I had another post that I was going to put up today, but after reading Rachel‘s amazing blog about owning it I quickly changed my mind.
I have to admit that I once was (am) seriously afraid of judgement. I used to let that fear control me, but not so much anymore. The fact that I started this blog is a testament to how far I’ve come. Regardless, I don’t think this is something that magically goes away. You just have to find confidence in your choices and OWN THEM. This is something that I have to continuously work on, so I absolutely love Rachel for this. Since I’m not a journal style blogger there are some aspects to my life that are just not documented here. Here are some that I’d like to get off my chest.
I drink, sometimes a lot. Long gone are my college days and tolerance. I’ve since become a light weight and usually stick to one or two drinks. Some nights, though, are, for lack of a better term, a shitshow (like I said, this doesn’t take much). I can’t turn down a tequila shot. There are many unhealthy motives to drink, but I drink because it’s fun and that’s it. I’m 25 and I have an inner party girl. Sorry, I’m not sorry.
I want to change my body. I no longer define myself by my body, nor does my sense of self or confidence come from it. Does that mean that I don’t want to change it? No. One of the reasons I exercise is to gain strength, but how could I get stronger without gaining muscles? That would require some physical changes, right? I believe I have a “size: healthy” that is best for me. I want to be there. I think that’s okay. I’ve owned it.
I don’t believe you have to be a vegan to be a compassionate, ethical eater. And I eat local, organic honey. This will be expanded on in the future. Dear vegan police: sorry, I’m not sorry.
I have a spending problem. I “should” be saving or doing more to pay off my debt, but I will spend anything for experience. I went to Hawaii a couple of months ago, I’m going to four concerts in the upcoming months and I charge flights home to NY like it’s my job. I chose experiences and in return gained some stress. I’ll deal with it because I’ve owned it.
I hate raw kale. It’s disgusting. Steamed or chipped, I’m all about it. In fact, I had a whole head of kale tonight in chip form. Phew, it feels so good to get this off of my chest. Sorry, I’m not sorry.
Not training for a marathon makes me happy. After my first marathon I had dreams of more and getting faster, but I am so happy right now without training. Friday nights are much better when you don’t have to wake up at 6am on a Saturday to run 20 miles. That being said, I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything and it taught me more about myself than anything else. I may run halfs, or even more fulls, in the future, but I can’t make any promises. I’m marathon confused. I’ve owned it.
Sometimes I eat two dinners. I’m hungry and I love to eat. Sorry, I’m not sorry.
The only shampoo or conditioner I’ve used in the past 3 years has been in the form of water, baking soda and apple cider vinegar. You don’t understand how good it feels to not be a product whore like I used to be (I used shampoo, conditioner, frizz serum, gel, hairspray, biosilk, etc. every single day). I literally would have to pack another bag when I would go away for my hair products. Now, there are no plastic bottles to worry about and no chemicals that are being washed down into the water supply or into my body. I love my no ‘pooed hair and think it looks better and is healthier than ever. It’s also clean. No, I’m not a dirty hippie. But, if you want to call me one that’s fine, I’ve owned it. I can’t believe I’m telling this to the world. You probably have many questions, so I can do a full post on this in the future if you’d like.
Wow!! That feels darn good. I highly suggest you own whatever it is that you are holding in. Shame and guilt are not feelings that should be felt and they’re definitely not beneficial to our mental (or physical) health. I’m providing you with a safe place to own it. This is a no judgement zone so, give me the dirt!!
I was making my salad for lunch and I was thoroughly excited for it. All I wanted was that delicious, colorful, veggie loaded salad. In that moment I realized how far I’ve come.
Some days are less than perfect, but that’s not what it’s about. Gena, from Choosing Raw, wrote about a quote I really love and that totally relates to my life. “Progress, not perfection.” Sometimes we tend to forget where we’ve come from and only think about where we’d like to be. While I fully believe in living in the present I think it’s important to acknowledge how much progress we’ve made with ourselves. That being said, I like to approach everyday with a “clean state” attitude. Do today what makes you feel good, what makes you happy, and what builds your health, but don’t forget to maintain your sanity (and eat some chocolate). Don’t dwell too much in your past mistakes, but be grateful to the positive steps that you’re taking.
