Gratitude

It’s downright dreary in the ‘burgh today. The project I’m doing at work is driving me a bit bonkers. Honesty I’ve been in a bit of a funk this week. It happens. My back aches and I’m real sick of my leg warning me every time we’re gonna get a storm.

Happy Things:

Birthday Scheming I’ve been going back and forth about what to do this year for a while. I think I have finally settled on taking a hoop workshop the day before, taking the day off from work, and getting a massage. I’m going to be so blessed out.

Running Water If we’re friends on Facebook you know a water main on our street broke yesterday. All of a sudden I realized how much having running water rocks!

The Graceling Series This was the most recent YA series to totally suck me in. These books really had the effect of making me feel like I knew the characters personally.

Kyle For many reasons, but most recently for getting me razors at 10pm because I forgot and it’s been too hot for pants/ I refuse to wear them in the summer.

The Unity of the Hula Hoopers fb Group Eva introduced me to this group and I cannot thank her enough. So much hoop inspiration.

CSA veggies I really can’t even describe the difference in taste. And I’m not convinced I’m paying much more. I didn’t think it was possible to consume so many veggies and I love it.

Chocolate I mean, I am a self identified chocoholic, but lately it’s been making everything better. From crappy moods to my morning oatmeal.

Having a CD player again (albeit in my car) If I’m listening to music, it’s mostly likely Pandora or WYEP. Which are both awesome! But there’s something about listening to a cd start to finish. I may need to buy an old boom box.

My goofy, sassy, crazy cat She’s been really into laying in the middle of the floor (or in rascal’s crate) on her back lately. Also this morning she knocked Chili over with her paw and I giggled so hard.

What are you grateful for?

Picture it: let’s catch up, shall we?

The whirlwind that is our lives right now never seems to slow down! But I am not complaining. Let’s play catch up!

Life lesson: no matter how busy you think you are, never stop pausing to appreciate the sky.

Finally got on that garden thing this month! I’m so proud of me. My basil is wilting but I haven’t killed anything yet.

And I managed to grow a few things from seed! The sage and thyme are thriving.

Chili was giving me moral support.

I got my hairs cut. And officially haven’t shampooed my hair in 3 months. Post on that someday…

We made hoops! I managed to not epoxy myself in the process which was a major victory. Also, Kyle is finally getting into poi! Kinda.

My farmshare started two weeks ago! I’m trying to document that for fun. I am absolutely loving it so far (even if I’m a little overwhelmed by how many greens are in my fridge right now).

Pickled watermelon radishes = major win.

I challenged myself to hoop everyday this month for 30+ minutes. So far it’s going beautifully. It’s probably contributing to the lack of content on the blog, but I can’t seem to stop 🙂

And last but not least. Still walking like a crazy person. I found lots of fun graffiti in an ally in the strip yesterday.

Have a wonderful weekend!

And don’t forget to look up!

Zoo Diaries: so big! Yet so small…

It’s funny how after watching Godiva and Cinnamon grow over the last year, I’ve gained a huge appreciation for all the things that are special for kittens.

Now don’t get me wrong- cinn and diva have such unique and quirky personalities and they didn’t really come out until six months or so. I do wish Rascal hadn’t stolen so much attention from them- but them again, that’s part of his quirky personality.

Chili Clementine Lil Jim Mango Cress (and some names I’m forgetting…). She has at least doubled in size since Ben brought her home and she’s still pretty damn small.

That doesn’t stop her though. She chases Cinnamon throughout the house and wrestles with her like they’re equal size. She even hisses at Rascal (which is funny because diva and cinn took ages to start hissing at him).

She also plays with toys that are way too big for her. The broom is a favorite. And Rascals rope toy. And Rascal’s light up ball….

 

Summer Loves

I need a new name for these gratitude lists. Suggestions are more than welcome. Mercury is in retrograde and any elegance with words I’ve ever had is escaping me.

Anywho. This needs to be a more regular thing. And I need to stop just saying that.

I grateful for every single moment of the summer. My and Kyle’s dream to move south is grounded in the fact that we are both significantly happier in the summer. And Rascal may love the snow, but I think he prefers spending hours outside in the yard a little more 😉

Summer Gratitude

– Fresh, post rain smells

– Listening to music escaping from houses while walking the neighborhood

– Hooping outside (duh)

– Eating in restaurants that open to the outside

– Fireworks!

– Sundresses and flip flops

– Free outdoor concerts

– Cold treats: Smoothies/Popsicles/ Soy ice cream/ Iced Coffee

– Driving anywhere and everywhere with the windows down

– Bundling up = a light sweatshirt

– Drinking beer on the porch

– Camping

 

And with that we’re off to enjoy the weather in Ohio for a camping trip.

Have a lovely weekend!

This is our jam

Hey friends!

Lately I’ve been up to my eyes in hooping videos. It’s made me realize how much I could benefit from making my own hooping videos regularly.

Also- it would be pretty cool to get a visual on how my flow progresses.

Also- one if the ideas we originally threw around for this blog was sharing what we were listening to. I tend to listen to a lot of the same music over and over again (I blame all internet music sources being blocked where I work – meh), but Kyle is always stumbling on new music.

