For Sisters By Sisters » Christine V.

The Long and Short of My Dress Dilemma

Christine V. — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 18:03:24 +0000

I have a very busy spring/summer coming up, as I have been asked to senior prom in June, and I will be celebrating my Sweet 16 in July. So, of course, I am in the market for dresses! I spent a lot of time looking at gowns online, and found a great website called newyorkdress.com http://www.newyorkdress.com/Prom_Dresses.html. It has hundreds (or more) of gowns to choose from, and it carries really cool lines like Faviana (I have become a big fan of this line since I started watching “My Fair Wedding” with David Tutera) and Jovani.

So, after finding a Faviana gown that I fell in love with online, I went to Pzaz in Centereach to try it on. I thought I wanted the gown in navy blue, but they only had it in black and red. I tried on the black for size … and fell totally in love with the gown, and actually bought it in black. Not sure black is for a prom, but my rule for fashion is “If I like it, I wear it.” Here is a photo:
http://www.newyorkdress.com/Faviana/6120.html

One dress down, one to go … but the Sweet 16 dress is gonna be a little more difficult. I think I want red, because my theme is “Phantom of the Opera,” but I don’t know if I want long or short. I fell in love with the gown in this blog, but I can’t find it anywhere. http://www.red-prom-dress.com/wp-content/uploads/d-2.jpg. But, I am also liking the idea of getting a dress with a detachable skirt, like this one, because as much as I want a long dress, I also want to be able to dance and have fun. http://www.newyorkdress.com/Jovani/71452.html

So, all suggestions welcome!

Image taken from http://www.newyorkdress.com/Faviana/6120.html

Our American Idol Comes Home

Christine V. — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 21:43:33 +0000

Wow, what an unbelievable week my friends and I have experienced, all because our friend Robbie Rosen made the top 24 in “American Idol”! Camera crews and reporters have been at our school for days, asking us questions, and sitting in on our chorus practices. I had my share of publicity, too, this week, when a picture of me singing (yes, mouth wide open) was in Newsday as part of an article covering Robbie.

But the big excitement has been watching my friend Robbie sing on the big stage for national television, and then tweeting and talking to people everywhere to drum up votes for him, and, of course, watching the vote show. Robbie sang well, but America did not think it was good enough, and he was not voted into the top 10. However, as drama would have it, he was asked to sing in the final wild-card round, and he performed his song like a superstar!

I’m not sure why the judges did not pick Robbie to advance—I know they loved him, they told him how good he was all the time, but I guess the competition was just too fierce, and maybe Robbie is just a year or so too young. I cried for my friend when he was not picked, because I thought this would be devastating for him. But I know Robbie, and this is just the beginning. He gets to come home now, and he can even come to Disney with us to compete in a national singing competition (which I know that we will now win!).

And who knows, maybe he will try out for “Idol” again next year…and maybe I will join him Lots for us to think about, and it’s all good )) Welcome home, Robbie!! <3

Watching My Best Friend Become Famous

Christine V. — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 19:50:04 +0000

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I am totally about music, dancing and singing. Since middle school, I have been involved in choir, and that is where I met my friend Robbie Rosen. When I first heard Robbie sing, I knew that his voice was really special, and that he might even become famous…and I also knew that I wanted to sing with him.

Even though we sang together in middle school in a cappella, it wasn’t until high school that Robbie and I actually became best friends. Robbie told me that I had an amazing voice, and wanted to sing with me—even my choir instructor told me that I was the “female Robbie Rosen.” We sing together a lot, and this year Robbie and I sang the national anthem at a varsity game…but little did I know then that I was singing with who might be the next American Idol.

Image by anyjazz65 taken from Creative Commons

Right after the game, Robbie disappeared from school for weeks; no one heard from him, he did not answer text messages and he was not responding to Facebook or Twitter. I had a feeling that he might be auditioning for “Idol,” because he dreamed about it and talked about it all the time. Around the holidays, my mom and I were watching a commercial for “American Idol,” and there he was—we both started screaming and jumping around, we were soooo excited.

