Tag Archives: friends

How {and why} to Hold A Clothing Swap

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For the past few years, I’ve been involved with organizing a women’s clothing swap twice a year at It’s All Yoga, the yoga studio where I teach,  and recently I’ve been asked to explain how and why we do it.

What Is A Clothing Swap?

It’s a get together with friends, clients, students with the purpose of trading gently used items (clothes, shoes and accessories) with others.

Wardrobes are remade and friendships begin with chatting over tables while in search of that perfect new-to-you outfit. I have connected with friends and students while building a new seasonable wardrobe.

Why Hold A Clothing Swap:

1. It’s fun.

2. It’s an environmentally and budget friendly way to build a new wardrobe for yourself while helping someone else build theirs.

3. The clothes and shoes that mock you from the closet because they were expensive, but just not quite right, usually can find a new home with someone you know, thus making everyone happy.

4. We raise a bunch of funds for a local charity and donate all the unclaimed items for them to sell in their shop.

5. We get to finally talk to the lovely people on the mats next to ours! Teachers and students interacting with each other in a super friendly environment is a great way to help everyone feel like they belong to the IAY community.

6. Friends bring friends and we usually leave SwapAsana with new to us clothes and connections with people we wouldn’t have otherwise made.

How To Hold A Clothing Swap:

My friend Amy hosted a swap party at her house this summer with a couple of girlfriends and wrote a post about it. I totally scored in the sweater and dress department and got to taste Joy The Baker’s famous Simple Vegan Chocolate Cake.   All in all, a great night!

In my research I also found this post and this comprehensive guide.

At It’s All Yoga’s SwapAsana, we put half of the goods on tables at the beginning and take a break midway. We use the free-for-all method and most people take what looks best and leave the rest. There is one group of swappers who try things on together and decide who brings the item home based on who it most flatters. Team work at its finest!

If you are interested in hosting a swap party, I definitely recommend going to someone else’s party first. I did and fell in love! Thanks, Stitch Swap!

It’s All Yoga’s bi-annual SwapAsana is this Sunday, October 14th at the studio in Midtown Sacramento. Feel free to come by!

Have you ever hosted/attended a swap? What was your experience?

Image 1 source

Saturday Senses

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{via}

tasting :: three different flavors of dairy free ice “cream” – yum!

hearing :: catching up stories from my girl, melissa, who is in from out-of-town.

smelling :: only half of what i could. what is up right nostril?

seeing :: san francisco, the east bay old home tour, and friends.

feeling :: less exhausted than last week, yet not quite rested.

wishing/hoping ::  for some serious scores today at #SwapAsana.

What about you?

What are your senses this Saturday?

Looking back, how was your week?

Leave a comment and tell me all about it. I’d seriously love to hear about your week. Now’s not the time to be shy.

This weekly tradition inspired by Pink of Perfection’s Five Sense Friday.

Don’t forget to click the links!

Saturday Senses

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tasting :: coconut poppers (a gluten-free scone-like cookie made with coconut milk)

hearing :: americana radio on pandora

smelling :: freesia without sneezing. {fingers crossed the new allergy meds work}

seeing :: local girlfriends. there is nothing like the support of your girls. check them out: mads, michelle, erin, amy, sacramento fashion bloggers

feeling :: like last week was a lifetime ago.

wishing/hoping :: for peace, ease and kindness.

What about you?

What are your senses this Saturday?

Looking back, how was your week?

Leave a comment and tell me all about it. I’d seriously love to hear about your week. Now’s not the time to be shy.

This weekly tradition inspired by Pink of Perfection’s Five Sense Friday.

Don’t forget to click the links!

Mrs. PartyPants

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December 9th’s Prompt:

Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans.

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In March, I turned 40.

To celebrate some of my yoga teacher training buddies and I went on a yoga workshop weekend in Ukiah to study Balance with Mary Paffard.

I know. We know how to party!

A must stop if you are ever in Clear Lake

Once we were primed and ready (ie totally full of fried goodies) we off to Vichy Springs Resort for some soaking in the mineral pools.

An excellent way to spend an afternoon

Post soak, we hopped on down the road to meet the other YTTs for dinner at Oco Time.

Look at those lovely faces.

We chatted, we laughed, we snapped photos and drank a beer (or two).

More lovely faces.

We told jokes and talked about birthdays, age and yoga.

And then it was over.

+++++

It’s funny what a difference a decade makes.

My 30th birthday was a huge drunken bash.

I’m glad that nonsense is over now.

+++++

What’s your most memorable party this year?


(Author: Shauna Reid)

Saturday Senses

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Saturday Senses is a way to capture the spirit of each week.  

  

tasting ::  plain h2o. it’s quite refreshing. i clearly haven’t been drinking enough lately and this week, i’ve been making up for it.

hearing ::  teacher talk! training, training, training – gearing up for school next week.

smelling ::  many delicious meals cooked for me by others this week.

