The Gold Collection - Part 2: All about the pants

Part two of my post series about the Gold Collection is all pants! Zumbawear typically releases a few styles of pants per collection. These are usually as follows: 1) cargo pants, 2) leggings, 3) capris. Now, depending on what season it is, there will be more or less of a certain style. In this collection, because it's mid-fall, and winter is coming, there are long leggings, but no capri leggings. There -are- cargo capris, some people just like to wear the capris year-round and I have a feeling the cargoes sell better than the leggings... Speculation on my part. Harem pants (which are capri-length) are "in" this fall, I made mention of that in my fall fashion trends post, so of course Zumba had to put some in this collection. Zumbawear keeps up with trends, they just take those trends and add sparkle, shine, and neon. Gotta love it!

* Capris ---

Galactic Gold Capris

Let's Go Halfsies Harem Pants

The pair of capris on the left are the Galactic Gold Capris in "Sew Black". This is the one and only pair in this particular style. It's not quite a cargo capri, since it appears to be cut a little slimmer and only has that one pocket, but it's not really a legging either since it's too loose. It's sort of an in-between capri and I think it's very pretty with the black and gold.

Let's Go Halfsies Harem Pants

Front view

In the top right and middle right pictures, are the harem pants in "Cut N Paste Purple" and in "Sew Black". Now, I know these are trendy at the moment, but I've never been a big fan of drop-crotch pants...yeah, that's really what the style is called. Not too surprising that people prefer to call them harem pants is it? To me, they do not look comfortable. To me, they look like they'd restrict my range of motion and honestly, I'd just feel ridiculous wearing them. I guess I just have no appreciation for what's chic and trendy. Oh well.

Side view

Back view

Above on the left is the Awesome-tron Cargo Capri pant in "Love Me Lime". Okay, I don't know where they came up with the name "Awesome-tron", but I like it! Zumba loves to come up with names for things that are as flashy as the clothes themselves. Anyways, on the left and right are the same pants in "Sew Black" and "Cut N Paste Purple". I really like the geometric pattern on the waist and cuffs. I think that's a great way to keep the theme of the clothing line while snazzing up the pants at the same time. I love the black pair best, I think the gold Zumba logo stands out the best on the black background. Overall, it's a cute pair of pants and it's pretty much the exact style of cargo capri pant that I have hanging in my closet with minor differences in details. Minor? Hrmm. One difference that I would personally consider not so minor is the lack of ribbons or tassels. Why? Why must they do this to the cargoes? This was my main disappointment with the cargoes in the previous collection. My friend Rae-Mae pointed out that if I got them, I could make some tassels as a DIY sewing project to attach to the pants. She has a point, but I personally don't feel like I have enough skill to feel confident in altering my Zumbawear; not for what I pay for it in the first place at any rate...

* Leggings ---

Having tried on leggings recently in TJ Maxx, I know that these are not for me. But a lot of people really like leggings for the same reason I love slim-fit racerback tanks; they hug your body and don't get in the way or restrict your movements. These are the What's Mine Is Mine leggings in "Have A Blast Blue" and in "Back To The Fuchsia". What I can appreciate about these two pairs is the detail on the waist band and the logo on the side of the leg. I know that not everyone wants their Zumbawear to be screamingly obvious and these are very subtle.

These are the Foil Me Once Long Leggings in "Dark N Dirty Slate" and in "Cut N Paste Purple" (also available in green). These are less subtle than the other style with their all-over geometric pattern and the solid gold Zumba logo on the leg. These are the exact match to the Foil Me Once sports bra. I think if I were going to wear a pair of leggings, I'd want to wear some like these because the patterning on the leggings adds visual interest and they would be flattering to most, if not all, figures.

* Cargo pants ---

Finally, the cargo pants. Cargo pants are far and away my favorite bottoms to wear for Zumba (with cargo capris running a close second). Something about just putting them on gives me a feeling of style, strength, and confidence. That's why own five pairs of them! In all honesty, that's probably not the end of it either... Cargoes and racerback tanks have their own gravitational pull as far as I'm concerned.
So...these are the A Cut Above Cargo Pants in "Back To The Fuschia", "Go For Green", and "Have A Blast Blue". I love cargoes and these are no exception. I love that the waisband is in a different coordinating color, I love that the zippers on the pockets are too. I love the color combinations, I love the Zumba logo written vertically on the back of the leg, and I love the snap-strap method of rolling up the legs (as opposed to just an elastic with a toggle).
So now that I've gushed about these pants, I'm sure you're wondering if I plan to add any of them to my collection. The answer, unfortunately (or not so unfortunately according to my wallet), is no. These pants have one tassel. One! That's one more than the capris have, but still, one... One on that back pocket and none on the sides. I can't tell you how much I hope that the -next- collection will have cargoes with a full compliment of ribbons or tassels again. I'm not buying more cargoes until that happens, but hypothetically, if these cargoes did have long beautiful ribbons on every pocket, I'd totally get the blue pair. To be fair to that one and only tassel, it is pretty...

