Writing and Polka Dots

Got to hang with some crazy cool and creative kiddos over the weekend at a writers conference. We had a blast exploring a wide range of classes on writing from

screenplays to 

amine/manga to 

young adult fiction. 

We learned about 

how to write great villains, 

about the samurai traditions and the Jedi, 

and we plotted a novel in an hour 

{which ended up being hilarious 

and I wish someone would 

really write that book!}

I was there with my super talented teen who has been writing jaw dropping fiction since the 4th or 5th grade.  I mean, this kid can write such intricate stories with plots, subplots and intrigue!  She describes things so well you feel like you are actually in the story!  This is a talent my friends.  And not one that I possess! {Heck, I couldn't even come up with a very creative title for this post this morning!}  We went with my talented brother who is a writer/illustrator and mentor to my daughter. While they were the ones soaking up the fun and encouraging  classes from published and successful authors, I was there to learn the business side of these things.

If my daughter wants to become a published author one day, then I need to know how to get her there.  I guess right now I'm kind of like her agent, or publicist or something!

But since I didn't take any pictures at the conference, and every post needs a picture, I'm going to leave you with this poorly lit photograph of what I wore to the conference.  :D

Then this morning I woke up to read this over at Couture Allure Vintage:

Polka dots - you probably either love 'em or hate 'em, but anyone can wear them. This perennial print has a tendency to look juvenile if not done right, though.

I don't know.  I happen to love polka dots.  I think they are always happy!  Hopefully I didn't look too "juvenile" in my dots though.  ;) 

What about you?

Do you love polka dots?

Or hate 'em?

{Don't worry, I won't be offended if you hate dots.  My daughter doesn't like them either!}

I'm Honored

The other day the ever lovely Jeanine from Dressing My Truth honored me with The Versatile Blogger award.  Isn't she sweet?  She radiates so much beauty and I seriously cannot wait to meet her this summer at The Celebrate Your Beauty event!  {By the way, she is a Type 2!  Go pay her a visit!}

So when you receive the award you are supposed to tell seven things about yourself and then pass it along to other bloggers you admire.  So here we go!

{1}  I hate scary movies.  I will not watch them.  They make me all tense inside and I come out of the theater with a headache.  It is so not worth it to me.  Besides, who deliberately wants to scare themselves?  Not me!

{2}  I speak in emoticons.  You know when I put a smiley face, or a wink in writing, it's because that is what my facial expressions are really doing when I write, speak or say those things!  And yes, I probably overuse them even in real life!  ;)

{3}  I am pretty shy, quiet or reserved in person {at first}, but I am much more comfortable behind the computer screen writing and I love getting to know my readers and other bloggers!  So please say hi!  I want to get to know you too!  Yes, even you lurkers out there!

{4}  I almost got kicked out of the country in Brazil and was given seven days to get out plus have to pay a huge fine.  All because I miscalculated the days to get my visa renewed.  Luckily, with some sweet talking {while I was freaking out and crying} by someone super cool who knew people at the visa office, they let me stay longer.  Phew!

{5}  I won't let my kids play football {hello concussions?  No thanks!} or gymnastics {brutal on your body!}.  Because I know firsthand some of the side effects {at least from competitive gymnastics}.  They are just too hard on your body.  I have been dealing with early onset joint pain {aka arthritis} since my early twenties from all the hard pounding I did as a gymnast during my growing years.  It's not fun. And I get to live with it for the rest of my life now.  Luckily, my kids don't seem too interested in these particular sports. 

{6}  I'm terrified of tornadoes.  I even dream about them.  All these recent storms haven't helped.  I have sisters who live in  Atlanta and in Illinois and it scares me to go visit them.  Isn't that silly?  I need to clear this irrational fear I have ~ though I contend it's not irrational!  Tornadoes happen.  Every year.  :)

{7}  Strangely enough mice and snakes don't scare me.  But spiders and grasshoppers do.

But enough about me!  Let's hear more about someone else!  I would like to kindly bestow The Versatile Blogger award to the following people {in alphabetical order}:

Amy at Super Healthy Kids ~ She is super nice.  Super cute.  And has such super cute {and easy} food ideas!  She inspires me to be more creative with the food I try to get the toddler to eat.

