"Hellllllllo Louis!!!!!!!" + What I'm Doing

In an effort to give "Louis" a proper intro, Kurt and I made a laughable, impromptu attempt to re-create the Audrey Hepburn photo (see top right hand corner of my blog for Audrey photo). Granted, the outfit, background and hairstyle are all wrong, my red eye apparently wasn't working during this time, and I look nothing like A.H., but work with me here, people!!! I am thinking of doing some others like this, when I go on trips, and doing like a "Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiago" type of thing. Thoughts?? **Silence** Ha!!

OMG so we celebrated like 9,000 Christmases over the past week. Which was coolish, just took F.O.R.E.V.E.R.! I love the holidays but we are all ready to have our old lives back. Even TODAY, we celebrated not one but TWO Christmases. The first with Kurt's mom's extended family and the second with my mom and brother.

Speaking of Christmas #1 today, it was at NOON...on Sunday. Yes, Ashtangs, I gasped as well. It was ACTUALLY supposed to be LAST SUNDAY, but Kurt's aunts canceled at the last minute due to inclimiate weather. I decided I absolutely couldn't miss two Sundays in a row, so I went to Ashtanga until headstand, and had to boogie on out. The POINT of this long story is that Kurt's entire family is uncomfortable-ish with eachother anyway. They all dress up pretty cute and go sit and talk about the weather. Hmmmm...exciting. I fly out to the farm and arrive on the scene 1.5 hours late in a hot outfit: teal fleece v-neck pullover, lime greens pajama pants with dogs on them and "yoga hair." HOTNESS!!! Oh well... P.S. If you are questioning if I showered before arriving on the scene, the answer is "no." GAROSSSSSSSSSS! I did shower before yoga, of course, and after I got home from the gathering!

Yoga class was a rough one. I skipped yoga all last week due to the insane amount of Christmas gatherings, so I was feeling muy "ew" and out of shape. I could definitely tell a difference in how long it took to warm up compared to normal. This might also be because I didn't get out of bed until 10am...yikes!! I decided to be "cute" the night before and drink too many Bud Lights in a can at the Eargasm show. It was a certainly a fun time and a great show but I'm definitely never drinking again!! :)

Muy loves, hugs and namastes to y'all.

Love,

Ann

Free Baby Minkee to Good Home!!

"O.M.G.!!" Some crazy human from Gramma's Kitchen in Walcott, Iowa thought it would be a good idea to tie me to a gift bag. It was horrible. My foster mom said she has some friends with pet minkees that might want to adopt me. She cracked up when she saw me and told the whole table about their minkee website. Hopefully I can make a guest appearance on it and try to land a job.

I'm really cute and even have a knit Santa hat and everything. I'm pretty much potty trained. I'd make a great pet. I don't take up much room since I'm only 2 inches tall. BG and Jen, PLZ adopt me! This chick has five dogs, a dancing and singing kid and husband that sweeps the floor all the time. He is nice but I'm scared he'll throw me away!! He likes to throw things away. I noticed he throws away a lot of things the lady or kid of the house might want! My time here is limited. I have seen him eyeing me already, waiting for the two other humans to leave so he can throw me into the large green container by the refrigerator!! *Gasp!* I'm going to hide in this yoga bag until I hear from you guys.

Yoga Quotes of the Day + What I've Been Doing!

Good Lord, J.C., etc.. (sorry, Clarice). Who thought Vinyasa III yesterday was a good idea? Yikes! I will start (lovingly) calling it Classfromhell III. During the hell, there were some funny quotes mentioned.

"I didn't feel any breathing..." -Evan. "That's because I can only do one thing at a time, panic or breathe." -Kathy (Evan's mom) on backbending/breathing at the same time.

"That's quotastic!" -Kelly in reference to the above.

"Ummm, this does not feel 'cute'." -Me on Chakra Bandhasana. Followed by "hahaha." -the other Kathy (not a good sign). I looked up this pose and it means 'binding wheel'. This girl doing it? Great. The FEELING of me doing it? Lovely... Just effin' adorable...NOT! Note: I couldn't quite reach my ankles! Maybe next week...

"Seriously." (Between gasps and lingering on the verge of death) -Me after Tolasana. The good news is that I actually held that damnable thing for 10 count! OMG!!! Before I have only made it to count 4 before taking a 1-count rest, going up 2 counts, down 1, up 2...does that even add up to 10?? I can assure you it's not 11. No one goes the extra mile in tolasana. The bad news is that I don't ever want to do that pose again b/c my arms are totally sore! Ha! When I first started taking Intro to Ashtanga in September, I seriously thought my arms just were not long enough to ever do this pose. Weird.

"'O.M.F.G...'" -Evan who was apparently reading my mind at some point during the class.

"Just keep doing it... It will get looser." LOL!!!!!!!! -Evan commenting on me trying to sit up straight after I got my leg behind my head. Yay for the leg. Definitely no yay for sitting up straight. Yikes. This quote is really the story of our lives at el shala. (Bill, I know what you're thinking. Ew.)

E&K reminded me of Madonna doing yoga so here is the yoga queen herself doing the leg thing. ::cues "Like A Prayer"::

For some reason, below is my most despised yoga pose. I'm not really sure why because it's pretty easy. Conveniently, I was dying of thirst at that exact time yesterday so I went to get a drink! Hah!

ANYWHOOOO - ON A LIGHTER NOTE AND WITHOUT FURTHER ADO:

WELCOME TO: Ann's Blog Hiatus Recap (a.k.a. What I've Been Doing)

Since Tuesday, I've been on a blog hiatus. Trust me, I'm fairly pissy about it.

Excuse #1: Jobby Job

So while a new job sounded like a good idea, I now remember that I HATE having a new job and not knowing what I'm doing. This means way longer hours, way more tiredness and feelings of ickyness and way more SWOB cafeteria food (gross!!).

Excuse #2: "Ho Ho F'g Ho." -Jeff C.

