living in chicago

Celebrating Fall

/ living in chicago, pictures

Adam and I took a trip to The Morton Arboretum this week to look at the trees and enjoy the pretty fall colors. The weather was nice. It had rained earlier, so the ground was damp, but I was mostly comfortable. I think we went right at the peak. I also collected two buckeyes. And hugged my favorite sugar maple tree.

I took lots and lots of photos. I couldn’t get over how pretty everything was. We drove through this woodsy part that was gold. Just tall trees with golden leaves, golden leaves floating to the ground, golden leaves scattered all over the ground. It was bright and happy and amazing.

Click here to see pictures from this year and last, including that forest of gold. 🙂

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What I’ve Been Up To

/ life, living in chicago, pictures, ronni, yoga teacher training

Gourds

Hey there, hi there, ho there! Thanks to the folks who entered my giveaway. The winners have been contacted and all is well.

So how goes it? I’m aware that it’s been a while (ten days, exactly) since I’ve posted a “what’s up” kinda post, but I had good reasons.

1. I was temping in an office for a few days, and then I was working a lot from home.

2. I FINALLY got some macarons. I’d been craving them for months.

I Finally Have Macarons!!!

3. I discovered that I love Luna bars. Certain varieties of them are soooo good. I know, I have a problem. I love BARS. Those Trader Joe’s “A Blueberry Walked Into a Bar” cereal bars. Quaker granola bars and Dipps. Cocoa Puffs Treats. They’re so easy to eat. Easy to carry around with me. But at least Luna bars are 70% organic and have lots of vitamins and nutrients, so I don’t have to feel *as* guilty for loving them so much.

4. Saturday, I got the pleasure of studying with master teacher Seane Corn (and she is 10000x amazing) and I attended a master teacher roundtable with her as well.

5. Sunday night, I went to the 2012 Kellogg’s Tour of Olympic Champions show with my silver VIP ticket. I attended the Chalk Talk (pre-show Q&A) and had 4th row seats for the actual show. I also got a souvenir gold medal. I bought a program, a pin, and a leotard but I don’t know if I am brave enough to post it here. Although if you do some digging, you’ll be able to find it…

In the meantime, take a look some girls who definitely look amazing in leotards. You might recognize a few of them….

2012 Kellogg's Tour of Olympic Champions

2012 Kellogg's Tour of Olympic Champions

2012 Kellogg's Tour of Olympic Champions

[more]

But there was one HUGE thing that pretty much consumed me. You see, I had my video review today. The video review is an important milestone in my yoga teacher training journey, and boy was I stressed out about it. Those of you who follow my personal facebook or my tumblr got to see firsthand my freakout sessions about it. The prep for it took a lot of time. Practicing, writing sequences, editing sequences, running the sequence out loud to myself in the shower, running it through my mind in the wee hours of the morning when I couldn’t sleep and my bladder was constantly needing to be emptied and the cat was wailing outside the door. Yea, good times.

Because I wanted to do a good job. For numerous reasons. And so I got to the studio about 30 minutes before class started to help set up mats and props. People started arriving about 5-10 minutes before class. Those last ten minutes FLEW by. And then it was time for me to start. I taught the 30 minute opening sequence while Daren (my teacher) sat in the back taking notes on his laptop and Graham (one of my YTT classmates and Daren’s personal assistant) recorded us. There were three of us, 30 minutes each.

When I got to the front of the room, there were times when I just forgot myself. I forgot I was teaching. I just got in the zone. I stumbled over some words. Said some silly things. Used the word “just” wayyyy too much. But overall? HE SAID I WAS AWESOME. He said I exceeded his expectations. He gave me so many compliments, and the constructive feedback was very gentle. He has a really amazing way of delivering feedback that does not make you want to beat yourself up for messing up a cue or forgetting to do small things. I had on my Team USA leo under my shorts and Moksha tee-shirt, but only a few people knew it was there. I felt like it was a good luck charm. He told me that he thinks that teaching yoga is my dharma. (I plan to write a post on dharma sometime….)

At any rate, I PASSED MY VIDEO REVIEW, and now I get to teach eight karma/community classes to actual, paying customers. *gulp*

So… that’s what I’ve been up to these days. Now the the video review is done, I can let out a huge breath I’ve been holding, get a decent night’s sleep, and tackle my next to do list. Also, we’re going to Morton’s Arboretum this week. I’m super excited for that! Trees seem to be peaking so this will be awesome. Can’t wait to take lots of photos!

Til next time….