-thanks t & j!

seeing ::   my wonderful co-workers for the first time all summer. love them. they make going to work less work-like. <3

feeling ::  better every day.  my injury is healing and i’m getting used to my new accessories.

wishing/hoping ::  wishing my mom has a speedy recovery from her unexpected surgery. also hoping we all recommit to self-care. for reals.

What are your senses this Saturday?  Looking back, how was your week?    

Leave me a comment to tell me made your week memorable.    

This weekly tradition was inspired by Pink of Perfection’s Five Sense Friday. 

{click image for source}

Teacher Travels: {English} Espana

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Algorfa, Spain with the Hick-Stewarts 2010

 

  

Travels with Toddlers 2010

 

Who: Hick-Stewarts and Hacknbrews 

Where: Algorfa, Spain {LaFinca – a GOLF community!} 

When: July 2010 

What: swimming, beaching, eating, reading, singing {lots and lots of Bah, Bah Blacksheep}, cooking, dancing {chef and ring around the rosie}, laughing, and site-seeing. 

Why: Because we love each other and holidays! 

Click on the images for a closer view and if you’d like to see more photos {with commentary} check out Facebook.

Teacher Goes Back To School Takes A Trip!

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Housesitters have keys and long, teacher-written “sub” plans.

Bags are almost packed and pets are now taken care of.

First stop is to the Bay Area.

We leave early tomorrow morning for Philly, then to Munich.

We land in Munich and then fly to a small island off of Spain.

We fly to Valenica, spend the night and then travel by train to Alicante where our lovely British hostess, JojosUK, drives us to our 2 week summer home.

{Can someone please get Planes, Trains and Automobiles out of my head now?}

We’ll be swimming, going to the beach, eating, sunbathing, sightseeing and enjoying spending time with our favorite British family for 2 glorious weeks.

The Hick-Stewarts take on Sacramento!

 

I’ll be known as “Her” and J will be “the other Daddy” and we’ll get to hang out with these two awesome toddlers.

Summer Al eating Sophie's head last summer in Sacramento

 

We will bid them farewell and fly back to Munich for 7 days in the city, but not before trying to capture another excellent “Two Daddies” photo.

The Two Daddies

 

TGBTS will return in early August, rested and ready to bring you more tips on how to best care for yourself so you can care for others.

Last tip: Taking a break can sometimes be the best thing for you!

Tell me about your summer vacation adventures – near and far – I can’t wait to read about how you cared for yourself this summer!

Saturday Senses

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Saturday Senses is a way to capture the spirit of each week.  

  

     

  

tasting ::  lager and ginger ale. I was introduced to this refreshing delight on the 4th of July by my friend Eric. He claims it is all the rage in Germany. Who am I to not believe him?

hearing ::  the Words with Friends alarm on my new iPod Touch. O.M.G. – this machine is amazing! Who knew this game was so addictive? I hope I get better at it with all this practice!

smelling ::  lavender laundry soap. Finally had to wash all my clothes to get ready to pack.

seeing ::   My favorite British family in a matter of days!

feeling ::  Relief! Our housesitters came through at the last-minute {and I didn’t lose my marbles worrying about it} and the dude is able to travel {no kidney stones for now}!

wishing ::  You all a lovely rest of July. I’ll be taking a blog break whilst in Europe. Please feel free to check out the archives while I am away, make comments and rate each post with my fancy new 5 star rating system.

What are your senses this Saturday?  Looking back, how was your week?    

Leave me a comment to tell me made your week memorable.    

This weekly tradition was inspired by Pink of Perfection’s Five Sense Friday. 

{click image for source}

Saturday Senses

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Saturday Senses is a way to capture the spirit of each week.  

   

Sad Panda: Ian

 

tasting ::  bourbon and ginger ale {summer break is a beautiful thing} 

hearing :: old favorite records road trip sing-a-long style {what are your favorite sing-a-long albums?} 

smelling :: burt’s bees naturally nourishing milk and honey body lotion 

seeing :: dear friends from junior high and high school. {el sob #1} 

feeling :: a bit melancholy. I miss Matt and Ian has been really needy this week. Poor kitty.  

  

What are your senses this Saturday?  Looking back, how was your week?  

Leave me a comment to tell me made your week memorable.  

This weekly tradition was inspired by Pink of Perfection’s Five Sense Friday.

NEEDED: Monthly Metaphor

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What can I say?

I feel like I’m losing my marbles.

(And I’ve got a bonus flu/cold right now, so I’m pretty much a complete mess. Although admittedly after a few days being sick, on the mend).

Seriously though.

I’m crazy.

Not all the time, just a few days a month.

Cranky, irritable, prone to nitpicking, overly critical (as opposed to just regular critical), weepy, mad.

