Bibbity-Bloggity-Boo!

I just came up with that just now. Clever, eh? :)

I leave for NYC in less than a week, and I just can't WAIT! This photo is from my last visit with my big sis (we're downing ginormous $3 beers here - possibly the only alcoholic drink you can get for less than $5 in New York).

My visit is much overdue, as the last time I went out there was 2 years ago. The funny part? My hair is exactly the same as pictured here. OK - to my credit, I did have it cut in a faux-hawk & dyed it red around this time last year. But since then it's grown back, and I've gone back to the same dark cut & heavy bangs that I usually go for!

Anyhoodle, the trip this year is part of my birthday gift to me. If I'm not a lazy travelin' girl I'll even post some blogs about the shenanigans we get into. Hopefully more $3 beers are on the menu!

Man VS Yoga

I managed to roll out of bed this morning & make it to my 5:40am yoga class this morning.
Yes, it's hella early, but since I don't have to be at work 'till much later I managed to get a workout in after yoga, get iTunes loaded on my new computer, get my laundry started, and prep my dinner for tonight! AWESOME!


The only other people that made it to the session were two older men that I've seen in classes before. Very few men seem to come to yoga class, maybe because they think it's not doing them any good (or that lifting obscene amounts of weight is more productive.) So I must commend these gentlemen for working on their flexibility!

However, I've noticed a pattern whenever I see these older men in class. Anytime our instructor says, "if you want to try a more advanced position, try this" - they immediately try and bend their bodies into a way that their limbs seemingly do not want to go. Our teacher attempts to stop them by saying gently, "Listen to your body.... if you want to ease off, you can still get the same benefits by doing a beginner version" - yet they still strain and grunt until they are into a position that less-than-slightly resembles her advanced example.

I've been doing yoga for a year now, and I wouldn't even attempt some of the more advanced positions. Mostly it's because I know that I would either hurt myself, or if I did manage to get myself folded around that way I would probably be doing it incorrectly (and again, most likely hurt myself). Oh, I'll give them a whirl every now and then, but I don't push something that just ain't ready to happen. This doesn't apply to all of the men, but a lot of the ones I'm referring to seem to see it as more of a challenge or competition rather than understanding what is best for them and their bodies. Women tend to be more flexible as beginners in yoga, and I don't see very many of them trying to force their bodies into certain poses. There are of course exceptions to every rule though, and I have even seen a man put his leg behind his head (although he'd been practicing yoga for years).

I guess my point is - that anyone can get to those amazing bendy poses eventually, as long as they practice regularly and work their way up to them. I actually saw a beginner try to put their leg behind their head once, causing them to topple over and bang up their elbow pretty badly!

Yoga is not a competition - it's about finding what works for you and your body, and getting in tune with everything that goes along with that. I'm hoping to one day be able to accomplish the full "Bird of Paradise" pose, as well as the "Full Pigeon".... someday. Right now I'm happy with "Tree" pose, and "Half Pigeon". I'll get there... :)

Double Dare & Sunday Lunch

After finding out all about the awesomeness that is Zoe Bell, I had to rent the documentary about her and the infamous Jeannie Eggers and the story of them being stunt women. It's called "Double Dare" and I absolutely loved it! It made me want to re-watch Kill Bill too, and watch Zoe in action while doubling for Uma Thurman. She's got MAD moves!

On top of that, I had an amazing salad that I based off something I had at one of my favorite Denver restaurants, The Hornet. I think their version had candied nuts and cheese, but I didn't include them. Here's the recipe:

Salmon & Mango Salad (my version)
- Fresh spinach leaves & mixed greens
- Roasted salmon fillet (I just defrosted a frozen one, wrapped it in foil after drizzling with lemon juice, salt, and olive oil - then popped it in the oven at 275 for about 15 mins)
- Mango salsa (I just bought a pre-made version from Whole Foods)
- frozen asparagus
- vinaigrette

Combine everything on your salad plate & enjoy! It's okay if the salmon is still a little warm - it's a wonderful contrast to the mango salsa. YUM!

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

I think I just fell in LOVE!!
Thanks, Clare Bear for the suggestion of checking these kids out. Pretty damn amazing.... they make me want to put my dancin' shoes on....

Langhorne Slim - Just gotta love that dude.

Finally FINALLY bloggin' again!
Guess I just needed to take a bit of a breather there! :)

So - last Wednesday (yep, it was that long ago) we attended the Langhorne Slim show at the Hi-Dive in Denver. It was yet another amazing performance, and I swear I get more & more into the music every time I see them.

The opening band was April Smith and the Great Picture show (http://www.myspace.com/aprilsmithmusic). Not only was the music beautiful & fun, but April really could belt it out, her lyrics were super clever & witty, and every song got my toe-a-tappin'. I promptly slapped down some cash for their first full-length album after their performance, and shook hands with the lovely songstress herself. She was sweeter than pumpkin pie, and I can't wait to see them again!

Next up was Langhorne Slim, who made us aware that this was the first time that they played a show in Denver where there were so many people in attendance that they wouldn't let any more people in (which I took as meaning that they had sold out). He's so darn clever.

They played yet another amazing show, and we all danced & sang along. He even played one of my favorite songs ever "Collette" and "I Love You, But Goodbye" which I posted as a video on here a little while ago.

Afterwards, Shaun (Shawn / Sean?) came over & chatted with us. He's the nicest boy ever, and so down to earth. We even got on the topic of bathroom reading material which was hilarious. (We discussed the importance of shampoo bottles including interesting stories in case of a bathroom-boredom emergency). So funny!

