Nutcracker

You know when you get an idea and then you build it up in your mind as being so special and magical that there is no way it can live up to your unrealistic expectations?

Well for a couple of years now I have had such an idea. The McCallum theater down in Palm Desert holds a special performance of the Nutcracker once a year during the holidays performed by the Moscow Classic Ballet. I wanted to take Jadyn and make it a special mother/daughter outing. And this is the year I finally made it happen.

Jadyn got to wear her holiday dress and she was really excited to wear her first pair of dress shoes with heels (small chunky heels but heels nonetheless). I curled her hair and gave her a special necklace to wear. She even packed herself a little purse with chapstick, hand sanitizer and candy canes (instead of breath mints). As her mom, I may be biased but she was seriously the cutest thing ever!



While I wasn't nearly as dressed up as Jadyn, I did in fact make sure that my ensemble complimented hers:

 

Of course, one can not head to the theater on an empty stomach so our first stop was dinner. I love, love, love the fact that one of my favorite restaurants is also Jadyn's - she even likes the same dish as me - Mizithra ala Homer with brown butter. Yum-O!

 

After dinner, we headed over to the theater and that is where it started to sink in for Jadyn. She saw that everyone else was equally as dressed up as she was. She has been to a few live theater performances but never at such a large venue. She was in absolute awe.

 

I will always remember her tentative looks as we walked through the foyer and how she hung on to me tight as she navigated the stairs to the balcony in her heels. As for the performance itself, it really was spectacular. In all honesty, there were a few times when Jadyn asked how much longer the show was. After all it was getting to be close to bedtime on a school night. But other than that, the entire night from beginning to end pretty much lived up to my expectations. I am eager to take both the kids to more live theater (although probably not the ballet)in the future. I have very fond memories of my Grandmother taking me to a local dinner theater and then as I got older attending Broadway caliber performances in L.A with my mom, friends and yes, even Joe and I when we were dating.

Suffice to say this mother/daughter outing was definitely a special one and I will cherish the memory of it always.