Halloween circa 2008

Posted on October 10, 2014 by 4evamaria

Hello everyone!

Here’s a little belated #TBT for you!

Halloween is coming up, and is frequently the topic of discussion between myself and my students. (“I’m gonna be a dead race car driver!” Creative.) I sometimes make a point of telling them that Halloween is not quite the same when you’re an adult. The emphasis is less on your fantastic costume, and more on how to get the more belligerent trick-or-treaters to stop doorbell-ditching your house.Yes, I’m slowly turning into the “Get off my lawn!” woman. Sure, some of my more festive friends host little parties, usually involving pumpkin carving or a horror film screening, but that’s about it. While I lament this “aging-out” of Halloween fun, I’m totally satisfied knowing that there once was I time where I celebrated Halloween in the most ridiculous manner conceivable.

As some of you might already know, I went to college in Santa Barbara, which also happens to be land of the week-long Halloween. This is not an exaggeration. Every year, thousands of college students would make the pilgrimage to Isla Vista, and fill the flood light-lined streets. It was a whole weekend of mayhem- streets were closed and mounted police invaded our beachside town to corral the mob of costumed students. Speaking of costumes, you were some sort of loser if you didn’t have at least three different costumes lined up. Case in point, the below photos are all from a single Halloween my senior year.

I was an 80’s rockstar, who, by the end of the night looked like Alice Cooper, as we all got caught in a surprise downpour and my mascara ran down my face, leaving black tracks.

A pirate, a rag doll, and myself, alongside the Powerpuff Girls. Oh, and a grown man dressed as a crayon in the background.

Walking down Del Playa Dr. One of the main streets in Isla Vista.

I was also Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, which was possibly the most comfortable costume ever! My version of Lara Croft wears Uggs, okay.

My roommate Maren and I made quite the team; she went as Indian Jones. I brandished my two-dimensional guns, and she discovered the lamp in our living room…so many adventures.

Photos c/o Maren Masterson & Jessica Rodriguez. Hi ladies!

We always managed to host a new group of friends in our living room every year. It’s not everyday you come back from class and have to step over five people to get to your room! Costumes not pictured that I wore the same year are: Mango, the Chris Kattan inspired exotic dancer from SNL, “Super Gaucho” our school mascot, and a fairy, specifically for ballet class the day of Halloween proper. A total of five, altogether.

After that, it’s hard to find anything that lives up to the Halloween memories of my college years. No matter how spectacular your costume is, it’s just one costume. And you might be surrounded by friends, but not all of them want to sleep on the floor of your living room, or want to take twenty deliberately embarrassing photos to post to Facebook. Those were the good, uncomplicated days. There’s a lot of things that I miss about them. Gaucho ’til I die.

EVA♥

Five Things

Posted on October 8, 2014 by 4evamaria

Hello everyone!

It’s still Blogtober, but I’m going rogue today! And, by going rogue, I mean I’m doing the exact same thing I do every Wednesday: Five Things! Yes! It wouldn’t be a normal Wednesday without it. Let’s hop to it!

What’s a Watch Me Juggle post without an ode to doughnuts? Lucky for me, my favorite little SF doughnut shop has a kiosk walking distance from P’s house. (Yes, I’m calling him “P,” I’m not quite that clever yet.) When you walk up, they have all their flavors on display in a pretty cake stand. On this day, I opted for something out of left field: a gluten-free doughnut. Now, before you accuse me of jumping on that bandwagon, it was the only chocolate-y one there, with raspberry glaze. So good!

I discovered this gem hidden on my phone this week! A little throwback to this summer’s St. Helena adventures at the Castello di Amorosa.

In the beginning of the school year, I introduced the boss lady to the world of Instagram. We celebrated this last week’s World Ballet Day by watching the livestream of San Francisco Ballet’s rehearsals in the studio, while documenting it, of course.

