tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65232397172414346692024-02-06T23:03:39.704-05:0012 Months of Lent12 Months of Lent is a project that I started in 2009 where I assign myself a different personal challenge to complete each month—a sort of hybrid between the concept of lent and a New Year's resolution (just with less religion and more frequency). Through making myself do these funny challenges, not only do I live a more positive and fulfilling life, but I actually get things done—and have fun doing them. Thank you for reading!Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.comBlogger323125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-71689781016424295082012-12-31T20:36:00.000-05:002012-12-31T20:43:18.828-05:00Bye-Bye 2012 and Blogger, Hello 2013 and 12 Months of Lent 2.0!First of all, I have some big news that I'm <i>beyond</i> excited about…are you ready for this? <b>12 Months of Lent has moved! </b><br />
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That's right, after 4 years with Blogger, I've decided that the start of 2013 and my 5th year of 12 Months of Lent (can you believe it?) is the perfect time to move onto bigger and better things, i.e. <a href="http://12monthsoflent.wordpress.com/">Wordpress.</a> I've been a busy little bee (as has <a href="http://www.dankaplanmusic.com/">Dan</a> who's been amazing at helping me with the backend of things) moving everything over to my new site, which I'm aptly referring to as 12MOL 2.0. <br />
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What this means for you is that <b><i>this is my last post at the Blogger address,</i></b> so to stay up to date with 12 Months of Lent, please make sure to update your bookmarks, and RSS feeds, and email subscriptions, and all that stuff I barely know anything about. Here's where you can find me from now on:<br />
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<a href="http://www.12monthsoflent.com/">www.12monthsoflent.com</a><br />
<i><b>and/or</b></i><br />
<a href="http://12monthsoflent.wordpress.com/">12monthsoflent.wordpress.com</a><br />
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And that's not all! I finally got around to setting up a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/12MonthsOfLent?ref=hl">12MOL Facebook page</a>, which I plan on keeping updated with new posts and pictures and all that good stuff. Please take a second to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/12MonthsOfLent?ref=hl">like it,</a> and of course, to share it with anyone and everyone you know.<br />
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And I suppose since it's New Year's Eve and tomorrow marks the start of a brand new, odd-numbered year (I have a personal philosophy that odd-numbered years are <i>way</i> better than even-numbered ones), I should give some sort of summary of 2012, or at least as it relates to this blog, right?<br />
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I'll keep it short since you're all probably reading this on your iPhones at a bar, so here goes: 2012 was an awesome year for me, both personally, and for my lents. I might have failed to actually launch my design portfolio site like I was supposed to do last January and February (can't win 'em all), but I did an intense 21-day dietary cleanse in March, a technology detox in April, and a cool microphilanthropic month in May. I sat with my 92 year-old grandmother in June and July to record our family's history (which I later made into a book and gave to her this Christmas), got my finances back in order with a wallet diet in August, and embarked on a movie-watching challenge in September and October. Then I topped things off with a reading challenge in November, and my 7 Golden Rules of Christmas this past month—which of course brings me to my final check-in for that challenge.<br />
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I'm not gonna lie, I kind of fell off the wagon a bit after Christmas—as hard as I tried to keep it together, Christmas is just killer, especially when you work retail. I didn't let it discourage me or give me an excuse to abandon ship though. I've still been striving to maintain the healthy habits I set up, even after days when I've totally missed the mark. <br />
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I read a nice quote from Baron Baptiste today (in reference to his <a href="http://www.baronbaptiste.com/digital40days/">Digital 40 Days Baptiste Yoga program</a>) that perfectly summarizes how I feel about responding to failures and setbacks:<br />
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<i>"I often tell my students that it doesn't matter how many times you fall, it's about calmly and kindly getting back up each and every time that makes all the difference. Part of this program is that (much like your day-to-day life) it will present you with many opportunities to jump ship... "I had a stressful day today and don't want to meditate for 5 minutes" or "I don't have the time today for yoga practice or to make myself something for dinner." The good news is this is where the personal revolution occurs: you'll be on the lookout for these kinds of disempowering thoughts and attitudes and experience the power of choosing your next action. If you 'fall off the wagon', simply get back on."</i><br />
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Happy New Year everyone, thanks for all your love and support this year.<br />
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xoxo<br />
DanneDanne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-76580839454254284412012-12-29T16:47:00.000-05:002012-12-29T16:48:13.654-05:00Championing My To-Do List, Week 3, A Mini-Breakdown & Christmas Firstly, I'd like to report that I successfully crossed off every single to-do from last Sunday's marathon of a list. Every. Single. One. When has this ever happened to me before? Probably never—it was awesome (and a little exhausting). <br />
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Secondly, as far as my week 3 progress report goes, I fared pretty well. I hit my 4 yoga classes, I meditated every day, I practiced yoga nidra twice, ran twice, cooked 2 meals, didn't use my credit card, but...this is where I failed—I cheated on my no sweets rule. Dammit. It was a crazy day at work, a co-worker brought in a huge batch of my favorite kind of cookie ever (oatmeal butterscotch, omg), and...I just couldn't resist. So close—yet again—but still, I was feeling good. I was conquering the Christmas season. <br />
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And then, just like that, I had a mini-breakdown. I had left finishing up Grammy's family history book until the last minute (of course) but luckily the Staples gods were on my side and when I went to have it printed and bound, they were super accommodating and said they could do it right then and there for me. Perfect. No last minute Christmas Eve scrambling for me, phew. <br />
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But then the awesome guy I was working with had to help someone else and I got stuck with a lady who really couldn't have cared less about helping me put together a book <i>for my 92-year-old grandmother,</i> and suddenly things changed to "oh, we can't do this for you now, you'll have to come back tomorrow". Hello mini-meltdown.<br />
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It was fine though, I knew we had time to swing by the next day before heading down to the Cape, but it definitely threw me into the cranky-Christmas-sucks-stressed-out mood I had successfully avoided until that point. F. And then it certainly didn't help that after leaving Staples, Trader Joes was out of the cat litter I had driven there specifically to get. The mini-meltdown continued on until I yoga-nidraed myself out of it (but it did resurface a bit when I was bleary-eyed and up past midnight wrapping presents).<br />