WHY OH WHY OH WHY OH WHY do I procrastinate the shopping every single year. Why oh why oh why. Year after year after year. Granted, I do like the energy and Christmas spirit to an extent (e.g. shopping with holly and weird wreaths hanging every which way but loose) but seriously it's the fact I'm so behind on every little gift. I could have bought tons of this stuff in advance!!

Excuse #3: The Arctic Tundra/Barren Wasteland

Pardon my francais, but this weather is for the f'g birds. Penguins, specifically. I mean this just flat-out SUCKS. Yoga was cancelled TWICE this week since it was raining ice and no one (including me) could/should get there. The icing/snowing is totally delaying all of my ho ho f'g ho'ing, which just makes the Xmas prize shopping that much more painful every day it's delayed due to weather. It takes hours on end to get to or from work. My pant legs always have salt lines at the bottoms, etc. etc. etc.

*****************************************************************************

OMG, I do have some good news. In anticipation of our awesomely awesome Jamaica trip that will ensue come Feb 16, I say with great joy that I tell you all that I look AWESOME in my bikinis!!!!!! Fabulous, really!!! AS long as I'm wearing a baggy sweatshirt and Old Navy flannel pj pants OVER THEM! So I lied, this is actually BAD, TRAGIC NEWS! Sister needs a serious tan (spray, of course) and a few less SWOB curly fries/Reese's Christmas Trees (genius, pure genius, those things). Bill assures me that while not in closing week, we lunch outside of the cafe...and I only have one Reese's tree left. Thank God, mon!!!

"I'm dreaming of a...

beachhhh Christmas...."

Well, good evening, everyone and welcome to Hell...oh I mean the Winter Wonderland! It took me not one but TWO fun-filled hours to get home from work. I love winter so much. Nottttt! :)

The ONLY decent thing about living in the arctic tundra is Belle loves to play in the snow and always appears to be unphased by the cold (in contrast to me who watches from the window shivering under a heating blanket and three comforters). I'm trying to convince Kurt to order the eskimold for Belle and to help her to make an igloo (a.k.a. Kurt makes it, she plays in it). We found some cool cat's blog who made one. It was a pretty sweet snow shack but it took him 3 days to make a 6ft circumference igloo. LOL. He had a little video we watched until we found out about the three days part. Ha! He only had ONE eskimold. The pic below shows several, which could dramatically cut the time. However, considering Belle only weighs in at 40 lbs and can't do much, and I would rather kill myself than stand in the freezing snow and eskimold it up, we really only need ONE...for Kurt (3 hours). :)

Mark's yoga class and Tapas class got cancelled which was okay-ish b/c I really couldn't have gone anyway (see paragraph about taking 2 hours to get home). Also, I am still rocking the slight "limp & b*tch" from Sunday's Ashtanga so all is probably for the best! Still sad I couldn't go, though. Update: still can't bring myself to do the 4 a.m. thing. Sorry, apparently I lied about that one! ha!

I did think of one additional prize you could get for a significant other/spouse: a remote start. Kurt bought me one a couple of years ago but for some reason I couldn't use it on my Explorer and now Lujack's "strongly recommended" not to put anything aftermarket on my current ride :( How lame is that! Kurt's truck has one and I'm super jealous every time we take it and he can start it from the restaurant or wherever. So, I highly recommend this gem of an invention to anyone who's looking for a last-minute prize idea!

OMG this blog is so unbelievably lame compared to yesterday but really, how do you top yesterdays???

Baby: [voiceover] That was the summer of 1963 - when everybody called me Baby, and it didn't occur to me to mind. That was before President Kennedy was shot, before the Beatles came, when I couldn't wait to join the Peace Corps, and I thought I'd never find a guy as great as my dad. That was the summer we went to Kellerman's... ::cues "Big Girls Don't Cry"::

That's a little better... :)

Namaste, y'all and STAY EL WARMO.

Mucho love-o,

Moi

Ann's Favorite Things Vol. II / New Shoes OMG / Dirty Dancing

Who loves the movie Clueless? I do! I do!

Cher's dad: "What the hell is that?"

Cher: "A dress."

Cher's dad: "Says who?"

Cher: "Says Calvin Klein."

So yesterday we Christmas shopped for like five hundred hours. We were walking through Von Maur and HALLELUJAH! The Red Sea parted and "Hello, shoes." "What's that?" you may say (or "Eh?" if you're from Canada/N. Wisconsin/MN). I said, "Bonjour, Aloha, Guten Tag, Hola, etc. SHOES!!" Yes, they are now mine and I want to marry them. I 100% believe in love at first sight. It's happened to me twice. When I first saw Kurt (seriously!!!) and also yesterday when I found these shoes. My life is complete. Granted, they look kind of ugly in this picture but I can assure you they are not. :)

In an effort to put a direct gift lifeline to my husband (who may or may not be buying me more prizes) or any other guys that have no idea what to buy their gals (it may give you guys some ideas), I will make an "All I Want For Christmas" list! This is going to also serve as my Fave Things Vol. II. Below, are the things I would love to have for Xmas prizes (he better check this!):

1) Gift certs to Tapas or Indigo, hello. http://www.tapasyogashala.com/ or http://www.indigowellness.info/.

2) H20 body products from Von Maur. Fabulous!!! More specifically, body butter and sugar scrub in Sugar Plum. Men, buy this for your wives/girlfriends ASAP!!

3) Seriously, I ADORE Dirty Dancing!! What woman doesn't? If she says she doesn't, she's lying. Granted, it won't be near as awesomely awesome as the movie, but I would love tickets to DD on Broadway in Chicago! "Nobody puts baby in a corner."-Johnny Castle. HELLO!!!!!!! *Swoons*

[Disclaimer: My friend Bree told me Penny is HOT in the show (blasphemy!!) as opposed to run-down and icky with mascara and unexpected pregnancy drama all over the place. In other words, Penny's hot instead of a hot mess (= Annoying). ALSO, the Australian-born Johnny *raises eyebrow* YELLS the afore-mentioned quote instead of sexily stating it and subsequently claiming his woman before "doing the last dance of the season" with her.]