Best advice: Have discriminating taste when it comes to your fitness wardrobe. In addition to being functional, it's supposed to make you feel good about yourself. Don't settle for stuff you only kinda-sorta like.


 *I am not affiliated with nor compensated by Zumba Fitness, just an interested shopper and Zumba-lover!

The Gold Collection - Part 1: The latest Zumbawear tops

I know what you must be thinking dear readers, "Didn't she just write a 'new Zumbawear' post last month?" The answer would be yes, yes I did (it can be found here). Almost exactly a month ago in fact. But, Zumba being Zumba, launched an entirely new collection last week.

Some of it is cute, some of it is...I'll go with: not to my personal taste... All the usual suspects are available, and when I say that, what I mean is that every collection seems to have the same basic types of clothing items with only a few completly new pieces. It's just the colors, styles, and design elements that tend to change. I like that actually, that way you can depend on certain things always being available.

So, for the tops:

* Racerback tank tops ---   
Slim fitting racerback tank tops are a staple of the Zumba wardrobe. As a matter of fact, when it comes to my own personal wardrobe, 98% of my Zumba tops are slim fitting racerbacks. Whenever Zumba releases a new line of clothing, the tank tops in this style are what I'll gravitate towards first and foremost. Above on the left is the Funk-It-Up Racerback in "Blue But Bright". It's also available in pink and in green. I chose to display the blue one because both the pink and green are colors that were in the previous collection. The blue is new, and while I like the color, I am not so crazy about that crazy pattern. Above on the right is the El Fab Futuro Racerback in "Dark N Dirty Slate". This is a color from the previous collection but I thought it best showed the contrast of the gold detailing. The other two colors available are white and green. The white one is very pretty with the gold, but I wouldn't get it. White clothes and a sweaty Zumba workout are not a winning combination in my book, but that's just me. Some months back, there was a whole White Collection so I imagine people buy it...

* Loose-fit tank tops ---

On the right is the Foil Me Once Loose Racerback tank top in "Cut N Paste Purple". It's also available in white and black. These are pretty tank tops, and I like the Zumba logo in gold on the front, but what I don't care for is the fit. I prefer the slim-fit tank tops to the loose-fit ones. I personally like tops for Zumba that don't move around too much and feel like this one might twist or bunch. I've never worn one of these, so that's a guess on my part, but I remember wearing one of Bry's cotton t-shirts waaay back in the beginning and it was loose fitting. I remember feeling like it was in the way. So I am disinclined to buy this particular style.

* Bubble tops ---
On the left is the High Tech Tank in "Sew Black" (also available in blue), and on the right is the Cut Me Maybe Bubble Top in "Back To The Fuchsia" (also available in blue and purple). So what exactly is a bubble top? If you look at the bottom of the shirt, it has a snug waistband that causes the shirt to bubble over your hips. Bubble tops are generally pretty popular from what I understand, but I don't especially like the flowy-ness of it; like the loose-fit tank, it's not quite my style. Honestly, I think it would look very nice on a tall gal, and very weird on myself since I am only 5'3".

* V-neck t-shirts ---
Here we have the Remix Master V-Neck T-shirt in "Sew Black" (also available in purple). I like this, I think it's a cute little t-shirt, but if I were going to buy this, I would buy it just to wear as an every-day shirt. I'm not going to... I have to be selective with my remaining birthday gift card. I think by the time I get a Christmas gift card (oh yeah, you know I'm totally asking for that...heh) there will probably be a whole new collection! I guess we'll know for sure next month. I will say this for the gold, the contrast with the black is pretty stunning.

