Smile and the world smiles with you

O-kayyyyyy...well, it's been a while since I've posted. In my defense, I spent more than a month chained to my computer for an intense (yet fulfilling) writing project at work, which left me rather computer-averse during my free time. Then I was busy learning choreography and creating a costume for the Fremont Summer Solstice Parade.

But, last week, in response to the question "So, are you ever going to update your blog?" I said "Next week! I swear!" And now it is Friday, and I am leaving for a week's vacation in about three hours, so it's now or never, I suppose. Now, on to my topic du jour.

Yesterday, I was pondering (read: agonizing over) the fact that I have trouble smiling with any sort of regularity when bellydancing. Since I love bellydancing, I hate it that my face does not accurately represent what is in my head and heart.

This fact is something that bothers me in a low-level sort of way, oh, constantly. But my worry has ramped up in this post-parade, pre-MedFest window. At MedFest, I am performing twice, once with my teacher and some of the other students who were also in her spring choreography class, and once solo. I've never performed at MedFest, so this is a huge deal for me.

So, about that smiling thing. Yesterday, I had an interesting thought: What if you can train your "smile muscles" just as you can train other muscles. If I make a conscious effort to go around smiling more, will it be easier to whip out the smile when the pressure is on?

Let me note that I am not a generally smiley person. When walking about (downtown, etc.) I often get people (translation: men whom I do not know) yelling out "Smile!." Little do they know that their command, rather than making me want to smile, makes me want to kick them in the nuts. But I digress.

So my experiment has two parts. One, simply to smile more during everyday goings-on. Two, when I am near a mirror, I will fix what I think is a "nice smile" on my face, then check the reality out in the mirror. I'm aiming for something less than glassy-eyed-beauty-pageant-contestant, and something more than too-subtle-to-notice.

Of course, all of this goes deeply against my cynical nature, but one must suffer for one's art!

Spring has sprung!

It's the first full day of spring, and although the weather has been typically Seattle springlike (cool and wet, but not reliably wet, so you never know if you will really need that raincoat when you head out for work in the morning), many happier signs of spring abound.

One of the things I love about spring is the element of change. Every time I take a walk, whether around my garden or around my 'hood, something is blooming, sprouting or opening that wasn't the day before. Never a dull moment.

Even though the weather was bleh on Sunday, we got lots o' planting done at the homestead.

• 30 bareroot coneflowers
• 17 bareroot Nootka roses
• 12 forget-me-nots
• A 4-foot row of edible peas
• A 3-foot row of sweet peas
• 10 bunchberries (groundcover dogwoods)
• 10 Kinnickinnick
• 12 assorted gallon-size perennials from Costco
• 5 Camas (a NW native bulb)
• 1 maidenhair fern
• 1 hosta
• 24 assorted oriental lily bulbs
• 7 assorted dahlia bulbs

Whew!

The weather on Saturday is supposed to be respectable, so I will hopefully get the rest of my ferns (5) and hostas (11) planted, along with my annual fuchsia starts (20), one hellebore and two clematis that are still in their black plastic pots from last year.

Now that I'm starting to plant spring veggies, I need to yank out the last of the fall-winter holdouts. I feel guilty that I didn't eat more kale over the winter, but since it is still in great shape, I have plans to use up about eight cups of the nutritious greens in a fritatta and a turkey chili verde.

I've been entering everything I eat into the free nutrition calculator on Fitday, and it's been very educational to see the results. Given that many foods I eat appear on my menu repeatedly (eggs, sprouted grain bread, turkey breast, broccoli, salad greens, peppers, skim milk, cottage cheese, bananas, apples, avocados, whey protein powder, energy bars, frozen berries, whole grain cereal, nuts, olive oil, yogurt), it's interesting that some days I nearly hit the mark on all of the various important nutrients, and other days I'm way down on a few. Also, some days I seem to hit the 30-40-30 protein-carb-fat ratio effortlessly (within a percentage point or two) and on others I have to struggle to keep the carbs in check.

I figure that once I have a few more weeks of consistent food reportage logged, I can really start tweaking my menus. I'm aiming to have my weight lifting days a bit higher in calories and carbs, and my non-lifting days less on both. Once I start logging one high-mileage walking day on the weekend (for half-marathon training), I can have a higher-carb meal afterwards, too.

