peep this

so i wanted to give a little peek into what was, and hopefully will be again, my weekly sunday yoga class.

after about a year of training with my yogi teacher, i taught my first class in september of 2012 to a pretty decent-sized intermediate group. susan had built up a following and most of them were kind enough to give me a chance :)

i made a playlist that looked something like this:
eyes- rogue wave
sunrise sunset- we are trees
skinny love- bon iver
the thoughts that give me the creeps- hello goodbye
vcr- xx
whole love- wilco
fidelity- regina spektor
heart it races- dr. dog
animal- miike snow
prophets- a.c. newman
tightrope- yeasayer
if there's love- citizen cope
dead sea- the lumineers
how to love- lil wayne
amazing eyes- good old war
the wooden sky- the wooden sky
*(fyi-all of my yoga class playlists are available on my spotify account)

i created a formula that would be 'my style'- a frankenstein-ian creation of all of the classes i had ever taken and loved. i would take barre, pilates, and yoga classes throughout the week and jot down notes if i liked something different that the teacher did. then i would go home and do p90x, or insanity, and incorporate moves from those programs, as well (sphinx push-ups, anyone?). when asked, i called it ashtanga vinyasa, but i was later told that my students referred to it as 'katie's yoga bootcamp' :) i would pick one or two peak poses in the same sort of category (hip-opener, arm balance, back bend, etc...) and build a class that would prepare them for those poses. starting out slow with stretches and small balance postures, moving quickly into sun salutations and vinyasas, pausing in between the flow to focus on a pose that would give them the confidence to fly later on. i wasn't sure if this was how to teach, but it felt right. after a few weeks, my students started telling me that i not only prepared them physically, but mentally for those challenging poses, most of which they had never been able to get into :) (did i mention how much i loved my yogis?)

i tried to come up with my signature closing (you know that thing that teachers say at the end of their class and it always sounds so effortless and all encompassing when they say it? like they just summed up everything you were thinking, and everything the person next to you was thinking, and now you can go in peace and just smile for the rest of the day...?). my teacher used to say the most beautiful phrase that began with 'may all beings be happy', and immediately i would go to a place of quiet content. after my first class ended, i looked out at my students and just said the first thing that came to mind- thank your body for what it's done for you today and thank you for allowing me to practice with you. namaste. it's really very simple, but now that i think about it, it's the core of ahimsa. be nice to yourself. thank you for being nice to me. go in light :)

wouldn't it be nice if we were married

wedding updates! although we only have a few months left, i presume this will be the first of many.

i should start off by letting you know that we've chosen a date and that i will officially be mrs. katie menz as of september 1, 2013. i've heard that the whole "name-changing" process is really frustrating, but i think i'm up for it. i also plan on keeping my maiden name (guiffre) as my middle name, because i just cant give up the sweet nicknames i got through highschool and college (guff, kt guff, guff-unit, guffers, guffer-nutter). i'm interested in hearing about what others have done as far as the name switch- did you keep your last name? did you take his? did you hyphenate? please share!

these days, i feel like we are in the home-stretch. things are moving quickly and we are crossing tasks off our to-do list daily. we picked our location and it's perfect for us. i found a (grey) marchesa dress on a random trip to the city and it's lovely. my yogi teacher and friend will be officiating the ceremony. we have an amazing local 9-man band that will keep the party going all night. we found a really great photographer that fits our style just right. we have 14 of our closest friends in our bridal party, and of course, we have eachother. i try to remind myself that one of the most important parts of this whole process is to focus on the real reason we are doing all of this. every once in a while i get caught up in the cost and magnitude of it all, especially when the number of guests crept over the 200 mark... but the wedding is just a chance to celebrate with all of the people that have played a role in the story of us. i would imagine that being married will be a lot like the last 6 years, with the addition of a lovely piece of paper that basically states 'forever'. i'm guessing we will still disagree about what temperature to keep the apartment at (i'm eternally cold and he's an oven). i'm assuming there will always be time for spontaneous weekend morning wrestling sessions (3 broken toes later, and i still enjoy these moments). and i'm positive there will continue to be plenty of stay-at-home, thai food/movie nights in our future (because i can't really be expected to cook more than 4 nights a week). at some point, if we're lucky, kids, work, and a mortgage will complicate it all, but i'm looking forward to those adventures with my best friend by my side.

