BLOGMAS DAY 3
Dearest readers,
Happy Wednesday, Happy Hump Day! I hope this post finds you well!
Wednesday is a much lighter work day than Tuesday. I taught an 8am pilates class and had a new student, Karen, who was struggling a bit, but since she was the only one who attended class (a lot of people are traveling during the holiday season) I essentially gave her a private lesson and helped her out on the exercises that were more difficult.
Now I’m posted up at Coffeebar in Redwood City, which is my favorite local coffee shop. It has this Italian vibe to it, and there are hand-painted murals lining the walls, and fun fact– I actually know the guy who painted them! Madly talented white dude, a little bit socially awkward and eccentric, but brilliant, nonetheless.
I was just getting this blog post underway when I struck up conversation with this Pakistani dude from the coffee shop! He has warm brown eyes, a boyish grin, and after nearly an hour of deep conversation spanning interests, hobbies, and worldviews on money (it’s a tool to buy the things that make you happy, he said), he lent me his book, “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius. I’ve been wanting to read that book for a while, ever since it was loosely referenced in the second Gladiator film. Knowledge is power, my friends. No, actually, knowledge is potential power. It’s what you do with that knowledge that counts.
It’s 1:27pm and I’m eating lunch at home: chicken salad sandwich from Google. Those raisin bits make the whole thing so tasty, it hits my tastebuds when I least expect it, and the contrast between savory mayo-coated shredded chicken and crunchy, sweet brown raisins is a beautiful thing to behold. Thank you, Google, for this delicious meal.
My plan is to do a bit more work on my podcast before heading to the country club at 2pm, where I’ll hit my own strength training workout before training a client at 3:30pm. I offered to sub a 6:30pm dance class at Bay Club, and I’m excited to debut a new choreography I made last night, which is a CHARLESTON! Think, 1920s flapper girl dance. It’s upbeat, fast paced, lots of kicks and leg actions and bounciness. Then I have a date tonight with this bartender I met last Wednesday. We were flirting all night, and he has a good energy to him, and his face is the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen, so I’m giving him a shot. No expectations, but we’re both excited to hang out.
It’s off to work we go! Hopefully no more near car accidents today. Send me prayers, my friends.
BLOGMAS DAY 4
Hello, everyone! I wasn’t able to finish my Blogmas from yesterday, so the saga bleeds into today, Thursday. Just so happened that I had 2 client cancellations today, so I have an extremely light work day. Just taught one yoga class at noon, and then I drove to Google for lunch. I cheated on my diet– 4 squares of pizza (3 Italian sausage with squash, and 1 cheese pizza). Nothing they served was appealing to me, to be honest. But I packed 3 boxes to-go that I will share with my family. Looking at me, mom, I am helping put food on the table!
It’s 3:45pm and the rest of the day is mine for the taking! I need to do more content filming at the gym– workouts, dance routines– and continue choreographing the dance I’ll perform in 8 days. Geez, I got 8 days to pull this off. i have plenty of time. And I’ve been through harder deadlines before… the wedding flash mob in November 2023 was a case in point. It was my first time being hired by a professional talent agency to dance with a group of 5 other pro dancers, and we had a single 4-hour rehearsal to learn the dance, a week to practice on our own, then a 2-hour dress rehearsal day before the wedding, and a couple run-throughs at the wedding venue before guests arrived, then BOOM! The show. That was probably the most high-pressure performance gig I’ve ever done in my dance career, This next one is gonna be a breeze, but I need to lose a little bit of weight to feel confident on stage (cue the body image issues). THIS is why I’ve taken a step out of the spotlight in recent years, because performing is simply too triggering for my mental health and body image. It’s high stress, and there is also the mental-emotional fallout that happens when the curtains close. I’d over-prepare and stress out before big performances or competitions, get back into disordered eating habits in preparation, feel great relief once the show is over, which sends me into a post-performance high that has bled into full-blown mania in the past. At a certain point, I had to ask myself: is 3 minutes in the spotlight worth all the mental-emotional-physical toll of performing? My inner wisdom whispered softly, “No,” So I listened to that voice, and now find great joy and fulfillment in teaching. Less glamorous, maybe, but no less noble.
I just finished doing the time stamps and snippets for one of my podcast episodes that will launch in a couple weeks. Will take a little break, drink some tea, do my bright-light therapy lamp while wearing a face mask, then I’m gonna work on another podcast episode, post some content on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and that’ll be my work for the day. Gonna hit an intense workout later tonight to exercise out all this junk and carbs and sugars I splurged on over lunch. I’ll read a book, watch some Netflix, then go to bed early. Sounds like a great day. I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow, please take care!
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