Since then, Robbie has come back to school for a few weeks and has filled me in, but only briefly, on his “Idol” experience, as he is restricted from talking about the show to anyone. Robbie made it through to Hollywood and is currently competing for the Idol title. I am so excited and proud for my friend, and if you are reading this, please remember to vote for Robbie! If he makes it through to the top 3, the “Idol” crew will likely come to our school and tape our chorus for the show! Stay tuned—I will update this post as the show goes on!

My Life in Song

Christine V. — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 18:29:43 +0000

When I was around 9 months old, my parents took me to a brunch at my grandfather’s country club, where I witnessed live music for the first time. The musician was a strolling violinist and, according to my parents, I sat up in the highchair, dropped my bottle from my mouth and was completely mesmerized. Everyone in the club was watching me watching him. From there, I sang at my sister’s baptism when I was 3 years old—I stood in front of 100 people, closed my eyes through the whole song and belted “You’re Still the One,” by Shania Twain. So I guess you could say I was born with a passion for music.

Through the years, I have been involved in band, dance, drama and choir, but if I had to choose my favorite of all of these, I would say that I love to sing! Even though I am a sophomore, this year I was accepted into Senior Choir, and I will be singing at Disney in April. We also have several other performances and concerts/competitions this year.

Singing makes me feel good, and I love it because I think I am good at it. I hope that, one day, I am able to make a living either playing music or singing. It might even be nice to teach music and singing to children, so that I can teach others to appreciate this gift. Today, I sang a duet of the national anthem before a varsity soccer game at my school. We had to sing it a cappella, and the national anthem is a really hard song because you have to have tremendous range to sing it without squeaking, but I think we did OK (despite the terrible feedback on the microphone at the end of the song)! Looking forward to sharing more performances with you all.

The Trip of a Lifetime

Christine V. — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:51:41 +0000

My family and I recently went on an amazing vacation—it was a cruise around the Mediterranean that began in Barcelona, Spain, and stopped in beautiful ports through Europe, including Naples, Rome, Florence/Pisa and the French Riviera.

We left New York on Friday night on a “red eye” and arrived in Spain on Saturday morning. Barcelona was interesting, especially since it was our first European city, and it was my job to take photos, and do the conversion from euros to dollars—when we were there, the conversion rate was around 1.20 euros. We did a lot of shopping in Barcelona; they had really pretty jewelry shops and reasonable prices.

The next day we headed to the ship; it was huge—and it was magnificent! There were 14 floors, three pools, an ice skating rink, huge theater, rock-climbing wall and an entire floor for sports entertainment. There was also a huge gym and several restaurants. On day three, the boat docked in Naples, Italy, and we had an excursion to Positano and the Amalfi coast. The drive up the coast is a very narrow street that curves up a very steep mountain. My mom and grandmother were actually getting car sick. But the view was amazing—there were gorgeous resorts and mansions that were built right into the mountainside, just above the beautiful blue water. We ate pasta in Positano, and it was probably the most delicious meal I ever had.

Next day was Rome. We drove into the city and stopped at St. Peter’s Basilica just as the Pope was blessing the crowd (if you are too far away from him, you can see him on a big screen TV in the back of the square). We also went into the Vatican and saw Michelangelo’s Pieta and the Sistine chapel where Michelangelo painted the entire ceiling to illustrate stories in the Bible. When you are in the Sistine chapel, you are not allowed to talk. The reason for this is that your breath could disturb the artwork on the ceiling. No lie. One of the funniest things about Rome is that people of all ages drive around on scooters, and they drive like maniacs! We asked our tour guide if he had a scooter, and he said no because he was not an organ donor.

Florence was next: We stopped at Pisa first to see the Leaning Tower and took goofy pictures that looked like we were pushing it up. Funniest thing that happened there was that I ran into my friend Tony, who I know since kindergarten—he was touring Italy with his family! Then we went to see Michelangelo’s David; the statue is enormous. It’s hard to believe that someone sculpted it from a slab of marble. We ended the day at a leather store that had a factory in the back, where we bought beautiful leather bags and my sister got a cool leather jacket.