Cindy In The Present Tense ~ She is a Type 1 Dressing Your Truth gal like me.  She always puts together such fresh and cute outfits.  Plus I love her honesty in living her truth and figuring herself out.  I want to officially meet her and give her hugs and high fives some day!

Cupcake Caramel ~ I enjoy the chic attitude and reminders she brings to her blog.  She inspires me to live more purposefully in all areas of my life.

Truly Trish ~ This girl is a Type 3 and she is H.O.T!  I'm excited to get to meet her this summer at the conference too.  She doesn't know this yet, but after reading through her blog I realized that we have almost met before!  I was sitting a row behind her and a few people to the right at a Green Smoothie Girl lecture last year!  Green Smoothie Girl had talked to her in the audience, Trish blogged about it and I remember the whole thing!  Crazy cool!

As always, no pressure to pass this on if you don't want to.  Just know that I appreciate you and what you bring into my world via blogland! 

Now everyone else, please go kindly pay them all a visit and make some new friends!

Renaissance Chic

It rained every.single.day last week! But the weather gods decided to look down on us and bless us with a sunny Saturday! So we jumped at the chance to go do something outside. So we headed out to a local Renaissance Festival. I was on the lookout for a knight in shining armor to be our valiant protector from the supposed zombie invasion?

Knights of Mayhem

Yep!  Found one!

The festival was quite fun actually!

We watched puppet shows, magic shows

and daring acrobatics on horseback!

They were amazingly talented!

The highlight of the festival?

The live jousting!

Yes!

Real horses!

Real armor!

Full contact!

Knocking each other off jousting!

Knights of Mayhem, jousting


Was that not awesome or what?
They both fell off!

~ ~ ~

People were encouraged to dress up!

In fact, you got a little off the price

of admission if you did!

{We didn't}

It made the atmosphere feel a little

more Renaissance~like!

However, I felt like I was in a brothel

{or something}

The place was crawling with

servant wenches

bare bellied gypsies

and gothic fairies.

Not what I think of when I think Renaissance.

Fortunately there were a few

more tastefully dressed

like this:

and this:

Ahhh!

Much better!

So the kids want to dress up next year!

I told my teen and her friend that they would

have to wear something more tasteful

to give other young, impressionable

young ladies something to look up to.

So here is some Renaissance Chic inspiration:

First, 

A Knight's Tale

LOVED this movie!

Heath Ledger was so cute!

The costumes were fabulous

and her hair!

Be still my heart!

They did some fun things with her hair

in this movie!  So if you want to add a

more modern touch to your renaissance garb

then this movie offers the inspiration for you!

There are plenty of other
Renaissance era movies you could
glean costuming ideas from,
but this post is already getting quite long,
so feel free to watch away! 

 If you want to go more along the fairy route,

then may I offer these as inspiration:

 

Fairie-ality: The Fashion Collection from the House of Ellwand

If I were to require Fairy clothes

this book shows what I would wear.

Yes please!

You cannot go wrong with

gorgeous frocks made from 

rose petals, feathers, grasses, twigs

and all other sorts of items from nature.

If I can't come up with something

as haute couture as that

then at least something like

a gorgeous floral wreath on my head!

via This Is Glamorous

It's probably too hot for fur in May though!

Darn!

~ ~ ~

What are your favorite Renaissance
or Medieval era movies?

Which ones feature the best costumes?

How I Spent My Evening

I went on camera tonight with Carol Tuttle

for their Moms and Daughters Club Night.

I forgot to get a picture of us with Carol.

But here I am before the show

in hair and makeup:

Actually, makeup came first

then hair!

Working with Emily was fabulous!

I was so nervous and I can be so shy ~ I'm not even sure what I said on camera or if I even made any sense.  Meeting Carol Tuttle {and team} was like meeting a celebrity!   Luckily she is very warm and personable and makes you feel at ease though.  So I conquered my fear and did it!  And it was fun!

P.S. ~ Sorry for the fuzzy iphone pics!  Just pretend it's the Doris Day effect!  I might be able to capture a screen shot when the Club Night goes up on the member's side of her website tomorrow!

One Wish...

I have the unfortunate habit of waking up in the middle of the night.  You know, oh say around 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning and for the life of me cannot get back to sleep no matter what I do!  Sadly, when I do find that sleep again it is time for me to wake up and get on with the day.  ~sigh~  It really wears you out, you know?

Lately I've found that watching those swirly light patterns you get behind your eyelids strangely relaxing. {Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees these sorts of things!  Sometimes they're dots that move around, or swirly shadows or something.  You see them too, right?  Ok, good!  Just checking!}  So I just close my eyes and watch and somehow it clears my mind!  So the other night I was doing this while trying to get back to sleep when all of a sudden ... I was being spoken to ...

A gentle voice asked me ... 

"What is it you truly want?"

and without hesitation,
I answered ...

"Sleep".

Next thing I knew 

I was waking up to my alarm 

and the sun was rising. 

Then it hit me.

What???

Sleep???

I'm asked by what could be The Divine

what I truly want

and I ask for sleep???

Really???

Instead of asking for the chance just to be

a stay~home mom instead of

a work~at~home mom

or

to lose this stubborn baby weight

that just will not come off 

no matter what I do

or

to know what my divine purpose is

I ask for sleep???

Hopefully The Divine just smiled

as the wise old parent does

and patted my soul on the head and said,

"Yes, you really are tired.  

Rest your weary soul.

We can discuss this later."

I'm sure He knows that what I asked for

in the moment isn't

necessarily what I truly desire

in the grander scheme of things

~ after all, He knows the desires of my heart.

Or maybe my greatest wish after all, really is sleep!

If you were granted one wish

what would it be?

You already know mine!

photo via

Lunch Bunch: Easy Dinner Ideas

This is turning out to be rather interesting.  This months Lunch Bunch is all about easy dinner ideas you can pull from when you just don't want to cook anything.  And the funny thing {to me} is that I really don't want to cook anything lately, and I'm even having a hard time trying to get this post finished, because frankly, I'm just not in the mood.  It must be the weather.  All the rain is beginning to affect me I think!

So!  In reality, I probably really need this post!  So without further adieu {or is it ado in this case?  See?  I'm stalling again!}, let's get to some of my favorite easy dinner ideas:

Pastas are always easy.  It just takes a few minutes to cook the noodles and it can be as simple as noodles and heating up sauce if you really want.  Here is one of my favorite pasta versions:

My Version of Olive Garden's

Capellini Pomodoro

Angel hair pasta {or spaghetti}
4-5 fresh tomatoes, chopped {or drain a can of diced stewed tomatoes if you're super short on time and don't want to take the time to chop your own}
1 clove garlic, minced
Basil, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil


Cook angel hair pasta {or spaghetti}.  Add tomatoes to cooked pasta and add 1 minced clove of garlic and sprinkle enough basil to pepper it nicely.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Mix together well into cooked pasta.

This pasta is an intuitive recipe for me and very forgiving.  Not a lot of measuring, or exact ingredients.  I just sort of wing it.  If you want more tomatoes {or less}, add them {or subtract them}. Open a bag of salad and you're ready to go!  {See?  I don't even want to take the time to wash my salad sometimes!  Pre-washed and cut can be a lifesaver!}

Let Someone Else Cook

Another easy dinner idea is to let someone else do the cooking for you!  No, I don't mean run out and grab a fast food hamburger or anything!  I mean, run to the store and grab a whole roasted chicken from the deli!  Then all you have to do is heat up some frozen veggies on the side to round it out.  Easy peasy!

Let's see, what else?

Dinner salads!  

 Like I said above,
Pre-washed and cut salad mixes are genius!
Here are two of my favorites!

Southwestern Salad

Salad:

1-2 cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Shredded or diced chicken, optional

Shredded cheddar cheese

Diced tomatoes

1-2 bags chopped romaine lettuce

1/2 bag of crushed tortilla chips

Ranch Dressing:   {do not use a bottled ranch for this salad ~ trust me!  It will taste all wrong if you do!}

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp onion salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp dried parsley

Combine dressing ingredients and mix well.  Combine everything in a bowl, cover with ranch dressing and mix well to coat.  

Again, the amounts are more to taste rather than specific amounts.  This is also a very forgiving recipe.  The ingredient list looks longer than I like when I'm not in the mood to cook, but it really doesn't take much time to throw this one together.  I like the crunchiness the crushed tortilla chips give to this recipe.    

