The house that we fell in love with is a California Bungalow built in 1910 in walking distance to the historic Orange Plaza. We are surrounded by vintage beauty in the architecture, landscaping, and antique stores in our neighborhood.

Welcome Home!

The day we got the keys to our house and took our first steps inside we were greeted by a welcome sign made by the previous owners kids. It was so heart warming and a little sad because the family who lived in the house before us absolutely loved it. They only moved because they had to.

We got right to work choosing our paint colors and preparing for the move. Two days later we said goodbye to our Fullerton home of four years and hello to the house of our dreams. The move only took 2 trips with a moving van thanks to my brother and his friends and the unpacking only took about 2 days morning to night.

We have so much space to play with! For now we don’t have any furniture for a formal living room or dining room so we have a big open room perfect

Anjali's New Swing!

Calming Fountain

for dancing. In fact tonight I will be holding a Cherry Bombs rehearsal in my living room. Isn’t that grand! My daughter Anjali is so happy to have lot’s of play space in her new room. Now she can actually see her toys and play in her room. Anjali also couldn’t be happier that she has a tree swing, a fountain and she has also claimed the Harry Potter closet under the stairs as her playhouse and her Uncle Ramai and Auntie Evonne are painting it and decorating it for her.

Even our animals have transitioned nicely, well that is, after we got the cat, Sadie, out of the tree after two days… But she is home and happy now with Minnie the Moocher our Lapso mix.

One of the best parts of the house is the front porch. I have yet to sit out of the front porch and drink my morning coffee but I am

Happy Homeowner Shesha

looking forward to it. Last night around midnight after walking home from Strutters’ Ball (yup, only 4 blocks away) I sat on the front porch and watched the crazy Chapman University students take over the neighborhood in their biannual “Undie Run”. In which hundreds of Chapman students donate their clothes to a charity in Africa then run down the streets to the Plaza in their undies. Pretty hilarious.

We are excited to become active participants in the community and Shesha would someday like to be the Mayor of Orange… It could happen? As if you couldn’t tell I am completely ecstatic and in love with my new home and surroundings.

Some information on the city of Orange:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange,_California

Click here to view the embedded video.

I am so excited about tomorrow! This is the first fashion show hosted by the ATOMIC Cherry Bombs and sponsored/produced by my dear friend Adrienne Weidert. Adrienne is known for her vintage awesomeness. She has an entire storage unit dedicated to beautiful vintage fashions complete with accessories.

Spring into Summer swing dance and vintage fashion show hosted by the ATOMIC Cherry Bombs. Come see these beautiful museum quality Spring/Summer vintage fashions from the 1930′s and 40′s modeled by the beautiful Cherry Bombs! This is a great opportunity to show off your vintage threads. So dress up and come dance!

Have some quality threads and want to walk the runway? Guys and girls are welcome to email a picture submission to nikki@atomicballroom.com

• 7:45pm: Beginning Swing Lesson with Shesha. (Class is $15. Take the class and get the dance for free!)
• 8:30pm – 1:00am: Open Dancing with DJ Heather Eide & DJ Nikki Marvin.
  Also, featuring Maxwell Demille as the Master of Ceremonies ($10 cover charge. Disneyland passholders get 50% off!)
• 10:00pm: Fashion show

Questions: 1-866-OCSWING or nikki@atomicballroom.com

This event is NOT at ATOMIC Ballroom. This event will be held at Top Cats in Placentia.

Location: Top Cats Dance Club in Placentia, CA (91 and 57 Freeways)
733 Dunn Way Placentia, CA 92870 (Dunn Way is a tiny cul-de-sac 1 block west of the 57 fwy off Orangethorpe)

Grandma Klaus and My Dad

Two weeks ago my family was shaken to the core by the sudden passing of my grandma, Sandy Klaus, on her birthday. The passing of grandparents is something that we all expect but not with Grandma Klaus. For some reason I always expected to hear her voice on the holidays and receive her Hallmark cards in the mail.

We booked an emergency flight and set out for PA. It was so wonderful to be around my extended family who I rarely get to see. My dad is the oldest of five with two sisters and two brothers. Aunt Tammy has two kids: Lauren who is a cheerleader at Duke University and Nicholas 7 years old and a ball of energy. Aunt Lori has four kids: Darren the oldest, Kamri, Tre, and Isaiah who are the sweetest group of kids. And Uncle Eric has two kids Crystal who is getting married in July and Andrew who is living in Ohio. All of us kids got to spend time together during family vacations over the years but my brother and I were raised on the other side of the country. We didn’t get to spend holidays and birthdays with our cousins or our grandparents. I was and am still completely devastated my grandma’s death even though I wasn’t as close to her as the rest of the family. My heart is aching for all of you that spent time with her every single day.

Kamri, Andrew, Lauren, Crystal, Nikki and Darren

Going to PA for the funeral was one of the best things I have ever done. I heard so many wonderful stories about Grandma Klaus from her siblings, customers, co-workers, pastor, and friends. My family discovered after looking in her checkbook that she had been writing $3 and $5 checks to several charities every month. She worked at Hallmark for 25 years and had regular customers who would come in just to see her. She never missed a birthday, anniversary, or holiday. She was involved in her church and acted as a greeter before services. She was so proud of all of us kids that the whole town and extended family knew everything about us.