right now we are working on the invites (see the save the dates that i designed below), putting together some crafty decorations, and i'm trying to figure out what to do with this overgrown-pixie-on-it's-way-to-a-bob hair of mine. suggestions welcome :)

droppin' bombs on 'em

(my wanderlust journey, parts 2 & 3 are still in the works, but here's a little diddy to hold you over)

so a few months ago, while aimlessly wandering around my place of work, i decided to spontaneously mount my co-workers desk and assume the position of 8-limbs, in all it's arm balance glory.

because my co-worker, judy, is totally awesome and completely used to my randomness, she scooped up her phone and took this pic:

after my graceful dismount, she promptly asked "now what was that all about?" and i said "i dunno- just felt like yoga-bombing your desk". not really sure where that came from, but i immediately loved the idea of "yoga-bombing" in random places, on furniture, out in public, everywhere! so we took this clever game with us to wanderlust and my mama and i yoga-bombed the heck outta that place. fields, concerts, markets... during breakfast, with our coffee, before bed... nothing was off limits.

i've talked to several people about it since and my yoga lover friends really dig it. in fact, they've started sending me photos of their yoga-bombs and i love it! this is a pic of our friends geoff & jake on top of a waterfall, completely rocking bakasana and virabhadrasana 2, respectively.

a few friends and i went out on paddleboards last weekend and dropped bombs all over saratoga lake (that sounds weird but it still makes me happy). I'll show those photos in an upcoming post about my newest love, paddleboarding, and how i'm attempting to combine it with my first love, yoga, and my always love, joey. stay tuned!

xoxo

teach me how to use the love that people say you make

yoga training #9
So this training actually took place weeks and weeks ago and i'm slightly backed up, so i will attempt to take some blogging-metamucil and become slightly more regular with my updates...

hm. i just realized i make a lot of poop analogies. that's weird, right? one of my co-workers once told me that eventually, all conversations make their way back to boobs or poop and im starting to believe that.

anyway, our ninth training session was all about alignment and arm balances, which had me totally twitterpated. if i had to pick one thing that i would like for you to remember about me, it's that i am a huge fan of arm balances. also, i like fro yo. and puppies. oh, and the scratchy sound that old vinyl records make when you play them for the first time in years... but seriously- arm balances are such an amazing combination of strength, flexibility, and stability. maybe it's that feeling of victory once you nail an arm balance and hold it- i just get so excited! does that make me a yoga geek? i hope so...

we practiced our alignment for the first half of training and my teacher stressed the importance of using the 'knives edge' of our foot when in warrior 2 and other similar poses. for example, if you are in w2 with your left knee bent, your right leg should be straight out to the right side, hips open, foot pointing in the same direction as your hips, and you should be pushing off of the outside edge of the right foot. it actually takes a lot of the pressure off of your knees and helps with balance...

after alignments, we moved our mats up against the wall and practiced tri-pod, basasana (crow), headstand, shoulder stand and shoulder stand with blocks. it was glorious. and now im determined to do all of these sans wall... a good tip for attempting any of these inversions is to put a yoga block between your upper thighs and squeeze. this action helps you focus on your core muscles and isometrically pulls them together, which allows you to 'float' upside-down with ease.

and forget the fact that arm balances make you look super cool- they are good for you, too! my teacher explained how inversions have been proven to help depression, which makes a lot of sense- any time i am able to squeeze a downward dog into my day, i always feel much better afterwards.

