a timely gift

When you invite negativity in, it brings all its nasty friends.

Ever have one of those days? Well, I feel like I'm having one of those weeks...or more.

When I told my mom I was going up North to Boston and to visit Ben's half of the family, she said that it'll be so nice but definitely hard to leave and come back to Nola. I told her, no way. I completely thought I would be fine just having a short visit and then returning back here. I am liking New Orleans and doing fine.
But then I came back. It's too hot to be outside and I immediately missed the fresh air and nature. I miss our family. I miss my friends. I love being back in our own home and I definitely missed my bed. But I remembered how nice it was to be back where our "home" was for a while with the people we love. Mom was right.
Then, this week, I thought that I finally found a place that I liked and we could afford for the wedding. It's been 4 months of hell and a lot of tears over trying to find a place that's convenient for everyone but us, affordable so everyone can come, etc. Well, looks like that's not going to work, and on top of it I'm arguing with my Grandma. Who argues with their Grandmother for heavens sakes? My skin is literally boiling into what looks like bubbles all over my torso. Gross!!! AND that's frustrating because I don't have health insurance- which is why my wrist is just wrapped up and i'm guessing it's carpal tunnel. Then, I looked over the old doctor bills that I can't pay and that have gone to collections and got even angrier. I'm now ruining my credit and in debt. Ahh, what a crazy downward spiral this week has taken!

So, yesterday I ran errands. I cleaned the house, I filled the fridge, I made the bed, I did the dishes and the laundry, I wrote, I had a lovely jivamukti practice (but had to sit out a lot of it in leu of the wrist). But, I felt sick and negative still.
So I baked. I baked scrumptious 7 layer bars and got in bed early. Then in the middle of the night I awoke to noise in the kitchen- it was a rodent eating the 7 layer bars!! Ben had told me he'd put them away safely. So, those were ruined.

I woke up this morning in a funk. Still feeling sick, I skipped breakfast. I cancelled my yoga practice since I think what may be carpal tunnel has set in for a while. And I went to the post office where I knew a package was waiting.

Here's what was in it:

pretty exciting- it's a huge box!

this is 10 pairs of shorts and one denim skirt!!

3 pretty shirts and a lululemon power y

a pink lulu bra, 2 pairs of brand new leggings, one lulu groove pant, and hard tail yoga pants!

skirts, tops, etc!

wow, the loot

Yup, all of those free clothes!

I was talking to my sister a little while ago and mentioned I don't have any shorts- i'm always in yoga clothes. She said she was going to give some away...and she sent these all to me! Besides those two leggings and a few tops (which my Grams bought me) the rest are my sister's "old" clothes that she is giving me. Crazy! This is probably almost as big as all of the clothes I own (at least my summer clothes collection).

So, this wonderful gift came at a good time. And I realized that getting out of your tiny little world and focusing on helping someone else is an amazing way to jolt yourself out of the negativity spiral. So, I'm off to figure out how to do that today (as my Grandpa says, how to make the world a better place today).

Crescent City Food Porn

By now you know that the Nola farmer's market is the place to be. 

There's the Tuesday market at Broadway (I heard the St. James Cheese Company sells some meals there!!), the Thursday market in MidCity on the Bayou (sometimes I can get chocolate mousse and chocolate caramel shortbread there), and then the popular Saturday market downtown at Mag and Girod. When we're free we make it to all three of the markets each week. Most of the time it's only the Saturday one. It's important because the produce is way more fresh (and therefore alive/good for you), it supports our local economy, and it's fun. If you haven't been before, go on a Saturday and ask the peach guy to let you try one- it will blow your mind and change your food buying experience forever.

Here's some snapshots (nothin' fancy) of what we picked up this morning at the Saturday market. 

fresh pears (something new for us)

i got two of these everything bagels!! and super good-looking okra

you can see Creole tomatoes, fresh corn, butternut squash, an everything bagel, and okra

Ben can't live without farmer's-market feta. i like the other cheeses better.

baby potatoes and beans mmmmm

ice coffee in a to-go reusable nola style cup

9 peaches, a huge zucchini, creole tomatoes, mushrooms, baby potatoes, beans, corn, kalamata olive bread, green peppers, butternut squash, feta, okra, coffee....

those are some super good peaches

new corn guy cuts the end off so there's no bugs...i can live with that. look how nicely those shrooms are wrapped up! 

cute little green peppers and a fresh kalamata olive bread

What's missing from these photos are the two tamales I ate in the car (one bean and one cheese) ahh they are so good early in the morning. We go through at least 24 eggs a week but they were all sold out by 9am (it opened at 8) so we'll have to do with store bought this week. Also, all of Ben's meats and fishes which he hides away from me when we get home are not in the photos- i think he got beef and fish, but he usually also gets whole chickens. We've been getting fresh beans from the bean guy (love his accent) and next week he promised me fresh red kidney beans!