After too much Coors Light at the Weezer concert last night, I’m off to enjoy some Vitamin D and water.
p.s. Jumping up and down does not help with shin splints.
Where can you acknowledge your progress? Thank yourself!
On that particular day, I had a new instructor. She was very enthusiastic and very tough. At one point, she started talking about the benefits of plank. “Oh, no,” I thought. She stated that it is the best pose to tone and strengthen the whole body, “so into plank!”
My initial thought: “UGH! Nooo, plank sucks ASS!”
I caught myself by surprise with that one. I admit, I don’t have the best thoughts when plank comes around, but this one I heard loud and clear. I thought, well what does this set me up for? Not a pleasant experience I can tell you that.
As I was pondering my reaction, I was miserably tolerating plank. I couldn’t differentiate between what I was feeling and what I was thinking. Which one caused the other? And what makes this pose any more challenging that the others? When I stand in Warrior II through shaking legs I feel a discomfort, but one that aids me in creating inner stillness. There is no inner stillness with plank.
So, I decided to test something out. I went back to yoga and chose to change my thoughts. When plank came around I said, “I LOVE PLANK!” You know what?! It felt glorious. I could feel the cultivation of my power and strength. It was more effortless than it ever was. Why? Because I didn’t add in the effort! Dreading something takes effort, complaining about something takes effort, saying how much something is going to suck takes effort.
I decided to use this concept in other aspects of my life. Where do I add effort? Where do I anticipate struggle when there really is no need? Yoga teaches me so much, and I think I need to use it to help me let go of expectation. I tend to head into certain situations with a not so great attitude, with dread. That’s got to stop. If it’s something that I can’t change, then I can change the way I view it, right? Right!
So, where can you relinquish effort?
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In other news, it’s time to announce the Fearless Raw Organic Chocolate giveaway winners!!!! Yes, that’s right, I said winnerS. Jordan over at Fearless emailed me yesterday informing me that he would like to offer the chocolate to THREE lucky readers. Woohoo!! Thank you, Jordan! So without further ado, the winners are:
Stacy (Little Blue Hen), who said “…Favorite way would have to be in small bites to savor it longer. ;p” I agree.
Evan, who said “My favorite way to eat chocolate now is definitely raw truffles(a new recipe).” Your truffles look amazing! I must try them.
Lisa, who said “I love chocolate dipped biscotti.” Can you say, yum??
Congrats! Email me at jackie@peacesofearth.com to get your chocolate!
I have had my fair share of raw chocolate and I have yet to hear about this company so I did a little research on the Fearless website. I could instantly feel their passion in what they do and their commitment to the health benefits of raw cacao and other superfoods. To make them even more special, a portion of every sale gets donated to charities suggested by their own customers. Yeah, I’m totally down with Fearless.
I checked our their flavors and noticed a very big difference between them and the many other raw chocolate bars I’ve had. They do NOT use agave nectar in any of their bars! I’m not trying to make this a post about agave, but there has been some controversy surrounding it lately and I just appreciate the option to opt out.
Their flavors are:
Sweet & Hot
Exploding Coconuts
Super Seeds
Green Tea Peppermint
Dark as Midnight
They use organic rapadura (unrefined cane sugar) in all of the bars except for Exploding Coconuts (how good does that sound?!?) which contains organic coconut palm sugar. I see that in my health food store and always want to buy it. I’m super intrigued!
I was lucky enough to get a Sweet & Hot to sample, which has hibiscus flower and ginger. Yum, I love a little zing in my chocolate.
Sweet wrapper!! So how was it?
Munch, munch.
It was amazing! I pretty much ate the whole bar right there, but I contained myself because I knew I would be sad when I had none left. The texture was spot on and unlike any raw chocolate bar I’ve ever tasted. I actually love gingery chocolate so I was in heaven. The hibiscus gave it a little something something. It was the perfect combo. I need to go out and buy the other flavors ASAP!
I am a total Fearless Chocolate convert. This could be bad.
