Monday, December 30, 2013

Florida bound

26dec13 - 30dec13

Christmas was its usual fun and stressful endeavor, which a house full of people and lots of food to prepare its a lot of fun and tensions of course run high. 

Anyways, I slept at home on 25dec because on the 26th Ma, CC and I headed to Florida to see the Ricky. Our flight was at a completely ungodly time. But we were up and at um at 4. And at Logan at 430.  The flight was uneventful... Which is what you want with a flight and we were landing in west palm  beach by 9am. 

Thursday we didn't do much cause we were all exhausted. Drove around, went to publix, and took a nap at the hotel. Ricky was working so we met for dinner. And then relaxed in the hotel. Lazy vacations are great because there is very little agenda. 

Friday I got up early and went to crossfit hardcore. There are about a million crossfits in boca raton, and this one just happened to be the closest. The workout was 

21-15-9 
Split jerks and sumo deadlift high pulls 65# 
In between each round I did 50 singles and 10 double under attempts. 

It was pretty aweful. After the whole class did abs on there own which was fun. I did them too. 

On the schedule for today was boat rentals at Ricky's work and some cruising  on the intercoastal water way.  We lucked out with the weather. It was bright and sunny. 


We even went for a dip in "lake boca" by putting the anchor down. It was chilly, but fun to jump off the side of the boat. 

The rest of the day was low key, went back to the hotel to relax and shower. Quick trip to walmart and dinner. 

Saturday, I got up and went to a Hatha yoga class. It was good but a bit for the old ladies. But who doesn't mind a light class. 

After that we got ready and went to downtown delray. Which is a street. We came across a street fair and walked around there. We even made it in the beach for 15 min before it started to rain. 


Toe dipping occurred. Once the rain started we headed to the mall, had dinner with Ricky again and went home. ( anyone sensing a theme) 

Sunday started very lazy.  As our theme would suggest we didn't have much of an agenda. After breakfast all us girls headed to LA Fitness nearby to get the sweat on. I did a RWOD for rowing and the others did, who knows. 
It was 4 x 1000 m with 2:30 rest. It was tough. 

But I was happy with the results. 

After that we headed back to the hotel to change and eat. We went to the movies in the afternoon, mainly cause the weather had been extremely unpredictable.  We saw the secret life of Walter Mitty. It was really good, though took a little to get into because it jumps around a bit at the beginning, but worth the watch. 

After the movie we mainly killed time until Ricky was done with work. 
Ferris wheel rides happened. 

When we synced up with Ricky we made a trip to home depo and dinner at a pizza place. 

Then home to pack. 

Monday 
Travel day, uneventful and early. Note to self... Don Jon not an appropriate movie choice for an airplane... Just saying. 







Sunday, December 29, 2013

Renagade rowing wk 4

23 dec 13 

This week we started focusing on stamina. After coming the first 2K race on Saturday, which was awesome, we now had a pace goal to beat. I actually managed my goal which made me really happy. The current 2K race pace was 

Avg 2:06/ 500 m

My goal for the crash B's is sub 2:00.  Which is totally achievable. I'm going to rock it. I actually should say that it's my goal for now... Because depending on training progress I may change it, I mean that's the thing with this kind of goal you can always change, and you want to the race day to be hard but achievable. 

So today's workout was supposed to be 8 x 500m with 2 min rest in between. I say supposed to because that's what other people did, but because me and nick had do the workout that morning which was 

6 rounds 
15 push ups
Row 250 m 
15 ring rows (pull ups) 

So let's another 8 round workout and I would have crashed and burned. So I did 4 rounds. 


By this my goal is definitely reachable. And then I'll get the awesomeness award 


Thursday, December 19, 2013

Christmas revels

18dec13 

There is this thing is Boston (or Cambridge technically) that I've known about forever but I'm slowly realizing is not that widely known. It's called the Revels. 

What is Revels?

Revels is song. Revels is dance.

Revels celebrates the seasons and cycles of human life through the arts, the songs and dances, and the stories from traditional cultures. Audiences recognize the events, desires, and dilemmas from another place and time as their own. Spring Sing hails the renewal of life and color. SummersDay Revels glories in abundance. RiverSingmarks cooler, darker days. The Christmas Revels welcomes the return of the light.

