Queen of the Power Tools

I have to give special kudos to the two hardest working folks helping me this week. Roy did the trim and facing on the stage (it's hard to see what a detailed job it was from this pic). I took this earlier today just after I finished staining it.

Looks pretty darn good I must say!

And my fellow power tool diva, Pina, and I assembled the registration desk, and printer cabinet/file cart. Wow! There was a lot of hardware involved in that project. AND we didn't have too many mysterious pieces left when we finished!

Our Grand Opening Reception is one week from tomorrow and it looks like we'll be ready. I hope you'll be joining us....Friday, September 8th from 6-8 pm.

Squeezing in some R&R

In the midst of preparing to open the new Jazzercise Center, we had a vacation planned....SO....off we went to Williamsburg, Virginia. The week was full of family & fun, and terrific weather. I went on an outing for lunch and shopping with Nanny, my grandmother who turned 101 in May...

We are trying to decide how we'll celebrate 102 !


We also spent a night in Charlottesville on Lake Monticello at my aunt & uncle's wonderful vacation house. Here's a photo of my goddaughter, Catherine and I hitting in the inner tube on the lake.

And.....ACTION! There we go!

Work Day!

WOW!! What a work day we had putting together our Center.

First and foremost I have to congratulate and THANK our crew......

First the guys..........Ken (Laura's husband), Charlie (Jodie's husband), Roy (my mom's friend) and of course my husband Rich. These guys were instrumental in laying the floor, doing the edging (no small job) , lots of lifting, and much more. I can't thank them enough!!!! I'm treating the guys to a round of golf so they can relax.

Then there was our phenomenal team of women....Laura, Pina, my mom - Arlene, and one of our customers Liz. They laid floor, assembled our storage cubes, cleaned the bathroom, did the Target run, and so much more!

And last, not certainly not least Nicholas (Laura's son) was our helper on Friday night and Leah (Liz's daughter) was a stellar assistant on Saturday! And of coure a visit from Jodie and Ava to keep us company.

Here are some photos to show you our progress......






There's Leah posing on our new stage. Leah was a fabulous assistant to Roy.

Storage cubes for shoes, purses, etc.

Kristen & Pina assemble the storage cubes.....uh, did you know it's helpful to read the directions?

Our stage is coming along...........












Liz and Leah count out tiles (left) and Laura & Rich work on assembly (below)

Ken's camera shy.

All in all it was a VERY productive and (I hope) FUN weekend for everyone. I know it was for me. I am truly blessed to be surrounded with such cool friends......Stay tuned!!

Making Progress

The flooring has arrived!! Fortunately I had the help of Pina's son, Timmy and his friend Scott to move in all the boxes. Those boys worked hard (probably the most manual labor they've done all summer). I think there were 143 boxes (25 lbs each)....whew!



The painting was completed today. Nelson Ramirez of True Colors (Norwalk) and his crew did a great job and finished the whole thing in one day. The color is French Manicure....I even like the name.



Here's the beginning of the stage....Jimmy DeLeo (Stamford contractor) is building it. Can't wait to dance on it.














STAY TUNED!

Breaking News!

Yep it's true!

Stamford Jazzercise is relocating all of our classes from the Zion Lutheran Church to our new Jazzercise Fitness Center of Stamford this September 2006.

Our new center is located just 1.5 miles away at 633 Hope Street. Our home will be in the same building with Kids U and Steps and is just past United House Wrecking on the same side of the street.




We will host a Grand Opening Reception in our new facility on Friday, September 8th from 6-8 pm. Classes will kick off in the new space on Saturday, Sept 9th with two team taught classes at 8:20 am & 9:30 am. So, save the date now! You will definitely want to be there!

You can go to www.jazzct.com for more information on our relocation. And you can check the progress on our renovations here.


Here's part of our crew (including our mascot, Ava) checking out the new space before renovations begin.


On behalf of our instructors and class managers, I want to say "thank you" to our customers for your loyalty, faithfulness, and ongoing support. We are confident that our new Jazzercise Fitness Center is a place that will provide fitness, friendship, and fun for everyone!

Making the BIG announcement!

Remember.....The best way to predict your future is to create it!

Easy Listening........

One of the purposes of starting this blog is to get inspired....one way to do this is to share suggestions for books, movies, music, whatever comes to mind. And when I received Kevin' Briody's recent email on his upcoming shows, I decided this was the perfect place to start!

I am a big fan of acoustic/folk music and Kevin is one of my favorite singer/songwriters (and friends) .

If you haven't heard Kevin you can check him out his schedule at www.kevinbriody.com. His show at the Ridgefield Playhouse with George Wurzbach is one of my favorites and I make sure to catch it every year.

Or you can pick up one of his CDs and you can listen to him anytime. I've got all three and I really can't recommend just one, I've got faves on each one! Of course "Be Still" which I had the pleasure of having Kevin perform at my wedding (one of the best wedding presents ever!) is an all time favorite. Go to his website http://www.kevinbriody.com/music/BeStill.mp3
to listen to it and be prepared to be relaxed and moved....

If you get to one of Kevin's shows or pick up one of his CDs, please drop me a line and let me know what you think.

Erin's First Birthday

It's never to early for chocolate!

I had to post a pic of Erin enjoying her first piece of birthday cake. Rich (who is also Erin's godfather) and I were happy to be there for the celebration. Of course we like to think that we are partly responsible for Erin (no, don't get any funny ideas!) but we were the matchmakers who originally introduced the proud parents, our friends Brian & Barbara.

Brunch with the girls

On Sunday several special Jazzercise friends met for brunch at Quattro Pazzi at the Oak Hills Golf Course (my usual golf hangout) to celebrate Pam's fifth anniversary as a Jazzercise instructor (that's Pam in the pink).

It only took me 10 years to convince her to go for it!

It was also a chance to visit with our friend Tammie (in the polka dot top) visiting from Ohio. I take every opportunity to try to convince Tammie to move back to CT.



The weather was beautiful and the food was delicious. Quattro Pazzi is definitely worth a visit, and if you go, say hello to my buddy Vinnie Grillo who's the golf pro there. Or better yet, take a lesson from him. He taught me everything I know about golf.

Hey I'm a Blogger!

Well this should be fun. This is my first attempt at blogging. I'm not even sure what one puts in a blog yet, so I guess we'll be on this adventure together.

Perhaps we should start with some inspiration.....

"Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe." -- Gail Devers


I truly believe those words and am in the process of making my own dreams come true. More to come on that!

Be well!
Kristen