Thank you for your comments, e-mails, Tweets and messages. Each and every one was humbling and touching beyond words. I do feel lucky and grateful to be a part of such a powerful network of women (and some men!). Each day presents a new challenge and lesson to be learned. A friend of mine forwarded me an e-blast from Asheville Community Yoga and the message of the e-mail hit the nail on the head.
A fine line exists between control and flow. We do our best to control our internal and external environment. We manage our time, our work, reputation, money and try to manage other people–with varying degrees of success. We exert control over our bodies by choosing our food or denying it food, rest or even a deep breath. We feel emotions or stuff them down. We’re good at control. In many ways, control is necessary and appropriate but too much of it tightens the mind, harms the body and armors us against the freedom flow that we actually deeply desire. The truth is that much of the time control is impossible and the only way to avoid suffering is to give up the habit of trying to control.
I love Asheville yogis and all of their wisdom. I think I’ll read this daily.
Here are some of the things that have helped me start my week on a good note.
Pumpkin oatmeal and a pretty pumpkin on my front steps.
A soy latte with a side of cute golden retriever. Although this soy latte reminded me how sad I am that Starbucks is doing away with free soy milk upgrades with the gold card.
Sushi.
And frozen yogurt. It’s hard to say whether I like crushed waffle cones or cinnamon toast crunch more. 😉
A new vanilla pumpkin candle for my office. Smells so good!
A warm and toasty turkey sub from Which Wich. I love their sandwiches so much. They FAR exceed Subway or any of the other chain places.
I mean, really…there are no words for this one.
Lunch at Whole Foods. Note the sweet potato biscuit. If you are at WF and see one of these, add it to your plate. You won’t be sorry!
A new lululemon Cool Racerback in Metro colors. They never have orange so I was very excited to discover work-appropriate lulu!
And finally, I had the opportunity to teach three classes today. Two yoga and one circuit training. I finished each of the three classes beaming from ear to ear. I never had an opportunity to workout today but leading others through their workout was enough for me. Teaching makes me so happy.
Now it’s time for dinner and relaxation. I hope that y’all are having a great week. What is one thing that started your week off on a good note?
i love everything about this post: pumpkin, starbucks, golden retrievers, sushi, pumpkin smelling candles, golden retrievers hugging their toys, whole foods, your office–i want a desk like that!
i love my office! i feel so spoiled!
love the tank and sweet sullie is so amazing…that face is unbelievable! what a sweetheart!
I added raw cacao to my morning “oatless” oatmeal today! My goodness so good with warm banana and stirred in almond butter.
I started off my week in the arms of my two precious granddaughter’s….nothing better in the world!!
so sweet! 🙂
I love which wich too! The last time I was there with a friend we ranked sandwich shops from best to worst and which wich was number 1 haha
haha! love that you did it while you were actually in the restaurant!
Just found your blog, looking forward to future posts. Good call on the pumpkin oatmeal!
thank you so much for checking it out!
i snagged that same lulu tank last month! it good for races too (makes friends and family easy to spot you!) 😉
i know, i love wearing bright colors at races instead of black so i stand out! 🙂
TJ Pumpkin butter is in stock!
Oh! Poor Sullie and that little face – it’s obvious that she isn’t getting enough treats, so you should give her some more. 😉
You are filling your days with good stuff that makes you happy! That is the way to do it.
clearly she doesn’t get enough treats! 😉 just last night i gave her a bone stuffed with avocado. she loved it. she is so spoiled!
I bought myself a new nail polish!
P.S.Love that tank!
I started my week off by having a full fridge after a great trip to the farmer’s market. I love having so many fresh fruits, veggies, and all my grains for the week aheads meals.
i love that too! makes me so excited to eat at home (which i have been doing a terrible job of doing!).
Teaching fitness classes makes me sooooo happy, it really is the best feeling ever.
Love love love that email message. That totally struck a major chord with me!! Thank you for sharing it!
Is that a Budda stuffed hedgehog that Sullie is snuggling? My golden had two and they were her absolute favorites!
I meant to comment on your post yesterday, but I want to say that I appreciate your honesty and how well-written and thoughtful that post was; I can only imagine how hard (and amazing) this past year has been, but I truly wish you all the best.
yes! it’s such a funny toy. unfortunately, she killed the squeaker so it doesn’t make sound anymore.
thank you for the kind words about my post.
haha oh yes, the squeakers never last long!
Love all of your photos! What kind of camera do you use?
nikon d3100…love it.
Letting go of control is something I’m slowly working on myself. Sometimes you just have to let life take its course and trust that everything will work out as it should. 🙂
LOVE that Lululemon racerback! I need to go there ASAP.
You have the most handsome dog ever. Just sayin. Sooooo cute!
Jen, I did not get a chance to comment on your previous post but just wanted to stop in and say hi 🙂 Hang in there, you are being so strong and don’t owe anything other than what you want to give to your readers. xoxo
Sullie is adorable. Sam makes that little face and it’s irresistable!