Copied from revels.org website. 

It's been going on for 43 yrs and always takes place at Sanders theater at Harvard. 

And it was great. I actually forgot how participatory it was which was fun. Some of the songs were tricky because they were in Spanish ( not a language I'm comfortable with) but it was awesome and I totally want to go again next year :-) 

Before I forgot this years story came from Spain and "the road". It was sort of the story of Don Quiotex. 

The 43rd annual Christmas Revels takes us to Galicia in Northern Spain, an area with a strong sense of Celtic identity where, since the Middle Ages, pilgrims have walked the Camino de Santiago (The Way of Saint James). Our story follows Everyman, a allegorical character summoned by a mysterious figure who tells him his days are numbered.  He must go on a journey to the end of the earth to be there for the shortest day. Needless to say, colorful encounters - and glorious music- abound!

Filled with evocative Spanish music, exciting dance and magical stories, our celebration includes a treasure trove of Galician processionals, songs and carols plus many Revelstouchstones audiences enjoy every year including Susan Cooper's classic poem,The Shortest DayDona Nobis Pacem,the Sussex Mummers Carol, a seriously funny Mummers play, and Revels' signature piece, the joyous and participatory Lord of the Dance.


Overall a great time :-) 


Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Renegade rowing wk 3

16dec13 

This week was another good week. We focused on what our race pace was going to be on Saturday (my first indoor erg event)  

The workout 

We did the first part in sync with Nick calling the changes.  Then we practiced race starts, which are actually really awkward.  Because you have to go fast, but also doing three different lengths of stroke in the row is tricky. And doesn't feel great yet. I am working on quick hands, basically right now they are super lazy.  So on the return I get sort of fouled up in myself. It also makes you loose hella time. So that's not good either. 

My goal for the workout portion was to keep the same average split for all the pieces. I did not but got pretty close. 

I think my strokes per min were pretty good at 30. I'll probably stick to that. But split wise my goal is going to be 2:06.  Because at low 2:04. I sort of left like I was going to vomit. And then 2:07 was a bit too comfy. I mean technically the crash Bs and the race on Saturday will be all said and done in about 8 min. So we don't need to be too comfy. But I don't want to burn out in the first 500 meters. 

So I have a plan... Woohoo


All dolled up

14dec13 

This weekend was the annual biogen Christmas party. This will be my first time going since contract employees aren't invited... Kind of a bummer, but whatever. Oh and last year I was in Norway so I didn't go. 

So on Saturday Sunita and I got dolled up and had a date at the biogen Christmas party. It was at the fairmount Copley plaza. A very swanky hotel down town. 

We got there fashionably late. Changed the shoes because it being winter it was snowing. And explored. They had a bunch of stations and it being biogen, lots of bar tables. We chatted with some people and mingled. And ate. The desserts were by far the best thing there. 

And we got to take a Christmas picture 

It's fun to actually have an excuse to put I really clothes. Occasionally :-) 

Friday, December 13, 2013

Renagade Rowing wk 2



09dec13

It was another good practice at rowing this week. We had the rowers set up in a different fashion this week, essentially in 2 "boats". But that didn't matter much because we didn't warm up with the pic drill. 

The workout was 

We ended up not doing the team warm up but everything else was accomplished.  I think we skipped it because we went over the website. And how to find it. I found out I was actually in photograph in the website. 

http://renegaderowing.com

So hey, I can lift... Snatch it 

The prep


Full extension 


And kapow!

Pretty cool to actually see it cause snatchs are hard. 

Anyway, the workout was good. Though it's really hard to stay at a consistent stroke rating, but I know I'll keep working and get better. 


I like the feeling around a 30 s/m, right now the other ones are really hard. 







Sunday, December 8, 2013

Two years

07dec13

Another year has gone by since my life was changed forever, and it's been a great year. I decided last year that every December 7th I'm going to do something special and celebrate life and the happiness that I have, that even though bad shit happened, I'm still hear and still doing my thing. 

This year I spent some time in the natural world. Ben and Daniel and I discussed possible hiking locations. We settled on Dogtown in Gloucester. 

