Atlanta Adventures

Taken as we arrived in Atlanta, GA

Last night my family and I got back from the Hollywood Vibe dance convention in Atlanta. Tessa did an absolutely fabulous job in her competition dance and I can't wait to be able to share the incredible photo that was taken of her. Sadly, I have to wait until after their last competition to post it anywhere, but definitely watch out for that, because it is a truly amazing picture.

Pre-awards glow stick party. 

I watched a lot of dances on Saturday evening and the scholarship auditions on Sunday afternoon. I was really happy with the kinds of dances that were brought to this competition, because the dances I saw at a different competition last year had a tendency to be pretty inappropriate. The dances here were clean and age-appropriate. My mom and I had a couple of favorites from studios other than our own, especially a duet to a song called "Sisters." We were excited to find out that the dancers are actually sisters.
When I wasn't watching dances or the awards, I was mostly crocheting. I actually started my Hufflepuff house scarf! I've been taking some pictures of my progress and I'm really excited about it. The last time I tried to crochet, the edges were uneven and I kept messing up the number of stitches. Somehow this scarf is going really well for me! I've had the right number of stitches the whole time (I count them almost every row...) and the edges are straight! I have no clue how it's going so much better this time, but I'm very happy that it is. I'm having so much fun with it that I might even make more for other Harry Potter enthusiasts I know.

"This is the most fun I've had all weekend!"
Mom put her feet in the hot tub on Sunday while Tessa was in classes.

Returning to my recap of Atlanta. After we got to the hotel on Friday, my mom and sister went to the Hard Rock Cafe that was a short walk from where we were staying with Tessa's friend and her mom. The last and only time I had been to a Hard Rock Cafe was in 7th grade in Washington, D.C. on a school trip. I absolutely hated it. I've had such a negative point of view on Hard Rock Cafes ever since then. Honestly, I think the only reason I didn't like it was because I was probably very stressed out and frustrated from being around so many people for so long.
This weekend I decided I would try it again, and I'm very glad that I did. My dad and I went for lunch on Saturday. Before we went I wondered what bands I would recognize other than The Beatles. My first thought was Imagine Dragons, but I tried to dismiss that because I realized they were probably too new to have any memorabilia in a Hard Rock Cafe. Although there weren't any guitars or jackets or autographs of theirs on the walls, I did find a T-Shirt in the gift shop...

It turns out that Imagine Dragons partnered up with Hard Rock Cafe and the Tyler Robinson Foundation to make this shirt and 15% of the sales go to TRF to help families "battle the unseen costs of childhood cancer." So obviously I had to get it. 

Other awesome things in Hard Rock:

Where they have live music.

Joe Perry's guitar used to record "Dude Looks Like a Lady." It also appears in the music video.

Steven Tyler's "Walk This Way" outfit. Not sure why I didn't realize there would be Aerosmith stuff there.

ADAM LEVINE'S GUITAR!! I gasped, took three pictures, and sent them to Katie. Used to play "She Will Be Loved."

Lynyrd Skynyrd's guitar.

"Fly on proud bird, you're free at last." Johnny Van Zandt's shirt which was worn during performances of "Freebird" in honor of his brother Ronnie.

Elvis Freaking Presley's motorcycle and jacket. This was super awesome.

I am glad to say that I no longer have any dislike for Hard Rock Cafes. 

On Sunday during the scholarship awards, I got tired of standing so I went and sat with my dad in the hallway and waited for it to end. I sat up on a really big ledge and took this picture of the view from that window:

Buildings are just cool to me. So that was the last picture I took in Atlanta before we got on the road to go back home. The ride home was pretty stressful, but we got home safe which is all that matters. Belle was VERY happy to see us. You know that sound dogs make if you step on their foot? That's basically the sound she was making for 10 minutes after we arrived. She was screaming at us and we were only gone for 3 days! 

I don't know all of the awards that our dance studio got, but here are the scores that I remember (not including solos):

3 dances won Platinum.

6 dances won High Gold.

1 dance won Gold.

Tessa's group won a High Gold and 1st place overall teen open production! I also remember that one of our dances won a "Best Concept" award. They all did a wonderful job. 

Their next competition is in South Carolina, but I won't be going to that one because I'm going to see my favorite comedian with Katie! I'm sure they'll do fabulously as usual and hopefully Tessa's group will get their Platinum!! 

Side note: I was going to write a blog post about the photoshoot with Kaylie for Lost Cause Revival, but she made one before I could so here's the link to her blog post!