Hoppy Bird Day

my first thoughts out of bed this morning:

1. I'm 23 again... I'm 23 again... I'm 23 again...
2. I need to sweat this one out.

So - as a measure of youth preservation, I headed to 7 am hot yoga at my studio.

It was a Christmas "tree" series! Grabbed a quick cup of green tea with my amazing instructor after, then came home to this little beauty for breakfast.

Isn't she gorgeous? Beet Greens, Apple, Ginger and Carrot

Thanks to a VERY belated purchase with wedding funds dedicated to a juicer by a former client (Hi, V!) - Jack LaLanne is my new boyfriend. Seriously.

Had a great weekend! Started Saturday with a hot yoga class that made me want to practice a LOT more. It kicked. my. ass. and had me begging for more.

Dad came in to town for a day, so we hit up Arastradero Open Space preserve for a like walk/hike, then changed and walked to Mountain View for dinner at Cascal after a request by the dad for tapas!

Yummy Yummy tapas sampler and a couple glasses of wine and the boys shared an adobo short rib that looked super tender and juicy. Bummed I didn't take any pictures (again) but we sat outside under the heaters with Christmas lights, fun music and candles. It was the best birthday dinner since PJ's Taco Night last year!

Stopped for birthday gelato on the way home - Tiramisu/Creme Brulee for dad, Honey Lavendar for me! Then a rousing round of Wii Mario Kart!

Playing catch up (again!?) today with ZenPulse online marketing and blogging! Had a bit of a rough "personal" week last week - so I'm starting this one off with a birthday and a bang!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... in D.C.

Apparently D.C. got their first snow, according to this morning's Facebook reports. Me? I have little stuffed snowmen scattered about my apartment and some snowflake lights around our door.

It's 55 degrees and rainy outside. Merry Christmas!!! :)

Recap of the last week: Loony tunes.

Sunday:

• Half Moon Bay! Brian and I went up to San Francisco to pick up a few things, and drove down Route 1. It was stormy and ominous and beautiful.
• We stopped at a place called Barbara's Fish Trap for dinner (try eating vegan in a place like that... I dare you...) and found this lovely guy hanging out.

He looked perturbed by either the weather...
or by the tattoo that could be a turn off to the lady fishes...

Monday:

• Hot Yoga-d. Cleaned. Laundro-Mat-ed. Trained.
• Seriously. I'm wondering if Monday actually happened, except that I'm quite sure my client is military pressing 18# kettlebells on her first try. Baller.

New toys.

Tuesday:

• Taught 6 a.m. Power Yoga @ Golds. Worked out. Worked at Starbucks while a creeper next to me coded avatar porn on virtual world. (I wish I was kidding.)
• Attempted to attend Kickboxing with the fabulous Lori. Was thwarted by a schedule change and opted for Whole Foods cafe while this sunset happened.
• Taught a wonderful yoga class for some wonderful ladies in San Jose.

Wednesday:

• Power Yoga-d. Fought with Google AdSense. Taught Spin @ Golds.
• Attended a mixer with a friend and decided that drive-by networking sucks. We made sweet potato latkes instead after making at trek to Ross for a box grater.

photo stolen shamelessly from her facebook page...

Thursday:

• Awoke to a pounding headache and spent my morning on the couch doing NOTHING.
• Spent my afternoon with Lori @ the Whole Foods cafe (anyone see a pattern emerging?) and watching Tangled. SO CUTE!
  
• On an unrelated note, I have added a Chameleon in my updated letter to Santa.

Friday:

• That brings us to today! My lungs are staging some kind of revolt. Sister has told them to step up. I am begging them to do just that before I lead a hike tomorrow morning...
  

Am promising more regular posting this coming week! I miss you all terribly and will pay you for comments. Seriously.

Then go comment here. I won't pay you for those comments - but you'll at least get a fitness tip in return.....

