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!

{Fall Soups}

                                       
Somehow fall has snuck up on me. In between time zones, countries and states, it became late September. Although the leaves haven't started to change here in the south quite yet, I am ready for all things resembling fall. Autumn leaves, sweaters, pumpkin cookies and bread, soups, stews and a chill in the air...

Even though the chill hasn't come yet, I found this recipe for tomato orzo soup, and immediately put it on my list of things to make!

Here's the recipe:

Spinach Tomato Orzo Soup

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb spinach, fresh or frozen, defrosted
1 – 15 oz can diced Italian tomatoes (with oregano and basil)
1 lb package orzo pasta
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
2 quarts water
olive oil

Method

1. Preheat a large soup. Drizzle with olive oil. Add onions and saute until tender. Add garlic and saute for 2 – 3 minutes. Add canned tomatoes, spinach, chicken or vegetable stock and water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium.

2. Add orzo cook for 12 – 15 minutes, or until orzo is tender.

Here's the website if you'd like to check out more recipes: The Family Kitchen (16 Skinny Fall Soups)

Jet Lag...

So, as I am fighting my way back to normalcy as far as sleeping and waking goes, I thought I would share with you guys something that made my plane ride back from Europe. Have you all heard of Ted Talks? They have so many great motivational/inspirational speakers. One of the ones I watched was Brene Brown. She is awesome and I absolutely found her to be endearing, with a really wonderful sense of honesty. This video is so refreshing. She is wonderful. Take 21 minutes and watch this video, it's worth it. 

Italy & Spain

                                                  (The little town of Positano)

Good morning, my dears! I'm back!!! After a wonderful trip to Italy and a beautiful wedding in Spain, we got in last night with a serious case of jet lag and a vacation hangover. It was one of the most beautiful trips I have ever taken! We stayed in a little town called Positano in Italy on the Amalfi coast. The Amalfi coast was everything I had seen in pictures and more! Just breath taking! We woke up every morning to a wonderful breakfast of fresh fruit, pastries, delicious coffee, but the best part was the view over looking the Mediterranean Sea. The first day we walked around Positano, found some great antique shops, and ceramics. The second day, we took a boat to Capri, and Sorrento-- both are wonderful places! My brother and I jumped in the Mediterranean together, we swam, sun-bathed and just hung out. The next day, my mom and I went shopping, where I picked up some new plates. :) My friend in Texas has them, and I've always wondered where she got them from, my answer: Italy!
After three really great days in Italy, we headed to Spain for a wedding, that tops every wedding I have ever been to! It was absolutely beautiful and the best part was seeing one of my best guy friends, since I was itty-bitty, happy. The rehearsal dinner lasted until 2:30 in the morning, the next day we woke up at 11:00, I taught a morning yoga class and then we got ready for the wedding, which lasted until 6am. It was quite a challenge the next morning to wake up at 8am and head to Barcelona, but it was worth it. I haven't been to Barcelona since I studied abroad, 6 years ago! It was awesome. All the influence of Gaudi was amazing, and the Cathedral is now finished! Woohoo. So in a nut shell, that was our trip! One of the best parts about traveling is coming home. I missed my sweet doggie, and my American food. :) Yes, I am very proud to be an American, but wouldn't know it if I didn't travel.

I will be back to my regular programming this week. Very happy to be back!!!

 This is our beautiful view in Positano, while eating breakfast!

 First day: Breakfast time! I love the little individual coffee pots and creamers!

My main wardrobe consisted of stripes while we were there! And, I never leave home without my jean jacket!

My brother on the boat ride to Capri!

 My new plates! All in different colors, animals, shapes and sizes.

 Me and my brother at Hotel de Arts in Barcelona! Our room was pretty great!

 Sagrada de Familia // Gaudi.

These next couple of photos are inside the Sagrada de Familia. It was absolutely beautiful with so much light!

Our day in Barcelona was perfectly sunny, perfectly clear! Feeling so blessed to have had the opportunity to go on such a great trip...

Wedding photos and maybe some more detail shots to come!!

Love to you all on this Wednesday!!! Have a great one!

And we're off...

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. I am writing to you a little exhausted and not so much looking forward to the 5am morning I have tomorrow. However, we are heading to Italy and then on to Spain later this week. I'm so excited! But, just wanted to let you all know before going off the grid. I hope you all have a lovely week and enjoy the moment. I finally made a decision on Wednesday (?), I believe it was, to purchase a house. I cannot believe it. But, I am grateful to have been provided with some clarity, direction, a new home and new adventures! The decision was not without many tears, confusion and a little bit of anxiety. I will keep you guys updated on the move and will post pictures of the house and all! It was built in 1923, it's yellow and the old hardwood floors are my favorite part! For now, I will leave you with some Italian and Spanish fashion influence. :)

Love to you all!

images via The Sartorialist

{Happy Thursday}

Happy Thursday to you all! I can't believe it's already here, I feel like this week has flown by. I am packing up today for a week in Italy and then on to Spain for my best guy friend's wedding. We grew up together and now, I feel like we're really grown up considering he is getting married! Her family is from Gerona, Spain. A small town outside of Barcelona. I am sure it is beautiful and can't wait to take it all in. I haven't traveled to Europe since studying abroad in Spain my junior year of college, which was hard to believe (6 years ago)! I am thrilled to have some time to bask in the sun, see wonderful friends and celebrate!!

images via pinterest