It's always exciting to suddenly get a text message from your mom that says: "FYI - your sister has appendicitis. Heading to Abbott now for an appendectomy! Will keep in touch."
The fact that she took the time to include an exclamation point after the part about the appendectomy told me that it probably wasn't extremely serious. But, I was driving at the time and may have freaked out a little... I carpool with a friend to my Tuesday night class, and she said it was pretty funny yet at the same time not funny to hear me go "Holy shit! My sister has appendicitis!" in what was apparently a very matter-of-fact way as I was turning to get onto 94 West.
Turns out, everything is fine - they caught it early, she had enough time to go back to her apartment to get her stuff before my mom took her to the hospital for the appendectomy...she's actually probably in surgery right now.
The real bummer for her is that now she won't be able to run in the MIAC indoor track championships this weekend....although she did ask her doctors if they could hold off on the surgery until after Friday so she could do the long jump. Hilarious.
(They said no.)
Anyways, I'm going to bed so I can head over to the hospital bright and early before my class. What an intriguing evening.
Oh.. I almost forgot. In other news, I give Kashi's new Spicy Black Bean Enchiladas a thumbs up.
Another day, another soup! Today, we are going to talk about this mess of leafy green deliciousness....
in just a minute after I talk about some other very important things. For example... Ben finished his thesis defense! And his committee told him it was one of the most polished defense presentations they'd ever seen...AND they said his paper was well-written and actually fun to read!
In order to illustrate the full depth of my fiancee's boundless intelligence, I present to you my business strategy book, borrowed from me to use as a prop for his theater class, which he then inexplicably covered with another different cover and wrote all over it like a 4th grader.
So really he could have used any book and pretended it was a business strategy book...but instead he went through the trouble of borrowing an actual business book and then covering it up... It also appears he learned everything I have learned in 4 semesters during the course of the 5 minutes it took to make this prop:
Ben MacKenzie, ladies and gentlemen. Also, my friend Jordan's birthday party was this weekend! Jordan makes some great munchies and it was fun meeting new people at her party :)
OK so soup. I was inspired to make this a while back when I saw it on Heidi's blog, and with the abundance of leftover ginger and random lemon sitting in my fridge I figured now was the time. This soup is perfect for this time of year - the warmth and coziness of the fact that, well, it's soup, acknowledges that it's still cold outside, but the bright ginger and lemon flavors say "enough of this nonsense, we want spring." Or at least that's probably what they would say, if they could talk.
I used Rainbow chard and Spinach, but I'm sure you could use any combination of greens you felt like using... arugala would probably be nice, Kale could work too but it might be a little too meaty. Hard to say.
Also just be aware that if you're using red or rainbow chard, you may end up with a soup that is more brownish than green. The red from the chard stems seeps out everywhere and as it turns out, red + green = brown. Learned that in kindergarten.
Nevertheless, this soup is still quite yummy. You can either blend it or not, I imagine it would keep and re-heat better blended (which is why I blended mine). Enjoy!
GREEN SOUP WITH GINGER
Originally from "Love Soup" by Anna Thomas
1 yellow onion 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, plus more if needed 1 sweet potato 1 white and light green parts 1 bunch spinach (8 ounces) 1 large bunch green chard (12 ounces) 3 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger 2 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth 2-4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice freshly ground black pepper
Chop the onion quite small and sautee it in a soup pot with the olive oil over low heat until onions are carmelized (at least 20 mins). Remove the onions from the pot and place in a separate plate or small bowl. Add the sweet potato, chard stems and ginger to the pot with 4 cups of water and bring to a simmer. Cover and continue simmering.
After 10 minutes or so, add the onions. After 20 minutes, coarsely chop the chard leaves and add them to the pot, let them cook down a bit. After 25 minutes add the spinach and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Open the pot, look at the pretty colors and contemplate how beautiful your soup is. Then take your immersion blender and go to town until pretty much blended (there will still probably be small chunks of ginger - not to worry). Add the lemon juice (I recommend at least one Tablespoon), season to taste with salt and pepper.
