No Rain Yet!

The rain is set to start tomorrow and I don't see an end in sight. I did a catering event today which is always better with no rain. I am not looking forward to the delivery I'm set to do on Friday since my guess is that I will be a tad wet. I find it fascinating that our rainy season hits now. Hopefully it won't be too cold, but I am not sure how optimistic I can be.

Last night's class was pretty good. I got caught in traffic on the way so missed the first 10 minutes and the minimal warm-up that Sarah does. So I never really got warm for the whole class. Since I have not taken the class since July or August I was very much out of my element. I started to feel good, but I videoed class for Sarah and when I watched this morning I really looked bad. It's amazing how I disengage. I certainly stand back and watch before jumping in. More than others and more than I'd like. 

Something to keep in mind.

Since I have not thought about my gratitudes in a few days...

1. hot showers

2. leftovers

3. cold beer

4. a great catch up and website admin tour with Chris Aquino

5. yoga

Falling by the Wayside

As I prepare to move my life back to the East Coast, I am trying to clean the clutter. Getting rid of old email addresses for companies I no longer work with, creating a bag of clothes for donation and stopping myself from buying anything I don't need right now. It's much easier to pick up new things than move them.

I did contact a moving company to get an estimate. It may be the holiday weekend, but I have yet to hear from them. Finding a moving company may be a little more difficult than I thought. That and selling my car. I guess those are the two things I could secure now, but have yet to devote time and energy. The job thing may not happen until I arrive in NY and the housing thing is starting to look promising. I am starting to see things for February 1 start dates, so it's only a matter of time until we hit the March time frame.

I am continuing to do things in the Bay before I go. I took a segway tour wih Randy yesterday and met my friend Michael for lunch at the Ferry Building. So, I was able to knock off 2 things from the 7x7 list. Irish Coffee at Buena Vista with Randy and a warm egg salad sandwich at Il Cane Rosso with Michael. I did plan to go into the city today for a walking tour, but with trying to clean out my emails and log some hours, as well as jump on the Yoga Entrepreneur's web conference, I decided to stay home. I passed on yoga today and will take Sarah's Urban Contemporary class tonight. I am way out of practice, so I am curious how that will go.

It's gotten cold in the East Bay and starting tomorrow the rains come. I may start getting crabby.

Sunday Gratitudes

Taught a funky yoga class today and then went to the holiday party for the catering company. I had 2 hours to kill in between and went to Cafe Leila in Berkeley, had a coffee and a cookie and read from my Life Coaching book. I got super excited when I realized that much of life coaching is what I already do with teaching acting. Getting specific with the character's objectives and then fighting for them. However in this case, instead of the character, it's you, the individual. I took a moment jotting notes about some ideas before I went into the party. I really do need to take some time tomorrow to go over these ideas. But for now a little gratitude.

1. vodka
2. hanging with lovely people the last couple of nights
3. saving more than I spend at the grocery store
4. hair color
5. yoga

Battling the Laziness

So with work slow I'm finding myself quiet and quite a little hermit. In fact yesterday I did not get out of my pajamas until the afternoon. I am just about caught up on Downton Abbey and picked up the ukulele, but I was for the most part sedentary. I did however, force myself up for a yoga class.

I am so glad I went, but the class was disappointing. I have met the teacher before and I envy the ease and skill in her practice. I just did not like her teaching. She constantly said "that" leg or "that" arm without being specific. I know now what my teacher, Shy meant when he corrected me doing the same thing. It makes it seem like the leg and arm are over there, not YOURS. I have switched to "the" or mostly I just say "right" or "left." However, yesterday, the teacher even had trouble mirroring us.

I almost blurted out "we're already on our right," as we returned to down dog from side plank, but I knew what she meant. What did I have to prove? I was very proud of myself for keeping silent. What would the outburst do? Make me feel superior? Somewhat better? Or even, right?

And if I may say so, my yoga practice doesn't need any of that. I continued to work with Apana in class and while it's still a new concept, I was mindful for the whole class.

This is all to say thank-whatever higher power I believe in-for yoga. It's in fact opened my mind, lengthened my body.

And forced me out of the house.

Beginning of the End

While I'm not really making lists of things I need to do before I head back East, I am making more of an effort of exploring part of the Bay and getting out. I am reaching out to others, but I have a feeling that I will be doing most of it solo.