Want an even easier ranch dressing for this salad?  Then just use the dry buttermilk ranch dressing packets you can buy at the store ~ just don't use a pre-made bottled ranch dressing, I'm begging you!  Just don't do it! 

Apple Tomatillo Dinner Slaw

Salad:

1-2 bags premixed coleslaw {without dressing in it}

2-3 apples, chopped in pieces

1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Diced chicken, optional

Dressing:

1 pkg dry buttermilk ranch dressing

3 tomatillos

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup cilantro

1 clove garlic

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix salad ingredients together in a large bowl.  Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a blender and blend.  It will thicken gradually.  Pour dressing over salad to coat it, and mix well.

This salad looks like it has a lot of ingredients too, but it is super fast because you just throw the dressing in the blender and let the blender do the work.  You don't even need to chop the cilantro before throwing it in, just measure it and push the start button!  The hardest part of this recipe is chopping the apples!  Love that!

~ ~ ~

Ok, that's about all I've got right now besides grilled cheese sandwiches and popping a can of tomato soup open!  So now it's your turn ~ help a girl out!  Meet me in the comments and tell me your favorite easy don't want to cook dinner ideas!  Please!  I'm begging you!  :D

Just A Quick Little Note

I know the Lunch Bunch post was supposed to go up today, but I've been gone most of the day, doing this {among other things!}:

The weather was so gorgeous we decided to hike up Waterfall Canyon today. It was so worth it!  And since then I've been going non~stop all day long and am now completely exhausted!  I will throw the post up tomorrow or Monday for those who want to contribute anything!

Have you done anything fun this weekend?

What Put ~B. Into Near Bliss?

Sorry about that cliff hanger yesterday.  

But what I am about to show you 

just seemed to deserve its own post.

The thing that put me 

almost over the edge in bliss 

the other day were these:

These

eat~out~of~the~bowl, 

to~die~for 

{and healthy}

MACAROONS!!!

 They are super easy to make

here is how:

Macaroons

If you can't find some of these ingredients,

then check your local health food store

or specialty supermarket!

2 cups shredded, unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup raw unsalted, unroasted almonds {ground into a powder in your blender}

2/3 cup agave nectar 

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp pure vanilla

1/8 tsp sea salt

Combine everything in a bowl.  Scoop out in spoonfuls and squeeze them in your hands to form a tight little ball, then flatten them out and place on either a teflex dehydrator sheet or cookie sheet.  If you are dehydrating them, then dehydrate for 6-8 hours at 115 degrees.  If you are baking them in the oven, then bake them for about 15-20 minutes at 325 degrees, but watch to be sure you don't burn them and adjust the time if necessary.

Oh the blissful yumminess!!!

{Sorry, I really kinda like macaroons}

On a side note, this month's Lunch Bunch will go live tomorrow over here.  I am making this completely virtual now because my local friends and I are having a hard time coordinating our schedules to make this work.  So! If you have something to contribute, please either post it on your own blog to link up or put it in the comments for everyone to see {and this includes YOU my local friends!  Don't just tell me the next time you see me!  I want you to start commenting too so that everyone can enjoy your contributions too}!  :D

This months focus is:

Easy Dinner Ideas ~ 

What do you make that is healthy 

when you are short on time 

or just don't feel like cooking?

Tell us tomorrow!

Now go forth and prepare

something delicious {and easy} to share! 

Not Always Pollyanna!

So by nature I'm typically a happy go lucky sort of person. Does that mean I am always happy?  Nope.  In fact I have had periods of my life where I have suffered some pretty extreme bouts of depression.

And then sometimes I literally feel the weight of the world on my shoulders.  In fact, just last week I struggled to stay positive as I took in all the devastation of the recent tornadoes and flooding here in the U.S.  Add to this the recent troubles Japan has been facing after the earthquake and tsunami and I was really struggling.  My heart hurts for all the people affected by all these natural disasters! 

For some of us {aka me!}, watching the news is really not a good thing for my mental health.  I like to stay informed sure, but so much of the news is just depressing and my soul really needs light and hope as much as my body needs food and air!

