel and the production tighten. Last night’s first performance was full of promise, and the team’s hard work was evident. I’m excited to return at the end of the run to see how much they’ve grown!

One last note: My favorite behind-the-scenes tidbit of the night came courtesy of a prop. The dog tags worn by the cast were actually “rejects” obtained by the drama department because of the crazy wording imprinted on them. One of Kiwi’s read: “A Positive Jewish.” Best ever!
 

Kiwi’s boyfriend is a fellow member of the theatre group and played a Seabee in the musical. Adorable, aren’t they? [Note to self: remember to change camera settings when the curtain goes down and the lights come up. Hours of Photoshopping can only do so much. ::sigh::]

 

Kiwi, a positive Jewish.

 

story of a prom dress

Earlier this month the Kiwi girl graduated high school, wrapping up an overly full senior year of activities. Though I have tons of pictures to wade through and a special book in the works, there is one particular story that just might define this year for the rest of us: the story of her senior prom dress.

Kiwi always has very specific ideas about what she wants, and for her junior prom she made it happen fairly well with a princess-ey dress in a deep, gorgeous color. For her senior year she knew that she wanted a dress with less fullness so it didn’t interfere with her dance space, and she really wanted something in white. The search was on before her junior year even ended, and several ideas were tossed around before landing almost definitely on a dress worn by Gwyneth Paltrow in the movie Country Strong. Her grandmother (my mom) actually saw that dress first and suggested it to Kiwi, who loved the idea of bling and feathers creating a bit of drama. There was much discussion for many weeks about how to make that particular dress a reality, and my mom took it upon herself to create it from scratch, if necessary. I lost count of how many times we all viewed Country Strong, and the one concert sequence featuring the dress was replayed over and over in slow motion just to capture each little detail that such a creation would entail. And just as Mom was deep into research for materials, the Homecoming activities began and suddenly Kiwi realized that everyone was wearing sparkly, feathered dresses. She nixed the Country Strong dress right then and there; her prom dress had to be original and never-before-seen. So the search began anew.

A color was determined fairly quickly – royal blue, because Kiwi knows it’s her best color – and it had to outdo her junior prom dress and it had to be, in her words, “just as amazing in the back as it is in the front.” Having already determined that Kiwi’s dress would most likely need to be created from scratch (yet holding out hope that one could still be purchased as is), my mom began searching the internet for royal blue prom dresses. In December 2011, she found the perfect dress at a prom dress reseller’s online site. Kiwi’s response: “OMG!”

 

Mom and I had a bit of discussion about whether the dress should be ordered straight from one of those sites and shipped, thus calling the entire saga “done,” but the custom-fitted dress would have to come from China and too many questions arose in that scenario. Ultimately, my mom – the best grandmother in the world! – chose to take this inspiration dress and build it herself, from hand-drawn muslin pattern to full-on crystal-embellished masterpiece. Along the way, Kiwi guided the process by asking for more bling here and more structure there, plus fuller straps and better support, so as not to worry over the dress as she danced. Kiwi wanted her prom to be worry-free and her dress to be a showstopper. In Kiwi’s words, “I want a ‘Wow!’ when I come in and a ‘gasp’ when I walk past.” For the most part, I think she got all of that and more, thanks to her grandmother.

By the end of the process – entirely created, I must add, in the living area of my parents’ 5th-wheel RV, which is their only home – this incredible dress featured 6 yards of deep indigo satin with 52 yards(!) of black ruffles creating a petticoat, mounds of silver sequins and beads, plus 800 individually-placed Swarovski crystals that required five steps to place each one onto the dress fabric (repeat, times 800). And if you look closely at the front of the bodice (below) you’ll also see a rhinestone necklace that was disassembled and placed along the V-shaped straps until the strands met a single rhinestone earring that had been turned upside-down at the “V” center.

