100th post!

Mmmm back from vacation less than 24 hours, and already I’ve taught a yoga class, spent the day in the office (sending out contracts, e-mailing clients, signing up for Farmer’s Markets, writing class descriptions, advertising) did some brainstorming & research for a volunteer non-profit project, met with the steering committee of the project, and am putting in one last blog post for January before calling it a night (which according to my blogger stats, is my 100^th post! I feel like there should be confetti and celebratory music) … who ever thought easing back into the swing of things was a good idea? I am headed into the week full steam ahead.

  

Here we are on the cusp of a new month… I always feel old when I say this, but time really does seem to speed up as we go through life. How is it that January is already over? My dear friend is challenging her blog readers to spend the month of February (the shortest month of the year) realizing and achieving some of their thrifty goals. So here it goes.

Firstly I know there is a lot I could do without, and things I could choose not to indulge in… But I also acknowledge that as a single-twenty something who doesn’t have to worry about supporting a family I do allow  myself to splurge a little bit on reasonable things. I put money in savings, I pay my bills, but I also eat out more than I should, impulse buy things more than I should, and am not great about taking advantage of local resources like the Library. So in February I plan on tweaking things a little bit, and am hoping some healthy habits form.

Let me just say that I will not give up going out for coffee… this is more of a sanity thing than a thrifty thing. Yes, I have a coffee pot, and a French press at home (both of which I currently use, I still supplement with a second store bought coffee) and now that I have Quicken on my computer I am VERY aware at how much money I’m spending on coffee a year. (for some reason that number doesn’t make me feel as bad as the amount of money I spend on burritos… though they are similar). I can honestly say that my coffee purchasing experiences are more social than anything else. It gives me a handful of moments every week where I can interact with people who aren’t my co-workers or clients, or even my closest friends. I get to have small talk, and flirtation, and an extra dose of caffeine… all of which are undeniably valuable to me. So, no, I will not give up my coffee habit; however, I will try to stick to ordering regular coffee rather than a latte.

I mentioned that depressing burrito category in my finances… lately I have been terrible about making meals at home. It seems like I am lucky if I get out the door with a balanced breakfast, and a lot of the time eating breakfast mean sacrificing the time to make lunch… And it is so easy to not take lunch to work when the best burrito place in the world is ten minutes a day, and you can order a vegetarian burrito for $3. It’s heaven. But this month I am going to make an effort to cook more at home, plan menus, go grocery shopping more regularly, and make sure that left-overs are packaged and ready to be grabbed on my way out the door. This is a win-win, because cooking can be a creative outlet, as well as a healthy one, and I know I’ll be saving money (not to mention I will feel better about how my monthly “fast food” spending is way down).

I am also going to utilize BOTH of my athletic memberships. I know, it seems slightly ridiculous to have two… but one is for the gym, and one is for the yoga studio.  Over the past 7 months, I have practically lived at the studio, and essentially neglected my gym membership. I was running outside prepping for the half marathon, and spending the rest of my time getting yoga hours. I know I could have easily justified getting rid of the gym membership, but I’ve had it since I was in college, and I’m on a yearly contract at a really great rate, and the idea of letting it go, and then possibly later wanting to re-join at a higher price somewhere down the road seems lame. So I guess the only sane thing to do, is actually get my money’s worth and work out, rather than letting another month go by. Especially since one of my resolutions in 2011 is to get more cardio. Already this week I’ve been slightly depressed because my schedule is so full of classes and meetings, and outings and appointments that most of my regular yoga classes aren’t going to work into my schedule. Rather than giving up on exercise all together this week, I guess I should get my butt in gear and use my gym membership. Realistically I might not be “getting my money’s worth” but I do plan on getting to the gym at least once a week this month… which is more than I can say about the last several.

Will these few adjustments make a huge difference in my February spending? Probably not… but they are still choices that are putting me a step closer to where I would like to be in life. Making better and more conscientious choices about how I spend my money, what I put in my body cannot be a bad thing.

What are your thrifty goals for this next month?

I'm on vacation!

Currently at PDX waiting to board my flight. I'm not bringing a computer, and refuse to write normal posts from my phone (typing on the mini keyboard is not my idea of vacation). Already i could write a post about people watching, or my traveling pet peeves (why is there only one tiny hook on the bathroom stall that will not hold my carry-on?)... anyway, I'm on vacation!

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over-packing

It’s Tuesday evening, and I’m happy to say that I am all packed for vacation! I really hate packing, and I’m a bit of a procrastinator so the fact that my suitcase is full and ready to go a good twelve hours before I have to leave the house is a small victory.

