Happy Celine Dion Week!!!

“I’m going to start a podcast! But I’ll still have time and energy and the desire to keep blogging!”

Oh, Ali.

I’m trying, though! Part of me feels like I should have all this podcasting stuff figured out already, because I like to be good at things right away. But then I remember I’ve only been doing this for a few months, so I still have a lot of learning, streamlining, tweaking, and playing to do. I don’t want my blog to die, but it’s not a top priority right now. That’s the reality. I’m doing my best!

So if you’re here right now, YAY! I’m so happy to have you, and I appreciate you sticking around while I figure things out and try to find that thing people call “balance.” So here’s a check-in on what I’ve been up to lately beyond recording myself talking, talking about myself talking, and promoting myself and talking.

After spending the long weekend at my aunt and uncle’s house in Pennsylvania (Ellie got to go swimming in their pool and play with her favorite puppy cousin, Ranger!), I’m currently home for three days before leaving for Las Vegas. Oh yes. The big day has finally [almost] arrived: On Saturday, June 3, I am seeing Celine Dion perform live at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. Finally. I am so excited. All my bags are not packed or ready to go (because I still haven’t unpacked from the weekend), but I have my outfits lined up and my game face on.

Beyond that, here’s what else is going on.

WRITING: Constantly. I’m writing for Well+Good again (I tried activated charcoal crust pizza — it turned my poop black — and took the new SoulCycle bikes for a test spin), and am writing a lot for Women’s Health (like about the time I made Brian work out with me all week and used the phrase “love workouts” as often as possible, or the time I wrote this hard-hitting piece about farting). Plus I’m still writing for Dance Spirit and Dance Magazine. And I’m doing some print stuff for Weight Watchers magazine. (Print media forever.)

PODCASTING: As I mentioned, this is becoming more time consuming than I expected! As much as I have my routine down to a scheduled little science, it’s starting to add up, especially doing two episodes per week and, you know, still doing the whole full-time job thing. Between the planning, the recording, the scheduling, the editing, the show-note-writing, the uploading, and the sharing, it’s a lot. But I love it so much.

I loved last week’s episode with Dan Nevins (if you haven’t listened to that one for whatever reason, please go do so), and am so excited about this week’s episode with Today Show anchor and Access Hollywood host Natalie Morales. (Love her!)

I also recorded an episode last week with one of my all-time favorite choreographers, the remarkable Mia Michaels (you remember her from So You Think You Can Dance), and she jumped into so much good stuff the minute we started recording. Look for that one next week. After that, I have a few really exciting guests lined up, so make sure you are subscribed to the show on iTunes, that way you get a notification whenever new episodes come out.

In the meantime, I’m always working to make the show better, funner, and easier to listen to. I’m talking less so you can hear from my guests more, and I’m always working to get the sound quality to be as consistent as possible. And I want YOU to listen and enjoy it, so let me know what you want to hear, what you wish I’d talk about, or what else I can do to make this the best show ever!

EXCITED FOR: World of Dance! It starts tonight on NBC and you bet I will be watching! I’ve been following so many of these dancers for years and have met lots of them and am pretty much rooting for all of them. Plus, I love J.Lo and Derek Hough, so as much as I’ll always love So You Think You Can Dance, I’m excited for this to shake up the dance reality show scene a bit.

RUNNING: What I can, when I can. Nothing remarkable. Nothing resembling speedwork or a hard effort. I can’t run in the mornings because that’s when my stomach is at its worst, but usually by mid-afternoon I can try and pop out for some kind of run. My attempts usually involve at least a few bathroom stops, but I’ve been going watch-free and am enjoying being out there whenever I can.

FEELING: OK. Not great. Still Crohn’s flaring. Still frustrated. Still wishing there were a cure or at least a magic 8-ball that would tell me whether this flare is going to last two months or much longer. It’s been a month already and I’m over it, so I’d appreciate a fortune teller to let me know how much more to expect (and how much toilet paper I need to buy next time I’m at Target).

WATCHING: Celine Dion videos on YouTube. I’m calling it “research.”

People always ask me which Celine songs are my favorite. Here you go:

1. The Power of Love (first dance song at our wedding, duh)
2. That’s the Way It Is
3. It’s All Coming Back to Me
4. A New Day Has Come
5. I Drove All Night
6. I’m Alive
7. River Deep, Mountain High
8. Immortality

What’s your favorite Celine Dion song?!

SEEING: Hello Dolly on Broadway. OK, so it was several weeks ago, but I was very fortunate to get to see the show on Opening Night, and it was just as star-studded and rowdy as I’d expected. Bette Midler is unreal, and the people watching that night was top-notch. We saw Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Andy Cohen, Andrew Rannells, and so many more sparkly people. Hello Dolly is a great, gaudy show, and it made for a super fun GNO.

LEAVING: For Las Vegas on Thursday! The Céline show is Saturday night, so the plan for the rest of the trip is to show my friend Laura a bit of Las Vegas. I’ve been a handful of times and this is her first visit to the Strip! Hopefully I’ll feel OK enough to get in a run or two while we’re out there, because I love waking up early and running up and down the Strip, but we’ll see. It’s also 100 degrees there, so…maybe we just wake up and head straight for the pool and/or breakfast buffet.

And yes, I’m packing my hard-earned Heart of the Ocean.

Here’s Ellie.

SEE YOU SOON, CELINE!

Anyway, what’s new with you?