I totally meant to make a delicious healthy soup tonight and was going to blog the recipe like a good blogger...but when I got home from choir rehearsal I was tired and lazy, and had cereal for dinner instead.
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I have conducted a small orchestra while under the influence of alcohol.
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When I was seven I tied my two-year-old sister to an easel with a piece of string. We were playing Peter Pan. It was totally part of the plot.
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Sometimes when I'm lying in Savasana and am supposed to be thinking of nothing, I am actually making my grocery list.
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I really like Bon Jovi. A lot.
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The other day while changing for yoga, I put my top on sideways. Twice. And there were four people waiting to use the bathroom.
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For those of you wondering why you bothered to waste your time with this bit of nonsense, here's a something deep and profound for Sunday, the Lord's day:
I know the last thing I wrote was a list of five...but maybe I just really like listing things. Maybe there just happen to be five great things I want to share with you all and this is the only way I can fit them into one post. Maybe calling this a "five things" list allows me to put totally unrelated things (food, wedding, ridiculous humor) in the same post. Regardless, here they are - the Friday Five (on Saturday):
1) MaraNatha's Dark Chocolate Almond Spread Ever since hearing rumors of its existence, I searched high and low for Dark Chocolate Almond Spread and finally found it at Fresh and Natural Foods on Highway 96!
Ever since hearing rumors of its existence, I searched high and low for Dark Chocolate Almond Spread and finally found it at Fresh and Natural Foods on Highway 96! It's great on toast, crackers, cookies....
Or just spread on a banana for the perfect post-yoga snack. Or, you know, if you're feeling totally shameless (which I usually am), just eat it straight from the jar with a spoon :) It's similar to Nutella but with a slight almond hint instead of the strong hazelnut flavor, and the chocolate is darker and richer. Different but still great. I loves it.
2) This post from Hyperbole and a Half ... mostly because it kind of perfectly describes my life. Especially the following chart:
...I'm 28 by the way. Fun times.
3) My wedding flowers! Speaking of real adult planning responsibilities and such things, this is the first mock-up from my florist:
Aren't they gorgeous?? I really wanted to try using both the peach and blue flowers, but the combination just didn't look right when we got it into the reception space and saw them both next to the linens. For a garden or farm wedding it would be perfect, but the library is a little more formal, so we're cutting the blue and going with peach and white/cream flowers. I think it's going to be awesome :) PLUS he let me keep the mock-up so now I have lovely flowers on my kitchen table.
4) New Mug!
My friend Tessa bought this for me from the art gallery where she works - it's made by Jason Bohnert, who also made my two favorite bowls (you can view Jason's Etsy store here). Totally gorgeous and also the perfect vehicle for my (extra strong!) morning coffee.
5) Cadbury Mini Eggs
Overall I'm not always a fan of easter candy, but I can't get enough of these.... they sell out surprisingly fast, though. After I bought this bag, I went back to the store to stock up on more and they were GONE!! (Except for the dark chocolate version which, IMO are not nearly as good... this is one of the few times where I actually prefer milk chocolate to dark).
This week just flew by and suddenly I have a presentation and two papers all due in the next week... I refer you to list item 2 for my current motivation level. Time to go read some academic papers y'all. Have a great weekend :)
Here are five things I took away from Minneapolis Anusara Immersion, Part I. I hesitate to call them the "top five" even, because knowing me I'm forgetting something, will remember it 5 seconds after I post this and immediately go 'OH CRAP THOSE AREN'T REALLY THE TOP 5 I JUST LIED TO EVERYONE.' So to avoid such situations, we will just say... these are 5 takeaways, in no particular order and of no particular importance.
