Let's talk about yoga.

Recently I've been feeling like a troll. No not in my looks. You know, poor posture, super short, crackly bones, lack of flexibility. I've decided to fix those problems, or at least attempt to. OK so I can't fix the short factor but I can at least try to have better posture and be able to touch my toes. So I started going yoga. I've done yoga in the past but it never really stuck. I'm not sure if it will stick this time but I did get a deal at a fancy studio (30 days for $40 unlimited classes) so I feel obligated to give it a month. Here's my experience so far:

• Day 1: I took the free class at Lululemon. It was incredibly crowded. I was no more than 15 inches away on each side from almost hitting someone, no matter what pose. This made for an extremely interesting downward dog position for all parties. I'll let your mind go where it will on this one. Needless to say, the class was great but the experience wasn't exactly relaxing. Post day 1 I was extremely sore. I thought I was in shape, but it turns out I'm not.
• On day 2 I would try for a real yoga studio. I used this thing called "the internet" (I heard Al Gore invented it) to search for a well known highly rated yoga studio. I found one in downtown San Jose. I found this second class to be much less crowded and also incredibly tough. I left feeling energized and exhausted all at the same time. I suppose you might call the feeling "zen."
• Day 3 (today): The instructor informed us that we would be working our "hips" in class. I wasn't exactly sure what this meant. Would we be dancing? Lord knows my dance moves need improvement so I was intrigued. We did not dance though. No my poor hips endured 1.5 hours of stretching. I call this torture. Holy hell. I can't say I enjoyed it, but wow I think I'm starting to understand why yoga is a workout.

All in all, I'm going to use up my 30 days and see where that takes me. Maybe it's a new hobby or maybe I'll just be incredibly flexible after this month and then go back to hardly being able to touch my toes.

Hey blog...I'm sorry

Dear blog,

I'm sorry for neglecting you. I know it's been a while. Since yesterday was Ash Wednesday, I've decided that I'm going to give up neglecting you for the next 40 days. Let's see if I can be a good Catholic.

My first topic at hand is very fitting...shoes. I recently received a pair of shoes that I ordered from Shoemint. Shoemint is Rachel Bilson's line of shoes. She teamed with Steve Madden to create a subscription shoe service. For those of you who don't know, I love Rachel Bilson. I have what is commonly referred to as a "girl crush" on her. Her style is fabulous. She's beautiful. Not to mention her hair. But I digress...back to Shoemint. I had wonderful expectations for Shoemint. They look amazing on the website and by gosh...a monthly subscription to shoes, why not?

So far I'm less than impressed with my first purchase. Upon opening the box of what I expected to be the "perfect black pump," I viewed what was nothing more than a semi-cheap (yet still cute) pair of shoes. After 8 hours of wear around my office I found them almost unbearable to wear. I also found them to scuff easily. They were also a smidge too big and therefore I almost it several times walking up and down the stairs...ok just walking in general. This I cannot necessarily blame on the shoes since I have walking problems in general.

I may however be able to salvage my first purchase with a pair of Dr. Scholls insoles. Those things can work wonders. Overall though, I think I'll maybe give Shoemint another month (OK I already accidentally got charged for another month) and then I'll be canceling my membership. Sorry Rachel, your beauty can't save you here.

Our dog...the poo eater.

Our dog eats poo. We don't know what to do about it. Some call it recycling. Saving the environment they say. Others laugh at it. I personally am grossed out by it. But what do you do? We've scolded him. Fed him pills that make it taste bad. Attempted to snatch it up before he can snag it...but alas, nothing works. Simply put...our dog is a poo eater. Gross.

Puppies are like babies...

Over the weekend we attended my friend Katie's co-ed baby shower. It sounds like a horrible time but it was actually a lot of fun. I'm pretty sure it was because it was a halloween themed party that really didn't have much to do with babies other than the fact that there were a few presents involved and a few new moms. Which brings me to the subject of this post...Puppies are like babies.

