Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Fitness Friday

This post was ready to go last Friday, but I went to a pizza party at my aunt's and forgot about it. And now we're in Massachusetts after a week in Ohio! 

If shopping counts as exercise, I've been killing it since arriving in the US!

I did however, do some actual exercising today (aka last Friday). Admittedly, it felt really good.

It was a gorgeous morning, so I took my yoga outside to enjoy the cool, clean air. My heel is still firing up when I flex my foot during downward dog, so I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. 


I took my mom's dog with me to get my brows waxed so that we could walk at the park after. She's little, but she can cover a mile pretty quickly.


My favorite thing to do (besides shopping) when we come home is to enjoy food. I know I can eat salads in China, but it's much easier to get boxed salad here and just gobble it up. 


I started and finished a new romance book about a runner. It's been a while since I read a book that fast. It was really good!


My mom made gluten free chocolate chip cookies. A couple of those with Ohio sunshine and life is good.


We arrived in Massachusetts on Marathon Monday. Booney's adoptive dad was running and we tracked his progress online, but we were super excited to get this via a text.


We got a workout yesterday digging around our stuff that's in a storage unit here. It's nice to have our things so close.


My sister-in-law always has something new-to-me and tasty in her kitchen. I'll be bringing some of this back to China with me.


We finally got our underwater camera pictures developed from our trip to the Maldives in February. 



Hope you're having a great day!!




Monday, April 11, 2016

Pushing through Jetlag

We made it Columbus, Ohio last night, a mere 24 hours after leaving China. No matter how much I plan to beat the jet lag, it always seems to haunt us the first couple of days. Today we were both awake by 3AM.

When you're jet lagged and hungry, waiting for the breakfast bar to open seems like forever. We were rewarded with some awesome fruit and made-to-order eggs though.



While waiting for my BFF to come get me for our day together, I thought a little Yoga Camp session would help keep me energized. I tried to get mrC to join me, but he preferred to preview only.


By the way, do you workout with your significant other? Love this guy for trying. 

After some shopping and lunch, my BFF took me to her stylist at Salon Lofts for a long overdue color and cut. I loved this because each stylist has her own space. No loud conversations or styling tools to try to talk over. While Mitzie did my hair, we hung out, drank wine, and talked and talked and talked. Jet lag was far from my mind. 


Oh and my hair...love it!


While at the salon, mrC met up with my dad who flew in from Florida and mrBFF picked up the kid from school. Then we all met up for a Mexican dinner at Abuelos. I really miss nights like this! 


To make it even better, we brought out the Girl Scout cookies BFF has been hiding in her freezer for a little dessert. 


Jet lag? What jet lag?!

Friday, April 8, 2016

A Hiking Goal and My Chinese IKEA Kitchen

This morning I had a date with mrC to climb the mountain, but first there was coffee. Being an ultimate multi-tacker, while waiting for my coffee to brew, I stepped out to enjoy the morning view of the harbor and do some squats.


We've decided to try to hike the mountain a couple times a week because it's a really good workout. 

Check out these stats: 
4.34 miles covered
54 flights climbed
405 calories burned
97 minutes 

Plus we just feel super awesome when we make it to the top.


The post-hike breakfast was courtesy of mrC and he whipped up my favorite cheesy scrambled eggs and ham.


After breakfast, mrC went to work and I began the waiting game for our grocery order to be delivered. We take advantage of the free service offered by one of the international stores when we need to buy our bulky products: paper towels, toilet paper, laundry soap, napkins. While I waited I foam rolled my calves and used a tennis ball to try to hit the trigger point. My heel was still feeling pesky today when I stretched.


When I was making an afternoon smoothie, I started thinking about how much we have adapted to this "smaller" life we're living here. The people in China are much smaller in stature which makes it challenging to find clothes and shoes that fit us. We used to live on a 2 acre lot in a 3 bedroom two bath house and now we're in an apartment that measures 96 sq. meters. 

This randomness started because I was thinking about the size of my smoothie maker. The small cup makes it hard to get everything I want into my smoothies, but it works.


Kind of like the way my tiny Chinese kitchen works. There's actually a good amount of space to prep as long as you don't store things on the counters, which is true in any sized kitchen, right?


Dishwashers are not common, but sanitizers are. We didn't even use the one in our old apartment, but the layout here makes it easier to wash and load. We usually run it when we go to bed (just like the dishwasher at home). It sanitizes and dries. 


It's also common to have your washing machine in the kitchen (or on the balcony like our last place). This was weird at first, but it's not so bad.


It's also typical for the kitchens in rentals to be stocked with IKEA cabinets.



Does your home have any quirks?



Thursday, April 7, 2016

Yoga & Heels

I made a friend on my way to yoga class today.


Post- yoga brunch: a plate full of cheesy scrambled eggs with ham and a smoothie.


I've been feeling a little under the weather, so Emergency-C is my new snack.


A couple of days ago, I noticed a hot, tingly sensation in the side of my heel when doing downward dog. I've been spending some extra time on my calf muscles when I foam roll hoping it's just a kinky nerve or myofascial issue. I'm going to make it my mission to study the illustrations in this article that show which muscles are affected by different stretches.


Spotted this cartoonish looking cloud floating over Shekou during my afternoon walk.


Ever have heel pain only when you're stretching?
Favorite cold remedy?






Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Lessons from Flow

This morning Facebook warned me that the clouds were moving out, so I could enjoy the sunshine in Shenzhen. 

It was already getting toasty on my walk to yoga.


I learned a few things at Flow today:

1) 70 minutes of yoga is not long when you have a good teacher.

2) Yoga is a universal language, so it doesn't matter that the class is in Mandarin. 

3) 10 second assisted hand stands are scary when you're 45!

4) Keep trying! One day you will be able to do that pose you've been chasing. Today I surprised myself by being able to do bound revolved side angle pose on both sides.

Yoga was just as I expected after my warm walk there...a sweat-fest. My favorite facial wipe is perfect for a quick clean up before heading back out in public. I love that it doesn't leave my face feeling dry.


I never eat before yoga class, so I usually have post-yoga brunch. Today's smoothie: frozen blueberries and raspberries, fresh blueberries and strawberries, almond milk, protein powder, chia seeds and yogurt.


Afternoon walk in search of anti-skid material to put under our rug that slides all over the place now that we have wood floors. It's nice of Shekou to place these umbrellas at street corners for pedestrians to stand in the shade while waiting for the light to change. 


Four more days until we leave!




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