**SCREAMS!!!!!!!** OMFG! You tube has the clip!!!!!!! Check It:



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4) Liteally anything from Tiffany's will do. Literally.


5) A spa cert 5 Star Salon or William Wesley. I like 5 Star's atmosphere better but LOVE my girl Yvonne from WW. I wouldn't mind trying a thai yoga massage either! Gentlemen, the moral of the story is you can never go wrong with a massage/spa package for your woman. Don't fall for the, "I don't like people touching me" line. The only girls that say that are the ones who haven't yet realized that life without massage is just like life without parole: prision-ish. Ew.
~"We're spa whores." -Heather Bozek (about us). lol.


6) I really love those nice photo albums from Von Maur. Guys, it can't get much easier. They are adorable and your chica will really think you went shopping and picked out a good prize. They have like five different styles plus free giftwrap. Voila!


7) Any type of Chanel perfume = love. (P.S. Dear C-bine, I already have Chance). :)

8) Okay, I hate to say it but it's doubtful I can roll for an extended period without an LV wallet. I mean a Coach wristlet in a Louis? I don't know... I'm thinking no....I'll have see how much they are... But we'll have to see :) *slyly logs onto louisvuitton.com*

I will add more gift ideas if I think of any! In my lovely husband's defense, he did already get us and awesomely awesome trip to Jamaica! Love him!! These are just prize "ideas" for...ya know, other people to get their wives/gf's. Yeah. That's it. Hi, honey!!


Love you all and happy shopping!!!!!!!!!!! ::cues Jingle Bells::


Love,
Moi

New J.O.B. / Check It

Started my new J. to the O. to the B. today. No, I didn't quit Deere to "work" on watching more episodes of Golden Girls or Design on a Dime (my dream job, hello). I moved from Ag Customer Support doing budgets, forecasts and chargeouts to the Product Line Reporting department doing...hmmm...I have no clue yet! Well, it's actually the North American Ag forecast by product line. For all of you non-accountants, I know this sounds super exciting! Gotta love accounting!

It's sooooooooooooo TRAUMATIC to go from a job where you know everything to one you know nothing...literally. Ha! Luckily, the chica training me is really nice so I don't feel like too much of an idiot YET. Yay.

Then I went to yoga at Tapas! http://www.tapasyogashala.com/ Go there, people (the site, then the shala). They uploaded (? - I am so IT-illiterate) a new website so def check it.

Tomorrow I'm going to my first Thursday Mark class. I have to make up for skipping on Tuesday due to the inclimate weather. I wouldn't mind scoping the shala's Vin I but not thinking that will fly for closing week to leave at 3:45!

I hate to admit this is all I got!!! Quiet today, I KNOW!!! :)

LOVE Y'ALL!

Ann :)

Ann's Very Merry Un-Favorite Things Vol. 1

::cues "A Very Merry Un-Birthday" song from Alice in Wonderland::

While usually I am the epitomy of positivity (LOL), and truly LOVE/ADORE/OBSESS about everything I like (see post Ann's Favorite Things Vol. 1), I thought I'd spice up the blog. There are definitely things I don't prefer (a.k.a. DOUBLE HATE) so I thought I'd share! :) This benefits YOU how? I really don't know! But happy holidays and ENJOY THE BLOG! *Smiles Sweetly (through gritted teeth)!!*

A. Kohl's. I despise this store, even the name. Honestly. The end. :)

B. Tylenol. OMG, it does not work, people! Go for the Advil instead of suffering with the red & yellow! I'm just sayin...

C. The show Home Improvement. OMG, it's on right now in the other room. It's so corny. Al is the best part by far. Plus, the fact Wilson (R.I.P.) never shows his face is just annoying. Apparently, I do watch it though since I suddenly seem to be an expert on all of their names. Ha!

D. Shopping at The Limited. Adore the clothing/jewelry, though. Yes, this is a direct shot at a select few (not all) members of the staff. B*tches! *smiles sweetly* I'm annoyed by those who totally recognize me, greet me as such, then proceed to follow me around and stalk me profusely about their stupid credit card while I pick out sweaters. I mean, why??? Just let me shop! You know me and can guarantee I'll walk out with a bag. I don't hike it to Southpark for nothing!

E. People that are, in any way, mean to/abandon animals!!!!!!!!

F. Okay I'll admit it. I hate Express. I am not sure why but I can't stand the store. So odd, really...because it soooo seems like merchandise I'd like. I've hated it for approximately 8 years. Yes, it has a direct relationship to my college graduation year. I must have bought one too many "twin sets" in college. Go Fieldhouse, Halftime and Stickmans!!

G. Anything "gummy." E.g. worms, Swedish Fish (what's up with that name anyway), gummi trolls, etc. Ew.

H. Two words, people: ASSUMPTION HIGH. I'm a Falcon, what can I say? I don't hate anyone that went there *smiles sweetly*, just Ass High in general....oh, and anyone that went there. JUUUUUSSSST KIDDING! :) ::cues West High drumline::

I. Dooney & Bourke, omg. I do contend that the "It" bag, back when It's were "it" was probably my favorite purse I ever owned, meaning I just LOVED it at the time. I will desparately search for a picture of me with this gem of a purse. Everything pre- and post- "my It barrel bag" = no bueno. Just my opinion!

J. Avon and Mary Kay makeup! OMG! Hateness!

K. Email forwards breaking off friendships if you don't send back. Sadness! I mean, who really notices who does and does not send them back?? Annoying!

Any others out there to add? Bueller?? Bue-ller??

::cues Veronica's "Goodbye To You"::

"How could I have loved someone like the one I see in you??

I remember the good times baby now, and the bad times too...

These last few weeks of holding on,

The days are dull, and the nights are long...

Guess it's better to sayyyyy...

Goodbye to you!! Goodbye to youuuu! Goodbye to you!! Goodbye to you!!"

Goodbye (part of my) John Deere bonus!!!!!! Hello Louis!!!!!!!!!!!!!