Today I did an artsy fartsy foodie day. And while a few people were interested either they were busy or didn't want to spend money.

I started the day at Zazie in Cole Valley. A cute little brunch spot right off the N-Judah. There was a good crowd of people and I signed it at a clipboard on the window of the restaurants and since my itouch was low in the battery department I decided to stop catching up on my podcasts and be present to the sights and sounds around me. From the 7x7 list, I came here to eat Eggs Benedict on the patio. A table came open inside, but I declined. The nice host offered me a cup of coffee while I waited the additional 5 minutes. It was really nice and I felt as a solo diner completely cared for.

There were 5 or 6 different benedict options on the menu and I really couldn't decide which. It was also super smart that offered a choice of either 1, 2 or 3 eggs. I decided on 2 Florentine with mushrooms and didn't even ask for Hollandaise on the side. I paired it with a salad instead of the potatoes and with the strong coffee, it was a great breakfast.

I took the N back to Civic Center and went to the free day at the Asian Art Museum. I splurged and spent $5 on the special exhibit - Maharaja - and as usual got the audio tour. While the exhibit didn't blow me away, it was certainly a population and a culture I knew little about. I did take the time to wander through the rest of the permanent collection and enjoyed the Indonesian puppets, the various buddha sculptures and the Korean pottery.

Around 2:30PM I walked up Larkin into Little Saigon and saw yet another line outside of my second restaurant destination - Turtle Tower. According to 7x7 I was supposed to have their Pho Ga - Vietnamese Chicken soup. I usually have my pho with beef, so it was a welcome change. And this pho was served with lemon and jalapenos - no bean sprouts or basil or lime as I've had before. Apparently that's the Hanoi way. I looked around at the largely Asian population and tried to eat with my chopsticks in one hand and my spoon in the other. But with the return of pink eye, starting to cough at the jalapeno and the minor sadness of eating alone, I decided to bring less attention to myself and just get the food in my mouth.

Lots of gratitudes:
1. a great Skype check in with Angela and Chris
2. walking in the sunshine & Pho Ga leftovers
3. exploring the great arts and culture in SF
4. catching up on Scrubs
5. pigtails!

Untitled #1

Not too much to report. Well, actually scratch that. Yesterday I launched my new Namaste Gourmet website and received much fanfare from my friends on Facebook. It was a great outpouring of warm wishes and congratulations and for the first time in a while I knew I was on the right path. I need to keep the momentum going, so I just connected with more people on LinkedIn and after a great conversation with my friend Julia last night, she will begin connecting me with folks who may be able to help me secure some yoga work.

About a month ago, a fellow Emory alum, Pete Salomon asked me to answer a few questions for his blog. The entry posted today and it was great to hear my wisdom. Now I just need to follow it.

I did a catering delivery and 2 pick ups, renewed my parking permit and did a bit of cooking. I would like to get sucked into watching the last season of Scrubs - um, how did I miss that - but I'd feel completely unproductive if I do that. So, I will play ukulele for 30 minutes and do as much reading of my Life Coaching book as possible before my eyes begin to close.

Gratitudes you ask?

You betcha!

1. a sunny day in Northern CA
2. a great talk with my Dad
3. an overwhelming sense of possibility
4. a nice walk to the parking office
5. bananas, egg nog ice cream & Chambord - a strangely good combo

Really Listening

I taught my last class at Vara Healing Arts in Albany this evening. I subbed 3 classes for a teacher who was out of town for the holidays. The first one was magical, the second was a mother and daughter practicing together and today was a rag tag mix of beginners, plus 2 more seasoned older women. However, the joy happened after class. This one student wanted to talk to me about something. But honestly, she just wanted to me to listen. I did feel obligated to give her a response, but it was mostly affirming what she already thought -- about fear taking up hold in her belly and manifesting itself in her poses.

This got us on to a bigger conversation about comfort in our bodies and as it turns out this 60 year old woman who is obviously a dancer is just getting settled and content in her body. I had to hug her. I was so proud of her for coming out and mentioning her fears, recognizing her success and applauding myself for both fully listening and empowering her.

As I study more about Life Coaching, I am equally scared and quite ready to take on clients. The conversation after class really affirmed that I can really listen. I can give people the space and freedom to say what they need. Truly.

Yea, me!

Gratitudes:
1. a well deserved glass of wine
2. time to nap today
3. more work
4. a website that's just about ready to launch
5. free parking in Berkeley today