Yay America

Happy 4th of July!  Living in Japan has taught me a few things over the last 2 years like:  how to eat extremely well with chop sticks, how to drive on the other side of the road, and most of all, how to love America like crazy.  I will never take America for granted again and I have to say I have so much pride and love for our country. 

Last night (on the 3rd for some reason) we went to a 4th of July celebration and saw a fireworks show.  Love fireworks.  Every time. 

Today I had a great morning at the barn and now I'm relaxing sipping my delish homemade margarita on this beautiful summer 4th of July day.  I love me some margs.  I thought I'd share with you this marg recipe because it's easy and too good not to share! I have to give credit to my lil Hope for introducing me to this. 

In the blender: I cut up about six or eight limes, two lemons, squeeze, add two to three full tablespoons of homemade simple syrup or agave nectar, 1/2 cup tequila (or more depending on how adventurous you're feeling!) and 1/2 cup cointreau or orange liqueur. Lots of ice!

Cheers and Happy 4th of July to you!!   Happy Birthday AMERICA!! 

Homebody

I've gone on a lot of vacations over the last few years, but nothing is like going home.  There is something so special and amazing to be around and with people who share your history and share your memories.  People who know your soul and can read you like a book.  I am so blessed with amazing parents, big sister and life long friends. 

My college girlfriend (and life-mate!) and I celebrated our much too long separation by running our first half marathons my first weekend back in the states.  It was a wonderful accomplishment and we are already planning on doing another one together. 

Another weekend mom and I drove up to New Jersey to spend the weekend with my Grandma.  I got to see a lot of my aunts, uncles and cousins.  It was so nice to just hang out, watch old movies and eat lots of yummy food. 

My amazing mommy friend just had her 2nd baby and this little newborn girl is just too cute for words.  I love her to pieces!  It was so incredible to see her other little one so grown up.  Last year when I went home to visit he was a newborn and how he's walking and talking and looking like such a big boy.  So awesome.  And girlfriends are just the best.  Loved getting to hang out with my ladies. 

The last weekend I was home I crammed a ton in.  My sister came home from a year working in the Republic of Georgia and our family got to be all together again!  Mom and Dad had a nice get-together for our neighbors and friends.

 

Last year I didn't make it into the city and was super excited to get a DC day this time.  Mary, Kate and I went to one of my favorite places on the planet, the Willard.  We got fancy drinks at the Round Robin bar and I promised myself for the millionth time that I would stay in that hotel sometime soon.  We walked over to the White House for a quick hello to Obama and I just loved walking down those DC streets again.  Next we took a quick cab ride over to a German Beer Garden where we met Kate's dirndls and lederhosen clad friends for some beers.  So fun!  

I was pretty bad about taking pictures this trip.  I did so many amazing things, spent time with wonderful friends, did a lot of shopping (I bought something astonishing like 14 dresses alone), a lot of eating wonderful American food, and a lot of running through the trees around the lake.  I did a lot of rocking on my parents screened in deck.  I did a lot of thinking.  Did a lot of things that make me overjoyed and happy.  There really is no place like home.  

Bribing myself

To inspire and reward myself for taking on 13.1 miles I treated myself to my first ever shopping trip to Lululemon at Tysons Corner.  

I got 2 new running/yoga outfits and I lovelovelove them!  I wanted to wear one for the half, but I was told not to wear anything new on race day.  So, these are an after race treat for me. 

My first outfit was a super cute light pink tank top with adorable little ruffles and reflective details-
Run: Silver Bullet Sleveless Tech
And pink, sparkly Turbo Run Shorts

The 2nd outfit I got was the Run Inspire Crop II and Power Y Tank.  I couldn't find a picture on their site, but the pants look similar to these ones and the top is purple with black polka dots.

It always motivates me to work out when I have great gear to wear! 

Half what?!

I'm home in Northern VA!!  It is so amazing to be back with my family and friends.  I'll be here for 3 weeks.

Tomorrow morning at around this time I'll be starting my first half marathon!  I feel so nervous I am hoping I don't barf on the starting line.  I do not feel prepared for this run at all! But, I've been wanting to run one, this race looks great, and I get to do it with my best friend, Kate, after not seeing her for years.  What a way to reunite.  One of the people she was running with couldn't do it, so I'm going to get her spot.  So, I found out I'm going to run this thing ummmm 2 days ago.

I'll be participating in the North Face Endurance Challenge!
In this race you can do the 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon, 50k and 50 mile! Oh my god, 50 miles!

This run will be far from boring.  The site says: The North Face Endurance Challenge returns to Algonkian Regional Park, Great Falls Park and the Potomac Heritage Trail again in 2012. The course keeps runners on their toes with ever-changing terrain. Overall, the course consists of 50% singletrack, 30% dirt or gravel doubletrack, 10% gravel carriage road and 10% paved road.
 