Tuesday's workouts:
Morning: Suhaila Salimpour's Bellydance Fitness Fusion Pilates DVD (40 minutes); Darshan's Bellydance Tribal Fusion NYC DVD (drills section, 30 minutes)
Lunch: 4-mile walk

Tuesday's food overview:
1786 calories (33% protein, 32% carbs, 31% fat, 5% alcohol)

Wednesday's workouts:
Morning: Rachel Brice's Yoga, Isolations and Drills DVD (30-minute workout)
After work: NROWLFW "A" workout with kickboxing warmup
Evening: Bellydance choreography class

Wednesday's food overview:
1842 calories (26% protein, 45% carbs, 29% fat)

Bellydance goodness

It was with some regret that I let three great bellydance workshops pass me by so far this year, so I was extra excited for today's workshop with Kami Liddle of the Bellydance Superstars. (Photo of Kami below is from the BDSS Web site, fyi.)

About half of the three-hour workshop was movement drills, and I picked up a few bits of very valuable information.

One was the correct muscles to be contracting to tip the pelvis backwards (the gluteus medius, which are, in basic terms, located above the large gluteus maximus muscles but below the lower back). Her attention to good form and posture was excellent, in both example and explanation of why it is so important (so we can all still be dancing when we're 110 years old!).

The other is something she learned from Carolena Nerricio (creator of American Tribal Style Belly Dance (ATS) and director of Fat Chance Belly Dance), which is that it takes eight minutes of drilling a certain movement to create "muscle memory" for that movement. Dancers want muscle memory because once you have it, you can use proper technique while performing without consciously thinking about what muscles to contract. This will definitely change the way I do movement drills at home.

After drills, she taught us an advanced-level combo from a choreography she did for Bellydance Superstars (and one that they are currently performing on tour). I can't say I nailed it perfectly on every run-through, but I kept up pretty darn well. Yay me!

Thrifty genes

I’ve inherited many traits from my mother. My eye and hair colors. My body type. My extreme nearsightedness (we’re talking blind as a bat, people). My tendency to talk with my hands. And, last but not least, my love of thrift store shopping.

I can’t pinpoint my first thrift store experience, but since my mother and her mother thrifted before I can remember (and probably long before I was born), it was with undoubtedly by the side of one or the other (if not both).

I do have distinct grade-school memories of visiting my grandmother’s home in the San Francisco Bay Area and walking to nearby thrift stores, and taking BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to others. I was always thrilled with my clothing finds, because even at that age, I liked that I had something that no other kid in my class would have.

(Come to think of it, my grandfather was a thrifter, too. About five years ago, my grandmother gave me a partial set of Mikasa china. I finally asked her about its provenance last fall. It turns out my grandfather [who died when I as a child] had pieced together that incomplete collection from thrift stores! Of course, at the time my grandmother was all, “Why do we need more china?”)

Through the years, I continued to thrift store shop with Mom and Grandmother, then with friends in high school and college. One of my first jobs out of college, as a poorly paid reporter at a weekly newspaper in a small western Oregon town, was luckily within two blocks of a decent Goodwill. My editor (a friend who graduated a year ahead of me) and I knew exactly when new shipments came in, and made sure to take a break to hit the racks, unless news was breaking (ha!). One of my best finds was an Anne Klein double breasted suit jacket, which I wore for years.

Then I moved to the Midwest, followed by two years in New Jersey, and I abandoned thrifting altogether (and I was an hour from NYC…what was I thinking?!).

When I took up bellydance with a vengeance four years ago, I started making occasional forays into a Goodwill here, a Value Village there, to look for velvet tops and long, full skirts suitable for class or costuming.

My official return to thrifting was the day after Thanksgiving last year. J had to work; I did not. I was able to go to Goodwill by myself (we use our car very little and tend to group our errands, so he was always with me on previous trips) with the time and space to roam the racks and sift the wheat from the chaff. You know how you can not see a good friend for what feels like forever, and then take up exactly where you left off. Yep, me and thrifting.

My friend Goodwill was especially good to me on my one appointed January thrifting trip (in accordance with my Wardrobe Refashion pledge). For $80 and change (including tax) I got 22 items of clothing:

• Three cute cardigans (pink cotton, red cotton, charcoal merino wool)
• Three hoodies (red velour, olive velour, charcoal knit)
• Two pink striped shirts (Eddie Bauer and American Eagle)
• Green washable suede jacket
• Green Gap zip-front short raincoat
• Summery hip-length, ¾-sleeve jacket in shades of blue and green
• Cozy nubby fleece jacket
• Black ribbed merino wool turtleneck
• Deep red nubby wool Eddie Bauer sweater set
• Striped I.N.C sweater
• Olive green rib-knit V-neck sweater
• Blue cropped sweater perfect for bellydance class
• Crazy striped sweater with bell sleeves
• Burgundy long-sleeved Ann Taylor crew-neck T
• Lime green ribbed boat-neck T
• White button-down shirt with stripes of black stitching
• Red/black brocade button-front vest

Items in italics were a mere 99 cents each (red tags). The others were 30 percent off of their tagged price (blue and green tags). Bold items need some refashioning (just new buttons in one case). I have my February trip planned for the big President's Day sale, when Goodwill has the same 99 cent/30 percent off arrangement going. Good times!