So Saturday started relatively early, got but and pack up lots of snacks and water and bundled up, and made my way to Bens. I will first day thank you GOD the weather report was wrong. It was likely supposed to snow, and though it was still pretty cold, it was bright and sunny. 

After meeting up we drove up to Gloucester to meet Daniel for brunch.. Cause who doesn't love brunch, I mean really. 
We went to George's. 
http://www.udine4less.com/georgescoffeeshop/

It was quite tasty and very cute. And we had a very chatty waitress that reminded me of when I was doing the breakfast crowd on Sundays at cabots. High schoolers are so fun to talk to, sometimes. 

We fueled up and made our way to Dogtown. It was very pretty and really quite there. There was a few big climbing boulders scattered around the area and they also had some words scattered around. 

First we found a reservoir. I love water so that was awesome. 



It was gorgeous. And there was a big boulder that we climbed up. 


The rest of the area was wooded. And had fun boulders. I climbed one. Which was fun, but a little scary coming down. 

The rock carvings were cool too! 

And kind of random





The mandatory tree pose infront if this one. This was the second boulder the boys climbed. I did not because I had a feeling even if I got to the top, climbing up that crack you can see in the picture, getting down would have been a bit of a spaz attack. 

We got back to the cars just as it got really dark.  And we made our way back to Cambridge. It was a relaxing rest of the day. 

We were going to watch Silence of the lambs... But that didn't happen because it wasn't on netflix streaming. 

We had the most random dinner I've had in awhile 

And dozed / watched the Glatiator :) 

All in all another great dec 7 



Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Renagade rowing wk 1

02 dec 13 
I had my first indoor crew practice yesterday. It was held at crossfit Boston. There were 8 people or 9... Don't remember exactly, but a few I knew and a few I didn't.  Overall it was super fun and I can definitely tell my rowing is going to get better. 

Today's workout focused on control.

The workout 

The whole point was to stick certain stroke rating at certain  times and maintain consistency.  Once you got the stroke rating consistent you were supposed to maintain a consistent split. It was actually hard to keep so consistent. But I know with practice I'll get better.

The warm up was a 1k 


The first set

Pretty good consistency 

The second set 

So overall I varied a little... But things to work on. 

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Adventureness

30 nov 2013

The great part about having extra time off is there is modivation to actually do some stuff that you've been "putting off" or stuff that life as gotten in the way of. In my case this was getting outside.... Aka hiking in the woods. I was determined to get outside this weekend company or no company. And as fortune would have it, it ended up being a pretty great day. 

I had aquired a hike book... Basically a travel book for hiking in New England, because I know nothing. So I figured even if a number of them were not particularly strenuous it would at least get me in the mode of getting outside and getting to know different areas.  So when I found one near my friend cliffs house... Aka very central mass. I figured perfect combo. 

Cue

Fortunately Cliff was free, so we met in the parking lot and did some exploring. Me, him and a yellow lab. Initially I wanted to do a long trail, which ended up not being a perfect loops so we sort of did a combo run of that trail and this other one called the coffee house trail. It was completely empty which was great, and really pretty. 


A bit of time in we ran across this pond, marsh thing. I mean who doesn't love water. Cliff was psyched because he fly fishes and that is apparently a good kind of area. Needless to say it was a great way to spend a couple of hours. 

It was still early when we parted ways, so I decided to check out purgatory chasm in sutton ma.  This was done solo, so I send Abby my location... She had volunteered to be my location buddy safety person, the previous day. And away I went. 

Mandatory selfie 

This place was really neat. Extremely rocky as you can guess and VERY crowded :( 




The weirdest thing was the random ice bits that were all around 


But there was so many potentially good rock climbing places. I may have to figure out a way to come back there... With ropes. 

This area was much smaller so I stayed around an hr. And then headed back to the car.  When I went to message Abby I was safe and sound I noticed a dinner invite, so the evening was spent with Abby and paul enjoying great food, great company and almost winning at settlers of catan... 

It great when days fall together in a really unexpected and great way. 






