Gorilla Challenge

The Gorilla Challenge was in town last Saturday! We had a blast!

This is us on Detroit's People Mover, trying to stay ahead of the competition in this scavenger hunt :)

Management Cookout!

Our management grilled burgers etc. for us lowly ;) employees today! They set up a tent in the rainy yard, put on their aprons, and got grillin, cookin, and flippin... sweeeet! What a nice tradition :)

Update from the Magic Lake

Around one and a half months ago I showed you pictures of the new family of geese who lived on my magic lake. Time flies and here they are now... swimming like they've been doing this their whole lives ;)

Aww, so cute how the parents always frame them like that during swimming lessons <3

You didn't think I was gonna do it, did you?

Yep, I bought furniture!! ......... (I'm waiting for applause...)


During my trip to South Haven, MI, I finally found some furniture that I liked. American style furniture usually doesn't appeal to me... fake antique style... way overpriced... even my grandma would find it antiquated. The pieces that I found are actually old, made of nice wood, were obviously heavily used, and are definitely not from a chain store (and they were a steal, btw). Hurray! Thank you, lovely stores of South Haven, MI!

before:

after:

Good-bye, trusty moving box furniture!

The Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor

I watched a movie in the Michigan Theater yesterday. A "movie palace" built in 1928... when movies first started including sound and some were still accompanied by a live orchestra or a theater organ.

Drinking fountain in the main hallway.

How many people have walked through, how many friends united, how many hearts broken, and how many people's imagination has traveled through these halls? I love it. I hope I will come here often :)

Just take it off.

Maaaan, my foot hurts. Almost broke two toes on Monday night.

This is me at the podiatrist... after some x-rays he assured me I don't have any fractures, but the contusion might hurt for up to two months. The little toe that looks like a mini sausage hurts like crazy, but since it's not broken, I'm allowed to go to yoga and participate as much as I can.

When will I be able to do Utkasana (Awkward Pose) again? :´(

(picture from Bikram Choudhury's website)

Happy Flag Day!

I didn't even know there was such a thing, but tomorrow is Flag Day in the US. In the small town of Salem, MI, Flag Day is a big deal. There is a parade and fireworks and everything! A sweet friend of mine took me to her family's Flag Day celebration this weekend. Thank you, dear friend! I had a blast :)

They had a lovely property with a lake and lots of old trees and they decorated their carts for the parade earlier in the day...

They had a BIG smoker and there was yummy food...

There were lots of lovely people around and dogs and geese and chickens and lightning bugs and a parrot, too. I got to pet the baby (teenage, really) goose, isn't that awesome?! Look, they're kissing :) They were so sweet and well-behaved.

The grand finale... fireworks!

Yes, it really does say...

Rich buttery flavor; source of vitamin A; top any burger with it.

Guns save lives. 
Take a Kid Hunting... Pass In On.

Bikram Yoga laundry tips

If you have practiced for a long time and have participated in challenges, you may be familiar with the Bikram phenomenon of... smelly clothes. When I hadn't participated in a challenge yet, I always though: "Don't these people wash their clothes properly?", but during the challenge I changed my mind.

On week three of my first Bikram yoga challenge my clothes started smelling. I was horrified, because we all now what 'smelly' means: bacteria or other organisms! EEEEEEeeeekk! After discovering that my usual washing method obviously wasn't cutting it anymore, I was on a mission and I have since solved the smell problem. All my Bikram clothes are as good as new :) Let me summarize...

My usual washing method... extra rinses (6 months practice before the smell came):
- one rinse cycle with warm water, so most of the sweat get's rinsed out before detergent is added
- one washing cycle with warm/hot water mixed, using regular detergent or Tide with Febreeze (just covered the smell... unsuccessfully, I might add)
- extra rinse to avoid detergent residue buildup

My extra thorough washing method... hot water and double washes:
- as above, but do two washing cycles. First with a little detergent, then with regular amount of detergent
- use hot water
- result: clothes smelled better, but after sweating in them again, the nasty smell came back :(

Extra thorough with white vinegar and borax:
- as above, but add white vinegar to the last rinse (you can put it into the fabric softener compartment if your washer has one) and add borax powder to washing cycles
- use about 1-2 cups of vinegar for a small/medium load
- result: clothes smelled better, but a little bit like vinegar... not sure if the borax did anything... in some fabrics the odor was still present and the odor came back immediately after sweating in the clothes again... UGH!


FINALLY, salvation in form of Sagrotan Hygienespueler (imported from Germany)!!!

