Update:

I've moved! I can't believe it, but at the same time everything went so smoothly it was literally as if the universe was conspiring to swiftly and briskly sweep me out of my apartment and on my way to Arkansas. My mom came in town to help me not only pack, but look high and low for some great furniture. Since I've lived in an apartment for so long, I don't even own a kitchen table. I've always either eaten standing up or on my couch. Normal, right? Eh, maybe not. However, I did find a kitchen table, thanks to Meg! And a cute, cute side table thanks to my friend Sharon. I also did some really, really wonderful yoga and soaked up everything I could. Although, the move has left us pretty exhausted, it was a really awesome few days. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and are having an equally great week. Many, many prayers go out to everyone on the east coast! Here are some pictures from last week, over the weekend and yesterday... 

Taken at Yoga Ananda in Houston. A studio that has enriched my life, more than I could ever express. The girls I went through my teacher training with became family. Catherine, Kate, Kelly, Emmie, Jessica, Avi, Amie, Erica, Kim and of course, Maria, I love each and every one of  you and am so thankful for all of you in my life! I can't wait for them to come visit Arkansas and visit the soon-to-be studio here!

 This table is from Blue Bird Circle. If you haven't been there and live in Houston, you should absolutely go! I got this table for 150.00.

And in the Heights, we were pointed in the direction of Heights Antiques on Yale where I picked up this table for my kitchen. I love it. I didn't get the chairs, just because they were kinda small and I have a big brother, big meaning bigger than me because I'm a 5"2 midget and can fit in any chair.

My mom had to get a picture of me in my uniform. Denim on Denim. I was pretty exhausted by this time of the day. Truck all packed! And this little one in the picture below, I think went through a range of emotions that exhausted her to the point of barely wanting to lift her head. I think she was partly scared from all the furniture moving out + mad at me for not throwing the ball for her all day. Needless to say, my mom and I ordered room service at the hotel which consisted of cheeseburgers and a chicken sandwich and the little one got at least half of both. 

We all made it safely to Arkansas and we will try to recharge before moving the furniture in on Thursday. I will keep the updates coming and I apologize for the lack of posting. Bear with me... I haven't really had time to process anything too much, but I will say, that the whole move felt very in sync. It all lined up from the perfect moving weather to finding great furniture to the awesome movers! I hope all of you had a wonderful day today! Thinking about a costume for Halloween... ideas??

Our deepest fear...

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
― Marianne Williamson, Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles"

I absolutely love this quote. My teacher Maria, shared it in class with us on Tuesday and I just wanted to take a moment to share it with all of you! 

Happy Thursday my dears! Let your light shine.

One Kings Lane

Have you all heard of it? I am officially obsessed. It's pretty great when it comes to unique pieces not to mention the prices. They have new sales every day. Currently, I am trying to find some great mirrors and anything else that might add a little bit more of a modern look. I am mixing antiques + some new furniture. I love Meg's work over at LeSueur Interiors. She's lovely and awesome! I'm going for a very similar feel... and will probably have to ask her help when it comes to finding those extra pieces that really make for great accessories. Think tortoise shells, antlers, and maybe some prints... although, my family probably has enough to stock me up! Hope you all are enjoying your Tuesday. And if you're curious about One Kings Lane here is the website: https://www.onekingslane.com/

{New Homeowner}

Hi all! Happy Monday! Wow, it has been a full week since my last post and I have to tell you that I am proud to say, I am officially a homeowner. Sometimes I can't believe it. I feel very lucky and very blessed. After a lot of tears, meltdowns and indecisiveness, the day came to sign all the papers and it just felt right. Every anxiety and fear that I had melted away, and I am happy to say that I'm really excited for the next adventure. I just wanted to share with you a few pictures from last week. :)

Choosing colors is tough to do, lemme tell ya. I finally chose a really, really light yellow in the living room and dining room. I couldn't decide between that or a chic grey, but I love the warmth of light yellow.

Testing out paint colors...

 My mom is basically a pro painter. I am doing the Shewin Williams, Maison Blanche in the kitchen....