I have always been an “over-packer” and this time around I tried to remedy this by making a list of outfits for each day I will be gone (this may or may not have also been a procrastination tactic yesterday when I was trying to force myself to pack… making a list seemed more fun). In theory this is a great idea, and I did pack everything on the list… I also packed a number of things not on the list. I know it is completely irrational… I will be gone for a total of four days, so it is not logical that I need to pack 5 tank tops especially since I think I only have tank tops figured into two of my outfits. But when packing, I am filled with the “what-ifs” and the “Ready-for-anything” mentality. What if I spill red wine all over myself? What if I need to layer? What if the outfit I’ve envisioned in my mind actually looks terrible in real life and I have no alternatives? What if the weather suddenly changes? What if I need alternatives?

In the end I know over half of the things won’t be worn, and in 5 days I will be unpacking the suitcase cursing my tendency to over-pack. But a girl likes to have some options! Plus I have a track record with under-packing. The few times I have actually brought the exact amount of things I needed are always the times that I spill something, get messy, or discover giant wardrobe malfunctions. Once on a weekend trip to Seattle I only brought the pants that I was wearing (who needs more than one pair of jeans for 2 days?) 20 minutes after I arrived, I tripped and managed to rip a GIANT whole in my pants… my efficient packing lead to an embarrassing few hours spent at a museum (it was a class trip, and we were on a timeline… indecent exposure or not) and an unplanned stop at Macy’s.

I also tend to over-pack when I’m going on a trip, because half the time I throw on outfits here that I probably shouldn’t… a few weeks ago my mother commented that she noticed I had been dressing like a hobo… which was a little true. I tend to have a lot of bright clothing, and don’t always plan for outfits to coordinate and if I’m headed to Portland for a weekend with friends I often just throw stuff in a bag and go. The result is often questionable. Hot pink leg warmers, yellow sweaters, green hat, red scarf… some weekends I look like the color wheel threw up on me. And I’m totally ok with that, but sometimes I do like to coordinate. So I put in a few extra tank tops, and leggings, and an extra sweater for good measure, and a blazer, and an extra pair of jeans and two sweatshirts…But come on, how am I really supposed to know what I want to wear in the next few days? I like options! (which is slightly hilarious, since I am currently stuck in the biggest clothing rut of my life… I cling to my down vest like a security blanket, add jeans, a long sleeved tee shirt, and my dansko clogs, and you have my uniform for life)

And then there are the yoga clothes… and the mat… that is shoved in my suitcase. But I’m going to classes while I’m gone, and I’m going to need to plan classes while I’m gone… ok the mat might be excessive… but it fits in the suitcase!

I’ll probably be up three times tonight taking out excessive items, and putting them back in… but at least for now I’m packed, and almost officially on vacation!

Healthy Inspiration:

This week I was browsing for new recipes, and trying to come up with some creative winter meals. I have a standing agreement with my parents that I will cook them dinner once a week (which seems fair, since they let me do laundry, use the hot tub,  and feed me on a regular basis). As I flipped through the pages of Real Simple, I stumbled across an article about the Non-diet diet, and along with it was a listing of 30 of the healthiest foods.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a majority of these foods stocked in my pantry and constantly on my shopping list. Foods like Peanut Butter, Olive Oil, Quinoa, Lentils, Kale, Eggs, blueberries, mushrooms, barley, walnuts, (seriously are they just listing off my pantry contents?) Not that I am patting myself on the back. God knows I eat my fair share of un-healthy foods… In my diet, coffee and burritos practically get their own food group.

That being said, I was quite excited by the listing of foods, and the suggested recipes that accompanied each one. I tend not to follow recipes, but more so just scavenge through my existing ingredients, and hope that something semi-edible is the result of my experimenting.  I’ve come up with some pretty tasty things, and some that were lacking… so this ingredients guide with suggested serving ideas was like a breath of fresh air thrown into my cooking routine… lets face it, sometimes you need to be inspired, even when you have good intentions with healthy ingredients (I mean really, how many different ways can you cook lentils before getting a little bit bored... 4 or 5?)

And inspired I was. I found myself wandering aimlessly through the grocery store on Thursday afternoon, contemplating lunch/ a snack that was long over-due. Nothing was jumping off the shelves, and I was too hungry to spend a lot of time getting creative… I almost just picked up a box of mac and cheese, but was reminded of a recent blog I read about coconut rice, and it sounded like everything I needed. And as I made my way to the checkout, one of the suggestions from Real Simple popped into my head, so I picked up a bunch of Kale and made my way home to concoct some nourishment.