VERY SPECIAL THANKS to my lovely friend Keri (and partner in handbag O.C.D.) for bringing this honey from Europe! We decided every woman should have at least one piece of Louis Vuitton monogram canvas. Also, since it's my first LV (gasp!!), I had to go obnoxious. I was almost committed to the Speedy 30 when Keri informed me the 30 was actually designed for Audrey Hepburn as she wanted something large enough to carry flats, in case her feet starting hurting. Sold!!!! Anything carried by the lovely Audrey Hepburn is sheerly delightful in my book. OMFG!!!! I found a pic of her w/ her Speedy!
Of course everyone will think you're fake...but don't worry, Louis, my love - I'll know you're real! Muah!!!!!!!!

Happy Handbags to All!

A.

Kelly Sr. Is Right / Somethin' for the Yogis

Way back when I was just a meager intro student *sigh* trying to learn the sun salutations (ya know, a couple months ago - ha!!!), I read one of Kelly's blogs that referenced "limping and bitching" on Mondays after Ashtanga Sundays. "Eh!" I would say, it can't be that bad... lol.

WELCOME to Vinyasa III on Saturday followed by Sunday class (ahem, JESSICA! BG?). I'll admit it's getting a little easier from when I first started Sundays and hung on the verge of death before, during and after the boat poses. Anyway, I'm ALREADY "limping and bitching" and it's only Sunday night so that can't be good.

After class, we had an Ashtanga info session that was pretty awesome with snacks and these yummy sugar plums. Sugar plums = love. It was cool to hear Evan & Kelly talk about their three-month trip to Mysore, India. My four highlights of today's meeting:

Learning Highlight Uno:
Not very many natives of India practice yoga. WHAT!?!?

Learning Highlight Dos:
In Mysore, all the chicas sit outside the shala and say "OMG!! I totally got to Pasasana today!! I was soooo not expecting it!!" and their friends go, "Omg! OMg! OMG!!!!!" Seriously - is this sooooo my gig or what!?!?!! OMG!! lol. Too bad I could never take off work :( and the India trip is where my lovely husband would probably draw the line! Damn.

Learning Highlight Tres:
The reason the primary series does the same poses over and over every practice is to take the thinking out of it and really concentrate on the practice. I never really thought about why we did it before, I was just too busy trying not to collapse. Makes total sense and truly the more I do it, the less I think about it and just do it. Nike.

Learning Highlight Quattro:
I remember being traumatized in 1st grade when my mom and I saw my teacher at the grocery store. I just assumed she lived at school!!! Apparently, at age 30, I have not gotten over this?? I just assumed E&K are so good at yoga b/c they have the fabulous life of practicing yoga at their leisure, teaching a bunch of classes in the QC, hanging out in Mysore, and now opening their own shala. They seem so happy all the time!!!! It never occured to me that Kelly is a teacher and Evan is a web designer! Apparently, they are so good at yoga b/c they practice almost every day from 4-6 A.M.!?!? Then work, THEN teach all of these classes. Namaste to E&K if they happen to be reading. Seriously. God, I AM SOOO LAZY!! 4 a.m.??? Ugh!


In honour of my "OMG I'm in Mysore!!" trip that will never happen (sadness-lol...I really want a bunch of those cute scarves), I am going to get up one day this week and do the primary series at 4 a.m. With the help of Yoga Sacremento's website of course (thank you google.com). I will let YOU ALL know how (and IF) it goes! Kelly said hating it and making yourself do it is part of the practice. I can promise you I'll be hating it and I can promise you it won't be tomorrow. At this rate, I'll just be happy to get down the stairs tomorrow! :)


Quote of the Day: "You're not the trainwreck you once were." - Mark to Pat. Thanks for sharing that one, Pat. Classic Mark!! It reminds me of my first class with Mark in September. First he goes, "Have you been to my class before?" I go, "No." So he grabbed my mat and took it to the back. Later, he leaned down and goes, "Seriously. You need to work on your chatarangas." I go, "Why? What am I doing?" He goes, "I don't know. But it's not good." Ha!!! Love him and my chatarangas have since improved (I think/hope...)!

Lotsa love to y'all.
A.

Ann's Favorite Things Vol. I

*Brown paper packages tied up with strings...these are a few of my favorite things...* Sound of Music did it, Oprah does it, so I can share my loves with the world, too.

I wouldn't say I'm high maintenance but I'm more so than low or medium maintenance. ha! We all know I love my family, friends, being yogalicious, school and handbags. Granted, this is an uber-fulfilling life right there!! But what else?

There are some things in life that I have found to literally be the greatest things ever. And I will share these things! Note this is Vol. I, which means there will be more volumes to come. I'll try to spread out the makeup and beauty products over various volumes throughout the coming months. Cool? Cool. Coolness.

In no particular order and without further ADO:

#1 - iPods. Seriously, anyone living without one is living in sin, or hell, or whatever. C'mon now.

#2 - Laura Mercier face moisturizer. Granted it's kind of expensive for a somewhat tiny jar but it 'lasts and long time and is worth every dime.' *wink*

OMG!! that rhymed! I would highly recommend buying some NOW.

#3 - Two-week disposal contacts. I have ALWAYS sworn by these lil' numbers. Not sure why others choose regular contacts or dailies or choose to roll au naturale and squint and get headaches. Put these babies in, sleep with them in, shower with them in, whatever. Literally no maintenance and very inexpensive. I go months without even knowing where my glasses are and can still see the clock in the middle of the night. To be more specific, in case anyone cares, I use Acuvue Oasys.

#4 - My Sigg bottle. Very stylish and very good for you! No plasticy leaking, leeching, whatever/etc. Now, I do have the pesky old diet soda obsession (pish, posh) so the Sigg encourages me to drink water, ya know...in between Diet Cokes! *cracks open a can* Oops. Plus I never forget it considering it's huge and the brightest purple I've ever seen. They sell them at Dick's Sporting Goods.