Pix of a few items are on my Flickr page. I'll include one or two in this post later...

I (heart) refashioning

Being out of town last weekend put a crimp in my refashioning activities, but I managed to finish a pair of arm warmers made from a beloved black- and white-striped T-shirt that had an unfortunate stain on the front. I have enough scraps left to make some sort of headband, when I get around to that. My Wardrobe Refashion pledge is really keeping me motivated, I'll tell ya.

I also whipped up a olive green panne velvet skirt that's great over yoga pants for bellydance class, or as one element in a tribal fusion-style costume. The velvet wasn't a color I usually choose (it looked slightly different online), but it looks vibrant against black, and the price was right: $3 for the one yard when the previous owners of denverfabrics.com were clearing out inventory to make way for new owners last fall. I have additional photos on my Flickr page, including some with the skirt layered under similar skirts made of black burnout velvet and gray/silver fishnet. There are also two fuzzy photos of the costume I made for the Fremont Arts Council Winter Solstice Feast (where I bellydanced with burning candles and managed to not spill wax or break the snifters holding the candles...whoo-hoo!).

The skirts are my approximation of the Rosehips skirts made by Rose Harden, formerly of the troupe Ultra Gypsy. I'm a committed DIYer and have no ethical problem copying other people's designs for myself (never to sell!), but I like to give credit, especially when the designer is a one-woman operation.

Business as usual

This is the first week in about a month and a half when my fitness routine is running like clockwork. Honestly, it feels great. I was pretty good about keeping up with workouts in the month leading up to the holidays, but let's be frank, there was some slippage.

In case you're curious, here's a basic rundown of my weekly exercise schedule.

Monday
5:30 a.m.: Rachel Brice's Tribal Fusion - Yoga Isolations & Drills for Bellydance OR yoga on my own
Noon: Casual 2-mile walk
5:30 p.m.: Weight training (legs, lower back, abs)

Tuesday
5:30 a.m.: Bellydance for Beginners with Suhaila: Fitness Fusion Pilates and weight training (Deltoids, trapezius, biceps, triceps. I skip abs, because the DVD has an abs segment.)
Noon: 4-mile training walk
5 p.m.: Bellydance - Tribal Fusion NYC OR Tribal Fusion Bellydance with Sharon Kihara

Wednesday
5:30 a.m.: Rachel Brice's Tribal Fusion - Yoga Isolations & Drills for Bellydance or yoga on my own
Noon: Casual 2-mile walk
Evening: Bellydance class du jour

Thursday
5:30 a.m.: Bellydance for Beginners with Suhaila: Fitness Fusion Buns and weight training (chest, back, rear deltoids, abs)
Noon: 4-mile training walk
5 p.m.: Contemporary Bellydance and Yoga Conditioning with Ariellah OR Rachel Brice: Bellydance Arms and Posture

Friday
5:30 a.m.: Rachel Brice's Tribal Fusion - Yoga Isolations & Drills for Bellydance or yoga on my own
Noon: Casual 2-mile walk
5:30 p.m.: Weight training (legs, lower back, abs)

Saturday
5+ mile training walk
Weight training (deltoids, trapezius, biceps, triceps, abs)

Sunday
4-mile training walk
Weight training (chest, back, rear deltoids, abs)

Extras
I usually fit in at least one additional DVD from my bellydance library in the course of the weekend.

Six in six

2008 will be the first year in a looong time that one of my New Year resolutions will not need to be "lose weight." Which, really, is freaking amazing. However, because "weight loss maintenance" is such a boring and static idea, I am challenging myself to become fitter than ever in 2008.

I will of course continue to do the activities that helped me get to where I am today. That would be walking (20 miles a week minimum), weight lifting (mixing up my exact routine every 6-8 weeks to keep my muscles guessing), bellydancing (live classes and DVDs) and yoga (which I want to actually do more of).

Each of these activities is fantastic, and I love all of them enough to spend many hours a week doing them. But my personal idea of fitness means having the strength, endurance and flexibility to move any which way with relative confidence and little-or-no delayed-onset muscle soreness the next day.

