Negatives, Positives, and Burnt Hair

 No, I did not wake up to watch the Royal Wedding this morning. I am a morning person, but I don’t think 3am even qualifies as morning.  I have it on my DVR though and am super excited to go home tonight and watch Matt Lauer talk about Kate’s dress. For the record, I loved her dress. It was much simpler than I expected but the lace sleeves and deep-V added the perfect amount of detail and elegance. For the record, I loved Pippa’s dress even more.

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Today’s Bikram class did not start out on a good note. The woman I babysat for last night got home late so I got less sleep that I like to. I drove to class with a heavy head, and when I got there I remembered that the Groupon issued this week meant class would likely be crowded. I love the 6:30am class because it is usually only experienced yogis and there is plenty of room to spread out. But not today. Today there were people all up in my grill and girls were whispering and giggling during the quiet meditative time before class. There was no way I was going to be able to focus. I had pegged this class as a bad one before it even began.

But then as we began the first breathing exercise, my attitude shifted. I realized that instead of dwelling on the negative parts of class I could focus on the positives. An extra crowded class meant that the instructor would probably turn the fans on to cool off the room a bit. She’d also have to take some time explaining things, giving me a little extra time to catch my breath in between postures. Why not use these things to my advantage and put forth my best effort during class? I might actually do the new kids a favor by demonstrating proper technique.

Once my mindset changed, class was incredible. I’m gaining back some of the flexibility I lost during marathon training and I was able to get deep into postures that I sometimes struggle with. The instructor even used me as an example during Rabbit pose!

This morning reminded me that a negative attitude won’t bring me anywhere but down. I’ll definitely try to look for the silver lining more often now and remember now to judge a crowded, tired class before it even begins. Oh, and turns out all those extra people were actually Lululemon employees that came to class to offer my instructor an ambassador position.

OUTFIT:

J.Crew V-necks are kind of my uniform. I have four colors and wear them to death. I picked up this grey one at the outlet in Hilton Head last weekend.

 

Okay and can we talk about what happened while I was getting ready this morning? After Bikram I shower and get ready in the gym at my office. It is extremely old, the machines are literally unsafe to use, and things are falling off the walls in the locker room. But it does the job and my company refuses to renovate, so I have stopped even trying. Anyway I usually use the hand dryers to dry my hair (a little trick I picked up at summer camp) but today I decide to be good and actually use a brush and hair dryer. The hair dryers in the gym look like this, so I should have been weary from the get-go:

As I was drying I noticed it smelled kind of funny and I kept finding weird gold threads in my hair. THEY WEREN’T GOLD THREADS. THEY WERE BURNT SHRIVELED HAIR. The hairdryer literally killed my hair. Reason #9087 that the gym needs to be updated. I’m keeping this picture for evidence:

Hmph.

BREAKFAST:

Today’s breakfast was a vegan version of overnight oats. That means I made it using only soy milk instead of adding in some Greek yogurt like I usually do. Into the bowl went:

• 1/3 up raw oats (not quick cooking)
• 3/4 cup soy milk
• 2 TBSP chia seeds
• 1 TBSP vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 banana
• A pinch of stevia

Here’s what it looked like before I put it in the fridge:

After chilling all night, I brought it to work and added a peanut flour sauce on top. (1 TBSP peanut flour, pinch stevia, pinch salt, water to thin). The chia seeds made the mixture gel up into a thin but gooey pudding. The flavor was mildly sweet and I loved the lightness of each spoonful. I’m curious to see how this holds me over in comparison to oats or greek yogurt. We shall see.

Longest. Morning. Post. Ever. Sorry about that, guess I just had lots to say. Hope you have a wonderful Friday and have great things planned for the weekend!

QUESTION:

• Did you wake up to watch the Royal Wedding this morning?
• What did you think of Kate’s dress??