Dancing with the Stars Season 12 -- Winner!!

Whoot!!  Whoot!!

. . . . . . . . and the winner is . . . . . . . . . .  .

Hines Ward!!!



What a trooper Kym Johnson was through it all -- taking Hines to the winning night even after taking a bad fall in practice!!!



No!!  I didn't get the night off work!!  Didn't even get to see the final dances -- hopefully I'll get to see that in the next couple of days -- but did make it in to see the final 5 minutes of the show and see Hines win!!

I can hardly wait now till next season!!

Dancing With the Stars!!

I'm just a little bummed that for the final night of dancing with the stars I have to work!!

And it's not my turn to be on-call!!

So I am going to go out on a limb here and see if I am right -- who is eliminated next? . . .

Kirstie and Maks

Sorry guys!!   I love Maks too!  But not sure that they had enough umph!! to pull through tonight!!  Their freestyle, although stupendous, just wasn't catchy enough for those judges, and her outfits didn't o her justice in any way!!

Who will win between Chelsea and Hines? . . .

Hines and Kym

In my humble opinion (which I have learned doesn't account for much)  I think Hines and Kym did the best dancing by far all season long!! The judges picked a good choice for them in the 'Quick Step' and totally loved their freestyle!!

So let's see who wins at the final dancing of the season with Dancing With The Stars tomorrow!!!

I so wish I ccould be home watching this tomorrow --- maybe things will ne slowenough at work to catch the final call!!!

Hopland Passport was a blast!!!

Last weekend, Alycia, Carrie, Danielle and I went to the Hopland Passport!!  Sunday Marisela joine us!!

Two full days of fun from 11AM to 5PM! Receive a Passport logo glass, entry to all wine tastings, food pairings and entertainment at the seventeen wineries.

Saturday we visited at all the out-lying wineries (9) Starting at Milano always one of my favorites with their 'Sunshine' white wine and Tri-Tip Sandwiches!! Hmmm, Hmmm good!

We then tasted some Parducci wine at  'Real Goods'  and had a blast checking out all the inovative things there!! 

Next it was on to Rack and Riddle - another one that I just might have to think about joining one of these days!!  Love their sparkling wine!! The older ladies in the group had fun oggling the Sparkling wine server too!!  I remember Alycia commented as we were driving there that this was the place that always served enchiladas --- hahahaha!!  They agreed that they normally did serve enchiladas, but this time it was pasta!!  Their Syrahs are pretty good too!

Just a bit further down the road we stopped in to taste some wine, sample the refreshments along with their olive oil and honey at Terra Savia!!  They always have some beautiful artwork, and it's all 'For Sale'

Next we hit a new one on the list of wineries!!  Although I think they were there last Ocotber for the Autumn Hopland Passport, but we couldn't find them.  This year we had luck on our side!!  What a beautiful winery - the grounds are breathtaking!!  We even took a short breather and took in some sun with our wine!!

Danielle and myself soaking up the sun!!

I'll have to remember this place in the future.  Looks like they have some great conversation areas!!











I'm not sure just what order we did the next three, I am sure Alycia knows-she remembers everything, but they were somewhere along this line. 

Saracina!!  We like this place because of the 'Hobbit Hole' at least that is what we call it!!  But it's a big cave in the side of the hill where they store the wine barrels while they are fermenting.   Well, we also like the funky chairs out by the willows and the pond!!



Danielle, Carrie and myself in the 'funky' chairs



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jericho warrented a quick stop.  Hmmmm. . .if I remember right they were serving up a roasted 'pig' and I ran into a co-worker there!!  Nice grounds and tasting room, but they were doing it outside and taking advantage of the sun - we had been having prettty rainy weather till just a few days before the passport!!  So we were all pleasantly surprised at how nice and warm it was.

Nelson Family Vineyards.  I remember this one cause I've made the remark in the past that we didn't like anything that they made.  Well, last year we switched the order that we visited the wineries (this one was always close to the end - and yes we were a bit you know!!!) we were pleasantly surprised that we DID like what they served.  Alycia even made a purchase here or some 'Late Harvest Viognier' that we had monday evening whie watching 'Dancing with the Stars'.

So we saved the last of the day for another of our favorites!!  Jaxon Keyes - love, just love their wrap-around porch to sit and while away the hours.  The people, the wine and the view are wonderful!!  I'm not sure if it was busy there all day or just that everyone decided to do what we did, but the place was a-hopping!!  Ran into plenty of nice people, some I even knew!!  LOL!!  JK also sells 'Brandy' and some great flavored 'vodkas'. They distill the Brandy, but I don't think they distill the vodka!!

