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Virtual Coffee Date

Today’s post was inspired by Jenna, of Eat Live Run.

Jenna writes these wonderful posts that she calls “Virtual Coffee Dates.” If you and I were having coffee this morning, this is what I would want to share with you…

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If we were having coffee this morning, I would tell you how excited I am that one of my very best friends is coming in town this weekend! I’m already planning all of the beach going, drybar~ing and Sprinkles eating we will do!

If we were having coffee this morning, I would tell you about my brand new running kicks. I would tell you that running and I are rebuilding our relationship, bit by bit. After the marathon, it’s been a slow go. At first, the thought of running made me want to barf. Then I ran one mile, and then I got comfortable with 2, and then 3….and then this morning I ran for 40 minutes. This is the longest I’ve run since the marathon. It felt great.

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If we were having coffee this morning, I would tell you that this summer, I’m completing a 200 hour yoga teacher training! Oh my gosh, this is something I have  been dreaming of for years. In college I worked the front desk at a local yoga studio. They had a teacher training program that went on during the weekends. While the trainees were at lunch one day, I went into their studio to clean up. “One day, I will do this,” I remember thinking to myself. That KT Tunstall song, Suddenly I See, was playing in my mind. I just honestly felt like something was calling me to it. And now, it’s happening! I’m so excited!

If we were having coffee this morning, I would tell you that school is out in 4 weeks and I can feel summer calling my name.

If we were having coffee this morning, I would tell you how much I love this guy…

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If we were having coffee this morning, what would you tell me?

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

xoxo

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Holy black beans

Hello wonderful followers!

I’m sorry I deserted you for a bit there…

But you see, I went home! Yes ma’am! I flew back to St. Louis this weekend to surprise my mom for mothers day… yippie! There’s nothing like going home.

Tonight, I want to talk to you about something very serious:

Beans.

Yes, beans.

Delicious, yummy, homemade, black beans.

Last week, I modified this recipe from This American Girl (a killer travel blog!). I made the whole batch and put them on top of salads, rice, and avocados for the rest of the week. Make these beans. Seriously.

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Ingredients for a whole lotta black beans (Recipe from thisamericangirl.com)

1 medium yellow onion

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 TBSP coconut oil

½ lb dried black beans

2 tsp cumin

Sprinkle of cayenne, depending how hot you like it

Salt to taste

Rinse the beans. Then, place them in a pot or bowl and cover with 1 inch of water. Cover them with a lid and let them soak over night.

Then next day, drain and rise the beans again. Then, place them in a large pot and cover with about 2 inches of water. Add about 1/2 a teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of the cumin. Stir. Then, bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and allow the beans to simmer for 1 hour.

During this hour wait time, dance, drink a glass of wine, and heat the coconut oil ( over medium heat) in a skillet. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped onion and cook until it becomes translucent. Then, add the garlic and a bit more salt (to your taste)! Cook until the onions become slightly brown. Then, turn off the heat.

When the beans are done simmering (they should be soft), use a slotted spoon to transfer them into the skillet with the onion. Add a little bit of the bean liquid too! Then, add the rest of the cumin and any cayenne pepper you may want! Mix in well.

Viola! Homemade black beans for the week. Serve with quinoa, Greek yogurt, salsa, spinach, avocados, tomatoes, or all of the above :)

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30 Minute Madness

Hello! Happy Cinco de Mayo! Let’s drink margs all day, ok? Or these delicious Palmonas. But whatever you decide to drink, please coat your rim with sugar.

On another note…

Did you know that I have a small obsession with the treadmill? If not, now you do.

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I don’t know what it is. Yes, I love the freedom of running outside, not wearing a watch, and just taking it all in. However, I love hopping on the treadmill equally as much. I love all of those numbers. My time, speed, and distance are all right there in front of me. AH-mazing.

I don’t belong to a regular gym right now. But, I have been known to sneak into a few gyms in my day. I love those fancy ones with delicious smelling products in the lockerooms, saunas so steamy you’re afraid your going to sit on some one, and classes with names like “Booty Shake Up.” It’s hard to sneak into high end gyms. But, I like to buy a day pass to these gyms from time to time and pretend that I am rich. I did that this week and after taking one of their wonderful yoga classes, I headed over to the treadmill and made up this 30 minute workout. Enjoy!

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Cheers!

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Liebster Award!

Hello dear friends! How are you?

I am so happy to announce that I was nominated for a Liebster Award by Alex from Runs4Treats! Thanks Alex!

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Here’s how it works:

The Liebster Award is for smaller blogs. Once you are nominated  you are asked 11 questions by your nominator. You answer those questions, nominate 11 new blogs, and then ask them 11 new questions! I don’t know what qualifies a blog as “smaller” for this award, but I went ahead and just nominated some blogs that I really enjoy.

Below are my answers to Alex’s questions, my nominees, and my questions for those nominees! Happy reading!

1.  What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

My favorite guilty pleasure is The Real Housewives of New York. Actually, The Real Housewives of anything. Except for Atlanta. I never really got into them. But pour me a glass of wine and turn on some Real Housewives and I’ll be one happy girl.

2.  Where is your favorite place you have traveled?

Ok, I have two answers to this one. One is Israel. I’ve been to Israel twice, once as a young girl with my family and once in high school with my best friend to visit my sister (who was studying abroad there). The trips were very different experiences. However, each visit left me with a renewed sense to adventure, passion, home, and faith.

