Ribbit and Rubies.

Bring in Spring with March! And Olivia really is a princess.

Such a smile

Nessa found a new friend!

Snootchie Bootchies.

I just saw a commercial for Comic Book Men, and it reminded me of a post I wanted to do a few weeks ago. (PS. If you like Kevin Smith, and you like the show Pawn Stars, I suggest watching Comic Book Men, its a great combo of both).

I find great amusement with Kevin Smith, I listen to his smodcasts, I watch his movies, I read his books, I've even had the joy of seeing a Q&A show of his. So when the theater in town was using when of their theaters to show a live stream of smodcast/Q&A, I knew I wanted to go. It's really weird considering it doesn't seem like something they would hold here. But they did, and I'm so glad we went. It was hilarious. I haven't laughed that much in a theater in awhile.

The only downside was that it didn't start til 8:30, not that thats the issue, but that he was on the west coast. So it was to last for a full three hours, on a week night. I was surprised at the amount of people that actually showed up. Mostly all guys, not surprising, and it definitely smelled like a Kevin Smith crowd. It rather smelled like high school actually. It was oddly reminiscent. But it was happy. Lots of laughing. Lots of smart jokes. Lots of dumb jokes. And we did end up leaving early, a little before 11, but it was well well worth it.

Let me know.....

Ok, apparently this is up for debate. Is it a midwestern habit to put syrup on oatmeal? I have people on the coasts that have never heard of such a thing…. Do you put syrup on yours, or at least heard of it?

Valentine's Recap.

Our Valentine's this year was pretty spanned out over a few days. Well. Really we just ate a lot over the week and wanted something to blame it on.

The first event was a Valentines Pilates class at NRG. I think Tim was a bit tentative considering he's not exactly Mr. Pilates, but Jack and Nicky did a great job of making it easy for everyone. We did a bunch of different partner stuff for the actual class, but afterwards was the chocolate and wine tasting. I think they know how to cater to their audience! ;-) It was a lot of fun though, between a lot of silly pilates and super tasty chocolate, it was a good time for sure. I'm not even a wine fan, but the chocolate cherry wine wasn't anything to scoff at!

Next was Art House Cafe's Pop Up restaurant, Chao. It was their second Asian themed pop up, but the first one we've attended, and also the first one we've attended at the actual cafe. The atmosphere was good, as was the DJ they had playing, although I totally would have wanted him to play more (somehow I think we were there during the long break). But the food was a little lack luster. Most of the courses were good for what they were, but nothing extravagant. Also, everything involved a lot of rice. Produce was pretty much non existent. I just needed a little something fresh and not fried or rice. Or in dessert, BOTH fried and rice. I'm really not even sure what he was thinking. See above. A total cluster...Some sort of fried rice that was dry and flavorless, pomegranate, blue jello, and a few lychee pieces. Very very confusing....

The day before Valentine's Day, I played baker and made my parents some tasty treats. Dad got a lemon cake that was supposed to be pink, but a lack of enough red food coloring made for a very awkward flash tone cake. At least it still tasted like lemon? And Mom got a delivery of handmade chocolate covered strawberries. I gotta say, usually they look a lot more lumpy than this.....

On the actual day, we hit up Newton's for a five course dinner. And because I feel like that night already wasted too many precious hours of my life (3.5 hours is too long on a week night) I will keep this short. Course one was a beet and goat cheese salad. I learned, I do not like beets. They taste like dirt. Second course was one shrimp, one oyster, and a dice sized piece of salmon. Third was a slice of pork and a yellow pepper. Fourth, this teepee of lamb and mashed potatoes. It looks pretty, and by this time I was so hungry that I didn't really taste anything as I shoveled it in my mouth.
Last was a "innovative" dessert. That was a take on the cherry bomb shot, only made in jello form? With some ice cream. It was kind of weird, not horrible, but to me, Valentines Day is for chocolate!

I'll admit, we sat there from 7 to 10:30 and yet, afterwards, we will picked up a pizza from DoJo because we were still hungry. Not the best experience.....maybe we'll learn? There was a highlight though, the couple next to us was having quite the fight. They kept the volume down, but the content of their conversation and the tone of it were hilariously pissed off. And I quote, "People that call you a ho, would call me a pimp" Enough said.

And to close out, three of the furry loves of my life all snuggling together. I'm Pandora is in the bathroom, wrestling with the shower curtain....

Ill teach you to go bendy bendy!

Well. I pulled the trigger. July 2012. Two week intensive with James Miller. Yoga will be bleeding out my eyeballs, but I WILL be certified.

More to come!

Gooonnnnggggg.

I'll admit, its been far too long since I've gone to yoga. I have just gotten so sick of the "fauxga" that this town has to offer me. I could only do the mediocre practices for so long. I've been missing it and craving it though. And my body has been screaming for it for a few weeks now.

So today, when I got the chance to take a workshop, I jumped on it. Especially when it was being led by the teacher that I had been doing some research on last summer in taking my certification courses with. But his intensive landed in the middle of my Africa trip, and with athletic season, the 9 month course just wasn't really an option. Not so much the timing of the weekends, but the fact that they are held two hours away and I would be doing a massive amount of driving.

