First Snowfall and No Socks

I’d hoped today that by wearing flats without socks and a ¾ sleeve blazer that Mother Nature would think it was still gorgeous fall weather and we would miss out on the pre-winter blues. Sadly though – it didn’t work. I ended up being cold all day while I looked out the windows watching the snow fall. It would have been much more enjoyable had I been at home snuggled up under a blanket with sweats on and a hot cup of coffee in my hand, but we can’t always have everything we want. Sad day.

Once again I’ve been a terrible blogger. No posts since before Halloween?? For shame. And so much has happened since then! Yuck. I need to write more. Since starting my new job two and a half months ago, I’ve learned a lot and gotten to do a lot of fun things. I’ve set travel arrangements for managers, become a master at setting up Friday lunch menus, and to add to my list of awesome things I get to do at work – I get to play with puppies at work. A few weeks ago, we had Dog Day at work. Anyone who had a dog could bring them in for the day and then we went to Three Dog Bakery to get them some treats. That was one of the best days ever. I got ZERO things done that day. It was awesome. We had around 20 dogs there that day – anywhere from a Lassie dog to a Great Dane puppy AND full grown monster. There was a fat bulldog that had the face only a mother could love – and the softest little Australian Sheepdog with the biggest feet ever. I love dogs. So much. That day was fantastic and I cannot WAIT for next year.

And to follow up with the cuteness of dogs, was the awkwardness of an office Halloween party. Our theme at the office was Saturday Night Live. There was plenty of creativity – mostly the Ambiguously Gay Duo (so inappropriate and so awesome all at once) and some not so creative – like myself. I decided on being Tina Fey during Weekend Update – which basically involved me putting a black blazer on and wearing my glasses. I didn’t win any prizes for that one. Oh well – it was fun seeing everyone take the stuff so seriously. Definitely a fun environment.

One more fun thing at work – was a volunteering day. Each year we get 8 hours of volunteer time where we can go with some of our coworkers and volunteer somewhere. I hadn’t had any accrued yet so I went over to Animal Lifeline to play with kittens for the afternoon. It put me in such a good mood. Playing with 6 week old kittens is one of the best things EVER. They’re so cute and cuddly and playful and their claws don’t hurt yet. And then I got to see some of the older cats who were special need animals. Those made me SO SAD and I wanted to take each one home with me. However I don’t think Toby would have appreciated that so much. He was already mad at me when I came home smelling like dogs, I’m sure he would have just FLIPPED if I brought home a baby kitten for him to play with.

Other fun things since November started… let’s see. More yoga – and lots of it. More lunchtime sculpt classes where I can die in 45 minutes – but such a good workout I just can’t stop going. Such a great way to detoxify your body – I love the way I feel when I’m done, even if during the class I feel like crying and throwing up (not necessarily in that order.) Since I’m taking a hiatus from Kosama for a few months (save some money and utilize my free gym and yoga memberships) I’m taking some time to explore some fitness classes and do lots of yoga. I really want to better my practice so going multiple times a week is really helpful. Plus I have an undercover yogi giving me tips whenever he can. And for that – I thank you J

October’s book club was a little different than normal. Rather than having a Wednesday night meeting (per usual) we decided to have it on a Friday night. That way we wouldn’t have to worry about getting home at a decent time for work in the morning – even though the small group of us that went out all had to be up early the next day. We started out with dinner and drinks at Zimm’s and discussed the book – a little bit, mostly it was just chatter – and then headed to Vaudeville Mews for a show. Which was AWESOME. I love live bands – especially bands of friends. These shows were FANTASTIC and I’ll totally go back and see them again. November/December’s book club will be back to normal – with a little something extra. First off – we’ll be reading Orange is the New Black, which I’m SUPER excited about. It’s a true story made into a series on Netflix and I love EVERYTHING about it. The characters, the premise – everything. So if you haven’t watched it yet, DO IT. You won’t regret it. But then on top of the awesome book choice, we’ll also be doing a White Elephant book exchange type thing. It will be fun to see what everyone’s favorite book is – and why they decided to share it with everyone. Hooray for book club fun! And actually – I think this will be the one year anniversary of book club. SO FUN! I love it.

