Today I am grateful for ballet. My sisters opened The Nutcracker tonight and I couldn’t be more proud of them. Dance is a huge part of who I am, and I know I would be totally different without it. There’s something amazing about being on the stage, about dressing up in the pretty costume and wearing makeup, about putting on pointe shoes for the first time, about putting your warm hand on a cold barre, about taking that final bow before the curtain closes. I can’t even explain it. I miss it more than words can say and I am so grateful my mom was inspired to enroll me in ballet when I was three years old. It was literally the best thing she could have done for me. So today, as my wonderful sisters open a show, here’s a shout-out to the art form that literally shaped who I am today. Here’s to every plie and tondue and pirouette and fouette and corset costume and burned toe shoe ribbon and baby powdered gel pad and the thousands of bobby pins and the girls who became my family as we spent 5+ hours together each week. Here’s to dance.