CCC....or i need to blog before i lose it. or i have a wart.

adam reminded me of CCC fridays. i got to y2 at 6:15 and i was bouncing off the walls with excitement. 16 of us for led class. it was so fun. got to practice next to kcdv. and a new guy. i totally touched him by accident in at least 3 poses. we were all pretty close. 

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had coffee with adam. hung out with him before foot doc appt.

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hi, i totally have a wart. (aka wort!) ummm this sucks ass. i need to wear bandaids to practice. put salicylic acid on it once a day. cut off skin once a week. go to doc once a month. and eventually get that sucker cut out of me... but right now it's too big. 1 cm. i'm 1cm dilated with wart. i'm ready to get this baby out! oiy vey. the doctor was amazing though. so we'll definitely be going to see her. me and my wart. i'll take lots of precautions not to walk around barefoot at y2 unless i have bandaid. and will be cleaning the shower there like woah. (no worries my friends!) also, apparently, you don't really get warts unless you have an open wound on your foot or hand. so keep it clean folks and wear bandaids!

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boyfriend might have shingles. oiy. oiy. 

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apparently. we are both a wreck.

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haircut tonight should make all things better.

3 months, 6 months, 9 months.

adam came back to practice today after being sick... and a moon day.. (glad you're back!)

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we got to have a quick chat on the sofa before i headed to work. and adam always has something profound to say... he said something along the lines of this:

it's interesting how much your practice will change from the first 3 months, then the next 3 months, and so on. (i'm paraphrasing... he obviously said it more gracefully than this.)

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i pondered this all morning.

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my first 3 months of mysore practice: october - december 2008:

doing 5 surya a's and 5 b's was enough to send me packing... i could barely handle it. my practice was all about learning the asana first... so i really had to learn the asana. i had a lot of attention from my teacher. and a lot of repeating the sequence in the beginning because i would always forget a pose... 

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i'm now approaching month 6! oh how things have changed. the surya's! those are cake. i have less attention from teacher. which is fine. but i get adjusted on what is important for that day. i've gone deeper in the the practice and my understanding of the asana has changed. my understanding of why the poses are sequenced the way they are has also changed. my breath is stronger. i'm learning the count (thanks jill-ji for teaching it!) so much improvement. it's almost overwhelming to me how much has changed in only 5 months.

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what has changed for you?

"greek" food...

happy moonday.

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last night, we went down to south philly to get free pancakes at ihop.. but it was packed...

so me, asher, josh and geri went to dmitri's on 3rd and catherine for 'greek' food. i say 'greek' food because it didn't seem really greek. more like overpriced tapas.. made by no one who was greek. not good. greek food that was really good is zorba's on 23rd and fairmount! sooo good. like ridiculously delicious. i couldn't stop eating.

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i'm tired. not rested and will blog later about more fun things...

upavistha to supta. it makes sense.

upavistha konsana, 5 breaths. (1st part)
upavistha konasana, 5 breaths.  (upward facing angle pose..)
supta konasana, 5 breaths. (sleeping angle pose..)
supta konasana, balance for a breath/moment in time..
supta konasana, land quietly..

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about to do backbends... i hear jill-ji say: it's tuesday, inhale, exhale...

and i remembered that she told me about how in mysore, poses only get given on certain days and tuesday is one of those days. 

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when i realized what was happening, i was already in and out of supta konasana and that was that.

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doing upavistha to supta konasana in a mysore setting really allowed me to understand how these poses work together. how they counter act each other. why they are like this in the series.

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i'm amazed at how with every new pose, i find this practice more beautiful and well crafted. thanks guriji!! :) 

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these photos are from ashtangayoga.info

kuku!

kukutasana. i had a moment of clarity today after getting into this pose. after rocking back and forth in garhba p. i made my way to kuku and just felt like the effort was gone and it was all ease.

effort and ease. i think mr. iyengar says something of importance on this topic. maybe i will try and find the quote.

anyway, tired... worked for 10 hours today. then went to dinner with family friend geri for two dinners!! first: potbelly, we had salads... unsatisfying. second: asia on the parkway in the bottom of her hotel! triply satisfying! i'm full. and tired. night ya'll!

c is for la colombe.

sunday morning, waiting for the bus on 41st and chestnut.

sunday morning, drinking la colombe, conversing...
amanda's mug shot.
quinn's mug shot.
kirstin's mug shot.
rene's mug shot.
lover's for life. me and quinn before she heads back to bk!