#5 - Uggs, seriously. Who can live without these? I compare life without Uggs to walking on hot coals or broken glass, or sleeping on beds of nails. Am I the only one who remembers Circus of the Stars???

#6 - Coach wristlets. Is it a wallet? Is it a purse? Is it something to take $1's in to ensure great service at the beach bar in Mexico?? No one really knows. I use them for all of the above.

#7 - Robes. Not sure why, I just like robes. I have a hot pink one from Victoria's Secret that = love. It's hideously hotteous pink and matches nothing in my bathroom but yet it usually hangs on the bathroom door in case I want to wear it.

#8 Bed, Bath & Biscuits. The greatest dog grooming and boarding place in the QC. It's this adorable little facility by West Lake. It's really nice and this chica freaking LOVES LOVES LOVES dogs. I never feel sad leaving the crew because they are so happy and get so much attention and exercise at BB&B. When Kurt and I went on our honeymoon, she gave them all little bride dog toys. LOL. The # is 563-381-DOGS. Highly recommend!!

#9 http://www.thelimited.com/. Suffice it to say I love the work clothes and jewelry at The Limited in Southpark but cannot F*&^ING stand shopping there...so I do not and will not. Double yay to them FINALLY developing a website for shopping! I have been boycotting The Limited since Springtime and thus looking super dorky at work. I discovered this website and ordered seven pairs of work pants during their pants sale for $205. Craziness....anarchy really. Can't wait 'til they arrive!! ALMOST all of my old work pants ===> garbage!

#10 The Breakfast Club. Totally worthy of it's own blog posting (soon, very soon)!!! I effing ADORE this movie!

John Bender: Hey, Cherry. Do you belong to the physics club? Claire Standish: That's an academic club. John Bender: So? Claire Standish: So academic clubs aren't the same as other kinds of clubs. John Bender: Ah... but to dorks like him, they are. What do you guys do in your club? Brian Johnson: Well, in physics we... we talk about physics, properties of physics. John Bender: So it's sorta social, demented and sad, but social. Right?

The Breakfast Club is awesomely awesome and helped define the lives of so many since it's premier in 1985. Well, maybe not "so many", but what the hell, let's just all say "Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club" together anyway: (in chorus) "Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club." You know you love it, too!!!!!

::cues "Don't you...forget about me..."::

Peace & Love, peace & love, y'all!

A.

::Cues Graduation March::

HEAR YE, HEAR YE! I am DONE with class for the semester!!! I'd like to say I'm graduatING but as you can in the picture, I totally already graduatED IN MAY (I am in the middle, to the right of my sista, Sister Joan)! Unfortunately, she wasn't too impressed when I go, "Thanks, Sista!!!" as she handed me my fake MBA. I swear I didn't mean anything by it...GOD!! ...I mean Jesu...I mean jeez!! (Dear Clarice: Just kidding! *smiles sweetly*)

But O.M.G. - I MISS SCHOOL ALREADY!! WAAAH!!! lol. As mentioned, I am semi-addicted to school. Today, Mandy told me I have a "school fetish" when I was whining to her about not wanting to take the final. LOL!!! She's probably right but that is just funny terminology!!

Now that school's out, I can focus on the finer things in life. "Like what?" you may ask, OR you may not ask...I don't know. You are apparently reading though, so I will tell you of my finer things. Such as: mi familia, prayer twisting (a.k.a. yoga), shopping, blogging, buying Diet Coke IN ADVANCE and setting up the tree (all in that order). Last year I set the tree up three weeks prior to T-giv and I wanted to kill it by Xmas SO this year I'm holding out. Maybe this weekend, maybe not. Who the H knows. All I know is Santa Claus is coming to town and bringing Miss Belle tickets to Disney World! :) She's gonna LOVE IT and we (Kurt) won't have 5,000 Barbie boxes to open like last year when Santa stopped by. Yay!

Mucho love and namaste to y'all. Loving you guys!

A.

P.S. Am I the only one that has all good intentions to shop for other people but then gets to the mall and ends up looking and/or buying for themselves and subsequently cramming everyone else's gift buying into the three days before Xmas??? 'K, just wondering!

Awwwwwwwwwwwww! How adorable!

Alright, I'm officially DYING!!! I logged on to post a blog about how I'd have to skip Mark's class tonight. Dire straits, I know, dire straits. ::cues 'Walk of Life':: I hate to miss it! Grrrr. Here is why:

For those that don't know, I'm semi-obsessed with school. Like as in - I already have my MBA but continue to take MBA classes just because "it's fun." I'm also going for my Master of Accounting (for no apparent reason) and have only 3 classes to go. So anyway, my prof was being uber-irresponsible this semester!!! She only gave us SIXTEEN WEEKS to write the term paper that is due THIS THURSDAY!! Can you believe that? I am so annoyed, with her and her slacker ways!!! So, if I do not show to Mark's class, she and ONLY SHE is the one to blame! It truly has nothing to do with my procrastinating ways, mind you.

So I log in to blog it up, get distracted by Facebook (shocking) and find an absolute GOLDMINE of a blog pic for the day! My homepage showed my friend, Melanie Prince, was tagged in an old school album. She went to North Scott and graduated circa 1996. I love pics from back in the day, so I clicked on the album and RANDOMLY find this:

Who can name the third lil' tyke??? AWWWWW!! Hint: print out the pic and ask your yoga teacher. :) So super adorable! If he asks, it was Justin Levsen that posted it. Thanks, Justin!

Well, thanks to the term "dire straits" popping in to my head during ingenious paragraph #1, and the 80's pictures subsequently surfacing, I cannot get the awesomely awesome "Walk of Life" song out of my head. Oldie but goldie, oldie but goldie, people!! I can sooooo remember watching that video on MTV...probably around the time Mark was at tee-ball practice. SO, as an ode to ANYONE who has any idea what in the hell I'm talking about, HERE'S TO YOU:

Here comes johnny singing oldies, goldies!! Be-bop-a-lua, baby what I say. Here comes johnny singing I gotta woman, down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay! He got the action, he got the motion... Yeah, the boy can play. Dedication, devotion... Turning all the night time into the day. He do the song about the sweet lovin woman... He do the song about the knife... He do the walk............he do the walk of life.

