Alright, 2012. Impress me.

This weekend was the perfect example of how sometimes we need to just let go and ride the wave.  I had big plans for how I would spend my last few days of freedom from the office: I was going to practice yoga for at least an hour every day, take the dog for long walks, and do all kinds of cooking.

And then I got sick.  As a result, I have not so much as looked at a yoga mat since last Thursday (except for a few sun salutations and handstands at home), and have subsisted mainly off of Yogi Cold Season tea and Pho Ga from Quang.  In addition, Minneapolis got a solid dousing of freezing rain on New Years Eve, and it turns out Sidney hates walking on ice so I haven't been able to get him much further than down the block and back.

So, my weekend did not turn out quite as planned, but maybe this was my body's way of going "Hey... why are you planning on running yourself into the ground on your vacation.  Settle down and take a damn day off.  Instead of doing fifty hours of yoga, why don't you sit on the couch reading books and making collages for three straight days, doesn't that sound fun??"  Well...actually it was fun.  So, lesson learned.

Anywho, back up to New Years Eve.  December 31 begain with a trip to the farmer's market for some fresh eggs, and lunch with Ben, and my friends Ellen and Amanda at the aforementioned Quang.  The rest of the day was mainly spent drinking tea, making playlists and cutting up random pieces of wrapping paper.

Billionth cup of tea

Collaging!

Vitamin C....

Shiva!

The fruits of my artistic(ish) labor

I was trying to keep my options open in terms of going out vs. staying in, but it quickly became apparent that I was in no condition for shenanigans.  Midway through the day my sister texted me asking what we were up to.  I responded that I was sick, so it was looking like me Ben and Sidney on the couch with Champagne and some movies.  Turns out she was not in the mood to hit the bars and wanted in on our cozy/illness-ridden evening.  We managed to rope Ellen in as well - El is one of my oldest friends (since Kindergarten).  She is currently getting her PhD at Stanford, so I only see her maybe 2 or 3 times a year and was happy to capitalize on the opportunity for more Ellen time :)

Sprinkles make everything more awesome

Ellen got there first, and we started the evening eating cookies and reading the Economist's predictions for 2012.  Did I mention that we are the pinnacle of cool?  Julianna arrived shortly thereafter with caramel cupcakes and the makings for homemade buffalo dip!

Breaking out the bubbly

Buffalo dip FTW

Hellooooo!

Julianna, me and El

The gentlemen (falling asleep already??)

Commence ridiculous dog photos...

Poor Sid...?

Julianna teaches Sidney how to dance

We talked, laughed, had some snacks and watched Hot Fuzz - which finished just in time for us to watch the ball drop!  I was pooped though, and pretty much as soon as we had yelled "Happy New Year!" I was ready to go to bed.  We ended up having a great time, even though we didn't go out...and really, spending quality time with a few close friends is more my style most days.  If I hadn't gotten sick, who knows what New Years Eve would have been like...but I think the way it ended up was just perfect :)

Just Another Day

Good morning!  I am still in my pajamas and on probably my 10th cup of tea, trying to drum up the strength to drive up to my parents' place for New Years Day shenanigans (aka competitive charades).  Even though January 1 is actually a pretty arbitrary deadline, the act of flipping the calendar over to a new year tends to make me reflect on where and who I was just 365 days ago. Needless to say, a lot has changed since January 1, 2011:

One year ago, I was engaged to this guy:

Newly engaged in India, May 2010

...and now, as of July 9 2011, I am a married lady.  Sometimes this still hits me at weird times, like when I am sitting in meetings or at happy hour and I'll suddenly think to myself holy crap, I am married! 

...I was in a long-distance relationship and was living by myself for the first time:

My old bedroom on Emerson

Living room on Emerson

now I am living with husband in our first shared home.  I was worried that this would be a huge adjustment but really it isn't.  In all honestly, living alone got pretty lonely sometimes - and this is coming from a serious introvert who really needs her space.  Living with Ben has been a really welcome change, and it's nice to have someone to share vaccuming, cooking and dishwashing duties with.  Oh and also I love him a lot.

...I was still in grad school, studying with these kids:

MBA Charity Auction

"Spring Break Training."  Pow.

but in May I graduated...

Big kids

and now I have an amazing job with a ginormous corporate entity. Woo.

...I had just discovered Anusara Yoga and was nervous about the upcoming immersion. I now count the immersion as one of the most transformational experiences of my life, and can't imagine my yoga practice without Anusara as the cornerstone.