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sunday: practice comes first. la colombe. anthropologie sale rack. bread from parc. homemade lunch by rene. talk talk talking with friends.

saturday: early morning diner breakie. farmer's market and a pumpkin woopie pie. reading terminal and flying monkey cupcakes. chinatown and old city walk thru tours by amanda. old city coffee. hummus for lunch in west phila, illa. step up 2 the streets. a little home dance party. greenline for kirstin's brother's guitar show. evan's pizza for some dinner. dancing at sister's for mardi gras party. 

friday: qdoba. hanging out. fresh grocer. talk talk talking. sleep.... maybe?

CCC: also known as Casual, Calm, Collected Fridays.

i came to work yesterday to find a sink full of dishes and none of them had anything to do with baby or baby meals. i was livid. furious. sick of doing the doctors' dishes. not my job. did it anyway... i got over it. discussed it with wise souls. figured out a game plan.

went to y2 for jill's led class. tattoo is almost healed, but definitely didn't have a "strong" practice week. but i did it to myself, and that's that. i had coffee with adam and a ride to work. (thank you!)

got to work today, sink less full of dishes. but drying rack is overflowing with dishes that need to be put away. i still haven't done them because it's casual, calm, collected fridays. fridays are now always to be calm. no matter what! it's the weekend. i have to start friday mornings right so that i have good energy to bring home to boytoy, pig, huckaboo! and whoever else i spend time with on saturdays and sundays.

i start therapy today. we shall see if that is good or not... :) 

also, rene and quinn and lady guest are coming to spend a weekend with me living "this philly life." i'm sure i will update with funny stories or maybe some photos. didn't take pictures with chelsea and i regret that, but i will this weekend. much love to ya'll. 

CCC Friday, pass it on.

upavista konasana.

today. today. today. 

got it today.

let's create time and space while rushing. mission impossible? i think not. we will try this on monday when i have to be at work by 8am.... hmm.

"from here to maternity"

did the philadelphia weekly really not have anything more interesting than a pregnant teen to grace their cover this week??

i read the article, "from here to maternity: a pregnant teen weighs her options."

i thought it would be more interesting. instead it's a 18/19 year olds sob story of how she got pregnant as a freshman in college and decided to stay pregnant but isn't sure if she will keep said baby or give to a family for adoption...

i'm pro-choice. i'm definitely PRO-ABORTION! i'm pro-keeping. i'm pro-adoption.

but let me say this again, i'm so pro-abortion it hurts.

i don't understand some peoples decisions to keep children, but that's their lives and not mine.

i have friends who have SUCCESSFULLY had children at the age 18/19/20 and raised them. those kids are for sure the coolest kids ever! and very well raised. 

i also have friends who have had abortions.

but the philadelphia weekly article just really bugs me. it's boring. really boring. it's about nothing of importance. people are pregnant and having abortions or not having abortions all the time.

ughh. also, "the secret life of the american teenager" is the most ridiculous show on earth. i saw 10 minutes of it on monday and i just could NOT believe my eyes and ears.

what is your perfect morning?

adam and i discussed what our perfect mornings would be..

here is mine:

waking up at 5:45 feeling rested...

get to y2 by 6:30.

a full practice, no rushing. 

a shower.

a cup of coffee at la colombe. (maybe with a friend?)

getting to work and not feeling rushed.

rushing. that is the one thing that really bugs me. i like to take it slow. the practice. the bus. the walking. if i could be at work everyday by 9, i would be happy. seriously thrilled.

i don't have to work til 8:30 tomorrow, which is also good.

and 9 on friday~ that means i can go to jill-ji's led class.

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i looked down at my painted toe nails today and felt like i was channeling kcdv a little bit! :)

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practice was good today. i did a few slight adjustments to some poses due to the new tat. i didn't bind in any mari's. didn't attempt supta k. and some other stuff. it's interesting. having a new tattoo is slightly like having an injury. (i mean, it is a wound full of ink!) but it makes you take things slow~ it makes you really aware of what you are doing with your body~ it is good for some things... but i'm ready for it to heal so i can really delve deep into my practice next week when jill is subbing. yay!

