Holy crap-we have the Samba this week and man are we BOTH sore! Finally-a dance that wears Derek out and makes his back as sore as mine is! This is a freaking hard dance too. Everyone has said that the Samba and the Rumba are the 2 hardest dances, and those are the 2 dances for this week. Luckily we got the Samba-I say luckily because it's a fast, fun party dance. I'd rather wait on the Rumba because it's the slower, more intimate dance. I feel like our Waltz was kinda like that-so I just don't want to have the same vibe 2 weeks in a row-ya know.

The Samba is freaking hard! Did I say that already? It is! There are steps where the front leg is lunged, toe pointing outward, the back leg you should be on the side of you toe with that hip up, the arms a little curved, the head poised and out....blah blah blah....My goodness there's too much going on in this dance. AND-all the dances are longer this week. Last week the dances were about a minute long. This week our dance is 1:33. Those extra 33 seconds are a lifetime when you're dancing. Just when you think the song is over it starts again. And we have this Samba roll that kills your back. And I can't find my good Latin shoes. I have no clue where they are-unless that were taken out of my trailer possibly. So I've been wearing the first pair I ever got that hurt like crazy. My feet are really blistered and swollen this week. It's sexy...I know.

And my outfit this week-we had a bit of a debacle. Based on what Derek had told the wardrobe department, the dress originally looked very psychedelic 60's/70's style-but the song is more of a hip hop club song. So we ended up changing the whole dress last minute. They were so great to design a whole new dress for me that we love now! It's got that party, fun vibe and works a lot better with our song this week. And I'm thinking about being really funky and painting each one of my nails a different color. I know that will make all the difference to the judges! ;)

Can we just talk about last week's scores for a second?!%* We got a 10!!!!! What in the world happened? We were so hoping to get just one 9 so that we had a little bit better score than the week before-but we were shocked! Especially because I had a couple of little flub ups. I saw that first 9 and was ecstatic! But wait-Lynn, the judge who is very technically correct gave us his first 10 of the season! How much do I love him right now??!!?? That's going to make it hard to beat last week's scores this week though-especially with such a hard dance. But we have been working extra hard this week I think-we have rehearsal for a few hours later tonight even. I would love to nail this dance-find that zone and just do it.

Ok-time to go shower off all of this spray tan I had to get done at 10am this morning! Yes-10am. You should have heard the conversation the other day between Derek and I. I got an email about the Sunday camera blocking schedule. Derek had a band gig in Orange County this morning and wouldn't be available until about 2pm. But the schedule came through as that he has camera blocking for a group number he's doing on Tuesday at 2:45pm today-so then he and I would camera block at 5:15pm. So I looked at him and said that with this schedule we'd have to rehearse the dance Sunday night when we were done on stage. But this also meant I wouldn't be able to spray tan because once you tan you can't sweat or shower for at least 5 hours. The lady who tans us leaves CBS usually at 7pm latest. So I told him I just would have to skip tanning this week. Derek was so funny. He was like-you have to tan-it's a Latin dance-you can't not tan! The camera man and I were laughing so hard because it was such an odd conversation and he was so serious about me having to tan. It was cute. So I got up and tanned at 10am so I could shower it off before we do camera blocking and rehearsal later. So that's what my crazy Sunday consists of. That and I just had a phone interview for a magazine I did the shoot for yesterday. Crazy, jam-packed day! I love it!

Thanks again for all of your votes, comments, letters, suggestions and support-for Derek and I both! We love you all! And I agree with something Adam said last week in his final words. Dancing With The Stars is a huge challenge and risk-find something that scares you, challenges you, excites you and just go for it. Do something you've never done-try something you've always wanted to try. We only have so much time here and you never know what tomorrow may bring. Have fun-don't worry about what other people may think if there's something that peaks your interest. Try everything life has to offer. You have nothing to lose really-throw pride and shyness and fear out the window. I have never had so much fun and without risk there's no reward.

All My Love!
xxxxxxxxShannonxxxxxxxx
VOTE4-07 :)