Mad?

Yes, mad.

Both angry and completely loony.

A few days a month, it’s like I suddenly find myself in a DUNGEON.

In the dark.

Alone.

In pain.

Sad.

Mrs. Mean Jeans complaining about the lack of light, the snugness of her trousers, and anything that comes out of anyone else’s mouth.

And the Judges…. the poor Judges… in the DUNGEON taking note about how NOT PERFECT anything or anyone is at the moment….

 When I’m not spending the dark days in the DUNGEON,

I feel great:

Healthy

Happy

Balanced

All that wacky self-care really pays off.

Except when it doesn’t.

During a particularly helpful (yet almost hysterical) phone call with a dear friend this morning, she suggested creating a metaphor for this time of the month.

EYE ROLL…

Not for the metaphor part, but for the words- “time of the month”…. ugh.

Hence THE DUNGEON.

Here’s what I want:

A new metaphor.

I’m in search of a kind, friendly, loving metaphor.

Must make me feel loved, not alone, cared for, supported and not crazy.

The new metaphor may invoke a feeling of:

  • Lightheartedness
  • Non-judgmental witnessing
  • Compassion
  • Kindness
  • Tenderness
  • Understanding
  • Love
  • Restfulness + Renewal
  • Renaissance
  • Beauty in the cycles of the world

The new metaphor must NOT make me cringe by being cliché or patronizing –

 Aunt Flow?

The Curse?

 The Monthly Bill Due?

You may just find yourself in the DUNGEON.

Yoga+Music365 (day51) – Closer to the Bone by Kris Kristofferson – Mrs. Pricklepants Edition

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February seems like a good idea on paper. It’s got at least two school holidays, daylight is getting longer, and there are only three and a half more months of school.

And yet, I’ve been kind of grumpy all month. Go figure.

Instead of leaving a trail of complaints why February sucks, the following is a short list of things about February that don’t.

  • We started the Money unit at school and students LOVE earning money for their hard work. They are decidedly less enthusiastic about paying for not working, however motivation is at an all time high right now.
  • I love teaching yoga! Who knew that something that scared me so much so recently could turn out to be so fulfilling?
  • My amazing sweetheart surprised me with a very sweet valentine – a little certificate for lunch and a foot massage – by hiding it in the cat food bag while he was away and I actually found it on Valentine’s Day.
  • Acro-yoga was super fun, even when working with a complete stranger. We met during the middle of the class and managed to laugh all afternoon. She’s the one I’m helping into handstand in the photo.
  • One of my best friends is moving into a house with a SWIMMING POOL!  Fishes like me, love them some swimming pools!
  • Three Feet High and Rising.
  • One of my other friends took me to her very fancy gym this week for a spa day. Steam, sauna, and soak – with towel service.  
  • The movie Crazy Heart.
  • Massage!
  • Seeing Rhett Miller play and being in the front row.
  • Reading the Fluent Self and other excellent blogs make me happy.
  • Yoga
  • Possibility of summer road trips with friends for more yoga and general all around fun times.
  • Anticipating seeing my amazingly wonderful friends from junior high over Zachary’s Pizza and a cocktail or two.

What about YOUR February isn’t sucking? Remind me why this month doesn’t totally blow. (That’s your clue to leave me a comment, so I don’t feel like I’m talking to myself.)

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Today’s yoga brought to you by the home practice! It’s a half-marathon training day.

Today’s music is Closer to the Bone by Kris Kristofferson.

Don’t forget FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up online www.itsallyoga.com. 

I’m teaching 3/5/10 – so mark your calendar.

For the month of February, I’m teaching a Level 1/2 on Mondays at 5:45. Come join me.

The First Day of (Half Marathon) School

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Remember what it was like to go to a new school? The fear? The anxiety? The self-doubt?

Remember all those feelings of angst and what-if-nobody-talks-to-mes and what-if-they-are-already-friends-with-everyones and no-one-wants- to-be- my- friend?

That’s how I was feeling about going to my first day of half marathon training.

Just like every other night before school, I set out my clothes the night before. I set my alarm and went to bed early.

Unlike most night before schoolers, I slept fitfully. That’s one benefit of being a teacher, you have so many first days of school that you can now sleep well the night before because you have so much practice.

At the first signs of my alarm clock’s light (I have the Bio-Brite) I got up, got dressed and ate some tea and toast. The morning sky was covered in thick, wet fog and out the door I went dressed in my best Johnny Cash exercise outfit: black pants, black shirt, black jacket, black shoes and of course, a black hat.

I left 30 minutes before I needed to be there just to be sure I’d be on time and of course arrived 20 minutes early. Just enough time to look around the parking lot for a single face I recognized.

No one.

Hundreds of people and I know no one? Really?

