BellaBlog at 2011 Skate America

Isabella Cannuscio is competing at 2011 Skate America with partner Ian Lorello. She’ll be sharing her thoughts and photos with us during the event.

Monday, October 24, 2011 – FroYo Flash-dancer

Hello!

In the past three nights I have gotten a total of around 16 hours of sleep which equals to a very tired and slightly grumpy Bella. =( However, I am powering through so I can write you all one last blog to finish up my trip to Skate America!

As I mentioned in my previous blog, yesterday morning we had the Friends of Figure Skating Breakfast. We have been to two of these breakfasts before (2 previous Nationals), but this one was probably the best one I’ve been to. It was much more intimate and I felt like we could really mingle and talk to everyone there. It was great hearing stories about how many competitions they have supported U.S. skaters in and how many they plan on going to in the coming future. Ian and I sat with one woman who was going to the GP Final, Nationals, Four Continents, and Worlds just to support the US skaters. Without the fans, skating wouldn’t be where it is today, and I just wanted to say thank you to every fan out there. You’re the best!

After the breakfast we headed back to the hotel and decided to sit outside for a little bit since it was such a beautiful day out. Ian and Sasha were the smart ones and brought their bathing suits to lay by the pool, while I “lounged” in the shade on the deck outside. I started to get sleepy, so I left Ian and Sasha to bake in the sun and headed to the mall. While at the mall I decided to grab some ice cream and as I was paying the young girl complimented my shirt — twice. I thought it was odd, but said thank you and then I was on my way. I walked around half of the mall eating my froyo and then decided to head into H&M. I happened to glance at a mirror while in there and realized the top two buttons on my shirt were completely open, exposed bra and all. Thank god it was a nude bra! Maybe know one noticed? However, I thought back to the girl ringing me up and now it makes sense — she was trying to get me to look down at my shirt without saying, “Excuse me miss, but you’re exposing yourself to the entire mall.” Never a dull moment with me I suppose!

After that embarrassment, I headed back to the hotel. I’ve been fighting a cold and wasn’t feeling so well, so I stayed in and watched Ladies Long on Universal Sports. I was very happy that my roommate for the week, Alissa, won! I was actually very impressed by most of the ladies yesterday. Even with a few bobbles everyone pushed through and finished with a beautiful program.

Since one can never watch enough skating, Ian and I headed back to the rink one last time for the Skating Spectacular. The popular music choice of the night you ask? Adele. Three programs and two of them were dance. I don’t blame them though; Adele is a great choice for a show program! Everyone seemed like they were having a really great time, even Michael Brezina who happened to split his pants while doing a Russian split jump. Needless to say it was an entertaining show!

Once everyone got back to the hotel, we had a birthday celebration for Douglas and Charlie. Charlie’s birthday is today, and Douglas’ was on Saturday. We sung Happy Birthday (did that a lot this weekend!) and had some cake. The team chatted for a while then headed off to their respective rooms to pack and/or sleep. Believe it or not, Ian and I did NOT have the earliest bus at 4:30 a.m. =/

As I sit here waiting to leave for the airport, I think back on this past week. While it wasn’t exactly how I wanted it to go, it was still a great experience. I loved being in America, having the support of fans, and being around some really great people! Thank you U.S. Figure Skating for sending Ian and I to Skate America. It has truly been a great experience and I really hope we have a chance to do it again! I also happened to gain 15 or so Twitter followers during this week, so I say it was an all around successful competition. =P

I hope everyone has enjoyed reading my blogs as much as I’ve loved sharing my experience with you. Ian and I will be back at the rink tomorrow to train before we leave for Austria in exactly one week! I guess we’ll sleep when we’re dead.

Until next time!

-Bella

Sunday, October 23, 2011 – The Good (Dad’s Birthday!) & the Bad (no TV)

Hello everyone!

I last left you all right before my breakfast yesterday morning, so let’s start from there.

After I had my delicious oatmeal yet again (this time with granola!), we headed off to our 30 minute warm-up. Since we were only able to get around 6-7 hours of sleep, we were a little on the tired side, but we pushed through and had a very strong warm-up!

Once we got back to the hotel we only had around an hour until we had to be back at the rink. I guess they decided to make up for the fact that they gave us about a day in-between our SD warm-up and SD competition. =P Within that hour I ate a quick lunch, caught up on my social networking/stalking, and then it was that time yet again — competition time!

