lots to do and all over the place

I am going to Virginia in just a couple of days. I feel like I have so much to get done first! Since working three jobs doesn't allow me the luxury of a day off ever, I have to fit all these things in between shifts. I would like to get all of our laundry done and clean the apartment so I can come home to a clean apartment, although I realize by the time I come home Keith will have lived in the apartment for a whole week and there is likely to be laundry and film stuff everywhere. Ugh! Stresses me out. What to do, what to do? I also want to get my hair highlighted at the Aveda Institute and get my eyebrows waxed as well. And I have no idea what to pack. Working at the Gap has turned me into a fashion whore. I only want to take dresses and skirts home with me. It is hot in Virginia and I might have forgotten what that is like. I feel like dresses will be a nice option. I have a cute dress that I got the other day, but now I am thinking it would like much cuter if I belted it with a skinny belt. And then comes the shoes... which shoes do I take home? I used to only wear flip flops, but now I have a plethora of adorable sandals and mary janes and I am torn between what I should take with me and what I should leave behind. I don't have to take any personal items with me, including makeup because I can just wear my mom's, and so that makes me feel like I can pack more outfit choices. What I need to do is carefully plan my outfits by the day according to what I plan to do that day. So basically this blog is just me talking out loud. Or some variation of that. Oh! And let me just insert right here that I also have to go to the post office to pick up some unknown package I have received and I have to go to the DMV to register my car in the state of Oregon because my Virginia registration expires at the end of this month. So back to the clothes, because that is what really is important, right? Thursday my mom and I are going to Williamsburg to do a little shopping and then we are going down to Newport News to see the beloved Chuck and Cora. Cakora, if you will. I'm thinking something cute and casual. A dress and some shoes that slip off easily incase we try things on. (In case? Who am I kidding?!) So let's see... I have the eggplant dress, yellow dress, two-toned dress, denim skirt and I think that's all the dresses and skirts I have planned to bring with me so far. The yellow dress is reserved for dinner at Hondo's (I think). What a mess this blog is. I am writing exactly as my mind is thinking right now. Oh and I also have to think about what I am going to wear on the airplane as well. Do I want to be cozy and comfy, or do I want to be stylish and cute? Or do I want to shoot for somewhere in between? Do I want to paint my toenails or just be natural? Questions, questions, questions! So Thursday I do not know what I want to wear. Friday I am going to lunch with my mom, Carley, Whitney, Kim and Marie and then going to visit SyCom folks. I definitely think I want to wear a dress. I have a two-toned black and brown dress (more of an olive-y sandy brown) and that's the one I think would look better if I skinny-belted it. But last night I got to thinking, gold belt or silver belt? There's another dress I want that is just like it and it is white on top with the olive-y sandy color on the bottom. And that dress would go with the silver belt, no question. And then the eggplant strappy sundress would be good for either the baby shower or the cookout. And come to think of it, that might look nice belted as well. Gold or silver? My gut tells me gold, but I'd have to see it first. And should I bring my boyfriend jeans with me for a super casual day? I know I don't need to bring any yoga clothes because I left some behind for my mom. And of course I have to remember that I get a hefty discount at the Gap Outlet and maybe I could find some new things there as well. The only thing I am sure about at this point is that I am definitely over thinking this. So here is my itinerary as it stands (and I assume that you care only because you are reading my blog):

Wednesday: arrive in Richmond at 11:30 pm. I am teaching at 5:45 that morning in Portland and I am going to try to avoid napping on the plane (shouldn't be too hard) so I can throw myself into the east coast time zone. I am not going to do anything that night.

Thursday: coffee and yelling at the news with Daddy if I wake up early enough? Not sure what time he wakes up, that's worth looking into. Breakfast with mom at home. Shopping in Williamsburg and then a grabbing a bite with the Hites. Thursday night I think I will have mom drop me off at Tony and Jenn's so I can spend the night with them.

Friday: Tony will drop me off at mom's pretty early on his way to work. I will have coffee. Lunch with Carley, Kim, Whitney, Marie and mom at El Caporal, then a SyCom visit. After that we will visit Cindy and Stormy. From there we will go home and get ready for a big family dinner at Hondo's Steakhouse where I will get up and go to the bathroom when everyone's mutilated cow comes to the table and gets cut open and inspected by the server. Wine, salad, a baked potato and more wine for me, please. From there I will go downtown meet up with friends. Then I have to find a sober being to take me to Mechanicsville to meet up with Kelly for her birthday at Nacho Mama's, and another sober being to take me from there back to my mom's house. I am going to try not to drink too much so I can avoid vomiting in my mom's bathroom and also avoid feeling like crap the next day.

