The Struggle is Real.

Unngghh. Birthdays.

Well getting older, really. Because let's be honest, I kind of love my birthday. The amount of coupons and free things that you get alone are enough to get anyone excited. (Free yoga class! $5 off my next hair appointment! $10 off at Victoria's Secret! Free gifts at Sephora! ALL THE PRESENTS!)

I think what is getting to me most this year isn't so much the physical number, but more-so the life changes I'm noticing as I get older. Don't get me wrong, some of them are amazing - but some them can also be a bit depressing. Things change - it's a part of life - but when I occasionally take the time to look at my life last year, five years ago, ten years ago - it's of crazy. Not only with what is happening in my life, but who I am as a person. What I've done, where I've gone, how my life has turned out thus far.

Basically, I'm getting all introspective in my last year of my 20's. (Thanks, yoga.) And no, I'm not super freaked by turning 30 - everyone I know says their 30's are better than their 20's, so kudos to that!

But, as with anything, there's going to be the good, the bad, and the ugly.

DC Delights

While I don't technically live in DC, pretty much everyone in my particular suburb of Maryland considers themselves a part of the DC metro area. (#wannabe's) I also have many a friend who actually does live within the city limits, and find myself trekking in there quite often despite our recent move a bit further north. I've definitely gotten to know certain parts of the city fairly well, but my general knowledge is extremely lacking - which I kind of hate! I love how much I can rattle off about Philly and NYC, how I know fun spots to go and don't look like a little lost puppy when walking around on my own. Not so much with DC. I mean.. have you seen their street system? It's obnoxious. All circles and diagonals and conspiracy theories of Illuminati and Freemasons (see: Dan Brown).

via TravelPod

All this is to say that I have fairly limited experiences with local DC culture. I know there's a ton of stuff that goes on, but it's not always feasible to explore everything I want to. While we are maybe a total of 15 miles from downtown, it will take a good hour or so to go anywhere of interest, especially depending on the time of day.

When we first moved into the area about six years ago, we did the whole touristy thing and walked around the Capitol, down Constitution Avenue, around the Smithsonian, etcetera. My favorite find that day - which I have since learned is a "thing" down here in the summers - was the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art. We meandered upon this randomly in the middle of the day, but apparently it's a fairly big  hotspot that hosts events such as live Jazz throughout the season. It's been on my list to go back for one of these events.. but have I? Of course not.

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A much more recent and local discovery I've made - that I have admittedly known about for the longest time, and even used to work a mere mile from - is the Sunday night drum circle at Meridian Hill (aka Malcom X) Park.

First off, the park itself is gorgeous. I totally want to have a photo shoot here.

via Time

Second, the drum circle? It's magical. It's crazy, fun, invigorating, and a quintessential DC experience. The premise is that every Sunday, a bunch of people come together and bang on drums, shake tambourines, and dance their booties off. There's no particular "group" - it's open to anyone and everyone. Some people take part in the action, some play frisbee or do yoga.

via Washingtonian

And others (me) sit back on the grass to just take in the scene with some noms and vino (it seems that the police often overlook the whole alcohol-in-public thing during the drum circle hours).

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I'm under the impression that this takes place mostly year round, and has actually been going on since the 1950's or so. It's definitely a local delight that I fully intend to enjoy more of this summer.. possibly tomorrow?!

Does your town have any local treasures that everyone else may or may not know about?

Self-expression a la Hair (aka, what I do when I'm bored)

A few things about me:

- I love me some big, flashy earrings. It is rare that you will find me without dangly earrings of some sort hanging from my lobes.
- I believe that a classic nude pump should be a staple in every woman's closet (along with the LBD, of course).
- Changing my hair is one of my favorite forms of self-expression (aka, I get bored quickly and change it.. a lot).

So about that last one..

You may have noticed that I am a natural red-head/ginger/vampire/whatever you may like to call it. My natural color veers towards the strawberry-blonde end of the spectrum, almost more orange than true red. It took me a really long time to grow to love the fact that I'm a natural ginger.. it's definitely been a love/hate relationship.

Growing up, I was always threatened to never dye or do anything unnatural to my hair because it was "so pretty just the way it is!". So I grew up terrified to do anything to it. I mean.. dye? What?! Do you want me to KILL my lustrous locks? Bae, please.