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But everything ended up being fine of course, and I hope I don't sound too whiny—believe me, I'm counting my blessings that those were my biggest problems. I had a great time on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with both sides of my family, the book turned out perfect (it made almost every member of my family cry), and I got one of my all-time favorite Christmas presents (which may or may not be the theme of my January lent—stay tuned).<br />
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Mini-breakdown aside, it's been a relatively low-stress holiday season and I'm almost to the finish line of surviving it. One holiday to go and I'm in the clear. Woo-hoo!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIro7CV-sQvxPEyiJIC7rFC_37Z5cGTowoJSFun9iKVYjt7U92XbYMq61izADrlrjDPSOqWe4R3durM29wrA9mcW9O-EOlQBW5PcKzzQlYeP0JTbNb-ddO_Y6V3Qbp6io51DaXvmXx1tDU/s1600/seas_and_greetings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIro7CV-sQvxPEyiJIC7rFC_37Z5cGTowoJSFun9iKVYjt7U92XbYMq61izADrlrjDPSOqWe4R3durM29wrA9mcW9O-EOlQBW5PcKzzQlYeP0JTbNb-ddO_Y6V3Qbp6io51DaXvmXx1tDU/s400/seas_and_greetings.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The sign on my Cousin Stacy's house</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglFAEGbHno-hA_LGD-cMfngtQf0a4A9LC-oLssOglQ3z7PDOsuyTx2uBsQoh7uEpXb1qAT3FW4JFwpSo9YmcuPrghoesdrXauB3Z0vfdciP-2uyYbcJPMzvVi1vN0NSLIlp8qjxO9tWhk3/s1600/dzenawagis_wreath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglFAEGbHno-hA_LGD-cMfngtQf0a4A9LC-oLssOglQ3z7PDOsuyTx2uBsQoh7uEpXb1qAT3FW4JFwpSo9YmcuPrghoesdrXauB3Z0vfdciP-2uyYbcJPMzvVi1vN0NSLIlp8qjxO9tWhk3/s400/dzenawagis_wreath.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The wreath on <span style="font-size: small;">my parents back porch</span></i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8I2gdFFHv0sC4Zwfqn0myQAZq0V3qeMrcle3mxA854qbg3cXtBDs8TOC5Yg4MVsDe_2OUVb61OY23vTdftzQ4BnKyghlGV6zm_4SIMly-kkn9bw2xf4Hd2TW4CRuFMp-4DD51EUAlxqn6/s1600/itsawonderfullife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8I2gdFFHv0sC4Zwfqn0myQAZq0V3qeMrcle3mxA854qbg3cXtBDs8TOC5Yg4MVsDe_2OUVb61OY23vTdftzQ4BnKyghlGV6zm_4SIMly-kkn9bw2xf4Hd2TW4CRuFMp-4DD51EUAlxqn6/s400/itsawonderfullife.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>A Dzenawagis family tradition</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0bKucGB4iKJSv-5H5Lw1cVBEQIQBY9BE4dLEmYDi8MW_81eEQLKhD80dyhUcAajSqYCEcWCjIMA_9MWyWCfjhsVtrJhbHj8P7WEONZmuRMrrYYo1_uoEhSj2lrb8HNLBHQS7rvaYnN0j/s1600/tuesdayswithgrammy_book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0bKucGB4iKJSv-5H5Lw1cVBEQIQBY9BE4dLEmYDi8MW_81eEQLKhD80dyhUcAajSqYCEcWCjIMA_9MWyWCfjhsVtrJhbHj8P7WEONZmuRMrrYYo1_uoEhSj2lrb8HNLBHQS7rvaYnN0j/s400/tuesdayswithgrammy_book.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Grammy's book</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSi1YfSOXFbf5l_6si6CDTzO4QXg5Nvn7I4TmoZBYHu9r57dTVxbsbzbJ3NqtfYi3Sz69hpdb0cyPTaQxb8CXArWTM13B74g-lGgVfTa3sHeyZQWbitHRJehX7GBAAXa0atRNFW39ODA5/s1600/dzenos_xmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSi1YfSOXFbf5l_6si6CDTzO4QXg5Nvn7I4TmoZBYHu9r57dTVxbsbzbJ3NqtfYi3Sz69hpdb0cyPTaQxb8CXArWTM13B74g-lGgVfTa3sHeyZQWbitHRJehX7GBAAXa0atRNFW39ODA5/s400/dzenos_xmas.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Me, <span style="font-size: small;">m</span>y dad, and my brother</i></span></td></tr>
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<br />Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-55189056656467729242012-12-23T12:57:00.000-05:002012-12-23T12:57:49.504-05:00Today's To-DoThis week started out stellar but I definitely have a little catching up to do today (remember that time I accidentally slept until 11 yesterday? Whoops). Here's what's on my agenda:<br />
<ol>
<li>Hatha Flow @ 9:30 am: Check!</li>
<li>Decadent pancake breakfast with Dan: Check!</li>
<li>Finish and print Grammy's book (Dear Christmas Miracle, I need you now)</li>
<li>Wrap gifts</li>
<li>2-mile run </li>
<li>Yoga Nidra</li>
<li>Make real meal #2 of the week</li>
<li>Finish up my Christmas shopping after hours tonight at lululemon </li>
</ol>
Time to quit blogging and get to work, eek!<br />
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p.s. Making Christmas cookies is out the window today because I used my bonus sweet cheat Friday night at a friends holiday party when I spotted these bad boys (thank you Stephanie for making my Christmas dreams come true). My friend and old roomie Marissa used to make them all the time and we always referred to them as <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/saltine-toffee-cookies/" target="_blank">"bad girl crackers"</a> in our house. Enough said, right? Totally worth it.<br />
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Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-16961019882433522372012-12-21T18:17:00.000-05:002012-12-21T18:17:09.006-05:00"It Is Decidedly So"One of the best parts about working for <a href="http://shop.lululemon.com/home.jsp" target="_blank">lululemon</a> is that I can literally practice yoga, work, enjoy a lazy Sunday afternoon at home, and hey—even sleep if I want to—in the same clothes. And I'm sorry to break the news to those of you who aren't ready to hear this, but yoga pants are the new jeans. I basically have no interest in wearing anything that doesn't feature 4-way stretch ever again—can I even remember the last time I put on a pair of jeans? <a href="http://www.ask8ball.net/" target="_blank">My sources say no.</a><br />
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While this is great for comfort's sake alone, it's also great for motivation. For instance, this morning I had the 6am shift and knew that if I wasn't already wearing my running clothes that it'd be pretty tough to motivate myself to hit the pavement after such an early wake up. So what did I do? Dress like the little runner girl I'm posing as this month and deck myself out so I could stop by the river on the way home and do my favorite 3-mile loop.<br />
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But then it was raining when I left the house at 5:30am...and absolutely pouring when I left work at 1pm...and pretty torrential when I finally made it back home. Basically, I was totally rained out.<br />
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But of course, just when I had given up all hope of making it out for a few miles, the skies cleared up and the sun peeked it's little face through the rain clouds. Freaking. Perfect.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj451f9_cR2ni3If0odWr6r3-CzPF9KNQSpv7CeB2ZbljuRuWIHFww6vJA_RZwz9JWm5kJdvJVr8tJyVh1lf2NtjO1Gz6MblJNWdEDHAT-Yl6DUUHop_FI27MRiXZE3ciuYWUCywxeek2bh/s1600/rainedout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj451f9_cR2ni3If0odWr6r3-CzPF9KNQSpv7CeB2ZbljuRuWIHFww6vJA_RZwz9JWm5kJdvJVr8tJyVh1lf2NtjO1Gz6MblJNWdEDHAT-Yl6DUUHop_FI27MRiXZE3ciuYWUCywxeek2bh/s400/rainedout.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i><span style="font-size: small;">It went <span style="font-size: small;">from "<span style="font-size: small;">O</span></span>utlook not so good"...</span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwG_y4p8XM3FJWgH2WSbl-wKj8kHrPXImz2p-ltI885r7Cd6t7ta23J1jhwrPn5uI8zSw5KLXuN73uKgsuMOf0FYvSRVm7qBRBlXwcxrNO2v9ndVbTyvDB2pV-Ig8yAoQNbgbVuG_TUJhV/s1600/okfineillrun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwG_y4p8XM3FJWgH2WSbl-wKj8kHrPXImz2p-ltI885r7Cd6t7ta23J1jhwrPn5uI8zSw5KLXuN73uKgsuMOf0FYvSRVm7qBRBlXwcxrNO2v9ndVbTyvDB2pV-Ig8yAoQNbgbVuG_TUJhV/s400/okfineillrun.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>To, "<span style="font-size: small;">I</span>t is decidedly so"</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS_6_BYUUzr5tPnhP-o-ZR7w3ikJ-SvKOFBvTB_1rPNWWT-6gsRQi5khVc8NNPMKJMj-VGNt1Eb2X4L80B_WqXFfWgjwvjr3zQBmegQq9qYNaGphj5dj8O9YrlIR7IXQmSQc8co5K7UGbU/s1600/wildandscenicwatertown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS_6_BYUUzr5tPnhP-o-ZR7w3ikJ-SvKOFBvTB_1rPNWWT-6gsRQi5khVc8NNPMKJMj-VGNt1Eb2X4L80B_WqXFfWgjwvjr3zQBmegQq9qYNaGphj5dj8O9YrlIR7IXQmSQc8co5K7UGbU/s400/wildandscenicwatertown.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i><span style="font-size: small;">and then of course I stopped every 5 seconds to take <a href="http://instagram.com/dannedzenawagis" target="_blank">Instagram</a> photos. I do what I do...</span></i></td></tr>
