happy weekend

Happy Friday, friends! Big weekend plans? Our office is closed today so I'm enjoying an extended weekend, which is nice because it's full of activity.

Tomorrow I'm driving down to Le Sueur to meet up with my oldest friend Emily to go get fitted for a bridesmaid dress for her upcoming nuptials. I consider it a small victory that I've dodged the wedding bullet for 28 years and I couldn't be happier that I'm finally taking one for Em.

Sunday is of course Easter and that means ham and fam. There will likely be some running and yoga in there, too.

Let's love some links! 

• Did you do Easter egg hunts as a kid? I so miss biting off hollow chocolate bunny ears. And jelly beans!  Anyway, here are some tips about how to create a "healthier" Easter basket.

• This made me laugh. 

source

• This website will tell you how much your bad habits are costing you monetarily. Happily, only one applies to me (you can guess which one) but I don't plan on giving it up for the alleged $948 it's costing me per year. 


• Kara Goucher talks Boston Marathon with David Wiley of Runner's World. Why is she so awesome? Why aren't we best friends?  


• And finally, my brother went down to Mexico last week and I found this awesome video of him dancing.*

*not actually my brother, but I feel like this is something he would totally do. 

does this make me a yogi?

1. I now own pants from lululemon. This actually just makes me hate myself BUT I should note that I bought them with a gift card. After wearing them to one class (and also out for brunch), I have three thoughts:

• Lululemon Wunder Unders really do make your butt look amazing, whether you have an amazing butt or not.


• Who pays this much for pants? Are they made with unicorn fur?


• I still prefer my Target long-johns. 

2. I spent $65 on a yogitoes towel. Let me explain. I had just gotten out of a class where the temperature got up to 106 degrees. (No, it was not a hot yoga class.) I was so delusional and dehydrated that when I walked out into the cool lobby, I became euphoric. And then I saw this:

this pattern had me hello

So naturally I bought it. And one other one. (It was 106 degrees, people!) Excuses aside, my center of intuition is telling me that I should bring more water to class to prevent this from happening again. 

All kidding and snark aside, I seriously love going to yoga! If you've never tried it and want to, let me know and I'll go to a class with you. CorePower offers a free week to new students.

Namaste, friends!

heart melt

Last night I went to an Understanding Dementia Care seminar with my Grandpa, because, you know, we're sort of living this whole thing out, and I was blown away by the information they shared. The human brain is incredible. 

Anyway, what I learned is not what I want to talk about. 

I want to talk about these two people in the picture.

I tweeted this picture right when we sat down, before anything had started. Before Ollie turned around and introduced himself to my Grandpa and me (who was trying to convince people I was his wife... same last name on our name tags... get it?). Nothing in our conversation with him was out of the ordinary. His wife smiled and contributed a few comments to the conversation but it was over quickly. 

Then the presentation started. When the presenter said that dementia is a terminal disease and people diagnosed with it can only be expected to live 8-12 more years, Ollie's wife leaned over and whispered in his ear, and Ollie put his around around her and began to rub her back and stoke her hair. His arm stayed there for the majority of the two hours.

I couldn't look at them because whenever I did, my heart melted and eyes filled up with tears.  I can't imagine losing a spouse in the way that Ollie is, in the way my Grandpa is, and to know that there is no getting better. It will only get worse.

It's heartbreaking to watch this completely self-sacrificial love but I've been fortunate enough to see it many times before. 

We love because He first loved us. 

I just wanted to share.

happy weekend

It's been a few weeks since I've done an internet round up but I've finally made the time to catch up in Reader and find cool things to share. Without further ado:

• This is a letter a best friend wrote to his friend who was having a short-term memory issue. It made me think that I should try something similar to for my Grandma! 
• If you're pinching pennies but love to shop, this is a great tip!
• After finding this website that lets you rent entire houses/apartments/rooms while on vacation, I don't know if I'll ever stay in a hotel again! 

this San Francisco studio rents for $108 a night!

• Interested in trying Power Yoga but don't know what to expect? Gina completely breaks it down for you.
• A self-defense kitty key chain! I want one in every color. #CatLady
• Looking for a career change? TCM is hiring a Marketing & Media Director. If you'd like to take a crack at being their fourth in three years, I'll help you craft your resume. ; )
• And finally, I don't stay up late enough/even have a TV to watch this but this Jimmy Kimmel bit at the LA Marathon is pretty funny. You gotta be drunk to do this. (1:34) 

how yoga is helping me survive winter

These past few weeks of slipping and sliding while trying to run outside with frigid wind cutting through my running tights have made me rethink my relationship with running, at least until spring decides to come to Minneapolis. Until then, there's yoga.

i only ran this fast to avoid freezing to death. true story.

