Thanksgiving 2012
Can you believe we are already at the end of 2012? And what a year it’s been! A definite mixture of highs and lows…not an easy year, for sure…but a completely blessed one nonetheless. Grab a cup of coffee and settle in…it was a busy year! LOL
To begin with, Ron and I were BOTH incredibly blessed with many new opportunities to continue doing what we LOVE: there were several NEW VENUES for me to sing jazz (Elara Grand Vacations Resort, The Dispensary Lounge, Blue Fire Supper Club, Kelly’s Prime Steak & Seafood) and a couple of NEW SHOWS for Ron (The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas & The Grand Ole Vegas Revue at The Plaza) in addition to all his emcee and hosting work (you can read all about my gorgeous hubby at www.RonSmithLasVegas.com)! PLUS, we had lots of opportunities this year to perform TOGETHER, which we love the MOST (Sun City Anthem, Starbright Theater, Wild Horse Country Club, Hit Parade, Toast of the Town, Showstoppers, Barbra Streisand Concert, etc.)!
One of the “lows” this year was losing my older brother, Jeff. He passed away on March 26th, following a very long, painful struggle with alcoholism and all the various and numerous health problems he had because of it. Jeff and I had our difficulties over the years. Alcoholism is such a progressive, all-encompassing disease, and it literally takes over your life…and the lives of everyone around you. I had a hard time understanding what I believed to be his “choices” in life…I realize now they weren’t choices for him, he did the best that he could. My brother is finally at peace, and he will always be remembered as a good and kind man who adored his children and just wanted his family to be proud of him. And we are so grateful that we have his wonderful children, Tyler (15) and Sara (13), living here in town now…they are truly a blessing in our lives. You can read his full story on the memorial website we set up for him here: www.jeffreywaynerogers.com.
Trubble Smith: RIP 1993-2012
We also lost our dear, sweet Trubble this past year…my “bestest” friend and kitty of 19 years. She was such a joy in our life and such a wonderful companion through the years. I miss her so much….
Yes, a definite mixture of highs and lows…but thankfully, the highs totally outweighed the lows…again, fortunate and blessed. :)
My vocal trio, DANGEROUS CURVES, had a particularly incredible year. Here’s a little tidbit from our latest BLOG post, just to catch you up:
Dangerous Curves, 2012…it has truly been one of the most sensational years in Dangerous Curves history. And, while our history is rather short (should we simply say new?), it has been filled with the love and support of family and friends. However, we never dreamed just how much support we would literally see and feel than when we did our first Dangerous Curves, Indiegogo campaign. Crowd-funding?! That’s for big stars and artists with HUGE email lists and…well, you know…right? NO! We really didn’t know the depth and scope of your huge and generous hearts!
The above pictures show the fruition of that generosity in our sophomore CD called “Star of Wonder”, now available on iTunes, Amazon MP3 and of course, physical copies available by simply emailing us at dangerouscurves@cox.net.
If that wasn’t enough, we have been nominated for “2012 Best Cabaret Artist – Female” on Broadway World Los Angeles! WHAT?! We couldn’t be happier! If you have a moment, would you go and vote for us? Here’s the link to vote on BroadwayWorld.com (you must first enter your email address and then complete the entire voting process in order for your vote to count). BUT PLEASE HURRY: Voting ends Dec 31, 2012.
Wow, 2012. A year filled with new fans and friends, performances, nominations, our newest CD and best of all, the absolute knowledge, that someone is listening. Someone really cares about us and knows us and loves us. Friends, we love you, too. Enjoy your holidays and we wish you a most happy and joyous New Year!
As for SHADES OF SINATRA, we are still performing at the Clarion Hotel & Casino 3 nights a week, but we are now in the BIG 300-seat Wolf Theater Showroom (and beginning in June of this year, we moved to Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday nights at 9:00pm)!!! We continue to get wonderful crowds and so many positive comments and reviews about the show (you can read a few of them HERE on TripAdvisor.com).
Looking toward 2013, we are planning to start booking some out-of-town shows in addition to continuing our shows at the Clarion Hotel… lots of plans, lots of dreams, lots of great things ahead!
