Blackpool- Ballroom

First day of the Nationwide Ballroom and Latin Finals 2014. It's been such a busy, but good day! I made myself get up at 7am, as I never know how long it's going to take to get ready. I had a cup of tea and a nice warm bath, and then on with the slap, aka, dancing make-up. I didn't have to tackle my hair as someone else was going to do it for me later, so it saved me a job. I had a lovely breakfast, and then went back up to finish getting ready. Managed to FaceTime my mum, although she's not very good at it!

The hotel kindly booked me a taxi to the Winter Gardens, where the comp takes place, and it was actually and not raining outside.

When I got there I watched the kids for a bit to kind of get my bearings and psych myself up. My friend couldn't do my hair, so I was panicking a little bit that I'd have to do a bodge job myself, but in the end she roped in another friend to do it. I have to say she did it really well, but her mum had to help her, and it confirmed what I've always suspected- that doing my hair is a two-man job! Half a giant tube of gel, hairspray, backcombing, and a mountain of pins later, it was beautifully slick and in a neat bun :-)

We got ourselves changed, but there was already news that the kids hadn't done well in the morning, and that a lot of them had been knocked out early. Once we were changed, our school principal came over and told us to go double just to get seen out there. No pressure then. It is such a beautiful floor there, and I thoroughly enjoy dancing there.

I felt like I danced my best, and I made it through to the quarter finals. The waiting around between rounds seems interminable, and I get so stressed, especially waiting to hear your number to see if you've been recalled. I was relieved to get a recall, and being spun out on the floor is just amazing. All in all, the only dance I didn't get to do was my Viennese Waltz, which was a shame. I found out later that I came 12th overall, and was only one mark away from the semi-finals!