There was debate on whether all 8 teams in FD would make it live on NBC, so once I saw that live coverage started in the Men’s event before the last warm-up group I thought, “Hey, we might actually make it on TV!” I didn’t want to dwell, so I pushed it away and focused on what was actually important — my dress!

I’m kidding. You all know I meant to say FD! However, I did have a wardrobe malfunction during our 30 min warm-up. The brown belt around my dress decided to detach itself, which made it slide and twist all over the place. It didn’t bother me, but I was worried the belt would un-hook itself and fall off during the competition. It most likely wasn’t going to do that considering the Russians who make our costumes have these magic hooks that stay clasped forever, however I didn’t want to have to worry about it. So, luckily our wonderful team leader, Mary Karen Henderson, had a sewing kit and fixed it right up! With a newly sewn dress we were ready to take on the FD!

Ian and I were very pleased with how we skated in the FD. I had one or two small bobbles (one unfortunately downgrading our twizzles to a level 3), but other than that, I really felt like we gave it our all. This year, in every competition we do, Ian and I are making it a point to perform like it’s our last. Whether we mess up or don’t get a great score, giving it are all is all we can control. It’s a joy competing our FD, and I really hope it showed. We unfortunately didn’t make it on TV (Darn you, NBC!), but everyone back home was still able to watch us on IceNetwork.com!

After our FD we headed back to the hotel, freshened up, and then went back to the rink for an autograph signing! While most people came up to the booth for Meryl and Charlie, a few fans crept in there that actually recognized us and gave us amazing compliments. We had a fan tell us we are one of her favorite teams, and another that absolutely loves Les Mis and wanted a video of our FD so she could watch it over and over again. I was shocked! It was a really fun and a great experience!

Once we finished the autograph session, we headed to dinner. It’s my dad’s birthday today, so last night we celebrated with a yummy dinner and a birthday surprise from our waiter. He sent over a deliciously large cookie topped with ice cream, and they all sung “Happy Birthday.” It was fun! Unfortunately my dad is traveling home all day today, but hopefully my sister will take him out to dinner on his actual birthday! Hint hint, Stasia ;).

Today we have the Fans of Figure Skating Breakfast which should be a lot of fun! After that we really don’t have anything planned. My guess is that we’ll probably watch a whole lot of skating. haha!

Talk to you soon!

P.S. Happy Birthday to my dad and to my dog Bandit!

Saturday, October 22, 2011 – Oatmeal and Twizzles

Good Morning from CA!

We started our day yesterday with breakfast like always, and so far this week I have been looking forward to this because, believe it or not, they have oatmeal! Everyone back home knows that if I don’t have a cup of coffee in my hand and a bowl of oatmeal in front of me you shouldn’t even consider talking to me. Yes, I am that much of a morning person. =P

After my delicious breakfast we headed to the rink for our SD warm-up which went great. We worked out all the pattern kinks and we were good to go! Before we knew it, we were back at the hotel eating lunch and waiting for my dad to get in. I spent the rest of the seven hours we had to kill relaxing and having an early dinner with my dad, and then FINALLY it was time to head over to the rink for our SD competition!

Since we still had some time to kill, we decided to walk over to the rink instead of taking the bus. The weather was perfect and the walk was just long enough to be a great warm-up. Once we arrived we watched a few men, and then it was time to warm up and compete!

Our SD started off really well, I thought. I felt very relaxed and I was really having a great time — until the twizzles came. As many or all of you probably know, Ian fell in the middle of our first twizzle. And I don’t mean just fall; he legit took off in the middle of the twizzle and went down. The second that happened I knew we got no credit for the twizzles, but considering we had the rest of our program to do, I didn’t let it get to me. The crowd was super supportive which really helped us get back into things and finish strong. I was upset, but at this point it’s done and I’m ready for the FD. This is my absolute favorite FD I’ve ever done, and I’m extremely excited to compete it today. I’m hoping it’s a full house!

Right now I’m off to eat my delicious oatmeal, and then it’s practice time! Don’t forget to tune into NBC from 3-6 today (EDT) to watch the LIVE coverage of Men’s Long and FD!

Talk to you soon!

Friday, October 21 – Houston, we have a problem.

Hello again!

