New Year’s Things

I just did 5 yoga classes in 3 days. I am sore and took today, Friday, off. I’m going in for one more class before the final holiday of the year tomorrow morning, which should kill me. My knee is acting up but I think it’s strained from overdoing it in King Arthur pose on Wednesday night so I’ll have to go easier.

I was thinking about New Year’s resolutions and I didn’t know what they should be. J said that because I’m doing yoga teacher training, and that’s a big commitment, that I should basically be absolved from making other ones, but I still wanted to think of something. Here’s what I came up with:

1. Volunteer more – this will likely be in the realm of volunteering with cats, something I’m already doing, but let’s do it some more, shall we?
2. Go on Facebook less – like 15 minutes a day or less. If I have a question about something, I’ll just have to Google it or reach out to actual human people I know. Facebook is a super fucking waste of time and it makes people depressed, so let’s cut it out. 
3. Read – I read 14 or 15 books this year. Let’s do it again in 2017. Or make it 20. Why not.
4. Be healthier – Cook more, eat out less. Get back to drinking once or twice a week and no more. Basically try to feel good. 
5. Make a vision board – I keep meaning to and then I’m like, “Ooh, NVM, let’s watch My Cat From Hell…”
6. Figure out what I want to do – I don’t think a 9-5 desk job is for me (unfortunately) so I need to figure out WTF I want to do instead. 
7. Rock teacher training – Duh. Maybe I’ll be able to master a headstand, too, finally. But hey, just because someone can do a handstand doesn’t mean they’re a good teacher.
8. Watch less Netflix – This goes for HBO Go and Amazon Prime too. I want to watch less TV so I can read more. 
9. Be more patient – with my partner, my friends, family, and especially strangers. I currently have no patience, so cultivating any patience would be a miracle. 
10. Be less judgmental – I would like to look at someone that I’ve never met and not make 10 assumptions about them based on what they look like or what they’re doing. 
11. Travel Somewhere New: One new city in America (we’re planning on Denver, at the very least) and three new cities in Europe (ideas that have been thrown around: Reykjavik, Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Budapest, Bucharest, or wherever they film the Bond movies in Croatia).

I think that’s good for now. What are your resolutions? 

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Post-Holiday Hangover

Happy post-holiday hangover! The holidays were pretty easy this year. My parents hosted Christmas Eve so I didn’t have to move much. My mom’s side of the family (my dad’s side doesn’t come because they live in Maine and they’re Jewish, duh) is SO LOUD. I had to retreat to my room at one point to meditate and decompress because it was so goddamn loud. I had a lot of fun playing with my parent’s kitten, though. She’s so energetic! 

Though my mom might be Catholic, we still pretty much celebrate Christmas like Jews. We have the morning presents and relaxing and then go to the movies and out to eat Chinese food. We ended up seeing La La Land which was So So Painfully Bad. Apologies to Pasek and Paul, but the music wasn’t memorable and the storyline, though not their fault, was horrifically cliche. The opening number really had nothing to do with anything and was so terribly awkward I wanted to shrink down in my seat and die.

I traveled back to the city with my mom on Monday and J and I met my friend Elliot and his girlfriend to see the [random] matinee of The Encounter, which was again a wonderful experience and all enjoyed it. Today I am getting back to yoga at my studio and trying to finish up a quick book. I’m allowing myself to eat and drink whatever I want this week, within reason, until New Year’s Day. Because… new year, new start? Then I’m reigning it in. Back to not drinking more than one day a week and cooking. 

And I’ll be entering lots of ticket lotteries this week with my partner in crime, @endotique. Who never posts on Tumblr anymore and really should, right guys? 

Here’s to a week of freedom before new beginnings. 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, you guys! It’s almost 5pm. I am showered and dressed, and have been for quite some time, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to put sweatpants on soon, eat some ice cream, and watch Arrested Development for the rest of the day soon. My yoga teacher yesterday read the following passage, which is amazing and something to keep in mind this year:

I had a lovely, low key New Years Eve last night. I’ve been seeing a ridiculously funny, sweet, intelligent, and incredibly adorable (and I don’t mean that in a patronizing way at all) guy for the last month and we made plans to go to dinner. We have a lot in common, including our meditation practices, so when I saw that the Downtown Meditation Community was doing a New Year’s Eve sitting, I suggested we go there before dinner (which he happily agreed to).

After 90 minutes of meditation and dharma talk, we hopped back on the 3 train uptown to head to Shalel on 70th and Columbus. It’s a really cute Morocan bar that’s underground and filled with rose peddles and candles. The food was really good, as were the drinks. I’ve been in there a few times before and have never noticed them playing any music but they definitely had music playing and it was awful. We played with the idea of going to Riposo 72 after, but it was a little packed and again, had awful music. Dakota Bar across the street was also packed so we ended up at Wine and Roses on Columbus and 74th, which was perfect. It was only half full and not playing horrible music. We got a bottle of wine and hung out until the clock struck midnight. 