* Boxy t-shirts (the kind with the wide neck) ---

While I've never been especially attracted to this neckline, I have worn a shirt like this once or twice. The neckline always makes me feel like I need to pull it back into place or the whole shirt is going to fall down. If that's how I feel about an every-day shirt, I can imagine I would feel that way even more about a shirt worn for a vigorous physical activity like Zumba. So would I buy any of these? No. That being said, here's what I love about each of these tops... Above on the left is the Awesome-tron Boxy Top in "Cut N Paste Purple" (also available in black) and I think that the gold, which is the main theme of the entire clothing line, shows up the best on the darker colored tops. Above on the right is the Funk-It-Up Sexy Back T-shirt in "Bright But Blue" (also available in purple and grey). I love the color on the blue one, and I like that they made that crazy pattern an accent on the sleeves and bottom hem. In the bottom right picture is the Galactic Gold Headliner Top in "Dark N Dirty Slate" (also available in white). The gold accents on the sleeves and bottom hem help the gold geometric pattern on the front stand out a lot better than it otherwise would. If I were going to buy a boxy t-shirt, that is if I could get past the funny feeling of the neckline, it would definitely be the grey/gold one. I just think it's pretty and would be another cute shirt for every-day use.

* Pullovers ---
This is the Pull It Together Pullover in "Back To The Fuschia" and in "Go For Green". I think the intent here is to wear this over (hence the name...) your sleeveless or short-sleeved clothes when it's cold out. Or at least I assume it is, because I have a really hard time imagining myself doing a class wearing this. It's long-sleeved and it looks warm. I have a feeling I'd overheat two songs in, but here's what I like about this top: I like the overall style of this shirt, the cuffs, the modified v-neck, and the fit. And here's what I don't like...
About the pink one: the crazy pattern on the main part of the shirt and the fact that there is way too much going on here...
  - pink torso (with a crazy pattern...)
  - orange sleeves
  - grey cuffs, shoulders, and hem
  - a yellow Zumba logo.
About the green one: even though it somehow doesn't feel quite as "busy" as the other one and while I like the lime and black color combination, the darker green gives off a sort of camouflage-vibe because of the tone of the color mixed with that crazy pattern.

* Sports-style t-shirts ---

It seems like Zumbawear tends to alternate their sports-style t-shirts. In this new collection, the shirts are baseball t-shirts, while in the previous line, they were football t-shirts. And I believe in the last line before that one to have sport shirts, they were baseball shirts. With me originally being from Toronto, I'd personally love to see a hockey sweater...heh. Anyways, I like these a lot, the black one more than the purple one. The black one reminds of one of the football shirts that I just bought while I was at certification class. Somehow, when that crazy pattern is an accent (in this case on the sleeves) instead of all over the top, it works. Although, I'm still not liking the pattern mixed with that dark green color... If the army was going to collaborate with Zumba to make clothes, I feel like it would look similar to this baseball shirt (or that pullover...).

* Sports bras

Also available in green and purple

On the left is the Galactic Gold V-Bra in "Gold" (duh). It is only available in this color. This piece is very popular from what I've read, a lot of people...okay, a lot of ladies...seem to really want this. And I'll admit I'm tempted, except for that it would always be mostly hidden by some top I had on over it because I'm never going to be rockin' the look that this model is. If you scroll back up and look at some of the pictures, you can see this particular sports bra peeking out at the neckline. However, I'll bet you didn't notice that until I pointed it out. So I'm probably going to forgo this piece because it's too little coverage by itself, but too pretty to hide under something. Talk about a conundrum...

Also available in grey/yellow and green/purple

The other sports bras in this collection are the Foil Me Once Bra (shown in "Dark N' Dirty Slate" above on the right) and the Glued To You V-bra (shown in "Love Me Lime" at the right). I like the geometric pattern on the Foil Me sports bra, that seems to be one of recurring themes of this collection. I'm having trouble remembering when I last saw Zumba produce a sports bra with an all-over pattern. Some similar items, still currently available, are the Space Case Bra Top and the Cut Me Crazy V-bra. The first is on sale and probably won't be up on the website a whole lot longer. It's a pink-to-orange ombre color. The second is from the collection immediately preceding this one and has half of the top patterned, while the other half is a solid color. So the Foil Me sports bra has an original quality to it. The Glued To You sports bra is a v-bra which are fairly common. Zumba seems to have one, available in a few colors, in every collection. They are usually one main solid color, with a second solid color used as trim, just like you see in this picture. Again, like the gold bra, I hesitate on these because they'll be mostly hidden under shirts. A second reason though is fit. Yes, there is a measurements chart, and it has been recently redone, but with a top whose main function is...support, I really prefer to try it on first to make sure it's going to do its job properly.