Friday, November 29, 2013

Thanksgiving

28 nov 2013
This year was a little different because 
A) we held it at park st
B) I did a large portion of the cooking
C) both Holm men were away 

Since we were down two members my mom and I decided that it would be fun to have everything at our house. Especially since it's probably the last thanksgiving that park st will be ours, so why not enjoy it. 

I came over early to begin the prep. Actually the prep started the night before with some dicing of the Brussel sprouts.  But anyways, I knew I needed to start early because I had about 5 things to make. 

The bible that was used

Cause who doesn't like comfort food. I've had this cookbook for a while and it has a number of really good stuff. 

The plan was 
- Brussel sprout slaw
- butternut squash "casserole" 
- sweet potato spears 
- mashed potatos 
- roasted broccoli 
- biscuits 

So clearly I needed a lot of time to work. The broccoli and sweet potatos were low labor items, and easy I cook.  I did not know that cumin worked on sweet potatos but it was yummy. 

My favorite item was the slaw. Which included Dijon mustard, bacon and peacans. It came out quite good, and bonus... LOTS of leftovers.  

The only fail was the butternut squash. I used a recipie that was actually for yellow squash. It was ok. It included coconut milk, paprkia and peacans... It was a very peacan heavy recipie. Anyways, it just wasn't great. I think the squash was a bit underdone. And the spicing could have been better. But everything else came out great and we had a lovely meal. 

My aunt was incharge of the pie. Which was apple cranberry and great. 

And the night finished off with a hunger games marathon. We watched the first one at home before heading up to chestnut hill to watch the second. 

Quite the action packed day. 




Sunday, November 24, 2013

Great,,, well week

18NOV13-24NOV13

Well initially I was going to call this post great day, but then I realized it was actually a pretty good week so I said why not talk about it all. 

Monday 18NO13
I had plans on Tuesday so I did some climbing after work on Monday.  It was a pretty good day, and I managed to conquer some hard routes.  Even though one I needed a few tries to get off the ground.  Its a fun mind game and I guess that's the reason I keep on coming back.

 Tuesday 19NOV13
Today I tried a new yoga class.  When I was in Austin I met someone who taught yoga at this studio in the southttp://sadhanastudios.com/h end. They have a really good new student special so Laurel and I met up after work to try it.  I was completely underdressed for the walk over... fail... but it was a very cute space.  Very cozy and grounding.  The class was ok.  I didn't love how disjointed it felt.  But she offered a decent variety in the flow.  It made me even more excited to get to teacher training so I could more concretely diagnose why I didn't love it.

 Wednesday 20NOV13
Wednesday was relatively uneventful at work, but the fun began after work.  I had plans to meet someone to run the stadium at Harvard.  What pray tell is that?  Well you know football stadiums have stairs and "stairs" that are really chairs.  It looks sort of like this.
I have only done it once before, right when I first started crossfit again and it was AWFULE.  So I was really curious to see how it would go.  I set my timer for 30 minutes, saying ok... that should be good.  And it wasn't bad at all.  I mean after the first one, I had a moment of "holy crap" but then I just chugged along and managed to do half.... or 18 rounds in 30 minutes.  So that was awesome.  But actually the best part was the fact I could walk to next day.  My calfs were sore, but nothing ridiculous.  So that was ever better

Thursday 21 Nov13

Thursday was another post work fun time.  Every year that I've been there biogen has done a turkey drive.  They donate the turkeys and the employees donate boxes of food.  Thanksgiving being next Thursday it was time to go to BJS and load up on bulk non-perishables.  So Mari and I went after work.  It was actually kind of fun because when else are you going to get something like 30 cases of caned veggies.  And for a day where no workout was planned the loading and the unloading of the pallet felt good.

After BJS we went to Burger Dive.  Its a restaurant near my place.  They do burgers  and fries and all sorts of other deliciousness.  So we had dinner and had fun with the burger car out front.  It was very fun to have a low key social evening, and its always fun to sit and chat.


Friday 22NOV13

Today was an awesome day.  I decided Thursday to take a half day from work and go to the BSO performance of a world premier bassoon concerto by Neikrug.  The rest of the performance was Falla "The three cornered hat" and Beethoven's sixth symphony.  When I got out of work  I hopped of the T to symphony hall.  I was lucky that Frank had the day off so I had some company for the experience which always really nice.  The performance was great and even with the Concerto being VERY new music it was pretty cool.  I definitely want to hear it again, to get a better understanding of what is going on. 

