I am off to Akumal, Mexico for the week friends.  I wish I could take you there.  In the meantime, let the sand and water wash over you ...

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Be well and we will meet on the other side.  Bless.

"They say to me in their awakening, 'You and the world you live in are but a grain of sand upon the infinite shore of an infinite sea.'  
  And in my dream I say to them, "I am the infinite sea, and all the worlds are but grains of sand upon my shore.' "  Kahil Gibran

I am loving the work of Brendan George Ko right now.  Such a visceral memory recalled in them, I can feel the sun and colors and water.  How do we remember and see in our minds what was once experienced?  Here is how.

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Do you have compassion for yourself?  There were a few articles in the times recently that focused on self-compassion.  Surprisingly, they found that sometimes people who find is easier to give and be compassionate with others have a very hard time doing the same for themselves. Ugh, we are our own worst enemies! I took this test and it surprised me (and didn't). I have such a hard time saying no to other and a harder time saying yes to myself.  20-12 is the year of change though!

On another note, I read this article in The Guardian about the psychological affects of Birdsong.  Makes me want to get out of this city!

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My parents have a very large window in their dining room on Cape Cod.  Outside the window is an array of bird feeders and a birdbath.  This is only of my favorite things to do when I visit-- drink my coffee, grab the bird book to know what I am looking at and watch and listen to the birds.  Such pure joy and peace.


"Birds chirp when things are safe, and go quite when there's danger.  So for thousands of years birdsong has been a subtle background signal that tell us, unconsciously, that we're safe" via Aesthetics of Joy.

PS:  If we are talking about love today, I LOVE this bag from ASOS! Yes please, thank you.

I have such torment over my hair!  I have to accept I will never be one of those women with perfect hair.  I will forever look like I just stepped out of bed. Recently I have wanted to get my hair cut short and colored blond again.  Though, I was looking through old photos from my time in London and remembered how much I didn't like my short hair. AHH! TELL ME WHAT TO DO!  If I were a...I would have the perfect haircut/color for me!

Any ideas on the below?

My fortune cookie said "Your day will be filled with sunshine and happiness." I do hope it looks like this...

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I hope everyone has a spectacular weekend.  I was fighting a cold but I think I made it through without getting ill.  What happened you ask other then fighting the good fight against the cold?  

*I was very proud in that I made three packages to send off that I have been meaning to for some time.  Placing a parcel in the post has such satisfaction these days I am sure you can agree.  

*I spent some much needed time with a loved friend. It is so important to nurture all relationships, especially ones that are open and willing to be watered. NO use watering a cactus or an already dead plant!!! I have had such troubles in being honest with myself in the past, and I am learning this has affected almost all of my relationships.  I am learning more and more how little myself space I have given myself, to believe in my choices and cherish my voice. I have been so afraid of my own choices, in failing, being misunderstood or being made to feel wrong or unkind. For so long I have let others assume the alpha role, this has been to my fault and also has unfairly put fault unto others.  As I discussed this weekend with said friend, we all have our roles in the communities we belong (be it work, family, friendship, etc) and when these roles shift and chance people's expectations are in shock and the "system" can feel like it is experiencing a mini earthquakes. I am so fortunate/blessed to have love in my life (friends and beyond) that accept these growths and faults and are willing to work through to a deeper place. They inspire me deaily to be better and do better and also to believe in myself. I am not anywhere near yet where I want to be, but I now have an awareness and that is my work. Thank you xoxoxo thank you.

*I also cooked!

I made this yummy garlic soup.  If you are feeling ill, this does the trick:

Additionally, Sunday Ben and I made out own Breakfast sandwiches with basil mayo (our favorite).  I recommend to add sensation to any sandwich.

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Did anyone make it to the National Yoga Championship?  I would love to go one year to observe and learn a few things, yes.  It's an interesting concept, I have yet to wrap my head around or know I want to wrap my head around, but it's just my head!  People can truly do as they wish.  I miss my Bikram practice.  One day I will find my balance.

This week ahead!  All thoughts on MEXICO!  Can't wait! In the meantime I need to get a few things done first. Bring clothing to Salvation Army.  Buy a new piece of glass for a beautiful piece of art Ben got my for Valentines day. Work in my photo projects. My kale gumbo soup!  

More soon....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

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John Steinbeck...
“I believe a strong woman may be stronger than a man, particularly if she happens to have love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is indestructible.” East of Eden (my fav!)


