Wednesday, January 30, 2013

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. 

Monday, January 14, 2013

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




Friday, January 11, 2013

Keeping Busy.

As I mentioned in a recent post, I had my surgery. Well let me start off by saying that everything went smoothly. I wasn't sure what to expect afterwards...and boy did I underestimate the pain. Today has been the best day as far as pain goes, which is good news. It has only been three days since the surgery and I am already so bored. I've been trying to entertain myself with the computer, tv, and movies. That hasn't been enough. I hate to sit and waste the day by watching tv or staring at a computer screen. Since my mobility is restricted for the time being I cant do yoga, or do some of the things I did before the surgery. So I've been working on these miniature wooden brooches. All I need for that is my hands, good eyes, and a LOT of patience. So far I've done four of them. Here are some pictures of my past few days!


pre-op                                              post-op




Saturday, January 5, 2013

The Cold Buster

In the past weeks there has been a slew of colds, viruses and various other yuck going around. Tis' the season. Today I made a vitamin and protein packed soup that was amazing. Lentils and soy beans are packed with protein and kale is a great source of vitamin k and fiber (it also lowers cholesterol!).

Click "Read More" for the recipe!

Recent set-backs

After quite a long absence I am hoping to get back to daily blogging. In October, after a routine PET scan, it was discovered that I have a tumor near my spine. It is in fact, benign. With school in full swing (as well as my stress levels) I was unable to find the desire to update my blog. As one can imagine, I was expecting the worst. I felt a huge relief when I found out it is not cancerous. I will be having surgery to remove the tumor this tuesday, and hope to be back on track with my life!