after training, i was so pumped that i started attempting going into scorpion from several different positions and found that it was easiest for me if i came up backwards from bridge. i even held it for 4 whole seconds before i kicked joey in the face and fell on my rump. so worth it!

so the moral of this story is, find a crazy pose, make it your goal and go out there and nail it!

p.s.- remember on my last post when i eluded to a super special trip im planning? well, it looks like my mama and i will be heading to wanderlust this year in good ol' vermont!! so unbelievably pumped- 3 days of yoga and music in one of the crunchiest, loveliest states... more to come about that soon! *sigh

got ben folds on my radio

yoga training #7

my seventh training took place during one of our new sunday morning classes, where i quietly observed/sort of participated in/took notes during/stared creepily at other people in downward dog. i know it sounds strange and if i were a participant in that class, i would have undoubtedly been slightly uncomfortable, but my teacher assured everyone that i was 1.) not creepy, and 2.) a yogi in training.

le sigh

i just love the way that sounds- "yogi in training". but i digress...

ok, so after class ended, i realized the majority of my notes were based on the verbal cues that my teacher was using for different poses. she has this really wonderful way of simplifying positions and helping you adjust your body without sounding critical or judgy (yea, i said it. judgy.). for example, when we are doing *mandalas (not to be confused with gondolas) she simply says, "now, bring your right arm past the naval as you turn to face the back of the room, in warrior 1." swoon.

after reviewing our notes, we moved on to.....drum roll.... teaching the teacher! i went through a quick 15 minute warm-up that i had created, complete with lunges and down dogs and cobras, oh my! it was just the basics, but i'm still getting nervous instructing others soooooo, i had this amazing idea that was, of course, inspired by beyonce. i've decided to create an alter-ego, sort of the yoga equivelant to beyonce's 'sasha fierce'. i even tried a few different accents, because, who knows? maybe my alter-ego is a 40 year-old french canadian woman who was born in ireland but raised in jamaica and occasionally roots for the red socks...? (unfortunately, that's what all of my accents sound like, despite my best efforts.) the only problem is, i can't think of a good name for my alter ego so i'm asking for suggestions... any ideas?

post warm-up, we went over the playlist i had created for my future classes. my teacher suggested that we veer away from any emotional songs, as participants can sometimes be vulnerable and affected by what they are listening to during a yoga session. so, my obvious choice of music included songs by band of horses, radiohead, and lil weezy (duh). i've added a couple of songs off my 'yoga mixtape' to my blog playlist, for your listening pleasure...i hope you enjoy!



*mandala is a sanskrit word that means circle. it also represents a movement, in which you start facing the front of the room, and transition to another pose facing the back of the room...

i get lost in the beauty of everything

yoga training session #3
for our third session, i got to devour all of the sanskrit my little heart desires. sanskrit is the classical language of hinduism, full of beautiful words and symbols. my teacher explained that it wasnt necessary to learn sanskrit because most people recognize poses by the americanized names these days- for example, what you might think of as mountain pose or standing pose is actually tadasana- but doesnt that just sound lovelier? i like to think of it as a grand announcement for when i stand up tall and throw my arms in the air- TADA! sana.... why wouldnt i want to say things like uttanasana, and savasana and even natarajasana (i'm still working on pronouncing that last one). the word asana means pose, so the first half of the title explains what type of pose it is. we went over pages and pages of wonderful asanas and i believe i've developed an undiagnosed yoga-centric ADD. i went through every single pose on paper and asked "whats this?", "whats that?", "show me!", like a kid in a candy store, while my teacher gladly obliged... it was heaven.

then i learned two very important things- first, i discovered that my teacher and i share a penchants for tattoos. secondly, and perhaps more importantly, you should NEVER ever tattoo the word or symbol for "om" on or near your foot. its disrespectful to the gods. so dont do it. dont even think about it. if you've already done it, have it removed or put an "m" in front of it so it says mom, because i bet your mom is a pretty awesome lady and you probably dont tell her enough and a tattoo would show her how much you appreciate her. problem solved. your welcome.

