Weekend Recap – Page 31

NYC Weekend Trip: TYT#16

May 5, 2015 by Alicia Leave a Comment

Hey guys!! It feels so good to be back to blogging. As I mentioned yesterday I was just really stressed out and full of emotions the last week or so. I am glad my boyfriend calmed me down and writing helps a lot. So today is Tuesday and that means Treat Yourself Tuesday with Becky!! I haven’t linked up in a while since there haven’t been too many treats, but this weekend was a major treat as Brian and I headed to NYC for a night.

Since Friday was a late night for me with the yogis, we slept in on Saturday morning which was a HUGE treat since I haven’t been able to do that for the past couple weekends. I eventually got up around 8am (so late for me) and made some pancakes for Brian and I for breakfast. Then we packed up and we were ready to go around 10am. We walked over to the train station and took the train to Trenton, NJ and then switched to NJ Transit and hopped on a train to NYC. Together it was about 2 hours of travel time on the trains, which isn’t bad. I had my new coloring book to keep myself occupied, which I am super excited to spend more time doing to relax.

Speaking of treats, I just bought myself a new pack of colored pencils at Target on Sunday, because my current pack only had 12 colors. I clearly needed more 🙂

While on the train, I also pre ordered Breaking Vegan (I don’t think my wallet is a fan of having internet everywhere I go). I am a recent follower of Jordan’s blog The Balanced Blonde, but absolutely love it and can’t wait to receive her book in November (ahhh that’s soo far away), but she has some awesome giveaways going on and sneak peaks coming up on the book, so check it out.

Back to NYC, we walked around Central Park which was full of tons of people. I did stop to do a few yoga poses. Yoga outside is always a treat!!

When we reached one end of Central Park, we were near Baked By Melissa that I had recently heard about so we picked up a dozen mini cupcakes for dessert.

On our way back to our hotel, we got sandwiches from Potbellys that we enjoyed at the hotel and then ate those cupcakes. Then we had a bit of time to relax before heading over to Broadway to see Matilda!! I have never seen a show on Broadway before. Brian bought the tickets Saturday morning and we got some pretty decent seats. The show was amazing! I am not a huge musical/play watching person, mostly because I just can’t follow the story line, but Matilda stayed pretty true to the movie that I have seen many times, making it more enjoyable for me to understand what is going on. [Brian also loved it, even if he doesn’t admit it]

Seeing a show on Broadway definitely made the trip to NYC worth it. The next morning we walked around the High Line Park. We had some great weather for walking and my feet are definitely sore but I loved seeing that count go up on my Fitbit! Over 20,000 steps on Saturday and almost another 20,000 on Sunday.

It’s cool to see trees planted between old railroad tracks. This park is just over a mile walk and tons of plants and nice views of the city along the way. Definitely recommend it if you are in New York City and have the time.

It was a wonderful treat to get away for the weekend. I needed a change of scenery and now feeling more refreshed for the week, no studying to worry about, just work, gym time and coloring time 🙂

Yoga Teacher Training Weekend #13 and Graduation

May 4, 2015 by Alicia Leave a Comment

This last week was very emotional as I finished up my yoga teacher training. I am so happy to have my weekends back especially with this warm weather, but I will miss spending the weekend in the yoga studio with all the wonderful people I met. It was study, study and study till the test finally came.

I am a week late on recapping this, but still wanted to write it. Backing up to Friday, April 24^th after work. We began yoga teacher training with a student led class and then we ate. We had a wonderful potluck and everyone brought delicious food. We watched a movie talking about the yoga concepts we had learned. I actually thought it was a great way to wrap things up right before the test as I had been studying and seeing the terms on the screen was a great reminder of them. I made these cookies and this awesome variation on guacamole to go with chips.

We ended at 9 and then headed to the train. My train arrived on time, but then after leaving the city, we ended up on the wrong track for the next stop so we had to wait and reverse. In addition to that, I somehow ended up in the loudest car ever on the train with some fan that seemed broken. Eventually during our wait to reverse, I switched cars and it was the best peace and quiet ever! I also munched on some leftover cookies as I waited and stayed calm. As soon as I got home, I crashed right into bed.