I arrived at this notion gradually over the summer and fall. We did a heavy renovation of our garden, which involved digging and hoeing a lot of heavily compacted soil. Let's just say that traditional ab workouts have got nothing on sustained shoveling. Then this fall, when I had been weight lifting for several months and was looking and feeling pretty darn good, I was humbled by the load of Zoo Doo we shoveled into, then out of, the back of a pickup truck. This time it was my shoulders. No injuries, but lots of the kind of pain that says "you got a serious workout."

At first, I thought I might have trouble coming up with six activities (I chose that number because it meant an average of one new activity per month). I ended up needing to cull a few (although I might do them anyway). Here are my winners:

Snowshoeing. I can't cross-country ski without falling on my behind continuously, so I think this winter activity might be more up my alley. I've read that "if you can walk, you can snowshoe." We'll see about that.

Hooping. A woman I watched hoop at an event last month was fit and toned and sleekly muscular. Plus, you can make your own hoops and decorate them with pretty, sparkly tape. A hot bod and DIY possiblities? Sign me up!

Shadowboxing. I use this term because I have no interest in actually sparring with another person. I bought an 80-pound heavy bag a few months ago on sale, and J finally installed it in the basement for me yesterday. I tried out some basic punches and kicks (with two books for guidance on form). Fun, fun, fun.

American Tribal Style bellydance. This is one area where my bellydance education has been lacking. Now that there is an officially certified ATS instructor near my neighborhood, I figure I have no more excuses.

Shovelglove. This set of exercises, created at home by a guy who was itching for a non-gym workout, uses a sledgehammer for weight, working muscles in a way that traditional weightlifting exercises won't. I think working these into my routine will pay off next time I have to unload Zoo Doo.

Kayaking. When I'm walking along the shore of Lake Washington during pleasant weather, I always envy the glide of the kayakers across the water. Plus, I figure it will be a killer arm workout.

It was a very good year

I know it's not Thanksgiving, but 2007 has been a significant year for me. So, as it draws to a close, it seems fitting to declare my thanks for what I'll call my Top 10 Events of 2007. In rough chronological order, they are:

1. Successfully rehabilitated my broken ankle (broken 10/12/06, lots o' metal installed on 10/14/06).

2. Set up home gym in basement with free weights and benches purchased inexpensively on Craigslist. Renewed my commitment to serious weight lifting...as all women should!

3. Resumed weekly bellydance class, this time from a fantastic new (to me) teacher. I feel blessed that both of my long-term teachers (to date) have been top-notch.

4. Completely landscaped our previously boring front yard. Thanks to He Who Puts Up With Me (who I will refer to as "J." from this point forward) for doing the heavy lifting on that one. We're talking rock walls, et al.

5. Reconnected with my long-lost high school-to-college best friend at my 20th high school reunion. (Also: Discovered that high school-to-college boyfriend was not aging particularly well.)

6. Lost 47 pounds since February (when I could start going for proper walks again), and am now at a healthy size 8.

7. Took an amazing workshop from Amy Sigil of Unmata. Marveled at the complicated ways in which the human body can move.

8. Welcomed a healthy (albeit a bit premature) niece into the world.

9. Walked a half-marathon for the first time, and saw my months of dedicated training pay off with a good finish time.

10. Discovered my next avenue for fitness fun, after a chance encounter with a visiting hooper named Spiral.

Critical mass

I've hit a wall. It's that point in the school term where weeks on end of combining a full-time job, school, dance class and home responsibilities start taking their toll.

This happened to me last term, so at least this time I was kind of prepared for it.

Too many nights of not enough sleep, too little "me" time, after a while it's hard to bounce back. I crave sleep, I crave sloth. I've been finding it harder and harder to get up and work out in the morning, even though working out generally involves a cool bellydance workout DVD.

Yesterday morning I worked from home, rolling out of bed at 7:55 a.m., enough time to answer nature's call then check my work e-mail at the start of my business day.

This morning, the alarm going off at 6:30 a.m. was not making me happy. "No, you have to get your butt out of bed and then do something to move it!" I told myself. So, fine, I stumbled into the second bedroom, fired up my iPod, scrolled to my "Bellydance" playlist (which I finally uploaded this weekend...I've had my pod since Christmas, and so far all it had on it was the complete U2 discography) and hip circled, undulated and chest locked my way into conciousness and proper blood flow.

And damn if I didn't feel better. Now if I can only make it through the next two weeks, when I'll have one week of full vacation (no work and no school) followed by another week of partial vacation (no school). For now, I'll have to make do with the holiday weekend. TGIF!