Besides the usual grocery shopping, house cleaning, and crossing things off on the dreaded "to do" list...
Some weekends also unfold in the perfect proportions of dinner with friends, frothy cappuccinos, filtered foggy sunlight, crunchy winter walks, and warm afternoon sunbathing on beaches buried in snow.
*Sigh* Heart Swell.
Happy Monday. I'm going back to work tomorrow. Hooray! So thankful.
A colorful start to the day today. I need vibrant foods like this.
I am a complete freestyler when it comes to making juice. I just start grabbing fruits and veggies from the fridge drawers or the bowl on my countertop. Sometimes it turns out incredible. Sometimes I choke it down. Either way it's so good for me to drink in all that color!
I want you to know that I burned dinner while writing my last blog post. It also seems fair to tell you that there is a massive pile of dirty dishes in the blurry background of that picture above. I don't air all of my dirty laundry here because it's not always appropriate, but I want you to know that I have plenty of it. Piles of it. I'm living inside of a real life with all kinds of beautiful chaos.
Just because I publish a blog and post pictures here doesn't mean for that for one second I profess to be perfect. I want to make that perfectly clear. Nothing artificial. I am a human. I am learning. I am laughing at myself. I am screwing up. I am simultaneously hurting and loving people. Naturally, I am keeping some things private. The messy stuff, the stuff that doesn't fit inside any kind of socially approved or acceptable box exists around here. Frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way. If you don't raise a few eyebrows every now and then, you're probably living life on someone else's terms. Not for me.
It's Friday. I'm happy for that. If you need a little timeout I'm collecting pretty things over here:
www.libby-patterson.tumblr.com
Still doing winter here. I don't know why I keep thinking that I'll just wake up tomorrow and it will be spring?! I shoveled the driveway this morning. (Again.) This is almost a daily occurrence. I pretend to hate it but it's actually so awesome. I love the accomplished feeling that comes along with getting something practical done and getting sweaty in the fresh air. Yes!
How to know you live in the arctic: You carefully consider the amount of traction that your chosen footwear is equipped with when walking out the font door. (I caught the lower half of my reflection in the mirror that the kids knocked down in the entryway.) It's winter yo. Layers of thick cotton tights, wool socks, knee high boots, undershirts, heavy sweater dresses, maybe a sweater on top of the sweater dress... and a coat always (I hate wearing coats). I feel limited. Tips on looking feminine & professional in the snow? How about we just bring back the sundresses and flip-flops?
When it's this gray outside I have to have little touches of luxury or bright spots of cheer that make staying inside not-so-bad after all. I've been adding Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap, lavender essential oil, and a squirt of almond oil to my bath every night. Mmmmm.
This was a tasty lunch all week. I usually make a batch of something on Sunday that I can eat Monday-Friday. I left out the spelt berries and just used the quinoa. You should try it! I'm attempting to add some movement back into my life because I want to feel strong and fit again. I weigh more now than I did last year, or the year before... but guess what? I feel sexier than ever! I never expected that. The way I see myself has changed. When I look at my body in the mirror I see my best friend. "She" (my body) has given my heart a vehicle for living and loving. "She" has created 4 incredible humans and fed them exclusively for a cumulative of YEARS. "She" has taken me on all kinds of hikes and swims and has helped me to experience incredible beauty and pleasure. I'm done talking shit to her every day. I'm learning to love her in all the different (even softer) shapes that she may take. I'm so thankful for the people in my life that have helped my thinking in this area. Acceptance feels nice. It changes everything.
I came across this blog the other day. As I've been considering how to do something I love while paying my own way around here I found these kinds of unconventional yet completely practical ideas inspiring. No excuses.
Speaking of...
I have been working so hard on updating and improving my childbirth classes. I'm so proud of myself! It's taking a lot of learning as I go... but I'M DOING IT! Yesterday I needed to resize a photo and after updating my operating system, subscribing and downloading Adobe Creative Suite, and watching several video tutorials, 5 Hours later I had the right size photo! Tedious but done! Look how pretty my business cards came out. I had them printed at Moo.com. The paper quality and matte finish are just what I was looking for. Yay me.
Okay my friends- just those random thoughts for now.