lastly, my teacher taught me a word that i will carry with me in my practice and hopefully will eventually flow over into my daily activities. shri. it means finding the beauty in everyone and everything. i hope you all find the shri in two thousand and twelve...


xoxo yogis and yoginis

paint myself in blue and red, black and grey

over the last few years, i've gotten a really great response from friends and family about my paintings so i thought i would share them with you. i never really thought of myself as a painter- i'm far too precise and controlling to paint a still-life or portrait, or heaven forbid, a landscape. when my screen-printing professor saw what i created for my collage assignment freshman year of college, she immediately declared that i should be a graphic designer... and loosen up a little. i looked around and realized that my precisely measured, neatly trimmed and delicately pasted collage was surrounded by heaps of torn newspaper, messes of glue, and random splatters of paint. and that moment marked the very first time that i became aware of the difference between fine-artists and graphic-designers. i was so jealous of the fine-artists' ability to throw caution to the wind and dive right into their projects, without seemingly second-guessing themselves.

not being able to let go of my obsessive tendencies, i figured i would never be much of a painter... until a couple of years ago when joey bought me a book by one of my absolute favorite artists of all-time: mr. andy warhol. i had always thought of him as more of a fine-artist, but soon began to realize he definitely had a method to his madness. his famous uneven register lines? deliberate! strange color schemes? modern! choice of subjects? the beginning of the pop revolution!

so, i digress. with a little inspiration and lot of nervous energy, i started to develop my own painting style. i've combined my love of typography, lyrics, pop art and bold colors, and this is what was born...   i hope you like!

"clear eyes, full hearts, cant lose" - friday night lights

"i need a big love" -counting crows

"all is pretty" -andy warhol

"if you're a bird, then i'm a bird" -the notebook

"i may take a holiday in spain" -counting crows

hey, i put some new shoes on and suddenly everything is right.

i know what you're thinking... i'm awful, just awful. it's been an entire month since i last wrote anything (besides my private little "notes to self", which are one-word reminders about things i need to write about the next time i get that bloggin' itch). so, of course, my apologies. let me first apologize for the writing hiatus that i never told you i would be taking, and secondly, for the literary diarrhea i'm about to spew. too graphic? third apology.

no excuses, but life has been bonkers, for realsies. i got engaged, we moved, and i got a sweet promotion at work! i am referring to this period in my life as katie's quarter-life trifecta. this really has no importance at the moment, but someday when i become super-cool and people are writing my life story, it will make their jobs easier if i've already coined this phrase. make sense? it's just me, being all considerate and stuff...

so yea, promotion, woot woot. i am now a fancy-schmancy marketing director! (side note: 'fancy-schmancy' was not allowed on my business cards, unfort.). it is certainly keeping me very very busy, but i'm loving the challenge. and we are both loving saratoga springs, as well! we are only 497 steps to broadway and the downtown vibe is full of energy, just like albany. we haven't stumbled home drunk just yet, but we have wandered over to plum dandy several times, and this past weekend we jogged to the Y, worked out, and stopped at the local farmer's market on our way home. love!

being so close to the Y has other perks as well- it's allowed me the opportunity to begin working on my yoga teaching with one of the best mentors ever! i cant tell you how incredibly excited i am, but i will make sure i blog updates of my progress...  stay tuned!

xo

there's less of me now

about a year ago, i got restless and spontaneously decided to cut off 10+ inches of hair. after that, i developed what michelle williams refers to as the 'short hair disease', which means i repetitively requested that my hairdresser go 'just a little bit shorter this time', until i got to the point where another inch would have meant demi moore in g.i. jane.

good movie. bad hairstyle. (actually, bad movie. worse hairstyle. stellar cheekbones, though.)

