beyonce

Beyoga

| cheriarmour

Okay, so first off, I am not at all unbiased when it comes to Beyoncé – I know that.  However, what does the woman have to do to win album/record of the year at the Grammys? I’m not in any way demeaning Adele’s talent.  She is talented, and I bought hard copies of both 25 and Lemonade, but Lemonade was the better album from start to finish.  The committee did her dirty, and Adele agreed, according to last night’s speech.

Ok, we’re done with that.  But it kind of ties in to what I did this weekend.

I mentioned this a few posts ago.  But a really sweet girl who works at the Y bought me a gift card to a yoga studio I’d mentioned wanting to try out, and so once a week or so, I will actually trek down to Durham, and take a class there.  It’s good for me.  The drive is nice, Austin gets to do some dad duty, and I get a really good practice in.  We all win.  (Plus it takes 20+ minutes to get there, so I get to listen to podcasts on my way.  It literally is so good for my mind to get down there once a week.)

So anyhoo, a few weeks ago when I was taking Angela’s class, she mentioned a Beyoncé- themed yoga class.  The class was still like three weeks off, but I went ahead and signed up so that I wouldn’t have an excuse to not go (like I’ve done with getting my nails done every single week since the day before he was born). I signed up, and really didn’t know what to expect.

Sunday afternoon, I got to class about 15 minutes before, set my mat up in the corner, but close enough to the mirror so I could see myself, and watched as the room filled with women, some young, some older, super excited to take the class.

The instructor, a tall, thin, and beautiful dancer-type with mermaid hair was piddling around the room, setting up her mic, and helping folks get set-up while one of Queen Bey’s live tours was playing.  I was pretty impressed – usually the live stuff is reserved for only the biggest fans.  I chatted with the instructor for a second before the last of the nearly 45 women poured in about the Formation world tour, the one during which we’d been evacuated due to bad weather before the Queen re-entered and finished out the show.

So the class started with a talk.  Where I started crying immediately.  Gah.  But Brady, the instructor with the mermaid hair, began to talk about the class, what it meant that we were all women, the fact that the class would have some dancing, and some singing, and would be unlike any class we’d ever taken before.

Ok. I leaned over to the woman sitting next to me, and whispered, “this is gonna be insane I feel like.”

And off we went.  We started with ‘Drunk in Love,’ and began in tabletop.  From there we did dancing lion, a moved I recognized from the pole fitness studio I sometime teach at, and back into downward facing dog, which morphed into a more twerky version of itself at some point, more bouncy and ass-ish.  At the top of the mat, in mountain pose, things started to get different in a great way.  We strutted up and down the mat, waved our hands, sang at the top of our lungs, and between of all this, managed to throw in squats, work on our calves, pushups, and some core work.  I was drenched in sweat 20 minutes into this, and the class was 90 minutes.  I took a few moments during the class to take a mental snapshot…

mental-snapshot

…and it was so neat. It was kind of cool to take yourself out of the place where you criticize any and everything about yourself and someone else for dancing around like a fool, and just go with it.  There were some women who were really cute, perfect-looking lulu yogis.  There was me, in running shorts and a tee, still trying to lose those last few pounds of baby weight.  There was the mom next to me who’d been married for over 17 years as I found out.  There was Brady the mermaid.  There was the cute girl, barely out of college, singing her lungs out in the front.  And we were all just enjoying sweating with one another!

Anyways, so now, I’m feeling really energized.  A little sore.  Inspired.  And totally ready to do some more creative programming and host my own themed classes.

How have you gotten sweaty this week? 

 

Something to look forward to – Summer Shows!

| cheriarmour

I love live music. It’s like top 4 things I like to spend my money on. The others being food, races, savings/paying off bills, and mani/pedis. Best money spent in life (I feel like).

So when Beyonce happened to mention that she was launching dates for her Formation World Tour at Sunday’s really disappointing Super Bowl. Made less-disappointing by that fact that we had a bunch of friends over. But still. So Bey announced the tour in the most Bey way possible, by inciting a little controversy (which, I’m not here to argue about), and then running this commercial that looked like an ad for her new fragrance.

And this ceremoniously kicked off my personal tour de music for the warmer months. Which makes me hopeful because this cold weather is absolute trash and I really want nothing more to do with it.

Here’s what I’ve got so far!

April 8th – Gavin DeGraw at Red Hat – this will be my second time seeing him at this particular venue, and probably like my 5th time seeing him in real life.  Every time I’ve seen him has been awesome, and I stand by my confidence in the fact that he once called me pretty.  ::tosses hair::

May 3rd – Beyonce at Carter-Finley – this will be like my 4th or 5th time seeing her altogether.  Acquiring tickets may be tricky, so I’m going to go into this process with a really open mind and hope for the best.  But if I don’t get to see her, Bey, there’s always next time.