April 25

Saturday morning I did some grocery shopping and tried to study. Our test was actually open book and I had marked my binder up with tabs for everything. This day was a little different for training as well since we had to meet up at the other studio, which I used to live by but now am about an hour away from, so I was not too happy about the driving. I left early and headed to Panera. My internet was down in my apartment so I used the Panera wifi and got an awesome lunch and my free birthday cookie.

At least that studying was a bit more successful being in a different area to spread out all my notes.

Then I headed to the studio at noon. We began with another yoga class, which was awesome. I honestly did not do much yoga in April since I moved away from the studio and was focusing on studying and getting back into weight lifting. After that we had a workshop with Wah. She is basically like a yoga celebrity I guess. Her music is often played at the studio where I did my training and is great for yoga classes. I want to get some of her CDs or something for when I teach. We did a bunch of chanting and partner work which was a lot of fun.

After the 3 hour workshop, we had a 3 hour break before Wah’s concert at the studio. It was a bit annoying to have such a long break and a late night when we had the test the next day, but we did what we could. Most of my yoga group went out for Thai food around the corner from the studio. The studio is in a little town so the stores and restaurants are pretty small. When we asked to move tables for a group of 9, it seemed like we took up half the restaurant. Service was also pretty slow for our group as we watched groups of two come in after us and leave before us. However, it was great to be enjoying a meal outside of the yoga studio with others and talk. The time really did fly by. When we finally all got our food, we ate it so fast (so no picture). It was delicious, but I probably wouldn’t go back there again due to the price of my pad thai.

Afterwards, some people wanted something sweet. Well, Village Treats happened to be across the street so we checked it out. I can’t eat ice cream, but as soon as I walked in, I saw chocolate chip cookie dough truffles and I was thinking, wow that sounds good. Again we took up the whole ice cream shop waiting in line but it was worth it. Though it was a bit of a chilly day to be eating ice cream for those who got some, but that cookie dough truffle was amazing!!! It really was like a partially baked cookie in a ball, dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. Perfect!!

I can tell you that was eaten in probably .25 seconds but I had to take a picture because sprinkles…and also it is probably best I never knew about this place when I went to the yoga studio so much.

We got back in time for the concert and we weren’t sure what to expect, but actually I really enjoyed it. I only stayed for half of it though because while the music was awesome it was also kind of putting me to sleep because of how relaxing it was and with it being dark outside and a long drive, I needed to head out.

I got home at 10 and headed right to bed to try to sleep well before the final test.

April 26

Sunday morning I got up and made some protein pancakes and then cleaned (to procrastinate studying…). I took the train an hour earlier and hung out at a coffee shop by the studio for a bit, talking to a few other yogis in my training. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was trying to drink tons of water too as I felt a headache starting which may have been a combo of stress, nerves and the heat. Finally it was time for the test.

As soon as I got it and started going, turning pages and putting down answers, I knew it was going to be ok. I knew exactly where to find everything. Some things couldn’t be found in books and I would say the most challenging was creating 2 10 pose sequences. I finished in 2.5 hours and used about another half hour to review everything. Then I flipped it over and was done.

I made it through despite my head hurting a bit. After everything was done, I felt relieved and just hoped I passed. Brian drove down and picked me up from the studio which was way better than waiting an hour for the train, especially with my headache really coming on.

Honestly I got home at 6:30pm and laid in bed. I didn’t fall asleep, I just didn’t feel well. Headache, tired, stressed possibly. I felt really warm and thought I must be sick, like I was overheating. I even thought there was a chance I would have to call into work sick Monday [I really should have because the extra day of rest probably would have really helped me]. I took Tylenol and that eventually kicked in and I felt better around 8pm. I then got out of bed at 9 to watch the kick off of the Food Networks Spring Bake off. (Yes, priorities).

I went back to bed at 10, to sleep this time and slept amazingly well, which was good.

