Boston and NYC...home again

It was lovely to be home for Thanksgiving! After an eventful plane ride I made it to Long Island, where family, beer and ny pizza made it all worth it. I am so lucky to have such a supportive, amazing family that genuinely believes in what we all do, and how we make our mark in the world. I loved being in my fuzzy socks and lounging around with a glass of wine and watching movies with my cousins.
We also went to the 9/11 memorial at ground zero. It was incredibly moving, and brought tears to my eyes. Hundreds of names surrounded everflowing fountains where the towers were. 10 years ago my father could have been on that flight, and it makes me feel sick to think what these last 10 years would be like without him. I am so grateful to have my family so close to me. At the same time, so many fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, friends etc were killed in the terrorist attacks. I took a moment gazing at the water where the towers were to truly offer up my prayers to those families. My heart goes out to you.

Walking the highline in NYC was lovely, though terribly crowded. Boston is beautiful. I took a fabulous yoga class in Rockville Centre, where my cousins live.

Tip of the Week: Spend 5 minutes of gratitude for your family. Breathe easy.

Like a Fish

This week has proved to be a lot of work. End of the semester and a few projects are waiting to be finished. However, I worked out every day this week and it makes an incredible difference. Maybe I'm a little bit of an adrenaline junkie, but after a day of sitting at work and in class, and stress surmounts here and there, there is nothing better than running or going to the gym to release all of that. I also did a wonderful yoga class with a new yoga teacher on campus, and I am so happy that she will be teaching every Thursday. She follows Rod Stryker's Para Yoga, but definitely diverges into a few other styles, which I appreciate. If it was not for yoga and meditation, I do not know where my mind would be.
Thanksgiving is this week, and it is my favorite holiday to celebrate. I love my family, and cooking with them and watching movies is the most relaxing and fulfilling event. As is the pumpkin pie and turkey. I am so grateful that I can spend the holiday with my family this year, seeing as the last few years California was too far to fly home for it. I love my classes at school. I look forward to doing my homework on the plane, as nerdy as that sounds.
I also learned swimming techniques today from a friend, and it was so much fun to hang out in the water and learn the correct ( I was WAY off) way to swim. Not easy, but will be good rehab for my knee and shoulder after knocking both of those out of place this soccer season. Below: Dinner with the soccer girls at our banquet. Cute picture, love them!

Tip of the Day: Be like a fish. Go for a swim and drink a lot of water.

Once in while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right

It has been an interesting week for sure. I came to a realization about my column at the school newspaper. It is too event focused, and not expository enough about the energy on campus. I'll be working on that this week. I also planned an event at UNC Asheville and it totally flopped. There was a huge basketball game, and the only people that came were my four friends. I felt horrible because my friend from the yoga training this summer drove from Norfolk, VA (seven hour drive) to be there for the event. She was chill about the situation, and said her fundraising journey for the Seva organization has been full of ups and downs. However, the support of my friends driving over there was incredible. I am so grateful to have such wonderful people in my life. We ended up having a great time, and they all donated some money to her cause.
I also came down with a stomach virus Wednesday night, and was bedridden Thursday and most of Friday. I freaked out that I couldn't go to work and class, and then realized this was a blessing too. I have been stressing out like a madwoman for the past few weeks with organizing events, school, relationships. I NEEDED a rest, to slow down, take a chill pill (or, in this case, pepto bismol and advil). I cut out alcohol and coffee, unhealthy food, and slept a lot. Thank you, stomach virus. You did make me feel awful, but I learned my lesson.
Model in the shot below: My friend Alex left this picture for me on my computer. She is wearing my sunglasses. Hilarious.

Tip of the Week: Get sick and make sure your work flubs (ha, just kidding). Instead, when you get upset, try to see the lesson of the situation. And then smile laugh. A lot.

Soccer season done, winter on the way!

My body is ready for rest! 4 months of soccer almost every day and my hamstrings, hips and hip flexors are ridiculously sore. Was it worth it? Absolutely. With 5 weeks left of my first semester back at college (!!!) I am ready to hit the gym, yoga mat, books and sleep. We won our second game at nationals with a beautiful goal by my friend Lily in the last 7 seconds. It was so epic to end our season on that note. We had a hard time keeping our head up sometimes throughout the last few months with few wins and many losses. However, by the end of it all we pulled it together and had so much fun playing together. The girls on the team are amazing.
I was in NY a week ago when the snowstorm hit. Needless to say I was ecstatic to get back to 60 degree, sunny North Carolina. These next few weeks will be insanely busy, but it is doing work that I love. Time to focus...

Tip of the Day: To help focus drink green tea and have a morning yoga practice. Clear the mind and prepare the body for the work ahead of you.