May 11th – Pentatonix – I have never seen this group live, but I’m so looking forward to this.  Can’t Sleep Love ended up being one of my standout faves from the album, and I desperately adore Mitch and Scott.  Avi is bae.  I would love to have dinner with these guys.  INTERVIEW THEM FOR THE BLOG?  Even though as I say that, I have no idea what the heck I would ask them, and would probably just creepily sit in the corner as they filmed Superfruit, laughing my head off.  Just a guess.

July 2nd – Demi Lovato – I saw her once before in Charlotte, and she was really awesome.  The show was full of tweens, but I think we’ve established that I really am not super affected by the audience.  She was really good.  I think my fave was Nightingale, because she through in a BANANAS key change after the bridge.  YAS!

July 6th – Justin Bieber – This will be my second show with the Biebs.  I actually just went back and listened to the singles off Believe, and I am so stoked for the show.  Love him or hate him, he put out some good stuff with Purpose and I’m here for all of it.

Wish List:  These are artists I’m really needing new music from/would love a tour from sometime this summer.

Allen Stone – he is at Bonnaroo this year.  Something tells me I won’t be making it to any festivals this year, so I’d love a small show.

Katy Perry – I’m ready for a tour AND new music.  I’m very much a Teenage Dream fan, so I’m ready for another album with FIVE hit singles on it.

And this is what I got!

What shows are you excited about seeing this summer?

What’s the most you’ve ever (you would) pay for a concert ticket?

Well, well Solange, what have we here?

| cheriarmour

The views on my blog were kinda low yesterday, and I have an idea why.

Either, I’m a crappy blogger.

OR!

Everyone was watching the video of Solange Knowles beating the crap out of Jay-Z.

I choose to go with the latter.

Anyhoo, so for those of you who aren’t in the Beyhive, Solange is Beyoncé’s younger sister.  She’s cute, she can sing, and she’s really into fashion.  She used to be married to this guy one time for like a year.  Also, she sang the intro to the “Proud Family”.  So she’s not a total loser or anything.

So yesterday, TMZ broke this story and released elevator security video of Solange literally beating, kicking, and screaming the life out of Jay-Z, while Bey watched.

There’s no audio, so your guess is as good as mine.  But here are a few theories.

  1. Jay cheated again?  Solange was letting him have it, and that’s why Bey didn’t defend him.
  2. Solange was wasted on drugs and she lost it.

That’s all I got.  But I do have some of the best reactions tweets…

Screen Shot 2014-05-12 at 10.23.04 PM
Little tribute to RHOA.  Very aptly-timed!
Screen Shot 2014-05-12 at 10.24.48 PM
So wrong, yet so right.
Screen Shot 2014-05-12 at 10.24.14 PM
Extra points for appropriate usage of Usher.

Screen Shot 2014-05-12 at 10.24.30 PM

 

What did Jay say to Solange?  

-Obviously we don’t condone violence here, there should never be an instance where you’re hitting someone, but I’m interested in what the heck was said in that elevator that left a girl on her way to the Met Gala beating the love out of my man, Jay.  Give me your best guesses!

#backthatazzup

| cheriarmour

 

Yonce/Partition.  Freakin’ duh. If this song doesn’t make you put your palms on the ground and twerk like your student loan officer is watching for your payment, you’re listening to it wrong. Hayyyy Mrs. Carter!

We’ve all thought of cutting our hair short, right ladies?

| cheriarmour

Especially during the summer.  As my huge bun slaps me in the back of the head when I run, yeah, I’ve thought about it.  Whenever I wash, and I have trouble getting some of the soap out of my locs, I think that things may just be easier if I cut it off.  And whenever I retwist my locs after a long run and a shampoo, only to sweat it out in the next day’s workout, I think about it.  But…

How would I style it if I cut it short?

Would my face look too skinny if I cut it?

Would I look like  dude if I cut it?

Would I have to invest in a lot of makeup and earrings so people wouldn’t think I was a boy?

A lot of thinking.   And then Beyonce just DID IT.

Beyoncé and her new pixie crop

Okay, before I weigh in, let me say this. Beyonce could fart in the mic, and I would buy the record.  I used to cut out magazine and newspaper clippings of her, and post them inside my closet door (because my mom wouldn’t let me put posters up in my room).  I would get offended when anyone disagreed with anything she did, included whenever she made a worst-dressed list.  Including this gem.