This is a tree on my street! The colors were just starting to get pretty when I left Fayetteville to head to Dallas for my friend's engagement party for the weekend. Now I'm in Houston, where I will currently soak it all in... the yoga, antique stores and hopefully by Monday, I'll be ready to rock and roll to Arkansas. I never planned on moving back to Arkansas, or opening up a yoga studio, but I think the more and more I've come back to myself, the more and more I feel drawn to my roots. I've been away from them for a long time. 8 years to be exact and in these 8 years I feel like I've come full circle. I think life pulls us away and pulls us together, giving us room to grow all the time. The thing that I've come to realize is that sometimes you don't have to leave to grow, sometimes you can stay and sometimes you can come back to the place you left with a whole new set of perspective. I hope all of you have a very happy Monday, wherever you are! And just remember that life takes us to all different places, not to change us, but I think, to make us more of ourselves; to bring us back to who we truly are and always have been. 

This Week...

... Is going to be great. All really exciting, really wonderful things going on, and I am finally closing on the house this afternoon. Yes, unfortunately we couldn't close last week, but the day is here and I'm not even too nervous about it. At least not even half as nervous as I thought I would be. I will let you all know how it goes and once it becomes official I will take pictures. :) I really like this bedroom up above, plus the elephant print, and I also wish I was this great at layering in the fall/winter. However, when I layer I typically look like I'm drowning in clothes. I hope you all have a really wonderful Monday. Over the weekend we went to Crystal Bridges. I have to say, it was pretty awesome. If you haven't been yet, and you are in the area, you should definitely check it out.

Have a great day!

images via pinterest

Most Importantly:

Believe in yourself. I think that anytime we are making big decisions, and we're scared, all of our neurosis come to head (at least, for me). I find that as long as I'm not really having to put myself out there or put any skin in the game, then I am a fairly calm, level-headed person, but man, as soon as I am fearful and start feeling like I might get hurt, fail or that something might not "work out," I turn into the worst version of myself, which I feel I have been lately. However, as my family/ friends, have endured my tears and fears, not to mention complete freak outs, I read something yesterday that made me feel a little bit better.
Pema Chodron often writes about maitri, which means loving kindness. In one of her books she says,

"Loving-kindness- maitri - toward ourselves doesn't mean getting rid of anything. Maitri means that we can still be crazy... We can still be angry or jealous, or timid, or have feelings of unworthiness. The point is not to try to change ourselves. This practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we already are. The ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are. That's the ground, that's what we study, that's what we come to know with tremendous curiosity and interest"... she says, "Being with what we already have is a magical golden key to being alive in a full, unrestricted, and inspired way. One of the major obstacles to what is traditionally called enlightenment is resentment, feeling cheated, holding a grudge about who you are, where you are, what you are. This is why we talk so much about making friends with ourselves. This is a process of lightening up, of trusting the basic goodness of what we have and who we are, and of realizing that any wisdom that exists, exists in what we already have. Our wisdom is all mixed up with what we call our neurosis. Our brilliance, our juiciness, our spiciness, is all mixed up with our craziness and our confusion, and therefore it doesn't do any good to try to get rid of our basic wonderfulness. We can lead our life so as to become more awake to who we are and what we're doing rather than trying to change or get rid of who we are or what we're doing. The key is to wake up, to become more, alert, more inquisitive and curious about ourselves. We're talking about loving-kindness again, in a slightly different way. The ground of loving-kindness is this sense of satisfaction with who we are and what we have. The path is a sense of wonder, becoming two- or three-year-old child again, wanting to know all the unknowable things, beginning to question everything. We know we're never really going to find the answers, because these kinds of questions come from having a hunger and passion for life -- they have nothing to do with solving anything or tying it all up into a neat little package. This kind of questioning is the journey itself..."

I just wanted to share this, because it made me realize that if I wished to really change anything about myself-- including my current neurosis, then I would be taking away a big part of the wonderfulness. Or at least I am going to agree with Pema, and call it that. Our fears, our doubts, our neurosis are what make us human, and they help us to relate to each other. Pema says that making friends with who we are isn't selfish, it's in fact becoming friends with humanity, because that's what being human means-- that we're not perfect. That we all have the certain parts of ourselves that we wish to cover up. But it's in the loving-kindness, the compassion for who we are that we can have loving-kindness towards others.

I wish you all a very wonderful day. And remember, when the "craziness" starts to come out, it is just part of what makes you, you. At least that is what I am going to be telling myself. :) Happy Thursday to you all!

Lots of loving-kindness...