Our strategy is to each take $20 and split up, buying whatever catches our eye and then meeting back together. I never spend my full $20....but I might have today. Ben is a serious shopper while I chat with everyone we run into, sample the pesto, and buy croissants :)

Here's a link to the CC farmer's market page that shows you what's fresh when. They also have recipes, directions, etc. http://www.crescentcityfarmersmarket.org/index.php?page=what-s-fresh

See you there! 

Affordable Yoga and even...Free Yoga!

We've all been there- you know that a daily yoga asana practice is essential to your physical and mental health. You've been upping the number of home practice days since your budget is tight but you're craving the community, the vibration of 20 other people ommmming with you, the teacher's adjustments, the way you can just let go and not think, the props, the music... you need a yoga class in your community that you can afford right now.

New Orleans has some of the most affordable yoga classes I've ever seen! The most affordable being at Life Yoga which offers $9 dropins, $6 student dropins, and even better packages. That's where you can find yours truly teaching :) However, the most expensive class you take in New Orleans will still only be under $20!! And these are really good classes with amazing teachers. I know, gotta love it. 

Sometimes you find that you're eating ramen noodles ("at 4:30 in the morning, when we barely could survive, I was never more alive"...had to put that song quote in there, hehe) every night that week and can't scrape together $15 for a yoga class. So, I'm putting together a little list of the FREE and cheapest classes you can take in the city. Because yoga studios feel that it is only yogic :) to offer some sort of affordable class for the community you'll find one at almost every studio. I love this logic- it's in the mental health counselors' code that we have to offer some sort of free/discounted/affordable service and I love that yoga studios do it too. 

Here's what I've come up with (in no particular order). Please comment and add anything that I'm missing. Nola has 22 studios, apparently, so I haven't mentioned even half of them!

Life Yoga (5422 Magazine St, Uptown)

$6 student drop in. $9 drop in (all others).

$5 community classes Saturday 9:30, Saturday 4pm, Sunday 4pm

Balance Yoga and Wellness (120 S. Cortez St, Midcity)

$15 drop in

Free community class Sunday 10:00-11:30am and Tuesday 7:15-8:45pm

Freret St Yoga (4608 Freret St, Uptown)

$15 drop in

Free community class Mondays 7:45-9:00pm

Wild Lotus Yoga (uptown and downtown locations- see website)

$15 drop in

Free (by donation) community class Wednesday 7:45-9:15pm

Also various $7 community classes- uptown has 3 a week. 

lululemon athletica showroom (802 Nashville Ave, Uptown)

A clothing store that has complimentary classes every week. Each month they showcase a different studio  and free classes are on the weekends. The website currently talks about last week's free class in the park with their own staff and shanti teacher Lindsay so you may have to call and ask an educator. 

I'm sure there are more free classes to find around our city- these are just the places I've been to. Here are a few more studios offering very affordable classes. Also, please note I live in the GD so I mostly looked uptown. Would love to know about other studios in the Marigny, Downtown, Met'ry, etc...

Yoga 108 (Bikram studio, 8229 Oak St, Uptown)

$18 drop in

Couldn't find any community classes here. All are Bikram and one is Silent Bikram. I have never practiced at this studio since I'm no the biggest Bikram fan but you could call and see if your first class is complimentary. 

Audubon Yoga (Iyengar studio uptown)

$15 drop in

No community/discounted classes but there is a by donation meditation 'class' Friday mornings 9-10:00am.

Shanti Yoga Shala (3582 Magazine St, lower Garden District)

$14 drop in

No discounted or community classes but recently did a $20 for 20 class livingsocial.

Swan River (multiple locations)

$14 drop in

I had trouble locating a community class at the various swan river locations but you could call and ask. The first class here is free. I really like these studios and would totally Love a community class.

Yoga Bywater (900 Louisa St, Bywater)

$12 hour, $15 90 minutes drop in

Sivananda classes are on a sliding scale from $5 to $13 and all other classes are as stated above. No community classes and I've never been here so I can't vouch for it.

