Ballerinas Invade Boston.....

at least it seemed that way for awhile on Saturday.

okay, no need to rewrite history or anything.

(Paul Revere, your legacy is safe!:)

actually, saturday was check-in day for the advanced/pre-professional 

ballet students lucky enough to be chosen to attend

the Boston Ballet School 2012

Summer Dance Program.

and my girl Taylor is one of those students,

chosen from more than 2400 students who auditioned 

during a 46 city audition tour that traveled throughout the U.S, 

Canada, Europe and Asia.

these students will train for at least 5-6 hours/day for 5 weeks this summer.

(kinda makes me feel lazy......i thought summer was for doing nothing. haha)

anyway, i am back from dropping her off at her dorm,

Shelton Hall on the campus of Boston University.

i have to say, i am not really a big city person anymore.

(give me my little florida town:)

but, for such a big city, Boston was pretty cool.

her dorm is right near Fenway Park and it reminded me what a big deal

baseball is in the summertime for many people.

because they are CRAZY for their red sox!

but i suppose what impressed me, if anything could impress me

in the SWELTERING heat we endured while walking MILES to find

the right stores to outfit a dorm room

 (and this comes from someone who lives in south florida)

was how the city of Boston has preserved it's history.

beautiful old, historical places, like Trinity Church.

kinda reminded me of big cities in Europe, 

because their history is very much preserved.

but back to the invasion of the ballerinas.....

it is kinda crazy on check in day but Boston Ballet wins the award

for the MOST organized summer program so far.

and what a relief, cause it was steamy:)

we got miss taylor's room assignment and went to check it out.

she chose the bed looking out onto the famous Charles river.

this is the roomiest dorm room she has had, 

and the only one with a "view".
(seriously, there is a big space between her and her roommate.
it may look small because we chose to make her's a cozy little nook of a room:)

you see what it looks like BEFORE we start decorating.

well, i think we gave her a pretty cool room in a few short hours.

we went with a surfer girl/country girl theme,

 (with some ballet thrown in too:)

to remind her of home.

can i say she LOVES her room?

and according to her, the other girls do too:)

as she said "mom, this is what you do best".

or something like that. hahaha

she knows to not fight me on this.

the minute she is accepted to a program,

i start thinking about a theme.

yes, she does get final say:)

but rather than go with the predictable pink/ballet-ish look,

 which she has lived with her whole life,

we shook things up and went to the beach!

 note to everyone out there........twinkle lights are a MUST!:)

see, we did include some ballet photos.

but check out that surfboard poster.

isn't it COOL?

then we have that gorgeous sunset poster i got online for .98 on amazon.

cool hawaiian leis from the dollar store.

her favorite country singer, Luke Bryan.

next to the bed, her pink alarm clock and devotional book by

Bethany Hamilton "Soul Surfer".

(that's my girl)

and posted all over her closet and walls, 

many random photos i printed out......

photos of her much loved pups, quotes and family, of course:)

i'm telling you, it was so cozy!  

i could have taken a nap there:)

by the way, she loves her new roommate,

a sweet girl from Pennsylvania named Cheyenne.

i think they'll have a great time together!

so we got done decorating and decided to walk around the area.

look at these beauties outside her dorm.......

we walked a block to a neat pizza place called Bertuccis,

and had pizza with the most AMAZING

watermelon lemonade i've ever had in my life.

the ONLY watermelon lemonade i've had in my life.

whew.......was it good or what!

i need to find a recipe for that ASAP!

well, i guess that's about it.

today is a big day for her......

placement classes to determine exactly what level.

before i go, look at these sunflowers i saw

at this cool, big grocery store smack in the middle of Boston, 

Shaws groceries.

pretty incredible.

they were ginormous!!!!!

and they were also fake:)

well Taylorina......

(come on, you knew that was coming;)

i'm gonna miss you!

but i know this is what you want to do so i hope it's a 

fabulous experience in every way!

be safe......learn a lot......and have fun!!!

XOXOXOXO

Mummy:)