Archive
June 28, 2009 - 8:42 pm
If you are following me on Flickr, then you probably already know that I got a brand new digital camera for my birthday (June 11th). If you aren’t, it’s a Canon Digital Rebel XTi and I couldn’t be more excited! The point of asking for a new camera is to help further my plans to pursue photography as a second creative career. I’m already selling my prints on Etsy and hope to make it into magazines one day – just like my writing (I hope you see the irony).
Unfortunately, Mother Nature has offered me less than a handful of sunny days this past month in which to practice with my new toy. Below are a few of the shots I have taken with my new camera (and am willing to admit I took, haha). You can check out all of the shots here on Flickr. Expect to see new print offerings in my Etsy shop very soon!
The perfect peony for a cloudy day.
Orange isn’t just for Autumn anymore.
Three’s a crowd.
Nature’s fireworks.
Age is not a prison.
There’s always sunshine after the storms.
How I spent my Sunday afternoon: knitting a scarf for my Etsy shop.
Mother Nature loves you (can you spot the heart!?).
Fresh from the vine … or in this case, bush.
Which shots are your favorite??
June 26, 2009 - 2:54 pm
The pictures speak for themselves – this place is drop dead gorgeous. Located on a 52-acre plot with an immaculate hilltop view in Nova Scotia, Canada, it is the vacation home (screw that, I’d live there year-round!) of Eliot and Alexandra Angle, better known as Aqua Vitae Design in Los Angeles.
Featured in the June 2009 issue of Canadian House & Home Magazine, I spent more time looking at these pictures than I wish to admit. I was hoping to find a gallery on the CH&H website, but they didn’t have one … so I took some snapshots of the magazine instead.
Thanks to the currently shit-tastic lighting here in New England (it’s only been cloudy for a month now!), the snapshots didn’t come out that great. The photographer, Janet Kimber, posted a few images from the shoot on her website – these will give you a much better idea of just how stunning this place is.
So much natural light & so little “stuff” – a perfect combination! The main thing that I don’t like about the condo my husband and I are hoping to land (we are writing an offer now) is that there aren’t enough windows a.k.a. natural light. This house in Nova Scotia has that in spades! Oh well, for our first place, we didn’t expect to get everything we wanted; the condo also has carpet throughout (ew!) and we’ll plan to put in wood floors throughout eventually (when we can afford it).
Until then, the Angle’s vacation home gives me countless ideas for my future dream home. I plan to have as little “stuff” as possible in our new place, but I don’t want it to feel vacant … a tough balance, if you ask me: airy yet comforting, not sparse or deserted.
The Angle’s place also gave me some great new resources for decor items:
Rugs (which I used to hate but am now enamored with) – Fedora Design
Bedding – Plover Organic
June 25, 2009 - 8:21 am
I’ve been putting off writing this review for over a week. Why? Because the book is bad? Because I don’t know how to say anything nice? Not at all – the complete opposite actually! The Chocolate Cake Sutra by Geri Larkin is so freakin’ fabulous, I don’t even know how to begin explaining it. I suppose there are worse things …
Since I rented the book from the library, I didn’t have the benefit (or joy) of highlighting my favorite passages. Instead, I simply wrote down the page numbers. Of the book’s 182 pages, I noted 68 different pages that made me feel enchanted, inspired, and enlightened. For math geeks, that over 1/3rd of the entire tome. So yeah, it’s a “good” book.
Before I rave on about its greatness, let me give you an overview. The word “sutra” in the title no doubt makes you think of Buddhism, and that is what this book is about … sort of. Author Geri Larkin, an ordained Dharma teacher (who doesn’t have a website; shocking!), loves chocolate cake – she has been known to eat it for breakfast (now that’s modern Buddhism for you). She uses the metaphor of a cake recipe & its preparation to describe the mental and spiritual elements we need to embrace. These “ingredients” will lead us into a modern-day nirvana, no chanting required (but that can be fun). 
Like M.J. Ryan, Geri Larkin has a pleasing, conversational tone that makes you feel like she is right there with you. Buddhist or not, spirutually seeking or otherwise, The Chocolate Cake Sutra can (and should) be enjoyed by readers the world over. I plan on buying the book, reading it again, and highlighting like mad. Then, whenever my life feel off-track, I’ve got all I need to get on the “right” path again.
