This last week has been full of contemplation. I had some really good talks with friends and tried to figure out where I’m going.

Where do I want to be in a year? Two years? Three? I have no idea. But I’m okay with that.

I had my first acupuncture treatment this morning. So far I am very impressed with Nicholas Steadman, but I’ll probably write a more thorough review after I’ve gotten it again (I signed up for another session on Thursday night). I think I am very lucky to have found this.

I think this blog has been heavy enough recently, so here is so food! Bobby and I have been to this Japanese place called East 3 times now. We have definitely learned what to get. The menus have pictures for every dish:

I like to get tea (complimentary) with my meals.

The first time we went I got this grilled broccoli. Kind of a ripoff ($2.50 I think), but very good.

Bobby got this burdock noodle soup with tempura and fish cake things. He said it was delicious and finished it… I got to taste the broth though. Pretty yummy.

The first night he also got this salmon roll ($10?). I’m not that much of a sushi person, but I tried it and I thought it was alright.

I had to get a salad, and this one rocked. It was only $6 and it was huge.

And I got this grilled salmon (miso glazed, $9) and horseradish with some sort of roe. I actually chopped most of this up and put it in the salad – so awesome. If this were cheaper I would get it again (it was a fairly small portion).

The next time we went with my mom (she had been up to help me paint). I got the salad again ($6). It is gigantic and probably the best deal I’ve seen in New York.

My mom got a bento box which came with a small salad and miso soup.

That night I got the chicken teriyaki ($5 something?). Ahh, this was delicious. It came with a piece of broccoli and a piece of carrot.

This was the rest of my mom’s bento box – seaweed salads, rice, salmon teriyaki, tempura, and a roll. I helped her

Bobby got a soup again that night. I don’t remember which one. Or maybe this was the burdock one and the other one was something else. Anyway, this was delicious as well.

And that same salmon roll (I want to say it’s called salmon lover’s).

Then last night we went with Kate and Simon (who just got engaged, congratulations!). It was Salmon Thursday! Lots of salmon dishes were super-reduced, so Bobby and I went all out for salmon. Here are the happy couples:

I got the salad yet again. Bobby got that salmon roll yet again.

Then… I got something called “salmon neck” for just $4. This plate is twice the size of a normal dinner plate. So huge!! It wasn’t all meat though (bones, eyes – you know – the usual).

It came with some horseradish stuff. Bobby also got a natto roll (fermented soybeans – I do NOT like this).

And another ridiculously cheap salmon roll (normally $14 or something, but on Salmon Thursday I think it’s $8).

Wow, what a lot of delicious Japanese food. I would highly recommend East. They have a few other locations as well. Bobby was the mayor briefly at this one, but he was ousted just last night.

I have to go tend to my sweetie before he gets pissed at me for blogging when he came home specifically to hang out with me. Later, pies!

What are your weekend plans? I am going to IKEA!

Continuing with my exercise kick…

On Tuesday morning I got up and went to EarthRise yoga from 7:30-8:30am at Equinox on 63rd and Lex (3 blocks away).

Okay – *this* is my yoga. This is exactly what I practice when I do yoga on my own. This is it!! It’s like dance… but yoga. It’s breathing and moving and flowing nonstop. It’s invigorating. Here is the description from Derek Beres’ site (that’s the instructor):

“Derek Beres is the creator of EarthRise Yoga^TM, a rigorous Vinyasa-based practice pulling from his decade of study in various yogic practices, as well as studies in various martial arts and dance disciplines, including certifications in Budokon and Thai Yoga Massage.”

It’s completely clear that this yoga is built on so many different foundations – martial arts, dance, vinyasa – you are constantly moving with the breath and really getting into the practice.

