So it`s the 4th of July. Happy 4th all you `mericans.

That means it`s been three days since Canada Day (which Hannah calls `Candy Day`). And I`ve finally finished processing my pictures (yay!). And they turned out pretty nice.

We didn`t get to stay and see the fireworks - we had an appointment to have a realtor come see the house, which we had decided to reschedule, but couldn`t track down the realtor`s number. And Hannah was exhausted and needed a nap. And then we couldn`t really justify dragging her back to the park and keeping her out until midnight. I was sad because I love Canada Day fireworks like so much.

But there will be more Canada Days.

Unless there`s a zombie apocalypse this year, I suppose.

Anyhow, I think this year`s pictures turned out nicer than last year`s pictures. And I think I danced better. And there was no drama with the music not working and my almost not getting to perform because of running to get replacement music. Drama-free performances are good times.

Before Canada Day, Ian and I were looking through some performance photos from a community association `day in the park` that I did around the solstice. And I was surprised how pleased I was with most of the pictures. Usually when I look at pictures of myself I`m quite horribly awkward and self-conscious and I feel this sad resignedness. `Oh, yes, there I am making that face. That`s about what I expected.`But instead I was just smiling. When I commented on it, Ian said, `you`re always smiling when you perform. You have the biggest smile on stage. It`s like you enjoy dancing or something.`

Also, I finally got to wear my costume for a performance.

I bought this costume when I was in Toronto for the Freshbooks workshop (haha, check out that link for an example of me being awkward and stupid just because a camera is pointed at me).

Can`t remember if I blogged about the costume at the time. It`s egyptian-made and it`s just beautiful. The images can`t do it justice. It sparkles like crazy because it has antique cut-glass beads and swarovski crystals all over it. And it has crazy-scandalous cutouts just to the side of the crotch and on the bum, but I`ve sewn silver lamé behind them so I don`t have to coordinate my underwear (!) with my costume.

And I spent kind of a lot of money on it. Like, not an amount that surprised me, because I`d been researching costumes and looking at the higher quality ones, so I knew what to expect to spend. But it was more than I should have spent, really, given that I do maybe seven or eight performances a year and 90% of the time I will be wearing a troupe costume.

And, in fact, this here is the first time I wore it (having stayed up until 1am the night before sewing in that silver lamé. And, though we have three performances coming up, I have, this week, learned that there will be no free-cabaret going on. No, everyone will be in matching cabaret. : (

And here I am posing with my bdf (that`s belly-dance-friend for you non-initiated). Her mom tells her normal mom things like, `move closer to Megan for this picture` and then she does creeper things like posing with her bum pushed out against my bum, which kills me. She reminds me of Meredith for some reason. A fact which I have tried to explain to her, but since I only have anecdotes about inappropriate marriage proposals, what your mom likes in the butt and picking on sensitive-genius-musicians after a set at the tranzac, and I can`t deliver any of that humour with meredith-style, I have probably failed to convey some important element of that comparison to her.

HOWEVER, a more important thing about her is that she bucked traditional cabaret and made herself a feather bra for her costume.

And how fucking gorgeous is that?