The lovely crepe dessert from a mother-daughter lunch last week out in Pleasanton. Filled with warm, crushed berries, it was one of the best desserts I’ve shared in a long time.

Photo c/o Bath & Body Works

I recently splurged on one of my favorite fall-scented candles. I know, it’s a silly little thing to consider a “splurge.” I must say, Bath & Body Works does their seasonal scented candles right! What I love about this particular scent is that it’s not horribly sickly or overwhelming, like some scents can be.

EVA♥

That One Time I Went to Hawaii…

Posted on October 7, 2014 by 4evamaria

Hello everyone!

It’s day number two of Blogtober (or seven, if you’re counting correctly), and, as the title suggests, I’m revisiting one of my favorite vacations. It’s a fit of nostalgia I’m glad to indulge.

I took 800 pictures of turtles. Turtles!

My fabulous travel companions.

For my 26th birthday, two of my girlfriends and I went to Hawaii, Oahu to be exact. Seeing as most of my family lives outside of the country, the majority of my vacations have consisted of running around Europe every year. These trips are amazing, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve never quite had the opportunity to go on a trip just to relax. You know, just sit on the beach and read. It was an absolute break from real life- I didn’t put on an ounce or makeup, and never thought to touch a blow dryer. By the end of the trip, my hair was a mess, and I lived in my swimsuits. I bought a pair of shell earrings from a beach side surf shop and I wore them everyday. I have never felt better. The sun and the salt somehow makes you feel beautiful, no matter what.

The day we arrived, I was so relaxed, I fell asleep sitting upright around a bonfire in our local friends yard; passion fruit beer still in hand, wrapped in my sarong. One evening, the power to our complex went out completely, and we wandered through the dark down to Turtle Bay Resort where we had piña coladas and my friends sang karaoke at the bar. On my birthday, we had acai bowls for breakfast, and inadvertently ended up swimming with sea turtles on a secluded beach. My “cake” that day was a large sandcastle, and I mimed blowing out my candles, making a wish. Writer Isak Dinesen says that “the cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.” I only got two out of three this last vacation, but it was perhaps the most healing few days I can remember. Those little vacations are important. You deserve some time to put yourself back together- irregardless of the current state of things. Your life could be going splendidly well, you could be on the precipice of something, or somehow unhappy with the way some things have turned out. No matter what, give yourself the permission to be happy, and indulge in new and beautiful things.

EVA♥

It’s Blogtober!

Posted on October 6, 2014 by 4evamaria

Hello everyone!

Happy Monday! Today, I’ve decided to do something new on the blog this month:

It’s Blogtober!

Ok…I’m a little late to the #Blogtober14 party, but cut me some slack. It’s only been the first year of Watch Me Juggle, after all. This little link up was inspired by the lovely Taylor Wolfe, who’s blog, The Daily Tay, I recently stumbled across on Bloglovin’. While I’m not promising I’ll be able to keep up with blogging every day, I will certainly try to ace as many of these prompts as I can this month. You might even see some writing from me on the weekends! Gasp! I’ve unfortunately missed the first five prompts, and they were pretty good ones, too. So good, in fact, that I might revisit them later. I’ll admit it, I might just customize this thing to my liking. Rules, schmules. Let’s begin:

10 Things I’d Tell Myself When I Started Blogging:

Things change a lot in a year, and looking back to the place I was a year ago, I can say that I’m so proud of my work. Both on and off Watch Me Juggle. So, like the prompt suggests, these are some of the things I’d tell myself:

1. Everything is going to be fine. I’m still constantly telling myself this, but a year ago, I could have really used the advice. On a quiet, uneventful evening, I wrote my first post. My job/financial situation wasn’t the most stable, and I felt uneasy 99% of the time.

2. People are going to read your blog! Don’t post something ridiculous or try to be someone you’re not. Take pride in the work you do, and trust that you can represent yourself better than anyone else can.