Until one day in 10th grade (ultimately coinciding with my pop-punk phase.. yay 2001 Good Charlotte!) when I decided that I absolutely MUST dye just the under part of my hair Manic Panic blue. You know the shade. Of course, I had to bleach my hair first in order for the color to show.

(Gahhhh I can't find a picture!!)

Needless to say.. Mama Bear wasn't too thrilled with me. I mean, I was a dancer. What dancer has blue hair? Pout.

Anyway, it eventually faded and then grew out. I left my hair untouched for quite some time after that, until about 2010 when I decided to revisit the under-color, but with black this time.

See it? See it? See it?

I actually quite enjoyed it. And then, in 2012, I made the big plunge and actually dyed my whole head of hairs.. a deeper shade of red. Like I mentioned, I did actually grow to love having red hair.. I'm just still not a huge fan of the shade. Luckily, that's easily fixable and lo and behold.. red on red actually produces a fairly natural looking hue!

Yep - it was dyed for the wedding!

But this isn't just about color. I also very much enjoy growing my hair out, then chopping it all off. It's like a vicious cycle.

Long, then short, then long, then short, then long, then a perm, then short, then super duper short, and now a cute little asymmetrical bob that may either grow to be long again, or be chopped back into a pixie cut, depending on my mood at my next appointment.

But I supposed the most recent update would be this one:

A purple panel on one side! I'm obsessed.

Anyone else have hair ADD? What's your favorite cut/style to rock?

Must Try for July: Rosemary Gin Fizz

Happy July 1st! Otherwise commonly known 'round these parts as my birthday month. Since I'm not quite 30 just yet, I'm still claiming the right to have a birthday month, and not just week (or, heaven forbid, a mere day). Too bad I have nothing planned just yet.. pout.

But anyway, seeing as it's the beginning of July, it is also the official start of the 30 Day Blog Challenge - which I think calls for a cocktail. Don't you agree?!

See, my fantastic husband decided that he really loves gardening - a hobby that I 100% support. He started with a small indoor garden at our old place two years ago (which, honestly, with the grow lights,  made it look like we had a certain operation going on inside the house) (which we didn't, just to be clear). Once we moved to our current duplex - one with a beautiful yard that we know we will be at for at least a few years - he decided to build a more permanent garden outside.

Needless to say, it has grown immensely in the past couple of months. I'm actually kind of impressed at his green thumb.. Lord knows I certainly don't posses this trait.

There's zucchini, cucumbers (for pickling!), tomatoes, corn, lettuce, broccoli, bell peppers, jalapeño peppers, and.. a whole lotta of rosemary.

We've been using it here and there, but tend to veer more towards our fresh basil as herb of choice for most dishes. After contemplating our rosemary-related options with a few friends, we came up with the (genius) idea to use it as an accent to a delicious summery cocktail, a la an infused simple syrup. Hence, the Rosemary Gin Fizz was born.

If you like gin.. and you like rosemary.. this is a must try for July!

What other herbs do you think would make good cocktail mixers??

Start Before You're Ready

Well, hey there. I'm back!! After another long hiatus. But I have a good reason (or twenty of them).. I swear!! But for starters, my lovely friend Sara of Fit For A Bride blog mentioned a 30 Day Blog Challenge that her and few other ladies are taking part in over the month of July, which sounds like just the kick I need to get my butt back in action.

To be honest, a lot of pretty great things have happened over the past few months, the biggest of which being that I left my old job and started my own massage & health coaching business.

*Gulp*

So.. was I ready for it? Not entirely. Did I need to do this, for my sanity and my career goals? Definitely. Was I terrified? Abso-freaking-lutely. Has it been worth it? Heck, yea!

All I knew was that I wasn't happy in my old job - where while I was an independent contractor, I was treated much more along the lines of an employee. I had a lot of responsibilities that I loved in one way, but hated in another - I learned that environment and managers can have a lot to do with workplace happiness (or lack there of). I had put three years of time and wonky hours into this place, and I finally felt that I had enough of a base to branch out and start my own thing. The way I saw it, if I have a career where I can make my own hours and be okay doing my own thing - which not everyone has the luxury of - why wouldn't I do that?

So I did. I didn't know exactly how, or even where to start. But let me tell you, Pinterest is amazing when it comes to inspirational words and mantras. (No, really!) I kid you not, this little saying below really struck a chord with me when I saw it.

If I just waited around until I was ready.. it never would have happened. So here I am, operating my own massage therapy & health coaching business, while simultaneously pretty much running and expanding the winery I mentioned a while back. I have the steady paycheck + the ability to work on my own thing on the side.. and it's pretty great.