 

The entire project took 5 months, numerous fittings, and much brainstorming with a new friend my mom met who is a deconstruction/reconstruction seamstress working for a costume company in Dallas. This woman proved invaluable to Mom, and it was only by chance that she even met her when a friend of a friend suggested she be contacted for locations to buy the Swarovskis. In essence, Mom (with the help of her new friend Val) worked tirelessly to make this vision of Kiwi’s prom dress come to life. And Kiwi was a real trooper throughout the whole process..

    

  

Along the way there was a constant search for the perfect accessories to pair with this perfect prom dress. Later in this post you’ll see a feathery hair clip created by hand from Val’s imagination, as well as an awesome garter purse that my mom made for Kiwi to store her cell phone and lipstick without worrying over a purse. Kiwi herself embellished an umbrella with rhinestones in case the weather turned to rain. (The girl was prepared!) But, as always, the shoes were a key component of the night’s look: sparkly silver heels (shown here with her everyday socks), and a second pair of sparkly silver Vans to serve as dancing shoes (which were actually given to Kiwi by her prom date!)

   

And then came the jewelry. A blingy dress needs little embellishment, but my mom really wanted to gift Kiwi with a special ring that put the icing on top of the look. Only one ring comes to mind when we think of “sapphire” and “rhinestones”… Princess Diana’s, and now Princess Kate’s, engagement ring. My parents presented Kiwi with her own “sapphire” ring a few weeks before the prom, before the dress was even complete, and she was surprised but absolutely in love with it.
  

When the day finally came, on May 12, 2012, our Miss Kiwi was never more ready and never more radiant. She prepped all day – as the best glamour girls will do – with hair styling and makeup and a pre-weekend manicure, and though she felt her hair turned out a bit more “Marie Antoinette” than planned, she was quite happy with the final look. Head to toe, Kiwi turned herself into the princess she wanted to be on that night.

    
  
  

Before heading out to the big event, there was, of course, the requisite photo shoot by her own mom as Kiwi posed with her girlfriends and their dates. And then it was finally time for everyone to set off for the night. Kiwi looked great and she had fun, too, making Senior Prom 2012 a big success! (Big thanks to my sisters for sharing their photos from prom day since I was not able to be there with the girl.)

    


        
  

       

Twenty years ago today… (well, twenty-five, actually)

My beloved niece Kiwi begins her senior year of high school today. In the midst of all the talk of it and her excitement of it finally arriving, I realized that this marks the 25th anniversary of my own senior year. Twenty-five years! It had never occurred to me before! But my own experiences of high school are very different from Kiwi’s life.

You may recall my mentioning that the teen years were less than pleasant for me, having moved away from my childhood home between freshman and sophomore years of high school. I was already an awkward and introverted fifteen-year-old by that time, uncomfortable with my physicality and even more uncomfortable with social interactions, so dropping me into a town I’d never before heard of with people who had essentially grown up together since birth was nothing short of devastating. I’d lived in my previous town since second grade, had finally reached a level of acceptance and comfort with a small group of friends whom I adored and who loved me back, and during freshman year I finally began to feel like I belonged and that my high school years were going to be epic. I was crushed, then — shattered, even — when my parents announced my dad’s promotion and subsequent need to move to a town located more than an hour north of Dallas and within only a few miles of the Oklahoma border. Oklahoma! It was the end of civilization for me! And I wanted no part of it.

I’d love to say I adjusted to the change over the course of the next few years, but I never did. I spent my entire adolescence feeling sorry for myself and angry at the state of my life, and by senior year I was thinking only of how I could get out of that town — it never did feel like “home” to me — and how life would certainly be so much better when I was “on my own.” Looking back I can only shake my head and laugh at that miserable young girl. But I also can’t say I’d do anything different. I’m still no better at entering new situations than I was at fifteen, though at least I know how to pretend a bit now. But not in 1986. Back then I was hopeless.