3. Plug, plug, plug. Shamelessly. While I don’t needlessly start conversations with people with the fact that I have a blog, I sometimes feel odd about blasting every blog post all over social media. What I often forget is that there are people out there who are experts at this, even basing entire careers off of it. Hello, social media marketing! Yes, I’m still new at this stuff, but I’m going to tweet the living daylights out of my blog in the hopes of reaching some new internet friends out there.

4. Why are you not on Instagram? No, seriously, why? It’s amazing. It’s like a more visual Facebook, but back when Facebook was simple and still cool.

5. More pictures, please. I’m still working on this one. It’s all too common that I end up enjoying myself too much while out and about, and neglect to document it in photos. I’ve gotten a bit better, but would still like more photographic proof of the fact that I do more than dance, all the time. Like, sometimes, I like to go out and dance…in new places. It’s totally different.

6. Find your niche and enjoy. I frequent fashion and beauty blogs non-stop. I love seeing the outfits everyone else puts together and exploring the plethora of makeup tutorials plastered all over Youtube. While I enjoy all that, and like to feature fashion/beauty-oriented things on the blog, I think a huge part of who I am as a writer is based on my life experiences- my stories, if you will. Luckily, there’s a convenient category of “lifestyle” blogging, which allows me to write about, well, life.

7. Don’t force it. This one is a hard one. There are some days that the ideas just aren’t there, and the drafts you started weeks ago are collecting dust, looking totally uninspiring. Be kind to yourself, go for a walk, and let your mind rest for a bit. The writing will continue as always.

8. Find inspiration where you can. They say that there are no more “original ideas” when it comes to art. All those amazing blogs you read? A wealth of inspiration. Write about things you want to read!

9. A little everyday goes a long way. Take advantage of the times you feel inspired to write. Sure, you might have already published your post for the day, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start one for the next day. Or the next.

10. Enjoy the positive feedback. The people who genuinely enjoy your blog will tell you. Accept these compliments, and let them give you confidence. Don’t forget to pass the positivity on to other people.

You can do anything. ‘duh.

EVA ♥

Thank You

Posted on October 3, 2014 by 4evamaria

Hello everyone, and Happy Friday!

A little note from my dear friend Brooke surprised me in the mail this week!

I hope everyone is having a good day thus far. Meanwhile, my day isn’t even half gone, and I’ve already experienced what I would deem as 800 kinds of ridiculous. I woke to the sound of the local high school band practicing what sounded like taiko drums in the street outside of my house. About an hour later, add in the sound of a weed-whacker and you have an idyllic morning. I later figured I would do a few things around the house, and, to my horror, discovered the largest spider I have ever seen in suburbia nesting in my lovely purple shower. Like any girl with good sense, I attempted to hairspray it to death. When this did not work, I panicked and resorted to running about my house like a crazy person. Life is really glamorous sometimes. I digress.

Today, I just wanted to take a moment to say Thank you.

It’s been almost a year since I first posted on Watch Me Juggle, and it’s been such a wonderful experience. I have about 70 followers, some of whom I know, some of whom I consider my “internet friends.” So, if you’re reading this: thank you. My blog started out as something fun and indulgent, and I frankly didn’t expect many people to take interest in it (aside from my mother- Hi mom!). I can’t believe all the positive feedback I’ve gotten. So many of you have been so supportive and kind, I really couldn’t ask for better. Thank you for encouraging me to write, and for supporting all of my crazy dreams. My little corner of the internet wouldn’t be the same without you.

Love,

EVA♥

Back to School

Posted on October 2, 2014 by 4evamaria

Hello everyone!

I’ve survived “back to school” season, but it’s all been

…shenanigans.

Yes, that’s the only way I can describe the last few weeks.

Don’t get me wrong- I spent my entire summer missing Dance Arts. But, jumping back into teaching when September rolls around feels very much like being asleep for three months and then rolling out of bed to run a 5k. Ouch. The students never cease to amaze me, and I have a wealth of quotes from them already. I’m certain there’s more coming in the very near future.