On a personal note, 2012 was a definite year of change and self-improvement for me. After watching a video of myself in the Valentine’s Show that Ron and I performed at the Starbright Theater (“Love is a Many Complicated Thing”), I sadly realized that the past 10 years of being married and living in Las Vegas had brought not only tremendous JOY and LOVE to my life, but also an additional 30 or so pounds!!! What?!?!? How did that happen? I mean, I knew I had gained a few pounds over the years…marriage does that to you, right? But 30?!?! Holy COW (pun intended)…I honestly had no idea. SOOOO, I decided that day to DO something about it.
I had just finished reading Jennifer Hudson’s book, “I Got This: How I Changed My Ways and Lost What Weighed Me Down” and immediately got online and signed up for Weight Watchers. Yes, THAT Weight Watchers! It was exactly what I needed. I’ve never been a person who does well with “meetings” of any kind (maybe I just don’t like people that much???), but I LOVE gadgets and tech stuff, and I LOVE being in charge and making my OWN decisions…I definitely don’t respond to someone else telling me what to do. So after reading through a few of the options, I decided to sign up for the ONLINE PLAN and track everything using my iPhone. PERFECT for me! I signed up for a 3-month plan to start with (about $18 a month for ALL the tools I would need) and figured I’d try it for 3 months and see how it went. What did I have to lose, right (besides the obvious lbs)? Well guess what? In those 3 months I lost 16 pounds!!!!! And I am not exaggerating when I tell you it was WAY easier than I thought it would be. All I did was stick to the plan and the weight literally fell off! I was EATING AND LOSING WEIGHT. I felt great. THIS was something I could actually do the rest of my life…yeah, I became a “believer”. Thanks Jennifer… ;-)
So, I decided I would keep going and lose ALL the weight I had gained since moving to Vegas…all 30 pounds of it. But I also decided AFTER that initial 3 months that I really did need to start getting some regular exercise. Not so much for the weight loss (Weight Watchers was taking care of that part), but for my own health. Let’s face it, I’m not getting any younger (as much as I would like to think I am), and it was finally time to start an exercise plan that I would STICK with. But finding something that I could get excited about…now that was the kicker. Hmmmm….what to do?
Well, over the years I have had several friends who were runners, and I always remember them talking about the “high” they would get, and the amazing feeling of “accomplishment” they would have when they’d finish a “LONG run” (which for them was, like, 8 miles, and for me would be 8 minutes!). And then I read a Facebook post from a friend where she talked about running 10 miles that day, and I thought to myself, “That’s insane…that would take 2 hours to do!!!” I wrote her and told her that she was my hero, and I could NEVER do that, and guess what she wrote back? That a year ago, she couldn’t either. But she did a program called “Couch-to-5K” and went from not being able to run 2 minutes without feeling like she was going to die, to being able to RUN a 5K in only 9 weeks. Wow, really??? Okay, again…what have I got to lose??? Let’s give it a shot!
So I purchased the “Couch-to-5K” app for my iPhone and went for my first RUN! Okay, not really a run…it was a slow jog for 30 seconds, then a walk for 2 minutes, then another 30-second jog, then walk, then…you get the idea. Each day I did the program, the time of the jog interval increased slightly, and the walking time decreased. It was not easy, but it also was COMPLETELY doable. So I did it, and continued to do it 3 times a week for the next 9 weeks, and at the end of that 9 weeks I ran in my first 5K RACE!!! Since then I have run in 2 more 5K’s, ran my first 10K in November (hubby’s 1st 5K), and have already signed up for my first HALF MARATHON next April. Yep, I am officially HOOKED!
So, that’s where we are. I reached my goal weight in September and have now kept it off for 3 months! I feel better than I have in my entire life! SO WHAT’S NEXT for Lisa Smith?!?!? New goals? New performing possibilities? Yes, and YES! But you’re just gonna have to wait till the next BLOG post to find out what they are…so stay-tuned! :)
In the meantime, if you’re not busy this Monday night, New Year’s Eve, come on down to Bootlegger Bistro, 7700 Las Vegas Blvd S, and celebrate with us! Gary Peterson and I will be there from 9:30pm-12:30am…LIVE JAZZ, GOURMET ITALIAN CUISINE, CHAMPAGNE….what more could you want?!?
HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE….see ya in 2013!!!
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Lisa Smith BLOG: Lovin' Jazz In Vegas! 