For the New Year

Hi everyone! I hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday. As I get ready to wash away 2011 amongst my family and friends, I quietly sit here at my computer and write to all of you. This was a different holiday season for me, and as much as 2011 had a lot of smiles, tears, laughter, lessons learned, heartache, pain, comfort... basically the whole gamut of emotions, I am also thankful for the many things that have brought me back to myself. We are all given choices in life. Everyday we wake up and decide to either stay true to who we are, or let our fears drive us. We decide each day if we are going to listen to sabotaging thoughts that we all have or push them away and love ourselves. For the new year... (I am really terrible at making resolutions), but for this year instead of thinking about what I need to do, I am going to think of all the things that I simply do not want to do anymore. All of the scripts that I have about how things are "supposed" to be, I think I might just burn. I am often terrified of revealing myself, my thoughts, my words, basically who I am out of fear. Fear of not being enough, looking stupid, failing and I think I'm going to throw away all of those thoughts, because they aren't really working for me very well. So, for this post I have to thank all of you for stopping by and letting me share myself with all of you! And I mean truly share what I think and how I feel.

Thanks for listening! ;)

Now, it's time for champagne, wine, cheese and brie!

Cheers! To truth, honesty, loving yourself, allowing others to love you and being thankful for every breath taken! Forgive yourself for any mistakes-- anything that may not have aligned or had the outcome you intended. Wishing you all many blessings this year!

PS- I got my mom a chalkboard cheese tray for Christmas and I have to say that I'm a little obsessed with it! I want to have a party every night, just to bring it out.

The Perfectly Imperfect Home

I saw this book a couple of weeks ago, and fell in love with it. I gave it to Meg for Christmas, and my mom happened to give it to me yesterday. I love it. Deborah Needleman does a great job in creating cozy spaces.

"The point of decorating, as far as I can tell, is to
create the background for the best life you can have."

~From "The Perfectly Imperfect Home"

Wellness

On Monday, I started not feeling so great and by the time I landed here in Colorado yesterday, I felt as if my head was going to explode and I might pass out walking through the airport. It was not a fun feeling. I was burning up and then freezing cold. When I landed, my mom, grandfather and I immediately stopped at Whole Foods to pick up some soup. While in the produce section, I came across some tangerines, which have never tasted so good to me. I will be on the antibiotic, broth, tea and tangerine wellness train for a couple of days! Hoping to get better before everyone gets here on Christmas!! I honestly can't wait!

I hope all of you have a wonderful Friday! Christmas is on Sunday and I haven't finished all of my shopping. What to get my mom has me a little stumped. Any ideas??

White Winter Wonderland

Heading off to the snow!! Houston, as much I love the rain, give me snow and mountains any day!!

Release, Rinse and Receive

Good Tuesday morning! I hope you're having a great week. Yesterday in my yoga class, I found myself feeling a little weak, but not in a physical way. We did a lot of heart openers and a lot of twists for rinsing out our bodies. I tend to keep a lot of energies and stresses in my stomach. Every time I do heart openers, I can feel the energy pouring out. For all of you who do not do yoga, I swear, I never in my life thought I would be saying these things. But, in yoga you can literally move the energy that is within you. When you hold your stress, your anxieties, fears and even joy, love, passion, etc. I think sometimes I get very, very fearful of letting go of things-- of releasing messages that I used as defining characteristics about myself. A few years ago, I built up a lot of layers around me and within me. Terrified of any sort of vulnerability I held onto these layers for a pretty long time. I guess starting about three years ago, I began letting go of them and as I began to "feel again," it was almost like coming out of hiding. Well, yesterday I had another one of those moments. As I changed poses from tree, to camel, to a wheel, I was quivering and feeling like I needed to go into child's pose. The sweat poured off of me and I could hear the rain outside on the windows, I felt myself let go a little bit more and vowed to stay open, even as I was shaking. Sometimes, it's very hard to stay open, to release and let go of any old definitions of ourselves. But, it's necessary. Necessary for growth, renewal and well being... although I have to say when you are used to certain thoughts in your head they almost become comforting, but it's nice when you realize they aren't working for you anymore. If you are taking up space with old patterns, you don't really have space to receive. So, rinse out, release and renew...

Don't hold on so much.

Hard as Nails

Lately, I have been changing my nail polish about as often as I've been changing my outfits. For the everyday, I have been loving Essie's Brooch the Subject. To mix it up a bit, I've been embracing my dark side and wearing Over the Edge and Midnight Cami. I usually never choose to wear trendy nail polish, but sometimes you've gotta go out on a limb... For my toes, I've been going with the Scarlett O'Hara red, and that is one thing I haven't changed!

Top to Bottom: 1. Scarlett O'Hara 2. Over the Edge 3. Brooch the Subject

P.S. Last Saturday I wore this- Boom Boom Pow and LOVED it. I highly suggest it for a little holiday cocktail glamour.