I highly recommend clicking on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrjBddCTCmk I'm just sayin'...

Rock on, y'all.

A. :)

So...how was YOUR practice this weekend!!??

Miss Belle had a play date at 11:00 so I hit The Gap, where I was on a mission to find this ADORABLE dark purple coat that I had been wanting but definitely do not need. Did I mention I realllly wanted it??? OKAY, so I was super happy to randomly find it on sale for $80! OMG! I threw that honey on the counter and tossed in a couple of sweaters to make up the difference between the sale price and what I was planning to spend on the purple passion. Yay…so that makes the sweaters totally free!! I thought about skipping yoga to hang out at Von Maur but decided against it since I hadn’t yoga’d since Wednesday due to T-giv and was feeling triple eww-ish.

I climbed the 555 stairs at DSY to find only ONE other chica waiting to downdog it up. I’d never seen her so if it’s just going to be me, her and Evan, maybe she’s never yoga’d before and I’ll look like I just hopped off the red-eye from Mysore. Then Evan will be too busy “helping her out” to notice I still can’t do the freakin’ Warrior III for no logical reason. Yay! (BTW – what the hell is the deal with my Warrior III?!?!)

I then noticed a mermaid tattoo on new chica’s shoulder, her suspiciously boring-looking yoga mat (true yogis don’t rock my green-patterned Gaiam) and that she was wearing some seriously adorable yoga clothes. Cuteness!! I was starting to consider the remote possibility that she had taken a yoga class or two before. So (very innocently) I’m like, “Where do you normally take yoga?” (I'm hoping for her to respond with the YMCA.) Her: “I’m a yoga teacher in Chicago!” OF COURSE SHE IS, PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!! HOWWW lovely… Just absolutely lovely! “F%%%” was the only word that came to mind, to be honest.

So YAH: me, Chicago Yoga Princess and Evan!!! Just the type of situation someone new-ish to yoga but trying to be “cute” and take on Vinyasa III wants to be in. NOTTTT!!! Lol. I was soooooo hoping Evan would hand me the list to read from the window sill while him & chica did the Vinyasa Challenge 2008. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen so it was a long 1.5 hours, lemme tell ya. However, Evan was super nice and helped me A LOT while “Kelly, Jr.” appeared to be practicing for the next Yoga Journal photo shoot. She was totally awesomely awesome. If you want to feel my pain (literally, okay people), scope her website http://www.abalancedpractice.com/. Anyhow, THIS IS HER (see pics below)!! Doesn’t she totally remind you of Kelly??

Yoga is weird because there aren’t mirrors so you aren’t exactly sure what YOU look like during the poses. I was looking at her during some of the poses knowing I sure as hell wasn’t looking like THAT, though. Lol.

Anyway, I finished my Saturday afternoon with a deep tissue massage from Yvonne at William Wesley. Thank God. LOVE THE WOMAN and trust me, sistas and brothas, I needed it majora after hanging out in side plank with Kelly, Jr for what seemed like hours on end. Oh yeah, abalancedpractice can do THIS (this isn't her though, lol):

Sunday a.m., I limped (not kidding) into the ever-famous Ashtanga to “stretch” as Kurt would say. Awesome as usual, awesome as usual. Unfortunately, there is no footage of this Sunday’s embryo roll but props to Pete and Pat for the awesome headstanding that I noticed while upside down.

Namaste to y’all, to Kelly's long-lost twin sister, to 4 day weekends AND to my HOT PURPLE COAT!! Holla!

A.

Happy Turkey (or Tofurky) Day!!

Two days of celebration in a row!! I just can't take the goodness!! I was considering writing a super sappy blog post about how I'm thankful for my lovely husband and daughter, my family, my pets, Von Maur's shoe section, etc etc etc... Luckily for you, I reconsidered. I thought it would be much more fun to discuss your favorite topic and mine - VEGETARIANISM. This is good day to do it because just like all other years, I'll get 50 questions from my aunts when I get to my grandma's house, go through the line and don't get turkey. :)

I actually like talking about my vegetarianism. Some ask questions to get information and are interested in me as a person, but most try to "trick" me into eating meat or "convince" me being a vegetarian is silly. However, I've already had the exact convo 2,964,206,299 times! In doing so, I've developed Ann's List of Vegetarian FAAQ - Frequently (Annoying) Asked Questions. :)

It's hilarious because FAAQers never EVER suspect I've had the FAAQ with anyone else before (gasp!). For you FAAQ virgins out there, today is your lucky day!! I don't get offended by the FAAQ but it does get annoying when the FAAQ lasts for longer than 15 minutes. If you read the FAAQ to a vegetarian on a first date, I promise you there will NOT be a second (remember, she has had the FAAQ before!!). FAAQ a die-hard vegan and there's a good chance they'll grab a gun and go postal on your a$$ (they won't kill animals but they might kill you). I would hate for you to be killed by not learning something from my blog, so without further ADO:

Note: The AA's I try to avoid saying unless roped into by someone who just won't give up. :) I don't like to go into detail because then the QUESTIONERS start getting offended by my answers!! LOL! And I don't even want to have the convo in the first place. Ha!

Ann's List of Vegetarian FAAQ:

"You're a vegetarian??? Why???"

SA (Short Answer): I don't like to eat meat.

AA (Actual Answer): I hate eating anything that was alive or animals being killed.

MT (My Take): Why ask this? If you're at Johnny's Italian Steakhouse and you just ordered prime rib medium-rare, and your date/co-worker/family member just ordered bruschetta as their meal, can we not just assume they're veggie and go on without the FAAQ? The answer is, "no." Usually it's asked and the entire table of 15 will go silent to listen to my answer (possibly developing their own FAAQ).

"(innocently) Are you a vegan or a vegetarian?"