Happy Christ-ma-hanna-kwanza-ka! (sp?) I'm not freezing my ass off!

Famous...

I am officially famous.

(not as famous as Amy.)

Thanksgiving Recipes and The Usual Wit Featured today at...


www.whatrunslori.com!

Kittens, Catch Up and "I Kick Ass" News.

I checked with their agent and, apparently, the kitties have no issues with their images being published on the internet.

And so I give you: The Kitties.

'dis my basket. you go 'way now.

we is sleeping. why you wakes us?

nom nom nom

There are six kittens in all... Let it be known that I have actually considered driving to Phoenix in order to kidnap at least three of them.

Holy Crap News: It's December already. WHAT?!

Christmas decorations are up and my birthday is in less than two weeks. For the first time in my life... I'm kind of not ready. I will now qualify as "late twenties" which is dangerously close to "early 30's"

SO not ready to be an adult ...

I Kick Ass News: I was the only student for a 7 am yoga class this morning and had the most amazing one-on-one session with my fave instructor. With a little encouragement, I was here

and damn close to here before I fell over... a lot.


Just a few short weeks at Yoga Belly in Mountain View has pushed my practice SO. FAR. If you're in the area - PLEASE check it out!

Business News: I am teaching again! I got job at Gold's Gym in San Jose! All classes are listed on my home page - with locations - if you're in the area and want to pop by.

Landing this position has been huge for me. In meeting people and starting to teach again, I feel like Zen Pulse is over the first hump and am fully believing that after the 1st of the year, it's going to explode! What a blessing, right!?

The ever-amazing sis has set me up with a Facebook page for the biz-nass! Click below!

Anne Richardson Jelinek likes

Zen Pulse

Create your Like Badge

Life here is blessed - as I hope yours is. Please call or email if I haven't talked to you in a while... Things have been so buys, but I love you all!

Giving Thanks for a California Thanksgiving!

Happy Saturday after Black Friday after Thanksgiving!

Haven't been around as I have been posting lots of leftovers recipes and "stay smaller than a bus" posts over at ZenPulseBlog!

Was in a bit of a funk as I had hoped to go home this year for Turkey Day as we are FINALLY close enough, but it didn't work out for a bunch of reasons. It's been an OK week, though!

Started with a new client, spent lots of time working on my business plan and had a great Thanksgiving with friends.

Oh. And have done LOTS of power yoga. $40 for 30 days unlimited at Yoga Belly in Mountain View. Between the power yoga and the power drills I've been doing at the gym I feel...well... powerful! Success of the week: NAILED side crow today.

Thanksgiving Morning, I led a family hike at Lexington Dam in Los Gatos. We had two families plus B and Me. It was chilly but beautiful!


Dinner was at Lori's! I am a horrible blogger and took NO. PICTURES. of Thanksgiving Dinner. I was too overwhelmed by the goodness!

On the menu:

• Rosemary + Lemon Cornish Game Hen
• Mashed White + Sweet Potatoes
• Sprouted Grain Cranberry-Apple Stuffing (Vegan)
• Caramelized Pecan Sweet Potatoes (Vegan)
• Orange Date-Cranberry Sauce (Vegan)
• Grandma's Cranberry Dressing (Raw+Vegan)
• Pumpkin Garlic Knots (Vegan)
• "Almost Raw" Pumpkin Pie on a Raw Date-Pecan Crust (Vegan)

Photos should be up over at What Runs Lori soon. She and the boyfriend saved Thanksgiving! (B and I were thiiiiis close to making spelt-crust pizza and playing Wii...)

Today's hike was not so good.

It was a bit grey and chilly here, but bundled and drove 30 minute to the trail head... where it was pouring rain. Turned around and drove the 30 min home. grrr...

SO. I hit up a KICK. ASS. hot yoga class at my new favorite place to be and sweated my mat too slippery to stand on. Have been pretty antsy-in-my-stretchy-pants the rest of the day.

