A little bit of travel, a little bit of yoga and a little bit of weightlifting from a little Natty.
Written by Erica Miller aka @yogadoodsies
August 17, 2018
After being in my car for a total of 19 hours I finally pulled up the the glowing Christmas af yard that I knew had to be Mels (a.k.a. mom). She made me a delicious a vegan meal of tofu, veggies, and rice and introduced me to her family (who thought I was a robber or a serial killer; hopefully my complete lack of intimidation eased their minds).
I spent August driving my dog and my belongings from California to New York. This wasn’t the average road trip as I was training for a weightlifting competition in September. This is the culmination of all of my work, enjoy!
September 12, 2018
For those of you that don’t know about USA Weightlifting, it is a national organization for weightlifters to compete in the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk. You start competing for total in local meets. If your total is good enough, you move on to the American Open Series, then Finals, then Nationals. The very best of the very best of these competitors go on to the Olympics!
Now, now, I’m definitely not that good and I don’t intend to be but I qualified for the American Open Series in 2017 but didn’t compete 😦 so I was super excited for 2018. There are three American Open Series events every year and in 2018 they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Las Vegas. My friends and family are in the Bay Area so I invited my mother, her twin, Grace, my very best friend, Sarah and my good friend Olivia to watch me compete.
Coach Brian and I arrived on Wednesday morning and we went to a buffet at the Cosmopolitan. The interior looked like it was straight out of Alice in Wonderland’s tea party! I had been weighing in at 47kg all week so I splurged a little bit and got some sprinkles with ice cream hehe.
My mother, her sister and Olivia arrived on Saturday night and we took the tram to dinner at a Tequila Taqueria’s in Bally’s. I didn’t eat too much because I knew I had to make weight at 49kg in the morning but I enjoyed (kinda) watching everybody drink their margaritas.
Did I mention that Olivia is an amazing hairstylist and I desperately needed her to do my hair for the competition? I hadn’t seen her since before the road trip and I couldn’t go out on stage with my hair a mess.
Sarah arrived in time for my hair cut and I was so excited to see her, we chatted a little too long, whoooops.
Weigh in was early in the morning so I went to sleep as Olivia bleached and colored my hair. Yes, I am sleeping in these photos. How did I breathe sleeping like that? Not sure.
August 19, 2018
Tyler and I have been best friends for many years and I was sad we had to part ways after Nashville. But! He was kind enough to drive me to Chicago and show me how to take the L around. I know Tyler and Piccolo were really sad to have to say goodbye. Aw 😦
After being with people for 19, let me say that again, 19 days straight, I was ready for some alone time so I walked around and around and around before heading home to order in delivery. I know Chicago is an amazing food city but, hey, I was exhausted!
August 10, 2018
Jay and I arrived in Denver to celebrate our last hours as dual travelers. We went to DOMO for dinner and it was amazing. Everything from the decor to the service to the food was on point!
After dinner, we took it easy and waited for Sarah to arrive. Jay was nice enough to wait up for her while her flight got delayed, and delayed, and delayed. As the hours went on, I got more and more sad. Tyler arrived around midnight but I slept and slept until Sarah finally arrived around 5 AM. It was frustrating because I only had about 48 hours with my bestest friend to start!! But it was reduced to a measly 24 hours. 😿😿😿
Sweet Natty Dee