Elizabeth Taylor 

Nick: "To you, everyboy's is a flop. Your husband is a flop, I'm a flop"  Martha (Lizzy:) "You're all flops. I am the Earth Mother, and you are all flops."

Dr. Seuss!

 You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes! You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go.  


I wanted to do so much this weekend, but I feel a cold coming on.  Do you know that feeling, the calm before the storm?  I am taking zinc twice daily and going load up on orange juice.  I will let you know how it goes on the other side.   Bisou bisou and bless! 

To quote my friend Daphne   "YES!"

What make-up do you use?  I remember in college my roommate Lauren used MAC and I thought when I was a real women I too would use MAC!  Well, I do sometimes now.  Though, some of you ladies out there can attest the search for the perfect beautiful pigment is never ending (because those pigments are beautiful).

"
It's great to live by the spirit, to testify day by day for eternity, only what's spiritual in people's minds. But sometimes I'm fed up with my spiritual existence. Instead of forever hovering above I'd like to feel a weight grow in me to end the infinity and to tie me to earth. I'd like, at each step, each gust of wind, to be able to say "Now." Now and now" and no longer "forever" and "for eternity." To sit at an empty place at a card table and be greeted, even by a nod. Every time we participated, it was a pretense. Wrestling with one, allowing a hip to be put out in pretense, catching a fish in pretense, in pretense sitting at tables, drinking and eating in pretense. Having lambs roasted and wine served in the tents out there in the desert, only in pretense. No, I don't have to beget a child or plant a tree but it would be rather nice coming home after a long day to feed the cat, like Philip Marlowe, to have a fever and blackended fingers from the newspaper, to be excited not only by the mind but, at last, by a meal, by the line of a neck by an ear. To lie! Through one's teeth. As you're walking, to feel your bones moving along. At last to guess, instead of always knowing. To be able to say "ah" and "oh" and "hey" instead of "yea" and "amen."
--Wings of Desire (me still my heard, infinity).

I was listening to Karen Dalton, again, while chopping my garlic and veggies last night.  What a voice she has?  What an authentic mood she creates.  Plus, how rad is that pic!



"Let these times show you you're breaking up the lines
leaving all your dreams too far behind
Don't you see, you can't make it without ever even trying
and something is on your mind...

I want to get this for myself and everyone I know with a child.  What a sweet piece of art for a kids room (and mine too, I am still a baby!).

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This is a really interesting article on teenage boys (clause--American) and their relationships with one and other--males in general to some degree.  I am always struck by some of the differences between men and women (oh so many!!).  I remember a story a friend once told me of two children who lost a parent.  They were both young and at a gathering at the home after the wake or funeral, the girl has all her friends hugging her, holding her hand and and comforting her.  Whilst the boy, he and his friends just sat there in silence, separate, not knowing how to communicate intimately such travesties.   This speaks to that of some degree.

Side note, I am always telling Ben and teasing him to tell or text his males friends  "I love you".  And he does!  Isn't that the cutest :)

I really love this little post on Mark and Angel about life lessons learned in 30 years...
It reflects on all the relationships we have, deepest with ourselves.  And I am realizing more and more as I open up to my own flaws and strengths that how we treat ourselves reflects directly on how we gain and give in our relationships with others.  Here are 5 of 30 little (big!) lessons:

I am sure all my cat allies have seen this, they are like minded people and told me about it in the first place.  It just fills my heart with joy!

If I were a...

I would get this adorable jumper from TopShop.

And this amazing hat to go with it!

PS: how genius and creative is this! So much to be inspired by, so much to still do and make.

Happy birthday to my dear friend Denise!  If I could I would...

Give you $1000 to spend at Stephen Alan

Supply you with a weekly delivery of 10lbs of hummus.

All the Dermalogica products one could ask for...(and a consultation of course!)

I would make this weekly for you (Sunday night's of course) and give myself a few spoonful's while at it.

Hire someone to vacuum your apartment once a week, ever nook and cranny!

Get you a weeks worth of surf lessons summer 20-12!

Get you a CSA membership to the McCarren park farmers market for fall...

Have your tarot cards read...

Hope that you are inspired and changed by the very words you share with me.

and lots and lots and lots of 

"No-one has ever lived in the past. No-one will ever live in the future. The present is the form of all life." -Alphaville

some things used...cellophane, sellotape, chalk, petroleum jelly, paint, plaster powder, glass, sugar, concealer stick, lipstick, hairspray, bath cream, glitter, tracing paper. Once again England wins my heart!