fun day

Man-o-Manischewitz!  Today was a fun day!

First off, today marked the end of our week without sugar.  Sure – it wasn’t technically a week, but when we started out, we agreed that neither of us would want to be restricted in our eats today.  A day that involves a trip to the “big city” needs sugar!  We wanted to be able to indulge if we wanted to, and indulge we did!

As I hinted at yesterday, my day began with a Bikram Yoga class!!  It all started when I snagged a Groupon a couple of months ago for 10 passes to Bikram Yoga Asheville.  Asheville is a little over an hour away, so I knew I needed to start whittling down on the classes (the Groupon expires in December).  I talked my sister, Katy and our friend, Maddy, into going along for the ride.  I hope they didn’t regret it. :)

The class started at 8AM, which meant we had to be ON the road by 6:30.  That was EARLY – but I was EXCITED, so getting out of bed wasn’t a problem.  I ate a banana on the way and drank tons of water.

We arrived early and got spots right in the middle of the room.  I had taken Bikram for a few months while we were in Denver, but it was a completely new experience for Maddy and Katy.  I couldn’t help but look around the room to “size up the competition”, something I do regularly and need to stop.  Why do we compare ourselves to one another?!?  Ugh.

A couple of things that I observed while in the class:

• Dressing in tiny yoga shorts and matching tank top DO NOT make you good at yoga.  It just means you spent too much money for your outfit.
• It feels DARN good to sweat!  Getting all those toxins out was the perfect start to my day.  And I think a week of no sugar helped me to feel even better going into the class.
• Looks can be deceiving:  there were people of ALL shapes and sizes, ages and ethnicities.  All of them had different strengths and poses that you could tell they were proud of.  Needless to say, a 230 pound woman really impressed me today.  Again…looks can be deceiving.
• I can’t wait to go back!  I felt limber and springy (is that a word? oh well) for the rest of the day.

Maddy may or may not have vomited during class.  I felt partially responsible since I’m the one who guilted her into coming along.  Come to think of it, she is the third person who has thrown up while exercising with me.  I don’t do it on purpose, promise.

Yes, that’s my sister.  Yes, she really looks like that.  Try not to stare.

After showering, we made our way to Target and were very disappointed that it didn’t have a Starbucks.  I was banking on an iced latte and muffin.  Sucked it up and ate some Luna bars while shopping, literally tearing into the box, I was so hungry.  After Target, we headed to the mall.  I scored hard when I found a pair of Gap Curvy jeans on sale for $19.99.  I double scored when I went to pay for them and they rang up at $9.99!!!  Yippee skippee!

Around 2pm, we hopped across town and went to one of my most favorite places in Asheville.

Greenlife!!  Greenlife is a health food store (bought out by Whole Foods),which has some of the best organic produce around.  Local honey, microbrews and grain-fed beef.  And a wonderful salad bar, where we promptly filled up for lunch.

I got a little bit of everything.  The highlight of the meal:  Oven Fried Tofu!

You better believe I snagged up some cookies.  Bring on the sugar!!

One Almond Shortbread and one P.B. Chocolate Chip.  Both wonderful in their own way, but I’ve had better shortbread.

After lunch, we sauntered around, looking at and smelling everything.  Time passed by too quickly and we had to leave sooner than I’d hoped.  I was able to snag some freshly ground Almond Butter, 1554 brew for Travis and a Bagel Roll for dinner.  A quick trip to Sam’s for some essentials and then we headed back to Franklin.  Like I said, a VERY fun day!

P.S.  If you’re wondering, Travis watched the children while I galavanted around today.  I was able to pump enough milk during the week so that Clara didn’t miss any meals.  I brought my pump along and pumped twice in the car.  Since Henry is a little older, the day wasn’t all that odd or off-putting for him.  However, this was the first time I’ve ever spent more than a couple hours away from Clara.  When I got home, she was VERY happy to see me.

I’m signing off now to enjoy my Saturday night.  Definitely going to try to make out with the babysitter.

splendid…lindsay