This morning we went to Tom’s Restaurant for brunch, walked around Columbia’s campus, and then walked around in St. John the Divine on Amsterdam, which I had amazingly never been in yet, even after 6 years of living on the Upper West Side. 

I’m sad that I have no pictures from last night, as we both looked pretty classy (him in a black pinstripe suit and me in a black and silver skirt, black sweater, and black heels), but it’s alright. Better to be in the moment than taking photos the entire time (aka How I Usually Operate).

As promised: Time for ice cream and Netflix. Namaste. 

auld lang syne

I think New Years Eve is highly overrated (as with almost every Excuse For Bridge-And-Tunnelers To Come Into NYC and Drink) and I used to stress out about plans, like hardcore, probably in high school and college. Luckily my New Years Eve plans have been the same for the past few years. Two friends of mine always have a party at their apartment, and it’s chill and lovely. They had the audacity to get married last Sunday though (hope you’re having fun in Paris, you bastards!) so no party this year. I found a two and a half hour Kundalini yoga workshop tonight though from 6-8:30 at Kundalini Yoga East, so I’ll be there, then getting dinner with a few friends and hopefully waking up tomorrow sans a hangover. 

2013 seemed to have been a pretty shitty year for most people, per my Facebook feed. It wasn’t too rough for me, personally (I guess out of sheer luck?) and it’s ended on a pretty high note (you know who you are). I bought a new notebook for journalling and made a list of resolutions. These are some of them:

1. Play more guitar: Since I was in between jobs and strapped for cash, thus not taking lessons, my guitar practicing has become monthly, rather than daily. I might start taking a monthly lesson, if my teacher has time. Otherwise, I’ll have to kick my own ass to practice.
2. Cook more (and new) recipes: I cook the same shit all the time and it’s time to try something new. I received two new cookbooks this holiday season and I’ve marked them all up already with the recipes I want to try.
3. Save more money: I’m not sure why, or for what I’m saving for, but it’d be nice to be a little bit more financially aware. I’ve stopped spending $40 a month on lattes, so it’s a start/
4. Learn to do a handstand: This is pretty self-explanatory.
5. More journaling: I think it’s a good habit.
6. Meditate: I’ve been meditating regularly for a year now and it’s time to meditate more, and for longer periods of time. And also to keep going to the DMC. 
7. Trust my own instincts & continue to detach from my ego: I made my life for a while into an opinion survey, ie. ask everyone what they think and then make my decision. I’ve stopped doing that most of the time. It’s time to stop doing that all of the time. I’ve also made strides in detaching from my ego. I’ve begun to be able to see when someone’s anger is really about them, not me, and that’s nice. It helps make me be less angry. 
8. Read at least 25 books: I looked at my GoodReads page today and I read 16 books in 2013. Let’s up that to 25 in 2014. 

Time to go shower (I took a yoga class this morning with a teacher whom I’ve always been a bit intimidated by and it was great!) and look as-presentable-as-possible for the workshop Kundalini Yoga East. If you’re still looking for something to do, the DMC is doing a free hour and a half meditation that’s open to all from 7-8:30pm. They’re great – I highly recommend them.

Namaste!

The Best Part

I recently realized, upon recognizing that I have no plans for the Fourth of July, that the best part of this “getting older” thing was Not Giving a Shit.

All throughout college, and even for a few years later, there were a few nights every year where I just had to have plans to feel cool. These nights included New Years Eve, Halloween, Memorial Day, and the Fourth of July. 

Now I view these days as days where something fun may go down, but they’re mostly just excuses to drink heavily at huge parties with lots of people who you probably don’t know and will never see again. This is why I don’t put much weight in making plans for these momentous occasions anymore. 

One of my good friend’s and his fiancee have a New Years Eve party every year that’s rather low key and lovely. And if I feel the need to eat BBQ on the Fourth or Memorial Day, I can order it (or cook it! – which has never happened but I know I’m capable of it).

When I see the Instagrams of girls in their early twenties getting dressed up to eventually be blacking out in the early hours of the next morning, I think, “Oh, it was fun, for sure,” when I didn’t know any better, but I’m glad as f*ck that it’s not my life anymore. 

This is what I wore on New Year’s Eve. It’s apparently “fiesta red” and I bought it the day before at H&M for $10. I wore it with purple heels. I went to my friends’ party and drank (perhaps too much) wine and watched the ball drop on TV (though we were just a few blocks away from the actual thing).

Today is for yoga, reading, and eating eggs. Happy new year!