As my coconut rice simmered, I ripped the kale into pieces, threw them in a bowl, and tossed them with some olive oil, sea salt, and black pepper, placed them on a cookie sheet, and put them in a low oven for twenty minutes. The result was everything I was hoping for. A tray full of crisp, salty, savory kale chips. They were the perfect snacking item… delightfully thin & crunchy, with just the right amount of salt, and that herbaceous kale taste. Dare I say, they were better than potato chips, and better for me. And so, so easy to make. Literally five minutes of prep time for an incredibly satisfying and healthy snack! Though it took me a while to convince my family to even try the kale chips (ok they look a little bit like seaweed… but I secretly love seaweed, so it wasn’t a deterrent for me), I’m a total convert. I know these crispy green snacks are going to become a regular part of my eating habit… maybe even more so than burritos (but probably not).

Yoga Frenzy

I realize that when I say yoga frenzy it sounds very much like an oxymoron. But for the past few days my life has felt like just that. I have been running around tying up every loose end I can think of in preparation for teaching my first class on Monday morning. Granted, I am a bit of a procrastinator by nature, but I have been diligently preparing for January 17^th for quite some time. I’ve also been working 12 hour days doing everything from antiquing, going to flower market, building terrariums, re-doing the entire retail floor, meeting with clients, booking weddings, planning classes, writing ads, and you add in time for sleep, nourishment, and finishing up my required yoga hours, and you get the frenzy.

Friday was my first day off in a week, and I reveled in that for all of two seconds before I realized it was also my last day off before I started teaching. This meant following up with equipment suppliers, going to the bank, double checking liability insurance, taking classes, making play-lists for class, doing sequencing, minor panicking when the equipment supplier tells you they cannot find your order, and it will not arrive before Monday, re-do the sequencing without props, make an additional 8 eye pillows, look up recipes for mat cleaner, go buy more fabric to finish the eye pillows, meet with a graphic designer to discuss business cards, (and other volunteer projects) e-mailing students, tweaking liability forms, creating sign in sheets, printing said waivers and sign in sheets, reading about hand mudras, updating the facebook page… the list goes on. I finally stopped at about 11PM for some much needed vegging before falling into a much needed sleep (thank you lavender eye pillow).

Surprisingly enough I am not nervous for Monday (but let’s see where I’m at on Monday morning). I’m not feeling cocky or overly confident, but I do feel comfortable and safe about the poses I am teaching. I am actually feeling incredibly blessed, as I was only expecting a handful of students (six maybe seven for sure… and that number has grown to over ten! Some are just friends and mentors coming to my first class for support, some are coming just because it’s a holiday and they don’t have to work, but some are coming because they  are starting on their yoga journey, they have no idea what they are doing, and they are trusting me to get them there… and to me that is huge!) Perhaps I should be feeling nervous, but I think I haven’t had time yet. I’ve been too worried about getting everything done, supplies arriving, website building, and installing quicken on my computer. I am not nearly as nervous about the yoga as I am about the business aspect of things. In yoga, when in doubt, just do Child’s pose… in business its not that simple. I’m already beginning to question, did I make the right choice ordering my supplies? Did I order enough? Did I order too many? Did I go with the wrong company? (yes it was the most affordable, but was it the right choice? Considering that I will not have any of my supplies for my first class,  I’m having my doubts). I’ve been over lists in my head, the liability insurance, the waiver forms, the bank accounts, and as far as I know I think my ducks are in a row… but I’ve never done any of this before, and it’s the unknown that is the challenge.  The yoga… it’s in the muscle memory… but the rest?

And tomorrow I graduate. After being a yoga student for the past eight years, and a teacher trainer for eight months, tomorrow the training wheels come off and I make the transition from student to teacher. Though I know I will be a life-long student of yoga, there is a definite shift taking place. Gone are the days of being isolated on my mat, being able to focus solely on my own practice. (lets be honest, those days started to slip away eight months ago) Even if I can keep my eyes on my own mat, I know I will be constantly aware of language, new ways of saying things, great verbiage, sequencing I can borrow, tactful ways to assist students. I will never be able to be ambivalent about my neighbors knee position again... Though I am so grateful for this entire experience, the deepening of the practice and the opportunity to teach, I’m also slightly nostalgic for the days where “yoga student” was my only role.

And so, even though I feel like I probably still have things I need to work out, sequencing I should go over, loose ends to tie up (putting a new battery in my travel clock, getting candles, charging my i-pod, getting all my eye pillows together, assembling a cash box, remembering pens… the list goes on) tonight I am letting myself relax. Tonight I’m letting myself just be a student… because tomorrow I no longer have that option.  Tonight I’m not worried about props, and getting in my last half hour of class, and submitting paperwork to the yoga alliance. Tonight I am painting my toe nails, and soaking in the tub with a nice cold beer. Tomorrow I will be a teacher, tomorrow I will over-think things, and over-plan, and pack my yoga bag, and worry about getting everything in order. But tonight, I’m just a yoga student, and my only responsibility is being content exactly where I’m at.

For those of you who are curious I’ll be teaching classes on Monday & Wednesday Mornings. You can find out more at Olive Branch Yoga