It’s like herding little gerbils, bless them. Look at those straight lines!

Here are some of the latest gems:

“I don’t need this. I don’t need this. I DON’T NEED THIS.”– child when handing me a dirty band-aid. Great, honey. I don’t need it either.

“Ew, oh! Excuse me. I just burped.” Mid-sentence. Of course.

“I’m so tired today, because I had second grade.” Life is tough, kid. What else can I say?

“Wait! Your favorite thing isn’t lunch?!” Upon learning that the boss lady’s favorite thing is, in fact, dancing.

“He has a brother. I think his name is Colon.” I’m sure it is.

“My dad has a farmer’s tan!”

“Can I take my leotard off? I’m hot!” No, no you are not dancing naked.

What’s your favorite pet? “Ice cream.”

“This is Miss Izzy. Did you ever meet Miss Izzy? ‘No, but I know how to do cartwheels.'”

“No, those aren’t my shoes.” Her name was on them. Of course they were her shoes.

and, my personal favorite:

“This is Miss Eva. She used to dance here when she was seven, then she went to college and got her degree in dance!” at which point a little voice said: “ME TOO! I’M FOUR!'”

Oh yeah, I remember you!

EVA♥

Five Things

Posted on October 1, 2014 by 4evamaria

Hello everyone!

Thank God we’re halfway through the week. I know, I know, it’s only Wednesday, but look on the bright side, at least it’s not Monday. My schedule has suddenly gone from 0 to 50 in the course of a few days. Remember way back in the day when I posted about studying for the CBEST? Well, I’ve finally been hired as a substitute for the local school district. Perhaps the most encouraging this is when, upon sharing the news with my students, that they all seem so excited to have their dance teacher making guest appearances in their school. It’s a bit of a change, but I’m just taking things day by day. It’s also ‘Five Things’ day, so let’s hop to it!

First off, I bring you an unnecessary overload of cute for the day. Truthfully, it’s probably enough cute to last you the whole month.

I CAN’T EVEN. I DIED…I AM DEAD. Let’s face it, if I was the owner of 4 pounds of wrinkles I could dress up in baby clothes and feed lettuce, I would never leave the house. You would find me in my pajamas, rolling on the ground with the thing, only leaving the house to buy it more food. And myself more coffee. Perhaps I’m not ready for pet ownership.

Lovely Alameda roses on an afternoon walk.

A bit of a throwback to one of my last performances with my partner Ryan.

Today is World Ballet Day! I got to watch some of San Francisco Ballet’s live-stream rehearsals. It was such a lovely experience, and a wonderful idea. I hope they do similar live streams in future. Because everyday is world ballet day for me.

Perhaps one of the best cards ever. Just another reason to go to the bookstore!

Photo c/o Rachel Lorencz

Being as inept with technology as I am, I couldn’t figure out how to pull this gem off of my photo stream in time to post it on last week’s Maddie the Dog cuteness. I do love this photo, though; mid-kiss, yet she did manage to get me on the nose.

Happy October!

EVA♥

Tuesday is Sangria Day

Posted on September 30, 2014 by 4evamaria

Hi everyone!

For almost a year now, my Tuesdays have become “Taco Tuesdays.” It’s turned into so much of a tradition that, when skipped, I am beset with strong cravings for Mexican food. Yes, I must now have weekly tacos. As most of you know, tacos are best paired with a cold cerveza or a margarita, but I decided to get a little creative and whip together a sangria for the latest get-together with my girlfriends. It’s an impressive addition to any party, but also quite simple to put together!

Yes, those are my polka dot boxer shorts in the corner. Who gets all dressed up to make a mess in the kitchen?