But, oh so good.
The best part?? One of you lucky readers will win FIVE Fearless Chocolate bars – 1 in each flavor!! (I am so jealous!) I didn’t want to have all of the fun so I asked if they could offer up some goodies to one of my amazing readers and they so generously obliged.
On top of that, they offered ALL readers 15% off from all webstore purchases for the next 7 days. Just use the code PEACESOFEARTH at checkout.
To enter:
Leave a comment on this post. I would love to hear your favorite way to eat chocolate!! My favorite is dumping raw cacao into my banana green smoothies.
Tweet me @peacesofearth that you’d like to enter the @beingfearless giveaway.
Leave a separate comment for each, and I’ll pick a winner on Friday! Good luck!
I am really loving using new ingredients that I don’t commonly use on a daily basis.
One of those things is millet! I took heed from my mental note in my last post and finally bought some. Can you believe I’ve never had millet before? I’ve had it in the form of bread, but that’s it.
Millet is technically a seed and is filled with phosphorus, manganese and magnesium. Got to love those whole grains!
To cook it: use two parts millet and five parts water, or broth. I cooked it in a mixture of half water and half vegetable broth as I wasn’t sure how I would be eating it. I cooked a big batch to use on salads, as a side and for special recipes that I knew would come to mind. I loved it! It’s definitely up there with quinoa as my favorite grains.
I also have an abundance of fresh parsley in my fridge which is not very common. When I was trying to figure out what to do with it, tabouli came to mind, but why buy bulgar when I have a whole bunch of millet in the fridge? That was when the idea of millet tabouli came about!
Tabouli is so easy to make. Just take whatever amounts of the ingredients you prefer and throw it all together. I created a lose base recipe to follow, but feel free to adjust according to your preferences.
Gather your ingredients: millet (or any other grain you have lying around), parsley, mint, lemon and red onion.
Oops, don’t forget the tomatoes!
I left out salt since there was some in the cooked millet and I didn’t feel like it needed any more, but add some if you’d like.
Put everything in a bowl and mix, mix, mix! Taste. Add more lemon juice if you want some more pucker. I love lemony tabouli.
Tabouli is one of my favorites because it is just so fresh. It’s the perfect mix of raw and cooked. The lemon and herbs throw a party in my mouth and I love the little bursts of moisture from the tomatoes. Good thing I didn’t forget them!
Freshness.
Millet Tabouli
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups millet
2 plum tomatoes, diced
1 cup parsley
1/2 cup mint
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
Juice of one lemon
Sea salt (optional)
Directions:
Finely chop herbs together. Add everything to the millet and mix it up. Adjust seasonings, if needed.
Hello lovelies!! How has your weekend been? Mine included some much needed beach time, and some school stuff. ‘Twas lovely.
It also included lots of cooking.
If you’ve been a healthy eater for a long time you’ve probably found your groove. And by groove I mean you have your staples and pretty much eat variations of the same thing everyday. I know I do and most of the time, happily so. Sometimes, though, it’s easy to feel a little blah with your eats. I’ve been feeling the need for a little spicey spice lately and it got me thinking. Here are some things that I like to do when I’m in need of some sprucing up. These tips would also be good for newly healthy eaters. Keeping it exciting and fun is key to falling in love with a healthy lifestyle.
Cook With a New, Fun Food
Go to the farmer’s market and pick up something you’ve never seen before. It’s fun creating recipes with new food. If you have no idea where to start, ask the farmer for some tips. I also like to experiment with different whole grains (Mental note: Must go buy some millet). If you remember, last week I picked up some baby artichokes. They are so freaking cute I just couldn’t resist.
They’re the same in flavor to regular artichokes, but much easier to cook and again, so adorable I could cuddle with them. To cook them, you just cut off the top and bottom and cut them in half. Doing this gets rid of most of the tough outer leaves and you’re essentially left with an artichoke heart.
Isn’t nature awesome?
With them, I made a white bean dip which I plan on using to bulk up my lunch time salads this week.