The hour long class had 2 major flows (each done on both sides). The flows were probably about  10 minutes per side (!). The first one went something like this (forgive me for butchering the sequence if I do):

• leg up; knee to nose (repeat a few times)
• leg up; knee out to the side like an L
• lunge with back knee down and arms up; straighten legs to pyramid (repeat a few times)
• something…
• warrior 2 and half moon back to warrior 2
• forward to a squat; straighten up and do a back bend (repeat a few times with the breath)
• birds of paradise (going slowly through the whole preparation)
• bound half moon play (!)
• side straddle
• warrior 2
• something…
• lots of side planks thrown in there
• more stuff that I’m forgetting

That was not a very good layout of the flow; it was so long that I couldn’t even remember it at the time! I loved it though. Most of it was moving with the breath; even when we did hold poses for longer it felt like nothing. I loved the half moon bind – I didn’t even know that was a posture. And I finally got birds of paradise.

The class was set to some very cool beats (I think done by the instructor himself) and the music definitely kept the energy flowing.

There’s another one tomorrow (Thursday) morning at 63rd and Lex (same time: 7:30-8:30am) and I’m going to try to go in before work.

I am *so* glad to have found my perfect yoga class. This maybe be reason enough to join Equinox (even thought I would probably join for the showers and free Kiehl’s alone).

What’s the best exercise class you’ve ever taken?

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was applying for the Warrior Challenge – well, I got in! I get a free 1-month pass to Equinox gyms in Manhattan and I have to dedicate myself to taking 3 intenSati classes each week. What’s intenSati, you ask? I’ll explain.

IntenSati is a super high-energy cardio workout that has elements of kickboxing, aerobics, dance, yoga, martial arts, and strength training. It is ridiculously intense. It’s a 60 minute workout and I bet you burn upwards of 500 calories in one session. It’s not just a high-energy workout though: while you work out you yell positive affirmations that will hopefully spill over into other areas of your life.

It was created by Patricia Moreno, a very strong and inspiring NYC fitness guru. She just wrote a book!

Okay, the positive affirmations thing sounded a little weird to me. I walked into the orientation on Sunday and I was kind of apprehensive. Is this religious? Is it weird and cult-y? It was NOT. Not at all. We started the workout and we were yelling things like, “I am ready to be stronger,” “I am ready to go further,” “No more excuses!”, “I am not afraid!”. I have never been one to believe in that “power of positive thinking” stuff, but I think I might be changing my mind. It’s kind of working

Anyway, I went to the orientation class on Sunday, and it was a little over an hour. Before class started I met up with Missy so I felt much more at ease knowing I had a blogger friend with me. Patricia Moreno was actually leading us! The class starts out with some dynamic stretching (deep squats, etc…) and you learn 2 poses. 1) Ready (essentially mountain pose); and 2) Warrior (essentially a wide squat with arms outstretched).

That part took maybe 5-10 minutes. Then we started doing amazingly crazy cardio stuff and yelling for about 45 minutes. Sweat was pouring down my body (I don’t sweat). Then we did yoga-like strength-dancing for about 10-15 minutes, and we ended with more stretching (5-10 minutes). This class was a little bit longer than usual because it was the orientation class.

Yesterday (Monday) I was going to wake up for the early morning class, but I was exhausted. I decided to do a class after work at the Equinox by my apartment (63rd and Lex). This intenSati class was 60 minutes and it was led by Erika Shannon. She led us through the same dynamic stretching, and then we started the cardio craziness. This cardio only lasted about 30 minutes, then we did about 15-20 minutes of strength, and a few minutes of stretching at the end. It was still an amazing workout even though it was slightly shorter than Sunday’s class. After the craziness Erika made us hold “warrior” for about 2 minutes! After the intensity (intenSati?) of the craziness this was really hard – I was sweating so much, but it felt amazing.

Missy and I were a little bit crazy and we decided to stay for Erika’s Hip Hop class (just 45 minutes). It was 30 minutes of dancing and then 15 minutes of strength. I was pretty tired from intenSati, but managed to keep up my energy for the duration of the class. I definitely prefer intenSati because I look like a dork when I try to do hip hop.