Going off of the assumption that sangria is primarily made of wine, fruit, and some sort of liqueur, I threw together a big pot of the stuff one morning, and let it “marinate” until dinnertime. It was totally experimental, and luckily turned out to be delicious! All you need is:

1 orange, slightly crushed to release juices
1 apple
Any seasonal fruit you would like! I used a nectarine
1 bottle of red wine
1 can of delicious bubbly something (i.e Hansen’s mandarin lime soda, or flavored San Pellegrino)
1/4 cup of Triple Sec
1/4 cup of citrus-flavored vodka (optional)

Chop up all fruit into bite size pieces, cover with wine and liqueur; stir, refrigerate, and let rest for 2+hours. When ready to serve, top with soda or sparkling water and enjoy! I know, it’s incredibly high-tech. It’s also foolproof as long as you taste as you go. Should you prefer a stronger sangria, you’re welcome to edit the recipe to your liking. You could also easily make a non-alcoholic sangria with a grape juice, or, even better, lots of kombucha! And, let’s not forget: it’s an easy way to make your after work cocktail count as a serving of fruit.

Adulthood is basically a bunch of life-hacks in disguise. Oh, and sangria.

EVA♥

Sorry Not Sorry

Posted on September 29, 2014 by 4evamaria

Hello all!

Happy Monday! Today’s post was inspired by my new blogger-crush The Other Juliet. She’s my latest blog-spiration, and new internet friend, in that weird way where you feel as if you know someone entirely, but they know nothing about you. Oh, internet. I so adore her commentary on life as a 20-something: Leggings are not pants, Don’t buy me sushi, and the infamous Secret single behavior. It’s the strange little things in life that make us feel oddly connected. That and all the amazing GIFs.

Palm House, SF & their prickly pear mimosas. My new favorite place.

//Sorry, I’m not sorry that I go to brunch on a regular basis. And by brunch, I mean mimosas + french fries at noon.

//Sorry, I’m not sorry for drinking lattes at any hour of the day.

//Sorry, I’m not sorry for having 800 different soaps in my bathroom. I like my choices.

//Sorry, I’m not sorry that I can cram a whole cheeseburger in my mouth in under 3 minutes.

// Sorry, I’m not sorry for spending what little disposable income I have on shoes/Lululemon.

//Sorry, I’m not sorry for the amount of dry shampoo I use in my hair. You don’t even want to know.

//Sorry, I’m not sorry I fall down all the time. Yes, I’m a dancer. Yes, the floor should be clear of all obstacles. It’s totally your fault.

//Sorry, I’m not sorry that my car is basically a closet on wheels. Yeah…you never know when you’re going to need a pair of emergency high heels. It’s happened before! Now I can be instantly glamorous on a moments notice.

You’re welcome.

EVA♥

Maddie the Dog

Posted on September 25, 2014 by 4evamaria

Hello everyone!

Today, I wanted to introduce you to one of my newest friends: Maddie. Some of you have probably seen her here and there on my previous posts. Maddie technically doesn’t belong to me (even in the slightest bit), but I would take her home with me in a heartbeat. Technically, she’s my friend Rachel’s brother’s girl, but I like to think that she likes us best.

She really wanted me to play with her…

Ever since I can remember, pitbulls have gotten a bad rap. They’re supposedly unpredictable, and have a prediction for hostility or violence, even. My mind was thoroughly changed upon meeting Maddie. She’s perhaps one of the shyest dogs I’ve ever met, and has a knack for always looking a little bit sad with those her big human eyes of hers. Don’t get me wrong, once she gets to know you, the mere sight of you approaching will send her into an absolute frenzy of excitement. It’s enough to make anyone feel special. She doesn’t ask for much- no pets or scratches, and maybe the occasional treat. If you hold still long enough, she will absolutely lick you to death. This is not an exaggeration by any means- I do believe that the only thing that will deter her from licking you is if you wave your limbs frantically, as a moving target is quite difficult to hit. When I’m too tired to do this, I usually emit high-pitched noises, which is an entirely useless, but an appropriate reaction to a large dog deciding to lick your feet/knees/elbows repeatedly. Do any of you have a Maddie in your life? I’m certainly glad I do.

EVA♥