1) You can't control what happens to you in life - but you can control how you react to it. One of my favorite quotes in the world comes from Albus Dumbledore: "It is our choices, Harry, that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities." We are all given the freedom of choice - we can choose the right or the wrong path, and because we are given that freedom, we have the opportunity to be amazing, but also the opportunity to get all misaligned and screwy. The Immersion Manual says that "Whatever we encounter, whether it is auspicious or malicious, good or bad, uplifting or disheartening, we respond in ways that are more life-affirming." In other words, if some a-hole yells at you on the street for no reason, or if someone is cruel to you, you can choose not to respond with cruelty - your reaction says more about you than it does about them. You can decide to be whoever you want - be someone who puts more love and strength into the world.
2) Honor your teachers - and they might not be who you think they are. The first line of the Anusara Invocation is "Om Namah Shivaya Gurave"...there are oodles of ways to translate this but my personal favorite (courtesy of yogash)is: "I deeply honor the presence of my true teacher...the one who resides within me and within all things." ....ALL things? Really?? Surely not ALL things. Oh yes. All things for sure. A couple of years ago, I went through a really disturbing situation ... took me a long time to get past how upset I felt by everything that had happened, and even though I acknowledged that I had learned a lot from going through it, I still felt really icky inside every time I thought about it. Without going into too much detail, it was a really bad relationship that I ended, which then took a turn for the even-worse after I ended it. Last Saturday night after the immersion, I was standing in front of my bathroom sink and I started thinking about the invocation and about that period in my life, and I suddenly realized that all my negative feelings were gone. I felt nothing but gratefulness for all of the positive things that would never have happened without that person being in my life - I grew closer to both of my parents in ways I never expected; I have a much deeper appreciation for the wonderful relationship I share with Ben; and I learned to be a stronger person, to stand up for who I was and to take the high road in the midst of someone trying really hard to tear me down. I genuinely hope that he finds happiness, and figures out his path in life - and, as horrible as some of the things that were that he said and did to me, I am grateful for everything he taught me. Everything and everyone can enrich your life in some way, even thought it definitely might not seem like it at the time ...and sometimes, the recognition arrives out of nowhere when you're brushing your teeth. True story.
3) Sitting on the floor for a long time is really damn hard. There, I said it. I expected the philosophy to challenge me a little (especially because the words "tantra" and "universal love" are used far more frequently than my MBA brain is accustomed to); I definitely expected the asana practice to challenge me a lot. What I did not expect was that the hardest part of the immersion by far would be SITTING DOWN. Seriously... I started every lecture sitting diligently in Suhkasana, my tailbone tucked and my legs inner-spiraled, shoulder-loop and kidney-loop all working together towards the perfect alignment. Then kidney loop would abandon me. Then I would start scratching my shoulder just as an excuse to move. Then I'd shift over slightly on to one hipbone. Then my other leg would start to hurt and I would try kneeling. Then my knees would hurt and I'd try sitting normally on my bum with my knees up to my chest but then it was impossible to take notes and I'd try some other strange position only to end up back in Suhkasana thinking "OMG when can I stand up!!!" Then I'd go to the bathroom just so I could stand up....etc.... All the while thinking "Dude, this is NOT good yogi behavior." It did get much easier between the first weekend and the second. Someday I will sit for hours with perfect inner-spiral like Shiva on the mountain. But today is not that day. It's just where I am in the practice of sitting on my ass.
4) Sometimes, to say yes, you have to say no. In any pose in Anusara, you have to set the foundation with muscle energy before you can expand outward- creating the boundary allows for freedom. One of my fellow yogis was reading a book about games, and threw out the idea that the rules of the game are what make it fun - you have to be creative to be successful within those boundaries. There's something to be said for that in life too, I think - knowing your personal boundaries and when to say "no" gives you the freedom to say yes to those things that are really fulfilling. Say "no" to your leg when it tries to splay out all crazy-like in nataranjasana... so that you can say yes to the freedom of the backbend. Say no to diving into gossip so you can say yes to being kinder and more mindful. We are always making little refinements to our lives, so we can flourish within the rules the world has created for us (gravity, traffic on 35, the stiffest hips ever on the planet, etc). But always say yes to chocolate. Always.
