Life has been life lately

You never know what your going to get in this life. You think everything is going along, just the way it should be and then all of the sudden "BOOM!" change of plans. And I don't mean in a bad way, I mean in a confusing way. Okay, I'm talking about me right now. Recently I have been struggling with the idea of what I want to do as far as my career goes. I believe it is not-so-coincidental that these thoughts started to emerge while tuning into the root chakra. It's all about security and survival. Your roots. What more of a fitting dilemma than, "What do I want my career to be?" After all, income is your survival in this world. And conveniently, this is all happening while I'm currently majoring in nursing .__.
I know that I want to be in health care, however, the health care I really want to be in may prove to clash with the one I am currently pursuing. Recently, the idea of Ayurvedic medicine has been a reoccurring thought. I feel like this is what I need to do. Ever since yoga has changed my life, I have been on a much more holistic path. I didn't consciously make these changes either, they seem to have just fallen into place. This is a great thing. In fact, I don't even want to imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't made these changes. To make a long, and unanswered story short, I am stuck at a cross-roads between doing what I want right now or doing what I may have wanted to do in the past. Maybe this too will resolve itself by just, "falling into place."

"Love-ly" Shorts

This project was so fun!
I had a pair of red hand-me-down American Eagle shorts. I have been keen on re-fasioning clothing lately. I hand painted little white hearts on the shorts with a small bristled paint brush, and they came out beautiful! have a look! 
Click "READ MORE" for the "How-To" or the "Buy-Now"

Busy Bee

I've been writing these types of posts more often than I would like, but what can I do. I have been very busy with work and school, chemistry is proving to be a challenge. Recently, all of my spare time has gone to studying and homework and cramming. This past week was my spring break and I tried to enjoy every minute of it. I manage to do a decent amount of crafting and was able to RELAX (a notion that was becoming foreign to me).

What We Missed:
Completed my Reiki II certification!!!!
Made a wire wrapped necklace 
Made a pair of "lovely" shorts
Made an absolutely marvelous dinner
Continued my wood burning project

I plan on making a post about each one of these things.
Happy Saturday!

The Groove Strikes Back

Guess who's back on tour?! If you guessed Event Horizon, then you are correct! They will be on the road for 6 weeks. If you are in the area make sure you check them out! you can get a preview by going to their Facebook or listen to a few songs here.

The Crazy Pin Lady

During my month of recuperation I had plenty of time to get in touch with my creative side. I bought wooden discs from the craft store and got to work on these adorable pins. I think people forgot about pins/brooches. They are such a great accessory for a coat, sweater, hat, bag, you name it! This was a great project because I had the time to sit and paint (somethingI haven't been doing enough of up until now.) Have a look-see. Tell me what you think or which one is your favorite. Click "READ MORE" to see more pins!

Baked Acorn squash with Indian rice

I haven't posted a vegetarian recipe in quite a while now. I was stumped the night I made this one. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to make with the ingredients that I had. But then it all came together pretty well. This dish is full of flavor and its very filling. Click "Read More" for the recipe!
Enjoy!

Pyrography

After seeing this a few times I figured I'd Give it a shot: Pyrography. Otherwise known as wood burning. I bought the pen at Michaels craft store for a little over 20 dollars. I did a few practice doodles on a scrap piece of wood. It is really cool! It takes a lot of patience though. I can tell there will be some fun pieces to be created in the near future!
Here are a few pictures of my practice doodles.

Back in the saddle

I'm happy to say, that after a way-too-long of a break, I sat down, meditated, and gave myself reiki this morning. Almost every morning this past summer I had a ritual of sitting in the garden. I would meditate and then follow up with reiki. Somewhere along the line with school and work I fell out of that habit. The great thing about meditation is that it is a tool that is always available to use; same with reiki (so long as you are attuned.) After my surgery I had all of this time to myself. I repeated over and over again that I would finally have the time and effort to put into my meditation and reiki practice. Well, as the days and weeks trickled by I still hadn't committed to this plan. I did however, receive reiki and that is always great. Yesterday I had a reiki session and it really lit a fire under my toosh to stick to my guns and resume my own practice. So this morning I finally did it. I sat down, turned down the lights, and put on some relaxing music. I didn't put a timer on like I usually do, I just sat. I figured when the time is right to end it, that would be that. So I started with a meditation on the chakras. starting at the crown of my head, then to the third eye, throat, heart, solar plexus, sacral, and root chakra. I find this is a great way to start. Its balancing and really brings me to a place of peace. Of course because I hadn't been practicing regularly my mind would wander off but I brought it right back to where it was supposed to be. I followed up with a full reiki session on my self. When I was done, I surrendered and I thanked to universe's energy. I looked and the time and I was shocked to see that, for the first time in months, I had been sitting there for just about 40 minutes. I will be trying to stick to my new routine of daily meditation. 

Vintage Shoes

For those who don't know, I work in a nursing home. I was taking care of a woman who's daughter was going to move her down to florida. You don't see that very often, someone actually willing to take on the huge task of providing care for their elderly parent/ family member. So this woman and I were talking about fashion, and different eras and things along those lines. She was telling me about all of the beautiful clothes and shoes that her husband had bought her when she was younger, and how with her moving to florida she would no longer need these things. She asked me if i would like them... I said YES! in a heartbeat. So the next day she said "look in the closet." I opened the closet door and hanging there was a beautiful, long, black velvet evening coat. If my jaw didn't actually drop, it sure felt like it did. Then came the shoes and the dresses. She had her daughter bring in four pairs of shoes two black one red and one white pair. The dresses were stunning as well one long white dress with long sleeves and a band of colors around the waist. The other was a long yellow dress straight out of the sixties. Although not in line with today's trends, these dresses are in such great shape. its like they were never worn, let alone 50 years old! And the same goes for the shoes and coat. I haven't taken pictures of the dresses, but unfortunately the shoes don't fit me. They are too small and I am selling them on etsy. I wanted to give the back story because I really didn't want to sell them. They are special pieces that belonged to a very kind woman. Did I mention that she is 92? Well here they are two pair of the shoes, I gave the red pair to a friend and the other black pair I am not ready to part with (black suede oscar de la renta peep toes!)

The white pair are Garolini's made in Italy. Size 7. And the black pair are Daniel Green's size 6.5 (not for wide feet) made in USA. Both were made in the sixties and are in excellent condition. If you have any additional questions go to my Etsy site and message me there http://www.etsy.com/shop/AStardustSmile