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more guest's coming this weekend~ quinn/her lady friend and rene.

josh and asher might go to new york which would give me some space to have guests but if not. then it's a packed mad house at 4052!  

fun times!

things are looking up!

i was kind of down about missing practice for the past two days.... but i think things are good now.

i might do a little practicing when i go clean y2 this evening... (or go to sutra..not sure...)

then!!!! the rest of the week i work 9am, 8:30am, 9am. (or something like that!)

so that means i can do full practices with no rushing through closing and and and and and!!!! i can go to jill's lead class again! this makes up for missing class. woo woo.

i'm happy, although tired. i must get to bed at a decent time tonight!!! practice practice practice. yayayyayayayay.

missing practice.

having out of town guests makes getting to bed early a hard task... for example. i would have loved to practice on monday because i didn't have to be at work til 11:30. i would have gone at 6:30, practiced, came home, had breakfast with chelsea and then went to work... but i didn't get to bed until really late and i just couldn't get out of bed in the morning...

second example... i worked yesterday from 11:30-5, came home, then babysat julian from 5:45-10. if i were smart, i would have went straight to bed and gotten up to practice early to be at work by 7:45.... but apparently, i am not smart...i wanted to eat my cookie from asher. put away my laundry. and by the time that was all done... it was like 11 something.... then asher comes to bed and we talk and stuff... i had my alarm set for 5:30... but it just didn't happen. back to bed for an hour... 

i need to get to practice tomorrow and thursday for sure. (i might even go to yoga sutra tonight for their evening mysore if the stars line up...) we shall see.

 

oiy oiy oiy.

bird.

margaret kilgallen's graffiti done by j.

i've wanted this for almost 5 years. happy february!

surprise suprise, puppy surprise.

friday night chelsea came in from boston. we went out for indian food with asher. then to whole foods. we basically were all very tired and just wanted to chill on friday, so that's what we did. we went to bed. la la la...

then we were all suddenly awoken by the doorbell at 6am. i figured it was a drunk or homeless. so i proceeded to ignore it. then it rang again! oiy oiy! so i get up, grab my keys and look through the first door to make sure it wasn't someone crazy, trying to kill us.. :) it took me a second to adjust my eyes and then i realized it was josh, asher's brother! i let him in. told asher who was here.... it was so cute, he was like "my brother? my brother is here?" i guess you would have to see it. he sounded like a kid on chanukah evening who just got the best present of a lifetime.

we all talked for about a half an hour and then went back to bed for a few hours.

saturday morning we went to walmart and ikea to do some shopping. josh went to sleep since he had driven 16 hours straight from iowa... asher, chelsea and i ate at hummus! delicious. then we went to the greenline to have some coffee. we came back home, schmoozed a bit... then took the subway to the ritz theatre on 4th street to see the reader. oh my goooddddneeessss. the reader! the reader! go see it. it's long but amazing. i cried almost hysterically... but i held it in. the ladies next to me kept telling me to shhhhhh because i was eating popcorn too loud and chelsea coughed one time. old ladies are crazy!

it was snowing when we got out of the theatre. we took the train home. got off at 34th st to find some food for dinner at like 10pm... ended up eating sandwiches at jimmy john's. chelsea and i polished our little toesies and did my sink full of dishes. 

it was a wonderful weekend...

today, i took chelsea to mysore class at y2. fun fun. 25 peeps showed up. 

had coffee with my favorite friends (kcdv, ak, jm)

took bus home. played with ferret and pig.

went to satellite with chels. left her there. went to coop. bought some food.

and just grubbed on some amazing salsa with chelsea!

something fabulous, something delicious, something blue?

something fabulous: going into head stand with straight legs, doing half head stand from head stand, and landing quietly.. (teacher stood by me. but didn't assist... first time!)

something delicious: honey nut rice cakes with almond butter on top! yummmmy.

something blue: my whole outfit: two-toned blue socks, blue jeans, blue florida tshirt, blue "jp" sweatshirt, blue "juno-ish"  jacket!!!