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Autumn 2012

/ life, living in chicago, pictures, to do

Well, there was no more denying it after today. Temps in the low 60s/upper 50s, rain, grey. Adam’s favorite but blah to me. Still, it was a good day and for that I cannot complain. And as you can see, I’ve updated my site’s theme to reflect the new season. Do you like it?

Today the iPhone 5 came out. Adam and I were both due for upgrades. I was going to wait because my iPhone 4 is still great, but when Adam came home with his new phone and started ordering Siri around, I decided I wanted to go ahead and upgrade today as well. Especially because he told me that he’d only waited in line for 20 minutes. By the time I got there, there was no line at all!

I got the white one. It’s so fast and lightweight and the screen looks great.

I also got another big purchase. Remember last year when Disney released a bunch of Designer Princess dolls? (I didn’t post about them here, but I did on my Disney blog.) This year, they released a bunch of Designer Villains. Well, they’re not all out yet. I only wanted Maleficent and surprisingly, getting her was NOT at all the big deal it was to get Jasmine and Tiana last year. No long lines. No getting up at 6am. No hoping to get a number and the disappointment when they ran out right before me. No crashing websites. I just sauntered on to the Disney Store’s website early this week and she was there. Easy as pie! I got cash back from ebates for that purchase, too!

She’s GORGEOUS. And this photo does her exactly zero percent justice.

Maleficent-Disney Villains Designer Collection

I am going to visit my mommy for a few days. I can’t wait to see her. I haven’t seen her since Christmas. WTF. So I’m looking forward to the drive (I typically hate road trips, but I plan to make Adam sleep while I listen to Lana Del Rey, Mariana and the Diamonds, and Purity Ring) and just cruise for about three hours. Then I’ll wake him and make him drive the rest of the way. Hee hee. I have a lot to do before I get there.

· back up the computer
· charge iStuff
· go to Bari and get Italian subs for Mommy and Greg
· pack (clothes, electronics, homework & textbooks, books, bathing suit (my mom’s place has a pool!), snacks & sandwiches for the road trip–will help me avoid being tempted by McDonald’s)
· clean out the car (gonna suck b/c it’s going to be cold and rainy tomorrow too)
· straighten up the place so we won’t come home to a dump

And while I am there, I need to (in addition to visiting with whomever I can):

· work on anatomy homework
· write book review for Fire of Love
· write out apprenticeship sequences
· email Zoey private lesson reports and info about the class I took outside Moksha
· email Susan at VSA re: next friday
· work on freelance projects (I’m expecting at least two to come in—finding Internet will be tricky but I think I can manage it as long as there is a Starbucks around)
· personal yoga practice and/or hit the treadmill

I already know this trip isn’t going to be long enough. I’d wanted it to be somewhat relaxing but it won’t be, because I’m taking a to-do list with me. And once I get back, I’m going to have to hit the ground RUNNING. It will be exhausting. I will have to make sure I get good sleep and take care of myself so I won’t get all overwhelmed and stressed and stuff.

But hey, see how I mentioned anatomy homework? I’m enjoying that class! It’s three hours every Thursday night, and the teacher, Shanna, really makes it relateable. For example, she will talk about certain muscles and have us feel the muscles on our bodies. And I don’t know, I just like the way she teaches and the stuff I’m learning. We have a big binder and every week we focus on something different. Last night, we did bones and joints. Here I am, randomly before class started:

Hi
Wow. That is SO not flattering.

OH. And remember last months when I was talking about how I was going to try to clean this place up? Here are some of the fruits of my labor. Only one before/after because I forgot the other times.

My Nest
My Nest - Before My Nest - After

Bedroom
Bedroom Bedroom
Bedroom Bedroom

Bathroom
Bathroom Bathroom
Bathroom

What do you guys think? 🙂 I mean, you can’t tell what my interests are at ALL from those photos, can you? And why yes, we do have a bookcase in the bathroom, what?

I got hit with a horrible stomach flu type thing Wednesday night. I was so sick. Managed to stumble into work Thursday but it wasn’t good. I was so tired and weak and COLD. Maybe that’s why I look the way I do in the photo from last night.

Anyway, that’s my life update for now. Till next time!

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Teaching Yoga

/ living in chicago, pictures, ronni, yoga

At the beginning of August, I had the privilege of teaching a yoga class at Musecon, my favorite convention ever. It’s not a sci-fi con, it’s a con for more creative folks. The emphasis is on things like writing, knitting, art, photography.

Here are a few pictures from the class I taught (pictures from the Musecon photo gallery):

Teaching Yoga at Musecon

Teaching Yoga at Musecon

Teaching Yoga at Musecon

Teaching Yoga

I got really good feedback. I think they want me to come back next year. 🙂

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