In ’86, as my first day of senior year arrived, I still had no close friends and no big dreams for the future. My niece, on the other hand, is filled with hope and joy. She’s had the benefit, so to speak, of living her entire life in one small country town and going to school with many of the same people every year of her life. She has some of the same friends now that she’s had since elementary school. People have watched her grow up since birth. And in Kiwi’s mind, senior year has always been one of the greatest times of life. She’s wise enough to know that it’s not the ultimate phase of life, of course, but she also knows it could become the stuff of legend. She’s grown up hearing stories of “the glory days” from her own father and friends, who all spent their high school years in the same town she lives in now. Kiwi has never expected her senior year to be anything less than glorious, and to finally arrive is one of her first dream-come-true moments. It’s hard not to get caught up with her in such excitement! Today she will experience a senior caravan to the campus, a senior breakfast before classes, a decorated locker by senior parents (her own mom / my sister), and a class schedule that reflects a bit of ease in academics. During the next few months she will experience the football season as a drill team officer and leader among her peers, and in the spring she will begin to have a series of “lasts” that will be both fun and bittersweet. I felt very few of these things twenty-five years ago. I’m thrilled that Kiwi’s experiences are so much greater and more special than anything I ever even dreamed of having, and I can’t wait to watch her walk through these days. I hope I can help her document them, as well, so her memories are established for years to come.

Congratulations, sweet girl! You are truly awesome and these are most certainly great days!

 
 
 

she’s a senior now

“So, how are you feeling?” I asked. “I’m feeling weird,” she said. “I can’t believe it’s here!” All I could think is how quickly the time has passed and how soon this next year — her senior year — will come and go. She’s officially a senior now, but she’ll always be our little missy. My one and only niece. Love you, Kiwi! Love you so much.

gratitude: a girl + 3 boys

                clockwise from top right: Kiwi, K2, D, and W

There will never be a list of thankfulness that doesn’t include this girl and these three boys. They are my heart and my soul and my joy and my treasure. Though I remember life before them, I can honestly say there was no true happiness to speak of. But since they became part of my life, every day has been filled with thoughts of them and prayers for them and mindfulness of how our lives affect each other. And the coolest thing of all is how individual our relationships are. I am aunt to every one, but we all interact in completely different ways. With the Kiwi girl it is about dreams and encouragement and reminders of how God works in every tiny little thing that occurs in life. It is also about the 80s. Kiwi is obsessed with the 80s and tends to know more music than even I, who lived through the 80s. Obsession, in fact, just might be one of our greatest shared traits; it helps us understand each other and makes for good times.

With her cousin K2 the conversations center around shared interests in baseball and the Yankees, in pop culture and the crazy things that happen in life. We find lots of laughter in mundane things, and we have such a laid-back relationship that nothing at all has to be planned when we hang out together. We can just “be.” This is not the case with his brother, however, the youngest of the kids. Dyl Pickle is high maintenance, high energy, high on life and extremely sensitive to all that goes on around him. And he wants to be involved… all the time, with everything and everyone. There is no relaxation with D around, not for me, anyway. He wants activity. He wants conversation. He wants constant attention, and I resolved early on to give him that. The Pickle is unique in very specific ways and requires a different kind of finesse than his three elders. But the reward for all that effort is priceless. Joy emanates from Dyl. And it lights the room.

Then there’s the W. Actually, I suppose it’s more apt to say “Dubya.” He’s country, through and through. Football, hunting, puppies, and friends. And a passion for Star Wars and Legos beyond any I’ve ever seen. Star Wars was our first shared connection, a long time coming, so that is usually his starting point with me. But as he matures we find other small interests that sync up. Dubya and I are still finding our footing, still searching for that intense connection (mostly due to lack of time together since we live in different towns and he’s not yet online like his sister), but the fact that we are still developing our relationship is actually half the fun. It means we’re open to discovering new things together. And of all the kids, W is the one most like me in his desire for knowledge and his penchant for obsessions. That’s going to serve us well in the years ahead as we develop a deeper bond through experiences.

In this life I’m most grateful for these four. They keep me balanced and they make me whole. Parents always say how surprised they are that children can make such a difference in them, and I can see how that is true. What’s especially awesome to me is that I don’t feel any void at all in not being a “parent” myself. I’m privileged to be part of the village that’s walking these children through life. They feel like my own, too. And that’s the greatest gift I’ve been given.