P.S. I love all of Pema Chodron's books. This one is The Wisdom of No Escape and the Path of Loving-Kindness

image via Kat Hardin and pinterest

Bundled Up

Brr, it is cold outside. Or perhaps living in Houston for the past two years, where 70 degrees is chilly and 65 is freezing, has made me a wimp when it comes to cooler weather. Needless to say, I am wishing all of my sweaters weren't in Colorado and feel like I might need to move them from there as soon as possible, because in Arkansas, well, I'm thinking I might need them. It has been very hard for me to believe that I am actually moving out of Houston. It feels weird to say it, and I am sure tears will be shed when I start really packing up my apartment. This has been an extremely hard decision for me, whether to stay or go, be here or there, and it seems that no one has been able to give me an answer for what I should or shouldn't do, so I kinda just made some decisions and now I am going to hope for the best. The thing I will miss most about Houston, is my yoga studio. But, I have found a place to lease up in Fayetteville, and am planning on making that a very humble, little yoga studio for anyone and everyone who wants to do some yoga. However, I am scared. Really scared. My studio in Houston, became my home and I very much feel like it will always be my second home. I am a teacher there, and definitely feel a sense of connection to myself and to others there that I have never experienced before. It's a place that in a lot of ways did a lot of healing for me or perhaps, I did a lot of healing there. Arkansas, has always been a place where I've been a kid. No one knows me here really as a writer or a yoga teacher, it's kinda like I'm starting all over again, as I have many times, but this time, this time, I will actually miss a place that I am leaving, very much. I have moved many times. I went to college in Colorado, and moved from there to New York, New York to Dallas, Dallas to Houston. Houston, somehow, very unexpectedly, carved its way into my heart. Yes, it's hot. Yes, the traffic isn't great. Yes, it's a big city. But, I think any place where you grow, heal and come into yourself, that place will always hold a special spot within. I think maybe, we all have them. My reasons for moving though stacked up... proximity to family, cost of living, wanting to move out of an apartment (because I've lived in one for the past 7 years)... and I don't know, I think a part of me wants a challenge. I took a long break after living in New York. I haven't really been committed or connected to anything, except, yoga in Houston. But, I've found myself wanting to place some roots, somewhere! Perhaps, a yoga studio is enough to stay for, but it seems that certain things in my life have unfolded leading me to a house and yoga space in Arkansas. Who knows, if I will stay in Arkansas forever. I have no idea, but I think if I didn't try it, I would always wonder about it. All I can do is bundle up and go for it.

I hope all of you have a very happy Tuesday!

I'll let you know if I freak out and change my mind. :)

images via candice lake, classy girls wear pearls, velvet and bones

Big Week

Especially this morning! I hope all of you had a great weekend. Mine was pretty wonderful. I went to a wedding on Saturday, and it was absolutely beautiful, although it was supposed to be outside, and last minute they had to rearrange everything, because of the sleet/rain. Even with the weather not cooperating, it was one of the best weddings I've ever been to, just because I got to witness two people, who absolutely were ecstatic to be marrying each other and nothing could ruin it. You could feel the warmth and love radiating off of them! And the decor was also so pretty... the perfect rustic wedding with white tablecloths, burlap, fresh flowers from the farmer's market... it was all very romantic and sweet. I wish I would have taken pictures, but I was too busy taking it all in. I hope you all have a wonderful, wonderful Monday. I am a closing on a house this week! Yay (Finally, I feel very excited and I think I might be over my freak outs about the commitment/decision/money/everything :)! Pictures to come...

I know I keep saying that, but really!

Come dance with me

Happy Friday my dears! I hope you all have a wonderful, wonderful weekend. I am loving this song right now from Edward Sharpe And the Magnetic Zeros, so I just thought I would share. I think it's a good song to kick off the weekend. I taught a yoga class this morning for the first time in about a week. It was so nice to get back to teaching, after traveling and being sick... it's definitely nice to get back to what I love. I read from Brené Brown's book, Daring Greatly at the end of the class. She says, "When we spend our lives waiting until we're perfect or bulletproof before we walk into the arena, we ultimately sacrifice relationships and opportunities that may not be recoverable, we squander our precious time, and we turn our back on our gifts, those unique contributions that only we can make. Perfect and bulletproof are seductive, but they don't exist in the human experience. We must walk into the arena, whatever it may be-- a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation-- with courage and the willingness to engage. Rather than sitting on the sidelines and hurling judgement and advice, we must dare to show up and let ourselves be seen. This is vulnerability. This is daring greatly."