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Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-32884571236437758192012-12-19T22:50:00.000-05:002012-12-19T22:50:44.835-05:00This Week = Killin It (NBD)It's only Wednesday, and so far this week I've meditated every day (I even received a personal meditation and mantra from my teacher to work with), I've already been to yoga twice, practiced yoga nidra once, and cooked my first of 2 recipes. Did I mention that I wrote and mailed out all of my Christmas cards too?<br />
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Basically, I'm killin it. Danne. Bam.<br />
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And now I'm relaxing by my <a href="http://www.yankeecandle.com/sale/bogo-50/balsam-cedar" target="_blank">Balsam and Cedar scented candle</a> and listening to the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAyfX0-1Zxw" target="_blank">Hanson Christmas album</a> (don't judge me) while I work on Grammy's Christmas gift—I'm <i>finally</i> putting together the printed book of our family history that I transcribed over the summer (you remember<a href="http://twelvemonthsoflent.blogspot.com/2012/06/tuesdays-with-grammy.html" target="_blank"> Tuesdays With Grammy</a>, right?). It's definitely the gift I'm looking forward to giving the most.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>p.s. Do these pics look familiar? <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fol<span style="font-size: small;">low me</span></span> on</span> <a href="http://instagram.com/dannedzenawagis" target="_blank">Instagram!</a></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCGigOlxRNKRNxla5EWK3vVZ5S47gLqUahOnaievyl73a0_OSeTaEbf1sRguEYXmzBAJGCO-mXr8Ieudwh7Qoj5H9sDWSDmS3NgL4W0ly17uRoeWBJ9TNY1bwIoZMRbK3Zu_0lFLHVgJx/s1600/week2_meal1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCGigOlxRNKRNxla5EWK3vVZ5S47gLqUahOnaievyl73a0_OSeTaEbf1sRguEYXmzBAJGCO-mXr8Ieudwh7Qoj5H9sDWSDmS3NgL4W0ly17uRoeWBJ9TNY1bwIoZMRbK3Zu_0lFLHVgJx/s400/week2_meal1.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>White bean and kale stew with a grilled cheese, avocado, pesto, and spinach, sa<span style="font-size: small;">mmie</span>. </i></span></td></tr>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Christmas card writin' last night</span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEaAMRtjaRxG0RglQAGfv8VUPb3hH8MY3EUfNLL9t830whOxo6Fl2GOiODmfl5R5eeV6jSDI9YsgL-l8C5md4Q9uQD8cIx1HOnrkig2Yvz9c058VPm1_LzATwYZ5YUMyDA95fp0A-lNW2z/s1600/surprise_package.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEaAMRtjaRxG0RglQAGfv8VUPb3hH8MY3EUfNLL9t830whOxo6Fl2GOiODmfl5R5eeV6jSDI9YsgL-l8C5md4Q9uQD8cIx1HOnrkig2Yvz9c058VPm1_LzATwYZ5YUMyDA95fp0A-lNW2z/s400/surprise_package.JPG" width="400" /></a></td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">A</span> surprise Christmas package I received from my friend Jocelyn with a gingerbread man tree ornament for me and a cat nip mustache for Fanne (which she's OBSESSED with). </i></span></td><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></td><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></td><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></td><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></td><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></td><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></td><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></td><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></td><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></td><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr>
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<br />Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-51086283394425840482012-12-17T14:28:00.001-05:002012-12-17T14:29:02.256-05:00My Week 2 Progress ReportWell look at that—Christmas is just about a week away, full-blown holiday-madness is among us, and somehow I haven't totally lost it yet. How is this possible? I'm going to go out on a limb and say it has something to do with this month's challenge, no?<br />
<br />
In addition to gift making/shopping, Christmas card writing, holiday party-going, and helping the clueless husbands of Boston's MetroWest pick out yoga outfits for their wives, this is what else I spent my time doing last week:<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Yoga Practice: </b>I made it out to 4 classes last week. Goal = hit! I tried to squeeze in a 5th like I said I would, but the one that best fit my schedule was full. What can you do? I'm perfectly happy with 4. </li>
<li><b>Meditation:</b> Every. Single. Day. This was huge for me, and also probably what is helping me to keep it together the most. </li>
<li><b>Yoga Nidra:</b> I only got to this once last week but my goal was twice. My <i>only</i> miss for the week, sigh...</li>
<li><b>Running: </b>Against my will, I made it out twice. It was cold, it was getting dark, but what got me out the door was reminding myself that I never come back from a run, or any workout for that matter, and say "man, I really wish I had just stayed home."</li>
<li><b>Cooking: </b>We did indeed prepare 2 legit meals, one of which was potato latkes for Chanukah (I don't know if the house will ever smell the same again, in a good way, of course). </li>
<li><b>No Sweets: </b>I did awesome with this one too, completely abstaining from all sweets except for the legal cheat I allowed myself on my birthday. </li>
<li> <b>Credit Card Freeze:</b> Still chillin'</li>
</ol>
I'm not gonna lie—it's been hard to fit everything in. Between working full-time, regular life responsibilities, holiday responsibilities and activities, trying to keep up with blogging, and attempting to hit all 7 Golden Rules of Christmas, I'm stretched pretty thin. To all the moms out there: I don't know how you do it, really. You're amazing. <br />
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But I'm pretty sure these healthy habits are what's keeping me sane in the first place, so it's well worth the effort if you ask me.<br />
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This week I'm again attempting to make every single goal, especially since I was <i>so</i> close last week, so close... Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-20231960067263083242012-12-12T22:08:00.001-05:002012-12-12T22:08:51.712-05:00Sweet Cheat #1Remember how I said I'd allow myself 3 "cheats" for my no sweets rule? Here's #1, which I enjoyed last night at my birthday dinner:<br />
