Inner Beauty

"Many people say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder. This empowers us to find beauty in places where others have not dared to look, including inside ourselves." - Salma Hayek

Photo credit: alleyoop321

Done with Plastic

I realize that we've all become more aware of our consumables and if they are recyclable. I've started using reusable bags when grocery shopping, washing out my Ziploc bags instead of trashing them (unless raw meat was involved). I also reused my plastic water bottles throughout the day. I justified that instead of going through 6-8 water bottles a day, I was only using one. Then I noticed the pile of plastic water bottles accumulating in our recyclable bin. I was convinced that I can do better than that! Then I read Carolyn's blog and Alison's blog and realized that I had the necessary tools to change my ways! I spent a wonderful weekend back in March with my best friend at the Natural Products Expo-West and received a free water bottle! What then I thought was neat, now I think is brilliant! Today I brought my new found treasure to work and have been refilling it with joy!

Photo credit: Me!

From a lovely lady

“People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.” ~ Audrey Hepburn

And the Universe Aligned

I can hardly contain myself! You might recall the other day I posted about this and received some great feedback (thanks my friends!). Well, today the planets have aligned, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

First I stopped by Stacey's and lo and behold, she's starting a series called Organizing 101. Sounds good so far right? Then I'm on twitter, and Carolyn twittered about a **FREE** workshop to simplify! How lucky can a girl get? Thanks Stacey & Carolyn, I feel a little lighter already!

Keep Dreaming

"The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul, a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities." ~ As Man Thinketh

Photo credit: olivia house

The Urge to Purge

Junk my friends! The urge to purge junk in my life. I've mentioned before that my household is a little unorganized, my daughters room is in shambles. But I've failed to mention that we have a Attic stuffed to the gills with junk as well as a container (yes, a moving container) filled with junk as well. I've become almost obsessed with the notion of purging all of our junk. To SIMPLIFY! Ahhh, I just took a deep breath with that word. Interesting how my body reacted as I wrote the above. I could feel my blood pressure increase, my breathing became tight and shallow. Can you imagine living for 15+ years with this gargantuan collection of junk hanging on your back? Well, I've had it!

I just don't know where to begin! Then I get overwhelmed... then that book shelf over there needs rearranging, (classic sidetrack maneuver) just don't look at that purple elephant of a mess in the middle of the room! LOL! I don't know if ANYONE can relate, but if you can....what steps have you taken to move forward to a life of simplicity ~ minus all the junk!

Cupcakes and Coffee

What a lovely surprise I came upon when I entered our employee break room this morning. My boss's wife had made cupcakes for us, and they were sitting in a row, just waiting to be consumed. What an amazing way to start my Friday! I caved and had coffee with my cupcake because, well, it just seemed to go together so well.

Photo credit: Me!

Elliot and Allison

What a fun evening we had last night. I met up with my niece and her family at the beach after my husband had picked them up. The girls played in the sand a bit, then we headed here for some uber yummy Mexican food. The girls were quite entertaining at 4 and 6 years old. I was amazed at how loving they were to each other, hugging, touching, giggling, making goofy faces at each other. It was quite endearing. I enjoyed it immensely, too bad they have to leave tomorrow :(

Familia

Sooo excited!!! Just found out that my niece and her family are out here visiting Mickey Mouse! They'll be coming down to the beach this evening to hang with the Flynn's. A trip to the sand and maybe dinner at Ruby's at the end of the pier might be in order. Ohhhh - to squeeze her two little munchkins - can't wait!

Giddy

This weekend for Mothers Day, I got a pedicure. And I was just giddy! So I thought about what else in life makes me squeal like a little girl out of pure joy.


Following is my list of current top 5: (I reserve the right to add to this list at any moment)



1) Painted toenails

Photo credit: stitch witch

2) Lady Bugs




Photo credit: -sunny-




3) Flowers





Photo credit: Venkat Yarabati




4) Rolly Pollys







Photo credit: Bill Brown






5) Rolly Polly Babies!!!!





Photo credit: Snowdeal

Pooh-ism

"Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.” ~ Winnie the Pooh

Photo Credit: M a n d i

Cleaning Update

Well, I must come clean - I kinda blew it on Tuesday. Yeah, didn't quite make it 24 hours of detox....but it was cinco de mayo and traditionally "when in Rome, do as the Romans". Plus, look at them, don't they make your mouth water? So I succumbed to the Margarita. Thankfully I didn't go crazy, but I do feel bad that I lasted less than a day. I'm back on the wagon tho, and have had great food choices the past two days.

I'm looking forward to the weekend, we should have glorious weather - Yay beach day!

Photo Credit: dotw

Spring Cleaning

Well spring has definitely sprung here in So Cal (okay, so it’s kind of springy all year round). But in honor of spring, I have decided to do some spring cleaning. As I mentioned here, I have been off coffee for 3 weeks now (still hard for me to believe). And have decided to add not only caffeine to my cleansing list but also dairy, red meat, sugar and alcohol. For the month of May I’m going to try my darnedest to stick to my guns and really relish in the detox of junk that I have accumulated in my body for the past 40+ years – bletch! Sugar shouldn't be difficult as I don’t really have a sweet tooth (I say this now). But dairy, red meat and my vino will be a bit more difficult. I’ll keep you posted as to my struggles, today is day 2 and so far so good.

On the literal end, I still have my daughters’ room beckoning me. At least we've cleared out a pathway now! Is there anything that you would like to clean out this spring? What is it and how do you feel about tackling that area?

Photo Credit: majlee

Positive Being

Keep your thoughts positive, they become your words.
Keep your words positive, they become your behaviors.
Keep your behaviors positive, they become your habits.
Keep your habits positive, they become your values.
Keep your values positive, they become your destiny.
~ Mahatma Gandhi

Seeds

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Photo Credit: Laurie York