An Italian-American weekend

     This weekend we went out to the Coachella Valley to attend the Frank Sinatra Black Tie Gala. We were invited by my cousin who helps produce the event. It's a whole weekend benefitting the Barabara Sinatra Center for Abused Children, which is a really wonderful charity. There was a star-studded pro-am golf tournament on Friday, but we came for the gala, which was quite a shindig and included a full-on concert by Burt Bacharach. Wow. It's really the end of an era. There were women wearing fur coats, which you don't see a whole lot of anymore. We got to hobnob a bit with the stars.

The fun and music continued at the after party. I’ve never been much for nightclubs but I’m a sucker for these things - galas, auctions, events, they’re so much fun.

     Between packing, driving and doing it again 2 days later, that was the weekend. We got back to LA with a minute to spare for my son's last meditation class. The parents got to sit in for the end of it which was nice. I'm not sure what he got from it but it's a start. He's really primed to take yoga now because at least then he'll get to move. A lot of the stuff about boredom is coming up in A Life Worth Breathing, with practical ways of getting past it. I also like what he says about happiness. We always want specific things because we think they're going to make us happy, so why not just seek happiness, what ever form that might take? It turns out that we might not always know what’s best for us.

   







On Tuesday I took a class with Tias Little at YogaGlo. He runs Prajna Yoga in Santa Fe, which is pretty cool since I’ll be out there next month. I remember taking his class at least once before, but this one is memorable because it had some very intense flexion/extension of the lower back and my lumbar area is incredible sore today.

Dwi Hasta Bhujasana

This is different than being in pain, strangely enough. I know the things I can’t do if I want to avoid pain. This soreness is clearly from working muscles that I’m not accustomed to working and taking them to their limit. The class was filled with a lot of asanas with low back flexion like the one above, and the counter balance was some supported bridges

Supported bridge

This is actually a more intense stretch than it looks. I usually prefer doing it with the bolster along my spine, and keeping my feet in as much as I need to avoid over-extending.

     Here are my Aegean Sea Mitts modeled on my hand. So elegant. Here is the back side with the increases.

The increases were done facing away from the row marker, so M1R before the marker and M1L after. I think it’s a nice feature.

I am 2 rows away from finishing the sleeve portion of Hitofude! It’s only taken 3 months. Since it’s going to be joined the round, I have to soak and block it while it’s still on the needles. That’s getting done tonight, and then I’m plowing through the second mitt. I finished reading Knitting Without Tears. 

While it’s definitely a reference book, it’s a really fun read. Most of it is not applicable to my life as I live in LA and don’t have much need for ski sweaters and warm hats, but I love how she lays out recipes for pretty much all the basics. All you have to do is plug in your measurements and go, leaving plenty of room for creativity.