Yesterday morning I had a really awesome yoga class.  It was the first time that I did Chaturanga Dandasana off my knees for the entire class.  Basically it is the down part of the push-up which you need to do without plopping your entire body on the ground.  It requires lots of upper body strength and control.  Usually I drop to my knees because I feel it is more important to keep proper form during one's yoga practice than it is to try to do the poses "the proper way" and end up doing them half-assed.  Yesterday I was feeling strong.  The entire class went by quickly and it was the type of practice that felt completely effortless.  I was going deeper into poses than I ever have before and not feeling it.  I was in the yoga-zone.  It was awesome.  Unfortunately, my mood changed rapidly after class and I was just in a miserable mood.  There's quite a bit of stress going on in my personal life right now and that was weighing on me.  I am very glad that yoga, at least, probably prevented my mood from being even worse.

I bought Patrick and I tickets to see Stephen Lynch in Boston for his birthday and last night was the show.  We had tickets for the 10:30 show (which is past my bedtime, but the earlier show was sold out).  For dinner, we decided to stop at the Burlington Mall and go to Johnny Rockets for burgers instead of going to one of the expensive, crowded places downtown.  It was a good choice, I haven't had a hamburger since October and this one was mighty tasty!  I should be able to go a while longer without having another just based on how delicious it was.  After dinner we hung out at the mall for a bit.  I haven't been to a mall for about two months.  It was crazy.  We don't have any full length mirrors so I haven't seen what my body looks like since I've lost the weight.  Plus, I tried on some clothes and I fit in a Large--no X's at all!  That was exciting.  I swear every time I passed a full length mirror I stopped to check myself out.  I'm such a dork.  

The show was awesome.  It was so funny.  I laughed so hard I had tears streaming out of my eyes.  I can't believe how lucky we got with parking.  We found a spot RIGHT IN FRONT of the theater.  If you have ever been to Boston, or the downtown area of any big city, you will understand how incredibly rare this is.  We didn't get home until about 2:30 am.  

Today, I slept in and took the Beetle and the truck to get inspected.  That's about it.  

In crafty news, I made Saffy a sweater last week while watching the Oscars.  She likes it and looks adorable in it:

  

Happy 100th Post!  Yay!  I never thought I'd make it.

Lots of pictures to post today.  First, I finished my Mingus socks.  The picture is of them still in progress, but they are finished now:

And a close-up of the stitch pattern:



Here's the in-progress Eastscarf:



I love the way the Malabrigo is working with the pattern. The slight color variations in the yarn really help to make the pattern pop. I constantly have other knitters ask me if the pattern is difficult and they don't believe me when I tell them it's very easy. I am actually to the section of the scarf which is a 6-row repeat so it is pretty boring now.

In my previous post, I mentioned that I reached my 10% goal at Weight Watchers. Here's the keychain that I got for that achievement:



I am amazed at how well Weight Watchers is working for me. I am so happy that I finally realized that losing weight intelligently was not something I could do on my own. What I love about it is that the program teaches you how to eat in the real world and shows you how to live in the real world without depriving yourself of things you love. For Valentine's Day, Patrick and I went to the Bedford Village Inn for dinner. I had a caesar salad, foie gras encrusted filet mingnon, and strawberry amaretto mousse. I was able to eat the entire meal within the parameters of the plan and I don't feel guilty about any of it. Knowing my body, I will have a larger loss this week than usual in spite of that meal! I also really like the Weight Watchers e-tools. They have great recipes. A couple of weeks ago, I made a delicious black bean soup which ended up more like a stew:



That soup lasted me a whole week. I like to try a new recipe every now and then. It's nice to do during the week when Patrick is gone so if it doesn't work out, I don't have to subject him to my experiments.

Back in the craft world, I sold a necklace on Etsy last week, so that was a pleasant surprise.  I am also working on a commissioned bracelet.  I am getting close to being finished with that.  There's a lot of sawing silver involved so I'll be glad when it's done!  In fact, I should get back to work.  

Thanks for all the support and I look forward to sharing my next 100 posts!

I can't believe it has been a week and a half since I have written a post.  I'm such a slacker!  A lot has happened in the past week and a half.  

Last Sunday, the Etsy New Hampshire Street Team had a meet-up in Concord.  It was really great to meet a lot of the other artists I've gotten to know through their work and through our Yahoo group.  There were a lot of great ideas about ways we can help each other with marketing, business skills and promoting ourselves.  I also learned about a non-profit organization called MicroCredit-NH.  They help micro business owners get loans, learn business skills and network.  I went to an orientation meeting today and I really think they can help me.  I really don't know a whole lot about starting a business or running a business and having the support of people who are in similar situations will really inspire me.  I've found that I am the type of person who does well with a support system.  Some people can go it on their own, but I now know that I am not one of those people.

Today was weigh-in day and I hit my 10% goal!  I have lost 21 pounds since starting Weight Watchers in November.  We set my next goal at another 10% which is 18 pounds.

Patrick has been dealing with a ton of crazy things with work so he won't be coming home this weekend.  I'll miss him lots.  I guess our Valentine's Day/Patrick's Birthday celebration will be extra special.  I got him an awesome gift which I won't be posting here until after he receives it.  Since I am all alone this weekend, I'll be doing laundry and taxes.  It'll be like an awesome party.