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<br />Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-4415869861226860652012-12-11T17:39:00.000-05:002012-12-11T17:39:06.075-05:00Birthday Line-UpI consider myself to be pretty shy about most things, but definitely not when it comes to my birthday. I'm a huge fan of birthdays in general, and I'm especially psyched to be celebrating mine this year because it's the last one of my 20s (sad face...but also happy face because I plan on welcoming in my 30s from a yoga retreat in Bali. Who wants in?). <br />
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I made sure to take the day off, so that in true Danne fashion, I could do whatever I want. Here's my line-up:<br />
<ul>
<li>Sleep in (Fanne didn't bug me until 8:30, what a dream) </li>
<li>Breakfast</li>
<li>Meditate (I've been so good this week)</li>
<li>Goal Setting (what better day to do this, right?)</li>
<li>Lunch</li>
<li>Mani/Pedi (luxury!)</li>
<li>Blog</li>
<li>Yoga</li>
<li>Dinner at <a href="http://www.maxwells148.com/" target="_blank">Maxwells 148 </a>(cannot wait)</li>
<li>Pinot by the Christmas Tree</li>
</ul>
29 and feelin' fine...Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-15373496553557929752012-12-09T18:49:00.000-05:002012-12-09T18:49:07.347-05:00Serendipity<b>Picture It:</b> It's 9am, I check my email from bed to see if I got into the 9:30 yoga class I was on the wait list for, which sadly, I did not. Before the depression began to set in, I hopped out of bed and threw my running clothes on so at least I'd get some sort of movement in. Right as I was lacing up my sneakers—no literally, the exact moment—my friend Ashley called asking if I wanted to go for a run with her.<br />
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YES. Serendipity at its finest.<br />
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Immediately upon returning home from our brief little 5 mile jaunt (which I'll definitely be feeling tomorrow...and probably the next day too), I rolled out my mat and put on a "Yoga For Runners" class from <a href="http://www.yogatoday.com/" target="_blank">Yoga Today</a> which made my poor little out-of-shape muscles feel a lot better. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWfbGGZE07M" target="_blank">Today was a good day,</a> especially for hitting my weekly goals.<br />
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So, for my 7 Golden Rules of Christmas, here's how I fared for Week 1:<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Yoga Practice: </b>My goal was 4 classes, but I only made it out to 3. I did sign up for a 4th, but was a little...um...under the weather on Saturday morning and didn't end up making it out. Shame on me. Because of this though, I'm (happily) sentencing myself to 5 classes this week. </li>
<li><b>Yoga Nidra: </b>Goal was 2 times and that I did.</li>
<li><b>Meditation:</b> My goal was every day, my actual was..let's just say, I need to really focus on this one this week. </li>
<li><b>Running: </b>Hit my goal for this, woohoo!</li>
<li><b>Cooking: </b>Hit the goal for this one too.</li>
<li><b>No Sweets: </b>I was pretty on point with this one, however I may have snuck a single Hershey Kiss once or twice. Whatever though, it's still a win in my book because I turned down many cupcakes and candy over the course of the week.</li>
<li> <b>Credit Card Freeze:</b> It's still in there enjoying its winter hibernation. </li>
</ol>
My goal for Week 2 is to make every single goal. Can I do this? Yes I can! <br />
<br />
<i>And in other news, one thing I actually do love about the holidays is decorating. I did a lot of little things around the house earlier in the week, but today we finally got our tree (and of course busted out the menorah—this is a <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cashew" target="_blank">cashew</a> household after all). </i><br />
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<br />Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-69194263488671149662012-12-04T22:38:00.000-05:002012-12-04T22:40:43.391-05:00Be a Bookworm Wrap-Up and December's LentAnd it looks like it's happened again—hello December, where did you come from?<br />
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It's officially a new month so that means I'm officially on to a new challenge. Although I still have a little bit left to read in <i>Wild,</i> I'm perfectly ok with only having read 4 books over the course of the month instead of my original 5. I mean, considering that I'm pretty sure I only finished 1 book in all of 2012 up until this Lent, I'd say that's an improvement, no?<br />
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And before I move on, I'd like to give<i> Julie & Julia</i> my 2 12MOL Thumbs Up. Regardless of how many people trashed it on <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/14699271-danne" target="_blank">goodreads</a> because they thought the author was too "whiny", "self-absorbed", and "repulsive" (ok, ok, ok, even I agree, that maggot story was totally vile), I really loved it. Haters can hate all they want, but let's be honest—it's a pretty incredible story. <br />
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As for <i>Wild,</i> memoir #2 of the month, I'm fairly certain it'll receive my seal of approval as well. I have to say though, when I'm finished with this one I may need a break from books about women who overcome really terrible periods in their lives by creating insane personal challenges/epic journeys for themselves. I'm beginning to think I have a type…<br />
<br />
So…what am I doing for December? After tossing around a few different ideas, I decided that I'd create a sort of "holiday survival guide" so I can end 2012 on the highest note possible (instead of fat and broke like I normally do).<br />
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The basic gist is this: the holidays are what they are, totally crazy and absolutely exhausting. After all the gift shopping, cocktail party-going, family gathering, and Christmas cookie-consuming, I'm usually totally beat—not to mention disappointed with myself for letting all my healthy habits slip—by the time New Years rolls around. <br />
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Not this year!<br />
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I'm taking control of the situation and in order to stay healthy, both mentally and physically, this December, I've decided on a few guidelines, which I'm calling <i>"My 7 Golden Rules of Christmas",</i> that I'm 100% committing to this month:<br />
<ol>
<li>I will practice yoga 4 times a week. </li>
<li>I will practice yoga nidra 2 times a week. </li>
<li>I will meditate every day. </li>
<li>I will go for a run twice a week. </li>
<li>I will cook 2 healthy meals from real recipes each week (ie. all of my meals will not come from the Trader Joes frozen section). </li>
<li>I will abstain from all sweets (I had 6 cavities filled a few weeks ago, whoops), but allow myself exceptions for my birthday (which is next Tuesday in case you were wondering), Christmas Eve (how could I deny myself Aunt Sue's amazing dessert selection?), and Christmas Day. Maybe one more small one if there's something too good to pass up. </li>
<li>My credit card will remain in the freezer (where it has been since my Wallet Diet in August, go me!). </li>
</ol>
My goal is to leave 2012 feeling like the best possible version of myself so I don't need to kick my ass come January 1st. I'm even thinking about finding one of those yoga classes on New Years Eve where you enter the new year in savasana—anyone in?<br />
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Bye, Be A Bookworm Challenge, Fanne and I will miss you...</i></span></td></tr>