so this is me, pleased and post-pixie (thanks to jenn kim at swagger)- but what made me even happier was the letter i recieved a few months ago in the mail informing me that my hair was accepted and used to make a wig for a woman living with cancer. i had successfully donated 4 ponytails (all this thick italian hair was finally good for something) through pantene's beautiful lengths program! i know that most people are more familiar with locks of love, but i chose beautiful lengths after doing some research and comparing the two. when i told a friend of mine about pantene's program and how they only require 8 inches as opposed to the 10 inches l.o.l. requires, she went out and chopped off all of her lovely hair, too (whoever gets her hair is one lucky gal)!

so if you or your friends are ready for a new, shorter 'do' or even considering jumping on the pixie band-wagon, check out their site and see if you meet the requirements for donating... here's why: it's just hair. it grows back. you probably usually put it in a ponytail anyways. and it could make someone really really happy.

come on baby, let me show you my tattoo

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i am the luckiest...

i spent this past weekend attending a lovely 2 day ceremony in plattsburgh ny. my college roommate, monica, married her college sweetheart, rob. we lucked out with lots of sunshine and very little rain (which actually resulted in a post-reception rainbow! what a sweet ending to their big day...)

their first dance was to ben folds "the luckiest"

handmade colorful signs, paper cranes & flowers, and painted rocks were the decor.

sarah, myself, and sully- roommates of fontbonne '08

we ended the day with a rainbow over the lake

this is the start of something good...

my last blog post was in november of 2010 and since then, a lot has happened. a lot. and i often curse myself for becoming so lackadaisical with my blogging, so here's my shot at redemption. a few goals for the future:

• write it down. write it all down. dont wait to think of something clever. dont procrastinate by photoshopping the crap out of a photograph. just post it.
• attract some followers. although i appreciate you, nana, mom, dad, and joey, i need to expand my list of readers to people that are not related to me. therefore....
• be more interesting. this is the hardest one, but i swear i'll try :)
• stop making smiley face emoticons in every post. seriously, dont do it. end of story.

ok, so here are my promises to the blogosphere and myself. wish me luck :)  (one last smiley face emoticon for old times sake)

pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere, part deux

this past weekend was a little warmer so i whipped up a favorite fall soup of ours- butternut squash. yum-o :) i based it loosely on the recipe from love soup by anna thomas.

butternut squash

ingredients (serves 5):
1 butternut squash
1/2 a stick of margarine
2 cups of soy milk, or almond milk
pepper, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and fresh herbs to taste

preheat oven to 350°
cut the butternut squash in halves (lengthwise). spray a cake pan with pam, and put a 1/4 cup of water in it, before adding the halves of squash, cut-side down, to the pan. bake for 45 minutes to an hour.

when squash is soft enough for the skin to peel off, remove the skin and cut into chunks. blend the squash with your choice of milk substitute and melted margarine, to a smooth consistency. add spices and herbs to your liking (we like to make ours a mix of hot and sweet, so we use a lot of cinnamon and pepper :).

this soup is perfect for warm fall days <3

pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere

with all of wet and chilly weather we're getting, i've been in the mood for soup :) last weekend, we took the crock pot out of hibernation and made a yummy white chicken chili. i found the recipe in the original crockpot recipe book, but i've made some adjustments over the years :)

white chicken chili

ingredients (makes 12 servings) :
2 cans of sweet corn
2 cans of great northern beans
2 cans of cannellini's
28 ounces of chicken broth (i'm digging the organic roasted chicken broth by wolfgang puck)
1 pound of chicken
1/2 pound of chicken sausage (optional, but we've recently been adding organic tomato basil chicken sausage, and it is delish :)
fresh parsley, basil, and thyme to taste

preheat oven at 350°.
blend 2 cans of cannellini's with 14 ounces of chicken broth, to thicken up the base. (you can also use flour or cream, but i prefer this). add that, and the rest of the ingredients, except for the corn and chicken, to the crockpot.

bake chicken for 30 minutes at 350°, and when it's done, 'shred' it by hand (it helps it soak up more of the broth later on :). add it to the crockpot.

