What a fun weekend! In fact, it was so much fun, the first thing I did when I got home was take a nap. Our trip to the ballet was wonderful. We were escorted backstage and given a full tour, from up in the rafters where the scenery comes down to the basement wardrobe and make up rooms. We were able to watch the dancers receiving their make-up and wigs and preparing for the performance. We then watched the performance from the wings – fascinating! Picture taking was somewhat limited as union rules forbid photographs during dance school (up until 1/2 hour before performance) and during the performance and at other times we were told to ask the dancers before taking any pictures. Interestingly enough – they don’t like having their pictures taken! Go figure – if I looked that good I’d be posing right and left. We did coerce convince one lovely young dancer to pose for us:

And this guy didn’t really seem to mind:

Sadly, we learned that dancers really do starve for their art, but I think this one took it a little too far:

My personal opinion is that the dancers were a little grumpy because their feet hurt! Seriously, we saw one of the principals walking around backstage barefoot and her feet looked horrible. All of that beauty onstage comes at a price. The crew however, was terrific and couldn’t have been nicer. I was surprised at the freedom we were given to wander around during the performance (including walking onstage during scene changes) and they seemed really delighted to have us there (or at least gave a good impression).

Afterwards I relaxed at our hotel and enjoyed the Seattle skyline:

On Friday I dropped in at the little yarn shop near my sister’s house – really just a hole in the wall and nothing to look at from the outside, but I always seem to score some neat yarn there. This trip I got some Austermann Step for me and some lovely Opal for socks for my friend (and wasted no time casting on the Austermann):

The Austermann supposedly has Aloe Vera and Jojoba Oil – not sure how that translates into the wearing (or making my feet any softer – hey, maybe that’s what the ballerinas need), but it has a lovely feel and the colors are wonderful. But for now it’s back to reality – gotta go cook dinner.