I got to help celebrate some love this weekend – my cousin married his awesome wife on Saturday. Everything about it was perfect – especially the 11 minute ceremony. People were gorgous, the food was wonderful, and the scenery was fantastic. I hadn’t seen a true “first look” before, but seeing my cousin lock eyes with his soon-to-be-wife for the first time as she walked down the aisle made me nearly burst into tears. I LOVE love like that. It’s gorgeous. It was a family filled weekend too – it’s nice to see family more often than just at holidays. A surprisingly fun, exhausting weekend with family was something I needed.

While strengthening my practice, I’ve learned a lot during all this yoga. I feel setting an intention is important and I’m glad we do that at the beginning of each practice. It helps clear your mind of all the miniscule, unimportant details and gets you out of your own head. Sometimes I’ll have a bad day or I won’t be feeling well, but then once I get into class and get concentrating and bettering myself – I feel a million times better. Per my undercover yogi, he says “the things that don’t serve you should not capture your attention.” Basically – don’t waste your moments worrying about those things, instead focus your attention to those that do.

“Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.”

As I grow my practice, this is my mantra. Not only in yoga, but I life as well. Don’t worry about what other people are doing, just worry about yourself. If you’re not happy – change something. Don’t dwell, don’t meddle. Be happy. Do what you need to do to ensure you are happy.

In other happiness notes – I found a list of nice sounds. And to go along with these nice sounds, I made my own list of nice smells.

Nice Sounds: turning book pages, keys of a type writer, skate blades on ice, sleepy voices, crackling fire, train whistles, when you hear a smile in someone’s voice.

Nice Smells: new book smell, a freshly blown out candle, fall, winter, sleep, someone’s scent mixed with a shower, freshly washed laundry.

There’s some happy thoughts for your senses – enjoy the rest of your Monday night!

Love love,

Me.

HashtagDanceBreak

Happy Monday my loves! I hope you’ve made it through the worst day of the week. And I hope now that you’re off work you’re at home cuddled up on the couch, snuggling a glass (or bottle) of wine and watching either crappy TV or something awesome on Netflix. Either way – I’m jealous of you. Here I sit, for another 4.5 hours at the gym, checking people in, taking their money (not really – but I’ll collect it for the club) and tweeting about the shenanigans I hear/see. And trust me – there’s PLENTY. I’m sure if any of you follow me on Twitter, you’ll see plenty of #gymtweets floating about. I can already feel people dropping their weights in the other room. Yay meat heads!

The last week has been kind of crazy – which I’m not too mad about. I’ve done lots of working – nothing new there – and lots of yoga. Except for this past week – which could explain why I was so testy and angry on Saturday – but let’s save that for later on this evening. I tried out a couple new recipes this last week – both delicious. One turned out a little better than the other – but practice makes perfect right? I’ll be the next Suzy Homemaker before you know it! (Side note: I think it should be spelled like Suzie not Suzy, but it’s too late to change it now.) Recipe number one was Turkey and Rice Stuffed Peppers and Baked Sweet Potato Fries – yum. Could have cooked the fries a little less and the peppers a little more, so now we know for next time. The following night I stole a recipe from Iowa Girl Eats (her blog is AMAZING – check it out: www.iowagirleats.com) and made Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage Pasta. This was FANTASTIC. Toss a Honey Crisp apple into ANYTHING and it makes it like a MILLION times better. Write that down. I’ve been reading a lot of food blogs lately – does that make me weird? – and it just makes me want to cook more and more. Food porn may be one of my favorite things. Again – is that weird? Looking at cookbooks, watching the Food Network, reading food blogs – it’s almost as good as reading those trashy romance novels. A little bit different part of the brain for each of those – but you get what I’m saying. I’m currently searching for a couple new recipes to make this week – healthy, easy, delicious. Send some ideas my way – please and thank you!

I like to think of myself as a pretty athletic person – I mean I’ve played sports, run a 20K, kick box, lift weights – all that fun stuff. So when I decided to hit up a Bosu class at the gym, I thought I’d be good to go. I figured it would be a lot of core work (we can always use more core work) with a bosu ball and some weights. I was so wrong it’s not even funny. Actually I’m sure it was really funny – considering I was walking into a STEP CLASS while using a BOSU BALL. Have you ever been to a step class? That shit is hard. Plus – instead of using an actual step, you’re stepping onto a bosu ball. I was pretty positive I was going to snap my ankle in half. I was so sore the next day I have no idea how I made it to spin. And then I got done with spin and my legs were jello. I took Friday off because I felt like I deserved it. So what did I do to reward myself? I wore heels all day and night. 13 hours on heels makes for SUPER sore feet. I was damn near in tears by 10 pm. Beauty is pain, pain is beauty. Blah blah blah. Whatever – it hurt.