Being upside-down and curvy...not as scary as you would think

...I didn't have any pets (except my vicarious pet Maggie). Now Ben and I are the proud rescue parents of a dog named Sidney and a cat named Minerva McGonagall (aka Mini). Last year I lived alone, now I have a cozy family(ish) of four.

Mini

Sidney

But I also realize that despite all the ways in which my life has changed, much is still the same. Yoga always challenges us to see sameness and harmony rather than difference and division and when I think about it, I realize there is more about my life that is the same than different.

I am still blessed with the most amazing family and friends a girl could ever ask for, I still have music, reading, my yoga practice...and I am still in love with my best friend.

Yay friends!

Our amazing wedding party - brothers, sisters, cousins and friends

At the wedding with all of our college friends who made it there

With my High-School girlfriends at the wedding

Pre-wedding Twins Game

At my 10-year (!!) High School Reunion

One conclusion I've come to over the last few years that one should never define who you are by your job, your wealth, what you are studying, what degrees you have, your appearance, or how others see you. If you let yourself be defined by things you have no real control over, you are ultimately setting the stage for major disappointment. Obviously I'm not perfect and I am still working at this, but I know that what defines me are the things I love and believe in - the aspects of myself that would hold true no matter what job I hold, no matter where I live in the world.

And with that bit of cheesyness, I hope you all made it safely into 2012. And also I hope the Mayan calendar is wrong and that the world doesn't end this year, because life is pretty damn good and I would prefer that it continue. :)

"Happy New Year?" - A Playlist

After bragging silently to myself in yoga class on Thursday night about how I hardly ever get sick anymore since I started practicing yoga, my immune system promptly decided to have an epic failure. Hubris, friends...it's a real thing. I started getting chest-congesty-type symptoms literally as I was driving home, and by 8pm I almost couldn't talk. I now have the voice of a chain smoker and the energy of a 90-year-old...needless to say the party shoes are staying off tonight.

Since I feel so shitty, I've been spending most of the day sitting around, making Shiva collages for the yoga room (dork) and putting together playlists on Spotify. Thus, I bestow upon you my gift for 2011 - my New Years playlist. I'm only calling it that because I made it today and I would highly recommend that you NOT listen to this if you are all pumped to get your drink on tonight. You might end up sitting and staring pensively at a wall all night feeling all your feelings. But it's damn good music. So, your choice.

1) The Lions Roar by First Aid Kit

2) dash by DeYarmond Edison (so bummed I could not find a full-length version of this song...but it's on Spotify and iTunes :) )

3) Mercury by Kathleen Edwards

4) Goodnight by William Fitzsimmons

5 ) Wasted by Angus and Julia Stone

6 ) We are Nowhere and It's Now by Bright Eyes

7) Low Sail by Amy Millan

8) The Deaf Girl's Song by Cloud Cult

9) The Nest by Jose Gonzalez

10) Waiting on an Angel by Ben Harper

11) Run off the Road by Ola Podrida

12) Re: Stacks by Bon Iver

13) I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You by Colin Hay

14) Fljotavik by Sigur Ros

Anyways, if you're going out I hope you have fun! I'll be staying in with Ben, a couple of close friends, two bottles of champagne and some cookies. I added sprinkles to the cookies because it makes them more festive. And also because it's an excuse to add sprinkles...not that I usually need one.

Happy New Year!

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Ben and I were up bright and early on Christmas morning (through no choice of our own, really - being in a new place made Sidney restless all night, and Mini is restless by nature, anyway....) and by the time Julianna and my parents made it upstairs I had coffee already made! But I had also drunk about half of it, which semi-defeated the purpose of making coffee for others. So I made a second pot.

Once everyone was upstairs, my dad and I commenced with our family tradition of pancakes and bacon on Christmas morning. This is one of those traditions that was never intended to be such - one year it just happened, and has continued happening since. I honestly can't even remember what we did before pancakes and bacon, which implies that it couldn't have been that exciting.




looks like mom could've used that second pot of coffee...

After breakfast it was time to open presents! This year was not without its share of ridiculous gifts, and the addition of Sidney and Mini into the mix proved quite entertaining.


"Pretty sure that stocking is mine, Ben"
(it isn't)

My parents keep insisting that Sidney looks exactly like Lambchop - and I have to admit the resemblance is striking:

...so they got him a stuffed lambchop dog toy. I honestly have no clue how my mom managed to find this thing, but Sidney was PUMPED (at least, he was pumped for 10 minutes until the novelty wore off, but it was the most excitement he's ever expressed for a new toy):

Dog/Lamb cannibalism?

Speaking of Sidney, he also gave us a gift (no it was not a dead animal, or poop).


I knew it was a mistake to let the dog use my credit card...