Love the quote too – I need that at this time in my life too!
tracy – thanks so much for the comment. it’s great to hear from you. miss seeing your pics of sam. post some of FB! 🙂
I love the colors and smells of fall! Thank you for sharing the yogi quote. It was perfect for me!
My week has started with training hard, yoga, a bike ride and today a new grandson is arriving!
New life, what could be better!
Blessings to you, Jen.
Such a fabulous blog post yesterday (and always!)…thank you for opening up your life to all of us, you continue to be an inspiration each day! Where did you get that Vanilla Pumpkin candle?? I love pumpkin candles during Fall, but can imagine one mixed with vanilla is heavenly!
ashley – thank you for the kind words. the candle is from home goods. i love all things vanilla so vanilla pumpkin was a dream come true!
pam – congratulations on a new grandson. that is so exciting!
I had never been to which wich until we moved to Chicago and now we have one steps from our building. It’s amazing! I think we ate there 4/5 days when we were moving in. There are SOO many customization options and I love customized food!
I LOVE lulu racerbacks. I always look at the other ones, but I keep coming back to the racerbacks or the scoop necks. They are a winning formula for me.
Thanks for the honest post the other day. I look at your life and see perfection, but I know that as bloggers we are able to only put photos of the happy, shiny stuff and there is often a lot going on in the background. Thanks for your honesty and sharing…support comes in weird places…even the internet!
sierra – which wich is really close to my house but not walking distance. that would be so tempting. i love the customization too because it doesn’t make me feel like such a pain in the ass when i change everything! 🙂
the racerback and power y are my two go-to’s at lulu!
one of my favorite sayings is that you can’t compare your life to everyone else’s highlight reel. and that’s what social media/blogs tend to be…a highlight reel.
I’m interrupting your comments 🙂 I read something similar about Facebook once; it was something along the lines of “If everyone’s life was as amazing as they make it out to be on Facebook, all of the world’s problems would be solved” or some happy crappy like that. It also mentioned to not compare yourself to those online who appear to have amazing lives, because everyone has their own personal struggles.
Ah I love this season of pumpkin fever. And what a great new lulu racerback! I have been in an iPod funk lately – I hate workout music, I hate the podcasts I have – so Monday I spent the time & money to treat myself to some new music, books, and to update some podcasts. It’s refreshing and keeps things interesting.
i get in iPod ruts too! glad you found some good stuff to mix it up. i get overly excited when i put together a new playlist. i think i’ll never get tired of it but inevitably, i do!
Jen, where is that sushi from? Looks delish!
yama – sushi guru is my fave but they were closed.
Getting closer to my 5K goal started my week off right. And fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies after dinner the same night–yum! It’s all about balance, right? 🙂
mmm…cookies! 🙂
LOVE that new orange color. I want!
PS- Sullie, there are no words. <3
LOVE that saying; going to put it at my desk at work and at home. And possibly on my forehead 😉 that sushi looks amazing; I am pregnant with my second, and never in my life have I craved wine and sushi like I do with this one. I’m thinking I’ll have my hubs bring some to the hospital once I have her 😉 Also, this week I have a nasty case of bronchitis and have doctor orders to stay home from work, so I’ve been home with my snuggly 2 year old daughter, pooch and kitty cat; not a bad way to spend a sick week! Love your office, the bright tank, and Sullie. Hope the rest of your week is just as great!!
I love the blue shirt you are wearing with the coffee…where did you get it! I need more shirts with the thumb hole!
WF salad bar is the best in Charlotte! Haven’t found the sweet potato biscuits yet; where are they hiding? Hit up the salad bar for dinner last night and made extra for lunch today…on Tuesday nights the store has $2 glasses of wine as well…perfect dinner!
Maybe I’m a weirdo, but I’m super-particular about the color and shape of my pumpkins, and yours is perfect by my standards! Good choice 🙂 And that picture of Sullie – what a cutie!
haha – i am pretty picky about that stuff too. trader joe’s! 🙂
Pictures of Sullie make me miss my golden. I used to have the most wonderful golden named Bear. They are the best. The sushi looks great!
All the pumpkin in this post made me smile. I love the orange colour of that lulu top! Too bad I can not pull off orange in any way ha ha. My complexion wont allow for that to happen;)
And I also love the thumb holes in that sweater your wearing! I have a lulu jacket with thumb holes and its my favorite. Sullie is too cute!
I live near Asheville- I love Asheville Community Yoga! It’s such a wonderful place, I’m too far away to go to regular classes now that I’ve moved, but anytime I’m in AVL I try to take a class.
This might sound weird, but I recently bought my first tank top from lululemon and actually wasn’t happy with it because of the padded cups (they made me look much more filled out than I actually am… and on my small frame it looked really weird). Until I read your post, I didn’t realize the pads were removable! I took them out and the shirt looks a hundred times better. So thank you!