Speaking of working out – CONGRATS to all my runner buddies on completing the half or full marathon this weekend. Y’all are crazy – and I apologize for yelling “YOU’RE ALMOST DONE” when you still had some time to run. I know that if I heard that, I’d probably run over and punch whoever said that in the face. Especially if you hear it like halfway through. Not cool. But for realz though – you guys rule. Mentally AND physically I don’t think I could do it. I cannot wrap my mind around running for FIVE HOURS. Running for two and a half hours for the D2D was too much for me. I would rather ride my bike HUNDREDS of miles during RAGBRAI than I would to RUN 26 of them. Run that through your mind and see if it makes sense. I understand it totally doesn’t – but whatevs. You guys are all an inspiration to those of us who can’t or won’t run like you do. Maybe something I do will be an inspiration to you – it’s a fair trade I think.

As I halfway mentioned earlier, I was not a happy camper on Saturday. It all started with my smoke detector beginning to beep at 6:30 am because of a low battery. And then I took out the battery thinking that would shut it up – wrong. Instead, I set off the actual detector – still at 6:30 am. I’m sure my neighbors were real happy with me. To follow that, the devil children who live above me decided to run sprints across the floor, drop a med ball (or each other – I have no clue) and that all began at 7:00. I was grouchy at that point so I left to go do my trade at the yoga studio, and then another 5 hours at the mall. I came home and it was still beeping. After a reassuring phone call that I’d done all I could (apparently it was hard wired so the battery didn’t even MATTER) I relaxed with an Oktoberfest and left for the night. After a conversation about how I hadn’t done any yoga that week – I was “nicely” told that that was probably the reason I was so high strung during my phone conversation the day before. I knew that yoga zen’d me out, but I didn’t realize how it would affect me when I DIDN’T go and get that 45 minutes or an hour to get out of my own head. Even if I just give myself a 15-20 minute practice, it will lift my spirits and get me in the right mind set for where I need to be.

I stumbled across this while surfing Pinterest, and thought about how much I should have done these things while I was stressed out this weekend.

Just think about how much better of a mood I would be in if I took a deep breath and danced it out. Next time. Next time I start to freak out about something I literally CANNOT control – a dance break may help. Or just a smile. These top 10 things will be on my to-do list for whenever I’ve got an off day. Can’t go wrong with a walk or a hug.

And a quick thought before I go – there’s some tweeting that needs to happen – “if the simple things in life don’t put a smile on your face, then you will never be truly happy.” Ain’t that the truth? A little girl walked into the gym tonight with her mom wearing her dress up heels – ladies you know what I’m talking about, the Barbie heels that cut into your feet but clicked around to make you feel like a beautiful grown up – and she looked so sassy, I had to smile at her. Her mom rolled her eyes and laughed a little, but if we all acted with such happiness the way kids do – this place would be SO MUCH BETTER and not full of ass holes. Smile at the simple things – be happy.

Love and memories,

Me.

Aca Believe I Can't Spell "A Cappella"

I'm having a difficult time concentrating tonight. Maybe it's because I just ate a delicious meal and put myself into a carb coma (the best kind of coma... not that there's really a GOOD kind of coma...) or maybe because I'm not in my element to write. Whatever it is - I'm feeling a little ADD. All day I've been debating on whether I should spend tonight with my nose buried in The Scarlet Letter, or whether I should bust out my blog post since it's a little overdue. My Nook is sitting next to me, staring enviously at my laptop while I type away trying to get my concentration back. My laptop is getting a little warm on my lap, but since I started writing I can't stop now! It's like Miley says - we can't stop, we won't stop. Okay - that was pretty awful. Something that isn't awful though - the video that Jimmy Fallon put up from when Miley was at his show. Miley, Jimmy and The Roots sang "We Can't Stop" acapela (a capela, aca pela, aca pella - I have no idea how to spell this word. Aca believe it!) and it's actually really amazing. It's like every part of your body wants you to HATE this song, but then it's still pretty good. Take a look and judge for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2mjvfnUAfyo Oh - and btw - it's a cappella. (Thanks Jimmy Fallon.)

