Happy 2011!

Onwards and upwards! Photo illustration by Christopher David Ryan.

Ready for a glamorous celebration to ring in the new year?


I hope you're wearing glittery things, eating tiny fancy hors d'oeuvres, and smooching your love as the ball drops.


I will be!

Crab bruschetta? Yes please! Photo via This is Glamorous.

Gold heels? Yes please! Photo via This is Glamorous.

As you consider the year ahead, you may be setting some goals for yourself. Need fun and creative ways to view them daily and remind yourself to stick with your resolutions?

Lovely lace? Yes please!  Photo via This is Glamorous.

Creative Goal Setting:

• Chalkboard goals. Keep them visible and add to your home's decor by writing your dreams and ambitions largely.
• Goals on Twitter, Facebook and the blog. Share your ideas with your followers, and ask that they help hold you accountable.
• For the wild at heart: tattoo goals! Ever thought about getting inked in a way that's artful and reminiscent of your life goals? A friend of mine recently got a beautiful phoenix on her hip to symbolize rebirth and renewal. That's a pretty sweet way to remind yourself of your own beauty and power!
• Framed goals on your desk at work. You spend as much time there as at home, so why not post some as conversation starters / reminders? Consider getting your friends and office pals to do the same, or put together a collective goal frame or area where people can share and encourage each other to stick with their plans for success.
• Keep a notebook. Doodle your goals. Make thought bubbles and connect your ideas together. Add action steps. Be creative and have fun! Then post the pages to your fridge so you can see them regularly.
• Use online tools to track your progress. Try FutureMe and email yourself in the future. This is probably the most fun and amusing way you can kick yourself in the bum to get going and get inspired to meet your goals! Also try Goaltender via Lululemon's site, or 43Things.
• Goals as passwords. This one's pretty nerdy, but if you set your passwords for email, online banking, or other websites to reflect your goals, you'll be reminded of them on a consistent basis -- probably more often than any other way!

Bursts of gold? Yes please! Photo via This is Glamorous.

How do you set goals? What are your hopes and dreams for 2011?

Modern Cup Designs

Modern mugs and creative mug designs from all over the world,availble on 2011....

Amazing Vocabulary

Read the sentence below carefully...

'I do not know where family doctors acquired illegibly perplexing handwriting nevertheless, extraordinary pharmaceutical intellectuality
counterbalancing indecipherability, transcendentalizes intercommunications incomprehensibleness'.

This is a sentence where the nth word is n letters long.

e.g. 3rd word is 3 letters long, 8th word is 8 letters long and so on

Friend Friday: New Year's Resolutions and an Outfit

It's Friday and I'm participating in Modly Chic's Friend Friday forum.  To learn more, pop over to Katy's fantastic blog.  I was hoping this would be a collaborative post, but since most of my co-bloggers are visiting family and friends, Shakespeare's Feminine Ending is allegedly building an igloo, and Megarita is nesting in preparation for the birth of Sprout, it's just me.

1. What's the one thing you vow to learn or do in 2011 to improve your
blog?
At some point this year, I vow to get a tripod and remote and to start experimenting with taking my own photographs.  M. is a great photographer and his skills have improved so much, but mine seem to have stagnated.  I'm also hoping that in 2011 I will post a bit less here and my co-bloggers will post a bit more.    

2. What did you learn about blogging in 2010 that you plan to put into
practice next year?
I learned that a cleaner layout makes for a better blog for us.  I also learned how to use twitter (sort of).  I'd like to get more of the FA team to join twitter, even if it's mainly so I can converse with them in 140 character messages all day long.  I also learned that CFPs are a lot of work for us, but the posts are so much fun to read when they are finally put together.  I'm sure we'll be announcing our next CFP sometime soon....

3. Do you have any high-level goals for your blog in the coming year?
Monetization? More comments? More connections with other bloggers? A
new template?
We would love to make more connections with Etsy vendors for giveaways, product reviews, and sponsorships.  So far we've only had mixed luck with this.  I love making connections with other bloggers, and I'm sure I'll continue to do so through commenting, tweets, and emails.  

4. If you could collaborate with one other blogger within your sphere
of influence in 2011, who would you like to collaborate with, and what
would you like to collaborate on?
Crap!  One!?!?  There is no way I could pick only one blogger I'd like to collaborate with.  I love to collaborate!  This blog is collaborative.  I'd love to do something fun with the awesome ladies of IPF (D-Med, we are running a half at some point in 2011!!), Be Fabulous Daily, and The Cohabitating Closet.  I'd also really love to swap posts or work with Courtney of Sartorial Sidelines.  I'm sure AUH and SFE would love to collaborate with Anthroholic. The list could go on and on but you'd be reading this post into the new year.  

5. What do you plan to do to support other bloggers next year?
I'll keep doing what I've done.  Comment whenever possible.  Take part in challenges as I can.  Respond to emails, FB posts, and tweets.  


I wore this outfit the other day to work from home on a publication project and some class prep for the new term.  I was hoping to get out for a couple of hours and meet a friend for coffee that afternoon, but by the time she called I had just really settled in to a work groove.  Since deadlines are fast approaching, I took a raincheck and my silk pants and I stayed in for an afternoon of checking a transcription of a sixteenth-century document.

