Sand + Summer // Summer 2014

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This summer is about getting to the beach. It’s about being in the sun, listening to music, finishing crosswords and reading all the books and learning how to go slow. It’s about swimming and exercising and tiring yourself out and feeling healthy. It’s about avocados and popsicles and all the snacks. It’s about being.

  1. XO – John Mayer
  2. The Great Unknown – Jukebox the Ghost
  3. Maps – Maroon 5
  4. Oceans – Coasts
  5. Rude – Magic!
  6. Shake – The Heat and the Heart
  7. Headphones – Matt Nathanson
  8. Chandelier – Sia
  9. Palisades Park – Counting Crows
  10. Rescue – Yuna
  11. The Heart – Needtobreathe
  12. Summer in the City – Freedom Fry
  13. Sing – Ed Sheeran
  14. Something I Need – OneRepublic
  15. Gimme Something Good – Ryan Adams
  16. Back to the Earth – Jason Mraz
  17. Coins in a Fountain – Passenger
  18. Photograph – Ed Sheeran

Here’s a link to the playlist on Spotify:

i have the yoga police on speed dial.

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We’re cruising into the fourth of July weekend and I am looking forward to a three day weekend of BBQs, beaches, and relaxation. I have gotten my wedding dress back where it belongs (in a shop, rather than my closet where it will almost certainly become ruined) and things are moving along swimmingly on the wedding front, so I am feeling ready for a summer filled with fun, preparation, cooking (always), and seeing some friends along the way.

Last night I went to yoga and worked, for an hour and a half, on my thigh muscles and psoas muscle. I love a vinyasa class, but I can’t help coming back time and again to Iyengar, which focuses on postures in yoga, really bringing your awareness to what your body is doing at the actual moment it’s doing it.

Iyengar is a great choice for me for when I’m being taught by a physical teacher instead of doing a video at home. My teachers keep me honest, make me work for a pose, make me understand where my body should be, and why, and how. I love learning alignment and I can pull that through to my home practice because I know how something should feel and that helps me get myself into poses I thought were unobtainable.

Last night, as I hung out in shoulder stand with my thighs activated and working to keep my legs straight, my yoga teacher Jay proclaimed, “Firm those thighs…I have the yoga police on speed dial.” I love that he keeps us laughing, working, committed, and aware that our bodies are on as good as we make them be. I love finding strength in myself I didn’t see, but that he did, all along.

This summer, I hope to make more advances in my yoga practice as I train for a 10k in the winter. I’ve always found that balancing between yoga and running makes me feel the best, because too much running is hard on my feet (too much yoga, I find, is never a problem.)

What are y’all’s favorite yoga types and classes? I am always looking to deepen my practice and I am open to suggestions!

I hope this weekend is full of getting outside, maybe some yoga at the beach, and definitely sunshine, sea, and delicious foods. Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!

you’re vicious like the blue sky

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Jeff has been working crazy hours, and I have been sick, so this Sunday, which is the first day in a week I am really feeling like myself, I am enjoying a relaxing day doing exactly the following things:

writing thank you cards // working on wedding stuff // crossing things off my list // catching up on GMS stuff long neglected // photographing some delicious foods made by E // video chatting with my family because my dad is the best // eating pizza for breakfast // drinking coffee for the first time since Tuesday // listening, twice, to Matt Nathanson Live at the Point because, damn. // heading to yoga to flow it out // reading the book club book // cracking open the latest NatGeo with gusto // making playlists, because it’s been too long // braiding my hair, always // contemplating why baby mockingbirds have made their home in the tree outside our window // researching the nesting period of mockingbirds // don’t worry it’s only 12-14 days // good news, they don’t reuse their nests // writing for GMS because, funfetti. // missing my boo but knowing i’ll see him this week // living.

happy Sunday, loves.

what you give in yoga, you get back in life.

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I’ve gone to yoga twice this week, chicken, trying to use up my classes that expire in a month.

And, of course, right on queue, I got sick, too, because of course I did. I’ve been sick three times this month, and I finally scheduled an appointment at an ENT because if I get sick one more time my boss is going to walk me to the ENT herself, because as she says, no one should get sick as much as you do.

If you’ve known me for any amount of time, you’d know that I’ve always gotten sick a lot, and I’ve always just accepted it as fact. But in the past couple of years, I’ve realized there are some things I can do differently when I am sick, like do more yoga (with twists!) and take some homeopathic remedies (garlic, lemon in tea, oregano oil, and cumin oil are just a few of my tricks, plus zinc.)

So when I started to feel sick this week, I headed for the yoga studio the first chance I got. And not just any class, either, but a level 2-3 yoga flow class. Over twenty vinyasas later, I was sweating so much I couldn’t see, pushing ever so slightly to get deeper in the twist, deeper into my muscles, deeper into the toxins to get them out, out, out.

I’ve learned over the past few years that when I feel a cold coming on, exercise helps me heal faster and in the moment feels like the right thing to be doing. Whether it’s a flow class, or a walk, or a run, I always feel better after moving my body, helping it along to heal. And of course, drinking all the water.

The title of this post is something a yoga teacher said to us once when we were in a twist that I thought was going to end me. As I shook and sweat and willed myself to stay in the pose, breathing deeply, he said, “what you give in yoga, you get back in life.”

What a way to live, chicks. Have a happy, healthy Wednesday. Namaste.

let us love // like we were children

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Today is my birthday, chickens, and I am pretty excited to be celebrating another year around these parts!

The sun is shining out here in Los Angeles, and yesterday I had just an amazing day with all my friends out at Angel City Brewery, having delicious beer, enjoying each other’s company, holding a pretty adorable baby, and playing some awesome games. I am so lucky to have a fiance who was willing to put that all together and so many friends to enjoy the day with!

As I celebrate this 28th year, I hope you guys can oblige me five things that I’d love for my birthday. What I’d really like for my birthday is if you could:

1. Sign up for Be the Match. Be the Match is a bone marrow registry committed to matching bone marrow donors to patients; you could help save a life, and signing up is free and takes only a few minutes.

2. Register to vote. This is an election year, and voting does make a difference. Along with this one goes ACTUALLY voting.

3. Get healthy! This is one I always am working on…doing more yoga, exercising more in general, and eating more whole foods, more fruits, more veggies, etc. The big things for this one are alleviating stress, eating better, and moving your body – guaranteed to make you happier along the way, too!

4. Do something that makes you happy. You know we all comisterate every day about something – our jobs, our roommates, our cars, our commutes, etc., etc. Today, just take an hour and do something HAPPY and then share about it, talk about THAT, and start trying to be full of gratitude instead of anger/etc. I am guilty of this too, but what a perfect day to remember how awesome my life is??

5. Unplug. Something I’m trying to do more of…put the phone down, and the blog, and the laptop, and just be in the moment. Talk to people, look them in the eyes, swim and frolick and climb and dance and enjoy life, and worry about the digital world later. Unplugging will you help you unwind, too!

I hope to follow all of these along with you, and wish everyone a great day, birthday or not!

xo