Today I wanted to write a little something related to dresses (and men's costumes) because it's an important subject, and seems to be one that my readers and other's in the skating blogosphere have seen as a central theme on my blog. In the run up to Christmas, with everything sparkling around us, you may be inspired to start thinking about your next skating costume (or just throw copious amounts of glitter over yourself -- both are equally acceptable in my opinion!), so here's a list of 5 faux pas (that's French for "mis-step" literally, i.e. something to avoid doing, ooh la la!) for when you're either choosing or designing your next skating outfit!

Hey guys and girls! Thanks for stopping by today for this post - the first I've written in quite a long while! If you're on Pinterest, you'll have seen the very popular "life hacks" styled posts (if you don't know what that means - it's essentially a list of easy tricks you never knew about that can make your life easier), and I thought it would be fun to adapt the concept to skating dresses! Because we all know sometimes you just need a quick fix! (psssst! If you are a Pinner, come check out my figure skating board)

OK, so today I wanted to write a short post on inspirational quotes and visuals for figure skaters.

We've all seen these graphics across the internet, on Facebook pages, Tumblr, Pinterest, and even via chain emails, so I thought it would be fun to do a skating variation-on-a-theme!

I saw a similarly-named post on Tumblr the other day, and it got me thinking about those essential elements of a skater's life. Obviously this is a hugely personal list, so I'm going to be doing this with some nice obvious items and events, but I'd love to hear what your must-haves are on either the social media (see bottom of the post for links!) or as a comment on this post!

If you're anything like me, you don't have enough space in your closet as it is. Adding skating costumes to this is kind of a space-consuming nightmare, so I thought I'd write a post today on a few storage options for skating costumes, to liberate your wardrobe a new!

Well today's post has nothing to do with skating (although I do have a grandiose 5 skating posts in the works at the moment, so stay tuned!), but it is important to my blog anyway, so I thought I'd go ahead and share the news!

A little over 3 years ago I started getting wrist and hand pain, an injury which has only worsened over time. Eventually I had to give up writing, in lieu of typing, and even that has now become painful when I'm very active on my keyboard.

Well I was taking a look at one of my favourite rhinestone seller's eBay page recently, and I came across beautiful rhinestone strips of all sizes, and colours! It instantly got me thinking of ways you could use this fantastic product in skating, and voila! a new post was born!

Hey guys!! I'm back!! *waves*

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I realise it's been a while since my last post, and for good reason(s): I've seen the hand surgeon and it turns out I'm going to need some more tests (this may mean that blogging slows down again in the near future... boo); I was going through my end-of-year-3 (out of 4! Woohoo!) exams at university; we've been cleaning out our house (and oh yes, that means emptying that last moving box from 2 years ago... *hides in shame*). So as you can see a lot has been going on! I'd love to know how you've been spending the start of summer, so don't hesitate to drop a comment or come say hi via Facebook or Twitter!

Now, on to today's post. I was going through some old skating photos and thinking back to my childhood in the rink, and I must admit that my mind did wander to that feeling of going into a competition, knowing you weren't going to win it. Of course this happens 99% of the time (if not more), but usually for a ton of reasons. It happened to me quite a bit simply by glimpsing at the competitor list however: if a trophy-hunting skater was participating, I knew the top spot was as good as already taken.

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by today.

I thought I'd give you all a little update, seeing as this is now the second week that I haven't been able to post due to my hand/wrist injury.

Ok so today I've got a post that's dear to my heart, because a couple of weeks ago, we made it past the 100 Likes milestone over on the FigureSkatingAdvice Facebook page!

Needless to say I am incredibly thrilled and thankful to all my wonderful readers for their support, so in celebration of this, I decided I wanted to put together a special post featuring some of my readers who also Like the Facebook page, as a THANK YOU for their support!

Now more than ever, having amazing spirals is a points scorer, especially with the COP system in place. More and more ladies are exhibiting stunning spirals in their programs, and as such it's becoming expected on the competitive scene, no matter the level. So how can you work on getting yourself to that standard of spiral?

You know when the world's very best skaters step on to the ice, dazzle us with a sensational array of technical skills, passion-driven artistry, and a nice flat facial expression? Yeah, me neither. The smile is something we all take for granted in top level skaters, but every now and again someone forgets about it, and it really breaks something within the performance. That old adage "you don't miss something until it's gone" comes to mind. Read on if you want to find out why smiling isn't just important for world-class athletes, but for everyone!

Hi guys, I hope you're doing great this weekend. A young woman recently messaged me asking for some advice with regard to her options within the skating industry, and it got me thinking about the skating career path. I put a lot of though in to my reply, and the more I read over what I wrote, the more I thought there may be others out there who are doing some soul/job searching, and who might also benefit from an introduction to all things skating-career. So if you want to read about the 5 major ways you can craft a professional life in the world of figure skating, then read on!

Making sure you have all the essentials you need for a full and brimming skate bag is an important part of skating life, and something you'll encounter when you're starting out. This post is for all you lovely skaters who are just getting started, and hopefully it's come at an ideal time: perhaps you've been gifted things over the festive period, or maybe you plan on making full use of the slashed prices in the post-holiday sales. Either way, read on to get the low down on all the essentials!

Hi lovely readers! Just a little post tonight before my usual weekly post tomorrow, to share with you all a wonderful piece of news I received today! A week ago I participated in an appeal for questions via Twitter for Meryl Davis & Charlie White of the USA (aka my biggest ice dance crush, ever), that they would answer during a Skype video interview with Olympic bobsled champion Steve Mesler.

Following on from my recent post regarding the choice of sewing machines for the manufacture of skating apparel, today I want to expand on a small note that I wrote at the bottom of the aforementioned post: the matter of the tools that will greatly enhance your dress making experience.

Although seasoned skaters will know the drill when it comes to keeping their skates in the best state possible during everyday use, beginner skaters may be wondering what the deal is with blades, protection, and storage. This post is for you guys, and I hope it clears some things up!