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practice was strong today. i'm working on getting my breath back in order. after having a cold, it's been lagging in that department. 

i'm finally rolling around in garbha p. and not getting stuck. my hands are on and off my head the whole time... eventually they will stay (bandha's much?). i'm doing a few little rolls to get into kuku. yay. i'm having fun with this pose now.

i've decided that the bandha's needed for rolling in garbha p. sets you up for the final portions of primary series. so it takes time. but i know that if i keep on practicing, everything falls into place. one asana sets you up for another. it's magical. seriously magical.

what is also beautiful? a thursday morning practice on a freshly mopped floor. it's magnificent! 

did i catch you at a bad time?

two people called me today and started the conversation with, "did i catch you at a bad time?"

for me, it's never a bad time, unless i'm changing a poopy diaper... then yes, it's a bad time. maybe my voice conveys a "bad timing" vibe...

i always answer the phone like this, hello?

like, hello who is there?

although, i almost always know who it is due to caller ID... but it's still always, hello?

i feel kind of down. it has nothing to do with me. but with the two said people who called today. it's weird. life is weird. for sure.

chocolate biscotti.

i am eating delicious chocolate biscotti from miel's in rittenhouse.

i am also eating amazing bread from parc in rittenhouse.

thank you adam for the treats! they are perfect for moonday madness!

sanskrit studies.

manorama rocks my socks off. she's extremely intelligent. funny. very good teacher. looking forward to tomorrow. more to learn! :) always more to learn.

banana bread results.

boy toy eating thin mint in dirty kitchen.
first banana bread of 2009.
sage hanging out in the bedroom, inching her way into the kitchen.
the tiniest stove ever.
"they haven't changed this box in like 50 years, this girl is probably in a walker by now!"
the banana bread. didn't turn out as good as it normally does... i think it's because i was kind of in a rush while doing my measuring and it's a little too floury. oh well! it's still delicious! 

banana bread baking...

i like to bake. i do not like to cook. cooking is stressful for me. too many things to watch out for all at the same time...

when i bake, i lay out all the ingredients. i normally put away all the ingredients before i even mix, (it helps with the clean up process). i can do it slow and steady. it's scientific in a way. i just follow my directions. and normally all goes well. 

tonight i am baking my banana bread. no sugar, just agave and little unsweetened applesauce. it's basically vegan... but i use two eggs, fake butter. it's delicious. 

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i'm going to wakeup yoga's sanskrit workshop with manorma this weekend. i was contemplating going to it a while back. but thought it was too pricey... but then i was like, what the f? it's my money. i should just spend it and have fun. 

also babysitting julian tomorrow night. so i'll make a little extra dough and get to do my laundry.

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i practiced sunday. monday. tuesday. thursday. this week. (ladie's holiday on wed. friday off)

we'll see about practicing maybe some sun salutations tomorrow. i'm cooking the boytoy breakfast in bed for ditching him on our day off together... when yoga (or anything related) calls.. that's where i be!!! 

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also...

also... also....

baddha konasana is hard. and i was doing it wrong. 

what would you do if you were 25 again?

convo between me and adam this morning:

ad: how was practice?

me: ehhh. bad.

ad: that's good. a bad practice is good for you.

true that. we can't always have good practices. sometimes the hard ones teach us the most.

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on another note, not having a great day. baby vomit and poop galore.

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on another note, what would you do if you were 25 again?

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am i happy being a nanny? sometimes. 

do i want to do it for forever? no.

what would i be doing if i wasn't a nanny? who knows. but i do know that i would be doing yoga 6 days a week. no rushing to work. no skipping led classes on fridays. 

what do i want to do in august when my lease is up? stay in philly? most likely. stay in the apartment alone, sounds good. job wise? ehhhh. i don't know.

i'm having a quarter life crisis almost everyday. i need guidance.

baddha konasana.

today i got baddha konasana. is this a hard pose? (i don't think so? maybe i'm doing it wrong...) i like this pose. i need to learn more about it. 

foundations first photos.

jill-ji and harmonium, laying out the foundations, 

learning the lingo.
29 devoted students. first day. 99%practice, 1% theory. 
2nd day. "ashtanga yoga is mind control yoga" kpj
the beautiful yoga squared!

i'm too tired to write more about this fantastic weekend. if you want to learn about astanga yoga, jill-ji is the lady to go to. i learned so much and now it's practice, practice, practice.

xoxo