This is a laundry disinfectant, that I used all the time when I lived in Germany. It is used in the last rinse, so you put it into the fabric softener department of your washing machine. I'm not sure how it works (alcohol?), but it definitely is not bleach and apparently it kills 99.9% of all bacteria and fungi even in cold water. I used to use this in Germany to wash underwear/swimwear that cannot be washed in hot water and thus, is prone to be a breeding ground for bacteria etc.

So how did it work for the yoga smell? AMAZINGLY! My Bikram clothes are as good as new! Seriously, they smell nice and fresh and the smell is not only covered up. I know because I sweated in them a couple of times and the smell still hasn't come back, squeeeee! The bacteria are DEAD! I plan on using this every couple of washes :)

Thank you so much to my mom and friends who sent me this! I will be importing this from Germany whenever I go or have people visiting, because I have not been able to find a real disinfectant laundry detergent (that is not bleach-based) here in the US.


PS: I have since seen a sports detergent at Lucy's (athletic apparel for women). I have not tried it and I do not know if it really is a disinfectant, but I might when I run out of the magic stuff from Germany. Although... I might just stick with Sagrotan, because I know it works like a charm! Anyway, here's the Lucy stuff.

Howdy!

Yes, I'm still here! Enjoying the summer, which has finally started, after a looong winter and with no spring to speak of in between.

The lighthouse and me by the wonderful beach in South Haven, MI.

The lighthouse by dusk. (This is Lake Michigan.)

Dinner at Coach Insignia

Inside the GM Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit.

Again inside the GM Ren Cen... across the Detroit River you see Canada!

Michigan, USA, to the left, Canada to the right, Belle Isle in the Detroit River in the middle, Lake St Clair in the background. This was our beautiful view during our dinner on the 72nd floor.

Hmmm, Mojitos with fresh fruit and mint!!

Downtown Detroit by night... see the people mover tracks (elevated train) in the lower right?

Btw, we were very happy with the food and the service. It's a nice place to go if you like steak and finer foods. And the view is fantastic!

Spring means...

... good times for these lovebirds! *cue childish giggles*

Right in my backyard

Months ago, when I first moved here, people started telling me about this "nice park" that's apparently "right by [my] house"... I never made my way out that way, because the weather hasn't been that great and well, how nice of a park can it really be?

Ummmm, yeah...

It's pretty nice!!! And this is just a tiny part of the park. Can't wait to explore more of it :)

Break from Bikram

So I haven't taken a Bikram yoga class in almost two weeks. This has (almost) been my longest break since I started practicing last year. I feel good about taking this break. With my challenge in March and practicing a lot before and after it, I was feeling stressed by my practice. Now I CRAVE to go back to the studio! See you tomorrow or Saturday while I get my butt handed to me in my first class after the break :))

Take me out to the Ball Game!

Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers (that is a baseball team, for everybody who's as clueless as I was haha!)

We were going to watch a game there, but this is as close as we got... it was raining very hard and the game was canceled :(

Walked around downtown Detroit instead and found this!

Btw

By the way, dear readers, this is what I see when Blogger takes a break and I cannot post new posts... At least you can still view the blog though. That's a positive, right? :)

To my grandmother

I love you. Please feel better soon. I'm so sorry that I cannot be with you right now. I will come and visit soon.
It is my favorite time of the year right now in the US. All the trees with the pink blossoms make me so happy :) You would love them as well. Thank you so much for showing me how to enjoy the little things in life. I love you!!!!!!

Working in the sun

I spent a good portion of my work day outside today and enjoyed the sun. It was lovely!

And I even made a new friend: little spider! While I was tapping away on my laptop, she was busy busy spinning her web over the picnic table :)

Magic Lake, Pt II

A good place to raise a family :)

Recommitting to Bikram Yoga: a Recap

Two and a half months ago I made the decision to concentrate on my yoga and practice as often as possible, preferably every day for two months. Well, daily practice for two months didn't quite happen, but I still did very well... in numbers:

end of Feb 2011:   8 classes
March         2011: 30 classes
April            2011: 18 classes
-----------------------------------------
                              56 classes

I am very happy with the turn out! One thing I have realized though: it was - in a way - easier to go "every day" as opposed to "as often as possible". When I was going "as often as possible" (in April), I had to decide if I'm going to go each day. So every day, there was a struggle, a decision to be made...

Anyway, I would love to do another official challenge (or two, or three) where I would actually go every day. However, I don't feel like my work load allows this right now. Oh well, until then, I will have to go "as often as possible" :)

PS: For official recaps of my "30 Day Challenge", click on the label Bikram Yoga Challenge below this post.