2014 Challenge: Oct. – Rocky Horror, Nov. – Trapeze, Dec. – Cross Stitch
This is it! The last of the 2014 Challenge. Were you sick of it yet? Don’t answer that.
October – Rocky Horror Picture Show
Oh man, oh man. This was an experience to say the least. For the first time, I saw Rocky Horror Picture Show both the movie and the live performance. If you need a visual just think of the clip from The Perks of Being a Wallflower plus some intense heckling. The audience was dressed up, the characters were… characters, and the whole thing included crowd involvement from tossing toilet paper, to throwing playing cards to standing up and doing the Time Warp. The ultimate Halloween spectacular.
To do: Dress up! Enjoy the fun and the costume competitions.
To avoid: We made the mistake of sitting in the seat next to the assigned heckler. It was hilarious. And then it got old real quick. Stick towards the middle, if possible.
Price: $15
Website: Varies – there are several shows per city.
November – Trapeze Lessons
One of my closest gal pals and I have a knack for saying we’re going to take a trapeze class and then never going. We did this about every month for two years. Until now! A Living Social deal came around for TSNY Chicago and we jumped at the chance to attend. We lucked out because our class size was very small (6) when they normally sell out (30). This gave us extra chances to do just about everything – from learning an entire silks routine, to learning to control our flailing bodies on the trampoline, to mastering trapeze catches. If it weren’t so spendy, I would definitely consider going back again!
To do: Wear comfortable, but tight, workout clothes. You will work up a sweat and also be flying through the air.
To avoid: … Don’t pay the full price (sorry, TSNY). Wait for a Groupon/Living Social deal to come around. You’ll save 40-50%.
Price: $70 on LivingSocial, $110 through TSNY Chicago
Website: www.chicago.trapezeschool.com
December – Cross Stitch
This one is kind of cheating. Oh well! My game, my rules. December proved another very busy month with lots of things keeping me away from new and fun classes (although, I did try to sign up for knife-throwing. It was sold out). Christmas presents weren’t complete until about Dec. 23, but there’s one I finished just in time for the holidays. As one of my sister’s gifts, I finished my very first cross-stitch. While I’ve started several throughout my life… this is the only one I’ve ever finished. Still working on that whole “follow-through” thing. The simple rectangle said, “You rule, never change” an inside joke I won’t begin to try and explain. The process was much more math-oriented than I’d imagined but I was quite happy with the result. Onto the next! (Apologies for forgetting to take a photo. Doh!)
To do: Multi-task! Cross-stitching is a great time to re-watch all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls.
To avoid: Stabbing yourself isn’t always the best. Pay attention to your phalanges.
Price: Varies. Plain cross-stich fabric is about $2-4 plus the cost of thread.
Website: I buy all my crafting supplies at www.joann.com
And there you have it, a year full of crazy activities and firsts. Now for the 2015 Challenge…
Source: jillianbraun on Instagram