I will certainly be pushing my limits tomorrow.  Last summer when my friends and I climbed Mt Fuji my girlfriend she said she'd rather run a marathon than climb that mountain again, so I'm hoping that's true, because Mt Fuji was one of the hardest physical and mental things I've ever done.  And this time I'll only torture myself for like 2 1/2 hours.  My only goal is to make it to the finish line, not die, and preferably not loose control of my legs and/or pass out.  And hopefully I will be able to move tomorrow at least a little.  Massage is already booked! 

Wish me luck, I'll need it. 

Current music obsession

Barton Hollow, The Civil Wars.  Love. Maybe listened to this song (and the whole CD) like a 100 times. 

Thank you to my friend, Kate, for sending me so much amazing new music lately!

Hooked!

About 2 months ago one of my fabulous clients at the stable was getting her yoga instructor certification and needed to practice teaching someone and offered to teach me yoga.  I told her I'm super in-flexible and don't know anything, but she said that was perfect and that she needed to teach a beginner.  So, we started weekly private yoga classes and for the first time yoga was explained to me in a way that I could relate to and I loved the way my body felt afterwards.  I'm hooked.  I love it!  Last month at the barn we had an adult camp weekend and Jill came in and did a yoga class for us at the barn.  It was so fun! 

Now in addition to our weekly sessions, I practice at home and have tried going to some yoga classes on base.  I never knew yoga was such a workout!  She loaned me a book all about bio dynamics and which muscles are stretching and flexing in each pose and it is so interesting!  My yoga instructor, Jill, has made yoga feel accessible to me that I didn't need to be a "pretzel person" to benefit from yoga. 

She's at the end of her course now and asked me to answer a couple of questions:

1. What drew you to a yoga practice?

I was drawn to yoga because my doctor recommended I stretch more when I expressed my concerns that my father and grandmother have had double knee replacement surgeries.  I love running and she told me that when I was younger I may have gotten away with running without properly stretching, but as I get older stretching properly is very important to prevent injury.  I did not think yoga was for me, but Jill happened to be getting her yoga instructor certification and she offered to teach me yoga and it totally changed my mind.  I love that yoga is low impact and I can still get a great total body workout. She re-defined what I originally thought about yoga and explained things in a way that I could relate to.  I thought to be good Jill motivated me to expand my awareness, stretch, learn and pursue yoga. 

2. What do you expect to get out of it?

Through our practice together Jill has taught me to learn breathing, and correct postures and movement.  I love how yoga is a mind and body experience.  I would like to strengthen my body and bring attention to my mind and my thoughts through yoga practice.  I hope yoga helps me to gain more flexibility, especially in my hamstrings.

3. Do you feel yoga helps you "off the mat"?  How or why?

I am completely absorbed by yoga and very open to it's possibilities.  Yoga has helped me accept myself for the person I am and has helped me gain self confidence.  Yoga has helped me center myself in life, in my goals and in every day moments.  I find myself focusing on my breath and on my state of mind even off the mat.  Yoga has helped me to find joy in my bodies capabilities.

4. What would you like to learn more about in yoga?

I ride horses and I find that yoga is very similar in it's infinite possibilities.  I am open to as much knowledge as possible.  Jill has expanded my knowledge base considerably, helping me to understand biomechanics,  alignment and basic yoga principles.  Jill has also inspired me continue my self practice and grow as a person.  I will continue my yoga practice and gradually increase my strength and discipline.  I am fascinated by yoga, the principles and the fundamentals.  I will continue to learn and grow through mind, body and spirit. 

5. Where do you see your yoga practice one year from now?  5 years from now?

I hope that yoga helps be be healthy and strong in mind and body.  I believe yoga, in these 2 months, has helped me considerably in my day to day life and I love learning something new.  I can already feel my body getting stronger and less stiff.  I can only imagine, and look forward to, the positive effects of yoga over a span of a year or 5 years. I would like to gain more flexibility in my hamstrings and perhaps be able to do a handstand one day.  I've bought a mat that is supposed to last me a lifetime, so I am all set!

Can't wait till my Manduka stuff gets here!