*Note: This seemingly innocent FAAQ is the worst by far! FAAQers use this question to build a case against you, ask more FAAQs and get you to admit you kill animals and should eat them, too!*

SA: Actually depends on my situation at the time but usually I say, "vegetarian."

AA: I LOVE being a vegan but it's so hard. In my experience, I'm always starving and lose too much weight too quickly.

MT: I try to avoid eating anything with eggs, gelatin (yuck), marshmallows (ugh), milk. I have the hardest time avoiding cheese because I can only eat so many green salads and I go out to eat A LOT. Also, true vegans avoid any leather goods and I can't really make a statement by burning my Audi (bank might get pissed), and I have a hard time avoiding leather goods such as shoes and handbags which I do feel bad about, trust me. Now don't go developing your own FAAQ and reference my prior posts about handbags :) FAAQers normally scope my bag and question me on it. It's like, "Really? Are we going to go there?" I realize this FAAQ leads to millions of other FAAQ's like "If you don't like green salad, you could have the chef make you a veggie sandwich, etc" but trust me, I know AND this FAAQ needs to end at some point. Now would be a good time.

"(insinuating) Are you mad I'm getting a steak?"

SA: No, I could care less.

AA: No, I literally could care less what anyone else eats, including you. *smiles sweetly*

MT: I don't FAAQ people. :)

"You don't eat fish either???"

SA: Hell no. :)

AA: Hell no. UGH...gross!!!!

MT: Why does anyone care?

"God put animals on the Earth for us to eat."

SA: I don't believe that.

AA: Totally the same as the SA! [*Optional laugh*]

MT: I've never heard this FAAQ from someone who actually goes to church! LOL!

"Weird. So how do you get calcium if you don't drink milk?"

SA: I take supplements.

AA: I don't take supplements but realize calcium comes in forms other than milk.

MT: I also realize we are the only mammals on the planet that drink breast milk after infant stage. :) Has anyone noticed an elephant wandering around the tundra desparately looking for a gallon of 2%???? No, it drinks water!

"Hmm. You really have to careful to get enough protein."

SA: I am. I eat a lot of tofu. Yummy!!

AA: SA plus I realize that most Americans eat WAYYYYYY too much protein than they actually need so it's just wasted in the body anyway.

MT: No one really cares about my protein intake but it's just something FAAQers feel they need to state (although they couldn't tell you in a million years how much protein they consume). There are MANY vegetarian animals, such a giraffes, who live without animal protein. Who has seen a giraffe wasting away in the jungle trying to find some carcus?? No one. They cut to the chase and eat leaves. :)

"(skeptically) You're not making Belle be a vegetarian, are you?"

SA: No. She lives off chicken nuggets.

AA: She just recently discovered I was a vegetarian because her aunt (shocking) asked her if I was still a vegetarian. She has just never noticed. :) Now she is interested in it but not because of me! If I have another baby, it's straight to soy milk again, though.

"Well..what does Kurt say?"

SA: He's used to it.

AA: He read me the FAAQ in a nice way when we first starting dating. I was surprised he was so nice about it because he loves his carnivoreness.

MT: Love him forever but who really cares? I mean, I could never talk him into eating a bag of soy crisps and no one questions him.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!! Even to my favorite FAAQers (you know who you are)! :) Without you, I wouldn't have been able to compose this life-saving list of FAAQ's!

Namaste and love to y'all.

A.

::cues marching band::

HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY JOHN DEERE BONUS DAY TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!

If you're spending part of your bonus on something awesome (i.e. anything other than your 401k), please feel free to share! We all know I'm buying a handbag from posts of late....and I'm sure you're tired of hearing about so I will not rehash :)

"Here. Swear. Swear on Chanel." -Carrie Bradshaw (Sex in the City)

Ommmm....

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

Kurt (on Sunday): "Do you need to take a shower after yoga?"

Me: "Are you kidding me? It's Ashtanga."

Kurt: "I don't understand how you guys can get so sweaty from just stretching."

Me: **silence**

Accountants are not creative whatsoever so I decided to blog about my yoganess. :) I'm sorta kinda pretty much obsessed with yoga. I have been wondering why I insist on going four or five times per week when I've never gone to a yoga class before three months ago. It took me awhile but I finally figured it out:

Reason A: I'm kind of O.C.D. but I'm not a huge germaphobe or anything. Normally, my O.C.D. relates to whatever activity I am interested in at the time. Currently, it's yoga. It's sort of my "gig" though (a.k.a. - not running or wearing kleats or spiking volleyballs) so I'm hoping to stick with it.

Reason B: Anyone can tell you I have always been HORRIBLE at sports. I have never cared whatsoever or even tried to get better. Like I would NEVER play co-ed volleyball or softball. Ew!! This does not sound fun to me. Which is strange that I don't aspire to get better because I'm fanatical about the things I AM good at, like saving dogs, (sort of) yoga or grad school, or when I was younger, cheerleading, dancing, flute playing (no, I did not go to band camp), flag twirling, etc. [Side note: Who thinks I was pretty cool in high school? Anyone? Anyone? I have not even mentiond orchestra, French Club, NHS...lol! Maybe a blog for a different day...gotta get a scanner.]

Seriously, though, I realized all of the things I've been good at in my life related to me being extremely competitive with only myself, which is weird. Maybe I'm not a "team player????" Oh well! Ha! I love yoga and it reminds me of dance and gymnastics. In general, it drives me crazy to not be able to do things I think I should be able to do. Yoga irritates me in particular because there are many things I KNOW I could have done when I was younger. Grrrrrr...freaking feathered peacock (see pic) . We used to hang out in this pose during conditioning and "chat" about the boys on the rings. Can I get a "gr-rrrrr?"

Reason C: ANYTHING I like to do, of course, has underlying social aspects. Yoga is fun and it's been cool to see everyone at class. Love all the teachers (Mark's class is hilarious and challenging, Shannon is so sweet and helpful, and Evan & Kelly's classes are just plain awesome). In other words, I like chatting it up with all of the yogis at Indigo & DSY. We have a great time. My friend, Jessica, is going now so it's even more fun!!! Love seeing her and her stellar headstands.

