Hey daydreamers! (Sorry this post is a day late. I started this one really long post yesterday, and it was really dry and boring, so I decided to scrap it but didn’t have time to start a new one.) You guys seemed to really like my What’s In My Backpack? post, so I decided to do a sort of sequel to it and show you guys what’s in my dance/volleyball bag!

GASP?! Emmie, you’re a DANCER?!! It’s not like you have dancer graphics plastered ALL OVER your blog and talk about dancing ALL THE TIME!!!!

Yes, I’m a dancer. (Could you tell? 😉) I’ve been dancing longer than I can remember, but I started at my current studio when I was about five years old. Since then, I’ve moved up the levels at my studio and this year, I’m hopefully going to be getting my pointe shoes soon! *is totally not freaking out with excitement and fear* Over the years I’ve totally improved as a ballerina, and also have tried out styles like Contemporary and Jazz that I love, too!

Wait, you play volleyball? *Actual realistic reaction unlike the one above*

Since like two weeks ago, yes! 😂 🏐 A ton of my friends have been playing volleyball since second grade, and they FINALLY convinced me to try it out! I joined my school’s Junior High/Sixth Grade volleyball team, and I like volleyball at lot so far! Even though I’m on the C team, lol. At least I actually get playing time, and I’m not the worst person on my team (but not the best either). I play Defensive Specialist (back row) right now and I’m hoping to be picked as libero for my team! Our first game is this week, and I’m also definitely not freaking out right now. 😂

Okay, that was a pretty long intro! You’re probably just DYING to dig through my sweaty gym clothes and ballet shoes with me, so let’s get started!

(Do ya like my setup thingy?) Alright, let’s get started with the stuff that doesn’t actually fit inside the bag! 😂 Those puffy boot thingies on the left are my dance booties, which I can pull over my ballet shoes (and eventually pointe shoes) while I’m walking to and from the parking lot and the dance studio so my shoes never touch the concrete (they’d get ruined within seconds)! Then, of course, I have my volleyball! (Which I don’t actually take to practice but looks cool in this picture so here ya go.) I have regular ball somewhere in the garage, but pictured is my Tachiara Volley Lite, which is great for beginners and is much lighter than a regular volleyball.

Now, for the actual bag! It’s pretty much just a duffel bag with a broken zipper and a watercolor galaxy pattern, with a mandala on the front. My basketball team gave it to me a year and a half ago when I got back from the hospital when I was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes, which was super special! There’s not a zillion pockets like in my backpack, so everything’s just kind of stuffed in there.

Okay, we’ll actually take a look inside now!

First, the essentials for any young athlete: a half-empty water bottle and a Maddie Ziegler book. 😂 Just kidding, but HYDRATION IS IMPORTANT PEOPLE so I always, always, ALWAYS keep a water bottle with me. I also HAVE to bring a book, (like The Audition, shown here) because I’m always waiting around for practice to start or driving to class, and I like to have something to do while I’m waiting!

Second, we have my Nike slides and volleyball court shoes! I got my black-and-rose gold Nike athletic slides from Academy for I think $30 dollars. Like dance booties, volleyball players have to wear them to and from the court since you also can’t wear volleyball shoes outside. They’re really nice since I can wear them over my socks and kick them off whenever! I probably never would’ve gotten volleyball court shoes, since they’re like $75, $80 dollars, except one of my friends offered to sell us her old ones for $25! So that was pretty cool! They’re kind of big, but they work. 😉

Next, here’s some of my dance shoes! On the left, I have tan jazz shoes I got from Payless when they had this huge closing sale, so they were only like $5 dollars or something crazy like that. Those tan thingies on the right are lyrical/contemporary shoes (the brand calls them Toe Undeez) that fit over the ball of your foot and keep you from slipping when you’re dancing barefoot. I don’t actually use these very much (normally I just wear my jazz shoes or go barefoot) but they’re nice to have if I need them!

I also have my ballet shoes (of course)! They’re pink leather, and have split soles so I can do pre-pointe in them. They also have crossed elastics, and they don’t have those annoying drawstring thingies (yes)! I actually got these at the beginning of summer for summer classes, and of course by the time I’m back to dance after a 3/4-week break, they’re getting too small. 🤦‍♀️

Next I have my kneepads and socks for volleyball! If you’re not familiar with the sport, in volleyball you have to dive for the ball sometimes so most players wear kneepads. Mine are Mizuno brand from Academy – and my mom washed them, so now they have lint all over them… And the socks are, well, white socks. Not much to say about socks.

Also, I have my Spandex shorts and a pump belt! As part of our practice uniform, I have to wear these really short Spandex/compression shorts under my practice shorts. (They’re actually surprisingly comfy!) Also, I have black pump belt, which is basically this fabric band I wear around my waist, under my shirt, and it has a little pocket for me to put my insulin pump in.

In my bag, there’s also my practice uniform, which includes my Athletics shirt and these really huge, annoying Adidas shorts that we have to wear! They’re so long and baggy, and so big I have to pull the drawstring as tight as possible! They look like basketball shorts! 😑

Then, I have my ballet outfit! At my level, I have to wear a royal blue leotard, so I always make sure to keep that in my bag so I can get dressed for dance without digging through my drawer. I also have a pink cover-up skirt to wear in-between classes, plus black shorts for jazz/contemporary. I also have light pink ballet tights, along with tan footless tights if I have a jazz or contemporary performance.

And lastly, I have a red and a yellow stretch band! The one on the right is tied up in knots that I can wrap around my feet, hands, legs, etc. in order to stretch. The red one is just regular, with no knots or anything. I actually don’t use these stretching bands that much, but for some reason they’re buried in the bottom of my bag. You can find them for pretty cheap by searching “TheraBand” on Amazon. (Lol that sounds like this post is sponsored, it’s not 😂)

And it looks like that’s it for this post! I really hope you enjoy it – and if you did, don’t forget to share this post and get free desktop wallpapers! Have you ever danced or played volleyball? If not, what other sports have you played? What’s in YOUR athletics bag? Would you want to see a post with a daily stretching routine or a Top Ten Dance Moves post?

P.S. – If you share this post by reblogging, pinning on Pinterest, sharing on social media, or sending the link to a friend, you’ll get three FREE desktop wallpapers sent straight to your inbox! Just leave a comment telling me how you shared this post!