Bey

This photo appeared in black-and-white in the Charlotte Observer in like 2002, with some rude like “WORST DRESSED” tagline. I got so mad, I cut that thing out, and pretended to like the outfit so that Beyonce wouldn’t get her feelings hurt. I care girl.

But this haircut?  Which I’m sure is more practical for all of the physical activity she does?  I can’t co-sign.  I’m sorry.  I’m still a huge fan.  But I cannot cosign on this mess.  And that is what it is.  It is a MESS.  I feel so bad saying that.

That said, I’m continuing to grow my locs out for my wedding.  And then what?  That means at least one more summer of running and swimming and yoga with all this hair.  Do I keep it?  Or cut it?  What do you think?  (And what do you think of Queen Bey’s cut?)

I saw the Queen last Saturday.

| cheriarmour

In the midst of moving and rocking and rolling with everything that’s been going on, I took a break to see the Queen Bey last Saturday evening, bringing the grand total of times that I’ve gone to see her up to 3.  Every show has been phenomenal, and if possible, her body, and her sense of physical fitness has gotten better, even since the birth of her child last year.

Queen Bey

Now I promise, I’m not just posting to brag about the fact that I saw Beyzus, and to make you all jealous. In fact, this all has a health-related point.

So anyhoo, the first thing we (me and Deb, the younger sis,) do when we finally got seated, was to go on the hunt for some food.  We’re kind of dorky, and both of us looked at each other and almost simultaneously said, “I wish we could find a salad here,” as we circled the stadium.  There was certainly some tasty-looking food there, but we were prepped to dance for 2+ hours, and nothing sounded grosser than slamming some cheese fries and then going in for Bey’s workout plan with a belly full of that stuff.

I settled on a saltless pretzel and a beer, and I think poor Deb just went for a teeny tray of fries that set her back like almost $10.  Not kidding.  Highway.  Robbery.

As we were waiting in line for the pretzel, Deb turned to me, and said something really profound.  So a little context here, Beyonce’s audience was mostly black women, like us.  She goes, “I’m actually shocked at how many overweight women there are here.  We really have a problem,” which she said with a sense of genuine sadness.

As I looked around, I saw she was right.  The women were beautiful.  And beautifully dressed, but it was true, it was evident that most of these women were overweight, if not obese, and at a concert to worship a woman who clearly works out, and works out hard.

And of course, I did a little research.  And the numbers for us, black women, just weren’t good.

Obesity Stats

Scan it quickly. 4 out of 5 African-American women are overweight. That’s kinda bad. And I don’t need to lecture you and bore the eff out of you with the bad things that come with being overweight, but I will say this.

I’m doing my part not to become a statistic, if not for anything else, for the sheer fact that I like to feel good about what I’m doing for and to my body, and working out keeps me sane.

So ladies, the next time you’re kind of not sure if you want to sweat it out at the gym, turn on Queen Bey, and let her inspire you to do something good for yourself.  We have GOT to change these numbers.

The key to 17 miles…

| cheriarmour

I didn’t bother posting yesterday…we celebrated our national holiday, the Beyonce Bowl, and you guys couldn’t care less what I have to say. But how dang good was that halftime show? Let me say that if the power had gone out during the halftime set, I may currently be hospitalized. Onto the good stuff!

I ran my long run yesterday, 17 miles.

I was kinda nervous since 16 didn’t feel so hot. But I think it was partially because I didn’t bring my Camelbak with me, and dehydrated muscles perform like a car with just a teensy bit of gas left. Also, I think 16 is the point where, if my blood sugar isn’t quite where it’s supposed to be, my body is like ::side-eye:: “Nope, Cherisse, not gonna happen today”.

But I started early, took a few Powerbar Gels and some Clif Shot Blocks with me, and settled in for a long ride. So the key to the 17-miler is…

17

–Katy Perry Pandora
-Pull out all the advice people have given you. Yoga Kerri told me just settle in and understand you’re going to be at it for a long time. While some folks may be snug as a bug, you’re going to be freezing your tush off, eating caffeinated gummy snacks. Embrace it.
-Pre-run compression (pictured above from the night before) is where it’s at for me! Compression isn’t just for post-surgery folks, runners have jumped on the bandwagon. Calf cramps, ugly swelling, and hopefully clots, in some cases, are banished with these guys. They don’t just look cool, they actually have a function!
-A whole lotta sweat. All that dark on my shirt? 17 miles worth of sweat. Which means a whole lotta water. Seriously, don’t skimp on the water. You will feel like garbage and that ain’t cute.
–Essie, “Go Overboard”.

Next week is 18 in my marathon training, and I feel a little better about it since 17 went so well. I seriously did a little victory dance there on the side of Glenwood as I finished. Workin’ on my moves for next week!!