SYTYCD: Winner Chosen!

It’s the finale!! To the show!

The top 20 returned :) I loved having all of them back. As is tradition, they double up the judges panel and ask them to each pick a favorite to have performed again. This year the top four also picked a favorite dance. They showcased some favorite moments from the audition tour and they had some new routines to the show as well.

Although I loved the show and I got to see a lot of my favorite routines again, I wish they had showcased a bigger variety of performances. I get that a lot of the stronger routines happen towards the end of the season, but the top 4 were already guaranteed a lot of performance time and I think it would have been nice to see more from people who are no longer competing. The votes have been cast and I feel like the final show should be a celebration of dance and all the competitors. Okay, off my soapbox and onto the stuff we actually got to see :)

Recipe Review: Jalapeño Crusted Chicken

Whenever I eat or cook, my rule of thumb is spicy. I love to add chipotle or chili pepper to any dish.

This weeks recipe inspiration I found through pinterest from this blog: http://www.mylifeasamrs.com/2011/11/jalapeno-kettle-chip-crusted-chicken-with-jalapeno-ranch.html

Just looking at the photos and the recipe description made me excited about this dish plus it gave me an excuse to buy Jalapeño Kettle Chips :)

SYTYCD: Top 4 Perform

Overall thoughts: Still bummed that I missed last weeks show and since I was out of town this weekend, I still haven’t had a chance to watch it. :( However, this was a fun performance and I’m glad that final four all got a chance to dance in their own style. I’m not going to comment on the solo performances separately. They were all beautiful and showcased what amazing dancers they all are.

SYTYCD: Top 6 Perform; 2 eliminated...Part 1

Overall thoughts: I sat down Wednesday night, ready to watch the show and enjoy a glass of wine and MY DVR FAILED TO RECORD IT. I have NO idea why. So all I caught was the tail end of Cyrus & Tiffany’s performance.
:(

I almost had a rant last week over my cable provider (AT&T) when the recording hiccupped and missed part of the elimination (I actually never saw them save Cole). But it felt catty and unnecessary. Claws are off tonight. I feel like I have the worst cable provider ever. It skips in the middle of shows all the time. Or the cable box will just fail and I have to wait while it reboots itself—which never happens during commercials but just during the most dramatic moments of an episode. Furthermore, ESPN & AT&T are mad at each other so the best solution was to refuse to broadcast about 30 Angel’s games. Genius, right? Ugh as soon as I am able to get a different cable provider, you bet your bottom dollar it will be ANYBODY except for AT&T.

Okay, back to the show. I did see the elimination so I know who’s in the top 4 and I’m happy with the results. I will do a full review of the episode once it is available online, but until then, here are the finalists for season 9:

SYTYCD: Top 8 Perform; 2 Eliminated

Overall thoughts: Remember a few weeks ago when I said my posts would get shorter once dancers started to be eliminated? Yeah, I forgot how they still fill the same amount of time by just making everyone dance more. So tonight everyone is performing twice: one solo and once with an all-star. I’m kind of awful at critiquing solos so I’ll probably just say that I loved it. Or I’ll start talking about that dancer’s “story.” Also can we just take a moment and say how awesome Jesse Tyler Ferguson is? He is the best guest judge. He actually knows what he’s talking about and just loves on the dancers. And to quote him, “how insane were the performances tonight??” Seriously, this is one of the best shows of the season. Let’s get to it!

SYTYCD: Top 10 Perform; 2 Eliminated

Wowzers this is a delayed post!! Apparently my summer has also been all about being busy on Wednesday nights. My latest excuse is actually a legit one (IMO). I had a job interview in a city 250 miles from my house and the place I was staying didn’t have T.V. (which was actually really nice to be honest. I really should shut down my electronics more often). Anyway, and then after I got back I was busy with life and well Monday is the first day I was able to sit down to watch and review the show.

Overall thoughts: ALL-STARS are back!!! I forgot to mention last week that it was finally announced that All-Stars were to be a part of this seasons show. I love the all-stars for two reasons. 1) It allows you to focus on the competing dancer instead of comparing/paying attention to two at the same time. 2) There are some dancers that are brilliant and I just want to watch them again and again (like Alex Wong for example.) Plus the all-star dancers aren’t competing and I think they dance better because of it. On to the show!

A sweet birthday surprise.

I’m so excited to share my latest completed crochet project (I always have at least 3 or 4 going on at one time!)

My sister’s birthday was last month and she is a pastry chef so it seemed only fitting to make her potholders with cupcakes on them! Sometimes when I get these super awesome ideas there are zero patterns to assist my creative muse. Not this time. Apparently cupcakes as potholders is a fairly popular idea (there are thousands of results on google image search!)

The pattern I settled on is this one (from ravelry). Doni Speigle’s potholders are incredibly cute and I couldn’t wait to make my own!