We snapped a couple of pictures with him (that's my friend Nic who is getting a nose-pickin'), then went along our merry ways.

I highly recommend that you all check this guy out - but buy tickets early! I guess word is getting around about how awesome he is... :)

I'm bein' a lazy blogger!

Yep, yep - I am!
I've been kinda distracted lately, not really by anything in particular - just by life! :) Last week was tons of fun, and I had a wonderful Valentine's Day with my girlfriends. I do have pics & stories to post, I've just been a bit lazy about it.

So stay in tune, I will have new posts up soon! :)

PS - I'm headed to NYC in 2 weeks to visit my big sister for my 29th-birthday-extravaganza-weekend. I totally can't wait, and hopefully I'll be able to blog while I'm there to keep you up to date on all the shenanigans we get ourselves into.... more to come....

*OUCH* my back! (and Langhorne Slim)

Last night I had a lovely book club with the ladies, but then this morning woke up for some reason with a HUGE knot in my back! :( All I can think of is "ouchieouchieouchie!" every time I move. I feel like a stiff robot - it is no good. I don't know what the heck I did to get such an annoyingly huge kink, but I don't know how to get rid of it....

...and to top that off, the highly anticipated Langhorne Slim show is tonight at the Hi Dive! I'm super excited to see the show (in fact, a bunch of my girlfriends are joining me which I'm thrilled about), but it looks as though my dancing will unfortunately be limited. That is unless I oil up my joints with a shot of whiskey before the show....

...which would in turn convert my backache to a headache. Sigh - dilemmas!

Lazy Sunday at home...

I had a lovely lazy lazy Sunday evening this past weekend.

Yep - it was Superbowl Sunday, but I didn't even switch on the game for a moment. It was snowy and cold, so I snuggled up with a bottle of my new obsession (Avery's Belgian specialty beers), some Mexican take-out from Qdoba, and watched "Serial Mom" and "Signs". I flipped through some magazines, painted my toenails turquoise, and enjoyed being a sloth for the night.

It was way too cold and snowy to do much else. Now if only I had a snuggle bug (or Joaquin Phoenix) to join me under my blanket.... that way I wouldn't have to heat up my rice pack every 30 minutes to stay warm!

Sigh....

Hairspirations

That's a combination of hair and inspirations. I like it - it's my new word.

I just came across this girl's blog today called Delightfully Tacky through the What I Wore blog which I absolutely adore. Fashion is fun, and these chicks make it look so easy! Anyhoodle, the girl on this Delightfully Tacky page officially has inspired where I want my hair to be someday. I have always loved the blunt bangs, but was worried that my naturally curly & thick noggin' o' hair would look best long without them...

.... but she has SO proven me wrong! Mental calculation of how long it'll take me to grow my hair this long.... um... maybe 3 years? Crap. Oh, well - a girl can dream!

Be sure to check out both the Delightfully Tacky and What I Wore blogs in my "My Favorite Bloggies" section. You won't regret it.

Photo credit to www.delightfully-tacky.com.

I Am Legend

I just watched the movie "I Am Legend" for the first time last night, and thought it was pretty darn good. It is so scary to think about what a virus can do to the human race. The way that they can change and mutate to survive, and how quickly they can pass from person to person. The subject has been illustrated numerous times before - a couple of movies that come to my mind are "Outbreak", and one of my favorite zombie flicks, "28 Days Later".

I think one of the most terrifying images was not of the vampire-like creatures, but of the desolation. It was the first scene in this film - and the beginning of "28 Days Later" as well. The long pans of empty streets, abandoned cars... silence. "I Am Legend" really brought out the loneliness too - with Will Smith's character (Neville) talking to mannequins and his only real companion, a dog. I really think his performance was wonderful.

It's definitely an apocalyptic tale, but if you like this genre then be sure and check it out. I like that the story is kind of told backwards too - you don't really know why he's the only one left until you start seeing the flashbacks. It's terrifying and heartbreaking, but a really entertaining story. A great one to discuss!

I survived & am now Katy Perry

Yep - I did it! I donated my blood, and managed to not faint or barf. I got outta there with my dignity and even a bit of an ego boost!

The nurses were very helpful and informative during my ordeal (there was a moment where I almost passed out towards the end - they quickly rose my foot rest up though, and applied cold compresses since I broke out in a cold sweat). We chatted while my dizziness subsided, and one of the guys said that all day they were playing a "celebrity lookalike" game, where they compared the donors to celebrities. The guy said I was Katy Perry! I took that as quite a compliment, although I don't see it.... Maybe it was my curly hair & heavy bangs that they were going off of...

THEN I went to grab my snack, and the male nurse that had complimented me on my haircut when I had first walked in asked me for my phone number! I was shocked, and quite flattered. I felt like quite the hottie after that, albeit dizzy and light headed.

I came outta there 1 pint of blood lighter, and a whole lot happier. I guess the donation procedure gets easier each time you do it, and you can keep doing it about once a month. Each donation can save up to 2 lives - so definitely check into it! It only takes about an hour, and I think that's an hour very well spent. Shit, I sat through "Tron", I think I can spare an hour.

A photo of my teeny little wound. It was cute... the guy gave me a heart ball to squeeze when he was taking my blood pressure. He said, "Hey, a heart with your heart!". Cute.

Giving Blood - Attempt #2

Yep, today I'm going to try & give blood again!
Hopefully it will go smoothly and not end with me barfing into a trash can.

Wish me luck!