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<br />Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-30869227987673751372012-11-30T22:17:00.000-05:002012-12-01T09:56:05.401-05:00The Four DesiresI just kind of breezed over the fact that I read this book without ever really mentioning what it's about, didn't I? There I go again... <br />
<br />
To reenforce my learnings from it—<i>and of course to prove to you all that I actually did read it</i>—here's a synopsis in 5 bullets or less (after all, this is a blog post, not a book report):<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Four-Desires-Creating-Happiness-Prosperity/dp/0553803980" target="_blank">The Four Desires</a> is a book by Rod Stryker, who is a teacher of my yoga teacher, <a href="http://www.bostonundergroundstudios.com/" target="_blank">Ben</a>. He is the founder of <a href="http://www.parayoga.com/" target="_blank">ParaYoga,</a> the style of yoga that I primarily practice.<br /><br /> </li>
<li>By reading through and completing the exercises and meditations that Rod leads you through, the book helps you to uncover your dharma (in short: your purpose). <i>*Does it sound crazy to you that you can figure this out from a book? Don't be so skeptical*<br /><br /> </i></li>
<li>The exercises have you do things like write your personal <i>Dharma Code</i> (the individual expression of your soul's purpose) and draft a <i>Sankalpa</i> (a chosen resolution/goal to be achieved in the short term), both of which have since become the sort of, "north stars" of my life.<br /> </li>
<li>Then, he gives you tools to achieve your <i>Sankalpa</i> (like my personal favorite, <a href="http://www.yogajournal.com/health/1372" target="_blank">yoga nidra</a>), and methods to overcome your self-defeating ideas and behavior (which of course, we all have). <br /> </li>
<li>And bullet #5? I could keep going, but I think the first four should give you the gist of it. </li>
</ul>
<b>A few of my favorite quotes:</b><br />
<i><br />"The term dharma is often thought to be synonymous with profession. People often tell me, "I don't know what my dharma is," but what they really mean is that they haven't yet found the career or line of work that they believe will make them the happiest. Dharma does include what you do for a living, but it addresses more than that: it is about discovering your soul's innate and unique mission or purpose."<br /><br />"The Creation Equation states that when the intensity of desire, or shakti, plus the intensity of the energy you direct toward achieving it, or vayu, is greater than the intensity of resistance, or karma, it equals attainment of your desire, or prapti".<br /><br />"What yoga does is to help you remove what stands in the way of your being the bright light and powerful force that you really are."<br /><br />"One of the underlying teachings of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita" target="_blank">Bhagavad Gita</a> is that the purpose of yoga is to make the unconscious conscious. It may occur to you to ask why anyone would want to do this, especially if you are under the impression that the unconscious is little more than an endless supply of repressed memories and self-defeating beliefs. The answer is that the yoga tradition teaches that this is only part of the story, that the unconscious includes everything you are not aware of, not just the negative material but some things that are wholly positive."<br /><br />"For intuition to grow as a force in your life, you have to learn to honor it. One form of neglect is not taking the time to hear it; the other is ignoring what it is telling you to do. This means that for your inner voice to become an increasingly powerful presence, you have to act on its vision."<br /><br />"Throughout the course of your life, your psyche, holding the causes or seeds of your past, leads you through myriad events, which will lead you to a predetermined fate. It does this by responding to your deepest, most powerful desires and putting you in exactly the right circumstances in which those desires, regardless of whether they are in alignment with your conscious desire, can be materialized."<br /><br />"Let the wisdom and love in your heart show you what and who you really are, then let it guide you. Present your heart with a vision of what you know it longs for and it will help you fulfill the aspirations that have been in it all along."</i><br />
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You guys still there? Sorry, that did turn into a bit of a book report. To sum it up: Two 12MOL Thumbs Up. <br />
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And now I will spend the remainder of my night reading <i>Lost,</i> which I picked up at Barnes & Noble yesterday for a mere $27, eek...Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-42936261185139024252012-11-28T21:56:00.000-05:002012-11-28T21:56:06.547-05:003 (practically) Down, 1 To Go Let me start by saying that when I set my original goal to finish <i>Fierce Medicine</i> and <i>The Four Desires</i> (2 books I had already started) within the first week of this challenge, I hadn't actually checked to see how far along I was in each—a minor oversight. I thought I remembered being about half way through each of them, so I rationed that combined, It'd be like I was reading 1 book in a week instead of 2, right? Totally wrong. <br /><br />When I finally picked them back up, I was faced with how little I had actually read in each (somewhere around the 50 page mark), so getting through those 2 took a bit longer than expected. Because of this, I decided that I'd reset my reading expectations for the month and stick to finishing 4 books instead of 5 (and perhaps at least starting the 5th if time permits, which I'm pretty sure it won't).<br /><br />So, where am I at now? <i>Fierce Medicine</i> is done, as is <i>The Four Desires</i> (which I'll post more about later in the week), and I only have 25 pages left in <i>Julie & Julia</i>, which I practically devoured on my post-Thanksgiving trip out to Ann Arbor to visit Dan's family. I'll give a full review after I've officially checked it off the list, but so far, I've enjoyed it quite a bit—which doesn't really surprise me considering it's about a girl who started a blog about a personal challenge that subsequently got her a book deal. <i>Oh, dreams…</i><br /><br />But now off to finish those last 25 pages, and then tomorrow to pick up a copy of my 4th and final book, Wild by Cheryl Strayed, which I will furiously read for the remainder of the week. <br />
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Packing essentials...</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2b-MZJcvi0crnrn-TAwrWpTBPQxrgmtIYnvltg-NBURE8hExi5CrQSagflPGXqRP963DBVvDD1uuswZ8uPnRrlZnqtQgUCKATIqoKL5FVSOQ-4KplKEt5bZVqBMUliCc2jgX6ofT93K9/s1600/fanne_reunion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2b-MZJcvi0crnrn-TAwrWpTBPQxrgmtIYnvltg-NBURE8hExi5CrQSagflPGXqRP963DBVvDD1uuswZ8uPnRrlZnqtQgUCKATIqoKL5FVSOQ-4KplKEt5bZVqBMUliCc2jgX6ofT93K9/s400/fanne_reunion.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Reunited with my big, fat cat baby</i></td></tr>
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<br />Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-42989428167554107842012-11-22T22:41:00.000-05:002012-11-22T22:41:42.023-05:00My Thanksgiving HomeworkNow that Fanne and I are home from our Thanksgiving <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Linner" target="_blank">linner</a> at Grammy's house (yes, you read that right, I brought my cat to my grandmother's house for Thanksgiving), it's time to get in a little bookworm homework before bed.<br />