The video I linked to yesterday of Carol discussing my type spoke a little about what my type of nature needs in order to stay light, happy, and hopeful.  These are some of the things I have learned over the years to help me cope when I'm feeling down or beginning to feel depressed ~ so here are some of the things I have been doing over the last few weeks to feed my soul and keep my spirits up.

1.  Some serious prayer and mediation.  I am a religious person.  This centers me.  I needed to spend time with my Creator to recenter myself and to remember the grand Plan of Salvation!  And I needed to send prayers and good energy to those who were suffering.

2.  But I also needed some fun and lightness.   Here are two things that made me laugh soo hard!

First, this college skit for all the
Jane Austen lovers out there {swoon!}:

{My husband and I laughed so hard at this one!
We even tried to talk like that for a few minutes!

Favorite part? The chest bump!}

And this one on ~ Zumba for men:

{Favorite part? Watch the two guys in purple shirts!

Hey, funny thing!  They are the same two 

from the James Austen clip!}

And 3.  I have to take action.  In the past, my daughter and niece have made sanitation kits for our favorite humanitarian organization to distribute.   This time my daughter and I are working on coordinating a quilting project for those in need who are affected by natural disasters.  A blanket or quilt can be a real comfort for children and those in these types of situations as well as something handy to help keep warm.  We are still working on all the details, but it feels good to do something!

I am a person who must dwell in happiness.  I just have to.  And I have to see the bright side.  And sometimes it is hard.   So for me, it's a mental health thing!

But do you want to know what put me almost over the edge in bliss yesterday?

Stay tuned, because I'm going to show you tomorrow!

~ ~ ~

What do you do to keep your spirits up?

My Experience With Dressing Your Truth {thus far}

I mentioned yesterday that I am so glad I took the leap into the Dressing Your Truth world ~ I really am!  I love that the system is based on your true nature as a woman and is very supportive and honoring about each woman's divine natures and abilities and gifts to the world {which are different for each of the types}.

I am classified as a Type 1.  You can watch a little about Carol discussing my nature type here.  {By the way, Carol is a Type 3}:



So her system is set up to teach you how to dress your nature in a way that will support your innate nature {or personality}.  It is really quite unique in it's fashion approach in this regard.  But I have to say, since beginning to dress this way I finally feel like I am coming home to myself!  And it has been quite liberating!

I feel like Dressing Your Truth has really helped me pull my authentic self together.  The authentic self portion was always the element that I felt was missing from so many style guides.  One persons list of essential items isn't going to be the same for everyone.  For some, the prescribed items will just look plain ol' silly {or dare I say, wrong!} on them!  I mean, you've seen people dressed in certain ways I'm sure that really just don't seem to jive with the person somehow.  No matter how hard they try, some people just cannot pull off certain looks without looking like an imposter.  It was always hard for me to put my finger on what that was and why.   And now I'm beginning to understand it.

I feel like I am finally creating the signature style that I have always wanted.  One that feels completely like me and not someone else's fashion ideal of what is or isn't considered the right way to dress.  And after all, isn't that what chicness is all about?   Knowing and honoring your own unique self and style?!


So my question today:

What is chic?  Is chic everybody looking the same?  Is chic a certain prescribed look?  A feeling?  An ideal?  Is it reserved only for people who wear certain brands or labels?  Or is chic a well put together expression of your authentic self?  Isn't that what je ne sais quoi is?  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!  What does it mean to you?

Polyvore

I have been having a lot of fun on Polyvore lately.  Have you checked it out yet?  You can play around with outfit ideas {like I did before I purchased the pink pants ~ which saves you money btw!} and come up with all sorts of ideas you might not have thought of otherwise.  It is a great style refining tool!

Did you know I have a little icon right over here

<---

On my left sidebar

Where you can check out 

all my latest and greatest

outfit ideas that fit within

 my Dressing Your Truth type

{which I am loving btw!  
I'm so glad I took the leap!}

My personal style leans toward

clean cut
classic lines
and preppy styles!

I am trying to come up with ideas
that are things I would actually wear
like this:

Sunshine On My Shoulder by B.Yourself featuring rain boots

or this Ode to Carla Bruni

in the Contrex ad:

Here is my version:

Ode to Carla Bruni by B.Yourself featuring twist earrings

Here's the real ad if you want to see it:

See? Water is sexy my friends!