Yesterday was our official “first” day in Ontario, and it went really well — minus the fact that I got a call from my coach, Sasha Kirsanov, at 7:30 in the morning because he was still in Houston — NOT good.

Sasha was supposed to arrive in Ontario late Wednesday night. However, his flight out of Philadelphia was delayed due to weather, which made him miss his connecting flight to Ontario — and the next flight wasn’t until this morning. Of course that flight was delayed as well (the plane had some mechanical issues). So instead of arriving at 11 a.m. this morning, he arrived at around 12:30 p.m. and then went straight to the rink for our 1:15 practice. He made it with 10 minutes to spare. Ian and I almost took the same flight Sasha took, but opted for the early morning one — thank God!

After all that commotion, we had a really great practice! The rink is amazing and the ice felt great! After practice we got interviewed by a few people, which was a new experience for us. Already Ian and I have had more media attention than any other competition we’ve been in and it’s only day 1. It’s amazing!

Once we got back to the hotel, we changed then went out to lunch with our coach. After eating, we all decided to go to the local grocery store to grab a few things. The hotel shuttle can take us anywhere within a 5 mile radius for free, which is awesome. We took advantage of that and headed to the grocery store. It was a very small, local grocery store that didn’t seem like much; however, it surprised me!

The only aisle I went down was the protein bar and drink aisle, and I was amazed at the variety they had. I was able to get these ThinkThin power bars which I am obsessed with thanks to my Aunt Stacy and her amazing stash of bars I’ve never heard of. I’ve never seen them in any grocery store I’ve been too, so finding these was a treat. If you like power bars, I suggest you look those up!

With groceries in hand, we headed back to the hotel to have dinner and then we were off to bed. I haven’t really gone too far around town, but so far Ontario is pretty empty. It has beautiful scenery and weather, but it also has a lot of open land and businesses. I’m almost glad there isn’t a lot to do around here because the rest of our trip is pretty packed — all with exciting things, though!

“The Dads” are flying in today, and I’m really excited they’ll be here to see us compete! We have our short dance warm-up at 12:15, and then we compete at 8:40 tonight.

Let the competition begin!

Thursday, October 20 – California, here we come!

Hello from Ontario, CA!

Our venture to California began yesterday when Ian and I woke up at 2:30 a.m. to catch our 5:45 a.m. flight. While I would normally complain about this, the fact that we were going to Skate America definitely took the sting out of it. Luckily Colin McManus was crazy enough to drive us to the airport at this ungodly hour! However, between you and me, I was going to make him do it whether he wanted to or not ;).

Our flights were super easy, which is very unusual for us! We had 2 three-hour flights, one from Philadelphia to Houston, then from Houston to Ontario. The only problem we had–or I had–was the fact that from Houston to Ontario I witnessed a woman vomit in the bathroom, sounds and all. I saw things I never want to see again–especially while on a plane!

Once we arrived in Ontario we had a short shuttle to the hotel (again, very unusual for us) and checked in! We’re staying at a Hilton, so you can imagine it’s a very nice hotel. Big rooms, yummy food, a coffee place that serves Starbucks in the lobby = the ideal place for Bella. I have never been this comfortable at an international competition before and it feels amazing.

Once we checked in, Ian and I grabbed some lunch at this Mexican restaurant around the corner and then went back to the hotel to register. At this point it was around 2 p.m., and we were exhausted. We knew if we went back to our rooms we would fall asleep, so what to do? Oh right, there’s an outlet mall a mile away! So, Ian and I took the free shuttle from the hotel to the mall and checked it out. The mall was pretty impressive in size and the variety of stores was pretty good! Neither of us bought anything, but we did stumble across a Starbucks. I grabbed my Grande Nonfat Cap with an extra shot hoping that would get me through the rest of the day, and then we decided it was time to head back to the hotel.

We killed some time in the lobby talking to a few people on Team USA and such, and then we grabbed some dinner (which was identifiable!) and called it a night.

I’ve only been here one day so far, and I have already come to the conclusion that being in America is pretty fantastic. I can actually use my phone without it costing an arm and a leg, the food is yummy, and there’s no need for converters or worrying that my hair straightener will once again blow out the electricity in my room. It’s still early though; knowing me, that will somehow happen =(. All in all so far I’m enjoying every second of it and still cannot believe I’m here. I can’t wait to start the next day of our trip!

Talk to you soon!