* Outer wear ---

With Zumba, "outer wear" is most often a zip-up hoodie. And once again, that is the case as you can see, but in addition there is this neat little wrap around jacket. I adore this jacket, it's the El Fab Futuro Jacket (in "Cut N Paste Purple" and in "Dark N Dirty Slate"). It looks perfect for throwing on after a class, or wearing around before class gets started. I think it is stylish and original. I haven't seen one like this available from Zumba before. If I'm going to get one, and fingers crossed they'll still have my size around Christmas, it'll be the purple one. I think it's clever how they designed the logo to sit in the center when you have the jacket tied in the front. The hoodie is a pretty classic piece. It's the Cut Me, Maybe Zip-up Hoodie in "Sew Black" and in "Cha Cha Cherry". I like the little pop of color on the zipper pull and the word #Zwag on the hood. I'll say this for the black one, the dark green color -without- the crazy pattern looks a lot better to my eye.

So those are the tops. I'm seriously considering two pieces from this line, one is the purple wrap jacket, and the other is this racerback tank top. Pretty neat right?
As it turns out, when you join ZIN, there's a whole new section of the Zumbawear shop to explore. This is the Fabtastic Instructor Racerback in "Sew Black" (also available in "Cut N Paste Purple"). I think the gold gives the black shirt some sparkle.

I like the collection overall. I think the gold detailing and the geometric patterns are fresh, fun, and interesting. There are pants, accessories, and *gasp!* a mens collection as well. More to come...


Best advice: Zumbawear is awesome, yes it is, but... Be wise with your dollar. When you see something you really like in the shop, wait about two weeks before jumping on it because, 1) it may go on sale and/or 2) a new line of clothing may be announced. Number one has happened to me twice, I bought an item only to see it for less one week later. Grr. And number two only just happened, I saw a pink instructor top I liked from the previous clothing line, thought about buying it, waited, and I'm glad I did because the black instructor top you see above was just released and I don't really feel like I need more than one...at this time...heh.

 *I am not affiliated with nor compensated by Zumba Fitness, just an interested shopper and Zumba-lover!

The "divas" - good and bad

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across this:

On Pinterest, where else? I laughed, and laughed! Then Bry came over to see what I was laughing at. I just pointed at my computer screen and laughed some more. Then I nudged him, because he didn't find this as hilarious as I did. He did crack a smile though... If you're not a regular at a Zumba class, maybe this won't resonate. Here's the thing about Zumba classes, the participants tend to...have their spots. Ahem. Have. Their. Spots. Mess with that at your own risk. Just kidding...kinda. I've actually been part of conversations that have gone something like this:

Person 1: You know Jane? From Zumba class?
Person 2: No. What's her last name?
Person 1: Doe.
Person 2: No... What does she look like?
Person 1: Uh, short-ish hair that's kind of light brown... She had on a blue tank top with some yoga pants?
Person 2: No... I'm not sure...
Person 1: She stands in the second row, on the left side, third spot in.
Person 2: Oh! Her! Yeah, I know her!

See? Spots are thing with Zumba people.

I'd never heard the term "front-row-diva" before spotting that picture on Pinterest. I've been in the front row a long time now (thanks to Rae) but I never really thought about it beyond: well that's just where my spot is now. To be honest, I never chose that spot and some of you may remember my post about that.

As a matter of fact, the front row, considered to be prime real estate in a great many classes, is not quite so coveted in my little corner of the Zumba world. Only twice in the nearly four years I've been doing Zumba has someone taken my front spot. Both times, it was in the yoga studio where I used to go for Saturday morning class. It's not a huge room, and both times, it was by a person who was there once and never came back. Both times...was I bothered? Yeah, a little, but not enough to say anything and call the poor woman out. Rather than start a knock down drag out, I simply moved over and let her be.

I'm being a little silly with my "knock down drag out" comment. Something like that just would not happen in Jae's or Rae's class. No way. However... Having recently become a certified instructor myself, I joined ZIN (Zumba Instructor Network) and suddenly my Zumba community has gone global. Now, because of that, I hear things, stories, that happen to other instructors in other parts of the world. As it turns out, this joke has a basis in reality. One instructor's story (and I am paraphrasing here) is that indeed a fist fight broke out between two women in the middle of her class over a front row spot. The story goes that Gal 1 marked her spot with a towel and left the room, because she didn't want to do the first three songs since they are warm-up songs. Okay, I'm going to interrupt the story there with a "Really...?" Honestly, some people. Behavior like that is disrespectful to the instructor who's gone to the effort to prepare the class and to the others in the room as well. At least it is in my opinion, but more than that even, it's disrespectful to her own body. Warm-up songs exist for a reason, they are necessary for getting your muscles limber and your body ready for the workout.

Funny joke! Or is it?