I've been going to 3-4 classes a week. A couple of weeks ago, something just clicked and I found myself actually breathing in the right rhythm and not having to struggle to keep up. In every class since, more keeps coming together. I can now hold crow and am even attempting supported headstands.

liquid courage and someone is holding my feet

I feel deliciously flexible. In my first classes during yoga week, I could barely touch my toes. Now it feels great to take a deep stretch. With each class I take, I'm able to do more than I was in the previous class. I love the challenge.

Yoga teaches you to focus on your breath. That focus can pull you through the last few seconds of holding a tough pose, when your legs are shaking and you think you're going to fall over. During a class, the instructor said that yoga is about finding calm in discomfort. And it's so true.
 

Earlier this week I found this article about how yoga actually changes your brain. The author writes: I came to realize that yoga works not because the poses are relaxing, but because they are stressful.  It is your attempts to remain calm during this stress that create yoga's greatest neurobiological benefit.

Science jargon and new age mumbo jumbo aside, all I can tell you is that I feel good. And that feels great.

a wedding weekend

Picasa is not allowing me to upload new photos (what gives?) from my phone so I'm going the old mobile upload route.

Anyway, my step-sister Whitney got married this past weekend to her high school sweetheart Kyle. I was too busy helping, eating and dancing to take many pictures but here are a few.

the calm before the storm

first dance

mom and me

And, if you're at all interested in crappy phone video, here's a short one of my brother singing during the ceremony. (He's singing Everything by Lifehouse.)

broken blog

For whatever reason, Blogger is being wholly uncooperative in my attempts to upload pictures from my sister's wedding this past weekend. Boo.

I also meant to post last night but the Bachelor Finale took precedence. Real life, people.

motivation

Getting back into shape sucks.

I hate thinking about where I was and where I am now. Fitness is easy to lose and takes time to come back. However, lamenting the past is doing me no favors in the present and certainly not helping me toward future goals. It's all about one day at a time.

It’s hard to stay excited and motivated when you’re not seeing results overnight so to get myself psyched about running again, I’m doing the things I used to do:

Read about running. I like facts. I like stories about other runners. I like new ideas about workouts. Enter: re-subscribing to Runner's World, buying this book and even re-reading my old training journals.

Sign up for races. Done.

Try new things. Yoga has become a big one for me. 

Invest in good running gear. It's funny how something small like a new sports bra can be the extra boost (pun intended) you need to get out the door. (Moving Comfort's Juno bra is my fave.) My theory is the less you have to worry about while running- chafing, bouncing boobs, etc.- the more you'll be able to focus on running. 

Track progress. I've been using these small calendars as training journals for three years. There is space to plan monthly workouts and then a week-by-week pages for note taking. I record all the pertinent details of a run (distance/time/average pace) as well as any other notes about how I'm feeling. It's nice to be able to look back and see small improvements.

On most days, this is all enough to get me out of bed and out the door. If it's not, though, there's always this video.

cool stuff i did this weekend

Fixed my Garmin! (But not without super-gluing my fingers together. Nail polish remover to the rescue!)

 

 Visited 612Brew.

Went to the CD release party of The Color Pharmacy at Triple Rock. (Their music video gives a pretty sweet tour of Minneapolis.)

accurate accusation

(Not pictured: fancy surprise birthday dinner, running, yoga, dress shopping (found one!), breakfast at Barbette, more running, laundry, family dinner.)

happy weekend

Hi friends! How was your week? I've been staying busy with early morning runs and after-work yoga.  I've finally settled into a routine and it feels great!

Also, it's March! I can't believe how fast this year is flying by! And to think back to where I was a year ago... It's so strange.

I need help! My 20 year-old sister is getting married next weekend and I still haven't looked for a dress. I'll be performing personal attendant duties so I want one that's comfortable but doesn't scream SPINSTER SISTER! Suggestions greatly appreciated!

Anyway, links!

• Have you ever read the Missed Connections board on Craigslist? Some are cute, some are creepy, but it always leaves me wondering if people ever really connect that way. In any case, here's a map that shows a breakdown of the most frequently cited locations of these missed connections. Thank God ours is a supermarket and not Walmart. Or a bar. Go MN!
• Daily Dishonesty is a site that posts all the little lies we tell ourselves in gorgeous prints. This one is particularly true for me:

  

  sad but true (source)

• This article makes me majorly appreciate my friends. (xo)
• Reading 19 Things That Will Always Make You Feel Fat made me laugh out loud. 
• I think I'm on a t-shirt kick lately because I found another one I really want:

(source)

• This story made me tear up. 
• One day I will live here.

Have a fantastic weekend!