Okay - back to my ADD. The past week or so I've celebrated a birthday (twice), watched the Cyclones lose (still mad about that one), had a grown-up play date, and made up for lost time over some drinks with an old friend. I tried out some sushi at a new sushi/hibachi place in Ankeny - I'll for SURE be going back - and found a new birthday song that's really hard to get out of your head. I'll be honest though - I have no idea what I ordered, so I can't even rate it with an OH EM GEE rating. All I remember is that it was not the best, but way above the worst. Downside - it's all the way in Ankeny, and if they do sake bombs as freely as Sakari does, I'll be needing a place to crash. The grown-up play date was AWESOME - and long overdue. We spent the first hour and a half of the morning at Starbucks (duh) and discussed everything from weddings to babies to budgets to the "good ol' days." I realize that we are 26 but sometimes the good ol' days are fun to reminisce. After acting all adult-esque (NOT to be confused with adulteROUS - very different things) we headed off to the mall to window shop. That is so hard to do, especially when window shopping with another compulsive shopper like myself. After hitting up Target, that's where we spent the real money. On snacks. A one dolla no holla box of Whales (cheaper version of Goldfish) and a bag of AnimalCrackers, we headed back to my house for some homemade crockpot chili (noms) and It's Always Sunny. Good times.

An impromptu get together on Tuesday night made Wednesday DRAG, but it was totes worth it. (Totes is one of the top 10 words people find most annoying on the internet. In case you were wondering.) After sharing a bottle of wine and cracking open a couple beers, I told stories and heard stories that were cracking me up. So much fun to catch up and laugh at each other's shenanigans. I think my favorite part of the discussion was the lunch menu. After a sad attempt and poor planning on my part, my lunch the other day was cubed cheese, shredded chicken, and hard boiled eggs - covered in French dressing, with a spoon full of peanut butter on the side. Not to be compared with tuna and carrots with hummus. Sometimes it's hard to be an adult.

Speaking of hard to be an adult - what happens after you finish a show on Netflix? It feels like the rest of my life is just - blah. Like I have nothing to look forward to. Does that mean I have far too much time invested in someone else's "life?" I mean - Nip/Tuck is obviously super legit and "real life" but after I watched the series finale yesterday, I was so let down. Now what do I do? Start a new show, only to be let down in another 100 episodes?? Netflix is mean. And don't even get me started on Glee. I'm clearly too wrapped up in these characters lives that it affects me WAY more than it should. Tonight's episode is called "The Quarterback" and is a tribute episode to Cory Monteith (RIP). Well, stupid me - I watched the preview to the episode (twice) and listened to the songs that would be sang in the episode. I barely made it through those things without bawling my eyes out - how am I supposed to get through the entire episode?! The answer to that: watching it alone the day after it's on so you can sit in the dark and cry your face off without anyone (except your cat) to judge you. That's my plan for tomorrow night. Please don't get offended if I don't respond to texts/emails/phone calls/Facebook messages/tweets for a little while because I will probably be either a) gearing myself up for my own impending meltdown, or b) currently in the process of losing my shit. So be prepared.

Real fast before I close out for the night and week - I've hit up two spin classes in the last week. I haven't taken a spin class for MONTHS and my vagina knows it. TMI? Sorry about that. Let me rephrase. My pelvic bones know that. I love spin but I hate how sore you are for like three days after your 45 minute class. Ouchie wa wa. Since I'll be freezing my Kosama membership for a few months (a grown up decision) I'll be spending my time participating in regular workouts I write up myself, group fitness classes, and plenty of yoga. I think that will put me in a good place to be in a bikini in January. Hopefully. Hawaii - here I come! (More on vacations to come - not today. But keep your eyes peeled kids.)

Before each yoga practice, our instructor always tells us to set an intention. That could be something as simple as making sure you're present in class, going deeper in a pose, or maybe something much more meaningful to you. Maybe you could be nailing that crow pose for someone else, or maybe it's not about yoga at all. Maybe it's about your presence in your practice. I think setting an intention is something that shouldn't just be reserved for your yoga practice. I think it can definitely be brought out into real life, YOUR life.

All good things to remember - set an intention for the day and go with it. Be thankful. And ask someone you love - "what are YOU thankful for today?"

 

Regret nothing, and take chances. "Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage. 20 seconds of embarrassing bravery."

 

Namaste.