Grandma when she was 14 years old

My biggest regret is that Grandma never got to meet my daughter Anjali, which brings tears to my eyes when I think about it. She would have absolutely loved her. We all have our “what ifs” and “I should ofs” but in the end we have to accept death as part of life and move on. It’s important to think of ourselves as extensions of the past. I am who I am because of her and for that I am very thankful.

I love you grandma and I will miss you.

Love,  Nikki

Show Number 1:  Jubilee!

Jubilee is a classic Las Vegas Showgirl Show with lots of glitz, glamour and feathers.  We were at the front table right next to the stage and we clapped and cheered throughout the entire show.

Some info from the shows website:

It’s been over 28 years since its debut, and Donn Arden’s lavish stage spectacular, Jubilee!, is still wowing audiences and winning awards year after year. Jubilee! is a classic Las Vegas production – in fact, it’s the last authentic showgirl revue in the city.  The curtain opens on a stunning $3 million opening number; the show’s cast proceeds through seven acts performed on larger-than-life sets and in over 1,000 different costumes by Bob Mackie and Pete Menefee.  The show reaches a thunderous coda with the famous Red Feather Fan number, which combines awe-inspiring $7,000 costumes and a medley of Cole Porter’s most cherished songs.  Jubilee! features nearly 100 performers, including 50 stunning topless Jubilee! dancers, voted “Best Showgirls” by the Las Vegas Review-Journal every year since 2000.

The sets are amazing but the sequences are completely random.  One minute your watching Samson and Delilah and the next you’re watching the Titanic sink before your eyes.  My favorite moments from the show were the stunning red feather fan dance and the ending parade with lavish ostrich feather costumes.

Show Number 2:  Le Rêve

Le Rêve was a water based show with a theatre in the round setting.  The show is absolutely amazing and overwhelming at the same time.  There is so much to look at at any given moment that I found myself not knowing where to look.  Amazing stunts, incredible acrobatics, beautiful aerialists, awesome dancers, stunning synchronized swimmers, and breathtaking divers.  The only thing lacking in the show is the story line; it’s just not needed.

Some facts about the show:

Le Rêve was the first production show to open in the Wynn Las Vegas casino resort. It is set in a one million-gallon (water) capacity theater and features diving and feats of strength with state-of-the-art special effects, where no seat is more than 40 feet (12 m) from the stage. The production was created by Franco Dragone and is similar to the shows produced by Cirque du Soleil. Dragone, who was the director behind O, La Nouba, Mystère, Alegría and Quidam, has not revealed the cost of the production. However, major Las Vegas shows average around $30 to $40 million to produce.  Le Rêve was the working name of the resort before it was changed to Wynn Las Vegas. “Le Rêve” means “The Dream” in French, and is the name of the centerpiece painting that Steve Wynn owns, Le Rêve by Picasso.  Each member of the cast must become scuba-certified before performing in the theater.

Go see it!

Show Number 3:  Zumanity

Lastly, we saw Zumanity which is produced by Cirque du Soleil.  This was my favorite show of the week.  Daringly sexy and full of unbelievable talent I was ready to turn around and catch the next performance of the show; instead we rode the Ny, Ny roller coster twice.  The cast of the show is stunning each with a remarkable body.  There were so many memerable pieces in this show.  My favorites:  the African dancer who only has one dance at the beginning of the show and the hand-balancing duet with incredibly smooth tansitions and intricate movements.  Be sure to see Zumanity with a significant other or some good friends with open minds to avoid any awkward moments…

A little more about the show:

In September 2003, Cirque du Soleil unveiled Zumanity. This new production was a resident cabaret-style show at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. It is the first “adult-themed” Cirque du Soleil show, billed as “The Sensual Side of Cirque du Soleil” or “Another side of Cirque du Soleil”. Created by Dominic Champagne, Zumanity is a departure from the standard Cirque format. Intended to be for mature adult audiences only, this show is centered around erotic song, dance, and acrobatics.

The inspiration to create Zumanity came from multiple sources. Laliberté had been offered the chance to create two new shows in Las Vegas, and wanted something completely new and original rather than multiple similar shows that would cannibalize off of each other’s sales and audiences. Another reason was that the New York-New York Hotel and Casino wanted to make their entertainment appear more “trendy”. The hotel liked the concept of a more adult Cirque du Soleil performance.

Laliberté admits that the biggest reason to produce this show was the chance to create something with riskier subject matter. He was interested in the idea of creating a show that explored human sexuality, something that was at complete odds from the other more family-oriented Cirque shows. “Our previous shows have all been family-oriented and politically correct, which is great,” Laliberté said, “But we’re human beings, we won’t hide it. We’re a bunch of happy campers. We like to live new experiences. Zumanity deals with some of those experiences.”

Click here to view the embedded video.