cover the top of the liquid in the crockpot with a layer of garlic powder, and a layer of pepper. add a little salt, dried oregano, and some fresh herbs to taste. wait until about an hour before you are ready to serve, and then add the 2 cans of corn (so they don't get mushy).

this typically takes no longer than 5 or 6 hours ... and then all you have to do is add a nice hunk of italian bread and enjoy :)

too drunk and still drinking

i hope everyone had a happy halloween! we spent friday night at the lakehouse in washington park with a few hundred other people, all dressed to impress :) the costumes were pretty amazing- especially among our group of friends. there was elmo, bert & ernie, oscar the grouch, a couple of twenties flappers, peas and carrots, and some vampires thrown in for good measure.

luckily, there was a photobooth there to capture all of the magic :)

a colorful bunch :)

p.s. i'll try to post more pictures soon :)

thanks for the memories

last weekend, my friend dillon passed away, so i just wanted to take a minute and reflect on the impact that he had on others. he always had this huge grin on his face and you couldnt help but smile when you saw him - he was a good kid with a big heart and i know he will be missed. dillon, i hope you find the peace you were looking for. we wont forget about you <3

step into my office, baby

so i ended up making another typography painting/poster for my new office. The color of my walls are a yellow/goldish hue, so i mixed a cadmium red with a pink rose, so it would stand out but not be too intense.

all is pretty. - andy warhol

and i've always loved this quote by andy warhol- 'all is pretty'- i think that about sums it all up :)

on my other wall, behind my desk, i hung my 'tree of life' poster, by klimt. i'm a big fan of all of his work (we have 'the kiss' hanging up in our apartment) but i knew this piece would also go really well with the wall color.

tree of life by klimt

so, this is my cozy little corner of the Y :)

days like that should last and last and last

the boyfriend and i were fortunate enough to spend time with both of our families this past weekend :)

friday night we drove into broadalbin to support a fundraiser that my dad was participating in called real men can cook. basically, men in the local communities volunteer to cook one dish each, and tickets are then sold for a 'buffet-type' meal, with all proceeds going towards breast cancer awareness. my dads been involved for the last 3 years, and we always make sure to attend because the food is so yummy! (this year he made a tomato pesto soup and he named it after me :) my mom, grandparents and i also entered a few raffles, so fingers crossed that we win that wheelbarrow full of adirondack goodies :)

and today, we celebrated our trio of october birthdays! joeys mom and sister both have birthdays in october, as do i :) so every year we get together for a big dinner and to exchange presents. first, we went to red lobster and filled up on yummy cheddar biscuits... then we had everyone back to our apartment for cupcakes and gifts :) i got a pineapple themed basket, with a whole pineapple!, a pineapple wedger, mai tai mix, and a book with different drink and appetizer recipes. this made me think it's time to start those dinner parties up again with the gang :) i also got some very sweet office materials for my new job, (along with a hip new tote bag) so i can be fashionable, and functional at the same time :) thanks guys! we hope you liked your presents too!

<3

say that you'll be true and never leave me blue...

i was inspired by some graphics posters online and feeling crafty this past weekend, so i created this little guy below. the canvas is something like 4 1/2 feet wide by 3 feet tall and i just used a tube of blue cerulean for the background to really brighten the place up.

*big love

i love how the big white helvetica type pops against the blue :) i think i'll make another one for my office...

hearts and thoughts...

i was going through some of my old computer files and found my favorite poem, so i thought i'd share it with the blogosphere... enjoy :)

I wrote a good omelet,

and ate a hot poem...

after loving you.

Buttoned my car,

and drove my coat home,

in the rain...

after loving you.

I goed on red,

and stopped on green.

Floating somewhere in between,

being here and being there...

after loving you.

I rolled my bed,

turned down my hair,

slightly confused but I don't care...

Laid out my teeth,

and gargled my gown.

Then I stood,

and laid me down,
to sleep...

after loving you.

-Nikki Giovanni