Sorry about the soap box incident... CHOOSE Happiness

Mark this day down – it’s the second time I’ve made an “outline” for what I want to write. Okay fine – I had a few extra minutes at work today that I could jot down my ideas. Just to make sure I didn’t forget any awesomeness from the last week! Now where should I start…

Let’s begin with book club/Banned Books Week – two of my most FAVORITE things. I love Banned Books Week because it reminds me about how I should have faith in (most) people. Some people are anti-imagination which irritates me – but for the most part, people are great. They know a good book when they read one and love to pass it along to others. Other people however – well, they just suck. I wish I had my notes sitting in front of me from the statistics of banned/challenged books in the last 10 years. The numbers were OUTRAGEOUS. Some books I could MAYBE understand, because they are EXTREMELY graphic. HOWEVER. When you challenge/ban something as AMAZING and well-written as I Know Why  the Caged Bird Sings, The Catcher in the Rye, or Charlotte’s Web – now you’ve got some issues. Why would you want someone to read something “blasphemous” like Charlotte’s Web? Or maybe the better question should be – why WOULDN’T you want your child to read something with great examples of friendship and trust? Because you’re an ass hole – that’s why. Imagination is a GOOD thing. People who had ass hole parents who wouldn’t let them read Charlotte’s Web because animals were talking are now the ass holes that are trying to get books like Harry Potter banned because you couldn’t possibly IMAGINE a world where witchcraft exists. Maybe it doesn’t exist – but open your eyes and your MIND and just think about it. And don’t be a dick.

Let me step off my soap box and get back to my other favorite thing – book club. This month was a little bit different than before – we met at Plain Talk Books and Coffee (one of my favorite book stores) for our meeting and sat outside on their patio. We met across the street at The Rooftop for some dinner and drink before we headed over to Plain Talk for one of the BEST meetings we’ve had. AWESOME discussion, people, and food. I had so much fun. I think (I hope) everyone else who attended had a great time too. On pace with BBW (Banned Books Week – not Buffalo Wild Wings, although that sounds awesome right about now…) we decided that our next book be one from the banned/challenged list. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is the winner for October’s book club – and possibly a movie night with The Scarlet Letter and Easy A to follow…

I stepped out of my Power Life Yoga comfort zone, and attended an hour and a half class at Harmony Yoga and Wellness in the Drake neighborhood. I was a little skeptical at first – an hour and a half class at a studio I wasn’t familiar with… however I got to enjoy a brunette yoga date while I was there. It’s contagious I tell you. Once you start doing yoga and fall in love with it, tell your friends – it’s a catchy thing. Something great to share for sure. Anyway – that class was HARD. It wasn’t the flow I’m used to, a lot more balance work, and poses I’d never even heard of. But it was a great change – I wasn’t a huge fan of the shavasana, mostly because the sounds during our relaxation period sounded like tornado sirens and it made it hard for me to relax. But I liked the change of scenery and will probably head back over to Harmony for a restorative session in the future.

I went for a run yesterday morning. That was one of the worst ideas I’ve had in a while. Keep in mind – the last time I ran (not on the elliptical) was the Dam to Dam. Which was June 1^st. What in the actual bleep. Something crawled up my ass and I was all like “I’m going to be super productive today. First I’m going to Gray’s Lake to run, then I’m going to yoga at 11:30, then I’m going to clean and do laundry and then I’ll make some dinner and go to bed early.” Yeah. About that. Who did I really think I was – that’s way too much to do on the Sabbath day. I mean – I don’t really celebrate or follow through with Sabbath-ing, Sunday usually is my day to get stuff done. So I started some laundry and headed out to Gray’s Lake for a run. It felt good. When I started. And then I realized the coffee and oatmeal I’d eaten at 8:00 wasn’t sitting too well. So I quickened my pace to get my run done, and the wind picked up. I could hear my labored breathing over Pitch Perfect blaring through my headphones. My intention was to run two laps. One lap happened. My foot hurt, my stomach bothered me, and it was windy. All excuses, I know. But a poor excuse is better than no excuse right? My mom always told me that. So I’m sure it’s true. But I did it. It may not have been pretty, but it happened. And then I see on Facebook that one of my friends “took a wrong turn and ended up running 20 miles!” and another one is damn near to her marathon. I feel like a pansy. Two miles is plenty for me. It’s better than nothing.

