Hello November!

October has blown by along with Hurricane Sandy – I wish everyone affected by the storm a quick and safe recovery.

Here are some of the haps I'm looking forward to in November!

The First Free Give-Away Goes Down on my Blog!
If you like business, if you like success, if you like big personalities, if you like making a difference…stay tuned for my giveaway (follow me on Twitter @wandarful10 to hear more). More to come after November 1st!

No Shave November aka Movember
The time of year when my husband and thousands of other men craft their facial hair to their own delight, all the while helping the battle against one of the most serious health issues affecting men. I don't think he's landed yet on exactly what look he's going for, but he has lots to choose from. I'm going to be joining my Mo Bros this year as a Mo Sista!

(Almost) All Sports are in Season
November is like a an infinite recursion of sports events. It's as if the sports god blessed us with so much sport to help deal with the cloudy dark days of fall here in the Pacific NW. The NBA is officially underway. Hopefully the new look Lakers with Canadian hero Steve Nash will bounce back from a dreary preseason. Perhaps they've adopted Obama's debate strategy, come out weak and bounce back strong. And the MLS playoffs kick off. In the absence of my hometown Portland Timbers, I'm most excited to follow the Whitecaps in their play-off run. The Caps are the first Canadian team to ever play in the MLS post-season. Then there's the Champions League, NFL progresses into the second half of its season and conference leaders emerge (and I win my pool…maybe!), college sports is in full tilt and the NCAA national soccer tournament begins (Go Pilots), FIS World Cup kicks off (will Lindsey Vonn ski with the men?)… NOVEMBER. YOU. ARE. JUST. AWESOME.

Hot Yoga + Hot Eats
The fall time is prime time to duck into a warm room to sweat and eat, although preferably not at the same time. Portland has an endless list of great food spots and was featured in the GQ magazine this month "the food world's new promised land", so I've added the supposedly de-lish Woodsman Tavern, Le Pigeon and Beast to the list. Meanwhile, with the changing weather, I'm looking forward to taking some of my outdoor workouts to the yoga studio. I love the challenge yoga poses (no pun intended) to push your body both mentally and physically, forcing you completely to focus on the present!

American Thanksgiving
Family, food, and football - yes please. The bad vegetarian that I am, Thanksgiving is one of those times I embrace the meat eating ritual … and wash it down with lots of wine and pumpkin pie. I've started to think about my list of gratitude for this last year and feel pretty blessed that I don't have to dig too deep - it's been a year to remember.

Please share this post if you liked it, loved it, found it inspiring, or funny (that's unlikely, I'm not that funny) or your eyes were zapped open by amazement - thanks!