Currently (July 2024)

It’s a new week and I’m kicking it off with a “Currently” style blog post. I’m giving you a little bit of everything in this post from the podcast series that I can’t get enough of to school uniforms to my thoughts on the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders docu-series to how I’ve been hydrating and more!

Hope y’all have a great week!

CURRENTLY READING

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center. This is an older book – published in 2018 – but I found it as I was browsing the library on the Kindle account that I share with my grandmother and decided to try it. I’m a little less than halfway through it. It pulled me in very quickly and I’m very much enjoying the book.

My last post was all about books – Recent Reads: Summer 2024.

CURRENTLY IN THE MARKET FOR

School uniforms! Finn is starting kindergarten the last week of August and attending a uniform school. The guidelines are navy, light blue or white collared shirts on top and khaki on bottom. I can’t say he’s the biggest fan of shirts or pants with buttons so I’m sure we will have a period of adjustment but all will be fine. They can wear t-shirts and sweatshirts but they have to be purchased from the school spirit store.

I have many thoughts on kindergarten that I’m not quite ready to unpack yet in this post but I need to get my ducks in a row as far as preparations go!

I also got something recently that I’ve been in the market for for a long time – an Oura ring! Excuse my dirty fig-picking hands but this was the only photo I had of me wearing it. 🙂 I’ve wanted one for over a year now and decided to bite the bullet and get one when they were on sale 15% off during Prime Day. I refused to participate in Prime Day (I was overwhelmed and put off by it all) but I did find that Target and Best Buy were price matching so I drove over to Best Buy and picked one up there. I’ve been wearing it for about 10 days now. I’ll share my thoughts on it after I’ve hit the month mark.

CURRENTLY DRINKING

All the things! I love beverages, haha.

• I recently picked up a box of Twinings Peppermint and Creamy Vanilla tea and it’s so delicious!
• I am on a tart cherry juice kick and have been mixing it with seltzer water, kombucha or Fever Tree light ginger ale in the evenings. Pro tip: the Whole Foods 365 Organic Tart Cherry Juice is so much cheaper than many other brands – and good! Why tart cherry juice? Claims are that it’s a powerful antioxidant that can help reduce inflammation in the body and improve muscle soreness. It’s also said that it promotes better sleep by raising the body’s melatonin levels. I can’t say that I’ve noticed any amazing health benefits from it but it’s made for a really refreshing and enjoyable mocktail.
• LMNT electrolyte drink mix – it’s been the summer of sweat over here between all of my running and teaching hot yoga so added electrolytes have been a MUST for me. On a day-to-day basis, I reach for lemonade Ultima but a couple times a week on super heavy sweating days I’ll swap that out for LMNT.
• SPORTea – one of my clients brought me a box of SPORTea and I’ve been sipping on it some afternoons after a morning workout. It’s made with green tea, vitamin c, electrolytes and Siberian Eleuthera root to help promote health and natural energy. There is also an iced tea version.

CURRENTLY CRAVING

All the summer foods. Give me the tomatoes, okra, squash, peaches, cherries, blackberries, basil, watermelon….so good.

Tomato toast is one of my favorite lunches of all time. Lately I’ve been layering toasted homemade sourdough with Duke’s mayo, bacon, sliced tomatoes, sea salt and micro greens.

CURRENTLY WATCHING

The Olympics! I’m also making my way through the Simone Biles docu-series when I’m running on the treadmill. It’s SO GOOD!

