Our Tales of Two Cities: Hobbies

Hobbies and interests are an important part of life…a way to enjoy yourself outside everyday work, cooking,and running around tending to life’s needs. My hobbies have fallen a little to the side the more I get busy with my career and recently I’ve decided to take my life back and get back into my hobbies!!

Exercising and Running…I personally have always been an active person except for the past few years I’ve really become lazy about it. I’ll run or do yoga every once in a while, but nothing consistent. It’s bad….real bad. We joined a gym when we got here, but it was $170 a month for the two of us so eventually we just didn’t feel like we were using it enough to justify the cost. Plus I didn’t like the classes that much….so we quit and I promised myself that I would run outside and do yoga in our apartment. Here come the excuses…it got cold and I didn’t like my yoga dvds…plus Cole would jump on me while I tried to work out in the apartment.

But I can’t take it anymore...my body is getting creaky and I’m more out of shape than ever, so I signed up for an all women’s 10k in central park on June 11th to take back my running hobby! I hoped that would motivate me…I’ve trained a little for it. My friend, Erin ran it with me and we did pretty well for not training a ton. We only walked part of mile 5 and paced an 11 min mile. 4000+ women ran it and it was all through Central Park...I love the scenery :) It kicked me into running again and I’m feeling good!!

Erin and I finishing the 10K

Yoga…. I bought a new Yoga dvd which I love! I figured out that if I let Cole up on the couch while I do Yoga he won’t jump on me! Sigh…life is all about compromise… The thing I love about this dvd is that its yoga, but also basic strength building exercises. I was sick of my yoga dvds with the creepy half naked, long haired male instructor who's voice and music makes me want to fall asleep or just be creeped out.

The best thing about it for non-yoga enthusiasts is the addition of strength training exercises like lunges, squats, and tricep push ups. Plus...Mandy the instructor is funny!! Example: “this is what makes my ass look good” or "the best way to breath is inhale and then exhale". She has a sense of humor and doesn’t seem like she’s reading from a script. I really like that. I also like that she is Jennifer Aniston’s yoga instructor…every woman’s goal is to look like Jen…myself included! Try it for yourself…order off Amazon, you won’t regret it.

The goal!

Buy It! you'll love it and Mandy!

Flowers…I love flowers and plants. I worked at a flower shop in Blacksburg during college and I just love arranging flowers, planting, and tending to them. So I planted my spring flower box with begonias and my herbs…parsley, cilantro, and basil…everything has been growing like crazy. We only get late afternoon direct sunlight on our balcony, so I had to choose carefully, but I think I aced it! I love pruning, watering them with my fancy glass pitcher, and sitting at our balcony table enjoying the greenery against a city backdrop.

Here’s where things get weird with Casey and I….sometimes we are the same person and doing the same thing at the same time…it’s bizarre, but we love it. She had told me that she was planting window boxes after I had planted mine…we both love the way it looks. Then she blogged about it and her herbs, which I was getting ready to do this week! I texted her and said, you stole my blog…hahaha. So now you get to vote – who has the best window box??? Take space out as a factor in your decision.