Words

When I was in college, I had favorite words (like many of my teammates). My list of favorite words were as follows:

elephants

walk and shake

ball hunt

one-and-done (it's a word)

These words meant that the hard stuff was over and I had survived another workout or practice. Whether it was the end of a dynamic warm-up with my aging and achy body last year ('elephants')...or the end of a long practice ('ball hunt') ...or the last rep of the 100's (one-and-done), these words were always my favorite.

However, since I have stopped working out like I used to and have switched to bikram I now get very excited for words like:

savasana (a pose in yoga where lie on your back to rest)

namaste

cold towels

It's funny how things change so quickly. I used to be all about working out and running and lifting but I am thoroughly enjoying my new set of words to go with my new choice of working out. For now, we will see how long this new passion for yoga lasts and if I will return to the old standby- a pair of sock, sneakers and a jog (with a soft 'j').

Changing my life: one pose at a time

On January 17th I started Bikram yoga again. I have done it at a few different times in my life... starting with 6am classes with Kearny at Takoma Park Bikram in 2007(hah!) and now I am practicing at Bikram Annapolis. After my Christmas break and trip to Charleston filled with lots of good food and me in a boot, unable to do anything, I needed something good to get me back in shape and detox my body for a bit.

Enter: Bikram yoga.

The first few classes were a bit rough- I was dizzy, tired and dehydrated, but lately things have been changing. Yesterday I got new shorts at Lululemon to wear in class and I put on my leopard sports bra and things were looking up. My roomie Lizzie came with me to class too so I was extra excited to have a yoga friend. Also today, I think I did my best ever Locust Pose (salabhasana) and Standing Boat Pose (Dandayamana-Dhanuransana).... if you've never seen them they look like this:


this is locust pose


this is standing boat pose

I was really excited because I have never gotten my feet as high as I got them today in locust pose and I held the boat pose for a long time and even got a "good job" from the teacher. Anyway, that was the most exciting thing that has happened in my weekend- pretty crazy huh? I think one day...if I save up a ton of money and have nothing to do, I might become a Bikram yoga teacher. I love the sweating and wearing spandex and the 105 degree room in the middle of winter. I definitely recommend trying it!!

Vegas Baby!

Last weekend I went to Vegas and had a blast. Partied a little. Laxed a little. Ate good food. But I have to say that for someone with (self-diagnosed) ADD it is complete overstimulation on all fronts......

The flashing lights on everything.
The drunk people doing crazy stuff everywhere 24/7.
The video billboards everywhere.
The casinos with their crazy themes (volcanos, water shows, pirate ships etc).
The DJ's playing music in every language imaginable.
The people at the craps table going nuts while I'm trying to count the numbers on my cards during black jack to see if I have 21.
Beatles love and the 20 different people doing 20 completely different things.
The bartenders swinging above the bar on tire swings.
Even the candy store had so many colors and choices and candies I didn't even know what to do with myself (they even had white chocolate covered gummie bears).

So Vegas wore me out. I loved it but after 3 days I was 100% ready to get back to real life. When they say "what happens in vegas stays in Vegas"....well that would be my voice. I left my voice in Vegas and it has yet to return to full strength. In short, I will leave this post with a photo that helps to explain the type of shenanigans I got into which resulted in a total destruction of my vocal chords.



Final thought: How do people live there and stay alive?

On the Road Again...

VS.



Something just happened that was so monumental that I just HAD to blog about it.

I saved $100 switching my car insurance to Progressive.

Crazy. I know. And what is also crazy is that my car insurance was high enough that I could save $100 and still have money to pay out, haha.
Yes, I have had a few accidents in my day, but I am hoping that those days are behind me.
Yes, it is true that you can name your price with Progressive- although I may have signed away my life with this new policy.
Yes, I am actually wondering right now why I did not name a lower price just to see how low it will go. I don't exactly know why I settled on the price that I did. Perhaps I will be writing back soon that I saved even more money...but for now, if you are paying too much for car insurance, visit www.progressive.com and name your price.

Das Boot

Yet again I find myself avoiding work. I swear I love what I am studying but I do need a good amount of study breaks to get me through a full day of academic writing.

I decided I would write about the recent addition to my wardrobe. The Boot (aka das boot)


I'm in Charleston with Ram (he already won Boyfriend of the Year 2010 and he is the frontrunner for BOY2011) and when I got here we got ambitious and went for a run together. I felt great after the run so the next day I dabbled in the fitness room at his condo and ellipticalled for a bit. Which, may I add, elliptical is a non-impact workout that places little stress on the body so when I couldn;t walk the next day I was kind of surprised. Thankfully, although this was 2 days before NYE my foot injury only hurt when I walked flat footed but felt fine when I was on the balls on my feet- so I was able to wear my 4 inch nude pumps pain free.


Unfortunately 2 days later I really couldn't walk. Went to a foot doc. Got an xray. Found out I have a stress reaction (not too serious) and tendonitis in my peronaeus brevis so I got booted. The boot makes it hurt less but it's awkward and kinda sucks. The only positive in this whole situation is that I get to wear spandex everyday because they are easy to wear with a boot and still pretty fashionable. So for the next 2 weeks I am in tunics and spandys. Sawwie I'm not sawwie.