Come on, come on get healthy!

Holy goodness, I just realized I haven’t blogged since the first week of March.  Lame.  No excuse.  I’m just totally busy with life.  So many things are going through my mind-I’ve been dreaming about the future, worrying, stressing and trying to pull out my usual positive attitude which is almost always right there in my center, beneath my heart.  It’s coming.  It’s there.  I’m just going through a little rough spot now but all will be well soon.  Nothing ever gets the best of me.  In the mean time, I have changed my eating habits and have begun eliminating excessive sugars from my diet and now I eat powerhouse foods that are made up of disease fighting antioxidants.  In addition, I’m now  focused on slimming down naturally without stress or pressure on myself.  I wanted to share with you the few changes I’ve made and I hope you, too, will begin to eat more healthy and make those changes a way of life, to keep weight off and disease away.   Here’s what I do:

1.  Fage brand plain Greek yogurt in the morning and evening as a snack with Stevia as a sweetener, a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and a handful of fresh, organic blueberries.

2.  Less coffee and in place of it I sip black tea and green tea with Stevia.  I also like lots of water.

3.  I watch my sugar intake carefully and don’t consume much of it any more.

4.  I eat a lot of fresh veggies like brussles sprouts, bok choy, cabbage  and broccoli-cooked, of course!

5.  I love red seedless grapes as snacks.  They are so delicious, and they help stave off dementia and help my heart.

6.  I snack on a handful of nuts like Brazil nuts and walnuts.  Both amazingly healthy for you.

(Please check with your doctor before you consume any of these foods, be wary of allergies to foods.)

These are the few changes I’ve made and so far and I know they’ve made me feel and look healthier and more energetic. Not only that, these dietary changes have lessened the amount of calories I take in which has been a benefit in the weight loss column.  Slowly I’ve taken off 27lbs since  last May.  I am happy.

What changes have you made to get healthier?  Let me know…I need some new suggestions!

My newest painting ala Flora Bowley style

I am in the fifth and final week of Flora Blowley’s first online painting course, Bloom True.  I have wished for and anticipated this class for many months and I was not disappointed.  It was so well thought out, organized and very professionally done with videos of her painting and demonstrating the techniques every week.  I learned so much and I had an interesting  time learning her very freeing way to paint using intuition as my guide.  I have another canvas in the works that isn’t complete yet, but this one is the large 4′ X 5′ stretched canvas that has me feeling very proud and pleased in what I have accomplished.  I can’t wait to begin more canvases using her techniques while spinning my own style within them.

I’m calling this one Undaunted .  Click on the photo to get a better look.

 

 

Romantic, Haunting Florence.

I just discovered Florence Welch of (The Machine) and after spending a few hours playing her music and watching her sing on YouTube, I’m officially loving her.  She is amazing.  She has the style and demeanor of a Pre-Raphaelite woman or Venus on the Half Shell with pipes like Grace Slick-only more haunting.  Oh my. Love.

Ten years is all you need.

I have a friend who is just a few years older than me and she and I were talking about our dreams and what we’d like to do with this second half (or 1/3) of our life now that our kids are older.  She expressed a little bit of angst at the thought that she might be too old, and there won’t be enough time to accomplish everything she hopes to do with her dream of restyling clothing.  And it’s not that she thought she was going to die any time soon, she was more concerned about ’how will I feel, when I’m older?’  Will I have less spunk than I would have had I unearthed my dream in my thirties? And for a moment,her anxiety became infectious.  After all, there are no guarantees how anyone is going to feel as they age upwards into their sixties and seventies.  But, I quickly got to thinking that ten years is all you need. I know, in my personal life anything I’ve done for a long time usually phased out after ten years.  That’s about the extent of where my interest lies, unless of course, it’s profitable and the motivation moves me to continue on and be more successful.  Ten years.  That’s doable and within reason.  She took great comfort in my wisdom and found it to be just what she needed to keep her feeling hopeful and positive about working toward making that dream come true.  It’s something she’s wanted to do forever and there really is time for it to happen.  We are all going to be here anyway (hopefully), aging gracefully, we might as well be busy, beautiful, mature people with a mission and a dream to accomplish.  What are you hoping for?  What is your dream?  It’s not too late to make it happen.  And that dream we are busy accomplishing may be just what we need to keep us young.

Raise your Glass to aging with sass and working toward that dream.  Don’t  let it go this time!

Winter is a time for comfort…

These are a few things I found this week that I feel are really wonderful.  Each of these items are something I’d love to have.  As far as the floral clogs go, well, I just had to order myself a pair that look just like the photo below. And, they were on clearance!

This is the Zen Den.  Can you imagine having this little place of peace and quiet and serenity just waiting to be used for your benefit?  When I watched the video, the first few people had the right idea….it was a place of quiet.  And, yes, I would love to have one of these in a corner of my living room….but, in my house it would have to be sound proofed to be effective.  Can you imagine, though, how nice this would be?