Some of the moms were talking about starting a "Mommy blog." When I asked what they planned to talk about I was told "Mommy things." I asked for an example and my friend Amelia gave me the "Chevy's" story. While at Chevy's Amelia and her husband Steven took their son to dinner. To make a long story short, their son pooped his pants and it leaked from his diaper to the floor. They were horrified and as discretely as possible left Chevy's after cleaning up his mess. I won't give any more details as I don't want to steal content from their future blog, but it was in this moment when I realized that puppies are like babies. You see a few weeks ago I experienced a similar story with my friend Grace and my puppy Jackson.

Grace and I recently went to lunch in Santana Row. We took Jackson as I am trying to "socialize" him (my personal excuse to bring my dog everywhere). Jackson was such a good boy and sat right underneath our table while we ate lunch. After finishing our meal we decided be good citizens and stimulate the economy. We showed Jackson several spots outside where he could "potty" but he didn't go so we figured it was safe to shop. We were wrong. We were in Sur La Table browsing for a present for Grace's sisters birthday and there it went. Jackson popped a squat and wizzed underneath a store display. We cleaned it up to the best of our ability and quickly snuck out of the store.

And hence we learned that puppies, will explode unpredictably at the most inopportune time...and so will babies.

It's been a year!

Two weekends ago Justin and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary. We spent the day in Half Moon Bay with our good friends Matt and Jenna and couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. Two weeks into year two and I'll just say this...I have a really good feeling about year two. I love our life that we are building and I'm so thankful for Justin every day. xoxo.

Weekend bloopers!

This weekend was filled with loads of fun, wine, friends, family and a few bloopers. We spent the weekend with my parents as well as their newest puppy. Justin and I puppy sat last night. Justin had to work today and therefore I was left with 3 dogs this afternoon...by myself. Well this perhaps wasn't the best plan but we made it through the day. A few bloopers that I encountered today:

1. 3 dogs are hard to walk.
2. 2 puppies have a LOT of energy.
3. 2 puppies like the chew on leashes. This makes for a bad walk. Especially when one dog likes to attack other random dogs and the lease is no longer attached.
4. Puppies aren't potty trained. Steam cleaning when there are 2 untrained puppies is a bad idea.
5. Puppies like to bark at every person that walks by the window. Due to the steam cleaning, windows needed to be open all afternoon. Did I mention we live in a complex across the street from a college and school just started? Again...puppies and steam cleaning don't mix. Nap fail.

Lessons learned:

1. Family is wonderful.
2. Family time is wonderful.
3. Family dogs, though adorable, are not always wonderful when you have no family to share them with.

And we're back online...1 year later

After a year long hiatus from blogging, it's time to get back online. In the last year Justin and I have have looked danger in the eye and faced it head on. We've fought lions, tigers and bears...on my! In all seriousness we have had an amazing whirlwind of a year. In short, here are a few of the highlights.

1. We got MARRIED and had the best wedding ever (of course I am biased but I have had many people support my claim).
2. We've taken 2 official vacations and many Tahoe trips. Our honeymoon was spent in St. Lucia and we recently returned from Kauai. We also had one of the best winters ever.
3. Justin changed careers. No details online since the blog is work free.
4. We became unofficial aunties/uncles to many of our friends babies (though there are some that we still need to meet).
5. We have a new addition to our household. Meet Jackson (I'll blog lots about him I'm sure). Jackson is a mini aussie shepherd. His brother Dexter lives with our friend Steph and we look forward to the day they are reunited. He's full of energy (but still not as much energy as Bella).
6. My brother moved to Chile...which means we haven't seen him in a while. Luckily we are going to see him in Mexico next month!
7. My parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. Congrats mom and dad.
8. Our friends Adam and Amy moved up to Washington. I'm already looking at flights to visit them.
9. Bella is still Bella...our amazing little puppy.
10. We still love each other and are one week from our one year anniversary.