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Earlier in the week I set some reading goals for myself (in the form of neon post-its) in order to stay on track, and since I'm a little behind—<i>oops, I did it again</i>—it's time to crack open <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Four-Desires-Creating-Happiness-Prosperity/dp/0553803980" target="_blank">The Four Desires</a> and get to it.<br />
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<i>Wishing a happy Thanksgiving to all, and a happy first Black Friday working retail to me tomorrow, eek...</i><br />
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<br />Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-5343077730086342602012-11-19T12:47:00.001-05:002012-11-19T12:47:37.770-05:00From My Permanent Collection...See, I've read a book or 2 in my day (and filled up a few sketchbooks and photo albums):<br />
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<br />Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-61294931977231621342012-11-18T10:01:00.000-05:002012-11-18T10:01:06.478-05:00My "Readers Choice" PickYou guys are the best...<br />
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So, as you remember, in addition to the books I've personally chosen to read this month, I also asked for suggestions from all of you on what to read for book #5. Here are some of the recommendations I received:<br />
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<i><b>Eat, Pray, Love,</b> by Elizabeth Gilbert (already read it and of course totally loved it)<br /><b>Memoirs of a Geisha,</b> by Arthur Golden (already read it)<br /><b>Poisonwood Bible,</b> by Barbara Kingsolver (I have a memory of starting this one a long time ago and never finishing it).<br /><b>The Kite Runner,</b> by Khaled Hosseini (already read it)<br /><b>Wild,</b> by Cheryl Strayed<br /><b>Never Let Me Go,</b> by Kazuo Ishiguro<br /><b>The Book Thief,</b> by Markus Zusak<br /><b>The Night Circus,</b> by Erin Morgernstern<br /><b>The Invention of Hugo Cabret,</b> by Brian Selznick<br /><b>Age of Miracles,</b> by Karen Thompson Walker </i><br />
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After a teeny bit of deliberation, I've decided to read <i>Wild, by Cheryl Strayed.</i> I decided on this one mainly because multiple people recommeded it, but also because it sounds pretty awesome. A close second was <i>The Night Circus,<b> </b>by Erin Morgernstern, </i>but my friend Ashley (the one who suggested it) said that it's great on audio book so I might go that route.<br />
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Sooooo, thanks guys! And feel free to give me more book suggestions so I can add them on <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/" target="_blank">goodreads</a> (which I literally signed up for 5 minutes ago). Are you on goodreads? Let's be friends, I'm: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/danned" target="_blank">danned</a>Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-26251241312933730292012-11-14T17:41:00.000-05:002012-11-14T17:41:07.857-05:00Fierce Medicine = Done! (and a few more words of wisdom from Ana)Fourteen days in and I've officially finished book one of my challenge: <i>Fierce Medicine by Ana Forrest.</i> Yes, I know, I have a little catching up to do, but I'm hoping I'll be able to breeze through a book or two next week during my Thanksgiving travel time (maybe I'll even challenge myself to keep it analog in the airport. iLike that idea).<br />
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So, as for the book—I thought it was great. If you're into yoga you'll probably dig it, if you're not, it has the potential to totally weird you out. She goes pretty far <i>out there</i> (if you know what I mean), and <i>I</i> was totally into it, but I love stuff like that. Anyways, if you're local and you're interested, I can certainly lend you my copy. Two 12 Months of Lent thumbs up!<br />
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<b>Here are my last few favorite passages/quotes from the second half of the book:</b><br />
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<i>From the teachings of White Buffalo Calf Woman:</i><br />
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<i>Friends do it this way—that is,</i><br />
<i>whatever you do in life,</i><br />
<i>do the very best you can</i><br />
<i>with both your heart and mind. </i><br />
<i>And if you do it that way, </i><br />
<i>the Power of the Universe</i><br />
<i>will come to your assistance,</i><br />
<i>if your heart and mind are in Unity.</i><br />
<i>When one sits in the Hoop of the People,</i><br />
<i>one must be responsible because</i><br />
<i>All of Creation is related. </i><br />
<i>And the hurt of one is the hurt of all. </i><br />
<i>And the honor of one is the honor of all. </i><br />
<i>And whatever we do affects everything in the universe. </i><br />
<i>If you do it that way—that is, if you truly join your heart and mind</i><br />
<i>as One—whatever you ask for,</i><br />
<i>that's the Way It's Going to Be. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>" (I) Use this question to judge the correctness of my actions: Does it brighten or dim my spirit?"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"Tears drain our wounds, which can then dry out and heal."</i><br />
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<i>"Sing until you feel empty or charged. Move those stuck emotions. Give voice to your heart, Spirit, longing, grief. Even if your voice is scratched or broken, singing gives that part of you a voice, and that is healing and empowering. It can also be wicked fun."</i><br />
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And I'll leave you with this photo of the best chapter title ever:<br />
<i> </i><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgX_ZIAonEXczZMX7MUUcYra0D2eMYL9thgGAnuBJkwhFy0xTErOqrGoimSTqpES9otcJ526MnstnvmZmzrvBNxC4vg8k27OFOKtYg8hpSa1Bo_P2E40UfbhoBTX8Vlq07vk0pegWJLxBl/s1600/shit_into_fertilizer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgX_ZIAonEXczZMX7MUUcYra0D2eMYL9thgGAnuBJkwhFy0xTErOqrGoimSTqpES9otcJ526MnstnvmZmzrvBNxC4vg8k27OFOKtYg8hpSa1Bo_P2E40UfbhoBTX8Vlq07vk0pegWJLxBl/s400/shit_into_fertilizer.JPG" width="400" /></a><b>Up Next:</b> Finishing up <i>The Four Desires by Rod Stryker</i> (and then on to some non-yoga books, I promise).Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-2546409514093283122012-11-09T13:46:00.001-05:002012-11-09T13:46:46.814-05:00Words of Wisdom from Ana ForrestFirst of all, this lady's a riot—a very wise and spiritual riot. In between telling stories from her horrific childhood and her path to healing through yoga, I've really enjoyed her unabashed way of looking at absolutely everything in life. <br />
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<b>Here are a few of my favorite Ana Forrest "words of wisdom" from her book so far:</b><br />
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<i>"I encourage you to take this wild and exciting path of Truth Speaking because it's unfathomably rich. It's also risky. But what are you risking? All the facades that make your life dull and boring and complacent. By speaking the truth, we learn the difference between our authentic self and our facade. If we put our little masked self out there, the horror is that other people might accept and end up making love to it, while we starve and die of neglect behind it. It's much richer to interact genuinely with the world."</i><br />