I’d love to have my own Zen Tent

These floral clogs by CapeClogs.com make my heart happy.  (I ordered myself the floral ones below.) click here to shop for happy clogs for yourself.

My friend Laura introduced me to this fun show last weekend and I just love it.  In the winter, sitting under a fleece blanket and watching sitcoms back to back is almost like comfort food to me. It’s doubly special that the show takes place in my hometown, Chicago.  Mike and Molly are that special comfort for me, as well as The Office.  Seriously, I can’t get enough of The Office.  It’s the BEST.

Mike and Molly is a very cute show.

Which brings me to this….how funny is it Quill.com carries Dunder Mifflin paper, just for fun?  I love it.  Click here to get yourself a box.

I just made this soup tonight-Skinny Tastes Cabbage soup with pork.  Oh.My.Goodness.  Was it good!  Absolute pure winter comfort food.  Get the recipe here.

This book has me dreaming of what I’d like to have in the future….a little farm.  (I’ll write a blog post about that later.  It’s worth writing about.)  The book shows me all things are possible.

My word for 2012

It seems to be a trend over the last few years to choose a guiding word for the new year.  A singleton resolution, so to speak.  Last year my word was ‘undaunted’ and to commemorate it I purchased a sterling silver ring with UNDAUNTED engraved on it.  (Midway through the year I accidently lost it, but that didn’t stop me from living up to my word).

My word for 2012

I’ve decided that that is the year I am going to expand my creativity and work on developing my art.  My word for this year is PAINT.  I want to paint on a regular basis this year (several times a week, if not daily), developing my style and reaching 100 completed paintings by years end.  I’m taking a painting class in September with Flora Bowley in Wisconsin (can’t wait!) and I intend to take a few other painting courses in March/April using the Michelle Cassou Point Zero method.

My only intention for this year is to paint.  And that’s exactly what I intend to do.

What’s your word for this new year?

Why do I miss it so?

I stumbled upon this tonight and when I watched it  my heart began to ache. I love New York so much.  I have visited numerous times and still, I have so much yet to see and do.  I have to get back.  It’s calling me.

———————

Some folks like to get away, take a holiday from the neighbourhood

 Hop a flight to Miami Beach or to Hollywood

But I’m taking a Greyhound on the Hudson River Line

I’m in a New York state of mind. I’ve seen all the movie stars

 In their fancy cars and their limousines.

 Been high in the Rockies under the evergreens.

 But I know what I’m needing, and I don’t want to waste more time

 I’m in a New York state of mind. It was so easy living day by day,

 Out of touch with the rhythm and blues, but now I need a little give and take

The New York Times, The Daily News 

It comes down to reality, and it’s fine with me ’cause I’ve let it slide.

 Don’t care if it’s Chinatown or on Riverside.

 I don’t have any reasons I’ve left them all behind

I’m in a New York state of mind 

---

Tis’ the season…for knitting…

It’s happening again.  A few days ago I was in the basement organizing my clutter and I came across my insane stash of yarn.  Now the reason it’s insane is because I’m not actually a knitter- and someone who’s not really a knitter should not have this much yarn.  However, I have enjoyed the process of knitting for lengthy amounts of time, knitting up rectangular anything because that’s all I can do.  I’m just not a pattern knitter and I wish and hope I will someday be able to open up a knitting book, pointer finger to the design of my choice and just begin knitting away.  But, that’s for another time, and I digress.  Opening those Rubbermaids was the equivalent of opening a Pandora’s Box.  I now have The Fever.  I want to knit.  And knit.  Now.  I can so relate to the quirky woman in this little animation-one of my favorites that illustrates The Fever.

The Woods and Gratitude

  “Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.”  –George Washington Carver

This morning, Xander and I went for what’s becoming our regular morning walk at the St. Francis Woods.  Today was particularily gentle weather-wise, and we took advantage of it.  Tomorrow calls for snow flurries and colder temps.  Walking with my sweet dog and sipping on a hot cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee is a great way to start my day.  I was grateful for the chance to take him once again and witness his joy as he ran and chased squirrels and explored.  We even met a few ladies there who couldn’t resist patting him and talking to him.

This morning at the woods.

Little chapel at the woods.

What lies beyond the sash

“At night, I open the window and ask the moon to come and press its face against mine. Breathe into me. Close the language-door and open the love-window. The moon won’t use the door, only the window.” ~Rumi

I love windows with divided light. I find it enchanting.

There is just something about windows with a lace curtain that sets my heart all aflutter.  I find it enchanting-charming-lovely.  I especially love this type of window in old farmhouses, or older homes with character.  Ahh, to sit by a window with a view and just soak up the  sunlight, or to curl up in a chair beside one on a drizzly day.  Windows are perfect to focus on or through while gathering thoughts or ideas or contemplating something.  Pair a book and a window and you have the ideal simple pleasure.

What lies beyond?

How do you feel about windows?  What’s your simple pleasure?