I almost forgot to mention my day actually started with awesomeness before that.  This week had been really busy (as if that wasn't obvious) so I only made it to crossfit that morning.  I wasn't super excited about the workout because it as 5 rounds max reps bench press and pull ups.  Neither movement I'm super excited about, but I went anyway.  I'm glad I did. I managed about 50 reps in totally (so average of 5 per movement per round) and did it with 93 lbs bench and 2 bands in the pull ups.  Both of which I was super excited about.  Its always great to start the day by physically surprising yourself.

After the symphony performance I made my way back to Cambridge for the night O' yoga. As usual it was great to get on the mat and chill the heck out.  I had a good practice at 5:30, then assisted the 6:45, then had another good practice at 8:15.  Once again I passed out at the end of class. Ooops. For those that don't know there is a difference between savasana and napping, and lately I've been blurring those lines.  Whatcha gonna do.  At least this time it was feet up the wall.  I've decided supported fish and I are best friends...because I can't NOT fall asleep.  Its like a sedative. Which is fun to know, but sometimes inconvenient.

And on a side note... I gained the at least temporary nickname, Luscious Hands of LoVE.  Holy awesomeness. thank you abby.

Saturday 23NOV13

I had to get up in fact far to early in my option because I was pooped, but I did because it was hair cut time.  I was trying a new salon care of mari's recommendation.  It was the Platinum Door Salon in Wilmington.  It was super cute and the stylist was really nice.  It was also easier to get to then getting the Harvard square, and they had parking.  I will be going back.

The rest of the day was pretty low key, acupuncture, thanksgiving shopping, and laundry. 

The low key day was great because I had some evening plans.  There was dancing to be had at Phoenix Landing in central square.  It was Kate's birthday so Sandy organized a group of yogi's and others and we hit up PL for a night of boogie down.  This was second time there, and it was really fun again.  I definitely forget how fun it is to boogie sometimes, especially somewhere that isn't fancy or stuffy.  So it was a great time, involving lots of bootie shacking.

Sunday 24NOV13

Well I went to sleep at 3am last night.  By product of out late and being keyed up.  Soooo today was a recoop day.  And I'm fixing to go Ambers yoga class in a bit.

See great week :)































Thursday, November 14, 2013

The day I set my 125 rep max

14nov13

So if this morning is any indication of what the day will bring, it's going to be an awesome day. 

Where to begin? 

So I decided to get back into my 6am crossfit schedule since I actually realized that I missed going in the morning. So 5 am rolled around and I was up. 

Today's workout was tough 
5 rounds for time 
400 m run 
25 back squats (83#) 

Yes that means I did 125 back squats. 
My time was 32:49. Which is pretty good and I didn't have to put the bar down for any of the rounds.. So that was awesome. 

The other part of the work out 6x3 hand stand push ups. Which I love because who doesn't love being upside down. So as I was playing with that I inevitably ended up on my head. So I played a bit with headstand. First I tried going down to straddle leg split, and I sort of went up and down without touching. And that wasn't super hard, so I figured let's try to press up. And I did it, twice. Surprise to me the beginning of the press up is actually your hands... Who knew... 

I'm excited to practice that some more, and for what the rest of the day will bring. 

Last note... I almost hit the barrier coming into the garage at work... See good day cause I didn't actually hit it.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Wanderlust is over... Final thoughts

Amazingness. That's my final thought. I am sitting here infront of the airport waiting a bit to go through security and enjoying the Texas weather and semi fresh air..... Tired to away from the smokers. And I feel great.  I had been letting the stress of life and my own making get in the way and I think this trip came at the perfect time. I feel cleansed, rejuivinated, and happy. Ready to float home on the yoga cloud and take on the day.  I'm thankful I found yoga and found this festival. The physical practice is so emotional and a lot healthier emotionally then say... Crossfit... Yes I said it. Though I will always believe that "badass" practice has a good place as well.  But yoga gives so much more balance and peace then crossfit ever will and for that I'm thankful I found it. And if you have the opportunity to go to a wanderlust festival. Go, just go... You won't regret it. 