Apparently, yoga has some principles (? help here, anyone?) and one is being content with where you are at during that moment. At least this is what Shannon says during our Wednesday class while he's doing super tortoise (see pic) and lookin' awesome and we're all thinking, "no effing way." Anyway, this "yoga contentment" he speaks of is totally not my style but I'm working at it... as soon as I can do about ten more poses I'll be happy...or fifteen...

Namaste, y'all!

P.S. Here's some of the "stretching" :) we do in Sunday's class (thanks to Google images). For those thinking it doesn't look so bad, sit on the floor and try 'em. Then let us know how that worked out for ya. I will admit the girl in pic #2 looks overjoyed to be in rooster pose. I've decided she must be on some serious druggage (crack AND heroin) as I've not seen anyone smiling about it on Sundays...but maybe her instructor counts faster than Kelly! :)

Here On Gilligan's ISLE!!

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip,
That started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny Ship.
The mate was a mighty sailin' man, the Skipper brave and sure,
Five passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour.
A three hour tour."





Note the bag above but post below!

P.S. Ingore the "hot" pic of me, Craig and Crystal. This was like 4pm on St. Patrick's Day, okay! :)

My Dec 15th Handbag (aka Investment Strategy)

First of all, THANK YOU to you Keri G-M for directing me to the most awesomest site on the web: http://www.purseblog.com/. These B's have my dream job of analyzing designer handbags all day then blogging about them. What I can't figure out, though, is how they have the cash to buy so many of them since they don't appear to have "real" JOBS. I can't bear to think it's possible that Louis Vuitton, Hermes and YSL just GIVE their bags to the purse blog girls. Even the mere suggestion of this idea causes a pain so deep I can't even breathe. Ugh...the trauma....

Regarding realistically-priced handbags (i.e. not $3,000), I'm totally over Coach and cannot stand the sight of a Dooney. =Ew on both accounts. However, I have long-since committed myself to buying AT LEAST two semi-expensive handbags per year: one for Christmas and one for my b-day in March. In spite of these recent brand boycotting limitations, I have, thank God, found some pretty sweet handbag options at Von Maur.

Let me say that I have wanted to be a Kate Spade fan for years but just can't get into it. I refuse to give up and fortunately, they have some decent stuff this winter. For my b-day bag 2007, I tried to go nautical and bought a navy blue canvas Kate trimmed in white. It was adorable at first but then just got to be too Gilligan's Island. Plus, it was canvas and I truly just carry too much stuff for canvas as it was always all bumpy-looking. Ick. I break out this Kate every now and again if I'm feeling a little shipwrecked, but other than that it usually lies dormant in the purse tote.

With no further ado, here are the options:

Option #1 of 3:

At first I wanted this one in light grey but now I think I want this baby in BLUE (see below)!!!






Option #2 of 3:


So I really dig this hot lil' number (see below) in Eggplant with patent trim. It's just cute and tres, tres "holiday." I can see myself getting sick of it easily but I really dig it.






Option #3 of 3:

I really think I just might have to buy a Louis. I mean you only live once, right?

Thoughts anyone? Anyone? Bueller? ....Bue-ller? .............BUE-LLER??

Love,
Moi

P.S. MANY, MANY props to my muy bueno friend Josh Herting for splurging on the Marc Jacobs Stamm bag for his girlfriend's Christmas prize. Note: I did not say Marc by Marc Jacobs. Ew. He went for the one-eye- real-deal-steal-Teal-Hollifield (inside high school joke on that one but you get my point)! Any man that spends over $1K on a handbag prize is A+++ in my book.

Cool Blog, Dude...

"Blogging up is hard to do..."

OMG this blog sucks. Sadness!!!! There is nothing worse than being wayyy bored online (especially on the weekends when Tyler Durden doesn't work), desparetly checking someone's blog only to find nothing new has been posted for several days...or weeks... I HATE THAT!! I regret to say this blog of randomness has turned into "that blog" after only two posts! Yikes! I'm traumatized about it all!!

SUPER sorry to those :) who have recently mentioned checking out moi's blogspot. I have started writing a few blogs then decided not to hit "PUBLISH POST," thinking no one would care about my topics. I have been informed that while this might be true, my "followers", who have YET to sign up as legit followers (this comment excludes Miss hlb1978), would still read them.

So...hip hip horray! I will have two upcoming sweet blogs (I can't divulge the order yet. It's a "technique" to add "suspense" to my blog...):


One covers my annual handbag acquisition. Every year on Dec 15th, I invest my JD bonus WISELY and buy a new handbag. It's an ASSET I tell you, an ASSET. And if you depreciate it over the numbers of days, weeks or months you actually carry it, it becomes basically free. I mean if you carry a $500 handbag for 100 days, that's like $5 per day, which is free in the handbag world. This doesn't work if you make the big mistake of spending $375 on the 2007 Spring Coach white-trimmed wickerish large tote and realize it is dorky and heavy after carrying


















it for only seven days. Not that I speak from experience...or anything...because I would never make such an unwise investment. ANYWAY...

The second topic covers my ultra-awesome, semi-obsessed yoga practice. I know everyone will be on the edge of their seat reading this blog since no one will talk to me about it when I bring it up. HA! Seriously, why isn't ANYONE interested in how FUNNY it is on Sunday a.m. when we all curl into lotus and roll nine times to signify the number of months in the womb? LOL. I just love that class and all of the yoga peeps!!! It's so much fun. My good friend J$ has been yogaing with me and impressing me with her amazing new headstand skills. I will have to remind her to check the blog when I post that one. She'll totally agree that the "lotus roll" is a good time. Ha!

Note: I searched images of Garbha Pindasana (embryo pose) and couldn't resist this one of the cool cat with the fab aviators. Namaste FOR SURE to him. Anyone who yogas with aviators 100% rules in my blog.













Mucho love to y'all.

A$