All this time I was hoping that I’d know someone so I wouldn’t be the only friendless person.

And once again the universe answered.

Finally someone I knew!

Next time I ask the universe of something, I’m going to be more specific.

It’s a good thing the coaching is so great (I already got a useful tip!) and the other kids were so nice (thanks Lucy and Deana!) because otherwise it would be a long couple of months trying to ignore the only person I knew there who was trying really hard to ignore me.

Yoga+Music365 (day14) – Trouble in Mind by Hayes Carll

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Last night I attended the kick off meeting for my half marathon training. There were hundreds of people (or at least it looked that way) wedged into the Fleet Feet on J Street to hear all about our upcoming training.

I signed up for this right after Christmas while my jeans were feeling a little more snug than they should and before I started my Yoga+Music365 challenge. Plus I’m turning 40 the weekend after the race and what a better way to usher in my new decade.

Right?

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

I’ve never done this kind of thing before, I don’t know anyone and they kept talking about “injury-free” training.

Why have I signed up for something with a warning label?

I’ll admit it. My training schedule scared me. In the next 8 weeks I’ll be going from walking one night a week to walking 7, 8, 10, and 12 miles AT A TIME!

There is some good news in all of this. 

Instead of striving for a sexier group (read more advanced/competitive/cool), I signed up in the walking group. Believe me, this is  a huge step in my yogic path.

Stay tuned for more adventures in training over the next couple of months.

Today’s yoga brought to you by the home practice in Sacramento.  Damn dentist appointment.

Today’s music is Trouble in Mind by Hayes Carll.

Each Saturday I’ll share my thoughts on the music of the week in the MUSIC ROUNDUP!

Don’t forget FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up online www.itsallyoga.com. 

Stationery #best09

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December 28 Stationery.

When you touch the paper, your heart melts. The ink flows from the pen. What was your stationery find of the year?

After reading this prompt, I think I may be missing out on one of life’s simple pleasures. I haven’t written or received a letter on stationery in years. Like most, I keep up with friends via email, text and Facebook. I do, however,  remember the feeling of excitement when a hand-written letter would come in the mail.

For a while, after most people were keeping up with friends only on the Internet,  my friend Joanne and I would exchange real letters. We were inspired to write letters to each other based on a book about two friends living in different parts of the world and longing to keep the connection between them.

While Jo and I no longer write letters to each other and despite living on different continents, career changes and children, we still manage to stay connected to each other. Yes, Facebook has played a role in that. A smaller role than one would think.

Instead, we plan vacations together.

Before Jojos went to medical school and still had her fancy flying around the world job, I could count on her annual visit. Once she settled in country to study medicine, I wondered how we’d keep up that pace. Thankfully she missed California and wanted to show it (and her old friends) off to her new boyfriend.

The next summer we traveled to England to meet her new baby girl and to spend a couple weeks together in the South of France. The four adults to one 9 month old baby ratio was perfect for a relaxing holiday of swimming pool hijinks and cheese eating.

Last summer Jojos brought her little family, which now included a new baby boy, back to California for some summer fun. Some friends we have in town were traveling to Italy for the summer and generously offered their house to the Brits. They have two daughters so when little Sophie came into a holiday house filled with girlie toys, she exclaimed, “It’s the House of Treasures”!

 With our adoption plans keeping us guessing, we’re not sure what our next vacation will be.  Or even when it will be. Maybe in the meantime, I’ll spend some time writing Jo a real letter on real stationery and revive that little pleasure in my life.

Good friends to have.

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Yesterday we got some disappointing news. Our adoption wait is going to take longer than we first thought. Current circumstances are pushing our wait to the longer 24+ month wait, rather than the optimistic 18-24 month wait. Not the end of the world, but disappointing nonetheless.

It didn’t really sink in until this morning how sad I am about it.

I have been operating on the optimist time frame. I had it in my head that by next school year we’ve have our kiddo at home and instead of trying to teach everyone else’s kids how to read, I’d be home learning how to be a parent.

Not so.

I’m not sure exactly at what moment my disappointment set in, but when the tears started, I wasn’t sure they were going to stop. By the time I reached the school parking lot, I had it pulled together. I figured I’d just muscle through and then come home and continue to be sad.

I slipped through the office unnoticed and made it halfway to my classroom when I encountered some of my colleagues talking to one of my former parents in the hallway. They all greeted me with a warm good morning and my eyes immediately welled up again.

Next thing I knew, I was enveloped in a great big mama teacher hug crying like a baby. Big hugs and kind words followed. I explained what had happened and one reminded me what I already knew… that “our” kid isn’t ready for us yet and when he or she is ready for us, we’ll be there.

Their kindness helped me put our situation in perspective. So it’s going to take a bit longer than we thought, but when it happens it’ll be right.

So thank you dear friends for your support and love.