November Fitness Calendar!

Hey Everyone!!

I'm back at this thing just in time to warm you guys up for the holidays.

Personally I've spent the last month resembling something like a potato, okay, that's not entirely true, I've been super busy- just not with working out.

I had jammed my hip forward in it's socket and finally made it to physical therapy to help get things back in line (shout out to my awesome physical therapist for almost completely eliminating my daily pain in one visit!) That means that I'm finally ready to get back into my workout routines.

This last year has been nothing short of crazy, 99% of my physical activity has been from hiking, hula hoops, and dragon staff and frankly I'm ready to get back into a little running and weight training. So those of you out there who are feeling the same, LET'S DO IT!

Since I'm just easing back into this all this month I thought I'd share this simple plan with you. Here's the run down.

4 nights of activity for at least 30 minutes this month.

Sunday - I'm hitting stairs with my hiking pack. I'm going to be spending this winter getting used to carrying a heavy pack while gaining elevation. I went out over the summer and thought I was all jazzy and ready to take on a 22 mile backpacking trip... HA! made it about 6 miles with my pack before my boyfriend and I decided to set up camp. First time is always a good learning experience ;)  I'll share more about this in another post.

Monday- Hello running, I haven't run since probably march, so I'm taking this one slow. Do what you can, do it for a half hour.

Wednesday- Kick butt!!! I will be doing a lot of random circuit things because my boyfriend runs a boot camp and is tackling this months workouts with me. (I'll be sure to share what we end up doing as we go). I gave a sample of something you might try... find whatever you want to do and do it... if you end up not liking something - change it or just push through.

Friday- FLOW! for some of you this might mean yoga, some of you might want to dance, maybe you hula hoop (or maybe you want to learn to hula hoop, comment and I can help get you started). For me the point of flow Friday is to find the freedom in physical expression, to move from the center of my soul and to release whatever garbage or excitement has built up that week. Flow, movement meditation and dance have been a foundation for me this year and I'm not about to push it out of my schedule.


That's it - it's that simple. Do what you can and do it with heart, even with thanksgiving and school and all of life's silly business... We can't forget that one of the best things we can do for ourselves is to move and take care of the body, there should always be time for you.

Happy New Year - Recap

I think last year I said I would blog more, so naturally I blogged less...

2014 was a HUGE year for me. 

kicked it off with trapeze class, Hawaii, pancakes and booze art show, opened my etsy shop, started my website, presented at RAW, ran a half marathon, art shows throughout the summer, a camping trip in the Redwoods, a solo weekend trip to Portland, new job, new art, new adventures. It was an amazing year!!!! 

This year is already off to a great start. I'm leaving for Hawaii again in 4 days! I can't believe it been a year already! 

I finally started a series of art on wood panels (I've been meaning to really dive in and explore this for over a year now) and when I get back from Hawaii I'll be showing for two months at the Fremont Art Walk. 

I think one of the things I'm most excited about this year is my new fitness plans... I've decided to run a mile a day as my new years resolution and so far go good, granted we're only 2 weeks in... but I'm going strong and as I expected, it's forcing me to put my health and fitness at the forefront of my day and ultimately everything finds its place after that... I've had more energy, more balance, and a greater sense of accomplishment than I've been able to maintain for some time now. This year is the year I plan to line it all up so to speak.... I've spent the last few years developing these tools to sculpt my life into what I want it to be, and maybe I'm speaking too soon but I feel like this is the year it all starts to come together. 

Just wanted to pop in and say hello again, let you know that I'm still here, still working, and still excited to share with whoever this blog falls upon.  

Pancakes and Booze - Take 2!

Hey I know all things art (and I in general) have been off the radar. I've had some fun this summer and done some shows here and there and am currently gearing up for the Pancakes and Booze show again this coming weekend! I really loved doing this event last time, it was such a great intro to the displaying-art world.

Something that will be a bit interesting about this go around will be that I'm not showing a complete set. The last few months  my work has been transitioning from melted wax as my base medium to acrylic paints. I've dabbled with drip paintings, basic acrylic techniques, watercolors (again), pastels, wood burning, even some portrait drawing... I honestly really struggled the last few months with figuring out where or how to take the next step in my art, how to stay true to what I personally want to explore and how to maintain my style in the process of learning.  Its been a trip and I'm really excited to share some of the things I've done, even if sharing an incomplete, mismatched, set is a bit outside my perfectionist comfort zone. This is the REAL stuff... the experiments, the new growth!

I tossed in a couple of my drip paintings... I'm having a hard time deciding which to hang... there's a giraffe that I think is trying to make a debut... I just got my elephant and goldfish prints up in my etsy shop. The goldfish original was one of my first to sell in this set...S/he got shipped off to California last month sometime. :)

Stay tuned for an update on the show!!

October 2014 Workout Plan

Okay here it is guys... Sorry it's a little late, I took on a new job and it's kept me on my toes while I get into the swing of my new routine.

