Joy Leslie

There’s a lot that has gone on since I last wrote in here! I finally got to meet my new friend, Crystal, out in the city. She’s an aspiring singer/actress from Boston. Great songwriter too. Anyways, she was in New York to audition for these guys that said they represeneted Kat de Luna and Universal Records. Then they said Sony, but the man’s card said Empire … weird. But anyways, yeah, they wanted her to sing in a showcase or something. Well, they were all really late in getting to her but we finally met up with them. Small world, they all knew my brother. Or at least OF him. They were asking me to sing for them too, but I was like, “Sorry, I’m already signed with another label.. I’m really here for my friend..” LOL it was funny getting to say that to some big music execs. So yeah, Crystal - SUPER COOL and really sweet. Loved her. Can’t wait to head out again with her. I forgot to tell you, we both have one dimple.. mirror image of each other. Funny… Oh and then that night on my way home, I walked past Brooke Shields and Lindsay Price. I was just thinking to myself as I got closer to them, “That lady REALLY looks like Brooke Shields!” LOL.. well of course she did.

So then I got to head out on a photoshoot with my brother for a campaign that he’s doing. It was really really awesome. I got to meet some really cool stylists, makeup artists, managers, a beautiful model named Irina Shaykhlislarnova (I know, try saying THAT two times fast… or even just once fast. LOL). Super nice, very cute girl. Modeled for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues too. Here’s a picture of her:

I know!! Gorgeous right? Well, she IS a model. AND the best part of the day? I got some of the clothes! I got some Givenchy shoes, a Kooba clutch purse and some leather studded gloves. (I don’t know the brand on those).. but SO AWESOME! My first designer anything! LOL…

AND I finally tried out a basic dance class. It wasn’t at the Broadway Dance Center. It was at another place closer to my house. It was taught by my new friend Chanan Lareche aka Jakhamah!!! I actually had a really fun time and it wasn’t because the lady at the front desk had a really cute dog. It was a smaller class, more laid back, and the people there were more at my level. So I was comfortable and not so intimidated by all the professional dancers in the room. LOL.. So had a great time. I think I’ll go back next week. He teaches step, hip hop and house dancing. I’ll finally get to experience that! Hooray!!!

Anyways, that’s all folks! I have a video for you - I’m kind of fighting off this dumb cough, so my voice is husky.. so to take it easy on the voice, here’s an Amy Winehouse for you:

I have been indoors for like two days. It’s been kind of gloomy outside so I didn’t feel like braving the rain. But then I realize, “why not? I have this new, curly do so that I can sweat, get wet and still look fabulous…” LOL. Riiiiight. SO.. today, I went to Times Square about an hour earlier than I was supposed to for my dance class. My husband was home from work, but all he’s been doing is sleeping (bless him, he needs it - but I get so bored!!!).. I decided to go a little earlier so that I could walk around and kill some time around actual people and not just those people on the TV screen. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been trying to befriend people left and right. It’s just not that easy to start hanging out with random people without feeling like you need to have a little bit of your own life at the same time. It’s starting to get cold. I was (and still am) wearing a tank top and some work out pants for dance. The only jacket I had was my sweatshirt.. so I’ll be honest, I was cold. I just didn’t care. I need to get out!!! I need a life. I’m too social not to have a life!!! So out I went to find something that could start looking like a life - it was pretty successful.

First, I met a guy on the subway named Aramis. A poet who knows some people at the Broadway Dance Center, and who is actually good enough to get an editor’s shout out on Poetry.com. You can check him out.. his stuff is pretty good! Also new to the city - he struck up a conversation with me because he was asking me if the train I was on stopped at 14th street. Of course, there was no way I could help him, but we got into a conversation anyway. Nice guy. Well dressed… manages a store - I forget the name of it. (Oops).. but that was that. I got his email address and told him I’d look him up. Then, there was Jasmine, a girl who worked at the Duane Rx in the Square. We didn’t talk too much, but for some reason when I DID talk to her it was all smiles. She made an impression. But that’s about it. Then, there’s Chanan (pronounced like Shannon). He’s the guy that took my payment for the BDC dance classes on my first day. I passed him on the street first, but didn’t realize it was him until I was like 10 feet past him. I still ended up at BDC like 45 minutes earlier, but he was there! Thank goodness - because I can really see this guy becoming a cool friend. If you’re reading, Chanan, I really do! You should all check out his myspace page at www.myspace.com/jakhamah. That’s also his YouTube name… He’s teaching and dancing all over the city and he’s totally interested in maybe doing some choreo for me (if I ever get to a place where I need it.. I will I will! POSITIVE THOUGHTS…) so yeah.. We exchanged info and I’m totally planning on seeing him again in the near future. He teaches HOUSE/HipHop and Step classes. I had no idea exactly what HOUSE is, but it sounds fun. Maybe I can get my husband to come with me to a dance class that he teaches. Y’all don’t know it - but my man can dance circles around me. If you ever saw it - you know what I’m talking about. LOL .. So hooray!!! AWESOME networking day for me!

I’m glad I got out of the house today. Sometimes I drag my feet and feel lazy, but I never regret it when I do. I’m going to make it a habit. Even in dance class, I saw a girl who looked like it was her first time - she was real quiet - not unapproachable, but reserved, so I made it a point to talk to her at the beginning of the dance class. Her name was Whitney.. I managed to tell her when it was my brother’s song playing during the warm-up. No sign of Athena.. She was the one who first told me about the House classes. I think I might try it once. Bev is awesome in her Hip Hop classes - but I want to spread my wings a little too.

