Much Love and Gratitude

The Yogathon is tomorrow and I am very excited.

I want to extend some serious love and thanks to...

Andree - a SnB sister. We have a great group!
Susan & Sudi - my fun friends
Jill & Tyler - My incredibly cute nephew and his incredibly cute mom
Mary - my awesome next door neighbor
Michele & Jeff - great friends who live just a little too far away for everyday play.
and
Carla - one of my great supports in all my hare-brained schemes and plans I lay in this life.

I thank you all for your generosity of heart.
To everyone - You make my spirit soar!

I will do my best to document the yogathon in all my upside downward dog head stand twisting with a camera in hand that I can.

Shanti
Shanti
Shanti

Eat More Cupcakes

It was my friend Jen's birthday and she likes cupcakes. This was my chance to delve into Oneskein by Leigh Radford and whip up a quick cupcake or two. It was fast and easy and turned out so cute. The proto-cupcake is the one with the pink top. In the pattern it says to knit the sides until the piece measures 2 1/4". From the proto-cake I found that this was too high and the proportion was wrong for my cupcake. Too much cake and not enough frosting. Even in a non-edible, I want to know that I have a good ratio of cake to icing. The directions also said to whip-stitch the icing top to the cake bottom. However by doing this I didn't achieve the lovely overhang of icing on my cupcake. My remedy for this was to crochet the top to the bottom.



Here's my second cupcake. It turned out much more yummier than my first one. I also put some lavender in the center of the stuffing so that it smelled just as pretty as it looked. The lavender touch was also special to Jen who just launched her new company Ocean Lavender, which specializes in 100% organic lavender products. Lavender is a natural moth repellent so I keep hinting she needs to make something special for all the yarnoholics out there. I know there are bins and bins of yarn just waiting for a lovely lavender sachet.

For some amazing pictures of edible, yet knitty cupcakes check out this website called Veganyumyum.
Carla sent me the link last night. WOW! That's some impressive cupcaking.

I recently stumbled upon a new place for a sugar fix called Big Sugar Bakeshop. The shop is located on the south side of Ventura Blvd, just west of Laurel Cyn. My hubby and I split an ice cream sandwich. Vanilla ice cream nestled between two chocolate chip cookies. Whoa. They were even nice enough to cut it in half so there was no fighting over who got more yumminess. Remember... we almost came to blows over the strawberry pie at Pie 'n Burger? We are like feral cats when it comes to anything delicious.

We also bought a dozen cupcakes for a father's day bbq at my nephew's house. I got an assortment but only tried one. It was chocolate cake with chocolate ganache swirled on top with a cream filling. It was truly a great cupcake. The cake was rich but not too sweet. So, too, was the cream filling. Light and fluffy as opposed to sugary and heavy. The ganache gave me the right amount of sweet smooth taste to my bite of cake. All around a delightful cupcake.

I want to send a big THANK YOU to Mary Jo for her donation to the yogathon and Habitat for Humanity!


Ooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmm....

Here's the break down of the 24 hours of Yogathon.

Saturday June 30
8-10 am
Asana: Standing Poses & Inversions

10-12 pm
Asana: Arm Balances & Backbends

12-2 pm
Pranayama & Meditation

2-4 pm
Chanting

4-6 pm
Asana: Hip Openers & Forward Bends

6-8 pm
Restorative Yoga

8-10 pm
Partner Thai Yoga

10-12 am
Chanting with Wah! Public Invited. $20 donation. Come on down!!!

Sunday July 1
12-2 am
Restorative Yoga

2-4 am
Pranayama & Meditation

4-6 am
Asana: Sun Salutations

6-8 am
Chanting & Dancing!

8-8:30 am
Go home. Have a snack. Take a shower. Crawl into bed. Sleep.......

8:30 - ???
Do Not Disturb

The Sponsors Keep Rolling In

Thank you Mom!
& Thank you Jean (Mom-in-law)!
I love my family and knowing that they are behind me.

Thank you Jen & Tom and Storky!
Your support and friendship means the world to me.

So far I have 16 sponsors for the yogathon and have raised $750. WOOHOO!

I have met the minumum goal of $500!
I have gotten a sponsor from India - thanks honey and everyone at Inventurus!