• Grocery run to Sprouts.
• Changed clothes.
• Made Mollie Katzen's Peanut Noodles.
• Ate Peanut Noodles.
• Changed clothes again.
• Paced around for a while.
• Started bread in bread maker.
• Did Dishes.
• Made almond milk.
• Did more dishes.
• Paced around some more.

Could be an interesting evening if this keeps up. May need to crack my $3 bottle of wine from Sprouts a day early...

A Spirited Vegetarian Weekend!

It's chilly in here! :) If this is winter though, kids... I'll take it! A little hot tea and some fuzzy socks is the perfect remedy for grey skies and a little rain.

(Given that I'm still slightly traumatized by Snowmageddon 2010, I could not be more grateful for our new climate...)

Aside from waiting by the phone for the day's picture of a teensy kitten, I have been digging back in to yoga, learning raw foods (new to me and SO. AWESOME.) hanging with friends and building ZenPulse.

Rewinding...

1. Yoga: Joined up at Yoga Belly in Mountain View for a trial months and I'm hooked! Heated power yoga taught by warm, welcoming, energetic instructors. SOLD.

2. Raw Foods: Just when I think food couldn't get any more exciting - Lori walks in! Briefly considered kidnapping her and keeping her in my kitchen after she dropped a raw tuna salad recipe on me, used the words "spirulina" and "dulse" in the same sentence and "threw together" a batch of chocolate macaroons following a kettlebell ladder drill with me yesterday.

Also - the Cafe Gratitude desert cookbook is now temporarily in my possession. I either need to make a lot of friends who like cake or start running distance or my jeans are in trouble...

3. Zen Pulse: If you are ever looking for a way to learn internal validation - start your own business. This has been the biggest challenge and biggest blessing I have every tackled!

I'm planning a hike for Thanksgiving Day, training clients and working on starting boot camps in 2011 while I build a decent website from scratch and blog a few times a day!

4. Friends: Happy Birthday, Emily! Had an awesome time eating yummy food, drinking wine and playing board games with new friends on Saturday. Brian and I can't stop talking about what a blessing it is to have met such great people in such a short time.

Sunday was spent working out with Lori, cooking from my new fave cookbook, eating and cracking my head open on the "ceiling" that slants underneath our staircase. I have a giant lump in my noggin and I was actually unable to read properly for about 20 minutes after impact. 1 point stair case.

SO. Hope you are all having a wonderful Thanksgiving week! Things here are nuts - but would expect anything different from me and the B??

Holy Crap...

...My mom found a litter of kittens in her garage! It is all I can do not to go get a) my cat and b) at least two more teensy little mewing balls of fluff and bring them back here.

(That's not her kitten. Picturemail refuses to give up the photo of her with an armload of fluff. Adorable.)

...I do not have ONE NIGHT this week that is free. HOORAY! I am teaching and training and playing and partying and selling all week! It's such a cool feeling to have a life that is so full and rich.

...I have FRIENDS! I had green juice with www.whatrunslori.com at Whole Foods last night, I am partying it up with E&C for a birthday on Saturday and attending a big ol' girlfriends potluck on Sunday.

...My hips are frozen. Again. Pretty much the only downside to this week is that SOMEONE who knows better neglected her mobility drills and shot her flexors. Again. Lots of foam rolling for me and king pidgeon for me... OUCH.

...I love my hubby SO STINKIN' MUCH.

...It's almost Thanksgiving!


...I have a lot of work to do! I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed with business/marketing "stuff." Which I'm taking as a good thing, because it means I have lots of good ideas. Now: R.O.I.

(Shameless Plug: Know someone who wants Personal Training? Call me!
Also - I'm starting up a new hiking group soon. Call me!)

...My kitchen is a mess. Because there's awesome soup cooling on the stove!

...I need a nap.

***

Go check out www.myzenpulse.com/blog!
Today's rather paradoxical postings: Sleep More. Sit Less.