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$