You can see why I don't want to go inside quite yet. Between that and my newly aquirred dj drez album I am a happy traveler. 

On a different note my last meal in Austin was amazing... Thanks to the recommendation of Sarah. I went to moonshine grill. It was tasty. I'm glad I commited to going cause there was a wait, but that is the sign of a good restaurant... Lots of people on a Sunday. 

They had really interesting things, including interesting cocktails.. There was something that was basically a cranberry martini with champagne. I didn't end up trying it because I was so tired I knew it would go straight to my head. And i was still dealing with the effects of the detox class from the morning.  I did get cornflake crusted chicken salad and a side of Mac and cheese, which had a bacon flavor to it. Both were excellent. And well worth the wait. It was also fun sitting at the bar, since that's not something I typically do... Since I'm not usually alone.  One mistake... Got to a gross part of the Aron ralston story while eating... Willies abounded. 

All in all a Great trip! 

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Wanderlust day 3: the final count down

10nov2013. 

Today is the last day... Sadness. It's been an amazing experience so far and I know today will be the same. 

I crawled out of bed... I'm such a baby about not getting enough sleep.. Gave myself a "get a grip " pep talk and caffeinated for my first class... Which was at 8am... 

This was another Seane Corne class. Detox flow. Holy crap it was hard. I didn't really think about the fact detox classes tend to be tough... Cause they are detox, until I was talking to some girls I met yesterday. After a minor moment of "crap" I got over it and got excited. Seane has an amazing vibe. She's just so  calming and bare bones about teaching. It's this here's the flow.. Do it, sort of feel and I like that. She doesn't get super fluffy... Which personally annoyes me when I'm getting my ass kicked. The whole series was really interesting because it came in 3 parts. Lengthening, compression and twists. It made sense because you need to great space for the toxins to move, sort of squish the organs to get things going, and twist to whring it out.  It was amazing. There was one twist series that went from 
- crescent twist
- revolved pyramid
- revolved half moon 
- utkatasona twist
- standing L leg twist (ok not the name but I don't know the actual name) 
And to switch side take raised leg behind and tada your in crescent lung again.
I also have never been in standing leg split that many times in a flow... My outer hips were screaming. But it was awesome. 
And then I got to meet her

And on a side note: the detox served its purpose... Oh boy

In between classes I roamed around, visited the Toyota booth and made a mat spray, body scrub and tote bag (to add to the tote I made at wanderlust last year)  but hey free stuff is awesome. And decided to get a snack at the studios food place. Blenders and bowls. It was a different concept then I'd seen before. 

Admittedly a bit odd but tasty and looked pretty. 

My second class was called "kula flow: sweetened with honey" taught by Schuyler Grant.  This was a bit of an odd class. I couldn't get into it, maybe because I'm cooked. Maybe cause the flow was weird. She did a number if things with breathing that I couldn't get.. Utianadabanda Kira I think is what it's called. Also we did something that was basically crow legs but going into plank. There was a lot of horse pose, and some other really intense poses that I couldn't get into... Like I said, just wasn't feeling it. The one thing that I did like was the fact she gave amazing cues. So even though my body didn't like it I felt like my brain at least knew what was going on. So that's always good. I think she has a studio in NYC so I'd try it again I went to NYC. 


My third class was "Rhythmic vinyasa - synching with the natural pulse" taught by Shiva rea.   For those that don't know about her she does this thing called yoga transe dance, which I didn't take but  I knew going in she likes meditation movement. This class was cool because we started with egg shackers and did a meditation to music since dj drez was there as well. It was actually really calming and the interesting thing with movement mediation is its ways easier to clear your head. It was cool. Then we went to a vinyasa practice which was good. And it was very very slow. Which when your tired is tricky.  But it felt good for the most part. I say for the most part because I've gotten to the point were my body is so confused I'm not sure how I feel. 