With Brian staying for the week, I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could, but I still had work. Lately I had not been looking forward to work. I didn’t realize how many emotions I was balling up inside me until mid week when I finally broke down while talking to Brian about many things. Brian is much more laid back than I am, which helps me in some ways when I am creating too much stress for myself. After Wednesday, I really felt more like myself again and each day got better. After our long chat that night, I had also signed up for the free stress workshop by Alisha at Alisha’s Appetite. It really could not have been better timing. Sometimes you just need reminders on what to do to live with every day life stressors, etc.

May 1

Friday morning, all the yogis received an email that we all passed. That was good to hear. We were told as long as we didn’t hear anything, we were to show up for graduation. How awful would it be if we showed up and didn’t graduate?!

After that email, I was even more relieved. Friday evening we gathered in a circle, chanted, congratulated each other and reflected on our experience. What is amazing to me is that on May 2, 2014 was the day I showed up to the Yoga Garden for the teacher training meeting, only my first week living in the Philadelphia area and still jobless at the time. Now a year later, I am over 10 months at my current job and spent the last 6 months on weekends training and studying yoga. While I still have not figured out entirely what I want to do with my life, I am really happy to know how far I have grown in the last year.

Since this is long enough, let’s end with a few pictures. My teacher took a bunch of group photos and hopefully will email them to us soon. We enjoyed a dinner after our graduation and plan to meet up for coffee/tea once a month to get together and plan a 1 year reunion. It will be weird not seeing everyone so often.

Also, another note, I met those two lovely ladies in the picture on May 2, 2014. Great to be graduating with them!! Also one of my teachers is photo bombing in the background 🙂

Yoga Teacher Training Weekend #12

April 20, 2015 by Alicia Leave a Comment

After a nice 3 week break from yoga teacher training, I was back at it this weekend. This was our second to last weekend. It is so hard to believe that it is coming to an end. I will be so happy to have my weekends back, but I will also be sad about leaving my fellow trainees. I just wanted to do a quick recap of this weekend.

First, let me say that this weekend was tough! Since I moved and no longer live near the yoga studio, I focused on weight training the last two weeks. My weight routines have been really working on my upper body strength and shoulders and although my shoulders have been sore from that, I felt that that work came in handy this weekend while we worked on our vinyasas. Friday night was my first full yoga class in over 2 weeks. At first downdog felt more challenging than usual, but then as we worked through the class, it felt great to be back. We then discussed our written sequence assignment and went over some concepts that will show up on our final exam. The evening went by fairly quickly. Then I walked to the train station with my fellow train buddies, but it was the first time we would part ways taking separate trains and unfortunately my train was 30 minutes later than theirs so I had 30 minutes to kill at the train station. Finally I made it home and headed right to bed as it was so late.

Saturday morning I went to Whole Foods and another grocery store for my groceries. I have to go over the bridge to NJ to go to my beloved Wegmans store and I just didn’t want to deal with that before yoga training. I spent an hour or so making a light alfredo pasta. Since I avoid dairy most of the time now, since becoming lactose intolerant somewhere around my senior year of high school, I avoid heavy cream which is used in a typical alfredo sauce. When I saw this recipe on Pinch of Yum, I wanted to try it, despite the fact that I do not like cauliflower. I love broccoli, but never have been a fan of cauliflower. I figured since it was blended up, I wouldn’t notice too much and I didn’t. The sauce consistency/texture was a bit different, maybe just the way I did it since I tried to cut the recipe in half, but it was still tasty and perfect for my lunches this weekend.

After making that and running around to clean some things up, it was time to head out to yoga training. We started with a class led by a fellow trainee, which was wonderful. Then we talked about the business of yoga, some things I knew and others I didn’t. Then we had a workshop, “Building a Better Vinyasa” which was super challenging. It felt like we did 100 push ups. So many low to high planks and then curling the toes under. I hate curling my toes under but I think that is my own foot problem and my foot cramps to the point of I can’t do anything sometimes. Sometimes it might be dehydration I know, but I think there just may be some sort of trigger point in my foot that causes it. Anyway I digress…back to vinyasas.