Ok, ok, enough with all this water discussion.

Let's bring this back around to fashion.

Carla Bruni's outfit is totally Type 1!

{well, actually mine is a little closer to a true Type 1!

My DYT friends will understand. Hi gals!}

~ ~  ~

Are you on Polyvore? 

Let's be friends!

Add me {B. Yourself} as a contact

so I can check out all the

fun ideas you are coming up with too!

My Dream Spa

When I was in junior high I wanted to own my own health and fitness spa in the hills of Northern California.  I imagined it nestled among peaceful green rolling hills.

Now I just want to go to one.  Like the Hotel Royal in France.  In fact, I would say it is my dream destination spa.  I have been dreaming about it ever since I saw it in Architectural Digest years ago.  It was committed to memory and every time I thought about my own spa, I decorated it like that one.

Like a cool glass of water! 

Speaking of water,

did I mention it is nestled
near the lake and mountains
in Evian, France?

Yes, where Evian water comes from!

See?  With my love affair with water,

could this place not be anywhere more perfect for me???

It's heavenly!

Like a breath of fresh air!

Oh those soaring cathedral ceilings!

The only change I made in my head

was to treat the ceiling with gorgeous clouds.

Someday I will go there.
Mark my words!

Mother's Day Weekend!

I've had a lovely Mother's Day weekend.  My boys took me out to dinner last night at a fun little venue with views of the snow capped mountains.  We enjoyed an open air concert by a local electric violinist that was simply amazing!

This morning my family made me spinach~feta omelettes {which my husband thinks is a genius combination btw, and I have to agree.  Have you ever tried it?} and I haven't had to cook or do dishes all day long!  I even got to take a nap!  And we've laughed ourselves silly.  I mean seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better day!

So I wanted to come up with some lovely wish or sentiment for Mother's Day here but I was really having a hard time waxing poetic, so I will just leave you with the Ode To My Mom that I ended up posting on Facebook this afternoon instead:

Just a fun little banter between myself and an old friend of mine.  My sister followed up with the last little punch there.  And btw, his mom even liked my FB status!

So I guess my wish for all the women out there is love, laughter and appreciation for all the good you do in this world!  And many happy memories!  Happy Mother's Day!

A Local Little Secret

Continuing my love affair with water, I thought I'd show you a little secret place my grandpa showed me recently.  On a rainy, cloudy sort of day, Grandpa took me to a beautiful church nearby.

It is hidden within the city 

and nestled near the mountains.

He showed me where to get 

some fresh well water in town ~ for free.

Yes, this darling little church

has fresh, clean well water!

All you have to do is bring your own containers.

He goes once a week or so to fill up. 

My grandpa is so cool!

He knows lots of cool stuff! 

Thanks for introducing me to the well Grandpa!

My Love Affair With Water

To those who know me well,

this will come as no surprise:

But I kinda have a thing for water.

Especially bottled mineral waters.

From far away places.

And cute bottles.

My favorite as far as taste is concerned 

is San Pellegrino.

Delicious!

{It is an acquired taste!}

Easy to find!

{Thank you Costco!}

But as for cuteness...

Voss get's my vote every time!

Not sure why, but I just love, love, love the bottle!

I ran across it at a resort one time in our room.

I didn't taste it.  But I sooo wanted to!

I dreamed about it for years afterwards

as I tried to find it locally.

I recently found somewhere local that carries it!

Hip, hip, hooray!

Now I have a nice bottle that I love

to slip in my purse {and refill at will}.

Ooolala!

Now I feel so chic!

~ ~ ~ 

I'm sure there are lots of other 

mineral waters from around the world 

that I have yet to taste. 

Do you drink bottled or mineral water?

What's your favorite?

Head Smack!

Sometimes I say the stupidest things! 

I did that yesterday.  Online somewhere and within a few minutes realized how it might have sounded and deleted it.  It wasn't meant in the way it sounded.  Sometimes the gift of words doesn't really apply to me.

No one said anything about being offended by it, hopefully not many people saw it while the comment was still up, but I felt bad about it all day long.  Then this morning I woke up with a headache.  And my teeth clenched which probably gave me the headache in the first place.  And my shoulders are extremely tense.