 Shirt - Mandee (via Winners), Silk Pants - Club Monaco (on incredible sale and purchased during my expedition with Kristin), Shoes - Nine West (remixed), Lace Choker - H&M (gift from mother-in-law)

I'd love to know what you'd like to see on Fashionable Academics in the New Year!  Please leave us a suggestion in the comments!

In the meantime, I wish you a healthy, prosperous, and very happy New Year!

NYE

let the night begin.....New years eve + Gin & Tonic..........

Inspo at ROSEHAGEN

Gikk tilfeldig forbi denne nydelige lille butikken igår, midt i Torggata.
Rosehagen blomster selger blomster og små romantsike interiørting.
Ble veldig inspirert i den lille butikken, og endte med å kjøpe noen skilt ( alle til 20%)og en fyrstikkeske.

Wish List

 

In 2011, I will practice my handstands and headstands.

What postures are you looking forward to rocking in 2011?

Number one on my list is the headstand, followed closely by Standing Head to Knee. I want to be able to hold the posture for a full 60 seconds.

I also wouldn't mind these lovely finds via the illustrious Coffee and Yoga.

Ready to take flight.

Best spinning dress ever.

This would look great as a poster on my wall.

These would also look great poster-sized at a yoga studio.

Isn't that the cutest coffee mug cozy?

Wrapping Up 2010

Balance and beauty in 2010: it's been a great year! Photo via F***YeahYoga.

Thank you, readers, for following Alive in the Fire's first year!


It's been wonderful sharing 2010 with you and I'm so proud of the steady growth that Alive in the Fire has seen over the past few months.


As we wrap up the year, I wanted to extend a huge thank you to all of my faithful readers and generous partners, as well as offer you all the chance to provide some feedback abut the blog.


I'd love to get your thoughts on what's been great and what could use improvement. 

What do you love about the blog? 

What would you like to see more of?

Please leave a comment below or send me an email, and encourage your fellow yogis to do the same.

Check out that increase in page views! I love it. Thanks for your loyal readership, yogis and friends.

Here are some of the highlights from 2010:

• Hundreds of readers and followers from around the world, including yogis in the U.S., Canada, the Netherlands, the U.K., South Korea, Australia, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, India and Malaysia!
• Over 200 posts written and published.
• An ever-growing Twitter following and inclusion of the Twitter account (@aliveinthefire) on lists such as: yoga, Bikram yoga, Etsy Friends, Healthy Chicago, Evanston, and Fellow Yogis and Yoginis.
• An incredible Winter Extravaganza featuring giveaways from over 30 generous Etsy sellers and a large variety of yoga studios and yoga wear companies. A big thanks goes to all partners for offering readers hundreds of dollars in yoga and gift merchandise throughout the holiday season. And don't forget: the winning isn't over yet!

Special thanks goes to:

Bikram Yoga Evanston

105 Yoga in Oak Park

Grateful Yoga in Evanston

Bikram Yoga Minneapolis

Bikram Yoga Granite Bay

Omai Bodyworks

Beauty and Balance Salon

Walsh Natural Health

Healthy Green Goods

Lululemon Athletica of Evanston

Yoga with Style

Mika Yoga Wear

White Iguana Apparel

Iluka Activewear

Teach Bikram or Bust

All the Etsy sellers

If you're interested in getting involved with the Winter Extravaganza, head over to our Partners page for more info.

Photo via Coffee and Yoga.

Throughout the year, Alive in the Fire has featured some pretty awesome posts. Which was your favorite?

• Bikram basics: a guide for beginners on how to prepare and make the most of your first session in the Torture Chamber. Plus some reasons your body will thank you for doing the yoga. 
• The spirituality of yoga: thoughts on what my yoga practice means as a Christian.
• The one, the only: Real Men Do Yoga series! An awesome compilation of stories from Bikram yogis around the world including John, Hans, and Joseph. This series will continue throughout 2011, and don't forget you can submit your story any time (and win a prize!).

Photo via Yoga Dudes. 

• Living green and keeping clean with all-natural products: some reasons why you should eliminate harsh cleaners and unhealthy foods from your cupboards. Plus, where to shop in Evanston for local green goods.
• Letting Out the Domestic: a series on all things newlywed and why it's fun cooking and living the urban apartment life.
• Meet Nora the Explora, our new baby bunbun.

Photo via PrAna.

• Inspiring and wild photos, wedding photos, and Puerto Rican paradise photos.
• Finally, some hilarious moments in the hot room.

Thanks for enjoying the ride with me. And please do leave your ideas below with ideas for the future of the blog. Namaste and happy 2011!

Hello, California

 

Yesterday and today Hubs and I have been lucky enough to enjoy some California sunshine and visits with friends. I especially enjoyed the way the leggings I wore matched the blue sky.

We went on a little adventure to Anthropologie and I loved all their creative decorations. Too bad I couldn't afford any of the adorable dresses!

Reindeer antlers gone wild!

Pinecone mania.

Thread it.

Have you done any post-Christmas shopping? 

Reuters 2010 Best pictures