Circus Yoga

Sue and I took our first Aerial Yoga class on Saturday and loved it! I learned about this class after attending a wacky trapeze performance a few months ago and reading the bio of one of the most beautiful performers. I noticed she taught this Aerial Yoga class in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, so we decided to check it out. I thought it would be relaxing. It wasn't. I thought it would be easy. It wasn't. I was totally amazed at how challenging it was. It stretched my back in ways that I didn't know it could stretch. It made me feel uncoordinated and wimpy and totally ungraceful. I am dying to go back ASAP! I want to learn more and become strong enough to pull myself up on the "silks" without having to jump and I want to be GOOD AT THIS!! Nothing like a good challenge to test the limits of your body and your mind. One of the things about growing up is that you seem to be challenged less and less, or at least the challenges are in different areas (relationships, work, children). I like a good 'ol playground challenge every once in a while. Can I still do a cherry crop? A back handspring? I am dying to know.

I also found out there are a few studios in the city that have naked yoga. I will not be trying that!

Sub Zero

It's finally winter here in New York. Dan and I got up early today to hit the gym before work (don't get all "I am so proud of you guys"...this has only happened about 2 times this year) and found out that it was the coldest day of the year. Sub-zero in fact, when you calculate the wind chill. Anyway, the cold air woke us up really fast and made us run at a good clip to the gym....where we ran some more. We don't have much planned for Christmas/Hanukkah this year, which is both sad and sort of nice. We are just staying home-bound and relaxing. Dan's mom will be throwing a dinner party on Christmas for everyone and I will be cooking some famous Nielson holiday favorites. I was just looking over the recipes my mom sent me and noticed that our family recipes all have several ingredients in common:
1. cream cheese
2. sausage
3. CoolWhip!!

Very classy.

Goat-Tastic

If you have been talking to me at all the last few days, you will know that I am OBSESSED with these mini goats! I fell in love with goats while working on the farm with Sue (oh #18, I miss you so much) and now I think that I might be able to have one for my city apartment! Check out these mini goats! My friend Melanie sent these pictures to me. They are of her sister's mini goats in France. All 5 of them are pregnant and will be having baby mini goats in the Spring. I am thinking a trip to France is in order. Can you believe they are smaller than a cat? I am wondering if we could train them to poo in a litter box.

New Lanes in our Hood

Our neighborhood in Brooklyn just keeps getting better and better! I was on the internet searching for live music on Brooklyn when I found....a bowling alley! It is a mere 4 blocks from our apartment and has a great bar with all these fancy beers, foosball and pool. The lanes look really old, which makes it even cooler! I think Dan and I should start our own league. We also found out that our friends David and Belinda are renting a new apartment very close to us, so we will have another couple to join our bowling league. This is so exciting!

Mouth of Fire

I am so impatient with food these days, which has led to many a stomach ache and most recently, a really burned-up mouth! Dan and I went to a friend's annual holiday party at Shun Lee, this fabulous chinese restaurant in the Upper West Side. The waiters started coming around immediately with these delicious looking pot stickers. Of course I had to have one and I put the entire thing in my mouth, which burned and burned for a few minutes while I held my hand over my mouth and tried to cool it off by swirling the food around in my mouth and breathing hard. I didn't learn my lesson because I did the exact same thing with the wontons and then the spring rolls. By the end of the night, the top of my mouth was covered in blisters. Today it is scabby and I can't taste anything, but that isn't going to stop me from going out to dinner tonight!
On another exciting note, I just found out that there is a new bowling alley in our neighborhood! I think Dan and I should join a bowling league.