ANYWAYS. When I heard he was the teacher, I was itching to see if I would even mesh with him. There are plenty of instructors that you just know, right away, that there is no way you could spend 200 hours of instruction with them. Especially in such a close contact activity of yoga practice. And if you tried, forget zen, you would end up punching them in the face.

But the workshop was great. I had a little ADD problem in the beginning, it having been awhile since I actually had to focus and be still. Not to mention the screaming sensation from my shoulder girdle and chest that I got. Apparently lifting weights doesn't do much to open the heart center? ;-)

We ended the practice with gong meditation. Now, I know, total eye roll. How much more hippie can you get? I thought the same thing, I was just ready to chill in savasana until class was over. But with the first strike, and the vibrations that just hit you. I was sold. I have no idea how long we laid there. 3 minutes or 30. But I was so relaxed and zen that I could have laid there all day, not a single muscle twitching and letting those vibrations just wash over and relax me even more. *sigh*

But besides the amazing feeling I walked out with physically, I was also rereminded how much I want to get trained. Know more, be able to explain more, and be better. And I think James might just be the guy to do it. His fiancee was his demonstrator and if he taught her to do that, I think he has the right idea going. Plus his style and overall personality were a good fit. I like him. I could learn from him without getting frustrated. He has another intensive this July. I think I have a little bit of looking into that to do….. :-)

Silly me.

I have been running for five years now. Mind you, on a treadmill, not outside. I like being able to stop whenever I want, watching trashy reality tv on tivo, and running year round despite the weather. Running outside seems like a mind boggle to me.

I just signed up for a 5k in March. I do a 5k every day inside. More like 3 or 4 5ks. Why am I so terrified?!

A rollercoaster of an NLXF week.

I gotta say, the beginning of this week's NLXF is a lot better than last week. I have been meaning to write a whole post about my addiction and life orienting NLXF, but its still in the works. Alas, you'll just have to deal with my highs and lows of last week.

Monday-
5:30am class had pissed off Ryan so he was in a horrible mood. We suffered for it, but it was only slightly.
Second to last burn out set of the day, I was throwing a right roundhouse and completely rolled my ankle. Not just a little bit, but so far over that I couldn't balance on it on the hop into the roundhouse and just totally crumpled to the ground. Pain I can deal with, the fear of having to take a few days off of class is NOT acceptable.

Tuesday-
Ankle was weak and wobbly, but good enough to work on. 5:30 had pissed off Ryan so much again that there was no stretch, no warm up, straight into the work out. And I thought I was going to die. It was walk in at 6:30 in the morning, completely cold body and into suicide squats. I was pissed. Plus his mood was so filled with angst and vindictiveness that my anger just grew the whole class. And I sure wasn't the only one. People were livid.

Thursday-
Ryan was finally back to himself.
I had quite the "clouds opening up" philosophical moment that lasted the whole class. A section of the boot camp was racing steps. And I know that I focus so hard on them that it has a tendency to slow me down. I know this because when I let go of my brain and just go, I can fly a lot faster through them. Its like I think the step is going to jump out from under me or I am going to miss it or something. At the one moment, it just ran through my brain, "The step will always be there. The step will never change" You'd think I was in the asylum as much as I was chanting that in my head through class. And even the next day, going through bags, the bag will always be there. Trust that it will, and hit it harder.

Friday-
Before class even started, I had the joy of hearing a Gretta story revolving around her desire to be body slammed by Creed. Even if it was in punishment for telling future classes about the workout. She might be the single most entertaining source possible at 6am. Her completely out there in the open crushes on both Creed and Ryan and how they make her "swoon" is enough to make anyone laugh. Not to mention the looks on her face when Ryan tells us to watch his hips (a very happy look) or when he announces Burpee pyramids (this one is usually accompanied by silent profanities).

For some reason, I had done a total 180 since Monday and I was just able to go to town during the Gauntlet. I killed it. I had more power in both hits and kicks than I have in a long time. Creed called me out by name four times in an hour, with an "atta baby" attached to each one. Its his catch phrase, but that many. I knew it wasn't one of those faux encouragements. Even with a less than stellar Week 5 (of this particular session, not overall) weigh in, I was feeling pretty good.

Only growing my ego more when I walked in for my second class of the day at 9:15, and Creed told me before we walked into class, "Clare, you're an animal. No, you are, and you know why." Which then proceeded into yet another bag slaughter session.

Beast mode. Success. Now just to buckle down this carb and sugar intake in the next five weeks. For some reason, my self control the past few weeks has been lower than it has in years. I've gained seven pounds since New Years. And that better stop!

February Feelin Fine!

February has arrived (Mother Nature clearly hasn't noticed though)!

Mulan and her Dragon....February and Chinese New Year go hand and hand!

Sher-cat Holmes

Tim got the first half of his Christmas club this weekend (an assorted beer package) and the investigative foursome decided to help him open up the box.