Vitamin Dre

travelled the wrong direction on the subway. twice.
watched the most spectacular fireworks display ever, while listening to katy perry and kenny chesney perform without being in the audience.
watched the tour de france avec ma soeur et mon frere.
eaten almost every imaginable cuisine. 
strolled through a gallery or two. 
saw john hamm and kristen wig leaving the star studded club below our wednesday night takeout spot. 
befriended fellow yogis. 
soaked up the sun on a beach in long island.
skipped the line at a club, escorted to a table inside with free drinks, felt like a socialite ;).
visited the upper east side, hells kitchen, battery park, chelsea, nolita, soho, east village, west village, murray hill - to name a few. 
cried during the bachelorette.
sang happy birthday to a stranger in a packed peanut sized killer indian restaurant.
annd slept on a delicious leather couch, nightly.  

Moving has multiple meanings:
1. Changing position.
2. Arousing deep emotion. 

On my plane ride to NYC a week and a day ago, I started thinking about the verb, ‘move’.
Speaking to the stranger on my right and smiling to my familiar friend (sister) on my left, I was, at that moment, MOVING.
Like, flying… from one city to another… with my belongings contained in two checked bags underneath me, and one smaller one tucked above. 
I’m guilty of occasionally living in the past or the future. Fretting over what is done, worrying about what’s to come.
But in this moment, I was submerged in now.
Both changing position and arousing deep emotion.  
Leaving home, comfort, familiar behind. Heading towards new, crowded, unpredictable.
And it was all on my own accord.

This moment felt like the beginning of a new chapter in my book of life and I couldn’t be more ready to start inking the pages. 

Today was Day 1 of a month-long yoga teacher training intensive at a studio in Hells Kitchen. I can already tell this is going to be an amazing month of self discovery and growth!  One of the best parts of today was making my first big-city-friends! Let me tell you a little bit about my new asana crew.

There’s Norma, a 50-something delightful Hindu woman who, when asked to complete the sentence “I am the one who…” chose “LOVES NORMA!” 
There’s Jamie, a social worker from Long Island who already invited me to the beach! 
Vanessa - a teacher at a school in Brooklyn.
Matt, the struggling actor-dancer-singer with whom I shared my seaweed snacks.
There’s Tsipi, a spirited young girl with a really cool name.
Laura, a recent grad school graduate who also went abroad to Australia.
Jess lives in Jersey with her parents and is trying to figure life out.
Georgia is studying classical voice at IU.

The ability to make friends and build a supportive community here is something I have anxiety about. But after today, I have a newfound sense of hope and belonging. More to come…

every time i attempted to apply vernis a ongles growing up, i could only use my dominant hand and would show up at school with my right set of nails naked and my left frolicking around in colorful bliss. but only for a few moments. because, you see, it is not necessarily a fashion statement to have an unfinished set. nevertheless, this continued probably 20 or 30 more instances. until i got fed up and made mani pedis at the local salon a regular habit.

what i used to say to myself was that i couldn’t paint my right nails. i often had ambidextrous wishes, but came to terms that this wasn’t in the cards for me. reconsidering several ‘habits’ similar to this as i approach a more financially sparse time in my life, i decided to give it one more try.

tonight, with my gals Pat Benetar, Janis Joplin, and Heart cheering me on (thanks Pandora), i went all out. scrub, clip, file, cut, buff, clear coat, Essie Turquoise and Caicos, repeat, top coat, solar oil. repeat on both sets of nails and toes. and it looks good!!! Im so proud of my little challenge this evening and am looking forward to more QT with my nails and toes. go girl, go girl.

FRI- birthday drinks, taste of randolph street, graduation party, sister sleepover pt. 1

SAT- cousin’s volleyball tourney on navy pier, work clothes/bedroom shopping with mom, qt with my very best friend, sister sleepover pt. 2

SUN- lakefront jog and dad’s day brunch at balsan

man, I’m looking forward to it! 

taking inventory of Dad’s wine collection, organizing it into the wine racks acquired this morning, and presenting him with a summarizing spreadsheet by the time he gets home from work. This is the way to my father’s heart - committing time to complete his ‘projects’ by yourself.

Reminding me of what it was like to be grounded in high school, but wine inventory is much more appealing than typing every business, acquaintance, and family member into the new computer in ‘05.

I think he’ll miss me when I go.

FINALLY! I’m hooked. I’ve heard about TAL from my loving sisters for a while now. Somehow, I’m blaming my chemical engineering textbooks as the reason why I haven’t listened to This American Life or cultivated a variety of other culturally stimulating habits. Thank goodness that can now change! 

My 8 hour drive home from Nashville passed by so quickly thanks to these entertaining podcasts. Love me some Ira Glass. Thanks, Nat and Danielle!

Download the app at the App Store for $2.99 and all of the episodes are at your fingertips. 

Just made the first significant financial and time investment for myself in the coming months - Vinyasa Teacher Training @ SonicYoga in NYC in July! 

living at home for one last summer. yoga teacher training with natalie. golf with dad. pool with mom. sleeping in my cloud of a bed. being a kid for a few months before trying to be an adult. 

my birthday present from ben - andrew bird at the ryman on march 19th

peru for spring break with ms. emily walls

exploring lima, cusco, and machu picchu, watching the sun set over machu picchu, experiencing a peruvian homestay, weaving colorful fabrics, drinking pisco sours, eating in gastronomic capital of the americas, escaping from the vandybubble, and thoughts and talks with a great great friend. 

just two days away…

n. the smallest measurable unit of human connection, typically exchanged between passing strangers—a flirtatious glance, a sympathetic nod, a shared laugh about some odd coincidence—moments that are fleeting and random but still contain powerful emotional nutrients that can alleviate the symptoms of feeling alone.