The last two days were spent swimming at beaches on the French Riviera. It was nice to have some down time after the hectic tours, and the water of the Mediterranean was crystal blue and so warm. I met teenagers from all over the world on the boat—some spoke English, some didn’t, but everyone was happy. The one language that we all shared was music: We all danced together every night! The captain also set up large screen TVs in the lobby so that everyone could watch the World Cup soccer games—it was fun because Spain was winning and there were lots of Spaniards on the ship. Soccer is huge in Europe; I think they call it “futbol,” which is ironic, because that is a whole other sport in America.

This trip taught me the value of travel, the differences between cultures and how trips make memories. I’m sure I will never forget this one.

A Year Without Big Decisions

Christine V. — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 03:30:35 +0000

In the next few years, I will be deciding what college I want to go to. This is probably the biggest decision in my life so far, and I will only be 16 when I am making it! It’s great to have options and to be able to consider different choices, but sometimes I wish someone would just tell me, “Christine, you have to go to this school, and that’s it, period.” That way, if it’s the wrong decision, it’s not my fault.

There are so many things about this that make me nervous. What if I go away to school and I get really, really sick? I’m gonna miss my family, especially my little sister, and I will definitely miss my dog. I don’t know how to do laundry! What happens if I choose a major and hate it? What if I stay at home and then I’m miserable because everyone else goes away? There are many more things I could add to this list, and it feels like my brain will explode. So I don’t want to think about it right now.

This year, I want a year without any big decisions. I just want to be 14 going on 15, not 14 going on 20. I don’t want to hear about how I didn’t accept the research program in science that meant giving up my next three summers to be in a lab with a scientist…I don’t like science (thanks, Mom and Dad, for letting me blow it off). I make enough little decisions every day—that should add up to one big decision every week, and that should be enough.

Think about the pressure in my life and the life of a freshman in high school: Wake up at 5:45 to do my hair every day so I don’t look like a freak, be at the bus stop at 7 a.m. (gotta talk to Poppa and ask him to drive me, ’cause it’s too cold for this right now), keep up my grades, do all the after-school stuff, pick the right friends (the ones my parents approve of), go to dance classes and competitions, study, keep my room clean and more. I do love all of it, but there’s no time to think about the big stuff like college and careers, and even bigger stuff like child abuse, terrorism and global warming. Teenagers 30 years ago didn’t have to think about this stuff; why should we?

So if it’s OK, I promise to do everything I am supposed to do this year, and I will try to keep my room clean, and I won’t lose my iPod or my Uggs again. Let’s keep the decisions small for now. Sixteen is just around the corner.

Who’s the Nerd?

Christine V. — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:02:00 +0000

This week in school, one of my teachers complimented me and a friend on our drama skills, and a boy in the class commented that “all drama kids are freaks or nerds.” This boy is a jock, his grades are average and he gets into trouble in school sometimes. What makes him think he’s better than me or my friends? This got me and my friend Emily (who is also in drama) thinking… what makes someone a nerd?

I hung out in my pajamas and studied for midterms today. Does that make me a nerd?

I listen to my parents and choose not to smoke or take drugs. Does that make me a nerd?

I hung out and watched a movie with some of my girlfriends on Saturday night. Does that make us all nerds?

I would rather wait for a boy to ask me out than ask him out. Does that make me a nerd?

And if a boy likes me but is too shy to tell me, does that make him a nerd?

And who gets to call other people nerds?

The kids who don’t study for midterms?

The crowd that doesn’t listen to anyone and smokes and takes drugs?

The teens who go to parties and get drunk instead of having a movie night with the girls?

The girl who asks out every boy she knows and has a bad reputation?

The boy who tells every girl he likes her, just to get her to do what he wants?

My mom calls this stereotyping. I just think it stinks. I told the kid who called the drama kids nerds that he was a jerk, and he didn’t even respond. So I guess it really doesn’t matter what people call you, especially if you’re happy with who you are.

And drama kids are so not nerds.