March Bites

Being settled in our new place meant lots more cooking and nesting :)

Getting deeper into school means more experimenting with different foods too. We're trying to do as much organic and locally grown as possible (hence the garden!).

My faves from this month have to be the chopped salad above, millet (never got a picture!), quinoa and lentils - specifically lentil loaf. Mmmm! Ooh and on the sweet side - my love, chocolate vegan cupcakes! yummer!

Garden Update 1

Our little garden is growing and it is SO exciting / nerve wracking. Mostly exciting though :)

After the jump I explain (with the help of a few photos) how we're doing this little garden.

Happy reading :)

Scrub up!

I adore bath and body products and I'm a long time lover of body scrubs. They make your skin look and feel so alive and healthy! Scrubs remove the build-up of dead skin to reveal the smooth fresh skin underneath and scrubs that have an oil base moisturize the new skin at the same time. Giving yourself a scrub helps to stimulate your lymphatic system to promote drainage and also helps to remove toxins and improve blood flow to the skin. You want to glow? Have a little scrub.

Don't over scrub though! Too much of a good thing and all that.

Salt scrubs and sugar scrubs both feel delicious and are a wonderful way to pamper yourself after a long day or for no reason at all. We never need a reason for some self-care, right?

Maybe i should revisit this :)

I haven't indulged in making any jewelry in a long time! I really miss it. I bought some beads and things recently to work on some mala beads for the yoga studio that a friend of mine works at. I really, really missed creating with beads and wire and feeling my jewelry pliers in my hands. I'm thinking some more fun jewelry is definitely going to be in the works this spring/summer!:) All of the pieces in this post were created exclusively for Chick's Picks by Hillary 2010. There really needs to be a 2011 collection, no?

More pictures after the jump. Enjoy!

Spring Goals

Spring spans March 20th to June 21st.

Some of my spring goals are silly, some are serious and some are pretty small. Either way they are things that I want to accomplish this spring.

• A regular exercise routine. I'd been doing well, then i moved. The smallest move in the world but I allowed it to disrupt my routine. I'd like to do at least three days a week minimum.
• Taking lots of pictures. (pictures of the gorgeous new springiness!)
• Starting and or completing a watercolour.
• Spending time outdoors
• Eating more greens - trying new vegetables too.
• Make some jewellery.
• Not heat style my hair at ALL (not possible but i'm going to try to minimize)

That's it. I'm keeping it simple and attainable. No crazy long lists that would take me years to complete. Just a few tasks that i can accomplish and things that will help build my foundation.

Hey spring, welcome! Nice to see you - let's roll!

I see buds on the trees.

I can't wait till we can feel the warm sun without the chill wind! I'll definitely take today over the bitter cold we've had. 

In trying to cultivate a personal culture of gratitude, I tried hard not to complain about the weather, but rather to appreciate the good about it. Being almost forced to stay indoors allowed me to clean and organize our living space, spend time with my husband and enjoy some down time.

It also encouraged me to appreciate the days that were not as bitter cold and bundle myself up to spend time outside.

That said, I still can't help but be excited by the recently appearing buds and I might just be overly excited to see actual flowers pop out of those buds.

I look forward to spending time laying in the grass, reading and breathing in the fresh air.

I also look forward to hiking this spring!

I've already pulled out my spring purses and i'm trying to ditch my coat as often as i can :)

Let the warmth and renewal begin!

Have Courage

I'm not much of a collector. I don't really like 'stuff'. I like the idea of having a collection of things. Perhaps a giant bookshelf full of my favourite books but i'm more inclined to obsessively purge those books through freecycle or a thrift shop.

This past summer, I bought my first Kate Spade idiom bangle.

I bought it the weekend that hurricane Ivan was supposed to clip us. It's a gorgeous stormy blue and says ' the calm before the storm'. I thought it was funny. At the time I didn't have the kind of job where I could wear a delicate bangle without scratching it so it lived in its little box, carefully treasured till I could wear it.

I continued to snatch up these little treasures and squirrel them away till I could wear them lots and lots. I love these in part for the gorgeous colours and partly for the fun sayings inside. The sayings are plain fun, thought provoking and some even lend a little courage.

On the last day of my old job, I had soo many emotions. I was sad (not that it was over), relieved, confused, mentally and physically exhausted, but mostly I was terrified. I didn't have another job and except for school (which was a huge stress because i was behind) I had no plan.

No. Plan.

Underneath all of that, I felt hopeful and I held on to that. 

I went home, took a shower and changed. Went to Kate with a leftover birthday gift card and I bought the pretty pink and red bangle that simply states ' Have Courage'. And I did. Cuz my bracelet told me to :)

P.S I've been wearing my bangles a lot a lot :)

Getting it together.

I started today just easing into it. Then I panicked when I realized exactly how many things I needed to do!

I was about to start making a paper to do list when I thought about using an online service instead.

I picked Cozi because honestly it came up almost on top of the searches, cute logo and I wasn't in the mood for anything complicated - there was a list to be made and a day to get on with!