Wii Will Rock You!

I finished my second yoga class yesterday. I was proud of myself when I saw how many people dropped the class. And you know what? I didn't hurt half as bad this time. In fact, I feel like I might even stretch a little throughout the week. Rob asked me to accompany him to Dick's today, so I picked up some yoga blocks and a yoga strap while I was there. I'm doin' this!

I've been meaning to share something else with you guys. A few weeks ago, Katie from the ridiculously awesome Broken Umbrellas blog (of which I had submitted my own broken umbrella photo to in the past) sent me an email. She was hosting a "Wii Party" for area bloggers and asked if I'd like to join in on the fun. After getting some details, I realized it's a "marketing" party, put on by the fine people representing Nintendo. We get some goodies in exchange for spreading the word about the products.

Well, they picked the right person because I am a Wii proponent! You might remember my post from when we bought our Wii back in January 2008. This is the only system I've owned since the original NES, and I love it.

So I went to the party last weekend, and it was a great time! Great people, great food, great games. And even though I've had my Wii for two years (exactly yesterday), I learned a few things I never knew. First, for some reason, I never downloaded the internet channel. So all these times Rob and I huddled around my 12" iBook to watch a Youtube video, I could have just put it on our tv. Doh!

The second awesome thing are the game demos that they have in the WiiWare store. At the party, they were playing this game called World of Goo. It was way fun! I'm all about puzzle games. Those and music/dance games are all I really play. I'm just not into RPGs. But World of Goo is just building little bridges of goo balls, based on the laws of physics. Kind of reminds me of The Incredible Machine from my days of yore.



Anyway, World of Goo is available as a demo, so you can try it out before buying it, which is always nice. Because really, I'm not going to want to buy a game that I suck at. It can be a little frustrating, but watching those silly little balls of goo get sucked up a pipe makes it all worth it.

The only bummer of the Wii party was that nearly everyone left with a shiny new Wii. I had thought that everyone attending would receive a shiny new Wii (therefore I had planned to "donate" mine to my mother), but unfortunately there was a little miscommunication, and only the people who didn't previously own Wii's got one. Drat! Sorry Mom! But I can't be greedy. I did get a nice little gift pack with an extra controller and 2000 Wii points which I already used to buy the full version of World of Goo. :)

So it's obvious that if I had to officially "review" the Wii, it'd get two thumbs (and both big toes) way up. And this is coming from a girl who is definitely not a typical gamer-type. But I feel like it's not a typical gaming system. I can tell you that my mother wouldn't know what to do with an XBox or Playstation or whatever fancy stuff they have out there. But set up a Wii bowling match in the living room and she's all about it!

I was thinking about getting a yoga game. I have Wii Fit, which I have barely used lately. Then I go and try to use it tonight and I can't find the disc! Dang it! It's gotta be in my house somewhere. Anyway, maybe I'll try Just Dance, the game that makes me break a sweat and look like a total fool. Gotta love it!

Hip Hop Hooray!

First, for those that asked, yoga was awesome and awful at the same time. :) I already knew how inflexible I am, so all the bending was tough. But it was a great, informative 90 minutes. I really loved it! And I left feeling like a bowl of Jell-O. I was loose and warm and stress-free (which was the best part). It was better than my last massage.

Eight hours later and I wasn't exactly feeling the same way. I was HURTING. Bad. My arms and shoulders were very painful. I know that's probably because I stretched those muscles for the first time in my life and they were very angry at me. But I'm starting to feel pain-free again. Right in time for my 2nd class tomorrow! Ha!

In other news, last Saturday we finally had our Hip Hop Holiday party. (We try to have a Christmas party every year, but this year it was cancelled due to a winter storm.) Hip Hop was our theme, which Rob loved. We made a 9 hour-long soundtrack for the event which he's been playing nearly every day since I first made the playlist. My favorite part was dressing up. I love a good theme party, and I take my attire very seriously.

Here are some pictures from the event. The Oriental Trading Company backdrop really made the photos. :)

Class Act

It's a new year and a new Melissa. 2010 is going to be about improving myself, and I'm starting right away. A few weeks ago I signed up for a Book Arts class at the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia. It starts next Thursday. I've been eyeing up this class for years now. YEARS! So I finally bit the bullet and registered. It's been so long since I crafted out of pure joy, and I think this will help me feel more creative.

And then earlier this week, I did something crazy. Something atypical. Something that makes the people who actually know me gasp in shock. I signed up for yoga. It's true. A new yoga studio opened last week down the street from me, and it just looked so cute. And I figured I could use some peace in my life, so why not. Sure, I can't touch my toes. In fact, I can barely reach my ankles. And yeah, I get winded climbing a flight of stairs. But it's the year of the new Melissa! Plus it was a good opportunity to buy a cute yoga mat, bag, and outfit. :) I got this mat shown here in purple. I signed up for a five class beginner's series. It starts tomorrow at 11:30, and I'm super nervous. I'm optimistically hoping that I love it, and it becomes a new hobby of mine. I'll let you know if I feel the same way on Sunday.

2010? WTF?

Where did 2010 come from?? I swore it was mid-2009 the last time I checked. But look, here we are, starting a brand new year. Dang it. I didn't even get on Oprah like I had resolved.

Well, this year started off kind of insane for me. It was like a good film, filled with lies, betrayal, drama. I'm hoping that since 2010 went in like a lion, it'll go out like a lamb.

I have a bajillion goals/resolutions this year. Typical stuff like eat healthier (it wouldn't take much), be a better wife, get my crap organized, end world hunger. But I need to really spend some time working on my creativity. Okay okay, so the 160 Pages project didn't turn out so great. I gave up after 43 pages. That's barely 25%. Well, this year, I need to get back into it. But I'll put less pressure on myself, hopefully drawing here and there when I have some extra time. I might even forego a nap occasionally. (Side note: Is it bad that I want to spend all my free time napping? Rob seems to think it isn't, but I worry.)

Anyway, even though I wanted to go to sleep, I knocked out a sketch the other night, and oh man am I rusty! I felt like I had to learn how to hold a pen again! Well, I'll keep chugging along. And maybe I'll even eventually fill a sketchbook one of these days.