Baby Artichoke Bean Dip
Ingredients:
1 can or 1 1/2 cups cannelloni beans
3/4 cup chopped baby artichokes steamed for 15 minutes, or canned artichoke hearts (in water)
2 tbsp of the bean cooking liquid or liquid from the can (tip from Gena!)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt
Directions:
Put everything except the parsley and artichokes in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth and then pulse in the parsley and artichokes. Enjoy!!
Consult the Experts
Out of ideas? There are so many amazing blogs out there with delicious, healthy recipes. Take advantage!!
I used to make my own almond milk all the time, but ever since my farmer’s market has been out of my beloved unpasteurized almonds, I’ve been taking the faster route and buying it from the store. I went to grab some hemp milk as a change of pace and remembered Gena’s recipe. It literally took 2 minutes and now I have fresh, raw, tasty hemp milk!!
I used a tsp of xanthan gum instead of the lecthin and didn’t sweeten it since I’ll be using it in my morning smoothies. Wow, so so amazing!! It’s velvety, creamy and really hearty. Definitely try it out for yourself! Yum!!
Cook a Big, Fancy Cookbook Meal
Make a total date worthy, fancy meal. Invite over your friends, family, or significant other and show them that healthy is tasty. I love doing this. Wine is welcome.
Speaking of cookbooks, I just received Ani Phyo’s new book, Ani’s Raw Food Essentials which I won from Averie’s giveaway!! I seriously should’ve played the lotto because I won Jenna‘s Feta Friday (roomie will get the feta), Averie‘s cookbook giveaway, AND Meghan Telpner‘s Guided Meditation all in the past couple of weeks. Total score on all of those. Thank you guys, I really, really appreciate them all!
Participate in a Tradition
Think Tina‘s Cookie Friday, Gina‘s Indian Wednesday and Heather‘s Pancake Sunday. This helps keep you creative and always thinking of new ideas for your tradition day. My lovely friends over at pure2raw have started the genius idea of Socca Sunday. So in honor of that and Heather’s pancake Sunday, I totally stole Michelle’s breakfast today and made socca, pancake style, for lunch. I topped mine with bananas, peanut butter, and a little maple syrup. Seriously, socca is the greatest thing ever. The breakfast socca was perfect!!! Pure sweet, cinnamon-y goodness.
I hope these tips help!
Do you ever get in food ruts? What are your tips to get out of it?
As many of you may know, Operation Beautiful dropped today! I was lucky enough to snag my copy the other day and I can honestly say that this book is the most beautiful and inspiring piece of work I have ever read. Caitlin did an amazing job weaving her honest, inspiring story with so many others’ honest, REAL, inspiring stories. To read about actual people who have discovered their inherent beauty makes my heart burst because I’ve been on the other side and know how harmful a negative self image can be. I also know the difference one little note can make. This movement can change the world and I want to cry just thinking about how many lives have been and will be affected.
In my love for all things Operation Beautiful I want to share my own story and thoughts regarding self image. This isn’t easy for me, but if I could help just one person it is absolutely worth it!
Body image is something that I’ve struggled with for a good portion of my life. I remember poking and prodding at my body in the mirror all the way back at 7 years old. I spent years despising myself and wanting to “fix” every single imperfection. At points, it consumed me. It was all I could think about. It dictated so many decisions and how I experienced life. Worst of all, I was absolutely convinced the solution was outside of myself. Obviously, there had to be a cream, diet or magic pill that could make me perfect. There was also that dreadful illusion of time. When I reached my idea of “perfection” (which would never come) then I could be happy, beaming, confident. Unfortunately, it took me a long, long time to realize what I actually was longing for. I thought it was the body. It wasn’t. What I really wanted, and deserved,was the feeling that I assumed only a perfect body could provide. What I really wanted was for my true self to shine brightly. I clung tightly to the notion that this couldn’t happen until physical “beauty” was obtained. It has been hard to let that go, but you must understand that your true self can always shine brightly. You don’t need anything at all except to accept that fact.