Okay, to continue this strange little tale... The instructor of the class said that she saw a towel on the floor in the middle of the room. She assumed that someone from the previous class had not cleaned up after themselves and tossed off to the side. Gal 2 comes along and sees an open spot up front and takes it. Three songs in, Gal 1 decides to finally join the class only to find her spot is filled. Fist fight ensues.


Really? My jaw about hit my keyboard when I read this story. For a couple of reasons. One, is that I can't imagine myself or any of my fellow classmates behaving that way towards one another. But two is, that when I go to Jae's class, I am alone in the front row about 50% of the time. Every couple of weeks, a brave person(s) will join me, but most of my classmates don't -want- the front row spots. I typically get the company on nights when there's something going on to cause the group to be smaller; bad weather, community event, etc. So then Jae tells everyone, "It's a smaller group tonight so feel free to come closer." Something about your teacher asking you to move up gives you the bravery to actually do it, I know firsthand. So all that being what I'm used to, this story about two women coming to physical blows was such diversion from the norm!

Reading this got me thinking. What exactly defines a "front-row-diva"? I really wanted to know because I'm pretty sure that if my class has one, it's me! So I started running down a mental checklist, things like: "How do I act in class?", "Am I making the class a bad experience for anyone?" So I dug around for more information and I compiled a few lists of "diva qualities" after doing -a lot- of reading on the subject. From what I read, gals labeled "divas" (and the guys labeled "divos"...heh) typically fell into one of three categories: 1) a really annoying diva student, 2) a really likeable diva student, 3) other teachers.

The "Bad Diva" Student
* Might stand directly in front of the teacher - in spite of the teacher's best efforts to move to the left or right
* Might stand directly next to the teacher (as in shoulder to shoulder)
* May try to upstage the teacher - or worse than that, try to take over and start directing the class her(him)self
* Stares at self in mirror (if available) to the point that she(he) misses cues and loses track of the song
* May wear a full face of makeup to class - further, may leave class briefly to retouch makeup
* May roll eyes or make annoyed faces at the teacher if the teacher misses a cue or a step
* May accept and/or make phone calls and/or texts in the middle of class - of the non-emergency variety
* May ad-lib or freestyle on purpose because they like their own moves better - this can include but not be limited to:
   - ballet pirouettes
   - splits (as in down on the floor...)
   - random arm movments
   - uneccessary hip gyrations
   - grabbing free weights from the gym's rack to dance with (which is very unsafe)
   - travelling in the opposite direction
   - facing the opposite wall

Reading about people like that, I can totally understand why a reputation as a diva can be such a bad thing. I have to wonder also if some of them out there who act like this are even realizing how it comes across to others. But these traits put my mind at ease a little bit because the only ones that could possibly apply to me are the first two. It's the issue of personal space. One of my biggest challenges since the beginning has been keeping to my own spot and not invading someone else's. So Jae, Rae, ladies if I've been too much into your teaching zone, it was unintentional and I apologize! I try hard to keep travel steps and jumps small and I feel like I've seen improvement. I've really applied myself to fixing that in the last six months or so, since I started seriously considering certification. Students need to see their instructor setting a good example. If I can't keep to my own spot, how would I be able to ask my future students to?

The "Good Diva" Student
* A regular in the class and loyal to one (or two) specific teacher(s) - attends nearly every week
* Been a regular long enough to know the teacher's stuff - able to keep going even if the teacher makes a mistake (without being a jerk or making a big deal about it...)
* Sets a good example for any newbies who might be watching from the back row by following the teacher's directions and cues
* High energy/good energy, lots of smiles

Reading about these ladies (and men) I felt hopeful that maybe carrying the diva label is not entirely terrible. These stories about the great divas were all about how fun they are to have in class and that they are generally dependable if the teacher momentarily blanks on a step. When my class starts in January, this is the diva I hope I eventually get. The other kind I could really do without...

The Bad Diva Teacher
* Doesn't keep an eye on or help those who are new and/or struggling
* Too focused on her(him)self and her(his) own "performance"
* Won't stay to teach in one location long enough to build up a class - expects to be a "rock star" immediately
* Doesn't smile
* Only teaches to the more advanced students and not the beginners
* Leaves the students feeling like they can't do it or that they failed somehow
* Will rip down another teacher's class flyer
* Will post their own class flyer -over- another teacher's
* Goes to other teachers' classes/events and does any or all of the following:
   - promotes own class/event loudly and incessantly
   - badmouths that teacher to the students in that class
   - attempts to poach the students

Lastly, reading about this type of instructor surprised me for some reason. It probably shouldn't have, I know there are all kinds of people out there... It's just that the instructors I have known over the last 3+ years have been so completely the opposite of this. Even the ones I may have only taken a class from once (either for a special event, or because they were a sub) were the opposite of this. I guess I have a hard time imagining any of the instructors I know acting so selfish and petty. Reading this, has made me realize all over again (so for about the 100th time...) just how lucky I've been to find myself such a kind, generous, and supportive Zumba-family. The picture above gives a very accurate description of the kind of teacher they are. My sincere hope is that I can be a credit to them and follow the example they've set for me, rather than that other example of how -not- to be.

