Mini Yoga

I've been telling myself since we had our last big snowfall that I really need to [still] get Sydni some new snow pants. It's hard for me sometimes to justify that sort of thing as an immediate priority, I think mainly because in my mind, I know that the snow will fade and it won't be winter all year long.

So after work, Syd and I made a run to Target for snow pants.

Let me break that down for you: We went... to TARGET... for [JUST] snow pants.

that's about how that went

So yeah. Perhaps I didn't fully think that one through: I know better than to think I'd legitimately head into Target and buy only snow pants - I mean, assuming they even still had any [ok, they did..].

So on the bright side, we did get snow pants. AND, they were on sale. So that justifies the rest of the stuff that we bought to maybeormaybenot go along with them:

Oh, and ALL of these were for SYDNI - 

Neon patterned ankle socks

Yoga pants

Mint green sports zip-up... with thumbholes

An Elsa shirt

A Little mermaid nightgown

A $1 tiara

It could've been worse, right? 

So we headed home, where Sydni immediately wanted to climb into her new yoga pants and unroll her yoga mat [also purchased by me at Target on a separate, entiiiiirely unintentional buy, of course]. I happily obliged her request to follow suit, and we spent the next hour working on her warrior pose form and taking lots of mommy-mini yoga pictures: 

warrior

She's working so hard! There are still some kinks to be worked out, but we are definitely heading in the right direction:

tree pose [sorta ;)]

We have our Laura Sykora moments, too.. haha.. 

love my mini yoga time! 

These are the memories I'm going to reflect back on and realize again and again just how fortunate I am to have such a beautiful little girl, with a beautiful little soul. She is a beacon of light on the gloomiest day, and can reverse whatever sour mood that's found me as a result of this life's grudgery. I'll cross the bridge when the time's here for her to awaken to the harshness of this world, but for now, I revel in the beauty of her innocence and and proud beyond words of what she's becoming. 

Anyway Anyway, Aaaanyway... 

Tomorrow's Friiiiiday & that means the weekend! WooO!

xo | cmd

Yoga Breaks

FACT: Working in an office can be quite the challenging environment for someone who values physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle. By healthy, I mean a non-sedentary lifestyle. For those of us who are desk-bound for a large portion of our day, it's difficult at times to just pause for a moment and get up.

FUN FACT: I work in an office at which I am required to sit.. a lot. HOWEVER, I 1] am allowed to and permanently use a balance ball chair when doing so, and 2] have a beautiful, like-minded co-worker who shares my affinity for staying active.

So on days when we've put in strong load for the first half of the day and there are a few minutes of downtime, this is the kind of thing that starts happening:

head stand breaks

I'm working on some variations; it's a slow and sometimes painful process, but getting there!

slowly... but surely.

And here's evidence of the struggle [which is very real], haha.

And some more. Yes, I'm super wobbly.. but hey, wobbly is better than nothing, and I'm growing stronger getting into these things, so I'll take it and keep working.
That second video is admittedly awful, I know, but I've decided to vulnerably post that as a public declaration that it will be followed in the hopefully near future with one of redemption. Hah. Everyone starts somewhere, kids.

So yeah! That's part of our office routine when we have a few spare minutes and the pressing work is done; a quick break from computer screens and phone calls for some yoga. If you have the opportunity where you work to take even a 3-minute break from the grind, I would highly recommend it!

Happy TUESDAY!

xo | cmd

Boats, BBQ & Block Parties

[backdated entry, woo!]

Yiieee! Breakfast with Ali!
Living two states away from one of my best friends isn't the worst thing in the world, but it certainly is inconvenient more often than not. I was so happy that we were able to set aside some time to get together for breakfast - well, brunch if you're getting technical - in Caseyville before the day got started.

love this girl!

After breakfast, we made a couple of shopping stops before parting ways for the afternoon. I was due out to Grafton with Rob, Kenny & Dillon.

Kenny just bought a Baja a month or two back [these boys & their forever cycle of toys.. hah], so it was an outing on the lake. Dillon scored a coule of stand-up jetskis [di-no-saurs!!] from a friend's boss, and brought one of them out to play for the afternoon, also.

will the old girl float?

We weren't entirely sure if she'd stay afloat, let alone run, but she still had some spirit in her, and eventually got going strong as the hours wore on.

Back on the boat, we took some mental notes of what we did and didn't care for aboard the Baja, because obviously Rob will be investing in a replacement as soon as he finds the right deal.

pretty little baja

The rain started coming down, and we decided it'd been long enough on the river; we headed back and loaded up for the trip back south. I dropped Rob off at Dillon's house and continued on to get ready and meet up with Ali & DeShawn for dinner.

Mongolian BBQ at HuHot? Yes, please!

a lot of eating was done today, clearly.. hah.
huhot mongolian bbq | st. louis, mo



After dinner, I happily obliged the invite to be taken to Strange Donuts, this fun little [and I do mean little] donut shop somewhere in St. Louis. Apparently, it's a big enough deal that people line the street outside of the place at even the latest hours [in this case, 11:45pm]... for donuts.

Ya can't keep people from their donuts, mmkay?

i'll have one of ... the whole case, please&thanks.
strange donuts | st. louis, mo

Oh, it was well worth the trip. Thank you A&D for the experience!!

strange donuts | st. louis, mo

Back at DeShawn's [new!] apartment, we settled in and landed on Mean Girls [Netflix for the win!] to await the arrival of Tim, who was juuust returning from an extended visit to Germany.

trying to work off some of the food i've eaten today! :\

I'm the jerk that didn't get a picture of all of us including Tim, however we did manage a shot of our spoils from Tim's trip. German chocolate for Ali and me... and a light bulb for Damanji.

sorry, damanji.. haha ;)

We visited for a short while before it was time to part ways again,... for now. I headed back to Alton to rendezvous with Rob, Dillon & Kenny at the Alton Block Party, where we stayed until they closed the place down and we were back en route to Jesse's place in Granite.

alton block party!

Good night, Illinois! We'll see you again for a short while tomorrow before we head home.

xo | cmd