Weekend Update: May 4

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We are back to our regularly scheduled programming. The blog feels shorter now that we’re only covering one week, but I’m here to give the people (my 9 subscribers) what they want – no, what they deserve. I aim to please, so here you are, dear reader, the Weekend Update:

Pilates Review

Tuesday (April 29) : Reformer Flow 2 with Taylor

This was my first level 2 with someone other than Maesy. I was a little scared that they weren’t going to let me in since I didn’t take the level 2 test for the Alexandria location. But my instructor approval at the Pentagon City location held up, and they did not execute me, or worse, publicly shame me by kicking me out. This was also my first class with Taylor, and I liked her a lot. While some instructors opt for a more gentle tone, Taylor was more like a drill sergeant. The class wasn’t super difficult (similar to a 1.5 at Pentagon City), but there were some parts where I had to bail out. Whenever I bailed, Taylor would appear in front of my reformer and announce to the whole class to push through and that we were close to a break. I liked this approach because it shamed me enough to get back into it, but didn’t embarrass me.

One of the reasons that I had to bail a few times was because we seemed to really be focused on arms. Unlucky for me, who finally caved to Boyfriend Alex’s request to go to the gym with him this weekend for strength training. I did a wimpy little version of his arm workout, and three days later, I was still unable to straighten my arms all the way. This turned out to be helpful in planks during this class, as Taylor was reminding us not to lock our elbows. I couldn’t if I tried, Taylor.

Saturday (May 3): Control 1.5 with Richelle

This week tested me. I only had two classes – not for lack of trying. On Thursday, we had to decide if we were moving or not (read more on this in the next section), so I cancelled my class so we could tour an apartment. I rescheduled for Friday at the Seven Corners location but received a call from them about 10 minutes before the class started. They told me that the air conditioning was broken and that I would be the only student in the class. Would I still like to come? I said “no, thank you” and went to the store closing sale of Joann’s instead.

So, Saturday was my only other class this week. Luckily, it was a good one! Richelle was the instructor for my intro class, many moons ago, and this was my first actual class with her. This class was also a big first for me – I wore shorts. I was feeling very vulnerable with my legs out for all to see. And all did see, because after doing our hundreds, Richelle told everyone to stop and watch me to see the proper form. Which was a *hair flip* certified Pilates Princess moment, but I was very aware of my legs.

I was then immediately humbled when we worked on roll ups on the mat and my abs refused to bring me up to seated. Ya win some, ya lose some. We also did some more work on the chair, which is always fun.

Making Moves

Big news – we’re moving! We’re not going far, just to Fairfax, to a neighborhood called Mosaic. Now that the dust has settled, I am excited to move. I did have a minor panic attack in the Mosaic Shake Shack on Thursday, because the decision was made in a way that is not my usual style. Usually, when I need to make a decision like this, it takes at least a month of weighing the pros and cons, making price breakdowns, planning layouts, etc. But, on Thursday, we got a text from our current landlord saying that it was the last day to notify them, in writing, if we were planning on moving out because it was 60 days from when our lease was up.

We had been considering the Mosaic neighborhood after we had wound up at the Mosaic Barnes and Noble so that I could pick up Onyx Storm, way back in January. I loved the neighborhood and said off-handedly, “I don’t want to move to another apartment, but if we did, I would want to live here.” Alex took me on my word and on Thursday afternoon, we were touring one of the apartment buildings. We decided then that we would not be renewing our lease and I emailed our notice. There was not one single spreadsheet involved in the decision-making process, hence the Shake Shack panic attack.

But, I am excited. We haven’t decided on a floor plan (or apartment building) yet, so although I am itching to start measuring furniture and figuring out where things will go, my graph paper will have to wait. The neighborhood is very cute and walkable, and there is a farmer’s market every Sunday year-round. It also seems like a nice community, with lots of events like movies in the park and pop-up markets. We checked out one pop-up market on Sunday and got these just-okay tasting but very cute macarons.

We also checked out the movie theater there, the Angelika Film Center (don’t tell AMC Theaters of our treason). We saw the new Marvel movie: Thunderbolts. It is currently 9:00pm so I will not be adding my review of Thunderbolts to this week’s post – I’ll leave you on a cliffhanger.