Missy has 2 really good reviews on her blog, too:

• Day 1
• Day 2

Today I went to Equinox again to take 2 more classes: Pilates/Bartenieff Fusion with Laura Ward and then Slow Flow Yoga with Maja Sidebaeck. I was about 10 minutes late to pilates and felt bad, but I thought the class was great. Yoga was really nice as well – it was very flowy and exactly how I would lead a class. Definitely going back.

I also LOVE the Equinox showers. I think I’ll just shower there from now on. They have great shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion… and they have razors, q-tips, deodorant, hair products, mouth wash, and probably a bajillion other things I didn’t see. I have this horrible feeling that I’m going to sign up with Equinox after the challenge is over.

I am now going to go do some work and crash into bed. Later, peeps! Go drink some water!

What’s your favorite killer workout?

Who else is doing Dori’s Core Fusion Challenge? The goal is to do a Core Fusion class (or DVD) 4-5 times a week for the month of January… intense, but exciting. I went over to Exhale Spa on Sunday and picked up my DVD: Core Fusion Body Sculpt.

The DVD is 50 minutes; it’s broken into 5 sections of 10 minutes each. The first section is arms, the second is butt, the third is thighs (or is it thighs then butt?), the fourth is abs, and the fifth is stretching. I haven’t done the fifth one yet.

Each 10-minute workout has a short (1 minute) warm-up, then about 7-8 minutes of yoga and ballet (in my humble opinion) inspired strength training, and then 1-2 minutes of stretching. When I first started I thought it was wimpy. Two minutes later my legs were shaking and I wanted to die. But I pushed through and the end of the workout came way quicker than I expected. I did all 4 sections (arms, butt, thighs, abs).

I did this yesterday (Monday) morning, and I’m not sore today (Tuesday)… I credit this to the very good stretching in the DVD… or delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). I might be achy tomorrow (Wednesday)! If I feel alright (I think I’m getting sick…) I’m going to do it again tomorrow morning – and maybe even do the stretching segment if I have time.

So far – I love Core Fusion. I hate strength training, and this is much more down my yoga/ballet interest path. Plus, I want my butt to look like the one on the DVD. And those abs! Here’s to hoping that’s me in a month Thanks for the intro to CF, Dori!

Another blogger friend, Elizabeth (who I met at Foodbuzz) gave me this sweet Beautiful Blogger Award. Elizabeth is a Beautiful Blogger herself! Thank you, friend!

I’m supposed to list 7 random facts about myself. In no particular order…

1. I love to sing. I haven’t been in a choir for the last 3 years or so, but I have been in various choirs for more than half of my life (age 8 to age 20). I sang in Carnegie Hall when I was 10 and I’ve gotten to tour all over the US. I’m a soprano!
2. I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.
3. I secretly enjoy greasy Chinese food. Er… guess that’s not a secret anymore.
4. I like to rearrange furniture. We just did our apartment on Sunday (it looks nice!).
5. We don’t get cable. I don’t miss it either.
6. My favorite color is purple.
7. I’m currently reading The Likeness by Tana French (thanks Tina for the rec!). I started it in Miami, then forgot I had it, and for the last two days I haven’t been able to put it down in my free time (what free time? I think I’ve only read it for 2 hours total…).

And I’m supposed to pass it on to 7 people. I was going to cop out like I usually do, but I’m actually going to give it to 8 amazing and beautiful blogger friends because I just can’t narrow it down to 7:

• Dori (Dori’s Shiny Blog)
• Clare (Yogi Clare Bear)
• Cindy (A Sparkle A Day)
• Gena (Choosing Raw)
• Averie (Love Veggies and Yoga)
• Christina (Dinner at Christina’s)
• Coco (Balance, Joy & Delicias)
• Heather (Heather Eats Almond Butter)

And now I’m going to bed so that I can get better. I firmly believe that a good night’s rest can cure just about anything.

What do you do to feel better when you’re sick?