Best advice: Be aware of yourself. It will keep you from inadvertently hurting other people (or smacking someone with your merengue arms...). And if that does happen, and it will because everyone makes mistakes and we're all only human, own up to it and apologize.

The inspirational video: "Why I dance... Pourquoi je danse..."

A friend of mine, who is an avid belly dancer in Toronto, recently posted a video on her Facebook page entitled: "Why I dance... Pourquoi je danse...". The video is from the Ontario Arts Council (a government agency), which is why it's in both English and French.

I found it very inspiring. If you're not a dancer yourself, what's said in this video might not move you to the same degree that it did me and if that's the case, don't worry about it. But if you are a dancer of some kind... Well, I certainly can't speak for everybody, but when I watched this, I know I have personally felt just about every single thing the different people described at some point or another. So I felt like this video was speaking directly to me.

If you don't have time to watch, let me sum it up a little:
* I feel really great when I'm dancing
* It lets me be free
* It lifts my spirits and makes me happy
* Grateful to be able to move my body
* Makes me feel joyous, like I have real joy in my life
* Takes me to another world where there are no troubles, no worries
* Makes me feel so alive, my spirit is overwhelmed with joy
* Feel like a kid again
* A sense that it's a natural part of life
* You hear music and it's instinctual

You get the idea... My favorite though, is the woman who says, "It's really hard to answer why I'm dancing...why do you breathe?".

Like I said, I felt like this video was directed at me because all of those things in that list are true. And my friend, the belly dancer, I can't say for sure, but I imagine that she felt similarly since she took the time to post the video up to Facebook. These things are true for us both and yet we both do very different styles of dance. I guess some things are universal. I'm going to add what you see to the left, "Dance enables you to find yourself and lose yourself at the same time." If I had to sum up why I do Zumba in only one sentence, that would be it.

It's a question today: What brings you joy? What frees you? Okay that was really two questions...but they're worth thinking about. Especially if you can't pull out an answer in 15 seconds or less.

The Halloween costume

Happy Halloween dear readers! Hopefully, wherever you are, you're having better weather than we are here. It seems like this happens every year, Halloween weather is always wet, cold, and miserable, forcing kids to put heavy coats on over their cute costumes.

Not my pumpkin, but thank you Pinterest.

I grew up in Toronto and I can remember very few Halloweens where this was -not- the case. Here in West Michigan, the overall climate is pretty similar to that of Toronto, and so it continues. It's really too bad that yesterday's weather is not today's weather. Yesterday was unexpectedly mild and sunny. I went out to Zumba last night with just a light hoodie on over my costume instead of a heavy coat. Yeah... You read that right. I said "costume" and "Zumba" in the same sentence. For some of you out there, maybe this isn't such a wacky concept, but for me, this is the first year that I've done this.

About two years ago, I borrowed an issue of Z-Life (the magazine by Zumba) from my friend Don. I'm pretty sure it was the Summer 2011 issue, and in the back were a bunch of pictures from Convention of groups of people in costumes. I guess Convention does a costume party, but when I first saw them, I thought they were Halloween photos. I'd never considered the idea of dressing up in a costume for Zumba before that moment, but those people in the pictures sure did look like they were having a great time. Then again, they -were- at Convention... Someday people, someday... But I digress. I decided that I would like to dress up for Halloween, however, having already spent one Halloween week at Zumba the previous year, I knew from experience that nobody in my class dressed up and I guessed that they probably wouldn't again; so I let it go. I let the next one go by too (that was last year). As it turned out, I was right, nobody dressed up either time.

This year has been a year of some pretty big changes for me and if you've been reading along since I started in July, you know what all I'm talking about.
So I decided that this Halloween, I was going to dress up for Zumba. I planned to wear a costume with the full knowledge of two things:
1) That I would most likely be the only person in my class who dressed up.
2) That all my classmates would look at me and go, "Oh my goodness, look what that crazy girl from the front row is wearing tonight!"