DWTS - this weeks elimination!!

Ok so we are down to 4 stars and one has to go!!!

Who was it this week!!

I must say Hines was sooooooooo absolutely awesone!! and a perfect score on both his dances this week!!  Not sure that Chelsea deserved the bonus 15 points, I thought that Hines Cha Cha was so much better!

But Both Hines and Chelsea are OK to move on another week!!!

by by Ralph!!

This weeks elimination came down to Kirstie or Ralph -- And Ralph it was!! Thought that he was going to go last week, but he made it one week further even with a knee injury!!

Next week the stars will be dancing their freestyle! Hmmmm. . . wonder what Hines, Chelsea and Kirstie will bedoing for that!! 

I can hardly wait!!

Dancing with the Stars - This weeks elimination!!

I was so shocked!!!

I was sure that Ralph with his knee injury was the one that was going to be eliminated!!  I was wrong!!

Romeo was eliminated this week - guess Ralph had a bit bigger fan base than romeo!!

So long romeo I hope you keep up the classic style dancing!!

DWTS This weeks elimination!!!

Wow!!  What a surprise to me!!!  I thought for sure that Kirstie or Romeo would be eliminated.  NOT!!!

So we said goodbye to Kendra!!  I really thought that these past two weeks she was really coming into her own in her dancing!!  Guess the viewer votes weren't enough to keep her in!!

Mondays Dancing with the Stars!!

Oh my goodness!!  They were all so good.  Loved the guest judge too!!

Although I think the judges were right in that romeo didn't do as well this week as he has in the past few weeks!!  Hmmm. . . just might be the end of Romeo!!  Kinda saw that old swagger in his strutting last night.  And the follow-through between moves did lack smoothness!!



Found it kind of funny that the two oldest stars ended up dancing dances that were faster than most of the others!!  The Jive for Kirstie and the Quick Step for Ralph!!  Whats with that?  Although I must say each of them did really well in spite of it all!!  Isn't Kirstie looking a bit slimmer out there?  Although that pink and purple tutu thing wasn't the greatest of choices for a full-figured woman!!

Kendra, again, did surprisingly well!  I wasn't sure that she would be able to pull it off for another week -- must be she is finally getting some confidence in herself and her dancing!! 

Chelsea is another one that I have to say is doing well, I didn't want her too, but she is!!  I feel that her style is little bit more risky than the others, but she seems to feel that because she is young she should be able to pull it off.  Although I did like her dance, I was still looking for moves from the actual dance, they had added so much creative style that it was hard to tell what dance they were dancing!!  Hmmm. . . actually I can't remember ewhat they were suppose to be dancing!!

Now as for Hines!!  Oh my what can I say, but he did it again!!!  What style!  What finesse!!  Yes I must say he is at the top of my list  - - - again!!!

I don't want to see any of them go, but I guess tonight one will be booted!!!  Unfortunately, it looks like it will be a toss up between Romeo or Kirstie!!  Guess we will just have to watch to find out!!

Did some catching up on TV shows on my night off!!

Had Monday night off from work!!  Yahoo!!  So what did I do?! . . .

Spent the day catching up on sleep after working all weekend (nights) long!  Then headed up to Willits for dinner with the girls at 'Lumberjack's' and to watch 'Dancing with the Stars'. 

Then I did some catching up of TV shows!!  All up-to-date now with 'Bones',  'Body of Proof' and 'Game of Thrones'. 

 

I ran out of time cause I needed to head back to bed to get some rest before heading back to work tonight, but plan on catching up on 'House' too!!!  Maybe tonight, if I get put on-call or Thursday night -- my first night off of my long stretch off!!

I gave up watching 'House' on mondays for the time being so I could watch 'Dancing with the Stars' with friends!!  No big deal as I can just go to Hulu.com and watch it there once the show has aired.  Although I don't think I've seen any of 'House' since DWTS's startedt his season.  But I will!!!

DWTS Week 6 Elimination

Had to work tonight, but did check in on who was eliminated this week.

It was a toss up as to who was going to get bumped -- Ralph or Chris -- at least in my opinion.  Which normally doesn't mean much.

So it looks like Chris was the one to go  -- too bad as I saw such potential in him.  One of the few males stars that actually had a stronger dance frame.  Probably he just had an off week, but thats all it takes and off you go!! 

I thought his dance from week 4 was one of his best dances! 

So long Chris I hope you keep up the dancing skills you learned in your few weeks on Dancing With the Stars!!