I subscribe to My Yoga Online and was rolling through some different articles on the website. One specifically caught my eye – mostly because of the wording: “9 Ways to Choose Happiness.” Different ways to CHOOSE happiness. It seems like such an easy thing. But if you think about it, how many UNhappy people do you see walking around this place? MILLIONS. And it’s all because they simply don’t CHOOSE to be happy. There are so many people who have bad things happen to them, and still choose to be happy. It may be hard to do at first, but come on – wouldn’t you rather be happy than a grumpy bitch? I sure would. If you’d like to read the article, here’s the link. It’s a great article – and couldn’t we all use a little more happiness in our lives?

http://www.myyogaonline.com/healthy-living/personal-development/9-ways-to-choose-happiness

I’m borrowing this week’s quote from Miss Marathon 2013. Such a bad ass – going from not running more than necessary (during soccer games) to running a half marathon on a whim (or from a book club choice – read Wild by Cheryl Strayed, you won’t regret it. Maybe it will make you run a marathon) to training and running a full marathon less than a year later. I’m impressed. Going from running up and down a soccer field to running 26.2 miles. It’s definitely not for me – but damn. Go girl. She shared a quote from Carl Sagan the other day that’s not unique to her situation, but definitely paves the way for anyone working toward a goal. Or maybe you don’t even know what you’re working toward.

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

Maybe you don’t know what you want, or what you want to do with your life. I don’t. I say that every day. I wish I knew what I wanted to be when I grow up. But until I know, I’m just going to live in the moment. Something is waiting for me to become known. I can’t wait until I figure out what that is.

Spend some time tonight and just be. You’ll be glad you did.

Namaste,

S

Wanderlust

I was doing so well with my weekly or bi-weekly posts – and then I fell off the face of the blog-world. I’ve definitely been keeping busy, but I’ve also spent some time alone. Sometimes that’s all you need. Sometimes you need a little alone time to clear your head and get back into life. It’s been an interesting few weeks – with lots of different things happening. Celebrating life, mourning death, and living in the moment. So many different emotions, but such a good feeling in the end.

I found my inner “hippie” a couple weeks ago at a yoga practice. This was different from my normal practice – seeing as it was out in the country on an organic farm. It was a small group of yogis, but I felt very comfortable there. After hanging around for an hour or so, we began our practice. I ended up with a few bug bites, but I also ended with a clear and open mind. It was pretty nice to be out of “town” where I could see the stars, hear nature everywhere, and just BE. After we said our “Namaste” we enjoyed some organically grown food and some wine from the local winery. I’ve always loved the busyness of the city, but it’s kind of nice to be out where no one else is. Close enough where I can easily get to people, but far enough away that I don’t get bothered by them. The whole time I was out on the farm, I felt like Jennifer Aniston from Wanderlust. (If you haven’t seen the movie – you should. It’s pretty hilarious. Plus – Paul Rudd is in it and who doesn’t love Paul Rudd?) Anyway – we show up and there’s incense burning around the outside of the house, there’s a hammock in the yard, and a man with dreadlocks greeting us with a huge smile and a hug. I felt so out of my element – it was great. The people there were so REAL – I hope that’s something that will rub off on me. The realness of the place and the people, I want to be that REAL.

And after great, calming nights like that of yoga, I have the occasional practice where I feel like I’m dying. That happened last Friday. It was a free class at a studio I hadn’t yet been to. I thought I would try it out – there’s no harm in that right? Plus I have a Groupon for 10 sessions that I hadn’t used yet, so maybe I should try one out for free before I use those. Well let’s just talk about how it was hot when we walked in, and once the class was fairly full – the heat lamps were turned off. It was SO HOT in there from body heat alone. We went through an awesome flow – hit so many poses – and attempted a Side Crow. Not quite as successful as my regular Crow, but it was a good try. (Side note: whenever I say Crow it makes me think of the Brandon Lee and I get a little freaked out. That movie is kinda freaky.) It was nice to switch up my practice a little bit, and I definitely got my ass kicked. Once we were done, there was a free keg of 312 (awesome) and some great conversation with a different dynamic of people than I’m used to at PLY. It’s good for me. Broadening my horizons is ALWAYS a good thing.

To follow that kick ass workout, we headed to Exile Brewing to drink FOR FREE with my German beer mug. Fantastic. Those bad boys are aggressive – the mug not the beer – and I loved trying the new Oktoberfest. (Speaking of which – Oktoberfest is just around the corner… so excited.) And in typical German beer fashion, I came home and fell asleep – on my couch. I woke up at 3:00 in the morning with the TV still on – I have been trying to finish up Nip/Tuck. I crawled back into bed for another few hours and then headed to the Farmer’s Market in the morning for a burrito and some Java Joe’s Coffee. Weekends like that are some of my favorite.