It's like the time I forgot to drain the fat off the meat in a soup that went to a church potluck.  No one really ate my soup.  And I know why, {grease sitting on top of your soup isn't really appetizing!} and I don't blame them but I felt horrible about it for weeks afterward!  I imagine they all think I'm a horrible cook now!  And no, it wasn't on the chili that almost won a cookoff either, that was meatless {and fabulous btw}!

Sigh. 

We all make mistakes.

But this is one of the areas I need to work on to achieve my goal of inner peace. 

I need to make peace with my mistakes.  Process my feelings on the subject quickly so I can move onward and upward.  Hanging on to this serves no one ~ especially me.  Being held captive by emotions is no way to live. 

So I started today out with hydration.  A nice cool glass of water.  And an energy healing session with myself.  Now I need a trip to the spa for a good massage to release some of this tension built up in my shoulders.

So as my niece and nephews like to tease me with 

{and I know they read my blog ~ hi cute kiddos!}:

"Tap it out!  Tap it out!"

I know it sounds funny, 

but the techniques I use really do help!

~ ~ ~

My question for you today:

How do you treat yourself kindly when you make a mistake?

How do you get rid of stress in your life?

Your Theme Song

I envision my life as a movie sometimes. Small snapshots put to music.  While I've always compiled songs that expressed the way I was feeling inside, (you know, the tapes we all made in junior high), it was the book Wear More Cashmere that actually gave me the idea to find a song that expressed my whole life or how I wanted my life to be. It's not so much a reactive song about the way you're currently feeling, like the way I felt when so and so broke up with me {since we're using the junior high school metaphore here}, but a song that embodies everything you are and want your life to be.

My song is Gli Impermeabili on Paolo Conte's greatest hits.  You must listen to it.  It's in Italian and I don't even know what it is saying, but it feels so swank and happy to me!  It embodies the feeling that I want my life to have. {Hopefully he isn't singing dark depressing lyrics  because I definitely don't want my life to be like that!  Help!  Someone translate for me!  No wait!  Don't!  I don't want to know!  It might ruin the whole song for me!}

Gli impermeabili

Cool song, right?  Can't you just imagine yourself coasting along life to that song?  

So if you want to pick a theme song of your own, this is what Gin Sanders writes:

"Choose a theme song--think Nadia's theme, named for the young gymnast. It could be stately, like Pachelbel's Canon in D; or bittersweet, like Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 23; or a sexy, sultry jazz standard, like Shirley Horn singing "Come a Little Closer". This is something not only to listen to at night, but this is also to hear in your head as you go through the day. Select a piece of music that you can imagine playing as you enter a room. Make a tape for yourself, or buy a CD to play in your car, so that you can float through life on your own carefully chosen theme. I once had an old Mercedes in which I observed very strict rules for behavior. One rule was that I could only listen to Brazillian jazz. Imagine how it made me feel as I drove around in an otherwise ordinary suburban setting, swaying my shoulders to the sultry Brazilian jazz of Astrud Gilberto. You might pick several themes for yourself--one that you imagine playing as you stride into work every morning, one that you can hear in your head as you pull into your driveway at night, and perhaps one that you can imagine quite clearly whenever the mood for romance strikes you."

Ok, now it's your turn!  

Do you have a theme song?  

Let me know what it is!

The At Home Workout Club: Month 5

 As I was trying to think what I wanted to add to my fitness library this month, I immediately knew that I just had to do something to help celebrate Cinco de Mayo! There's nothing quite like shaking your hips to a latin rhythm!  So since this whole idea is to add things to my own workout library that will help wean me off my gym membership I thought of ZUMBA!

Zumba is so hot right now!  And the class is always packed at my gym.  So packed that I hate going to the class even though it is such a blast!

Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System DVD Set

So hopefully by adding this to my collection, I can still have fun shaking my booty to the beat and  not end up getting annoyed that I am bumping into my neighbor because there is no room to move!   Yipee!  Now hopefully it will get here before the 5th so I can par-tay!  That's in like three days ~ yikes!  I'm not sure I want to pay overnight shipping though!

Have you tried Zumba before?