DWTS This week - week 6!!

Wow!  What a surprise!!  Some of my favorites up till now fell on my list this week and others moved up!!

My top 4 dancers this week are. . . . yes there are some changes from last week.   Hoping that a few of them just got lucky and some just had an off week!!

Romeo takes the top of my list this week!!  He has come along so well!!  I LOVED his performacne this week!!!  Didn't see any of that 'hip hop' swagger, but did see the prospect of a great classic dancer.  His acting abilities were shining through loud and clear!!  What an accomplishment that must be for him --- so young and having had his father do so badly!!!  I guess there is no surprise in that, I have thought that Romeo has been doing a great job in DWTS this season.

My second, surprisingly, will have to go to Kendra this week.  I have so not wanted to like her, but the music and the dance was just so right for her!!  I thought that she did a wonderful job.  I just wish that I could move my hips and boobs like that!!  It probably didn't hurt that she did a table dance for the judges either!!  Here's to seeing if she can maintain this momentum!!

Third on my list -- another surprise that I had wanted not to like was Chelsea!!  Not sure why, but this girl has been rubbing my the wrong way!!  But I must say I did like her performance this week, liked it enough to put it in my top 4!!!  Was yellow a theme this week!????  And her partner dancing with a twisted ankle!!  thought she looked a bit like Gigi from the movies!

Fourth on my list was Kirstie and Maks!!  Loved the Samba rolls!!  I know this picture was from last weeks dancing, but couldn't find anything quick that was posted from this week!!  Plus I just like to look at Maks body!!  I think they would have had a higher score if Maks had ripped off the shirt again!!  LOL!!  But his open shirt almost made up for it!!

Was disappointed in both Ralph's and Chris's performances.  Although Ralph did well in continuing on with the dance after his partner fell!!  Not sure what was going on with Chris though. Maybe a little 'over thinking' the dance and not having enough fun with it!!!

So my prediction for who will be eliminated this week is . . . . . hmmmm!!  Guess we will have to find out who acually is eliminated!  I can't choose anyone to cut!!

DWTS week #5 eliminations

Not sure if I agree with the elimination of Petra this week, but she was the one that was eliminated this.  She had a hard undertaking in doing dancing with the stars.  She did have a couple disadvantages going into it- her being so tall and having had her pelvis crushed -- I am sure she was in pain most of the time trying to do all the 'hip' movement that is expected in a lot of the dances.

And she did it all with such a smile on her face!!

I think she lasted longer that anyone expected!  She is a beautiful woman!! 

DWTS's Week #5

I must say that they all did wonderful tonight!!

But. . .

My top two favorites this week are. . .

Chris Jericho - I thought that he gave a very good performance, and am nicely surprised at how well he is doing in this competition!!  Strong frame and some good moves.

Tried to find a pictures of them dancing this evening, but I guess it was too soon.  Found plenty from last week though.




Second favorite this week was. . .

Romeo!!  Oh what a performance he gave.  He is coming right along in learning to lose that 'Hip Hop' swagger and pick up some real classy dance moves!!  Almost reminded me of a very young Sammy Davis Jr. 







Coming in close for 3rd and 4th were Hines Ward and Kirstie Alley.  What a surprise --- no mishaps and Maks is so fine!!  He can rip his shirt off for me anytime!!



Nowo all this is just in my humnble opinion you know!!  It is sucha hard choice!!

So who will continue on and who will be eliminated tomorrow night?!!

My two favorites from last weeks DWTS's

So I went to ABC.com and watched last weeks performances and elimination round.  I must say they all did a wonderful job, such improvement in such a short time.  I think we tend to forget that they all are amatuers and not professionals, but expect a professional dancers performance from them.  Some people are natural dancers and others just can't dance!!

Can't believe that Kirstie's shoe came off, but what the . . .

From the Dances for last week my two favorites were . . . drum roll please!!

Hines Ward and Chris Jericho with Ralph Machio and Romeo close behind.  But, I feel, that Hines and Chris gave very strong performances last week.  Did you see their strong leading frames?!!  And I just love Hines's smile!!  We'll see what happens this week!!








DWTS

Two down!!  With 'Psycho' Mike out last week and Wendy Williams this week!!  Who will be next?

Wow!!  What a blunder that Kirstie Alley made and they still pulled off a decent score!!

Dancing with the Stars - Mondays

Last night was the first Dancing with the Stars for this season!! 

Was pleasantly surprised at how well most of them did.  Will be an experience to see who actually improves and who doesn't. 

Going to keep my predictions to myself for the moment.