...but apparently he can read. Who knew?

The day just kept getting better from there. Apparently my dad thinks giant bottles of booze are appropriate Christmas gifts for his children:

We're not complaining

...we also received Norwegian-friendly mugs from my sister and gaudy and ridiculous Christmas socks from my mom (also an unplanned family tradition). Even the cats got presents!


In case you cannot read these, they say "Friends don't let friends eat lutefisk" and "Not only am I perfect, I'm Norwegian too!" Lovely.

After our gift exchange, we took Sidney for a good long walk on the trails near my parents house, and then packed re-packed everything for the journey home. When we finally returned to the condo, we had a few minutes to change clothes, feed and kennel Sidney and grab a few remaining things before heading out to spend the rest of the day with Ben's family.

The festivities kicked off with a nail-biter round of bowling! Surprisingly I wasn't terrible - this was probably actually the best game I've bowled in a while. Ben's uncle Dan was far and away the winner, but Ben, his cousin Anna and I were neck and neck for the whole game. In the end I beat Ben by one point!








It's true that whoever wins at bowling holds all the power in the marriage, right...?

After bowling, we went to Ben's aunt and uncle's for dinner, coffee and dessert. We got to see the cutest baby ever (aka my niece, Lillian), eat cookies (homemade by Ben's grandma Loey) and ice cream (homemade by Ben's aunt Joan), drink wine and chat with family. It was a busy but marvelous holiday.

I LOVE Christmas and am always a little sad when it's over - I am an extremely nostalgic person and the holidays bring that out to an even greater extreme because it's the one time of year when nostalgia is really socially acceptable. I like the sparkling lights, the cheesy carols, the decked-out department store windows - and I am fully OK with that (anyone else feel like it's sometimes not cool to care about things...?)

Hope you all had a safe and wonderful week - happy holidays and if you took some vacay like I did, good luck re-entering the real world...

Christmas Eve (aka, comedy of errors)

Christmas Eve-Eve was a smashing success! The following few photos pretty much sum up the evening:

Dinner with the in-laws downtown

Yarrr

On Christmas Eve Morning, Ben and I kept our tradition of exchanging our gifts for each other before heading out to various family events. Ben pulled out a winner this year - productivity is officially on hold!

Self-timer family photo took a few tries - looks like this one could have been good...

...but instead we ended up with this one of Mini looking possessed...

Packing everything in the car was pretty intense, but we managed to get all of the presents, Sid and Mini's crates, Mini's litter box, all pet supplies (food, litter, toys, etc) and our overnight bags into the Camry in short order, and were on the road in no time. We'd planned on bringing Sidney because we were spending the night of the 24th up at my parents, and unforseen circumstances (I'll explain later) required that we bring Mini, too. We realized that if we actually had children, we wouldn't be able to fit them in the car. I finally understood why people buy SUVs.

Once we were up at my parents, we set to work baking cookies!

...or at least Julianna and I did. Dad, Ben and Sidney were downstairs watching the Vikings game.

And theeeeen it was time for choir mania! Ben and I sing in our church choir (it's a pretty awesome choir actually - our director also directs a professional choir in the area, and our organist is easily one of the best in the country). We sing a 5:30 and a 10:30 service, and our tradition for the last several years has been to eat dinner at a local restaurant in between the two. It's also become tradition that some unforseen event nearly prevents us from making it to one or both services - last year it was a flat tire, which was pretty intense, but this year was not without its shenanigans.

The younger generation, drinking wine while we wait for our table...and yes, that is a Gryffindor scarf. Obviously.

Gorder family!

The restaurant we always eat at on Christmas Eve recently came under new ownership, and I think they were unprepared for the insanity because, long story short, we got our food at 8:50 for a 7:15 reservation. Ben and I had to be back at the church, in our robes at 9:30 and neither of us had driven (we rode with my dad, my mom and sister drove separately). So, after inhaling my pasta, I grabbed my mom's car keys and booked it out to the parking lot, calling back a quick "uh-huh, of course" when she tried to make sure I had driven her car before.

Well as it turns out, I forgot that I had not in fact driven her new car. I managed to vanquish the keyless starter, but could not for the life of me figure out how to turn the headlights on. Ben tried to help me out by reaching in front of me and pressing various random buttons on the dashboard, but only succeeded in thoroughly cleaning my windshield and informing everyone that I was turning right, then left, while every car on the road flashed its brights at me to inform me that I was driving with no lights on.

Second service went off without a hitch, and by 12:30 we were back at my parents, totally wiped out and ready for bed, but excited for more festivities the next day.