My form has definitely improved with my vinyasas through this training and I can turn my feet over one at a time so that my thighs don’t touch so I do that to avoid potential cramping. Also with these last couple weeks and knowing that I have become quite dehydrated on some long Saturdays, I am making sure I drink more water. It was about 80 degrees Saturday so I was already sweating when I arrived to the training and knew I needed more water. I ended up buying 2 bottles of water and a Honest Tea from Whole Foods Saturday to keep hydrated. I also felt by drinking more water, I was less hungry, which was great too.

The two hour workshop was quite the workout. Luckily after that, we just had some more discussions and created another sequence together as a group. I finally feel like I am understanding creating the sequences better. I am not super creative with them yet, but I feel better when I can contribute something. We actually got out about 10 minutes early on Saturday evening which was great, but we missed the earlier train by 5 minutes (the one time you want the train to be late, right?…). So it was a long wait at the train station but luckily we talked for a while together. My train comes at the same time, different track, so it is nice to have people to wait with. Since it was a long day and another late night, I headed right to bed when I got home.

Sunday morning is my relaxing morning (or rather a day when I don’t spend an hour shopping at the grocery store). I made protein pancakes, which has become a regular for sundays. It keeps me full for a while, which helps when we don’t get a lot of time to eat during yoga training. I also got my corrections on my yoga sequences done and some laundry. I even went for a quick 15 minute walk by the river, where I had fun sitting watching the water and making faces. #selfiesunday

[side note, I may be bigger and 25 years old now, but not much has changed here. #age6vs25]

Before I knew it, it was time to head out. My shoulders were very very sore so I was not looking forward to our workshop about floating and flying (aka the jump forwards and jump backs in vinyasa). We began with a nice yoga class and every moment I got, I had my Yoga Tune up ball behind my shoulder against the wall just pressing into the knotted area. With some help from the building a better vinyasa workshop on Saturday, I actually realized that my jump from downdog to forward fold is pretty good. The goal is to jump forward quietly. It is a lot of pressure in the shoulders and strength is definitely required to do it well, so I believe with my current weight workouts as supplement, it will help me build some more strength there. As I have mentioned before, not having a gym membership and weight training over these last 6 months has been really difficult. While I may have toned other muscles throughout this training, I definitely noticed when I went to do my first weight workout just how much muscle I have lost. It is great to begin to feel strong again!!

Our Sunday workshop had a lot more partner work and I quickly helped my partner, but we were both beat. I was happy to just sit and massage my shoulder. It was an insightful workshop though and there are things I learned, but definitely a lot of work to get there and I honestly don’t even know if all the jumping is something my shoulders can handle. For now I will stick with stepping back.

Our last half hour we discussed the topics on the exam. I really don’t even know how to study. I am mostly just placing tabs, post-its and trying to get familiar with my books, since it is open book. Hopefully I pass on Sunday. This week I can focus on studying during lunch breaks and after work.

Once I got home, it was time to prepare for the week, making my lunch and starting some chicken cooking in the crock pot overnight. I also had to stay up to watch the All-Star Academy finale, since I have been following for the last couple weeks. (It’s great having basic cable again 🙂 ) I knew the weekend was going to go by quickly, but it was enjoyable (even if my shoulders might be sore for a couple days). Hope everyone has a great Monday and good luck to all the people running the Boston marathon today!!

New Apartment: MIMM#30

April 6, 2015 by Alicia 1 Comment

Happy Easter Monday!! Back to work today. I had a wonderful much needed, 3 day weekend. After moving Tuesday, I was just not into the whole work at the office thing until I was feeling more organized at home. Friday morning I got up at 6:30am. I had forgotten to turn off my 6am alarm on my phone and I just wanted to get to moving around boxes. An hour and a half later, I finally decided to stop to eat breakfast as the living room was finally feeling more open.