So here’s how it’s gonna work: Kyle’s going to pick a song, and I’m going to make a video of me hooping to it. Sound good?

Week 1: This song actually came off of Cam’s most rest fest mix. It’s Banana Cannon by Robotic Pirate Monkey.

I’m doing this on my phone, so I’m only going to be able to link you to the video (sorry! Better than no post at all, yes?). CLICK HERE PLEASE

P.S. Feedback is more them welcome! What tricks should I incorporate more/ less/ improve on??

Restaurant Review: The Beerhive

A couple of years ago, when I was working a long-term temp gig in the Strip District, my boss would routinely invite me to join him and my fellow temps at The Beerhive. I never ended up taking him up on it before I quit that job, but after hearing nothing but good things about it from anyone I talked to, I was quite happy to see it amongst the restaurant participating in the City Dining Cards program. Dana, Cam, and I went there for a late lunch on Saturday, and I’m pleased to report that we were all quite happy with our meals. To wit:

That rapturous expression came after Cam took a bite of his Fried Pickle burger (sharp cheddar, spicy ranch, and…well, duh). He also enjoyed a bourbon porter they had on tap. Dana and I sampled it, and while I’m usually not big on darker beers, this one was pretty great.

Dana had already been to The Beerhive previously and loved the seitan tacos (pico de gallo, seasoned sunflower seed, and hot BBQ). After some hemming and hawing, she decided she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to enjoy them again.

As for me, I’ve been on a wings kick lately, and this bar had a lot of appealing sauces. Initially I had been leaning toward the Green Hornet (cilantro, jalapeño, garlic, and lime) but Dana said she’d tried it previously and found it disappointing. Then I noticed the Great Wall, which is a combination of the other two sauces I had been considering (jalapeño-infused buffalo and ginger orange teriyaki). I figured hey, best of both worlds, as they say. And they were, in a word, fan-fucking-tastic. The wings themselves were meaty and tender, and the sauce hit that perfect balance of sweet and spicy that I love.

I wanted to try the Clown Shoes Swagger (an amber/red lager) almost entirely because of the name, but the bartender told me that they were out, and that was exactly why. I settled for the Clown Shoes Clementine, which was quite good – kind of a hoppier Hoegaarden. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.

We also ordered an app of sweet potato fries to share. The fries were good on their own (though Dana thought they could use a little salt), but the maple bacon sauce they were served with was excellent. In my younger days, I probably would have slugged back what was left in the ramekin.

I don’t often make it out to the Strip District these days (and it’s hard to pass up Gaucho, which I will almost certainly review in the future), but I might make it a point to go back to The Beerhive some night. It’s certainly worth the trip, and there’s plenty of stuff on the menu I still want to try.

Rating: 8.5/10

So the thing about hooping…

Three years ago next month I picked up a hula hoop for the first time. Ok, well not technically the first time- I certainly had one as a kid. But it was pretty neglected as I could never seem to keep it from falling.

This whole journey started with me making a joke. I was sitting in my friend Sam’s front yard on a beautiful summer day and she brought out a hoop. I picked it up saying “I bet I still can’t do this” and to my great surprise- I could!

I made her take a picture just in case it was a fluke. See above.

It took me another six months to buy a hoop. I’m not entirely sure why being that I every time I could get my hands on one I spun it around my waist with excitement. But once I did, I couldn’t stop. At the time I was living more or less in an attic (ie. there was no space) but even that didn’t matter.

As the weather got warmer I discovered YouTube tutorials and ventured out onto my front lawn. We lived on a very high traffic corner at the time and I was always amused by the comments and stares I got. For once, I wasn’t self conscious at all. I was having too much fun to care about the drivers judging me- and at the time that was a pretty big deal. Even then I think I had realized – hooping is so much more than a kids toy.

Leading up to that summer I had been extremely depressed, and no one including myself could seem to figure out why. I was inches away from starting an antidepressant. But on the worst days I knew that at least I could come home and hoop and forget, just for a while. (It was later determined I was suffering from a side effect of my birth control pill – go figure, but at least it was an easy fix!).

Something about that circular motion is calming. Something about knowing where the hoop is and where your body will direct it next is comforting. Something about the continuous roll of the circle feels like home.

A bit dramatic? Probably. But it’s all true.

Unfortunately, shortly after I figured this all out, I fractured my femur. I was crushed. I avoided anything hooping related like the plague because it was too painful to face.

The (three) different times I was (sort of) cleared to walk (it was a long recovery process…), the first thing I did was hoop. And within ten minutes I always felt better- as if something inside me had been missing before.

Now that I’ve been healed for a while, and the weather is warm enough to venture outside again, I just can’t seem to stop. I’m beginning to really find my flow (noun: the difference between individual tricks and the constant meditative movement within/around the hoop, looks and feels different for every hooper). And it’s never felt better.

So here’s my flow as of late. It’s a work in progress, of course. My transitions are shaky and I drop the damn thing often. But it’s so much freaking fun.

(If you turn it all the way up you can kind of hear the song. It’s a discovery of Kyle’s called Catsgroove).