Saturday: I will have coffee. And then I am hoping to practice some yoga! Iffet mentioned that she was teaching, but I am kind of hoping Dana will be free so we can practice on our own in her yoga room. Then I will go back to my mom's for the cookout, which I assume will last for a good while. From there I will go spend the night at Tony and Jenn's with Hunter, River, Mason, Tonya and Matt. Family sleepover! It will be so much fun.

Sunday: COFFEE?!?! I don't know. They don't have coffee shops in New Kent and I doubt there is a coffee maker in the Jennings household. What will I do? Jenn's baby shower is this day. It will be a lovely day to honor the wonderful Jenn and the new little Ellie-baby. Dress, for sure. Something feminine and perhaps even frilly. Then dinner at Strawberry Street Cafe with the Tillerys! I don't know where I will sleep that night. Probably at my mom's so I can sleep in a little.

Monday: I will have coffee. And I hope to spend the day with my nephews. We will see. I also would like to squeeze in some QT with Cristena. I am going to leave this day kind of open so that whatever happens can happen.

Tuesday: I will have coffee. My flight leaves for PDX at 4:51 pm. I guess I will get to the airport around 4? I don't have a clue what I will do this day. Something tells me I will see Cindy and Stormy.

So that is that. I know I didn't specifically mention any time with my friends, but that would be Friday night, and my close friends are all invited to my mom's house for the cookout on Saturday. So that is when I will see them!

Last night I was at work (Gap) and this guy came in and I asked him if I could help him find anything and he turned to look at me, gave me this creepy blank stare with his red eyes and said very coldly, "NO." "Well, okay then" I replied, before letting out a laugh. Another customer who heard the transaction and who was about 6'4", wearing jorts and pushing a stroller with what appeared to be a 5 year old child in it turned to me and gave me this hilarious look and I laughed even more. Something about this guy reminded me of my brother for some reason. He said, "Whoa! That guy was probably a serial killer or something." Creepy man, I tell you. I got on my walkie (we wear headsets that I call 'Britney mics') and I said, "Watch out for that weirdo in the red shirt and don't anybody ask him if he wants any help because he clearly does not." Also, I got a Gap Card on the sales floor! That is super rare, I will have you know. My sales skills are on point, y'all! I am striving to be the next Gap Card video girl.

So I posted my playlist from class the other night. It was such an amazing class! The energy was great! I had a student come up to me after class and say, "Wow! I am so glad I came tonight! I haven't done yoga in three years due to a back injury and this was just great. You are an amazing teacher." Well, I thank you kindly ma'am. Then she said, "But is there any other teacher here you can recommend to me that is maybe a little more gentle?" Gentle, I was not! We did lots of vinyasa, constant movement, lots of planks, chatturanga, side planks, standing splits, lots of warriors. One breath, one movement. Simply amazing. I told her that sometimes I was a little more on the gentle side, but that for the most part I just based my class on my mood since the gym doesn't differentiate between power yoga and gentle or beginner yoga. But I encouraged her to try other teachers and stick with her practice and NEVER to leave a class if she found it to challenging. I told her I appreciated her effort and hard work and that if she found herself in that position again it would be beneficial for her to come to balasana and stay connected to her breath. I hope she will take my advice and find it useful. I love my job.

So I'm back on my big smoothie kick. It all started last Monday when I took Dana to the airport and we stopped at Jamba Juice where I got an acai berry topper. It was basically a smoothie topped with granola and banana slices and you eat it with a spoon. So I was like, I can totally make this at home and it will be much healthier than my usual poptart or cold refried bean breakfast. So this morning I had a mostly blueberry smoothie topped with the fresh granola and banana slices. It was mostly blueberry because I accidentally dropped too many bluebs in there. Whatever, it tasted fine. Other days I have used fruits such as pineapple, mango, raspberry, blackberry and strawberry. And I always add some apple sauce to help blend it together. I get all my ingredients from Whole Foods and I buy them in their purest most simple form so that it is actually healthy. When you get into adding things like yogurt and sugar and sweetened apple sauce and all that garbage it turns into more of a dessert than a healthy breakfast.

I have to work today from 11-6 and Shannon and I are carpooling. She is picking me up at 10:15, so I better go start getting ready!

xoxo,

T