Dear Friends,
Animal print in the house!
We had so much fun last Tuesday celebrating Hannah Price and Jenna Lefkarites with a fantastic animal print theme! So many people came to dance in leggings, tanks, and accessories to match our theme, and the best dressed of course goes to our birthday gals who had the perfect animal print unitards!
Hannah and Jenna customized their Stop Drop and Dance playlist to be 75 minutes of hip hop songs, and a big shoutout goes to Hannah, who danced the whole time while pregnant with her 22-week-old girl (which we found out during Beyonce's iconic song...):
"Who Run The World??? GIRLS!!!"
Joy-filled hearts
Thank you to everyone who came out last Saturday to celebrate Lisa Hudson for her 60-minute Stop Drop and Dance birthday class! We are so happy to be dancing at UUMarin now on Saturdays (instead of the garage!).
Lisa asked everyone to show up wearing whatever brings them JOY, and we danced “Together Again” with “Grateful” hearts. We finished class with Shayne’s “Purple Hat” dance and as always, Lisa rocked the advanced prop dance version!
Happy Birthday Lisa!
Do it your way
As the Paris Olympics came to a close last night (and transitioned to Los Angeles for 2028!), I found myself once again emotional and inspired.
This time I thought about the athletes and how hard they must have worked to make it to the Olympics.
There are those like Stephen Curry who have been legendary "at home" but debuted for the first time in the Olympics and achieved the dream of not only winning gold, but doing it HIS WAY and leaving a lasting impression with his wild-yet-accurate 3-point-shots we Warriors fans are so accustomed to. It's just Steph doing his thing, and he certainly left a mark in the Olympics!
However, I also think about all those athletes who came into the final ceremony procession and didn't win a medal.
Perhaps they were in last place and performed the worst and were the slowest runner or swimmer or received the lowest score. Perhaps their team lost all their games. My hope is that they still celebrated the experience and the ACCOMPLISHMENT of making it as an Olympic athlete. My hope is that they still soaked in every moment and will leave Paris grateful and proud to represent their country.
Then there are the athletes who just barely missed the Olympic cutoff.
I thought of all those athletes who made it on the national level, dreamt big and kept falling short. The 499,999 people out of 500,000 that realistically don't make it to the Olympics. I hope these athletes find the fuel to keep reaching for their goals. Or I hope they find the acceptance and peace of never needing to become an Olympian, and still fulfill other dreams!
And finally, there's the rest of us...
We may not be Olympians, but we have all felt the sting of striving for something and falling short or being rejected. Work, family, relationships, school, hobbies... We have accomplished some things and we have also felt loss in other things. Dealing with normal, everyday highs and lows in life is plenty of a challenge!
I felt the Olympic closing song was perfect, "My Way" by Frank Sinatra, sung by French singer and model, Yseult:
"I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside
I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way
Oh, no, oh, no, not me
I did it my way"
Whatever path each of us are on, let's commit to leading our lives OUR WAY.
Let's live with no regrets, no fear, and no judgement.
Let's move forward with purpose,
with conviction and courage,
with passion and heart,
with light and joy...
Be proud to be you and live YOUR way!
Love,
Grace