But yea.. I'd say that's kept me (obnoxiously) busy over the past few months. Forgive my absence? =D

On the flip side, I have so many great ideas and different things that I can't wait to talk/blog about over the next month.. and beyond! And only some of them involve wine.  (Okay, maybe like, half.) (But you can't blame me, it's delicious.)

weekend recap + BB brownies

I don't do a lot of weekend recaps.. mostly because my weekends have been a bit boring and work-filled lately.. but this past one was definitely deserves a few words! Well, Friday at least.

I started off the day with a hot power yoga class - which is always my favorite way to start a Friday morning. My fave local studio features $5 Friday's, so when I can squeeze in a cheap class and grab a few more Goûter tonics? It's a good day.

The next stop of the day was to see our tattoo guy, Chris, at Low Tide Tattoos for my newest ink - a cat paw. Something I haven't talked much about here just yet is about the passing of my sweet kitty, Tully, back in December. The reader's digest version is that he developed lymphoma last year, and it was just a matter of time before it took over his body. We had to put him to sleep just after Thanksgiving, and god help me, it was one of the hardest things I've had to do. I still think about him everyday.

When he started getting sicker, I decided that I wanted to eventually "commemorate" him with a tattoo of his paw print. The interesting part was actually getting the print, but after several tries (and lots of wet food as incentive), I was able to get a few decent ones. It took me a few months to actually schedule an appointment, but I was feeling especially inspired last week and set something up for midday Friday.

I sent Chris two of the best paw prints - and seeing as he's also done five out of my seven tattoos - I trusted him completely with it. And guys? It's beautiful.

Things I'm Loving

As far as the work week goes, Sunday is actually my Monday. Yet for some reason, Monday's are still so.. Monday-ish. I think it's just one of those things that's unavoidable, especially since the creation of the fabulosity that is Office Space. A case of the Monday's, indeed.

On another note, I'm sure we're all familiar with the Five Things for Friday and What I'm Loving Wednesday posts that are popular among the blogosphere.. and I firmly believe they are trendy for a reason. I personally love reading these posts, and often discover a few new things that I now love as a result. So why not start the week off with a bang, and do a Things I'm Loving post on a Monday?

Here goes:

- the Nature line from red flower

First off, red flower is a skincare line that I hadn't even heard of until late last year, when the wellness studio I work at started carrying their products. As the main office admin and senior massage therapist, I had a big part in bringing this line on and getting to know the products - one of which was a sampler kit for their Nature line. And ZOMG I fell in love.

This line is not only good for both body and face, but it's almost entirely organic and is made up of just generally "good for you" stuff like white peat and omega-3 berry oil. Sounds fun right? It totally is. (It's also not the cheapest stuff in the world, but hey.. staff discount!)

I especially love it because it has made my face so much more even and glowy.. and doesn't cause my super sensitive skin to break out. I've finally been able to ditch the Clinique Acne Solutions - which was more a preventative measure than anything else - and go to this much gentler, much more hydrating, and WAY more natural line.. and I'm now obsessed!

- monday night yoga class

I'll be completely honest: I don't always have the motivation to go to a 7:15pm class after a 9+ hour workday, but I always, always, always feel better after I go. Plus, my favorite teacher instructs this class - she's a former gymnast and also went to the same nutrition school that I did, just a few years earlier. I think of her as a great mentor, and I just love the classes she gives. Definitely perks up my Monday's!

P.S. I also super love my new lululemon yoga mat! Splurge? Yes. Worth is? Yes!

- warm days to (sort of) distract from this heinous winter

Weather around the country has been nuts this winter.. unless you're one of those lucky folk who live in LA. In which case, I'm incredibly jealous of you and we are not friends anymore.

But for anyone else, it's been cray. For example, here in the DC area, we had a decent snow storm a bit over a week ago that had schools and the government shutting down before a flake even hit the ground. To be fair, we did end up getting around 16 inches, which is the equivalent of Armageddon around here. Except half of it melted the next day, seeing as the temperature shot up to a balmy 55 degrees and I didn't even need a coat.

We also had a burst of warm air this weekend - I think it got as high as 62 yesterday - which was perfect for working at the farm. Even though it's going to be something dumb like 15 degrees in a few days, it's these little warm glimpses that give me hope that spring might possibly sort of be close by!

Tell me, what are you loving lately?