My second answer is Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I have been going to Steamboat my entire life. First with my family, then with my best friends, and eventually with The Boy. Steamboat is my second home and has always been a place of solace, no matter what I’m going through.

3.  Whats your favorite healthy snack?

Sliced apple with almond butter. Or anything dipped in guacamole.

4.  What is on the top of your bucket list?

Write a book.

5.  What is your favorite color?

An oceany blue.

6.  Do you have a tattoo?  If so, what and where?  If not, have you ever wanted one?

No, part of me would love one but I get so freaked out by permanent things that there is just no way I could get one. 

7.  Beach or Mountains or can you just not decide?

Oh man, I could never decide. That’s one of the things I love about living in Santa Monica. Beach to the west, mountains to the east. There is something so calming about listening to the waves and there is such a sense of comfort from looking at the mountains. How could I ever choose???

8.  Do you have a pet?

No. Tear. I have 2 adorable pups back in St. Louis (my family’s dogs) but none to call my own in California. The Boy and I live in a studio apartment that doesn’t allow dogs. We just gaze longingly at cute pups out at the beach.

9.  What piece of technology could you not do without?

My iPhone. It’s my camera, iPod, and phone all in one.

10.  What is your favorite book?

A question near and dear to my heart. My favorite book is always changing. Right now though I think it’s probably Wild by Cheryl Strayed or Help, Thanks, Wow by Anne Lamott.

11.  Why do you blog?

I first started blogging as a way to chronicle my marathon training while moving to L.A. However, slowly it became more than that. I blog to practice my writing, meet inspiring women, motivate others, stay accountable, and face my fears.

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Ok!

The 11 blogs I nominate are…

Jacki Carr

Can You Stay For Dinner?

This American Girl

The American Classic

The Manifest-Station

Mary Beth LaRue – Musings

Taylor’s Taste

Tayler Made

Jennuine Yogi

Clean Eating With a Dirty Mind

Marathon Confessions

My 11 questions for you lovely bloggers are…

1. Why do you blog?

2. What’s your favorite dessert?

3. What’s your favorite workout?

4. What are your three favorite songs right now?

5. What brings you joy?

6. What’s your dream vacation?

7. What’s your dream job?

8. What’s one rule you live by?

9. What’s one outfit you could live in?

10. What are some of your favorite blogs?

11. What do you do to unwind?

 

 

 

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Weekend Workout

Hello my dear blog friends.

Sunday morning, something stirred in me really early. Instead of wanting to sleep in until 10:00 (like I did on Saturday), at 6:30 I woke up ready to run. I jumped out of bed, laced up my sneakers, and drove the 2 miles to the beach. I parked and headed out on a path right next to the ocean. And  there I ran for 30 minutes.

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 I’m telling you…there is something about a 3 – 4 mile run. I have run for 10 minutes and I have run for over 4 hours. But to me, somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes is where it’s at. The endorphins, the music, the rhythm, YES PLEASE. That middle distance is absolute bliss.

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Afterwards, I grabbed a towel from my car, headed back to the beach and did this ab routine from Tone It Up. And MAN,  it was harder than I thought it was going to be!

Finally, when I was sweaty and gross, The Boy agreed to meet me over at Urth for some coffee and oatmeal. Slurp.

What did you guys do for your weekend workout?

Happy Monday :)

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How Are You Feeling Today?

“You are not your feelings.”

One of my yoga teachers always says this.

“Bullshit,” I will think as my heels press back into another downward facing dog. “Of course I am my feelings. If I am not my feelings, then what I am?”

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This week, however, I had a moment of clarity in which I finally understood. It was the first time I was able to understand that feelings are merely that…feelings. They aren’t who I am at all.

And that is a powerful thought.

I had a couple of moments at work this week where I felt really unimportant, as if my work was being overlooked. This is my personal baggage. I call it the “Always-the-bridesmaid-never-the-bride syndrome” (ATBNTB Syndrome for short).  In the past, this feeling has gained complete power over me. It’s left me sobbing in cars, sobbing at the grocery store and sobbing in parking lots. You may have your own ATBNTB type syndrome. For example, I have a friend that always feels like people don’t take him seriously (Just-a-kid syndrome). I have another friend that often feels alone (Lonely syndrome). The point is, we all have our own emotional baggage. We all have feelings that will come up over and over again. When things get tough, we will search for the proof for this feeling. We will whine. “No one cares about me.” “They don’t take me seriously.” “I’m always alone.”

This week, however, when my ATBNTB syndrome came up, I didn’t whine. In fact, I found myself noticing the feeling and brushing it off.”Oh well.” I thought. Then, I thought “Oh my gosh! Did I just think ‘oh well?’ Oh my God!”

WOW.

Holy wow.

This was the first time that I realized the strength I have over my emotions. I am not my emotions. And neither are you.

Feelings come and go. They change. Sometimes we are overcome by bliss and other times we are crying in a Trader Joe’s parking lot. But none of those feelings are who we are. We are radiant, and beautiful, and whole. And feelings? Oh feelings will come and go. The only way they hold power over us is when we let them.

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This Weekend….

This weekend I….

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Read {and drank wine} on my porch. Made new friends. Laughed with old friends. Rode CicLAvia with The Boy. Slept in. Attended The 11th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational {yes. absolute heaven}. Watched skateboarders in Venice. Got sunburnt. Made my favorite soup. Watched the Cardinal’s game.

And then,

I made some tea and said a little thanks for beautiful weekends.