Then I headed over to the local YMCA. I moved to a completely different area so Friday was a day of exploring around except that it started to rain mid morning so that was annoying. The YMCA is so small but I joined anyway. I need a lap pool and some zumba back in my life. Although my new apartment complex has an outdoor pool for summer, from what I understand they don’t have lane dividers so lap swimming probably won’t happen there and of course I like a pool year round. Being without a gym membership has been super tough for me since November, but I didn’t have time between yoga teacher training class requirements and work so I saved a bunch of money ending my membership for the last 4 months and now that my class requirements are done for yoga and I moved to a new area so unfortunately can’t get to the yoga studio very easily anymore, I am beginning weight training again.

From there, I headed to Homegoods as I was searching for lamps. I didn’t find what I was looking for, so then headed to Target which had the perfect simple lamps as well as other things I needed, like some more cleaning supplies and food. After that, I headed to Whole Foods and was amazed at how big the store was. I pulled into the parking lot at about 12:30 Friday afternoon and it was packed. I saw a car pulling out of a spot and pulled right in. After parking, I looked at the parking lines and realized the “spot” I was in, wasn’t even a legit parking spot, yet I was between two cars, but the car to my right wasn’t in a parking spot either. I couldn’t believe how crowded it was, maybe because people were shopping before the holiday this weekend. I went inside and was just amazed at how big the produce section is. I saw the bulk bins and went over to get some oats and I took a few minutes to look around for bags and didn’t see any. Then I noticed there were small paper bags, pencils and stickers for the bag, so I grabbed a paper bag and filled it with my oats. I then wandered around the store to get familiar with where everything was while searching for my few items.

Finally after being out and about for a few hours, it was time to head home to unload and get my new lights assembled so I can see in the living room. My last apartment had enough ceiling lights that I didn’t need to buy any extra lights. After organizing my new things, I headed back out to Target again to buy another lamp. I had only bought one the first time to see how it would work out.

Before I knew it, the day was coming to an end. I threw together a quick dinner (chicken nuggets from Trader Joes and bean salad I made).

It was nice to eat at home for dinner. I have been eating out for lunch and dinner most days for the past week as I didn’t want to buy food and move it. Then it was time to wind down the night. I was tired from all the running around.

Saturday morning I slept past 7am, which was wonderful. I wanted to make pancakes but then I realized I didn’t have eggs :(. So I had a quick bowl of cereal for breakfast and then sat down to brainstorm my yoga paper. When that didn’t work, I got dressed and headed out for a walk in the beautiful sunshine by the river.

This is around the corner from my back door so basically my backyard. This is what makes my smaller apartment worth it and I can’t wait for the warmer temps.

I came back and sat down to really get to work. Finally I got my yoga paper written. It feels so nice to check something off the to do list. Then it was time to have a snack and get dressed for the gym. The gym wasn’t too crowded, which may be due to the holiday weekend. Since I haven’t been doing weight lifting in a while I contacted Susie to make up a couple workouts for me to get back into it. I completed my first workout from Susie and honestly I couldn’t even get through all the push ups because my arms were shaking so much at the end.

After the gym I had a few things I wanted from the grocery store and another quick trip to Homegoods for a pan to steam some artichokes in. I studied how to cut an artichoke on youtube Friday night since I got a couple from Whole foods. I learned how to get to the heart of the artichoke.

Inspired by Erin’s recipe I made pasta with an artichokes, garlic, spinach sauce.

The afternoon was spent cooking, catching up with my sister, finding some quotes for a project, one last walk outside for the evening and watching HGTV (love having basic cable!).

Sunday morning I stayed in bed late again. It was so nice to have a three day weekend. Much needed as it gave me an extra day to just rest. I did not have any plans to go anywhere. I made a delicious breakfast including some cinnamon rolls I treated myself to, to make Easter breakfast slightly more special.

Then I had some time to write, organized the bedroom by hanging up clothes, started studying for my yoga final and enjoyed the weather by going for a nice walk around my apartment complex. The road around is about a mile for one lap so it works perfect for a nice walk. Of course I also spent some time soaking up some sun by the water front.

Thanks to Katie for hosting!!

Did you have a three day weekend?

What did you do for Easter?

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