I made a trip to Ames on a party bus for the Iowa/Iowa State game – boo Hawks – and spent some time with my favorite people. As it turns out – I’m not as good at tailgating as I used to be. Or maybe I’m better at it – you choose. I’ve celebrated love with friends getting married, friends getting new jobs, and just friendship in general. I’m in a good place with most things and am content with what that means.

And while I have decided to forego the yoga teacher training (for now), I will be all-supporting for someone else going through it for the next two months. One night a week, and one full Saturday full of yoga and learning – I’m really excited for the end result. Finding something that opens you up and frees your mind is something that I hope everyone finds.

“Dare to be free, dare to go as far as your thought leads, and dare to carry that out in your life.”
–        Swami Vivekananda

Dare to do what you want to do, even if it’s something you never thought you’d do. Try something new – because you never know, it could change your life.

Be who you are and just do you. Because as Abraham Hicks says: “People will love you. People will hate you. And none of it will have anything to do with you.” So do you, be you, and ignore anyone who can’t handle that.

Be you.

S

Cheesecake and Contentment - A Recipe for Success

As I begin week four of my new job, I can’t help but smile. I got a great workout in this morning, it felt like fall when I walked outside, and I got a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks (they’re back!) on my way in. I went to bed with my laundry put away, the floor vacuumed, and the scent of freshly blown out candles wafting around my apartment. I’d been enjoying my last couple weeks since my last post, with lots of yoga, delicious food, and time with friends. As I ease into September, it finally feels like I know what I’m doing. 2012 sucked, 2013 has been decent, and I’m really looking forward to what 2014 brings.

Like I said before – I’ve spent a lot of time in yoga the past few weeks. I’ve enjoyed classes at Gray’s Lake and I’ve sweat it out in Lululemon’s Showroom. But mostly, I’ve fallen in love with the classes, people, and ideals at Power Life Yoga. So much so – that I’ve worked out a work trade with them. Three hours of work at week, and free yoga classes to follow. It’s been such an amazing experience for me that I’ve also thought about teacher training. I’m still throwing it around my mind… because I may almost rather enjoy the classes without having to worry about what to teach next. I’ve got some time to figure it out though. No matter what I decide though, I’ll be forever a yogi.

I celebrated Restaurant Week in Des Moines with some of my favorites – with a trip to Fleming’s. Oh em gee. So delicious. If it weren’t so expensive, I’d want to be there at LEAST once a month. The atmosphere is awesome and the wine is even AWESOMER (yeah – awesomer for sure). Their cheesecake is seriously amazing too. So for sure – go get some of that. It’s a very close tie in cheesecake between Fleming’s and Sakari. Interesting choice between places eh? Then this past week, I got invited to help celebrate promotions with some friends and they decided to go to 801 Grand Steakhouse. And when I say oh em gee about Fleming’s, I REALLY mean OH EM GEE about 801. I had some yummy Moscato (because you can’t go wrong there) and tried some Carpaccio – I didn’t know what it was till I tried it. Super tasty though – I’ll eat that again. Then I had a giant Caesar salad which I accidentally said “sure” when they asked if I wanted sardines on it. So those little guys got pushed off to the side. But THEN I got to the rest of the meal. Garlic mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus with hollandaise sauce, and pistachio encrusted lamb chops. Wow wow wow. My mouth is watering again just THINKING about the deliciousness of this meal. And to top off the meal, I shared a slice of cheesecake with raspberries drizzled all over it. I can’t even handle how yummy it all was. After eating that entire meal all I wanted to do was sleep. And so I did. I was so full. But it was SO worth it.

I just realized how much I just wrote about food. I love food. So much.

And maybe one of the best parts about this past week – FOOTBALL!! Saturday was the season opener for state schools and it was fantastic reading everyone’s statuses and seeing their tailgating pictures. I was so jealous. I miss college. And all I have to show for it is a degree I don’t use and student loans I’ll be paying off till I retire. But it was so fun. And congrats Panthers on your win – I’d rather you win than two weeks from now during the Iowa/Iowa State game and the stupid Hawkeyes pull a win out their asses. Because then those fools will not shut UP about it. Such poor winners. But even worse losers. All right – enough with that… I know Cyclone fans can be real dicks too. Just not quite as bad J

I had a little epiphany while practicing a week or so ago. We were in savasana (corpse pose) at the end of class one Saturday morning, and our instructor kept talking about santosha. Santosha means “contentment” and “satisfaction.” Basically – doing whatever you need to be content in life. It really settled deep within my mind. Perfection is so completely unattainable – but contentment can happen so easily. You don’t have to lead a PERFECT life. You can be satisfied and content with what you have.

