Create your own yoga practice floor

My house is all carpeted (except for in our very small kitchen and bathroom), so it wasn't very friendly to my yoga practice. (Apparently doing sun salutations on carpet makes your wrists hurt! Who knew!?)

I've been doing most of my practicing at the studio where I have a membership, but let's face it--sometimes the effort it takes to leave the house and drive to the yoga studio (or gym, pool, hiking trail, insert-your-own example here) requires more than the motivation you have to spare. Time can be a factor as well! In my case in particular, I usually find that my schedule requires squeezing yoga practice into the early morning hours before work, so oversleeping by just 15 minutes can throw the whole thing off.

Enter my solution:

My own personal yoga space at home!

I can't really tell you how excited I am about this. I researched options available for purchase (hint: there aren't many, and they're expensive and not eco-friendly) and decided I needed to just make something myself. I bought the best 4'x8' piece of 3/4" plywood I could find at Home Depot (PureBond brand in birch, if you're curious)--the only kind they carry that doesn't contain formaldehyde or other icky chemicals that I'm not keen on sharing my practice with. I also bought no-VOC paint (Behr, in Indian Ocean semi-gloss), to make it easier to clean, less splintery, and a bit prettier. Some major room-reorganization was required (I now have a dresser in my closet...major sacrifice on my part--you have no idea.) but it was worth it! A houseplant, my blocks, straps, a bolster, foam roller, candles, and my yoga mat complete the space. Next up, finding some wall art!

Do you have a yoga practice or other form of exercise that you do outside your home? What motivates you to get out the door?

How to make a dog sweater out of a human sweater

I've had a long-standing "it's complicated" relationship with my sewing machine. There are days, after watching one too many episode of Project Runway, in which I do tons of sewing--making a cute new skirt, repairing or altering store-bought clothes, designing yet another fleece sweater for one of my dogs--and my sewing machine sees a lot of use. But there are also long stretches of weeks and months when my machine sits on the table  in our spare bedroom (or worse, in its box in the closet!), collecting dust. I'm not a particularly skilled seamstress and never received instruction beyond the very basics of hand-sewing (thank you, Mom and Grandma!), so the sewing I do is only with very simple construction. 

A few months ago I was flipping through an issue of Martha Stewart Living when I came across an advertisement for her line of dog toys and apparel, featuring these two ridiculously adorable puppies in four-legged pajama outfits:

 Martha Stewart Living- November '12

After I recovered from the cute attack (acute cute attack? acute attack of cute?), I thought about whether or not my sewing skills were up to par with what would be needed to reproduce one of those outfits for my dog. I quickly decided that they weren't, and figured that I would stick to making the more basic sweaters I felt comfortable with--no sleeve construction, just a top piece with chest straps.  Fast-forward to a few days before Christmas: I was cleaning my sewing area when I came across the photo again, this time while holding a stack of old sweatshirts my fiance was planning to donate to Goodwill. I looked at the puppies, and I looked at the sweatshirts. The sweatshirts were all stretched out and a bit faded, but the fabric was still strong and warm and soft--just perfect! I decided to attempt a drastic alteration---from Men's size medium to size small Chihuahua. What could go wrong?!

 I didn't think to take a "before" photo of the sweater I used, but it was a thick cotton half-zip like this one:

http://bananarepublic.gap.com

I began cutting away at the fabric, using just the neck and front and back chest pieces, including the full zipper. The chest zipper became the top or "back" part of the dog sweater, and the back of the human sweater became the chest of the dog sweater. I didn't alter the neckline (How can a man and a chihuahua have the same neck size?? I have no idea. It's a mystery.), but sewed one-piece "sleeves" for all four legs, using a continuous piece of fabric for the whole garment. I did about 6 fittings on Olive during the process, and the poor dog was extremely confused but willing to oblige.

Suffice it to say that I'm still in shock that this project turned out. I'd like to put up a tutorial, but there are so many variables based on the size of the sweater and of the dog, so I'm not sure how helpful it would be to someone hoping to undertake the same endeavor. Here are a few more photos of the final product: 

Olive seems to love how warm she is in her new sweater, and I love that the zipper makes it so easy to put on and take off. Success! I really can't believe this turned out as well as it did, but it's probably a good reminder that it's never productive to doubt your abilities.

Have you ever surprised yourself by successfully completing a project that you thought was doomed for failure?

Sounds of Springtime

The weather has warmed up a bit over the last few days, and I can't get enough of being outside. I walked to and from a work meeting in a different building yesterday (about 2.8 miles round trip) and although some of the sidewalks are still icy, it practically felt like Spring!  Lots of dripping sounds from all the snow and ice melting from the trees and rooftops.

On Monday I went for a run over my lunch hour to enjoy the sunshine, and it was wonderful. My pace has been slowed by having to navigate all the slippery streets lately, but I don't mind. The run still feels good, I was never fast to begin with so I'm not terribly worried about speed, and leaping over the icy patches makes me feel like I'm a video game character or action movie hero. "Runs like the wind! Leaps obstacles in a single bound!"  I did have a startling discovery later in the work day, however. I'd thought that a short run during the day in cold temperatures was fine, since I don't sweat much and can bring a change of clothes to work... but about an hour after I got back to my desk I brushed my cheek and noticed what could only have been a big smear of freeze-dried snot. Totally professional, totally awesome. I'll be here all week.

Do you have an office job? How do you get exercise during the work day?

Directions

I'll begin today with a cute dog photo--you're welcome.

 This blog could go in a number of directions, and I'm not entirely sure how to decide which one I'm going for. It could be about my life as a soon-to-be-married, twenty-something, vegan, Ashtanga yoga practitioner, but that's not the full picture (are you getting hippie, or yuppie?). I also happen to love shopping, makeup, and thumbing through Vogue and Harper's Bazaar to cut out high fashion images for pasting into my "someday" notebook (Pinterest, I love you, but you'll always be my second love) for when my life mysteriously turns into that of a Parisian socialite and I need those clothes. I love gardening, and dream about the day that I can live in a cottage in the country (or settle for an oversized yard in a medium-sized city) and spend all day uprooting weeds and tending wild beds of herbs, overflowing rows of vegetables, and lush perennial plantings. I enjoy learning about current research in science and medicine, and hope to find ways throughout my life to use my Public Health education to promote healthy living and wellness (in ways larger than badgering my friends and family to get flu shots every year). I spend much of my free time in the kitchen, cooking nourishing plant-based meals to enjoy with my fiance, and although I have collected more vegan recipe books than I could possibly cook through (this isn't Julie and Julia), I still harbor a secret desire to publish one of my own someday.

If you had to chose one thing for me to write about, what would it be?