meet my boyfriend...

his name is thomas.  he's a hit with the ladies...

and we have a lot of common interests.  watermelon being one of them...

and we both love scoot scoots...

tommy t, i love you.  i can't wait to see you walk and see all your new teeth!

saucy...

another tabitha and napoleon special, of course...

the day i found love in st. george...

dear dot,

i love that you are red.  i love that you let me explore whenever i want to.  i love that all i paid for you was $50 worth of insurance for 6 months.  i love that you attract fun, new friends into my life.  and i love that you give me freedom.

xoxo,

b

my daddy and me

just some fun  in the leaves with my favorite guy.

 i'm getting choked up and i haven't even started. 

 my dad is the greatest man i have ever known. 

my handsome daddy, benji and me

my dad travelled a lot for business when i was growing up.  so, he did extra things to let us know how much he cared.  i can't count the number of times i woke up to find a note from my dad hanging on my mirror in the bathroom letting me know that he loved me. 

  when we were little, my dad took each of us kids on a "club" every month.  we always looked forward to clubs.  it was a one-on-one chance for fun with dad.  lunch, bowling, movies, swimming and laser-tagging always turned into talks about life with my dad: what made me happy, what made me sad, which friends i loved to play with, my favorite parts of being a british school girl- he cared about all of it.  

and i'll never forget the valentine's days in high school when my sister and i found love notes from our dad written in red dry-erase marker on the mirror with roses left on the counter from our favorite valentine.

i owe so much of who i am and my good habits to my dad...

when i was about 7 years old, it was my turn to sweep the kitchen one night. i remember vividly, my dad coming into the kitchen and showing me how to methodically sweep the kitchen- section by section. 7 years old. my dad is the most methodical man i know!  which is one of the reasons he leads such a successful life.  but my favorite thing about my dad is that despite his methodical, genius mind for business and despite his successes in that realm, my dad understands that life is about people and relationships. 

i loved wearing around my daddy's shoes. 

i want to be like him in so many ways...

  he's the most driven man i know.  (i guess that's where we get it from)

he's always been the first to admit when he's wrong and ask for forgiveness (i think this is one of the greatest gifts he's given to me as a father)

he's always changing, always growing into a better man (throughout my life i've seen him change before my eyes.  he's taught me that it's never too late to change and his example has given me permission to become more than i now am)

he's great with people.  (because he genuinely cares about them)

his love and passion for life are contagious

his family is his life

he's a hard worker

he has a reverence for things that are sacred

he dreams big! (that's definitely where i get it from)

dad, look at where you were 40 years ago and look at how far you've come.  look at the life you've built for yourself.  and look at all the people who love you most...

i love you, dad.  thank you for being one of my best friends, my biggest supporter and my greatest confidant.   

xoxo,

b

what does it feel like...

there is a film called "once" that premiered at the sundance film festival this past year.  if you haven't heard this song, you're gonna need to take a second to listen to it.  it's beautiful.  

here's a little clip from the film...  

what does it feel like to you when you're in love?

opening night!

finally!  no more rehearsal.  for a while, at least. thank buddah!

here are some photos from our annie and footloose openings...

not even all of the beautiful flowers... compliments of wonderful directors and friends.  

the talented corrine ivey helping rusty get 80s fabulous.

my birthday was the same night as our annie opening. daddy warbucks found out that no one had gotten me a birthday cake, so he brought one on opening night.  what a guy.

the man himself.  ron and grace.  daddy warbucks and annie.

the trio.  jenn and stacia.

jesse, josh and terranze

derryl yeagar.  our director/choreographer for footloose.

not sure how we ended up in a classic prom pose.

scott anderson.  our director for annie.

25 years of wisdom...

here are a few life nuggets...

1. you can achieve anything you want in life if you work hard and believe in yourself and in what you're doing.

2. i'm not sure how they did it, but my parents really do have all the answers.

3. as much as i love people, i need some good "becca time" every week- preferably a little bit every day.

4. intimidation doesn't exist if you just realize that, deep down, all people want the same thing... to be cared about.

5. with regards to dating, i will always trust my family's opinion. they know me best.  this rule recently saved me from a miserable fate.

6. being open-minded allows you to live life with an open heart and learn from everything and everyone along your path.  it's the only way to go.

7. reading makes you smarter and being smart and well-read will get you far in life.

8. money really does make the world go 'round.  it doesn't necessarily buy happiness... just less stress.

9. be diplomatic.  don't burn bridges. 

10. networking is easy if you just decide to be genuinely interested in people.

11. your true friends love you anyway...

12. personally, put others first.  professionally, cover your own butt.

13. text messaging is not a means of courtship.

14. the best friendships are the ones you can "pick up as if no time has passed".

15. always be determined to improve and better yourself, but never ever forget that you are enough just the way you are.

16. i don't care how secure you are, validation is key.

17. never underestimate the mind of a child.

18. boys like a good old-fashioned chase followed by some encouragement.  let them come to you.  the good ones always do.

19. life has a lot of ups and downs, but everything about it is more fun and meaningful if you treat it as an adventure to be learned from.

20. in general, i'm a pretty easy-going person. but, you want to see me get ugly... mess with one of my family members.

21. excuses are only good to the people who use them.