City Yoga is having fun prizes for things like the most family member donations, and the donation from the furthest away, and the grand prize will go to the person who collects the largest amount in donations. Fun stuff. So I think I have a good chance for the donation from the furthest away!

It feels good to be involved and helpful and active. It feels good to have the support of loved ones. It feels good to do something for others. I have really enjoyed the experience so far. The yogathon is 10 days away. It's so exciting. I can't wait.

Good Times in Texas

These are my friends Charissa (with Pix and Brat)



and Joe (with Pixie)



They live in College Station, TX




Home of Texas A&M

Yes this is a my branded dinner.
Fan-cy!
Joe is a professor at TXAM. He is one smart cookie!

Fact: The university has a meat sale after they teach slaughter house 101.


Charissa and Joe are the proud parents of Pixie (shown above)
and
Bratwurst

and
Archie


and Folly (shy) and Wyatt (not pictured due to his ninja skills).

They were my first sponsors for the yogathon.
Thank you. You are awesome!!!

On my recent visit, Charissa and I went in search of an alpaca farm


It took us two hours of driving east and west across the great state of Texas before we realized we needed to be driving south. Oops.

We finally arrived and I was promptly spit in the face by Pandora, a very feisty alpaca.


Yes I was there all of three minutes before I took a big alpaca raspberry in the face. Apparently I was very lucky it wasn't a real cudder from deep within the third stomach and I had sunglasses on, but I really smelt of alpaca for the rest of the day. The alpaca aroma is a mix of fresh farm, green and grassy with a hint of musk and dung and a dash of Delmer the dog!

Fact: During hunting season the alpacas have to wear orange hunting vests so as to avoid getting their fuzzy butts shot off.

There is always something fun to do in Texas. Next time I am going to visit the miniature pony farm. I'll be sure to wear long pants in case they are spitters too!

The movies...

The matinee cost $3.50!!!! I almost fell over folks.
Regular admission is only $5.oo!!!!
All I can say is WOW, LA is a distorted place. Knowing the price of admission was so low made watching Spiderman 3 almost bearable.


Here is a funny picture of Pixie and me. She is the newest addition to the family and she is a love bug. She came from the Central Texas Dachshund Rescue. It took every ounce of decency not to smuggle her home with me.

Random Thoughts

Peonies

Trader Joe's has peonies for $6.99.
They are the most gorgeous of flowers and the scent is heavenly. I have bought them for the last two weeks and enjoyed every fragrant moment.


Here's a giftie I whipped up for my good friend Carla for her birthday last month.
It's a needle holder for her embroidery endeavors.





Tito's Tacos. All I can say is it's Ellen's fault for this trip to Tito's.

Yes, they are as good as they look.


Here is a picture of puppy happiness.

This is Pixie and her rawhide chew.
This is one cute doxy.

And last but not least...
Thanks to Ashwini & Sachin - NY, NY
for their donation to H4H & their support.

So far I have had donations from NY, NC, and TX as well as here at home.
My hubby is bringing back rupee donations from India.
Love and support from all over the world. This is absolutely awesome.

Memorable Memorial Fare

Pie 'n Burger
That pretty much says it all. My hubby and I went to check it out over Memorial day weekend. It's located in Pasadena on California at Lake. Let me tell you...it was good! Real good.




This place is old timey with a fabulously long counter to sidle up to. When I ordered my coke it was two squirts of syrup and a shot of soda. Love it! It looks like they make a mean malt too.


In spite of the sign we ordered burgers first.
Look at these burgers. Burger perfection.

and a side of potato salad.

and then...

Fresh Strawberry Pie. YUM!


My hubby and I fought over almost every bite. It was that good. I suggest when you go order your own slice to prevent any brawling at the counter. The burgers were very tasty and did you see that side of potato salad. It was huge. This is a diner well worth discovering.

Yogathon Support & News

I want to extend my thanks for the support for the upcoming yogathon.

Here are a list of new sponsors that generously gave for the yogathon and Habitat for Humanity.

Steve & Caroline - Santa Monica, CA
Steve said he wanted to support anything that was bhavalicious!
Tami & George - Wake Forest, NC
My good friends. Thank you. Miss you.
Tom & Dee - West Hills, CA
Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law
If you need a fantabulous florist in the Valley
check out West Hills Flower Shoppe
Rose & Andre - LA, CA
My sister-in-law & nephew. Grazie mille
Modern Mobile Homes
For all your manufactured home needs!