Vacation Part III - Halong Bay, Vietnam

Attention: this is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been!  Halong Bay was breathtaking and a once in a lifetime experience I will never forget.  It is no wonder why this place is a UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

As I mentioned in my previous post, while in Vietnam we were spoiled rotten.  We had our own private guide, Nancy, and our personal driver to take us around.  We left Hanoi early in the morning to make the 4 hour drive to the bay.  This wasn't a typical relaxing drive, this was grip your seat, close your eyes and try to keep breathing kind of a drive.  Our driver was fantastic and must have been fully aware of the terrified American (as in me) in the backseat and he was always calm and somehow resisted laying on his horn like the rest of Vietnam drivers and just deferred to flashing his high beams repeatedly when driving into oncoming traffic or vice versa.   Vietnam is full of crazy drivers, too many motor bikes loaded down with families of 5 or over piled with farm animals or other various things, and other cars and trucks in various states of disrepair, or super nice cars thinking they are on the autobahn.  Traffic lights, stop signs, lanes?  Meh, who needs them.  Everyone just drives (at great speed) and somehow it all works out.  And not to mention the roads are in terrible shape, so it's not like your traveling at great speeds on nice roads.  We were bumping and jostling down the roads and I learned pretty quick to keep my head leaning to the inside of the car after my head slammed into the side of the car a time or two.  But, on the plus side the car was nicely air conditioned and there was a ton to look at.  Water buffaloes eating grass on the tiny median of the road, endless rice paddies, duck farms, cows, I even saw some ponies grazing on the side of the road (Safety?  Fences?  Nah.)... it was quite pretty, really.  

We arrived at the pier mid-day and were taken by boat out onto Halong Bay for our 2 day/1night on the Indochina Sails cruise. 

This boat was so beautiful!  Heavenly.  Our stateroom had nice big windows looking out onto the bay, a big comfortable bed and a surprisingly large bathroom for being on a boat and of course it was a place we could crank up the AC.  The boat was all dark wood and elegant.  The top of the boat was the best part with comfy lounge chairs and umbrellas to escape the mind numbing heat. 

We arrived on the boat and were served "welcome drinks" and then sat down to an amazing 7 course lunch (and of course the accommodated my food issues making me special dishes!).  The food was ahhh-mazing. 

We headed out past Head Island, Turtle Island, Heaven's Gate Island and arrived at Luon Cave.  We got to go kayaking in the bay to explore the cave and coves.  This was my favorite part of the whole trip! 

Then we got back on the boat and sailed over to Tiptop island where we hiked to the top of the mountain for fantastic views of the bay and then went swimming and relaxed on the beach. 

We had a delish dinner buffet on the boat and anchored in the Luon Bo area for the night.  After dinner Brad got out his ipad with this cool astronomy app and we sat up on the deck looking at the starts and identifying them with the ipad.  You point the ipad at the sky and somehow it knows what you're looking at and it tells you what's up there... my dad would love this. 

We slept comfortably on the boat, but I woke up really early and quickly got up on deck so I could enjoy the quiet early morning.  I got some coffee and sat up on the boat deck, watching boats and islands pass and I don't think it could have been more peaceful.  Brad joined me after awhile and we participated in morning Tai Chi on the sundeck. 

Our last excursion was Surprise Cave.  I am NOT a fan of caves, but did not want to miss out on this opportunity.  It was a million degrees of tropical heat as we set off for this cave and climbed the stairs with massive amounts of other people.  Claustrophobia was already setting in and I wasn't even in the cave yet.  Once in the cave at least it was cool and we got a break from the heat, but I was fighting the urge to turn around and run, so I just told myself to stop being so ridiculous and stuck my face behind my camera.  The big spaces and the cave itself wasn't too bad, I only had one really bad border line panic attack moment when we were smushed between tons of people and had to go through a tight spot in the cave where you had to bend down and go through a little tunnel ... dislike! But there was this teeny tiny little old lady getting piggy backed through the cave by her grandson! If she can do it...! My irrational fear made me enjoy getting out of the cave a lot more that touring the inside, but at least I can say I did it and was able to have mind over matter! 

It was time to go back to the harbor and on our way we enjoyed a big breakfast on board, as well as some breakfast beverages (a pina colada is pretty much a smoothie, right?!) and then went up on the sundeck where we hovered in the shade under the deck umbrellas (one million bazillion melt your skin off degrees) and enjoyed one last tropical drink. 

Of course we had our exciting 4 hour drive back to Hanoi where we saw the same crazy drivers, animals and rice fields, but in reverse.  I was sad to leave Halong Bay, I would have loved some more time on the boat and beautiful bay! 

So, that concludes my summary of our amazing trip.  I am so happy I got the opportunity to see Taiwan and Vietnam, especially so luxuriously.  I could get used to 5 star hotels, 5 and 7 course gourmet meals, art, music, culture and first class plane seats (on one leg at least)!  Glorious.  It was such an incredible experience.  It's easy to have the travel bug when you get to travel like this! 

So what's next on the travel agenda?  I get to have a trip home to the States in a little over a week!  Excited is an understatement.  I can't wait to see my family and friends.  Then skiing in New Zealand is tentatively scheduled for August.  It's going to be a great summer!