If the combination of disco costumes, clogging, and the Smoky Mountains is wrong, I don't wanna be right! I'm totally cool with leaving out the bear, though! 

Most of my team made the drive from Ohio to Tennessee on Thursday. 'Twas a fantastic day for a drive! (Yep, JT brought sexy back; I'm bringing the word 'twas back.) 

Driving to Gatlinburg was actually my first excursion out of the house since surgery last week! My teen passenger was willing to take the wheel for a while if I needed a rest, but that wasn't necessary.  

My break came when we stopped in Corbin, KY for lunch. We ended up at El Dorado, a Mexican restaurant with oddly elaborate seating, tasty food, and great service!

I mentioned previously that my team created a non-clogging part for me in the show Saturday. A few folks noticed that I did NOT appear in the show. Um, there's a reason for that!

Turns out, making a paper mache disco ball in your garage while the weather is cold and damp for two weeks straight is a terrible idea! It took forever to even sort of dry, and it NEVER dried to the point of being stiff. I threw it in the car with supplies to finish it, but didn't bother putting the shiny stickers on, assuming my costume was a loss. To add insult to injury, the disco ball further collapsed during the drive!

My part was easily removed from our routine; I already had the minor changes planned out before arriving in Gatlinburg. Evie is a very caring team director, and she insisted there must be a way to make the costume work. 

She stopped insisting after my teammate snapped this photo:

Hey, if you're going to fail, you may as well fail spectacularly!

When Fancy Free Cloggers made our way to registration and the fun dance, my dreams of another cute and soft shirt were realized!

THANK YOU, LYNNE! I feel secure declaring Smoky Mountain Encore the workshop tee shirt WINNER! Last year, Lynne sold long sleeve shirts in a comfy, soft material. That shirt became a staple of my dance wardrobe all year long! It made the perfect layer over a tank top while you warmed up. 

This year's shirt is also soft, with 3/4 sleeves and bright colors! The colorful design may not be for everyone, but I love it. I have owned the shirt for a week and worn it 3 times already! Be prepared to see it in FFC's dance practice photos for the rest of 2017!

Cabin Fever was the first clogging workshop EVER for my teammates Hollie and Joel. This time, they brought two more family members to try the workshop thing! FFC was glad to share the experience of Jenette's first workshop as a clogger and her father's first workshop as a spectator!

FFC is still working on the National Dance List/Fun Dance Challenge! We know more fun dances than last year, but it is a long list. Evie wants us to learn "High Horse" next! Sounds great, as long as she doesn't expect me to master Morgan Hudson's version. My legs contain things like ligaments and bones, while his appear to be made of rubber and springs...

That covers Thursday of the workshop! Encore's disco theme kicked in on Friday - next week's post contains photos of fabulous costumes instead of a costume fail!

Have YOU attempted a homemade costume that didn't quite work out?