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Happy New Year & 2012 Recap

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Did you stay up? I actually fell asleep watching 30 Rock around 11:30 but luckily I have the best husband ever and he woke me up in time to share the strike of midnight and a new year’s kiss 🙂 I’m trying to cut back on coffee thus I was very tired yesterday night.

2012 was a big year for our house – here’s a recap.

  1. I taught my first (and probably last) yoga class at my old job – turns out I like taking yoga much more than teaching yoga, at least for now. People seemed to like my classes but teaching is just not for me! (January)
    maggie-yoga
  2. I went back to my old job (I had left it for ~5 months, but missed it almost as soon as I’d gone). (March)
  3. My hubby and I bought an apartment in NYC. And then we renovated it (still renovating it…). (Closed in May; began renovations in November)
    reno-framing-floor
  4. I joined a CSA and discovered a farmers’ market on the corner of my street. (June)
  5. I joined Pure Yoga back at the end of June (and Bobby just joined in late November so now we can go to yoga together). (June)
  6. I fixed my PCOS. (Basically by eating more carbs, and more in general, more food more regularly.) I also ate a lot of PCOS bread. (July)
    pcos-bread
  7. Bobby and I went on a yoga retreat with Raghunath (August), and I tried Mysore Ashtanga yoga (July).
  8. Bobby and I went to Japan for 2 weeks for fun (and so I could finally – after 7 years of being together – meet his family!). (October)
    maggie-japanese-grocery
  9. I went to India for 9 days for work. (December)
    ACTION
  10. NYC got hit by Hurricane Sandy – our home was unaffected, but my work lost power for a week and many of my friends and family members, including my parents, were also without power. Sandy Workout & Sandy Link Love.

What were the important things in your life for 2012?

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Random December List.

Random thoughts and things.

1) I got back from my trip to India on Sunday morning. Amazing trip. I was in Hyderabad for work for ~8 days (it’s a city in the south of India – in the state of Andhra Pradesh). JFK–>DEL the previous Saturday (after a 5 hour delay at JFK due to plane malfunctions – thanks Air India – a 14 hour flight total), did sightseeing on Sunday in Delhi, and then took a short 2 hour flight DEL–>HYD. Worked with an incredible team all week long, and then began the journey back to JFK this past Saturday. Two unexpected things about this trip to India: 1) I didn’t get to do any yoga aside from sun salutations in my hotel room and 2) there are way fewer vegetarians than I expected. I was just about full VEG for the whole trip. (I think I had a chicken sandwich in the airport on the first day.)

ACTION

(A sign at Golconda Fort, in Hyderabad – ha! I thought it was funny.)

2) Home renovations are still in progress. I am still very excited about them, but at this point I am getting very anxious to get my kitchen and bathroom back. Showering at the gym is getting old, fast. It’s been over a month now! I think we started on 11/14.

3) More travel plans this week. Bobby and I are going to visit his family in Miami and we leave on Thursday. Construction will continue while we are gone – and hopefully be nearing completion by the time we return. ::Fingers crossed:: Cats are headed to New Jersey.

4) I have only gotten to 4 yoga classes this month so far. But then again, I have only been home for ~8 days of the month so far, so this is actually a good record: one class every other day. Hoping to get to one more before we go to Miami (Wednesday morning?), and 2 more after we return. Bobby has been going with me because he joined my same yoga studio. ::Happy dance::

5) After Miami, we are going to NJ the following weekend to visit my family. Hectic hectic month!

6) I am obsessed with candles. I recently bought this avocado mint candle and this frosted maple candle from Anthropologie (not only do they have beautiful clothes, but they have wonderfully aromatic candles). I also have 3 from this line (also at Anthro).

alexei-frosted-maple-candle-anthropologie

(^^frosted maple^^)

avocado-mint-candle-anthropologie

(^^avocado & mint^^)

whipped-cream-pear-candle-anthropologie

(^^whipped cream & pear^^)

7) My favorite breakfast as of late has been a sugarless berry scone from Butterfield Bakery (unsweetened – not with fake sugar). These things are gigantic but somehow I manage to finish them. On the days I don’t get a scone I get either a fresh croissant (also from Butterfield) or a whole wheat bagel with butter from the deli around the corner.

butterfield-sugarless-scone

8) My heart goes out to the families affected by the terrible school shooting in Connecticut.

I think that is all I have for now. I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season so far. Wish I could spend more of it in New York – NYC at Christmastime is one of my favorite things.

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Being Spontaneous: A Healthy Blogger Weekend

Yesterday morning I hopped on the bus to DC to meet up with Coco. I’m on the bus back now (Sunday night). We had a lot of fun; I got to hang out with Coco and her husband (!). Next time Bobby will come along with me and we will go hiking and pick apples. It’s fun doing things with other married people.

Being spontaneous and being with a good friend is a great way to break out of a normal routine. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in my daily regimen that I forget to stop and do something different. A weekend getaway is great for that.

A Perfect Blogger Saturday

On Saturday we walked a lot (5-6 miles). We had a yummy Malaysian lunch, we walked through Georgetown, we saw Eat, Pray, Love, and we ended the night with Vietnamese food. This is one dish from lunch (a noodly salad). I would have taken more pictures but I was too wrapped up in hanging out and good conversation!

A Blogger Inspired Sunday Breakfast

This morning we (we = Coco) made HEAB’s coconut pancakes. They were awesome. Unfortunately my stomach has been acting weird and bloaty all weekend so I wasn’t very hungry, but I did have a decent amount of these, plus some cherries. Coco said she changed the recipe slightly, but I don’t know the modifications. You will have to ask her.

We walked off breakfast by strolling through the touristy part of DC near the Whitehouse. Coco had gone running there this morning too before I woke up! (Maybe it wasn’t there… somewhere around there though. She is starting to taper for her half-marathon this weekend.) Think we did around 6 miles of walking. Walking = best way to exercise (in my opinion).

A Say Yes to Salad Lunch

Lunch was green and compost-friendly at Sweet Green (salad of romaine, edamame, cucumber, heirloom tomatoes, and sauteed mushrooms with some yummy creamy dressing). Our salads came with the best bread ever, which we both finished. Sweet Green was great – everything is labeled if it’s vegan, you can compost everything (even that “plastic” cup), and the food was delicious and satisfied my salad craving. I can never get enough salad. Ever.

I am now finished with my dinner (Whole Foods prepared food) and dessert (apple and a Chinese candy from Coco) because this bus’s internet is so slow and it has taken me over an hour to write this. I guess that’s why it’s free because I would not pay for this.

I am off to sleep, or read my magazine (Women’s Health), or do some pondering. This weekend was so fun! I’m in a great mood and I can’t wait to continue my great mood this week. Upcoming…

  • Skincare (this is your last chance to ask me any specific questions! So far I am going to chat mainly about oily skin, but I am open to answering more – please comment below)
  • Exercise inspiration
  • Yoga guest post
  • Food/bread inspiration
  • (not necessarily in that order!)

What did you do this weekend? Do you have plans for Labor Day tomorrow?

I’m hoping to meet up with some more friends and spend some quality time with my husband (who I missed very much while I was in DC). Absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder.