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?