New Jersey > Brooklyn > New York > New Jersey > London > Manchester

We're back from a whirlwind trip to New York City via Newark, NJ and let me tell you, I am exhausted! These trips bring sleep deprivation to a whole new level. You know that place where you are so tired that even sleep seems like a big task? Yeah, that's how it is. I don't know how my hubby has done his job for the last 20+ years.

We visited two Bikram schools while in Brooklyn. Bikram Yoga Brooklyn Heights, and Bikram Yoga Park Slope in the South Slope area. The Brooklyn Heights school was nestled among cafes and Brownstones on the 2nd floor of a funky building. The space was small and intimate, with the feeling that you were in someone's apartment. Half of the room had only enough space for a single row of praticioners, giving the space a very intimate and meditative vibe. Our instructor was very good - she's been teaching for four years now so she has honed her craft. Here we are in our post-class bliss doing some postures in front of the studio.

Next we treated ourselves to a beautiful lunch at Siggy's Good Food which totally lived up to it's name. We wandered around Brooklyn, checking out the Promenade, and picked up a new coat at the Buffalo Exchange in town. Moral dilemma: the coat is a fur. A totally bad ass fur. I have never owned a fur coat, and felt a bit conflicted by the whole thing, but also decided that seeing as how it was vintage, it wasn't as bad as buying one new. As the girl at the shop said "If you get splattered with paint, you know it's over. If you get hundreds of compliments, then you know you've made the most fabulous thrift-store purchase of your life." So far, all I've been showered with is compliments on the coat, so I'm sticking with it.

What a view! I actually welled up with tears at the sight of this.

Getting lost during a cab ride can have beautiful results.

We stayed at the Hotel BPM in Brooklyn South Slope which seemed to have a cool vibe and good reviews on Hotels.com, and the price was right. But it seemed totally shady. It was in a weird part of town near the Costco, in the middle of a block full of abandoned buildings. The hotel had a hip-hop theme which is rad, but I couldn't help but wonder if it was a front for something else going on. What are the chances? Ha! We went out for an evening stroll in hopes of getting a bite to eat, but mostly found abandoned buildings, laundromats, and funeral homes. We headed north and wound up walking in to the lovely Piccoli Trattoria which had a beautiful, intimate setting paired with wine and homemade pasta. It was just what we needed after a long day of walking, trains and yoga.

We practiced at Bikram Yoga Park Slope the next morning which many yogis claim to be their favorite of all the spaces in NYC, and I can see why. What a beautiful space! Located on the 2nd floor of an old bank, the layout and feel of the space were very unique, reminded me a bit of the Funky Door on Polk Street in San Francisco in that you  had views out to the street in the hot room which makes for a nice vibe.

New York, Liverpool, and A Home In the Heart of the Country

Richard returned home from his three-day trip to Nigeria today and told me that he was just given a trip to EWR (Newark, NJ.) this weekend, and I am gonna go with. I quickly emailed our fellow Bikram teachers in NYC to see if anyone is teaching, and if perhaps - gulp - I might teach a class while we are there. We started studying our dialogue last night, and I have some serious catching up to do. I could barely make it through Standing Separate Leg Stretching which is my favorite one to say. (insert whip crack sound) workinonit!

We were treated to a lovely dinner at the home of Cathy and Ian last night. They bought a house in the country right across from a stable. There was someone getting riding lessons when we arrived and we had to take a second to watch. I am still so charmed by everyone's accent out here - especially in new venues like an equestrian park. "Trott on! Trott trott!" Haha.

What a beautiful home, a beautiful couple, and a beautiful meal!

We are heading to Liverpool today to take class and see about teaching there. So excited! I am hoping the universe provides.

Workinonit - J Dilla from Marcos Quintanilla on Vimeo.

Back In Action

Hello friends - I have to believe that once in a while people are checking back here to see what I wrote - even if it has been months. I'm back on the interwabs and there is a lot of catching up to be had.

In the last five months I attended and graduated from Bikram Yoga Teacher Training - Fall 2012 Class, Became a certified Bikram Yoga instructor, met a handsome, intelligent, funny fellow yogi who also happened to be my soul mate, flew to Vegas, sealed the deal, moved back to the Salt Lake Valley, changed my name to "Lockett", taught three Bikram classes, and then moved to Manchester, UK to be with my husband. And we lived happily ever after...

...and now the real story begins.

I have intentionally abstained from blogging for the past five months due in part to the fact that I wanted to disconnect from the world of electronics as much as possible during my experience. For those of you who know me, instagram had gone from my favorite past time, to my daily obsession. Half of the reason I drove from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles via Moab was so that I could capture and share the sights on IG. On the night before I arrived in LA, I dropped my phone - in it's case - on a soft pine wood deck and the screen cracked in to a billion pieces. I was mortified, but I immediately knew that the universe was telling me "You're embarking on the soul journey of your life. Put your fracking phone down!!!"

Once I arrived at Teacher Training, the breaks I had were short and sweet, but hardly left enough time to write about the experience. Once I was home from teacher training, I was too busy studying, teaching, practicing, planning, and packing to think about writing about the experience. Once I arrived in Manchester I was too busy with Christmas, New Year (they say "New Year", not "New Years" here, which is one of the few dialect thingys that makes more sense to me than the way "we" say it over in the states) and having my body introduced to it's first trans-continental flu, I was too exhausted to write about the experience.

Then, this morning the sun came out all day. I felt inspired by where I am and what I am doing for the first time in a while, and I felt compelled to start up my blogging again. I am hoping to do more with it this time around. To share, inspire, produce, and maybe even make some dough. (gotta put it out there.)

So here it is, the kicker, the kick off. I'll leave it at that for now except to say to all my friends who haven't been here before:

Welcome to Manchester