Why are we all at odds with our bodies? Your body is home to your beautiful spirit. Over the years it will change, it will stretch, it will shrink, it will be strong, it will be weak, but no matter what it will be there with you every step of the way on this earthly journey. Throw out everything you’ve been conditioned to believe, throw out your definition of “beauty” and accept your body exactly as it is RIGHT NOW. In order to feel comfortable in your body, stop defining yourself by your body. Feel your true self from within; speak and act from this place and make peace with the person you are. Loving yourself is the first step. When this happens, all else will follow. You will naturally make decisions to bring you to your healthiest self. You will make time for yourself, you will eat healthy food and exercise because you deserve it, you will not feel guilty when you don’t, and you will rest when your body needs a break.
For me, I got to a point where enough was enough. When you tell yourself enough of one thing, it will perpetuate. Telling yourself you are fat or ugly or <insert horrible adjective here> every single day, multiple times a day can only perpetuate that fact. You will believe it and so will everyone else because you will brood negativity. Make the decision to STOP. This is an active effort and isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. I decided that I needed to make the commitment to myself. I wanted to be happy, beaming and confident, right? Why not just feel that now? What’s the point in waiting? To do that, I had to evaluate what superficially lifted me up. Then, get rid of them. We tend to use so many external things to boost ourselves up, which only feeds our ego. Why not use what we already have and cultivate genuine confidence? Do you have a security blanket that you cling to? If it is not part of you, get rid of it. Bare yourself to the world and force yourself to shine from within. When we hide under makeup, clothes, expensive things, pretty nails, skin tones, physical accomplishments, etc. we don’t ever allow ourselves to find that real source of self love. I mean, I love some of these things just as much as the next person, but if they are what defines you and are the only source of your confidence I challenge you to take a break. Throw out the makeup and take off the high heels. Make you be what defines you. Like I said, it’s hard, it’s uncomfortable, but just do it. See what happens. You will be so bright people will only see your light. None of the other stuff will ever matter. What attracts you to others? In other words, what makes someone so magnetic that you want to just revel in their presence? Is it their toned and tan body? Their modelesque figure? I doubt it. Think about it and take on those qualities. For me, it’s people who are nothing but exactly who they are. People who have genuinely accepted themselves and act only from that place of self love.
BE YOU. SHINE. When you are down, leave an Operation Beautiful note. Leave them for yourself. You will be so surprised at the results.
This week was great. It involved weight lifting, a spin class, running, HIIT, and yoga. Oh, and a trapeze class. I looked forward to every workout because every day was different! I knew this all along, but what I’ve been missing in my life is variety. For me, variety is the key to enjoying exercise. I’m also really loving my shorter distance runs. As far as racing goes, I have my eye on a 4 miler at the end of August. That just sounds so much more appealing than 26.2. Gina‘s plan has one speed day (or the option of a spin class, which I did this week) and one day of HIIT so I’m hoping that’ll help me make this a fast one!
Verdict: Gina is the best! Definitely try the summer shape up if you’re looking to shake up your current routine or gain some strength. My muscles are hurtin’ for sure. I can only imagine what the following weeks will bring me.
In other news, I went to the Hillcrest farmer’s market this morning for only the second time ever. Remind me why I don’t go there every week? I have a smaller one that I can walk to every Wednesday, but this one is huge! AND it’s right around the block from the best thrift stores ever. Perfect! To make things even better, I was able to score some awesome new food finds. Variety is also key when it comes to food. There’s nothing like some new ingredients to spice up your daily eats.
First up, chocolate mint. As I was picking up some lettuce I got whiff of the most delicious scent ever. I thought it was from some edible flowers, but it turned out there was a big bunch of chocolate mint sitting right under my nose. The farm makes the variety themselves and it was on sale for $1!! Hell yeah I’m going to take the last bunch. I can’t wait to chocolate mint everything. Must go to bed ASAP so I can wake up and make a chocolate mint banana smoothie.
Tip: When you buy a bunch of herbs put them in a cup of water. They’ll last much longer and may even root!
As I wandered on, my eyes zeroed in Little Shop of Horrors style to the most adorable things I have ever seen.
Baby artichokes!!!! I never knew these existed. I was beyond excited. To cook them, all you need to do is cut off the bottom and top, cut in them in half and steam for 10-15 minutes. If you want to saute or grill them just steam them for half the time. Oh, the possibilities. Expect a recipe coming from me in the near future.
Feed me Seymour.
Blissfully happy over my finds, I went to check out the last couple of stands. I had to stop at the plant guys, of course. I dream of a yard or sunny patio where I can grow my own food. I currently have a patio that is severely lacking in the sun department so I kind of just gave up on growing anything. Still, I stayed to long over all of the veggies and herbs.
In the very back corner I spied a goji berry plant for $5. I can buy like 10 dried goji berries for that amount of money. The guy told me that the plant grows incredibly fast, doesn’t need direct sunlight, only needs to be watered twice a week and can grow up to 120 berries on one stem alone!! Also, the whole plant is edible, even the roots (weird)! Sold. Now I have a happy little goji berry plant sitting on my shady patio. Fresh goji berries coming soon!
Yay!! Perfect Sunday.
Do you like to mix up your exercise routine? What new food finds have you found lately?
First off, thank you all SO SO much for sharing your love! It made me so happy to read all of your comments. Aren’t love lists fun? I think I’m going to keep up with this love list making. Like Zoe said, they’re the perfect thing to pull out on those “funk” days.
So yesterday I mentioned I was doing something today that I never thought I would do. Well it was WAY scarier than I expected and WAY more awesome.
Can you guess which one?
TRAPEEZZEE.
Yup, that’s right. I took a flying trapeze class!!
We arrived about 10 minutes late, and at that time people were already on their second go around on the trapeze. They were gracefully flying through the air, hanging from their knees and doing back flips off of the trapeze. My initial reaction: “um, am I supposed to do that?”. The answer was yes. And, like I said, that was only their second try!
On our first time up, “all” we did was practice swinging in a “banana” shape. This is very important for trapezing. That’s a word. My friend Kris exemplifying the perfect banana shape:
To do this, we needed to climb up a rickety ladder that shook and bent and freaked the crap out of me. This was feat #1. Not to mention my legs are about to fall off thanks to summer shape up week 1 (more on that tomorrow) so that didn’t help. Then, we had to stand on the edge of the ledge, grab the trapeze and push our bellies out (banana shape) and trust that the pros were holding us by the belt around our waist. For lack of a better term, I was scared shitless at that point. It doesn’t really make sense since I’ve been skydiving twice, but at least with that I was strapped to someone who did all of the work. Here, it was all up to me. What was going to happen when they let go and I jumped off? Swiiiiinggg. Look at your hands. Legs back. Legs forward. Hup!! (Hup means let go). Whoa. There was a guy on the ground shouting commands. It was crucial to do what he said when he said it because he was saying them at the exact time our bodies were in the right position. There was no time for thoughts or fear, just time to listen and do. I wish I could have seen my face during that first swing. Pure fear, my friends. Pure fear.
Time for a little background. I am weirdly afraid of being upside down. I feel extremely uncomfortable and all around do not like it. You would definitely not have found me swinging on the monkey bars as a kid. I can’t even do a somersault because it causes me a silly amount of anxiety. Headstands in yoga? I did it on the wall once and needed to get down ASAP.
Guess how they expected us to get down off of the net and onto the ground? Oh, just FLIP right off of it. Super. Everyone else was doing it with ease so I told my crazy thoughts to shut up and just did it. After all, I had to get back on the ground somehow!
With much apprehension, I followed the instructor to a bar on the ground so she could teach us how to swing from our knees. Again, were they crazy?? Hang upside down? I kept telling myself that I wouldn’t let my fears get the best of me. Stop thinking and do. I kicked my legs up, caught the bar and swung! Oh, and on top of this, the intention was for us to swing upside down, get back on the bar using our hands and back flip off of it onto the net! They apparently had a lot of faith in me.
I thought about quitting. I think my words after the first time were “soo, we have to do that again?”. But, up I went for try number 2, physically shaking and ready to attempt the knee swing. “Just do it, just do it, just do it.” The jump off was still extremely terrifying. Like I said, everything is all about timing. I couldn’t get my legs up, nor could I do the back flip. Sad. Apparently I wasn’t banana like enough to swing up, so I missed my one second opportunity. Then, up I went again, again, again, again. With each time the fear lessened and the determination to do it grew. Who knew that this could be fun!!