I also made my way through this recently and wow. It was so problematic. Where does one even begin? The overall highlight for me was how supportive the girls were of one another. It truly felt like a team “we” environment without a lot of cattiness and drama. I also appreciate the level of professionalism and organization when it comes to the quality of dances, field presence, public appearances, etc. The lowlights were many…

• The way the cheerleaders were objectified (that whole locker room tour scene – ICK!)
• The way that Victoria was raised brainwashed to believe being a DCC was the end all, be all.
• The way that Victoria was treated by Kelli and Judy, especially as a veteran. When they said they didn’t see her showing that she wanted or was working towards any leadership role I almost fell of the treadmill. How many scenes were there of her working with rookies to help them with dances and just generally acting in ways that were leadership-focused/classy? GOOD FOR HER for walking away and not subjecting herself to a final year of disappointment and being torn down.
• The way the cheerleaders DESTROY their bodies for the sake of high kicks and jump splits. And the volume of which they’re made to practice these moves, even when they’re clearly exhausted.
• The way Charlotte bullied Kelli into cutting Ari, and how Ari was strung along. I was so happy to see that she’s found a home on the Miami Dolphins cheer team.
• The way Kelli and Judy talked about the girls bodies on the uniform day during training camp.
• The lack of fair pay. Seriously, at this point in time after what this organization has grown to become – W the actual F.

I could keep going but I think that gives you my overall take. I would LOVE to hear yours.

CURRENTLY WISHING FOR

An injury-free training cycle for the Every Woman’s Marathon! I just completed week two of my 18-week training block. I really, really, really desire to run a marathon that I feel properly trained for and to to have a positive experience on race day.

I have a chronic hip condition that has scared me away from distance running since I was diagnosed. I’ve managed it non-surgically for almost five years now and I feel stronger than ever. I decided to dabble back into distance with half marathon training last year and it went surprisingly well. I am giving this marathon my best go!

I am doing all the things to try and take good care of my body – strength training, chiropractor, physical therapy, rolling out. We will see!

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO

Let’s do podcasts for this!

I’ve been on a puzzle kick lately and I love to listen to podcasts like Something Was Wrong podcast while I’m working them. Season 18 was jaw-droppingly horrifying and insane.

“Despite never having given birth, 25-year-old Kaitlyn Braun convincingly perpetrated an unfathomable con on dozens of doulas across Brantford, Canada. Faking stillbirth pregnancies, she preyed on doulas — also a friend and ex-girlfriend — who united to hold Kaitlyn accountable and get justice. In these episodes, you’ll hear how Kaitlyn used social media to lure her victims, emotionally and physically manipulating them into spending countless hours and sometimes days supporting her through this horrific charade.”

Here are some other podcast episodes I’ve recently listened to and taken something from:

• Suleika Jaouad: You Are Not The Bad Thing on Everything Happens
• Depression and Self-Care, Accepting Love and Building Stronger Relationships on Being Well
• Three Blessings in Spiritual Life: A Mirror on Tara Brach
• Why Don’t We Get Better? on Being Well
• Marriage, Second Careers and Perfectionism with Victoria Beckham on Goop
• The Anxious Generation with Jonathan Hiadt on Good Inside
• Parenting: How to Nurture Yourself and Others on We Can Do Hard Things
• When Love Feels Unbearable with Anne Lamott on Pulling the Thread
• Evolve or Repeat: How to Grow without Abandoning Ourselves on Mark Groves

CURRENTLY INDULGING IN

Afternoons and evenings at the pool with no worries about what needs to get done around the house or being home by any certain time for dinner/bedtime. I’m in my feels that we only have a month of summer left! We are living it up!

CURRENTLY FEELING BLESSED BY

My yoga community. My yoga teachers. My yoga practice. That I’ve had the opportunity to share yoga with others for 13 years now. It is truly my favorite thing to learn about and my favorite work to do.

One of my big goals is to learn how to play the harmonium so that I can incorporate more singing, chanting, mantra, etc into my classes.

CURRENTLY PONDERING

Improving my sleep habits. I mostly got the Oura ring for the sleep tracking and while I knew my sleep was less than ideal, there’s no denying it now.

CURRENTLY LOOKING FOWARD TO

My dad visiting next week! I just had my mom here for a week for some medical appointments at Duke and now we’ll have my dad for a few days. He hasn’t been to Charlotte since September 2021 so I can’t wait! 🙂

YOUR TURN! 

What are you…reading, in the market for, drinking, craving, watching, wishing for, listening to, indulging in, feeling blessed by, pondering, looking forward to? 

Let’s have a group chat! 🙂