Recently, I have been taking Bar Method classes with my good friends Vanessa and Melanie. The class begins with arm exercises using free weights, and then good old fashioned push ups. It’s horrible. Then we move to the barre and begin squatting up and down while on our tippy toes. When our legs begin to burn and our muscles begin to shake the teacher gets happy. “Keep up the shaking, Liz!”, she screams. I want to yell back, “This is upsetting, Gail!”, but I don’t because I’m a professional people-pleaser. Things look promising when it’s ab exercise time. We get to lie down on mats! But the joy is fleeting because ab workouts hurt. Finally, we finish the hour long class with Back Dancing– lying on your back and moving your tushy (i’m a mom of young kids) up and down. I’ve nothing bad to say about Back Dancing. It is what it is. Then we stretch. Using a strap we stretch our legs while still lying on the ground. One day I stretched my foot all the way to Vanessa’s face, and I carefully touched my big toe to her nose. She smiled and then tickled my foot. I love her for that. Anyway, long story short, I’ve been flexing a lot more in front of the mirror these days. Let’s make some lime sablé sandwich cookies! Continue reading →