My weekend

This weekend was one of the best I have ever had. My cousin Reem came into town and we spent the whole time shopping, eating and talking - mostly talking. It was so wonderful to spend time with her - Reem is one of the most incredible people I know. If everyone was as selfless, kind and inspiring as she is, the world would be a much happier place. So here we are enjoying the weekend together - I can't wait to see her again in a few days!

I'm your tiny dancer

This weekend was City Ballet of Houston's annual Nutcracker and for only the second time in my life, I was hired as a guest artist to play the Arabian dancer. It was the most flattering experience I have ever had - they put me up in a hotel in Galveston for the weekend, covered all my meals and paid me a ridiculous amount of money considering I was on stage for all of six minutes! I felt like a professional dancer!

In this version of The Nutcracker, the Arabian dance is a very sensual duet and the guy dances without a shirt on. During intermission, one of the production managers was helping to sweep the fake snow off the stage. He looked up at me and with a smile said "you know, I spent twelve years in private school and now I'm sweeping fake snow off a stage." I smiled and said "if it makes you feel any better, I went to Stanford and now I'm a topless dancer!"