New heels with just a touch of cobalt were a steal at DSW, and I can’t get enough of Essie’s Lilacism, subdued cousin to Play Date (another favorite).

I’m rapidly becoming a fan of ThredUp, too – the company recently launched a women’s division, having been founded for consigning children’s clothing online. I’ve been particularly impressed with the selection of athletic gear – lots of new-with-tags bargains, including the yoga pants I bought this week.

In a timely follow-up to my thoughts on avoidance earlier this week, Alexandra Franzen shares some of her own acquired yogic wisdom to help refocus on what matters.

What are you loving right now?

image credit: Union Jack Creative

I’m moving a bit on the slow side today, and I have this to blame.

Yesterday’s workout included a mashup of ZWOW #37 with a pushup sequence from somewhere else on the internet (which was clearly sweat upon previously). I added one more round for seven, and swapped Zuzana’s “santana” pushups for two sets each of each of the pushup varietals. Be careful with this if your knees are fussy: the side hops are far from low impact.

image credit: Union Jack Creative

It was a challenging practice, especially bearing in mind that I’m a bit out of practice. Somewhere during the third or fourth high-to-low-plank hold, Victoria mentioned something that her own teacher had told her last week:

If you keep fussing with the pose, you’re really practicing an advanced form of avoidance.

This struck me pretty squarely between the eyes as I fidgeted in plank, unconsciously unwilling to take a deep breath, settle into stillness and feel the burn in my core. I was avoiding that challenge, and that discomfort, for sure; Victoria had me pegged.

The statement was spot-on during class yesterday, but the more I thought about it last night, and through today, the more relevant it began to seem elsewhere in life. We’re all capable of advanced avoidance: for me, it’s often things like fussing with a blog draft to avoid posting it for public consumption, accepting my fast-paced work environment rather than settling in to one situation that needs a solution, or putting off signing up for a program, joining a class or making a large purchase in the name of extended research.

If you keep fussing with it, you’re just practicing advanced avoidance. What might you be avoiding?

image credit: Union Jack Creative

Wrong or not, I’ve come to realize I do need to make it a point to get to yoga, rush or no; when April got stressful and I stopped making time, my hips and hamstrings tightened up immediately and I lost my hard-earned plank power. (And nobody wants that!)

Because my return to yoga destroyed me Monday, I didn’t fit much running in this week; I did manage a “ZWOW” workout, including #35, one of my favorites. Go on, give it a go!

image credit: Union Jack Creative

video credit: Zuzka Light

Then the beginning of May happened, and we were sick, and the house that we were thisclose to buying fell through. We were bummed and adrift. (Still are, a little, if I’m completely honest.)

Jack and I have been running, a bit. (Honestly, he’s been logging more miles than I have. Oops. Who’s the runner now?) I’ve been stress eating, a bit more. In the wake of everything, in search of a new focus since the house fell through, I’m setting my sights back on running, back on regular yoga, and am on the hunt for a race to sign up for. Boston: any recommendations? Preferably something local, 10k and above?

Wherever you are, here’s hoping you and yours are safe and well, and here’s to looking ahead.

Almost by accident (my pantry was sparse), I upgraded my mama’s version to an eversoslightly healthier recipe, swapping in light coconut milk for cream and using fat free sweetened condensed milk instead of the good stuff. To be clear: this is still by no means health food, but at least it makes it more reasonable for the occasional non-holiday evening.

Ingredients:

• 1 can (14 oz.) fat free sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup light coconut milk
• 1 1/2 cup brewed coffee
• 1 1/4 cup inexpensive whisky
• 1/4 cup vanilla extract (in my case, homemade vanilla vodka)

Instructions:

1. Add all ingredients to a large bowl, and blend with immersion blender until smooth. (Alternatively, pour all ingredients into a regular blender, and blend until smooth. The whisk on your mixer would probably work also.)
2. Transfer to a storage container (fits perfectly into a large mason jar), and store in the refrigerator for up to two months.
3. Spoiler alert: it won’t last two months.
4. Sip chilled on its own, or mixed with your weekend coffee.

image credits: Union Jack Creative

We’ve been busy, and mileage has been low, but yoga has been a lifesaver. Nothing much else is exciting – except, you guys, this recipe.