If you haven't yet heard of Brené Brown (I feel like I keep talking and talking about her), you should definitely check her out! I am reading her book now, and it is wonderful!

Happy weekend, all!!

image via pinterest

Fear.

Fear. Let's talk about it. I can't tell you how many times I have done something out of fear. I have moved, I have run, I have hid myself, and I have allowed for fear to hinder me in a lot of ways. Most of the time, I don't even know that I'm doing it. I think it started at a pretty young age, but not too, too young. I was much more fiery when I was little. But, as I have mentioned before I let a lot of things kind of take power over me. I tend to ask permission from people out of fear, fear of what people might think or say, or out of fear of hurting someone... little did I know... by doing this over and over again, the person I was hurting, was myself. Just a couple of examples to show you how crazy and self-sabotaging this thought process is: Here's what I think when I like someone, I feel the need to ask permission to date him. "Is it okay if I date him? Or no maybe you should date him.... he's a great guy and he would probably like you better..." And when it comes to career...
"Oh you should take that job, I want you to have it...." And the whole time the person I'm saying this to is probably going, "huh? really? okay, great." And then in my head, I'm like wait, what? How did this happen? Pretty crazy thought process, huh? Not to mention controlling... It's like I want to take myself out, before someone else has a chance of hurting me, which is all very fear based.

So, I'll say this, my name is Sarah and the biggest struggle that I have every single day is not being afraid... not being afraid to say what I think, and how I feel, not being afraid of being seen with all of my imperfections (that's a big one), not being afraid to ask for what I need (that's another big one) and another, is just knowing that I deserve good things (that's one of the biggest).  It is has only been through a lot of therapy/yoga, as well as adopting different thought patterns, that I have been able to slowly step out of fear... not asking permission so much, being okay with what is, not being afraid to be seen or share myself, and believing that I deserve to have the life I want. But, it's a work in progress every single day. I have also come to realize that the people who teach are often the people who need it the most, me, being a case in point example. It's just like going to AA meetings or therapy, when I stop practicing yoga (whether it's asana or just breathing) I step back into old patterns of fear, and I want to run and hide all over again.

The things that I can share with all of you, that has helped me is to, number one, forgive yourself for all of your imperfections. We are all human, we all have them, and the best thing we can do is practice courageous vulnerability. Because the only way we can really relate is when we take off our perfection hats, and start showing each other that it's okay not to be perfect. Number two, surrender. Recognize that you, me, bob down the street, none of us have have the answers. The more we spend time worrying and fretting the more time we spend missing the moment of now. Number three, love yourself. Above all, love yourself. Show yourself compassion, because the only time we can truly love and have compassion for others, is when we have love and compassion for ourselves.

"Move within, but don't move the way fear makes you move."- Rumi

Wishing you many courageous acts today, whether it's being vulnerable or going after what you want... 

Currently Loving:

Stripes going into fall, with everything she's wearing from the leather jacket to the leopard flats.

 

I want this kitchen and am actually going for a very similar look in my house... which will be shown to you all soon! It has dark granite tile, bead board... you get the picture... updates on that soon!

I am wearing a navy dress this weekend, and I might try some navy nails to go along with it. However, if I don't wear it this weekend for fear of going navy over board, I will surely be bringing out the dark blue hues soon! I especially love Essie's midnight cami and bobbing for baubles. Midnight cami is the one she is wearing in this picture for A Cup of Jo.

Anywho, just wanted to stop in for a mid-afternoon break. More posts on houses, interior designs, yoga and everything else to come in the not too distant future. But, for the moment, I hope the day is going great!

images via remain simple tumblr, pink wallpaper and a cup of jo

A Crisp Fall Day

The air feels a little crisper today, and I am loving it. :) My sniffles have started to subside and I am feeling so much better than I was yesterday or the day before. On the up and up! Woohooo. The amazing thing when you're not feeling like yourself, whether it's an injury, or a cold, whatever it is, it reminds you to always appreciate health. There is a certain balance that our bodies have when it's healthy, and it's amazing how it feels when it's a little knocked off. The thing is our bodies are constantly working to heal itself. Amazing! Send your body some love and kindness today, and do something good for it! It's always working hard, and deserves to be nourished.