I've been so happy I've done this and I will be on a yoga high for at least a week.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Wanderlust day 2


09nov 2013

First thought this morning... Holy soreness captain. I managed to get up with mostly success and got myself ready and had breakfast... No breakfast sandwich today :( 

I decided while I was here that I'm going to not buy diet coke. I was doing good at home and then had a slip, but looking at the price / bottle (which admittedly I may have just not registered before) I couldn't do it, when I have coffee free in the mornings and in my room if I need a pick me up. So water it is.., though I may treat myself to a juice from the juice bar tomorrow. We'll see. 

Anyways. My. First class of the day was with shiva rea and it was called "pranadanda yoga : awaking the inner staff". She is admittedly a very interesting person and kind of intense.  The whole class was centered around finding your inner danda or staff while using this actually staff. We did a really cool opening meditiation standing in legs apart. It was about feeling the strength and power of our inner abilities and self and lengthening that out. We moved into doing a bunch of very flowy sequences using side angle pose, half squat, triangle  pose and warrior 2. It was pretty cool to become acutely aware of ones inner line. She admittedly talked a lot about utianadabanda, which is sort of the tie point between upper and lower half, and when we break the danda it's usually in that reason. We also moved into back bends and I took wheel for the first time in a LONG!!!! Time. Usually I don't bother but I was feeling it. Because it was a very flowy class it was actually pretty sweaty. So I was sort of cooked... And ready for lunch after that. 

After class I went to the kula market, and ran into Tim. We chatted a bit and then I roamed around for a bit. I actually also bought my first mala necklace. I'd been wanting one for awhile and so today was the day. 

It's really pretty and I liked the properties. 

I'll have to investigate further. 

I had my first Texas burrito at the taco shack next to the hall and enjoyed the intermittent sun while waiting for my next class to start. And got to listen to a really fun class being held on the roof top. 

Goal update: less new interactions today but did run into and speak to people from yesterday... So that's good :)

My second class of the day was Beastie yoga with dj drez taught by mc yogi. I was REALLY excited about this one because I love mc yogi.  And all I can say is that it was completely amazing and very sweaty. He made the entire class silly and great. We did crow at the beginning of class which was a holy shit. We did a ton of chatarungas and all sorts of other things.. We backed it up like a truck in reverse warrior 2. And there was a ton of butt shaking... It was clearly a hard class because my brain is cooked and I can't really think of anything else. Oh wait... Danced turned into dance move.. I don't know what it's called but it was awesome.  Ok I think that's it...

The last class of the day was Shadows and light: reclaiming the sacred feminine in all taught by Seane corne.  That was great as well. She did a lot of wide leg forwards which was funny because there where 400 people in the room. It had a really good energy. We did a seated meditation at the end and I actually forgot where I was. It was really cool. She also did a different approach to figure 4 arm balance which was really neat.  Pretty amazing and I'm glad to be taking another on from her tomorrow. 

After that I hobbled home for a little bit, before going to hear all the musical goodness that was to be offered. 

Dinner came in the form if a delisious fish taco from the whole foods truck.  It was actually a bit spicy for me, but still tasty. 

I consumed and went to hear the first artist. I had heard good things about this guy. Shakey Graves, apparently an Austin local. And described as new grass style( though I don't think that's an actual thing)  but he was really good.  I caught about half the set and it was definitely very folky but with a new twist. 

After the set was over I met up with tim, who made some other friends (more texans) and we watched some acro yoga action for a bit.  I haven't tried acro yet, but I got an offer to fly so... Tomorrow may be the day. 

I almost forgot they had an acro yoga performance... Holy amazing ness

That doesn't even do it justice. 


We chilled until MC Yogi and Dj Drez went on. They were freaking amazing. I mean I love his songs and his vibe anyway and live is just sooo cool. He did a couple of songs from the pilgramige album so I knew them and he even free styles a bit... One free style was to frere a jaquca ( pretty sure that not how that's spelled)  but it was amazing. And he ended with one light.... Which may be my favorite song EVER. 

After the concert we , well the rest of the group, I needed a. Little convincing... Decided to check out 6th street. (Austin's major music street) it was pretty cool... Loud, lots of drunk people... Military ball. Basically a more spread out version of bourbon st. But glad I experienced it. Who needs sleep anyway.