Many thanks to everyone for your support. It's your donations and good wishes that are going to make this yogathon a smashing success! I am still looking for sponsors and accepting donations until Thursday June 28. Email me for more info.

Here is some more news about the yogathon.

During the yogathon Visitors will be welcome Saturday night June 30
from 10-12am for kirtan/chanting with Wah!
It will be a $20 donation at the door.

What's Kirtan?
Kirtan is call and response chanting to musical ragas tradition that goes back 500 years. It is often accompanied by rhythmic drumming style that transports the chanters to profound spiritual realms. It is said that kirtan is accepted as one of the surest paths to enlightenment. Who isn't looking for a little bit of that?
Try it, you'll like it!

Also Save the Date
Saturday, September 8, 2007
This is the day that City Yoga will participate in a Habitat Home Build!
Yes, you can get your hands dirty!
Who hasn't wanted to help on a build?
This is an awesome way to participate directly with Habitat for Humanity and to see what your generous donations are doing for your community!
I love it!
If you are interested you can sign up at City Yoga.

Mother's Day

My favorite new book is Lotta Jansdotter's Simply Sewing.
It has great easy patterns.

Here is a little something I whipped up for my mom.


Hat & Tote



Close-up


Tote

We went to the Reel Inn for lunch. YUM!
She had Orange Roughy and I had the Sea Bass.
FYI. While standing in line we signed a petition to save the Reel Inn. It seems that developers want to get rid of all the businesses on the corner of Topanga Cyn and PCH. This would be very sad. It's part of the landscape and the food is delicious.



Mom loved her new stuff and we had fun toodling through the canyon in my Miata. Lunch was delicious. On the way home we picked up some strawberries and cherries. It was a great mom and daughter day.

Yogathon

Remember those bygone days of dance-a-thons?
Well welcome to the 21st century...
(drumroll)...
the Yogathon!

I am participating in a 24-hour yogic jam session at City Yoga (Fairfax & Santa Monica). It begins at 8am Saturday June 30 and continues until 8am Sunday July 1st. The yogathon benefits Habitat for Humanity-Los Angeles. Habitat for Humanity is a great non-profit that helps families buy their own homes. City Yoga is trying to raise $100,000.00 because that is the amount of money to build one home. If we reach the goal H4H will designate a home "the house that yoga built". I am looking for sponsors for this fun-tastic event. 100% of the donations goes directly to Habitat for Humanity in Los Angeles.

Last night at SnB, Ellen generously sponsored me!!! WOW! Thanks Ellen. You are the best! Kate was also ready & willing and wrote me a check immediately. Thank you Kate!

I have to admit that it is difficult for me to ask friends for donations. I hate to think I might be imposing on anyone. But if you don't ask then how can anyone help and get involved. We often respond to devastation like Hurricane Katrina and Lord knows they still need a lot of love and attention in those areas that were affected. It's great to do good in the world and an opportunity to help those in our own backyard is even greater.

Here are some fun facts from the last City Yoga Yogathon.

24 bhavalicious hours of yoga

A total of 43 bright inner bodies participated on the mat…
(32 warriors who went the distance and 11 enthusiastic part-time
drop-ins)

The event revealed the radiant leadership of 14 amazing teachers.

Their 12 classes included a total of 324 poses (give or take a down dog)

Collectively, we chanted 108 oms.

The grand total $23,518
…donated by 396 generous sponsors, from LA to Wisconsin to England.

The single largest donation was $1000 (and there were 2 of them)

The single smallest donation was $1 (and there were 6 of them)

The most popular donation was $25 (and there were 63 of them)

A total of 58 people/businesses donated goods and services worth $11,146

In 24 hours, we collectively drank 324 bottles of smartwater (that’s 5,475.6 ounces)

…which means we drank a bottle per pose (see above)

And we ate 2 delicious catered meals: lunch by Jonathon Darr,
Dinner by Dorit Dyke.

Consequently, we went through 11 rolls of toilet paper.

We were the talk of the town, as seen on KCAL 9 Saturday and CBS Sunday.

With a gift of almost $25,000, we built a deserving family ¼ of their dream house!

Our gift to Habitat for Humanity-LA was the largest community-driven gift in 2005.


I will keep you posted.
Om Shanti,
Natalie