December 2012 edition

I took a little time off to enjoy the holidays with my family. I hope you all had a magical Christmas! Here's what I've been up to lately...

The first snowfall in Ohio was lovely and I'm so glad we had it in December. I love how the little carnation (above) held its ground!

I'm a Christmas music FREAK! I have tons and tons that I start listening to in the beginning of November. I can't get enough of the Straight No Chaser holiday albums! I'm really sad to go back to "regular music".

I've been reading Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. SO. MUCH. FUNNY. Her blog is fantastic and I love reading more about Jenny!

 Yes, I combined "app" and "obsession". Don't judge me.

Shopkick and Instagram are my current app obsessions. I'm completely hooked. If you're not on Instagram yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! It's like facebook or twitter with pictures only. It's like flipping through a book and just looking at the pictures. Just do it. Follow lots of people. Follow me @retr0phot0 and check out all the cool people I follow. Follow them too.

Shopkick is an app that you use to earn points that you can cash in for giftcards. Mostly, I open my app and walk in Target. You don't even have to buy anything. So far, I've gotten $35 in giftcards and 3 free Starbucks coffee drinks. You can sign up with this link and get us both some free points or you can find it in the app store. I like free stuff.

I've been watching too many Christmas movies to list lately; but I've also been watching The Big Bang Theory dvds. It's my favorite show and I like seeing it again in order from the beginning. Just for fun, here's the Big Bang Flash Mob!

That's what's been going on with me lately. I'm looking forward to a busy and exciting 2013! Btw, if anyone knows how to join a flash mob, I'd love to know! It looks like so much fun!

Jungle Jim's Adventure!

This post can now be found on my current blog here.

Grandpa Dancing Gangnam Style!

This post can now be found on my current blog here.

Yoga Doesn't Suck

Yesterday, I mentioned that one of my goals for October is to do more yoga. I'm not a health or fitness nut. I don't generally even enjoy exercise. (loathe is a better word) I'm a curl up with a good book kind of girl. Moving around is definitely not my favorite thing. So, I wanted to tell you why yoga is my exercise of choice and what I think so far.

I didn't start doing yoga to lose weight. I could use some tightening of my "wobbly bits", as Bridget Jones would call them, but that isn't the reason I do yoga. I wanted to give yoga a try for two reasons. First, I've been trying to learn to meditate. I'm a high anxiety person and need to learn to relax my mind. I think this will always be a work in progress for me, but I wanted to add yoga to the mix. Couldn't hurt, right? Second, my body hurts. Back, shoulders, neck...they ache. Just sitting. This was a new thing for me and I didn't like it. My goal is to gain strength and flexibility so my posture improves and I carry my body better. Guess what??It's working! I'm already less achy. As for the meditation thing, we'll just have to see.

Below is what I've done so far and what I would recommend for true beginners, like myself.

For starters, you'll need a sticky mat, a yoga strap (or belt in a pinch), and I like to use a yoga block too. The best prices I've found were at Marshall's & TJ Maxx.

I attempted to take a photo of my gear for you guys, but someone wanted to help and never did get out of my shot. This is Satchmo, by the way. If you follow me on Instagram (@retr0phot0), you'll see him and the other furbabies quite a bit.

I decided to do yoga at home because I didn't think I would benefit from going to a class before I even knew the names of any of the postures. Also, I there are lots of different kinds of yoga and I wanted to find one that I liked. 

Turns out, I prefer slow flow yoga. That means you hold your stretches, which I like because I feel like I get the full benefit of the stretch. (Btw, in my 20's, I wouldn't have had the patience for slow flow yoga. I probably would've liked power yoga, if I'd known what I was doing or bothered to learn.)

Yoga for Beginners with Barbara Benagh has been the best DVD I've tried. I tried 4 different DVDs that all had excellent reviews. I like this one the best because she moves slow and explains everything. Also, she says that she's not teaching you anything new. She's helping your body remember the openness and flexibility it was born with. I like that idea. It reminded me of how my nieces folded in half (for easy storage) when they were babies.

I really like the way yoga makes me feel. I think my posture is improving too. Good posture definitely has a slimming effect. I haven't lost any weight, but my niece keeps telling me I look skinny. Go figure.

I started a  free 21 day yoga challenge from the Yoga Journal website in September. It'll take me longer than 21 days to get through the whole things because I don't do it everyday. I really like that it lets me try out different instructors and techniques. That'll be helpful when I choose my next DVD. Who knows? Maybe I'll feel comfortable enough to join a class.

How to be a Rad Old Lady

I went to an estate sale this week at a condo where an old lady had lived. It was full of old lady stuff. Not even the cool old lady stuff that I look for, just stuff. I checked out the ground floor and then made my way upstairs. More old lady stuff. Then, amidst all the traditional furniture and floral bedding, stood a life size cardboard cutout of Captain Jack Sparrow. Old lady was badass. I wonder what other secrets she had....

Get your own here and you too can be a rad old lady.

Atomic Love at Target

I think paint-by-number kits are adorably kitschy and I'm so excited about this new one from Target!

They're Charley Harper prints! You can get them here and they're on sale right now! Happy painting!