The Yoga Room (Ashtanga Studio, 4905 Freret St)

$10 drop in (great!)

All Mysore Ashtanga classes, one led class and one intro class each week. No community or discounted classes. 

just like White Lotus Foundation CHAI Tea

Anyone who has been to the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, CA comes back raving about the food. The cook, Beatrix, serves up amazing vegetarian (almost all vegan) meals three times a day. While I was there, a few times, she made this really beautiful chai tea. The smell of it filled the entire space up until we were all gathered near the kitchen waiting for it to be ready. 

Beatrix wouldn't give me her recipe, which she said would be too difficult to scale down. (She does have a cookbook though!) When we (my fellow students) were back home talking about it I was nominated for the task of trying to recreate the perfect chai, at least at good as Beatrix's. So I've been working.

Here's what I got so far after reading a bunch of recipes and trying out my own.

1) fill a pot with 3 cups of water. turn the heat up high.

2) cut off about an inch of fresh ginger, remove the skin, and then slice that inch into thin slices. drop the slices in the water.

3) drop 1 cinnamon stick into the pot.

 4) add 6 cardamom pods to the pot. if you really like cardamom you can give them a little smash before adding them. i boil the chai enough so that the pods open up and give off such a nice fragrance and flavor.

5) I like my chai with a little zing so I drop in 5 black peppercorns. try it out and then decide if you want to add in only 4 or even 3. 

6)  add 6 whole cloves 

***some people like to add one anise star. i don't. but try it out, see if it's for you.

7) with all of these ingredients in the pot bring the water to a boil. once it's boiling, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.

8) after the 5 minutes of simmering, remove from the heat, still covered, and set it aside for 10 minutes as it steeps.

9) after those ten minutes, bring the pot back onto the heat and bring to a boil.

10) once it's boiling you can add your tea. choose a nice strong black tea- assam. i use tea in bags because it's super easy to just throw them in and then strain them out. add in 2 tea bags or one tablespoon of loose tea.

11) so your chai is up to a boil, you've added your tea. now take the pot off the heat and set it aside (covered) to steep for about 5 minutes.

12) now add one (how much i add) or two tablespoons of sweetener. i've been using brown sugar. you really don't need a lot at all so just add tiny amounts at a time.

13) strain out the ingredients, add whatever form of milk you'd like (cow, soy, nut) and ENJOY! The perfect chai. 

This should make you two big glasses full. Let me know what you think! 

photo challenge: day 9

day 9: a photo of something from far away

(posted on day 10)

CBD

these homes need some love

When you move here everyone will tell you that New Orleans changes dramatically with each street you go down. That seems weird and almost impossible for someone to understand who hasn't spent time here. But, it's true. Yes, some neighborhoods are pretty similar across the blocks. But, oftentimes, you can walk one street with million(s) dollar mansions and then the next street will have houses boarded up, with broken windows, and lots of times those houses are the ones with people gathered all around them spending time outside. It's really quite interesting and something you have to experience for yourself. When someone moving here says that they want to live in a safe neighborhood I tell them that the best way to do that is to be a good person, know your neighbors, and choose a place where you feel good walking around because New Orleans is not a place to live where you want to stay inside. And, don't worry so much about walking down a "scary" street- people are naturally friendly and talkative here and not always looking to snatch your purse (just be smart).

The top photo is the central business district, taken from the highway. Except I don't think people call it the highway here- maybe the thruway or freeway or something. The second one is a few blocks down from my place where there are always little children playing outside but the houses look abandoned- maybe the owners didn't have enough money to rebuild after the big K.

Anyway, hope you enjoy. Off to day 10!

photo challenge: day 8

day 8: a photo of something close up

This morning, while taking a walk around Audubon Park I got a little camera crazy and took photos of everything with my iPhone.
So, here's my input for today- 3 photos of somethings close-up. No one said they had to be clear....mine are blurry. I like them anyway.

photo challenge: day 7

Day 7: a photo of a silhouette

So, I didn't do so well today. I was busy until this afternoon, watched a movie about eating (Food Matters!!) and putzed around my house for a while instead of taking a photo of a silhouette. Tomorrow is another nice long day but i'm taking a photo of something close-up and posting it that day, gosh darn it.

Here's my "silhouette"

You can't really see it. But, when I opened my corn from the farmer's market there was a little surprise for me. A little green creepy crawly. Incase you are wondering, I didn't eat him. And I still love the farmer's market, even though I got a little buggy surprise.