Updates...with bonus shoe & food porn!

First, let me just say thanks to everyone for your kind words and feedback. Despite the crazy and completely stressful situation at work (more about this later) and some people in my life who have been not-so-supportive of the changes I've made (not M - he has been great), I feel happier and healthier than I have in a long time. I feel much more in control of some aspects of my life (emotional & physical) that I had let slide into what I had subconsciously categorized as a place of no return. I feel good about who I am again (not that I hated myself before, but I wasn't comfortable with where I was). However, don't think I've turned into some blissed out Pollyanna - I'm still a snarky bitch with a long list of crap to complain about. :)

For those of you who asked about my workout routine, here are the basics:
Monday evening: 1 hour zumba class
Tuesday evening: 1 hour strength boxing class (choreographed boxing routine with light weights)
Wednesday evening: 1 hour Turbo Kick class & 1/2 hour deep muscle stretch (if I feel like it)
Thursday: off (I teach a night class)
Friday: off
Saturday morning: 1 hour zumba class and/or 1 hour Turbo Kick class (and sometimes the deep muscle stretch class afterward)
Sunday morning: sometimes off, but lately I've been attending a 1 hour Qigong class in the mornings (This class is supposed to be relaxing, but I think it's horrible! The stretches all hurt like crazy - and yes, I know that's an indication I need to do more of it, but it still sucks!)

When I type it all out, it seems like a lot, but really, it's not all that difficult to maintain the schedule because the majority of my workouts happen right after I finish at school. As much as I hate paying for a more expensive gym ($65 p/month - my old gym was $20), it has made all the difference. Not only do I like the classes and instructors much more, the gym is also on the way home from work and their class schedule works perfectly with my work schedule. My old gym was a bit out of the way and it involved me passing by our apartment building - whether I took the train or drove, it was way too tempting to stop and go home, rather than continue on to the gym. Also, I hated their classes (the instructors were terrible & the schedule sucked), so I always had to work out on my own. I'm really much more of a group class person, so it was difficult for me to maintain the solo thing for more than a few months at a time (I would get sooo bored with the machines!).  I do try to stick to this schedule as much as possible, but if I have something else I want to do, or if I just get too overwhelmed with all of the cardio, I take a break for a day or two (or even a week) and then jump back into it.

Okay, enough of the workout talk. Let's move on to some fun stuff (the crazy things students say! shoes! food!)....

• One of the students told my colleague and I that she would rather earn a B+ in a class than an A-. When we asked her why she would prefer to have a lower grade than a higher one, she said that having a plus in a grade is always better than a minus because the minus will affect your GPA negatively. Therefore, although a B+ is technically a lower grade than an A-, it has less of an impact because the plus part will increase your cumulative GPA. (Thankfully, she wasn't in my critical thinking class, so I'm not taking the blame for her... um, interesting... logic.) :)
  
  
• I am so in love with these shoes:
   
  Hot! Hot! Hot! However, they are a little too high for me (as much as I would rock the shoes, I'd probably also break my ankle, as 3 1/2" heels are a bit too much for me to handle) and there's no way in hell I would ever pay $800 for a pair of shoes. Seriously, the most I've ever paid is $150ish and that was painful. I do have a closet full of expensive shoes, but thanks to my super-barginista skills/discount codes & coupon hunting, I never pay full price for them (my greatest deal - $350 shoes for $30). I've been scouring the internet, but I haven't been able to find an acceptable alternative. There are tons of cute leopard-print flats out there, but I haven't seen any other heeled leopard-print Mary Janes that don't cost a ton of money, aren't too high, aren't too pointy (I'm more of a round toe girl), or aren't intended for strippers (and/or are tacky).  I need help! Please, send me suggestions!
  
  
• Finally, some food porn (it has been far too long since I've posted any!) from XOCO:
  
  

  

  D & I took tons of nerdy photos before we even got to the food :)

  

  The Aztec hot chocolate:
  aka the best hot chocolate I've ever had
  (fresh-ground chocolate + water + chile + allspice)
  
  Pepito Torta (left) & Chicken Milanesa Torta (right) - sooo delicious!

  

  Churros with dipping chocolate
  I think the next photo gives you a good indication of what they were like...

  
  

  

  Surprisingly, there were a few drips left...
  that probably wouldn't have happened if public plate-licking wasn't frowned upon :)