Wooden Beams

I love wooden beams in a house. I am such a sucker for them, but I think they add so much character to a house!

image via country living

Cozy & Creamy

I love these two looks from Anthropologie. From her boots, to the plaid shirt and skirt in the bottom picture, I could definitely take some inspiration from these wintery outfits.

images via moodboard

For the love of: Bookshleves

I have a very strong affinity for well endowed bookshelves. I love the way they can make a home feel a little more comfortable and it always adds personality. I love pouring over the pieces of what someone else brings into their life. Sigh, I need more bookshelves.

Elle Decor, Pretty Stuff, Martha Stewart

Take your time...

"Let the pieces be. Let yourself be. Let life be. Sometimes, chaos needs to precede order. The pieces will come together in a picture that makes sense... You don't have to force the pieces together if it's not time. You don't have to know. There is power sometimes in not knowing. There is power in letting go. Power in waiting. Power in stillness. Power in trust. There is power in letting the disconnected pieces be until they settle into a whole. The action you are to take will appear. Timely. Clearly. What you're to do will become clear."--A Journey to the Heart

In a dreamy way...

I stumbled across Paper Kites last night here, and really liked their folksy sound. This is a sweet song, with a melody that sweeps in and out like a dream. A nice little way to start this Tuesday morning...

Good Monday Morning

Hello all! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I feel like it was the weekend for Christmas parties, anyone else feel the same? I can't believe Christmas is almost here. I wish time would take it easy and not race so much. Anyway, I am loving getting dressed and cozy. Give me sweaters, fake fur vests, coats.... mmm, yes!

Happy Monday! : )

Traditional Twist

What do you think? Yay or Nay?

I'm thinking... yay.

The Great Kate

Kate Bosworth has such an incredibly effortless beauty... and she can wear anything well. I love this editorial from the November issue of Instyle. It's one of my favorites from this year, so I thought I would share! I hope all of you are having a wonderful Wednesday!

Loving this Song

Happy Monday! Enjoy!

Tis' the Season

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope that you are having a wonderful weekend. Each month has flown by so quickly, I can barely keep up. As we move into the holidays and get in the spirit of things, I can't help but ask, what's on your Christmas wish list? I am thankful for so many things this year. Although, as many of you have probably noticed, the past few months have been rather rocky, I am so looking forward to Christmas. I watched "It's a Wonderful Life," last night and the movie just never gets old... It has such a good point about life and being thankful for what we have. As we get ready to close out the year, I have been forced to reflect upon my entire life, and the ties that bind us to our family from generations and generations before. I am ready to let go of the things that are/were not so great, that have been passed down for many years, and only keep what was done right. Does that make sense? I will explain more in depth later, but think about it. Is there a running theme within your family system? There is in mine! And it's pretty interesting when you step back and think about it! Why people marry who they marry... there are some pretty good insights to it and I find it fascinating. Most of the time it's about healing something within your family system... either with your mother or your father and we often repeat, the same mistakes. But, with that said there is a way to avoid it, and that is to recognize it, and deal with it as it stands now. Who would have thought? I know it probably sounds like a no brainer, but it happens... we make mistakes and there is often a reason for it! Interesting... more thoughts on this to come! For now, it is time to put up the tree and take in December! : )

This December...

The last two months for my family, I have to admit have been challenging, but it has only been through these challenges that we have really begun to know each other all over again. As individuals. As my brother and I become separate from our parents and our parents begin anew, there has been a healing process taking place. It has been painful, as most healing processes are, right? You don't break your arm and not feel any pain, no. You get through the pain and there isn't any real way around it. For us, it has been an experience of ups and downs and a lot of tears. When the tears come up and it seems almost so painful that you want to either stuff it down and push it away or walk off all together, we have been told to breathe. It sounds simple, but when I think about it, sometimes, it is really hard to breathe. When things get difficult, I tend to hold my breath. Perhaps, I think in some way it will help me to hold it together, but actually it does the opposite. Even in my yoga class, the harder the poses are, the more often I hold my breath. What I have found to be so valuable this week, is the importance of not being afraid to feel the pain, breathing through it, saying your truth and letting yourself feel self-love and acceptance. It is important to reveal yourself to others, all the parts of you!

I came across this today as a meditation for December 1st and thought I would share:
It's difficult to be around people who are trying to be perfect- perfectly healthy, perfectly polite, perfectly poised, perfectly controlled. Remember that being human means being imperfect, being flawed. Let yourself be. Let others be.... Stand up and reveal who you are and know that you are good enough. Stop worrying that people will find out who you really are. Instead, hope that they do. Help them by openly sharing yourself and being not who you think you should be, but who you really are.

Freedom is just a small step away- a step into self-love and acceptance. When you take it, others will follow. And they'll be grateful you led the way. -Melody Beattie

And to those people, who have been by my side, supportive and there without even saying anything during this time, I don't even know how to thank you.

via sundayinbed