When I got a slow cooker for Christmas (thank you, Mutti!), Jack was skeptical. We try to keep appliances and kitchen stuff to a minimum, and where the heck do we store a crockpot? I, however, was determined to spend less time cooking on weeknights. I enjoy cooking, but there are only so many hours in a day, and after work I just want to come home and eat immediately – I was sure I had to be able to find some slow cooker recipes that would be satisfying, healthy (enough) and quick to reheat the whole week long.

We’ve tried a few; so far, this is the favorite.

I’m not going to begin to claim authenticity, but I will assure you that it’s easy, satisfying, flavorful and lasts all week. My recipe is adapted from this version from Table For Two. Mostly, I subbed lower-calorie ingredients and significantly increased the spices and flavor. If you’re not a fan of garlic, ginger or a subtle (still friendly to my German sensibilities) heat, you may want to refer back to the original version; if you, like me, find that every recipe you make would be better served by tripling the garlic, start from here.

Ingredients:

• 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or about 3 lbs. boneless chicken thighs
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 8 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
• 1 (29 oz.) can of tomato puree
• 1 1/2 cups plain nonfat Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp. olive oil (omit if using chicken thighs)
• 4 tbsp. Garam masala
• 3 tbsp. cumin
• 2 tbsp. paprika
• 2 tsp. salt to start (add more to taste before serving)
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon (or 1 cinnamon stick)
• 3/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tsp. chipotle pepper
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 tbsp. cornstarch
• Chopped parsley or cilantro, for topping

Instructions:

1. Place everything up to the milk into the slow cooker insert. With a spatula, stir to combine everything and make sure the chicken is coated well.
2. Cover and cook for 8 hours on low (or 4 hours on high).
3. Before serving, in a separate bowl, whisk together milk and corn starch, then add the mixture to the slow cooker and gently stir. Cook an additional 20 minutes to thicken.
4. Salt to taste. Serve hot over a bed of rice or quinoa. Top with parsley or cilantro if desired.

image credits: Union Jack Creative

recipe adapted from: Table For Two

Sunday, Monday. It’s been too long, and I’m feeling both our four miles yesterday, and today’s lunch hour yoga. No matter how many times I relearn the lesson – that making time for working out matters for quality of daily life – things still get away from me from time to time.

Late in 2012, we returned to the original design as we wrapped up loose ends before the holidays. We finally sent the file to print, and were thrilled with the results: a sharp, eye-catching commemoration of each of the towns through which runners pass on the Boston Marathon route, in the style of a vintage train roll.

We’ve got more about the project on the Union Jack Creative blog, and the posters are available for sale in the UJC shop!

image credits: Union Jack Creative

I also needed to revamp my eating habits. Jack came to the rescue. (A little in-household support makes all the difference!) As people who are fairly active normally, we had slipped into habits of eating more than we needed to, most of the time; combined with our love of craft beer and cocktails, the end result was both of us steadily gaining just a bit of weight.

And so it was that in September, Jack agreed to run half marathon with me – his first, my second (officially) – and we began training as well as tracking our food intake. Admittedly, calorie counting is a pain, and not for everyone, and is especially difficult when going it alone, but friends: we were eating way. too. much. Even as a couple that cooks a lot, avoids processed food and eats, on the whole, healthily, tracking our calories made it clear very quickly that we had been vastly over-estimating serving sizes. The moral of the story here is that the practice has been a useful one for us.

So. Here we are. We conquered a half in November, jingle-bell-ran in December, both PR’ed in February at the Super Sunday 5-Miler. I finally sold my snowboard and bought skis, and we’ve managed more on-mountain time this season than we have in years. Weights have come down, and we’re spending more time focusing on cooking new, healthier meals. I’ve always been a throw-it-all-in-a-pan-and-add-curry kind of cook – I wing it – and I’ve been making a concerted effort to find and follow recipes instead. There have been some winners, some flops and some I Should Have Followed My Gut, Not The Recipe-s. Hopefully, as the selection of winners continues to grow, I’ll share some here.

And so, KateRuns continues – expect less fundraising, more cooking, more active-living and many more sneaker pictures to come!