I knew that I might face these, but decided that I was going to do it anyways. I'd always wanted to, and what better year for it than this one? I was right about the first thing, I was the only one dressed up. And that's okay! Not everyone loves costumes, or even has the time to mess around with putting one together. But I was really wrong about the second thing. Really wrong. I was surprised to see how many smiles me and my costume put on people's faces last night.

They complimented me on it and asked where I got it. A couple ladies came over and wanted to touch the fabric, they also wanted to know if it was making me too hot. It wasn't, I did a practice at home wearing it just to make sure I could actually dance in the thing. So you can see at the left, I'm rocking a Wonder Woman look. I bought both the top and the tutu at Wet Seal. I was in the mall and saw it in the store through the window. I just pulled the the tutu on right over my Feelin' It cargoes. You can barely see them in the picture, but I'm wearing some gold bangles on each arm because of course Wonder Woman had gold bracelets. I couldn't actually find more authentic looking accessories, so I improvised. I bought these at Party City while shopping for an Iron Man costume for our oldest son. It's superheroes all the way this year. I've got our baby dressed in a red Spider Man romper right now. There was a gold tiara thing at Party City that matched the bangles, but when I got it home and took it out of the box to try it on, it didn't fit so I took it back to the store and just went tiara-less. I will say this for the bangles, not all of them made it through class in that great of shape. At least none of these ones broke (like my poor pink set...), but I had several ovals by the end of the night. So that's twice, and I'm not doing bangles for Zumba again. Let that be a lesson to the rest of you: bangles + Zumba = no bueno!

"I am ZIN" dog tags

A last minute addition was the necklace that you see me wearing in the picture above. Those are my ZIN tags, and they arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon. Not wear them to class? I don't think so. But... Yeah, there's a "but". Having worn them, let me tell you that dog tags are noisy! So I tucked them into my tank top during the second song. Problem solved? No, not really. They were -still- too noisy under there so I tucked them into my sports bra when the second song ended. That finally took care of the jingle-jangle.

I am definitely going to dress up again next year, and I'll say that a tutu is an easy costume. I got some advice in advance about tutus from someone I know who runs marathons and makes her own tutus to wear for them. Tutus are lightweight and flexible and durable enough to stand up to vigorous physical activity (unlike bangle bracelets...). I also didn't feel like it got in my way at all. Some of the other women in my class said they wished they'd dressed up too. How about that?

Best advice: Be brave because you never know who might be watching, and who you'll inspire with your confidence. I've had people in my life inspire me this way, some who continue to do so regularly in fact, so I kind of think maybe it's my turn now.

The independent five year old

I've been really focused on blogging about Zumba lately, what with going to certification class and all, so it's been some time since I did a "mommy post". I've been working around the house here and there trying to organize things a little better. It's been a very slow process. It seems like every time I find something that needs organizing and I get started, it opens a can of worms. I wind up having to do about three other things in addition, just to accomplish the first thing. We've only been living here slightly over two years. When we moved in, I was pregnant with our second son and extremely sick as a result. So I was next to useless when it came to unpacking and organizing the place. Some of Bry's relatives formed a cleaning crew and came over here to help. A huge blessing to our family, and I was extremely grateful. At the time, things I thought should go in certain places or systems I thought would be good ways of organizing, have since turned out to be a little less efficient than I originally thought. I blame "pregnancy brain" because I look back now and go, "Why is this here?" or "Why did I think that would work...?" But as I said, reorganizing is a slow process and I work on things during the days in between dealing with our younger son's needs.

Bins labeled "Toys"

Dollar Tree haul

One of the places I decided to start with was our boys' rooms. In our older son's room the mess consists of lots of toys and books and laundry. You know, the basic kindergarten boy's kind of mess. I bought some bins from Dollar Tree (above left) and sorted it all out. I wanted to make the organizational system something easy to maintain, but not just for me - for him. After all, it's his room. The idea here is for him to be able to be as independent as possible for his age. So, I started by designating two bins for toys that would fit inside the cupboards of his dresser (above right); one for the larger toys and one for the smaller toys. That's easy enough, plus it reinforces sorting by characteristics which is a kindergarten skill. I also bought bins for his closet (below; left and right) because things were jumbled and in piles.

Labels from right to left: PJ's, Pants, Exar

Bin labeled "Shoes"

Basically, he needed me to help him find anything in there. This way, it's obvious to him what's what so he can get what he needs for himself. I made sure to put the bins with the things he'd need most often (like PJ's) on the shelves he could reach. And in case you're wondering, "Exar" is the name he gave his Cabbage Patch doll, so that bin contains the clothes, accessories, etc. Most of the shoes in the shoe bin are pairs he's outgrown that I am saving for our younger son, but they were all in their little boxes and that was taking up way too much space in the closet. Plus, I had an idea for how to put those to good use...

