Proud Yogi

Now that I'm done with all my school work, I can devote more of my nights to YOGA!

Feeeeeels sooooo good.

Power Yoga!

I have discovered an amazing workout this past week.

HOT yoga.

I decided to give this a try last Saturday, because my roommate Lauren had recently started doing yoga at a studio in Back Bay and had great things to say about the "practice". I chose Baptiste Power Yoga in Brookline Village because it was close to my apartment, and also, because I did a little research and this place had good reviews and decent prices too. I have been 5 times this week and I am officially hooked. For the first week, I was able to go to all classes for free, which is sneaky of them because now I want to go all the time!

Baptiste Yoga is held in a 92-95 degree room so literally you sweat like you just went swimming. NO joke! It seems like it might be kind of gross, and maybe to some people it is, but after awhile I just forget about it and enjoy myself. This yoga is so calming, the room is dim and you are truly forced to focus on your breathing. I find it to be difficult, but in the best way possible. Strengthening and empowering, I love that I have discovered this place.

* I have not been to a class quite this crowded yet, but it's possible to be this close to others if there are enough people!

Baptiste Power Yoga Institute

Power Vinyasa Yoga

25 Harvard Street

Brookline, MA 02445

2000 Massachusetts Avenue

Cambridge, MA 02140

Chestnut Hill Reservoir

This is a 15 minute walk from where I live. Beautiful isn't it? Today Lauren, Zan and I went on a nice little Saturday morning stroll around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. From my apartment it's about an hour walk there and back-- a nice workout. After my (attempted) run a few weeks ago I've decided I'm NOT the running type. I'm the walking type. And so this is the route I've been taking for the past week or so. The mornings are so sunny and there is a nice breeze when you walk around the water. I'll be doing this walk all summer with my 1 lb weights in hand. Goal: tone arms and get fit. Beach time is almost here!

Do you live near the reservoir? Take a walk around it... it's glorious this time of year!

RUN, Forest, RUN.

Yesterday was Marathon Monday-- The Boston Marathon!!

Those runners are absolutely amazing. It's so inspiring. Makes me want to be a runner.

Unfortunately, I am not really a runner. Never did like it much. But guess what? Tomorrow I am getting up early and going for a run. My legs just feel like they want to after seeing the marathon. I realize this is just another one of my crazy impulses, but whatever, a girl can pretend.

I'm going down the street, around the reservoir and back.

Wish me luck.

garage sale.

Today was the quarterly REI garage sale. This is the super sale for REI members ($20 to join for life) to go and get sweet stuff for super cheep prices. I personally am not a REI member, but Zan's family is, so I get to join in the fun and see what kinds of sweet things I can score! Let me try to paint a picture for you so you can have some idea what this sale is like. Basically, you have to get there pretty early and stand in line for a couple of hours before the doors even open. Some people get the as early 6:30 to snag a spot at the front of the line, but we usually get there around 8:15 or so and get a pretty decent place in the crowd. It was a little on the chili side today so there were people wrapped in blankets, and there was even one guy standing in a down sleeping bag. I dressed appropriately in a warm fleece, my hooded down jacket, and a hat.. the only thing that was cold were my toes!!!

The doors opened at 10 AM and by then the line had gotten very long, wrapping around the parking lot. They let in about 20 members at a time and we made it inside in the 2nd round of people. The sale does not take place in the main store-- Instead they put all the items in the back store room so it's pretty cramped back there, if you can imagine. The sale is mostly returned items- some used, but a lot new- and they even had some stuff this weekend that was brand new and only used for a photo shoot. Awesome! I snagged 2 brand new jackets- one windstopper Marmot fleece in a pretty red/orange color and also a knee-length black REI brand rain jacket (which is just what I've been pining for!). They have all kinds of different items at the garage sale, ranging from clothes, bikes, skis and ski boots, backpacks, shoes, gloves, car roof racks, tents, sleeping bags, and all kinds of little nicknacks . There are thousands of items and you can get a lot of them at 50%-90% of the original price, which is AMAZING because a lot of the stuff is really very costly at full price.

It was a fun day and I came home with some great stuff!!

Can't even wait to see what the next yard sale brings.

map my run.

So while I was trying to figure out how long our bike ride was yesterday I came across this awesome website Map My Run. You can put in any starting point and then map your route, seeing how many miles you competed in total. Awesome! I've always heard about websites like this, but I'm not the most fitness driven person and so I haven't even tried to find a website like this until now. I hope to use it often though... it's really cool! Go ahead and check it out for yourself!

Here's the route Zan and I did today (almost 8 miles!!!):