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<i>"A lot of our culture's Judeo-Christian beliefts are conditioned against desire. We're taught that to make ourselves so-called better people, we must behave altruistically, which in this case means always putting others first and neglecting our own desires. A lot of us are taught this so we better fit into the fabric of society. No wonder we have so much difficulty discerning our heart's desire; we have to cut through a lot of well-intentioned yet stupid teaching to find out what it is. But if we learn to follow our heart's desire and can get through the initial blowback, if we're taught to follow our Spirit's calling, how could that not be a tremendous gift to our family and community? Yes, sometimes following our heart's desire leads us into some crazy-ass places, but that's just part of it."</i><br />
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<i>"Meditation is simply a way to shift the gears of the mind. We think a lot. And we think that's the only gear that the brain has, but it's more like first gear in a six-gear car. Many people think the goal of meditation is to shut down the mind. Not so; that just sets you up for war. Meditation is about exploring and teaching your mind to do something different; that's much more friendly than saying, 'I'm gonna shut you up!' It's not about putting yourself to sleep; it's about awakening, especially awakening parts of you that have never been asked to awaken before."</i><br />
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<i>"We have the same problem in our culture as we do in our bodies: we take in too much that's non-nutritive, whether it's junk food or junk information, and we attempt to be fed by it. We pour in so much information, so much food, and our bodies and minds and emotions get constipated, clogged, overloaded. What the hell is an energy drink, and what is our cell tissue going to do with it? Of the information we take in, how much of it can we actually live on and how much is crap? There's nothing wrong with crap, but it's an end product. Literally: eat shit and die". </i><br />
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And this is only from the first 133 pages, I can only imagine what's in store for the next 127...Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-48213443242261903332012-11-06T13:35:00.002-05:002012-11-06T13:35:55.813-05:00My Tuesday Afternoon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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What my Tuesday afternoon looks like, alternating between these 2 books:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWEr41OJGKsH8pr94iKOJMz5ZpYA92Sl7GMqgstH8J9hJyYLZs7uBrCieKSVQegt7s-L6jGxNKyrFO9aAuH2iVl0Dfq3DsdRBl2J-oPfmq4LqdwDlenAX4csXmgbl9qZQWSYG_SwkXjFO/s1600/tuesday_afternoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWEr41OJGKsH8pr94iKOJMz5ZpYA92Sl7GMqgstH8J9hJyYLZs7uBrCieKSVQegt7s-L6jGxNKyrFO9aAuH2iVl0Dfq3DsdRBl2J-oPfmq4LqdwDlenAX4csXmgbl9qZQWSYG_SwkXjFO/s400/tuesday_afternoon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>p.s. Happy Election Day! Did you vote yet? This little Lenter cast her vote first thing this morning. Polls are open until 8pm so get out there if you haven't yet!</i><br /><br /><br />Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-82364629782353658822012-11-04T20:45:00.000-05:002012-11-04T20:45:43.257-05:00November's Lent: Be a BookwormWhen it's time to pick my Lent for the month, I first look to see if there's something obvious I should do:<br /><b> </b><br />
<b><i>Is there something lacking in my life at the moment? </i></b><br />
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<b><i>Is there something I've been meaning to get done but haven't made time for? </i></b><br /><br />When I asked myself this at the end of October, the answer came pretty quickly: Put frankly, I've been totally sucking at reading lately.<br /><br />For the last few months, sitting down with a good book has fallen to the bottom of my priority list. And if I'm being honest here…I can't even remember the last book I finished. Not good. Plus, I've developed this terrible habit of starting a book, getting about half way through, putting it down, and then starting a new one before finishing the old one. What this looks like for me is a nightstand piled high with a year's worth of half read books. Again, not good.<br /><br />So, this month I'm embarking on a reading challenge. My (lofty) goal is to read one book per week. Here's the breakdown:<br /><br /><b>Week 1: </b>I'm going to finally finish 2 of the books I've been working on for quite some time. Book 1: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Four-Desires-Happiness-Prosperity/dp/0553803980" target="_blank">The Four Desires, by Rod Stryker,</a> and Book 2: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fierce-Medicine-Breakthrough-Practices-Ignite/dp/0061864242" target="_blank">F</a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fierce-Medicine-Breakthrough-Practices-Ignite/dp/0061864242" target="_blank">ierce Medicine, by Ana Forest </a>(or, yoga book 1 and yoga book 2). <br /><br /><b>Week 2: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Julie-Julia-Year-Cooking-Dangerously/dp/B000Y8SDZW" target="_blank">Julie & Julia, by Julie Powell. </a>As someone who clearly loves personal challenges, it's shocking that I haven't read this one yet. <i>Anyone have a copy I could borrow?</i><br /><br /><b>Week 3:</b> I'm going to be good little lulu and read one of the suggested books from our lululemon library: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Pipeline-Powered-Company-non-Franchise/dp/0470894563" target="_blank">The Leadership Pipeline, by Ram Charam.</a><br /><br /><b>Week 4:</b> Readers choice! That's right, I'm looking for suggestions from all of you for what to read, so please leave a comment and let me know what your "must reads" are (keep in mind I only have a week too, so no epic 800 page novels with tiny type please).<br /><i><br />And I'm off for a little Sunday night reading...</i>Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-82783538269684920242012-10-31T15:08:00.003-04:002012-10-31T15:08:37.838-04:00Lent = OutWell...that's it friends. My 2-month movie challenge ends today. How'd I do? I can't say I got around to watching all 20 on the list, but I didn't do so bad—and I even kind of <i>liked</i> watching some of them, which is a <i>huge</i> step for me. Here's what I did end up seeing:<br />
<ol>
<li><i>Citizen Kane </i></li>
<li><i>Usual Suspects </i></li>
<li><i>Pulp Fiction </i></li>
<li><i>Fight Club</i></li>
<li><i>The Matrix </i></li>
<li><i>Say Anything</i></li>
<li><i>Caddyshack</i></li>
<li><i>Animal House</i></li>
<li><i>Legends of the Fall</i></li>
<li><i>Top Gun</i></li>
<li><i><i>Reality Bites</i></i></li>
<li><i><i><i>Dead Man Walking</i></i></i></li>
<li><i><i><i>The Big Lebowski</i></i></i></li>
<li><i><i><i>Rushmore</i></i></i></li>
<li><i><i><i>Rocky</i></i></i></li>
<li><i><i><i>Rain Man</i> </i></i></li>
</ol>
Pretty good for a non-movie person, eh? Here's the few that still remain (note: I have plans to watch Dead Poets Society on Friday night so that'll get scratched off soon).<br />
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And I guess I should say Happy Halloween, shouldn't I? I'll be spending the evening dressed up as a yogi in expensive black stretchy pants at lululemon—I hope you're all doing something much more exciting than I am. <br />