Last night was my first night of Hot Yoga at this awesome little studio in Renton. I got one of those living social deals for 1 month unlimited yoga sessions! WOOHOO. This month's plan is designed to use it to the fullest. SOOOO if you're hankering for some Hot Yoga, or regular yoga, or any other class for that matter now is the time to go for it!!! Feel free to edit as you see fit, remember these plans are just MY base, make your workout fit YOU!

Double Throwback - See Jane Run Half Marathon

 Okay I just have to say this was an AWESOME event - except for the fact that it was in the middle of July... can you say hot snot?!

So this was my second half marathon... I had completed the one back in January and set out on my training with the goal of beating my previous time - 2hours and 58 minutes... I was originally shooting to shave 10 minutes off my time. I would really like to finish my half marathons in 2:30-2:45 but the heat was killer and my training had kind of piddled out at the end of it all... I realized I need to adjust training to about 14 weeks instead of 12 or 16... NEXT TIME! Anyway, long story short I set out on one of the hottest days of the summer to run all the way around lake union and I managed to beat my last time by 6 minutes! its not a HUGE improvement but its that much closer to the 2:45 time I'm working toward! My favorite part was these giant chalk boards where people could write what they run for, oh and the awesome champagne glasses - real glass! when you're used to getting a red solo cup of beer after a run, the fancy glass seems like a huge upgrade!

I've taken a break from the distance running to focus on yoga and strength training but this will always be a huge part of my life (as long as my body allows). I never thought I'd be a runner but here I am, two half marathons, a tough mudder, and a handful of 5ks under my belt and I don't see anything stopping me anytime soon.

Throwback Thursday! - Summer Art Shows

 Its been a little while since I've posted anything art related, which is kind of funny considering how much I've been doing with it recently.

A long long time ago, all the way back in April, I did the Pancakes and Booze show at El Corazon downtown. It was a great show where I met new artist friends and dipped my toes into all that is showing art... That night was a blast, I got rid of a few prints, had my face painted and got to test the water before my show in June - this was my first real event.

June came up fast but I produced a TON of new work to show. I started doing some dot work and really tried stretching my concepts; working on bigger canvas and venturing into a new realm of control for my work. It was time consuming but it paid off! The RAW show was amazing!!!! Set up went smoothly, I got rid of a ton of work and really came out of there stunned with how far this has come since I started a couple years ago! I finally felt like I had done something big! RAW has been a great platform for me. They even made this little artist interview!

I'm gearing up now for another Pancakes and Booze show in November where I'll be showing new work done on wood panels rather than canvas and I'm really excited about the new art that's been happening (I've ventured a bit from sea to land), but alas - that is for a different post!

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September Fitness Challenge

it's been SO LONG!!!

I have an unbelievable amount of things to update you on, from the finishing time of my last half maratho and the art show at Neumos, to all of my upcoming adventures! I always feel blessed that life has a way of swooping me up and getting me lost in the hustle and bustle, and then I finally find these moments to sit down and reflect on the wonderful things that have happened. These are all stories for another post though, let me not get distracted.

SO here were are... heading into the last few weeks of August (can you believe that?!) and I'm approaching my next birthday. As excited as I am, I can't help but feel this urgency to make and meet new fitness goals. Over the last few weeks I've gotten really interested in Acroyoga. If you have no idea what I'm talking about check out this video! (and then find me an equally amazing man that wants to be my partner). Needless to say I'm no where near confident enough to step into that arena of fitness but I'm not discouraged from working toward it. This September will be the start of my three month push plan.... I'll be designing my workout routine to really push myself toward the areas of fitness I've avoided for whatever reason. I'll be sharing my calendar and workout details at the end of each month so anyone that wants to join me is more than welcomed!

A little bit about the plan - you'll notice September is a bunch of two mile runs.... I struggled with only writing down two miles, but I know that I have a tendency to really push my cardio, I'm a cardio junkie, but that doesn't really line up with my strength training goals... This run+circuit plan will hopefully help me bridge that gap. You'll also notice that I've got a yoga class once a week - I'd encourage everyone to find some group class to hit, try something new kickboxing, hot yoga, crossfit...whatever you want. There's also hoop/dance sessions on my "rest" days... I know not everyone is into hula hooping (But you should be!!!!) Just consider this day to be a day for you to be playfully active. maybe that just means a walk, maybe it means blasting your jam first thing when you get up and having a full blown spazz attack... whatever it is, just have fun and keep moving! Last but not least... each month will have its own little challenge wrapped in: September we will eliminate ALL alcohol consumption and UPPPP the water intake, October we will eliminate processed sugars and make at least one day a week meatless, and in November we are going Gluten Free entirely (this is something I've already cut down to a minimum, alcohol being my major culprit, followed closely by Daves Killer Bread) I'll be putting up recipes during the October and November so you guys will know what I'm eating and I'll even be sharing my GF Thanksgiving plan!!!! WOOOHOO! SO ALL ABOARD! We're gonna finish this year in the best way possible!!!