Entertainment Weekly

Movie(s): The Accountant, The Accountant 2

Wednesday’s Movie Date Night was The Accountant 2. We watched the first one at home earlier this week and I loved both of them. Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is an autistic man with some serious childhood trauma that uses his affinity for math to become an accountant who’s primary clientele is criminals. I want this movie, including the cast (it also stars Jon Bernthal AKA Shane from The Walking Dead), to be a TV show. I really liked the storylines in both movies and loved the kind of dry humor throughout. Also loved the army of autistic youths in the second movie. Highly recommend!

Book(s): The Alchemist

This week’s book was The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho. A shepherd boy has a recurring dream about finding treasure by the pyramids in Egypt. This dream starts him on a path towards finding his Personal Legend, helped by a king, a crystal merchant, an Englishman, and an alchemist. This book was recommended to me twice in the matter of a few months so I knew I had to read it. The main objective of the book is finding your Personal Legend and how if you want something badly enough and it is meant to be, the Universe will conspire to help you get it. I will do a whole deep dive on this book in it’s own post, but it has already helped me, specifically with this upcoming move.

This is not how I normally operate on making big decisions, but the stars really aligned to make this happen: I bought a pair of boots off Facebook Marketplace and went to pick them up and while we were out, we stopped to get the new Fourth Wing book at the closest Barnes and Noble. The Barnes and Noble is in a really cool area and I said, in passing, how cool it would be to live there. Months later, Alex gets the idea that maybe we should move so we start looking at apartments in that area. Two days later, we find out we need to make a decision on whether we are moving or not. We show up to the building and someone is available to take us on a tour. We like and are able to afford the places we were shown… So basically, we’re moving because I bought a pair of Facebook Marketplace boots. But really, it was meant to be so I’m not going to fight it.

TV: Kevin Can F** Himself, The Valley

After finishing Severance and Black Mirror, we were scrolling Netflix, lost, scared, and alone, when we came across Kevin Can F**k Himself. Shout out to Payton for recommending this, because I’m hooked. Annie Murphy (Alexis from Schitt’s Creek) has a strong Boston accent and a loser of a husband. When she learns that the life that she’s been dreaming of and waiting for is never going to happen, she takes an interesting approach and begins to plan her husbands murder. We are only a few episodes in and I am obsessed. I love the way this show is shot – when Kevin is on screen, it’s shot like a typical sitcom, with multiple cameras, bright lighting, and an audience laugh track. When Kevin is not on screen, it’s shot like a drama, with a single camera, moody lighting, and limited background music. It’s like Kevin is in his own world and whenever he’s around, everything is light-hearted and everyone else is acting, but when he’s gone, that’s when the real stuff – the stuff unfit for sitcoms – happens (including attempting to trade oatmeal raisin cookies for a lethal dose of Oxy). It’s such a great idea and they execute it so well.

Now that Yellowjackets is out of my life for the time being, I was craving something equally deranged, and found the perfect replacement: Season 2 of The Valley. There’s nothing quite like a Bravo show to encourage one to keep trudging the road of sobriety. Jax is off to rehab to finally deal with that pesky coke problem. He threw some verbal jabs at Brittany (and some furniture, but this is Bravo so we ignore domestic violence) accusing her of not being a “perfect angel”, to which Brittany had a perfectly executed comeback of “Give me a drug test right now, I’ll pass. Would you?” I wouldn’t say I feel bad for Jax, because f*** that guy, but I honestly can’t imagine having to get sober on live TV. For Brittany and their son’s sakes, I hope he gets the help he needs.

But, much to his chagrin, this isn’t The Jax Show and other people are involved as well. Michelle and Jesse taught me that I never ever want to get divorced, because, my God this is stressful. Janet introduced me to a fun new saying of “demonic behavior” that I’m going to be using for anyone and everyone, especially Maryland drivers. Luke and Kristen showed me that they are both little chaos tornados and perfect for each other. And Danny discouraged me from ever snooping through a “boy’s chat”. The only ones who haven’t been problematic yet are Nia and Jason, which tracks. I’m also looking for something that will give me the same passion that Janet has for Dave and Buster’s.

Mysteries of the Unknown

I don’t have a rant worthy of the blog this week, so I’m replacing this section with a new segment: Mysteries of the Unknown. For the first edition, I found a dead wasp clinging to our living room curtains on Saturday night. How did it get in here? When did it get in here? How did it die? I never saw a live wasp flying around, so did it somehow drag itself into our apartment, to simply pass away? Was the beauty of our decor and the sweet smell of Mahogany Teakwood (Intense)^TM too much for it’s little wasp heart to take? The world may never know.