Which leads me to my next thought: church. I went to church growing up, but then never really made it back. I don’t necessarily say I’m a non-religious person, but more spiritual. I don’t go to church, but I think I have found my “church.” Yoga has helped clear my mind, bring new meaning to things I haven’t thought about before, and opened my eyes. I come out of class with a more focused look at what’s happening in my life and where I want to go from here. What I want to do next. I love that feeling.

“Be daring. Be different. Be impractical. Be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.”

– Cecil Beaton

I’ve found my church. My sanctuary may not have a cross or a preacher, but I do come out of it feeling the same way. I’ve got a clear focus, an open mind, and a feeling in my heart that I’m doing life RIGHT.

Namaste.

S

Positively Positive

Guys. I’ve been SO BAD at blogging lately. I’m not impressed with myself. Like at all. I don’t want to make up excuses… but I’ve been REALLY BUSY doing REALLY AWESOME THINGS. I’ve also been doing a lot of working… but I really shouldn’t make up excuses. It’s hard for me to sum up the last month – yeah… it’s really been that long – in a blog entry… especially since I get wordy as is. I’ll just recap the great stuff I’ve been up to.

Since my last posting on July 15^th… here’s what’s happened. (That's SO LONG AGO)

·         Ate my weight in carbs at the Italian Festival

·         Road-tripped to Minnesota to see NKOTB, Boyz II Men, and 98 Degrees in concert

·         Attended and LOVED a couple Yoga In the Glen get-togethers

·         Relaxed for some Yoga in the Park at Gray’s Lake

·         Got my butt kicked at some Lululemon yoga events

o   **Sidenote: I haven’t ONLY been doing yoga the last month, although there’s plenty of it

·         Ate lots of sushi – good and bad

·         Got recruited for a new job (and accepted!)

·         Took a couple days off just for ME

·         Attended a Chive meet up and people watched my ASS off (go to chive.com and see what I mean)

I’ve had lots of positives happening in my life lately and it makes me smile. I know there will be plenty of negatives to follow, because that’s how life goes. What goes up, must come down. But at this point – I’m prepared for it. I have a great support system through my friends and family and so far they’ve backed me on everything I’ve done. That makes it much easier for me to be happy and stay positive.

I’ve been doing my share of creepin on the Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/every other annoying form of social media lately, and I really like the positivity I see. Sure – there’s plenty of negativity and plenty to annoy the shit out of me. I’m trying really hard to not let it get to me – because obviously it’s their life and really has ZERO EFFECT on me so it SHOULDN’T bother me – but sometimes it just happens. Let me get back on track… positivity. Seriously though – I love what I see. And sometimes it’s the little things – like someone getting their Starbucks paid for by the person ahead of them in line. And sometimes it’s the bigger things – like getting a “thinking of you” gift from a friend because of something major happening in your life. Maybe it’s all the yoga I’ve been doing, but I feel like I’ve been happier, calmer and more forgiving lately. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve just had a positive outlook on life because my life has been looking up. Maybe by the time 2014 rolls around, I’ll finally have my shit together. And maybe not. But I’m positive and hopeful about it.

It makes me happy when I see other people happy. I like when people are happy because they aced their first test of the semester. Or when they got a new pair of running shoes that helped them run a million miles that week. I like when I see people getting engaged, having babies, buying homes/cars/pets. I like all that positivity. Sure it can be annoying – but they’re positive life events out in the open for others to see as well.

I didn’t realize this was going to get into a motivational post about positivity… but here you have it. I’m POSITIVE I will get back on board with my posts – and will continue to tell you about the awesome and not-so-awesome things I’ve been doing. Maybe I’ll bore you with the icky sushi I ate – or excite you with the fact that I can do the Crow Pose in yoga. Or maybe vice versa? But I am POSITIVE that I will get into your head at some point and make you think.

A couple little words of wisdom were found on a sign (that I have on hold at Francesca’s and am picking up tomorrow) that really tie in with my positivity jargon I’m using tonight. So here you have it:

“Live by the sun, love by the moon.”

A rotation of happiness – live and love continuously, all day – every day. For the rest of your days. If this is what yoga does to my mind and soul, then I’m going to forever be a yogi. I love this.

Live, laugh, love –

S