Last try. I still couldn’t swing upside down. But, I backflipped off the trapeze!!!! Success! I know I have it in me to swing, I just need a couple more tries. I am determined, so I must go back! Trapeze, I am coming for you.
Of course, nothing that pushes you completely out of your comfort zone is without some life lessons.
Lessons from the Flying Trapeze
“If you’re not standing on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.”
You will always feel better doing something you are afraid of, then not doing it because you are afraid.
Let Go. Holding on for dear life (to people, situations, fears, etc.) will only cause you unnecessary strife.
Don’t compare yourself to anyone! I almost let myself get discouraged seeing the other people swinging like pros. Instead, I let them inspire me and knew that I could do it at my own pace.
Stepping out of your comfort zone will always be worth it.
Happy Friday to all!! I am personally very excited for the weekend because tomorrow I am doing something I never thought I would do. I’m super excited, a little scared and just can’t wait!! Tune in this weekend for the recap.
Today I was catching up on my favorite website of them all, Crazy Sexy Life. Most of you probably know that Kris Carr is the brainchild of Crazy Sexy Life and also the writer and director of the documentary Crazy Sexy Cancer. She is amazing, fabulous, top on my list of role models and has inspired me on so many levels. She’s a cancer survivor that truly nourishes every piece of herself, body, mind and soul. Her motto is, “make juice not war.” My kinda lady. Well, I saw that Kris started a weekly tradition of writing a Love List on CSL and I wanted in!! We should all remind ourselves of what we love and I think this is fo’ sho’ something I need to do more often. From the love lister herself:
A Love List is a reminder of glass half-full/brimming over living and lusciousness. Love Lists tap you on the shoulder when you get lost or slip into darkness. Because life is too sweet to be bitter and sometimes you need the universe to whisper in your ear, “Hey, there’s lots of beauty and majesty out there, lots of things you adore, so why the sourpuss?”
See why I adore her? Anyway, I’m here to make a Love List of my own!! In no particular order:
1. Socca. Yes, food is what I’m listing first. I have a scallion socca in the oven and can’t wait to eat it. A big thanks to the pure2raw twins (again) for introducing me to this delicious, flaky, buttery without the butter amazingness. I am forever grateful.
2. Jason Mraz. What’s not to love? He sings, he writes, he plays the guitar. His words speak to me. If you don’t read his blog, please do. He has dedicated his life to spreading the love and making the world a better place. Not to mention he lives in San Diego on an avocado farm (last I heard) and eats raw. Jason, do you need someone to take some avocados off your hands? Or marry you? We can have a creationship and it will be lovely.
4. People’s Co-op. A cozy, little vegetarian co-op where I get all my food and beauty products. They only carry real food and have the most amazing pre-made stuff when I’m feeling lazy. They have spoiled me and I’m ruined for life because now I cannot go into a regular grocery store without wanting to run back to my beloved People’s. If I ever move, I’m screwed. Did I mention it’s a 5 min walk from my house?
5. Animal by Miike Snow. All I know is that I can’t stop pressing repeat. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve listened to this song. Please help me.
6. My best friend and companion through life, my Klean Kanteen. It is seriously always with me. I once had a Sigg, but then I left it on the top of my car after yoga and you can only imagine where this story goes. RIP Sigg, but the Kanteen kicks your butt.
7. My duvet cover. Look at this thing!! How can it not make you happy when you walk into the room? And it’s organic.
8. Operation Beautiful. I love everything about it. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! Please don’t ever forget that. Just bought my copy today and literally was in tears! I am so inspired by the movement and Caitlin and seeing people learn to love themselves.
9. Inception. I’ve seen it once, but must see it again. Anyone want to go with me? Then we can speak theories and discuss life.
10. YOU!!!!! I seriously love every single person that reads this blog. Your comments make me smile and I appreciate every last one of them!!!
Now it’s your turn!!! What do you love?? Please tell me, I can’t wait to hear!
