My Favorite Leotards from the 2021 GK U.S. Classic

I love gymnastics and fashion, so one of my favorite things to do when watching gymnastics is look at and admire all of the different leotards gymnasts wear. The start of the summer gymnastics season was this past weekend with the GK U.S. Classic, so there were a lot of leotards (and amazing gymnastics, of course!) to see.

When I first started watching gymnastics, there were really only three big leotard brands U.S. gymnasts wore with one of them dominating. Now there are a lot more, and just like with normal fashion, leotard trends evolve as well. Rhinestones are a staple, but lately (and probably this summer in Tokyo), you'll see a lot of mesh sleeves and ombre. I'm definitely a fan of those trends, which are all present in my favorite leotards from the GK Classic below:

(All photos embedded via USA Gymnastics © John Cheng)

Grace McCallum - Ozone

Grace was one of the first gymnasts shown on the broadcast, so her leos was one of the first I saw, and I instantly was a fan. No, it's not because it's pink — though that helped. The pink and white color combo is very pretty, and there's certainly no shortage of rhinestones on this leo, but it doesn't overdo it.

The design of the leo itself is a sport sporty/athletic one resembling a baseball tee, but it doesn't look like one at all. Though the sleeves are all white, they don't look plain or boring thanks to the juxtaposition of the mesh and spandex fabric in addition to the rhinestones. The rhinestone design on the bodice creates a nice shape and silhouette that prevents it from being just pink. It's a flattering look on Grace!

Shilese Jones - Sylvia P.

I remember when I was on Twitter during the first session and kept seeing people tweet about Shilese's leo. The only problem was I hadn't seen it because NBC hardly showed her. But when they did finally show her, I immediately loved her leo. It is so gorgeous and looks absolutely stunning on her.

The light purple color is beautiful and really stands out with her complexion. Illusion and mesh sleeves are definitely trending in gymnastics, but a lot of times, the nude color is suited for lighter skin tones, which obviously doesn't match everyone. This leotard is a perfect example of having nude mesh in a variety of shades. When you're able to properly match tones and fabric colors, it really helps the leotard bodice stand out. 

Throwback Thursday: My Favorite Moments of 2017

Since it's Thursday, the start of the new year, and I'm not done blogging about 2017, I'm sharing my favorite moments/memories from 2017 in my first Throwback Thursday post.

I haven't done a reflection post about 2017 yet and am not sure if I will, but I'll say this. 2017 was definitely an interesting year for me. It had its ups and downs, and by ups and downs, I mean extreme ups and downs. Lots of exciting moments like graduating and traveling to new places and more difficult and upsetting moments than I would like, including two hospitalizations and being away from my sister for the first time in our lives. And while every year has its less-than-ideal moments, it's important to think past those, think about how you got through them, and cherish the best moments. Because how would I know how great these following moments would be without those low ones?

Meeting Olympic rhythmic gymnasts Jenny and Monica Rokhman

My sister, Ashley, Jenny, myself, and Monica

Last spring, my twin sister and I got to meet and interview a pair of fellow identical twins! What was even more exciting about the opportunity was that the twins we met and interviewed are U.S. Olympic rhythmic gymnasts Jenny and Monica Rokhman. (If you don't know by now, I'm a gymnastics fanatic and would love to meet any elite or high level gymnast.)

We were interviewing them for a feature we were including in the official yearbook of the University of Illinois. As it was the school year after an Olympic year, it was relevant to include, and when would I ever have the chance to put rhythmic gymnastics in the yearbook?

My October Favorites

Image credit

Now that I have a bunch of leftover Halloween candy to eat because no one came to my house for trick-or-treating, it's time to share my October favorites.

Jeremy Jordan

My sister and I basically had a Jeremy Jordan marathon in October and watched almost everything he's been in, including Newsies (a few times, actually), Supergirl, The Last Five Years, and Smash. The first time I watched Jeremy Jordan in anything was in Newsies, so I was definitely used to seeing him as a "tough guy," but after watching him in 2+ seasons of Supergirl, it's funny how he does well as the complete opposite role as Winn Schott is kind of the dorky, smart best friend type.

Anyway, although he was only in one season of Smash, I loved hearing him sing and really enjoyed a few of the songs his character sang, especially "The Love I Meant to Say," "High and Dry," and "Broadway Here I Come." 

What I Want to Read: Winter 2016-2017

One of the things I'm most excited about for winter break is being able to read whatever books I want. This past semester was a pretty busy one with classes and extra-curriculars, so I've been enjoying the free time to relax and read as much as I can.

I didn't get to do one of these posts for the fall, and I'm behind on my 2016 reading challenge, so I hope to read a lot of books this winter!

Motivation Monday: The 2016 U.S. Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team

Last night, the dreams of five lovely young women came true: the five-woman U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team was named in San Jose, California.

Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, and Madison Kocian became first-time Olympians. The other two members achieved their dreams for the second time.

Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman became the first U.S. women's gymnasts to make a consecutive Olympic team since Dominique Dawes and Amy Chow did in 2000. Douglas is the first reigning Olympic all-around champion to return to the Games since Nadia Comeneci in 1980.

Here they are: @Simone_Biles, @lzhernandez02, @Aly_Raisman, @gabrielledoug and @MadisonKocian! #RioReady pic.twitter.com/AVOjI3ItJM

— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) July 11, 2016

And all five of these gymnasts provide great motivation and inspiration, whether it be words of wisdom on social media or in an interview that have helped them accomplish their goals and make it to the Games. Each of them has taught me something special, something I can use as motivation when needed, which makes rooting for them even better.

Portland 2016: Shopping Haul

Oregon has no sales tax, so I of course had to do some shopping while I was in Portland. I didn't have too much time to shop with all of the visits I had to do for class, and stores downtown seemed to close around 8 p.m. on weekdays, but I managed to leave the state with some good deals and stuff!

Beaver Store

The Beaver Store is an Oregon State fan store, and there's a location in downtown Portland despite Oregon State being half an hour or so away in Corvallis.

I'm not a big fan of Oregon State's gymnastics team, but I do like a few of their gymnasts. Plus, I'll take a gymnastics shirt from almost any university! I'd like to start a collection of collegiate gymnastics shirts. Right now I have Illinois (of course), Oklahoma, Florida, LSU, Arizona State, and now Oregon State!

Love and Thanks for McKayla Maroney

Photo credit unknown, via Google Images

I'd thought it for a while now, maybe even a year. And so did others. But we never really knew for sure.

Today, we got confirmation.

Thank You, Kyla Ross

Photos via Creative Commons (1 | 2 ) Credit to Scott and Emer Hults

Before 2012, I wasn't a huge gymnastics fan like I am today. Before 2012, I didn't know there were any high-level Filipino-American gymnasts. Before 2012, I wasn't too familiar with the name Kyla Ross ― I'm not sure I'd even heard her name before.

Four years later, I can definitely say that's all changed.

Why I'm Excited for 2016

While 2015 gave me many unforgettable experiences, from going to Florida and Disney World for the first time to meeting To Write Love on Her Arms founder Jamie Tworkowski, that year is in the past, and it's time to look forward to what the new year will bring. Here are a few reasons (unique to the year) why I'm excited for 2016.

Five Reasons to Watch the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships

The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, is where the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships take place.
Original photo found via Creative Commons

If you're a big gymnastics fan like I am, then this week is an exciting one. The 2015 World Gymnastics Championships officially begin this Thursday, October 23, in Glasgow, Scotland. The World Championships are the largest gymnastics competition of the year, so it's a must-watch for gymnastics fanatics.

But if you're not an avid fan of the sport like I am, this is still a competition you should watch for various reasons. Besides, USA Gymnastics is streaming the competition for free.

My Bucket List

This post has been in my drafts for a while now, but I thought it would be appropriate to finally post since today is my 20th birthday!

I don't know when I started thinking of things to put on my bucket list, but I've come up with a plethora of things since. It's fun to keep a bucket list helps you try to do fun and exciting things. I will be updating this as time goes on, crossing things off as well as adding new things.

Sports

• attend an elite gymnastics meet (completed in May 2012)
• attend an Olympic Games
• attend an Artistic Gymnastics World Championships
• attend an FIG World Cup event (completed March 3, 2018)

• attend an NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships
• attend an NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships
• attend an NCAA Women's Gymnastics Regional Championship (completed April 1, 2017)
• attend an NCAA Women's Gymnastics conference championship (preferably Big Tens)
• attend a regular season NCAA women's gymnastics meet
• attend a regular season NCAA men's gymnastics meet
• attend a JO meet (completed March 2, 2018)
• attend a non-artistic gymnastics competition

• meet an Olympian (Shawn Johnson, completed in February 2014, Justin Spring in 2015, Jenny and Monica Rokhman in March 2017, Kyla Ross and Nancy Thies Marshall in April 2017, Nastia Liukin in May 2017)
• meet one of my favorite NCAA gymnasts (Alina Weinstein, completed in February 2015)
  



Me with Illinois alum and All American gymnast Alina Weinstein

• meet an elite gymnast (Nica Hults, completed in August 2014)
• meet my favorite gymnasts ever, Sarah Finnegan and Nastia Liukin (Nastia Liukin, completed in May 2017)
• learn to do a handstand
• learn to do a back handspring or some sort of salto
• do the splits
• try surfing
• meet an action sports athlete (Andy Macdonald; Greg Lutzka; Kelvin Hoefler; Manny Santiago; completed in June 2015)
• meet my favorite action sports athlete, Ryan Sheckler
• attend an action sports event (Dew Tour, completed in June 2015)
• attend a professional skateboarding contest
• attend a professional surfing contest
• attend a professional volleyball game/tournament
• attend an NBA game (completed in January 2014)

Joakim Noah goes for the dunk in a regular season game against the Charlotte Bobcats on January 11, 2014, the first Bulls game I attended.