ALSO, one of the guys I met out at the restaurants/bars a few days ago found me on facebook so we’re totally going to get to see that guy too. I’m making friends - and I love every minute of it. Anyone else wanna be my friend??? LOL

OH YEAH, and in the spirit of Halloween… Saw these HILARIOUS pictures of some pumpkins… they’re kind of cras - so get your children out of the room!!! I warned you all…

Just got back from my dance class. I did a lot better today than I did the first time around. The song wasn’t as fast and I actually picked up all of the moves! Bev, the teacher was workin’ us out, though!!! She had us do this routine over, and OVER, AND OVER and when she shut off the music - all you could hear was everybody breathing all hard. No one talked or anything! She kept saying that she was going to show us how to get “ghetto.” What exactly does that mean? LOL But this Saturday is her Basic level class and I think it’ll be (on the whole) slower paced. I plan on going and maybe I’ll get some guts and not stand in the back for that one. I think she noticed me today because there were so many people that were having trouble with bouncing - and that happens to be one thing that I figured out. Even the class assistant was getting some whoopin from her! She started to get a little frustrated at the end and broke out the “I only have one lung and I’m working really hard right now - so can you people PLEASE try to get this right?” Way to make the entire class feel bad! Nah - she was cool - the class was cool. I made a friend, I think. Her name was Athena. Lives in Long Island. I gotta start being more outgoing. Otherwise I’ll be a wallflower forever in these classes. I think my brother’s song is a staple for her warm-ups. They do the same warm-up every time so… um yeah. Duh. I don’t know the name of the song we danced to today, but I liked it. It made it fun. I’m telling you, without music my life would be so empty!!! We’d have no reason to dance, and I’d be out of a career. LOL.

Anyways, I worked it out today. I took the subway out there (first time by myself) and back and I’m totally pooped. But MAN, I feel so accomplished!

Earlier today all I did was add friends on MySpace. I’m really trying to get my numbers of friends up so that I can get more traffic through to this site and my YouTube… so ummmm yeah! Tell your friends. LOL.

Sooooo… guess what?!? I went to the Broadway Dance Center today and I didn’t suck. Well, I wouldn’t say that I was really GOOD or anything, but I definitely wasn’t the worst one in there. It was an all-levels class, so there were people there that were much better than me, and people there who basically were struggling to find the beat. So, I fell comfortably in the middle. Hooray for not totally sucking! Did you send me happy thoughts? If you did, I totally got them… so thanks! There was an added bonus too… they played one of my brother’s songs during the warm-up. I thought that was pretty cool… I thought about saying something to the girl next to me, but she was REALLy focused on the warm-up moves so ummmm.. LOL. In the end, I decided to just keep my mouth shut. I bet the teacher, Bev, knows Ryan or something because he was telling me that Cassie and one of her friends used to go to that same class. We danced to Janet Jackson’s “Free” from her Janet album. It starts off all nice and slow, then goes into triple speed for the rest of the song. With the Master Cleanser being my only meals for the last few days, I DID get a little tired towards the end - but I made it (triumphantly) through. I wanted to show you some footage of me actually DANCING, but if you weren’t signed up and paying for the class, you weren’t supposed to be in there. Bummer, I know. I’m sure you were all so anxious to see me get funky. BUT, I got a little bit of footage of me before I went inside to the class instead.

My hubby was nice enough to stick around with me (since I was nervous) and go with me on the subway back to the studio. That was my first ride in NY since I’ve moved here! It’s seriously waaaay faster and waaaay cheaper than being in a car. I have to say, it really is the only way to travel.

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Sidebar: Today Cassie is out of town so my brother has her little dog, Cash (I call him Cash Money) with him. This dog is really cute and small, but also really VICIOUS! We’ve been spending the day trying to get him to stop biting EVERYTHING he sees. He’s only like 5 months old, so I’m sure he can get better. I think I’ll have him make a cameo and get his money shot in the video.

So I’m on my third day of this Master Cleanse Diet and I’m feeling a little low on spirits and energy. I spent some time today researching reviews on it and seeing what other people had to say about it, and on average I found out the following things:

* The first 2-5 days are the hardest to get through, not because you’re hungry but because energy goes down and the HABIT of eating is hard to break.

* Some people were talking about going on it for more than the recommended maximum of 40 days. One reviewer said they were going for 60 days and that they heard of others going for 100. (Personally, I think that’s crazy!)

* The rejuvenation of this diet came when Beyonce Knowles did it for filming Dreamgirls and lost 20 pounds. Although, she said that she wouldn’t recommend it for people not doing a movie. (I’m not doing a movie - but this is pretty close… so I think this diet is warranted.)

* Another person said that she and her husband replace one meal a day with the lemonade drink and it’s helped them maintain their weight loss.

SO, on the whole, I’m encouraged to stay with this thing. I’ve never gone more than one day without solid food - not counting when I had my wisdom teeth pulled - and so the fact that I’ve lasted this long on it is surprising. I’m going to go for as long as I need to… Basically until I’m happy with how I look. Ideally, I want to drop anywhere from 15 to 25 pounds. Hopefully that won’t require me to do this for more than a month. MAN!!! A month is a REALLY long time. I mean, it could be fine.. I do FEEL smaller, and my husband says I feel smaller when he hugs me. I haven’t weighed myself.. I think it’s better to just go with how you look. LOL, one person said that when they started eating again, their mouth got tired of chewing. I’ve heard of worse problems.. Right now, I could really use a slice of pizza and a nap. But, tomorrow is a new day!

Speaking of tomorrow, I’m going to the Broadway Dance Center in Manhattan for my first dance class. I’m not sure how I’ll do, though, since I haven’t tried to learn a dance routine since 2002. What can I say? It was fun. Tomorrow, I just hope to God that I don’t make a complete and total fool of myself. I’m actually kind of NERVOUS! BUT - I do love dancing - so I’m just going to try and have a good time with it. I need to stay positive, remember!!!