21 Day Yoga Challenge - Complete

So Yoga Journal decided to bring back their 21 day challenge for a second year. I participated a bit last year, but this year, they decided to join forces with Social Workout to keep us honest. They also added in a 15 minute meditation per day as well as trying to eat at least one vegetarian meal a day.

Well I did it!!! 21 days of yoga practice at home on my mat as well as 21 days of meditation. The vegetarian eating part is not too much of a challenge for me, but it did make me plan my dinners better. I even did Isagenix cleanse days along side and I am feeling great. I completed 160% of the challenge since many days I ate 3 vege meals and some days did 20 minutes of meditation.

I hope to keep up yoga at least 4 - 5 days a week and check out a new-to-me local yoga studio next week when I am back in D.F. and keep up the meditation practice too. Thanks for the push and the great yoga videos @Yoga_Journal and @socialworkout.  Let's see what new challenges they have to offer... anyone want to join me in the Dawn Patrol Challenge for February?

Chunky Circle Scarf

So I bought some great Filati yarn a couple of weeks ago on sale for 15 pesos a skein. It is a beautiful grey color and I had no idea what I was going to do with it until I was searching with my roommate Claudia for a cowl pattern... and then I saw this... Chunky Circle Scarf at People Webs by Lindsi. She thoughtfully shared her wonderful creation and so it began Thursday eve at my Worldwide Craftsy Meetup as you can see below.

My I look alert. :P

Friday, we had a professional development seminar on classroom management. To keep my mind alert, I decided to continue to crochet. By the end of the day, here is what I had.

I am already working on another one for a friend in a lovely shade of red. :)

Broomstick Lace swatch

So this is my 1st swatch of broomstick lace. I will be making the Broomstick Lace Neck Warmer from Crochet Today! September/October 2011 issue as a gift with beautiful buttons from Panama. My gauge is pretty on... just need to work a bit looser on the broomstick loops. Look soon for a finished product post.




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Get Organized - My Desk

Taking a challenge set by CrazySocks Crochet to Get Organized! #1 Desk who was inspired by A Bowl Full of Lemons I decided to move my lazy butt yesterday and organize my desk. It was really not too bad to start...

Before

but definitely room for improvement. I totally needed to reorganize my trays and get rid of old receipts and such.

After - even hung the decorations

I started with the printer area and put stuff away and hung decorations as I found them on the desk. I then moved onto the actual desk and started with the trays and emptied all the trays and went through all the papers. It took a bit of time, but I am happy with the results.

New Orleans food indulgence

The rest of my time in Panama was really fabulous. A day spent at Isla Taboga on the beach followed by lots of holiday meals.

New Orleans was all about the food and walking around the city's French Quarter and Garden Districts. Each day began with beignets from Cafe Du Monde. We then walked around exploring galleries and shops of all kinds.

We ate dinners at NOLA (one of Emeril's restaurants) where we had an amazing duck entree, Red Fish Grill where we met a couple of really nice other women who we shared a fun meal and conversation with, Mr. B's Bistro where Corie had their signature Grilled Shrimp dish... lots of mess very tasty and on our last night, Acme Oyster House which was worth the wait outside on line... being a table of 2 got us seated much more quickly than expected.

The best lunch experience was our late morning/afternoon at the New Orleans School of Cooking where we learned about New Orleans' history through food and of course, got to eat it as well as get the recipes for it. :)

Overall the trip was filled with food and walking fun including a fun evening walking tour with a very cool guide.

We even found a great local yarn & needlepoint shop, The Quarter Stitch, which I will review in another post.

We of course also saw some fabulous architecture and decorated homes and nature.

We even took the Cable Car back from our brief visit to the Tulane campus (all closed up for the holidays) and the park above.

And of course since it was my first trip to NOLA, it would not be complete without at least one walk down Bourbon Street.