Carlile Room & Sparking Rose

Sometimes the best things come in the form of a totally unplanned event. Which coming from a type A planner says something. Lately it seems that my life and that of others is so planned out, it's hard to just 'get together.' A few weeks ago something magical happened. A friend and I just got together (on a Friday even) for happy hour at a new Seattle spot by Tom Douglas, The Carlile Room. It was perfect. Excellent drinks albeit not so great happy hour deals. Oh well. I enjoyed my pink bubbles so much I found out where I could buy it in Seattle and promptly ordered a few bottles. (On a side note one should check out Mad Wine for good deals). My friend enjoyed their beer BUT they too thought the delicate bubbles of the rose were intoxicating and promptly ordered a glass and then another. I have to admit, I was hesitant to try The Carlile Room, especially since it has been promoted as a place to go before going to The Paramount. I had visions of a hotel lobby bar with ugly carpet. It is in fact does not even have carpet and great design work inside. As far as food goes, we only tried some small bites; however, the menu looked great. What we had was tasty: homemade chips and dips, little mozzarella croquettes and barbecue pork sandwich. My favorite were the croquettes, but really how do you go wrong with fried cheese?!? The best part was having time to connect with an old friend. Our lives can get so hectic, so planned, it was nice to be spontaneous for a change. And did I mention the pink bubbles? Those ALWAYS help a night go well.

Barre.... Round 5

Barre... as in exercise. Barre is a combination of Pilates, ballet/dance and yoga. It has become quite popular. You see it in magazine now or hear of celebrities trying it. I've blogged about it before, yet I have never kept it up. This time though I'm trying a dual approach. Committing to blogging about it AND testing it out as a sole form of exercise. Can committing to just barre really be enough exercise??? This lady is going to try it out for real this time. What makes this time different? A lot of things actually. I discovered Barre a few years ago when a friend brought me to a class with her sister. I was both very self-conscious about it and intrigued by it. It was even a bit humbling. Who knew moving just inches could inflict so much pain, but it does. To prep for my wedding, I combined working out in the 'regular' gym along with regular barre classes to get the ever-so-coveted 'wedding arms.' This combo was actually very effective. It toned all the places I was looking for. Fast forward 3 almost 4 years. I've now been married, had a baby and work full-time. I worked out throughout my whole pregnancy, including barre classes, cycling, yoga and group classes. I set myself up for those baby pounds to just melt off right!?!?! Wellll not so much. Some weight came off, I was on track and then life happened. Colicky baby, working full-time, buying a house, moving all before she was 1. Followed by another health set back and a mini stroke right before she turned 1. Needless to say my idea of where I would be now is not reality. A new Barre studio opened within minutes of my house, YEAH! I took a free class this weekend, and it was great. The real question I have always had about barre is.....is it enough to just do barre? I've never canceled my gym membership because it just feels wrong. It goes back to that mindset that you need a real gym or classes to fatigue yourself in, in order to be in the shape you want. But is that true? What I know is that when I did Barre3 (my favorite of the barre classes offered in Seattle) my body was the most toned it had ever been. BUT I did do some workouts at the gym still. I also know that I always felt great when I left barre class. Unlike other exercises where you feel whipped afterwards, I felt energized. I had this same experience this past weekend. It begs the questions, can I turn to barre alone for exercise? You never know until you try. So here we go. What do I have to loose? I've struggled to find a good exercise routine that fits in with my busy schedule and really makes me feel great. This seemed like the perfect experience to see for real if barre is really enough and see if I can get back on the blogging bandwagon.

You Know What's Good...finding time to actually blog about it!

So it's been a while. That seems to be the theme of many of my blogs since motherhood. But here we go again! This time, I'm using my blog to keep me accountable for trying new things and taking care of ME. In early motherhood, we often loose ourselves somewhat as we learn to balance our new normal and our life before. It is something I never understood until it happened to me. Your free-time shrinks significantly, and that is okay. I found for me though, I still need to find time to carve out for myself. It really does make me a better mom because it makes me happy. And when mom is happy, so is my daughter. It's a hard concept to grasp sometimes. We have this idea in our head that being a 'good' mom means being dedicated to your child or children every single moment of every single day. That is what I used to think being a good mom was, and I was guilty of judging myself for not doing this early on. What I discovered is that it's okay to take moments for myself and in doing so, I enrich my soul. I have more patience, more understanding and more love to share with my daughter. I am teaching her that taking care of yourself and valuing yourself is important. While at 11 months she doesn't fully understand this, I am planting a seed. I have also found it strengthens her relationship with her father. She benefits with quality time for both of us. There are moments when guilt tugs at me, when she doesn't want me to leave to go do something. I remind myself that this is special time for my husband. I also remind myself that it is important for me, that I am worth it.