Happy April!

And just like that....it's April! I feel like I was just bundled up in my house as snowed literally poured down on the DC area. Now the sun is shining, everything is in bloom (my allergies can attest to this!), including the beautiful cherry blossom trees, and we've smacked into Springtime with full force.

So how was my month? Here were my March intentions:

1. Complete the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart Success! And it was great.

2. Try out at least 5 new recipes Yes! I made spicy tomato chickpea soup, sweet chili-lime tofu and crispy sesame kale from Vegan Yum Yum, banana chocolate chip muffins from The Joy of Vegan Baking, cran-apple muffins from 1,000 Vegan Recipes and last night I made the Happy Herbivore's chickpea tacos! I've also made about 10 different variations of a green smoothie over the course of the past month.

3. Get back into a gym/yoga routine This was going pretty well for the brief period there before I fell at Whole Foods and messed up my knee/hip/back. Just the thought of twisting into a yoga pose or making it through a spin class these past few weeks has been painful! I'm getting back on track this week (more to come on this in a later post).

4. Write in my paper journal on a regular basis Giant fail. I say I want to do this nearly every month and it's the first thing to go out the window when I run out of time. Any thoughts for making this more of an automatic habit?

5. Get a head start on my big research paper that is due May 3rd Hmm, on the one hand, I did write a three page paper proposal that helped me to consolidate my ideas. I also gathered a bunch of research. However, that research is sitting in a giant pile in my bedroom and I only have an introduction written, so that's not much of a head start. My goal is to read and get through writing 10 pages this coming weekend and then 10 more the following weekend. Then I will just need to add a few more pages, edit it and voila! My last grad school paper ever will be complete!

My April goals:

1. Finish my last class and paper for graduate school (preferably without going insane).

2. Get back into journaling!

3. Eat well/work out lots/lose some weight. I don't want to put strict parameters on this one but I do intend to get back on a healthy track. More on this in a later post!

4. Let go. There are a lot of things in my life that have the potential to change in the next two months or so. My type-A personality has me making list after list, over planning and trying to guess and/or control the outcome of all of those things. None of that is good for one's stress levels! Right now I feel on the verge of potentially an entire new life. It's scary and refreshing at the same time.

I wish you all a wonderful April full of flowers, time spent basking in the sun and fantastic new beginnings!



{Photo credit: *yasuhiro}

Yoga clothes in the workplace?

Would you wear your yoga clothes to work?

This article in the Chicago Tribune, "Workout Wear Goes to Work", highlights new workout clothes, particularly yoga wear, that women are wearing to the office.

I have to be honest. When I go to yoga I leave far too sweaty to go anywhere other than maybe a quick trip to the grocery store. I definitely will wear yoga inspired clothes to the office, such as my TranquiliT skirt dress with a cardigan or a cardishawl. However, I tend to wear black pants with a t-shirt or tank to yoga or the gym. Definitely NOT work appropriate!

My office is moving to a new space in the coming months that is complete with a large gym but while it might be tempting to workout and then head right to work, I just don't think that will ever be a realistic possibility for me. I am of the mind that if you work out and aren't sweating, you probably aren't working out hard enough!

Would you or do you wear workout or yoga clothes to the office?

{Image via lululemon athletica}

My Mondo Beyondo List!

Ever since I took the Mondo Beyondo e-course, I've been constantly refining my "Mondo Beyondo" dream list. They encourage you to dream big and then dream bigger. I've hesitated to put it out there in the world but now feels like the right time. I'm looking forward to seeing how this list grows and changes over time, how I incorporate these things or accomplish them and hearing any input/advice/suggestions/comments from all of you!

-Get to my goal weight

-Run a 5 k

-Complete the 200-hour yoga teacher training

-Complete the holistic health counselor training at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition

-Live in New England (or at least spend summers there--soooooo beautiful!)

-Go to massage school

-Become a gourmet vegetarian cook

-See the world: Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, more parts of Mexico and Israel, Greece, Brazil, India, Germany, and lots more of the United States.

-Swim with dolphins

-Learn Hebrew and Portuguese

-Make my own tallit

-Own my own house with a huge kitchen and a wrap-around porch

-Publish a book

-Teach prenatal yoga

-Sponsor a child through a relief organization

-Sleep underneath the stars on the beach

-Work at an organization that helps women and children

-Become a journalist and/or a freelance writer

-Teach something

-Camp at the Grand Canyon

-Pick my own apples and make a pie with them

-Become a doula

-Pay off my student loans (because this would equal freedom)

-Bake bread

-Volunteer my time

-Have children and raise them to be amazing human beings

-Work to legalize gay marriage

-Open my own yoga studio

-Plant a garden and make dinner with my own vegetables

-Get a Boston Terrier puppy

-Take a painting class

-Have a gorgeous but simple wedding

-Own a new (and not just new-to-me) car

-Hear Salman Rushdie do a reading

-Take a few types of dance classes

-Host Thanksgiving (minus the turkey) for my family

-Take self-defense classes

-See a zebra up close in its natural habitat

-Slow dance somewhere totally inappropriate

-Learn to make my own pottery

-Design my own website

-Trace my family tree

-Own a pair of outrageous high heels

-Become a tea snob

-Fly first class (just once--I want to see what it's like!)

-Crochet a beautiful blanket (after I learn how to read a crochet pattern, that is!)

-Keep kosher and Shabbat

-Complete an adult bat mitzvah class

-Go on a meditation retreat

-Take a workshop at Kripalu

And, because this list can be a bit overwhelming, things I've already done that would have appeared here: Travel (to Israel, Venezuela, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Italy, Spain plus lots of US places), put a prayer in the Western Wall in Jerusalem, gave horse riding lessons to handicapped kids, got a BA with a double major and a minor, completed a Spanish immersion program, been kissed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, completed the first level of yoga teacher training as well as pre and post natal teacher training at Tranquil Space, waited tables (I firmly believe everyone should have to do this at least once in their life), worked in human rights, completed a wine course, visited the mikvah, read at least 70 books a year since I graduated college, interned at the Holocaust museum, received my boating license, lived in the nation's capital, interned at my Congressman's office, started a blog, lost 70 pounds, wrote a newsletter, worked in retail, met Margaret Atwood and Adam Duritz, heard Elie Wiesel speak, voted for change, survived a near-death experience, saw a show on Broadway, been to a ballet, had several pen pals, mailed "just because" packages and cards to friends and family, raised a puppy, took leaps of faith, read (many) books in a foreign language, counted stars, wrote a letter to my member of Congress, amassed a serious collection of books and loved someone with all my heart.

{Photo credit: jillallyn}

The Joy Diet: Play

Sometimes things happen that just can't be coincidence.  This week, several of those happened.  One was reading this chapter in the exact moment that I needed it.

In the chapter on play, Beck first asks us to consider what your real career is.  She says that once you know this, you can keep adding more and more play in your life.  Considering I've spent the past three weeks or so utterly freaking out about finding a career/passion/calling and putting it into practice, this was much needed.    Beck talks about September 11th and asks what you did that night--or any other major crisis during which there was clearly a before and an after for you.  For me, that's been reading and writing, as well as doing yoga.  

She asks: When life is over, how do you want the world to be different-in large ways or small-because you have lived?  What experiences must you have to feel you've lived a completely satisfying life?

To be honest, I haven't gotten through much of the rest of the chapter because I've been writing, writing, writing on just those two questions alone.  They are so simple and yet they seem to have opened the flood gates for me.  I can't wait to see where they will take me.

To read more about the Next Chapter Book Club, go here.

{Photo credit: gaspi*yourguide}