Happy Wednesday, all!

images via pinterest

Lean and Green

Hello dear readers. I hope you all are having a wonderful Tuesday. Unfortunately, what I thought might be allergies, was/is not and I am in the middle of fighting a cold. Not fun. In my pursuit to kick this before the weekend, I have googled everything under the sun to find something that will cure me! Thank goodness for pinterest, leading me to the RECIpage, where I found the OJ Lean + Green juice. A cold, flu and immune fighting machine. Sounds very promising, doesn't it??

I think I'm willing to give it a shot. Here's the recipe straight from the page:

Ingredients (1 serving, 500mL, 2 cups)

• 4 cups spinach
• 1 bunch kale
• 2 oranges
• 1 cucumber

Instructions

• Wash all your veggies!
• If you have a ‘low’ setting on your juicer, use this setting for the juice.
• If you do not have a juicer, just add everything to your blender with 1/2 cup water and blend until you can’t blend no more. Choose to either strain out the pulp by passing through cheesecloth, nylon or nut milk bag. Or, keep the pulp for added nutrition benefits. It’s not too bad with this mix!

Per serving [serving = full recipe]:

Ready, Willing, and Able...

Happy Monday morning my dears and happy October! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was spent relaxing. I made the spinach orzo soup, as seen below, along with some baked chicken and spice pumpkin bread cookies with chocolate chips for dessert. Want to know a quick secret about the spice pumpkin cookies? All you need is a can of pumpkin and either Pilsbury pumpkin bread mix or Duncan Hines spice cake mix. Either one works! You pour the mix into a bowl, add the pumpkin, pop it in the oven, and voilá! Don't believe it? See recipe, here. It's delicious and easy! Perfect for fall!

On another note... I have quite a bit going on this week, and have contracted the sniffles. Hopefully, it is just allergies... but I'm telling you, with everything I have going on right now, I feel like I have never been so prone to colds and hurting myself (sniffles + stomach bug about a month ago and a pulled stomach muscle this summer, and a sprained ankle that I got just a couple days ago)!  I know that probably doesn't sound like a lot, but it feels like a series of mishaps. Usually I rarely get colds or stomach bugs, and I'm not usually one to get hurt. However, maybe it is God's way of slowing me down, making me take time outs to think and just be... not always doing, doing, doing or going, going, going. I am happy that I quickly recovered from each of these minor ailments :) and my ankle is rapidly improving (thank goodness)! However, this does make me think a lot about alignment. When we are aligned mind, body and soul, I feel like we go along, relatively well with everything clicking right along with us. But, when we are in times of in-between, like I am, we can be thrown off and I think during these times we have to get ourselves a lot of tender loving care. So, if you are in a transition period like I am, remember to give yourself a little time each day to just be and be thankful for the times that push you. I feel like I am definitely in one of those places that forces me to think about what I really want, who I am at this time in my life, and how I want to live and be in the world. We don't really make these decisions, often times they are made for us through a series of small decisions. But, I think there does come a time when we decide what's important and we feel the call to go do it...

Just about every day I read from Melody Beattie's, Journey to the Heart and I found her entry for October 1st to be pretty fitting. It says, "Are you ready, willing, and able? Have you cleared the path you want to travel? Are you ready, willing and able to do whatever it takes to have what you want? Decide what you want. Be as clear as you can be. Say it. Write it. Share your idea with a friend. Then ask yourself if you are ready, willing and able to do what it takes to have what you want? Ask yourself that question as often as you need to. Watch how you feel when you say what you want. Look for objections, blocks within, obstacles in your path. Look closely at yourself, your fears, your angers, your resistance. Let your feelings come up, acknowledge them, then let them go. One after another remove the blocks until the path you want to travel is clear. Remove the obstacles until you can clearly see your vision and your voice strong and clear: I'm ready willing and able to have what I want and it's in my highest good. The way to your dreams, the way to make your visions come alive is by taking a journey inside your soul. Are you ready, willing, and able to have what you want? Do you believe it when you hear yourself say it? When you do, the road will be clear, and you'll be ready to travel the path you desire."

So, with that, just remember that you are willing and able, all you have to do is decide whether you're ready or not. If the seed is planted in our minds, if the vision is there, then I believe we are... it's just finding the strength to go for it! :)

Happy Monday, again! And just remember to be bold and go for it!