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<i>The intro to November's Lent: Be a Bookworm, will be headed your way soon, as it something else that I'm super excited about, eee!</i>Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-77498522263095820122012-10-29T17:19:00.000-04:002012-10-29T17:19:13.451-04:00Hurricane Sandy = Top Gun<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBj2uWQsnpOclgDKbOUb2iYXqYbkdULhx2B0RcevDfSq4R5IsHqIo5gvxH3K_DEjmZcB466H6CYDg7NncQ-MU-DIsX4MjtSMt64hzeXDbLvi79z4NcbsWzqZtVDIBYTrkBzOf6IrcAZThq/s1600/top_gun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBj2uWQsnpOclgDKbOUb2iYXqYbkdULhx2B0RcevDfSq4R5IsHqIo5gvxH3K_DEjmZcB466H6CYDg7NncQ-MU-DIsX4MjtSMt64hzeXDbLvi79z4NcbsWzqZtVDIBYTrkBzOf6IrcAZThq/s400/top_gun.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Let me tell you, hurricanes make this movie crunch I'm in a lot easier. </i></span></td></tr>
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<br />Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-14373728158148293122012-10-25T17:36:00.001-04:002012-10-25T17:36:45.575-04:00The Final 7, Landmark, and InstagramI'm bracing for a movie-filled week over here as I make my best effort to watch the final 7 movies on my list in just 7 days. Eep!<br />
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Oh, and did I mention that lululemon is sending me to <a href="http://www.landmarkeducation.com/landmark_forum" target="_blank">The Landmark Forum</a> this weekend? No big deal, just 3 days of super-intense, emotional, 14-hour sessions that literally leave <i>no time</i> between waking and sleeping for movie watching. Perfect timing. <br />
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Wish. me. luck.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGTITa_TAyRr3K-DU0YAEPz6IBjsym7R8ClWODS__e4xljSUV1DJfntWMfH9rbGMcDsyemeqt4bwBn-2JOamaz4NDEOgPavmOiDKWKf877BlVzsXzSxRNwFsKcbQ1el4unA_dRLlzXH_f/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGTITa_TAyRr3K-DU0YAEPz6IBjsym7R8ClWODS__e4xljSUV1DJfntWMfH9rbGMcDsyemeqt4bwBn-2JOamaz4NDEOgPavmOiDKWKf877BlVzsXzSxRNwFsKcbQ1el4unA_dRLlzXH_f/s400/photo.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>And hey, I know I'm a little late to the game here (I've always been a bit of a late bloomer), but I'm finally on Instagram! Follow me: dannedzenawagis</i><br />
<br />Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-16568954450275612232012-10-24T22:31:00.000-04:002012-10-24T22:31:17.613-04:00Fanne Loves Movie Month<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdc6BMXilOO4K4QkKZGJ7_2evaIxI5tiTvwAE4UpnI7gtsBbgpDdKJ7s8LPkS4zeMuKJwHyBpCDtLa0RpraSPFPH7OOenDr-wYfAlMuLl_wodhK7JsRcFP2tiVgOleNw5Nlrn848yceK83/s1600/fannelovesmoviemonth.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdc6BMXilOO4K4QkKZGJ7_2evaIxI5tiTvwAE4UpnI7gtsBbgpDdKJ7s8LPkS4zeMuKJwHyBpCDtLa0RpraSPFPH7OOenDr-wYfAlMuLl_wodhK7JsRcFP2tiVgOleNw5Nlrn848yceK83/s400/fannelovesmoviemonth.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i><span style="font-size: small;">And movie month loves Fanne...</span></i></td></tr>
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<br />Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-85394214877931275892012-10-23T23:30:00.000-04:002012-10-23T23:30:57.412-04:00A Little 9am Rocky, No Big DealThis morning I did something that has probably never been done by anyone else in the world…ever: <b>I watched Rocky at 9am. </b><br />
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Yep, to make my movie goal for the month it's time to double up, so <i>before</i> work today, I, Danne Dzenawagis, watched Rocky. I almost don't even believe it myself.<br />
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9am aside, can I just say that I surprisingly kind of loved it? Not only did I have plenty of nostalgic moments remembering my days in the high school band when the theme song played (all 300 times), but I even shed a few tears at the end (the crying part was a little less surprising for me). <br /><br />And in addition to Rocky, I've also knocked Rushmore (which was great), and Reality Bites (which was also great) off the list this week. <br /><br />7 movies left to watch in 8 days? Totally doable, right?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguN3UCKpyuL6boBIeUiNiVcEf4DA4jZEx3r6omOTXgkCaJrgXCCyZzLcElgPF4i4nAYD52mOP0B7ve_XEb8CKNI6r6D-khpzF3TIpjcPHrYQCJaT0TvED-cPdGQxWqndJZx6HaPDf7ZHlU/s1600/rocky.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguN3UCKpyuL6boBIeUiNiVcEf4DA4jZEx3r6omOTXgkCaJrgXCCyZzLcElgPF4i4nAYD52mOP0B7ve_XEb8CKNI6r6D-khpzF3TIpjcPHrYQCJaT0TvED-cPdGQxWqndJZx6HaPDf7ZHlU/s400/rocky.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523239717241434669.post-3109615878656081862012-10-19T17:47:00.000-04:002012-10-19T17:47:21.765-04:00Uh-oh...Oh boy, so let's be honest here—I've been 100% slacking when it comes to my movie watching. In fact, if I'm really being honest, I haven't watched one in…over a week. Gulp.<br /><br />Here's what I have to say for myself (i.e. here's my mediocre excuse): For a good chunk of last week/weekend I was away in NYC visiting Dan's family and friends, then down to Virginia for my old pal Lindsy's wedding, then up to the DC area to visit my other old pal Amanda and her little bundle of adorable/daughter Eleanor, then back for another night in NYC before returning home to Boston. Phew, right?<br /><br />Then of course when I got back I had about 100 things to catch up on, and a training for work, and so on and so on…<br /><br />So yeah, now that I've vented my excuses, it's time to get back on it. <br /><br />10 movies in 13 days, can I do this? Yes I can! Maybe…<br /><br /><b>A visual journey of what I was doing instead of watching movies:</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZCDOl4nNpNZSyb0Y9KVTMjUCPFNa9XP4LYZwHgdo9OJEuB4pxKCL_hcLAxLbyiMeTpcsyiCRSrx9JtzumQTPlf_wQXZPR6grqdAnssVoUtmeidViWNCvuzNSdio24adA9j4K8vA_JTIa/s1600/mrsandmrs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZCDOl4nNpNZSyb0Y9KVTMjUCPFNa9XP4LYZwHgdo9OJEuB4pxKCL_hcLAxLbyiMeTpcsyiCRSrx9JtzumQTPlf_wQXZPR6grqdAnssVoUtmeidViWNCvuzNSdio24adA9j4K8vA_JTIa/s400/mrsandmrs.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Watching these 2 lovely ladies tie the knot...</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuB3MEz4uI1NpJ_KV-FKXb3WGMVo1vLvMyrxO4fPc6kG45u0kc-_eVex35CDG6mRby0WFP_zMQaGSGIjszMDZRO89bRo48vkD5b3wwjSj1SAbO-30njZPLUqTFYFdTkUcgg0zzTjxAgCB/s1600/kimlindsydanne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuB3MEz4uI1NpJ_KV-FKXb3WGMVo1vLvMyrxO4fPc6kG45u0kc-_eVex35CDG6mRby0WFP_zMQaGSGIjszMDZRO89bRo48vkD5b3wwjSj1SAbO-30njZPLUqTFYFdTkUcgg0zzTjxAgCB/s400/kimlindsydanne.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Having a mini 14 Thurston reunion with 2 of my all-time favorite roomies...</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5cnlBZ91VsAbNJAZJPlz9JVQY8h6bn1lY8WzrYewX9Hn9pxA7EIqWXthhQ4gVU22Fsk3li3COVzUkHV_wAUhGZ3Evca790gsM6tanT8gVUIZMr6gVWRU0-uNanMZ7gwEaOaiYp7ivNyCP/s1600/nybagel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5cnlBZ91VsAbNJAZJPlz9JVQY8h6bn1lY8WzrYewX9Hn9pxA7EIqWXthhQ4gVU22Fsk3li3COVzUkHV_wAUhGZ3Evca790gsM6tanT8gVUIZMr6gVWRU0-uNanMZ7gwEaOaiYp7ivNyCP/s400/nybagel.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Eating as many NY bagels as possible....</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJoFertzW4PsEEzVUKCne1qQlcpS9iqcTP7jjegJtgO8rIc-OAYxCwsSmv1MEXIBQLdyQUVatYV_n1bmLr_K1XMNQxnY54FwsNn5YuOLsVOLmm_HXO3-cOVzt-R1LcAKvmfFqrJi7-bgE/s1600/highwaydriving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJoFertzW4PsEEzVUKCne1qQlcpS9iqcTP7jjegJtgO8rIc-OAYxCwsSmv1MEXIBQLdyQUVatYV_n1bmLr_K1XMNQxnY54FwsNn5YuOLsVOLmm_HXO3-cOVzt-R1LcAKvmfFqrJi7-bgE/s400/highwaydriving.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>and enjoying some seriously scenic highway driving.</i></td></tr>
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<br />Danne Dzenawagishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04125213961289524564noreply@blogger.com0