22. i am determined to be a great cook.

23. sometimes a sincere, "i'm sorry" is the only response.  nothing else is required.

24. my story is different. 

25. dream big. 

tabitha and napoleon

step into my office.  lets just talk about these two for a sec.  

tabitha and napoleon are married.  they're in love with each other and with what they do.  they met at the university of nevada in las vegas where she was a communications major and he was pre-med studying cellular and molecular biology.  apparently it takes a couple this beautiful and that brilliant to come up with the ridiculous stuff that they come up with.  

their routines stand out heads and shoulders above the rest on sytycd. someone needs to throw a shoe at them.

here's my recent fav. i had to remind myself to start breathing again when it was done...

once in love with amy...

i'm sad that this is a day late.  we opened annie and footloose last night and the night before, so things have been a little crazy.

yesterday marked the birth of a girl that i love and admire.

happy birthday, ames!!

amy married my oldest brother, rob, 10 years ago this december.  it's crazy how time flies. 

we love having amy as a sister.  she's such a caring person.  

she's always interested in what's going on in our lives.  she has a way of getting giddily excited for us when she finds out about our little successes.  makes us feel like a million bucks every time.  amy's also a strong person and she's well read, which is something i love about her.  after all, it takes a brilliant woman to keep up with rob's mind.

  but most of all, she's an amazing wife and mother...

3 children later, she still manages to get more beautiful every time i see her.  

here are my adorable nieces...

bubby, ba and es on a sunday bike ride

 i liked amy the moment i met her.  from the beginning, rob and amy were that couple that everyone wanted to spend time with.  it's always amazed me how much they compliment each other.  it was easy for me to see, even as a 15 year-old when they started dating, that amy completed rob. she was definitely the missing piece to his puzzle. and now, 10 years later, their marriage continues to inspire me.  

one of the most beautiful families i've ever seen. ever.

happy birthday, ames!!  i was thinking about you yesterday!

lets call a spade a spade, shall we?

who hasn't received an item of clothing which has a tag that reads "one size fits all".  um, i'm sorry... have you SEEN the american population lately?  

this is the tag inside of a hat that i bought in australia last year.  at least the australians are honest...

first preview

tonight is our first footloose preview for a sold-out crowd here at tuacahn.  i'm excited.  and getting nervous.  i know i'm going to be standing stage right, getting ready to run on for my solo in the opener, and wanting to wet my black pleather skirt.

with so many performers out of work, i realize that i'm lucky to have a fun job for the summer.  i'm lucky to get to sing my face off every night playing the part of rusty.  it's such a fun part. 

 so, this summer i'm going to love every moment as it comes, knowing that i'll never have it again.  'cause after all...

to everyone who has a dream...

tonight a little group of us got together at aaron and darby's house to have a cookout and watch the tonys.  i loved it!  it was the first time i'd ever watched the tonys all the way through.  

i loved seeing angela lansbury win her 5th tony.  i loved liza minelli in all of her craziness.  i loved the three little billies that were just speechless up on that stand- especially the one on the left, who happens to be the billy i saw a few weeks ago, because you could tell he understood the weight of what had just taken place.  we laughed really hard when bret michaels got clobbered by the set piece as he exited the stage.  and i loved all the performances from the broadway casts.

but my favorite moment of the tonys was karen olivo's acceptance speech.  i love her.  i saw her in both "in the heights" and "west side story".  she is fierce.  so, along with karen olivo, i dedicate this little clip to everyone who has a dream.  some people will tell you that it will never happen.  sometimes you let yourself believe that you don't have what it takes.  but if you "stick with it and surround yourself with people who love you, you can do anything."

just the two of us...

there's a boy i love.

his name is benjamin harrison schwartz.

he was born 27 years ago today.

he is my dashing older brother...

he also happens to be a chinese pop star...

his fans love him so much that they made him into a cartoon...

how many people do you know that have been made into a cartoon?

benji loves his family.  he is always reminding us how awesome our family is and how special the time is that we get to spend together.  and our nieces love him...

benji has always been my biggest inspiration.  when he was little he started singing.  his voice is beautiful.  i wanted to be just like him, so i started singing too.  later on he started to love dancing.  i felt betrayed.  i couldn't dance to save my life.  but again, i wanted to be just like him and i couldn't stand getting left behind, so i started to dance too...

our performing took us on adventures through hong kong, china and korea together.  and now it's taking us on a life journey, which we get to share together although we're miles apart.

benji, thank you for always seeing a greatness in me that i couldn't always see in myself.  you've always dreamed bigger dreams for me than i dreamed for myself.  and you're always encouraging me to do great things.  

you are the greatest champion of my creativity.  i dare to dream big because your dreaming big and following your heart has given me the permission to do so. 

 you've never been an average kid.  you've always been destined for great things.  you're one of the most brilliant and driven people i know.  but what i love most about you is that no matter where you go, and no matter what amazing thing you're doing with your life,  your heart is always at home.  you make me, and everyone else in our family, feel like we're the most important people in your life.  

you're one of my favorite people, benj.  everything's a little more fun, socially diverse :) and yet loving and sentimental when you're around.  you're one of my best friends and i can't wait to see where the future's gonna take us... just the two of us.