National Gymnastics Day 2015: How I've Shown (and Will Show) My Salute to the Sport

Today is National Gymnastics Day, and as a gymnastics enthusiast, I care about it very much, even if I've never been a gymnast. This year, a promotion USA Gymnastics is doing is "Show Your Salute," where gymnasts and gymnastics fans across the country show them their gymnastics salute by sharing it on social media.

As aforementioned, I've never been a gymnast, nor have I done any gymnastics on any apparatus, but the sport has been a large part of my life for the past four years. I could talk about all the sport has done for me, but I've already done that. I did that last year.In fact, I've done it twice. So I'm not going to do that this time. Instead, I'm going to talk about what I've done for the sport and what I plan to do (or how I've saluted and will salute the sport).

I may not be a gymnast and never have been, but that doesn't mean I can't pretend and put on a pretty leotard anyway.

My Favorite Gymnastics Moments of Summer 2015

Now that Labor Day has come and gone, it's time to accept the fact that summer is over. To me, gymnastics is a big part of summer, because that's when USA Gymnastics has its major competitions. As a gymnastics enthusiast, I watched a lot of the sport over the summer and thought I would share some of my favorite moments from the summer.

Brenna Dowell's return to elite

I've been a fan of Dowell's since 2013, when she upgraded her routines and showed she was a Worlds team contender. Like other gym fans, I was excited to see her shine at Oklahoma, which she's done for one season. And when I found out she would defer a year to come back to elite, I was excited and glad she was going to give it another shot after just missing out two years in a row.

Watching her elite level uneven bars routine again was wonderful, and it'll be interesting to see what's in store for her with the upcoming World Championships.

Four Reasons to Watch Rhythmic Gymnastics

Although I am a gymnastics enthusiast, I do admit that I don't watch rhythmic as much as artistic, and I think that's a shame. Over the summer, I watched more rhythmic and have enjoyed it. I don't know why I didn't watch it more before. It's definitely an under-appreciated sport.

The 2015 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships began this week in Stuttgart, Germany, at Porsche Arena, and USA Gymnastics is going to stream part of it live. So here are four reasons why you should watch rhythmic gymnastics and give it a chance (possibly even this week during Worlds!).

1. The flexibility is amazing.

Arina Charopa of Belarus performs her ball routine during the individual all-around final at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, where she won a silver medal. Photo via Flickr, used under Creative Commons.

Rhythmic gymnasts are most definitely some of the most flexible athletes ever -- if not the most. The flexibility of rhythmic gymnasts is an amazing athletic feat that is hard to believe until you see it. Where else are you going to see athletes touch their heads to the middle of their backs and/or the back of their legs? And usually, when they're showing off their superb flexibility, they're also doing something else, usually with whatever equipment/apparatus they're using, like bouncing a ball or maybe even turning and twirling the ribbon.

Where It Began: A Growing Passion for Gymnastics and Its Impact on My Life

Three years ago today, I attended a gymnastics meet for the first time. May 26, 2012, was at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, and it would be the first time I stepped into that arena. Little did I know that this was only the beginning, the beginning of a passion that would impact much of what was to come.

The 2012 Secret U.S. Classic was the first gymnastics meet I went to. I was very excited for it for many reasons.

One, it was the first time I was going to watch gymnastics in person. Watching sports in person isn't the same as watching it on TV. It's much more exciting (to me, anyway).

Two, it was 2008 Olympic All-Around Champion Nastia Liukin's first meet back in years. This was before I was super obsessed with gymnastics. I simply enjoyed the sport and watched it on TV whenever I saw it on the guide. Because of that, Nastia was one of the only gymnasts I knew of. I knew who she was and how long she'd been gone, so I was ecstatic that I was going to be able to witness her comeback in person.

Three, I was watching future Olympians (and a few Olympians and World Champions). The five girls who would be named to the U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team would likely come from the competitors of that meet. And they did -- even all three alternates.

Four, I was just excited for something new.

My Gymnastics Clothing Collection

If you know me, then you know I'm pretty much obsessed with gymnastics. And if you read my blog at all (or know me), then you know I'm really into fashion and love clothes. So naturally, I have a bunch of gymnastics clothing, especially t-shirts, even though I've never been a gymnast. Even though most of this collection is Illini stuff, I do have quite a few other shirts and other clothing items from gymnastics publications, meets, and more. I will continue to update this post as time goes on, because I'm sure to get more gymnastics shirts. Take a look into my closet and see my gymnastics clothing collection sorted by categories:

(Sorry the shirts are so wrinkly!)