Bins labeled "Donations"

His clothes are on the lowest bar

The round bins that you see to the left are for organizing the boys' clothes that I'm not planning to save. I also bought a couple of pop-up laundry hampers, one for the laundry (obviously...) and one for his stuffed animals. I bought them in two different colors so that it's easy to tell which is which. The black one is for laundry, and the white one is for toys.

Seven-day organizer

Even our son got into the spirit of organization. Usually, I have him set out his clothes for school the night before and a couple of weeks ago, he asked me if he could lay out his clothes for the entire week. Actually, he asked me -after- he'd laid out about four shirts in random places around his room... Sigh. So, after cleaning that up, I offered to get him a closet organizer. I know that there are seven-day clothes organizers for children's closets available for purchase out there, but I figured I'd just save some money and make one myself. Because we have a pool, we have bleach, which we buy in a convenient three-pack from Costco! Everything at Costco comes in a convenient three-pack... Anyways... The boxes they come in are skinny and I turned them lengthwise and built in some shelves. It was a duct tape project. Our son likes color, so I bought seven different colors in addition to white. I labeled each shelf with the name of each day and while our son is organizing his clothes (by himself) he's practicing colors and days of the week.

All those little shoe boxes that I pulled out of his closet? I wrapped them in duct tape. For these, I used red, blue, and superhero. Duck Brand duct tape has rolls with Spider-man and The Avengers, great for a little boy going through a superhero phase. The shoe boxes are the perfect size for sorting the toys in the toy box. Top; left to right: Action Figures, Miniature Playsets, Dinosaur Train. Bottom; left to right: Animals, miscellaneous, Wooden Block Tool Bench. The rule in our house is "one at a time", so if one box comes out of the toy box, another one goes back in. Now, he's able to keep track of his toys on his own. He and I used to have the following conversation nearly everyday:

Son: Mommy, where is my     X     ?
Me: I don't know Big Guy. Why don't you check your toy box, it's probably in there.
Son (rummaging around): Mommy I can't find it!
Me (sigh, rummaging around): Here it is...
Son: Thanks Mommy!

But not anymore! Hooray!

In the kitchen, I reorganized, rearranged, and purged some things to free up a lower cupboard. I turned it into a "kids' pantry". I collected all of the kid friendly snacks and plastic children's tableware and put them in here where they are within easy reach. I pre-portioned some of the snacks into sandwich baggies too so that our son can just pick up the right amount of crackers or dried fruit along with a bowl to put it in. Instead of recycling some of the empty boxes that just naturally seem to appear in the kitchen, I covered them in...? You guessed it, duct tape. Love that stuff! It's easy to work with and kid-durable. Anyways, in red box are the baggies with the pre-portioned snacks. The blue box has granola and cereal bars. The white box in the left corner has our older son's applesauce pouches. There's extra room on the slide-out for our younger son's pouches and some of his toddler finger foods. Up on the shelf are the cereal boxes, canisters of puffs, and boxes of crackers. The plain yellow box has teething biscuits in it and I used a shelf divider to make a place for the larger sized baby bowls.

Lastly, in my recent quest to give our older son more independence, I made him his own reusable sweeping pad. He loves to dust and sweep so when I was making a reusable sweeping pad, I made a second one.

I bought a bunch of microfiber cleaning cloths from Dollar Tree and then I cut and sewed until they fit the sweeper. I already had a sweeper, but I found a no-name brand sweeper at Dollar Tree along with a little microfiber duster. Now that he has his own duster that he keeps in his room, he doesn't have to ask me to get my duster out of the closet for him. He also doesn't need me to get him the sweeper, he can just grab his own out of the laundry room whenever he's in the mood to clean. Interestingly enough, his enthusiasm for sweeping and dusting is not quite so pronounced now. Heh. That's a kid for you. Nothing is quite as fun as being able to do something you can't always do.

Best advice: Age-appropriate independence is important for children, it goes hand in hand with responsibility. That's sounds like a "Duh, of course it is and of course it does." but the truth is, that before I was a parent, I was a teacher and I have encountered children, several who were older then mine, who seemed either incapable or unwilling to be independent and act responsibly for their age. If our son needs me, needs my help, I'm there for him all the way, but laziness is in no way tolerated in this house.