5) Chit happens. ...Shit also happens. Life doesn't always go the way you planned - but, as one of my teachers said on Saturday, sometimes the barriers are the path. "Cit" means pure consciousness, or self-knowledge: also defined as "awakening, recognition, remembrance, self-realization, enlightenment, and discovering the bliss of being." We practice yoga to remember who we really are... it isn't about having toned abs at all. I find that the more I practice, the more settled I feel in myself and in my life, and the Immersion drove that home in a big way.... not only that I'm making progress, but that I still have a ways to go.
We're all beginners.
"In your vulnerable moments you are held by the current, floating. In your empowered moments you swim with the current. In your ultimate moments you and the current are one. You don’t feel the difference between you and the current. That's Anusara." ~ Douglas Brooks
I think I've already mentioned my slightly irrational love for early mornings... you know, morning. That time when it's still dark outside and most people are still sleeping? Love it. When I go to bed at night I actually look forward to my morning routine - it's nothing special, but it's one of my favorite parts of the day, partly because I haven't had time yet to think about all the crap I have to get done later on. This is what my typical morning looks like:
6am: Alarm goes off. 6:00 and 5 seconds: Snooze alarm (I leave enough time for this on purpose) 6:05: Alarm goes off again. Get up for real. 6:05 - 6:30: Turn on MPR and listen to the news while I putz around the kitchen, do some dishes from the day before and make my coffee. Lately I've been using these beans:
Dogwood just opened up near my apartment and wow do they sell some delicious beans. They aren't cheap (these were $15 a pound) but still way less expensive than going to Starbucks every day like I used to.
French Press ... the only way to go. And a giant St. Olaf mug. Um Ya Ya :) 6:30 - 7ish: Get dressed, pack my bag for school, drink coffee, continue listening to news/music. 7:10: Catch the bus, enjoy the warm cozy bus ride (I will REALLY miss taking the bus, especially in the winter) 7:30: Arrive at school, hole up in a small study room with all of my stuff and get to work!
From 7:30 to 8 or so (when I usually have a meeting or class), I'll usually work on blogging, Immersion homework or school projects, and enjoy my breakfast (overnight oats) and some tea (provided by CVE!). Always nice to find some good music to accompany solitary work:
... new Radiohead album helps with that...awesomeness. Track 6 (Codex) is my favorite and I also like Lotus Flower (track 5) partially because of the name. I'm mildly obsessed with lotus flowers and am also wearing a lotus flower necklace today... yay :)
So that is my uber exciting morning! You're welcome for all of that useless information, but I leave yo with this tip - If you really want to enjoy your mornings I would highly recommend getting up early enough that you aren't rushed, and give yourself at least a few minutes to just sit with coffee, tea or another warm comforting beverage of your choice and think about how great life is. Then go attack your day with a renewed sense of calm and confidence that you can respond to the 50,000 e-mails in your inbox, make all of your meetings, get your immersion homework done and still make it to choir on time.
It has been snowing nonstop 27 hours, white stuff is still coming down, and for some reason they STILL did not close the University. I drove up to my parents house again last night to avoid snow emergency parking rules... I really do love coming up here, it feels so cozy and it's nice sometimes to not just be alone in my apartment.
My mom and I made some Trader Joe's multigrain cereal for breakfast, I did work for a few hours and then for lunch I had some roasted squash and onion salad from the Missisippi Market co-op that was leftover from my potluck birthday party. One great thing about hosting parties is the leftover food and beverages that come along with it - I have two delicious salads, curried hummus, a little bit each of Humboldt Fog and Mango Stilton cheese, and five bottles of wine. Both cakes (my chocolate cake and Amanda's delicious almond pear upside-down contribution) were devoured quite early on.
Please ignore the decorative shoe-pile... and I just noticed that the blinds on my living-room window are TOTALLY CROOKED. Fail.
I will write more in-depth about the immersion and some more recipes, but I'm just too wiped out from everything this weekend and I have a midterm tonight so I'll get back on that tomorrow (and Linz I will post a picture of the cake :) ). Hope you all had wonderful weekends :)