Collegiate Gymnastics

University of Illinois

This is the first Illini gymnastics shirt I got. My mom bought it for me during my visit there in 2013. It was on sale for $5 because the store was having a moving sale, so I was happy about that. 

This rebranded shirt actually comes in four different colors: orange, navy, grey, and white. I only have this orange one so far, but I plan on buying them all, because I want them all and will then have even more options for when Illinois has a meet.
I got my little niece Sofie, who loves gymnastics and said wants to be a "famous gymnast" when she grows up, a shirt just like this (but in kids' sizes). I may or may not be trying to make her an Illinois gymnastics fan. (I gave her an autographed Illinois women's gymnastics poster for Christmas.)

Updated Illinois Gymnastics shirt after Nike rebrand

This was originally an XXL t-shirt that was on sale for $2, which is why I got it despite it being way too big for me. I attempted to cut it into a tank top, but it doesn't look too great because everything's cut unevenly, so I'm just going to put it on a canvas and hang it. 

Another Illinois gym shirt with the rebranded block I

My Favorite Moments of 2014

A new year brings new memories, but there are always old memories I'll never forget, and 2014 was definitely more eventful than I could have ever hoped for. Here are some of my favorite (personal) moments of 2014.

Any time I Skyped Phoebe
Phoebe is my best friend despite the fact that we live over 2,000 miles away from each other. She's been one of my very best friends since we became friends in 2006. Since she's in California now and no longer a five-minute walk away, I value anytime we share together.
She and I mostly Skype over breaks from school with my twin sister, Ashley. Even though we haven't seen each other in over a year, when we Skype, it's like she never moved away, and that means the world to me. I've never had such a close friend for so long, so I really appreciate that we can still see
each other and talk, even if it's not in person.

When I met Shawn Johnson
February 4 was pretty much the best day ever. That was the day I met Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson. I'm a huge gymnastics fan, so when I found out that I was going to have the opportunity to meet Shawn, I was ecstatic.
Johnson was on the University of Illinois campus to commentate for a Big Ten gymnastics meet and was also a lecturer as part of the Illini Union Board's lecture series. Shawn spoke about the experiences written in her book, A Winning Balance. After the little speech Shawn gave, there was a book signing for fans to get books signed and to get a picture with her.

My sister and I getting our picture taken with Shawn. (The IUB staff said pictures had to be taken in groups of five, so three random guys we don't know had to be in our picture.) | Photo courtesy of the IUB Facebook

Giving Back to My Favorite Gymnast

So if you didn't know, my favorite gymnast is Sarah Finnegan, former elite gymnast and National Team member, 2012 Olympic alternate, and future LSU Tiger.

Her birthday was earlier this month, November 14, and every year since 2012, I have put some sort of birthday project together for her just to do something nice for her. For the past two years, I had fans submit messages, videos, and photos to a birthday Tumblr for Sarah. It was pretty successful. I got quite a few fans to contribute, and Sarah did see it.

But this year I wanted to do something different. I hadn't gone on Tumblr much this year, and I just wanted to do something new.

So I decided to put together a little care package gift that I sent to Sarah via mail. I had already started looking for a present to give her at some point about a year ago, so it wasn't too difficult finding things to put in the package. Actually, I pretty much knew everything I was going to give her.

Gymnastics: More than Just a Sport

Since today is National Gymnastics Day, I was inspired to write about what gymnastics, my favorite sport, means to me.

Celebrating National Gymnastics Day 2014 by doing the little gymnastics I know how to do

I am not a gymnast, and I never have been, but I've always had an interest in the sport.

When I was younger, I wanted to try a lot of different sports, particularly gymnastics, tumbling, cheerleading and dance. Because of my parents' work schedules, I never got the chance to try those sports, but I never did lose interest in any of them. I definitely didn't lose interest in gymnastics.

Hard Work and Happiness at the 2014 Secret Classic

Waking up at 6 AM, working from 10 AM to 8:30 PM and not getting home until around midnight sounds like all work and no play, especially when work seems to take priority over food, but it's not. At least for me it wasn't.

This past Saturday, August 2, I was given the opportunity to work at the Secret U.S. Classic with Gymnastike. It was one of the best experiences of my life so far.

I got to the Sears Centre Arena around 9:30 AM, got my media credentials and then went into the media room. The seniors were still training, so we waited in the media workroom. There, I met the Gymnastike people I worked with, Becca and Jason, as well as Leslie King, the USA Gymnastics Vice President of Communications, all of whom were very nice and helpful to work with.