January is always a rough month for me. It’s just how it is. I go into a hibernation mode that’s hard to pull out of until I hit a big low and realize I need to snap out of it. This year’s low was eating an ENTIRE Chinese food combo to my face – gross.
To make up for it, I ordered myself a $92 (after shipping and handling – yeah, ten bucks to ship essentially a quarter pound of fabric) bikini and I’m going to look good in in damn it.
While I am not an eight foot tall swimwear model, I can still rock this bikini… after a little bit of work.
I’m not going to go all body-issue on you (maybe just a little), but I really haven’t been in any kind of shape since high school. My saying that always pisses a lot of chicks off. I realize I don’t look out of shape, but I am. My muscle tone is essentially zero and carrying my groceries makes me want to curl up in the parking lot and die.
Today, I stop talking and I start doing. I did one hour of Vinyasa Flow yoga over a YogaGlo (mentioned in my resolutions post, which, by the by, I am not doing so hot with – hence a Resolution Renaissance in February). I had to take several breaks, especially when the class was really into this long series of repetitions that require an absurd amount of upper body strength. But it’s OK, because every day will get me closer to being stronger and being more muscular, like I used to be. And when the weather breaks, I will begin running again.
I’m also going to open this blog up a little more topic wise. I need to write more and get my words out there a little more. Sometimes I feel a little inhibited here, I feel like I really need to keep in my niche and be a good little blogger; i.e., I read too many blogs on blogging and everyone basically says the same thing and it makes me so bored. I’m sick of bullet point posts and people telling me that I need to incorporate idiot gimmicks to make my space worthwhile. Well, maybe I don’t want any of you people reading my blog and I only want my lovely readers who don’t mind how many paragraphs are here or how many points I make, as long as I make a point and toss them something yummy to eat a few times a month.
That’s going to make me more happy, dear reader, and I hope you stick around. I’m expanding myself this year, and I hope we can expand together, those of you who want to stick around.
I’m also hoping to relocate by 2012 – any of you who read this who do no live in New York, please, tell me a little about your area and what’s great about it. I’m interested in learning about places other than San Diego.
So, finally, here’s to 2011 and really making it count because I can’t have another slouchy year like 2010. I need a positive, productive, relaxed, enlightened, in-shape, creative 2011 – and that’s the direction I’m heading in as of today.
Needles&Bread 
Hi Liz,
Good on you. You’re going to rock that bikini!
I adore your blog and your thoughts. I will keep reading, as always. xo
Also, if you move to Seattle, you will never have to shovel snow again. You can jog all year round. You can hike within minutes of the city and everything is always green! Also, if you play soccer, we play it here in the pouring rain and no one blinks an eye. Cheers!
Thank you, Robin!
But doesn’t it rain, like, all the time in Seattle? That’s the impression I get from television. (I’ve been watching a lot of Gray’s Anatomy lately.)
Hey, lady! I’m glad to see that you’re working towards your resolutions. I hate working out, too, so I really admire the hard work you’re putting in. As for the locale issue: come to Austin! We have great weather most of the year and it’s an awesome place for young spry folks who like bikinis and yoga. Cost of living is super low compared to other areas of the country, too. Also, we have breakfast tacos. What more could you want?
You do make a compelling argument with breakfast tacos…. maybe I would actually eat breakfast. But then, maybe I wouldn’t look so hot in my bikini 😛
I’ve only ever spent any time in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and that was in 07 when Texas was flooding!
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Well it’s hard to compete with Austin, which is a wonderful and magical land (although I am going to argue that it certainly does NOT have a lower cost of living than “most” of the rest of the country. Although New York, LA, and the like–probably)
Come to Cleveland!
In addition to having Playhouse Square, which boasts some of the best off-Broadway theater outside of NYC, we’ve got our own resident iron chef, an all-green restaurant whose chef last year was voted best new chef in America, and a host of small, local food establishments that make you want to curl up and die with happiness. Did I mention the West Side Market? Google it. It’s a huge, year-round farmer’s market, hosted in a giant art-deco warehouse type building built for the purpose nearly a century ago.
We’ve got a bad rap for pollution and blue-collaredness but in fact Cleveland is the site of a steadily growing/burgeoning green revolution, hosting CSA programs that are innovating and changing what it even means to be a CSA, artisan cheese and breadmakers, and a whole host of non-food cottage industries as well. The city is in the process of developing downtown farms on some vacant lots, and people in the know believe that Cleveland is poised to become the epicenter of the green/environmentalist movement in the midwest within the next few years.
Cost of living? We pay $650/month for a 1400 square foot apartment with a yard, basement storage, and garage parking. The floors are all hardwood, the neighborhood is lovely and friendly, and we’re walking distance from two of the coolest areas of the city. Utilities run us about $150/month, and we pay $160/month for our groceries.
I don’t even need to mention the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, do I? What you’re less likely to know about is the Cleveland Museum of Art, which is one of the largest and last free art museums in the country. Our the Botanical Gardens (not free, but beautiful), or the Natural History Museum.
Cleveland butts up against Lake Erie. After years and years of attempts to clean up pollution in the lake, the introduction of zebra mussels finally accomplished that (although they have caused other problems), meaning that all along the coastline of the lake (and throughout the city) you find clean freshwater beaches.
Our hospital system is amazing, and you can’t throw a rock without hitting a college or university. The downtown is filled with huge, beautiful old buildings, there’s a giant yearly Shakespeare festival (and I have an in if you’re ever interested in being part of it), and there’s a ton of history to the city that you would never imagine.
So, yeah… Ever see the 30 Rock episode about Cleveland? It’s pretty much true.
You’re welcome to come visit us anytime and see for yourself.
Oh, I forgot to mention–best public library system in the country, best orchestra in the country, and “the emerald necklace” –a HUGE system of parks and reserves set aside and paid for by funds from Rockefeller, Carnegie, Firestone, and several other wealthy oil barons and tycoons of industry in the 1900’s.
And we have a good zoo. And I’m going to stop now because I’m going to keep coming up with more stuff about Cleveland that is rad.
You make a completely compelling argument. I never really pictured myself living in Ohio, to be honest. And after this winter, I’m not sure how many magical things a city would have to contain to get me to stay north. (Except the prospect of a very interesting job that might lure me to Brooklyn.) But I honestly didn’t know that Cleveland had so much to offer. My extent of knowledge on Cleveland was 95% based on the Drew Carey show, which I’m sure wasn’t even filmed in Cleveland, so there you go. 😛 I will definitely add it to my list!
No one really looks like that. Sure, close, but no doubt a little photoshopping, an inch off the waist, anything that can slightly be construed as ‘saddlebaggy’ chopped off, skin glossed over flawlessly with eraser tool.. etc etc. Besides, you look great as is! My motto..eat what you want in small amounts, and exercise..never diet!! Dieting is how you ‘gain’ weight!! lol
Oh it’s totally true, I’m much more concerned about just exercising and staying in shape at this point. In terms of my diet, I just want to try not to eat absurd quantities of Chinese food in one sitting. That never helps. When I’m low energy (like I am in winter), cooking gets troublesome; but with the warmer weather I enjoy being in the kitchen much more (especially since I can get local fruits and veggies also).