June 23, 2009 - 10:47 am
When was the last time you breezed through a project or household chore? Do you even remember doing it? Were you only focused on getting it done, assuming that, since you’ve done it before, you’d do well?
Interestingly titled Be All You Can Be (remind you of the Army?), a blurb on page 20 of Yoga Journal Magazine’s June 2009 issue focuses on just this subject. Written by Founder & Co-Director of San Francisco’s Healing Yoga Foundation, Kate Holcombe, the half-page piece is about a particular passage from the Yoga Sutra describing the concept of Ishvara pranidhana (nonattachment to the fruits of one’s actions).
The concept is quite simple, but nevertheless difficult to accomplish by most: do you best 100% of the time and embrace the effort you put into each moment of your day.
Patanjali [author of the Yoga Sutra] advises us to focus on the quality of an act, rather than on its outcome, leaving the “fruits” of our actions to something greater. From this perspective, everything we do becomes an opportunity for practice: We do the very best we can, whether we’re running a race, giving a big presentation, or doing the dishes. Regardless of the outcome, the mind is calm, clear, and present because our joy comes from the act itself, rather than the result.
Such wonderful words. Thanks to Kate, I’ve never been more inspired to do the dishes … mindfully.
I’m often guilty of doing too many things at once, and sometimes sacrificing the quality and pleasure of work as a result. It’s time to slow down. Filling our lives with list after list of to-dos will never make us happy or content.
That’s not to say that we shouldn’t work. I’m not suggesting that you give up all your worldly posession and move to a mountaintop to meditate. But how about taking a long, hard look at your to-do list. Do you really need to do everything on there? Is it going to make your life better, simplier, happier? If not, why is it there? Talk about a serious waste of time, money, and energy!
June 22, 2009 - 7:35 am
Been dreaming of my (hopefully soon) honeymoon to Block Island, Rhode Island with my delightful husband. Yes, you read the right – we got married on May 12th and still haven’t taken a honeymoon. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we get to go before the end of August (when the Fall college semester starts up).
The only wrench in our plans? My husband got promoted at work last week (hooray!). Now he’s a manager and will be running a retail store. You know what that means: longer hours, more commitment. We still need to talk to his district manager to find out if he would be able to get a week off in early August … keeping my fingers crossed!
Anyhoo, Block Island and beaches have been on my mind a lot (thanks, Coastal Living) … which also means I’m thinking about summer attire. I’ve had this bikini bookmarked for almost a month & I’m saving my pennies to be able to get it for our honeymoon.
Available exclusively on Anthropologie’s website, the bikini is designed by Rachel Pally. The 1950s style is just enchanting & the nautical stripes make it perfect for any New England beach. I’m a sucker for high-waisted anything too (no, I don’t think it makes me look like a granny!). I’ve actually been searching for a bathing suit just like this for a few seasons, but every one I find it made by some overblown Italian brand that wants $500 for it. Thankfully, Rachel’s version is much more affordable.
Rachel Pally “Vargas” Halter Bikini Top ($98)
Rachel Pally “Vargas” Bikini Bottoms ($98)
[Images courtesy of Anthropologie]
June 20, 2009 - 8:13 pm
Thank you to everyone to entered my very first giveaway here on my brand new blog! 
Without further ado, the 2 lucky folks who will be getting a free copy of Sleeping Naked is Green (& the one eco-friendly change they would never imagine doing) are:
Meghan T.
Going without a gown at the doctor’s office… I am a big fan of the nakedness and the beauty of the human form but there is something about the lighting in a doctor’s office that just makes me cringe- eek
Jeremy L.
I could never imagine getting a permanent laser hair removal. I like having a smooth face, but sometimes side-burns make me feel like a bad-ass. =]
CONGRATS to you both! I hope you’ll share your opinion of the book after you read it.
June 18, 2009 - 1:54 pm
As a lover of crafts, interior design, and photography, it should come as no surprise that I love art too. While I highly appreciate classics like Van Gogh and Salvador Dali, the type of art I’m talking about is often used in advertisements and magazine articles.
One particular artist shows up in at least half of my favorite magazines on a regular basis: Sarah Wilkins. Her works always bring a smile to my face & I bet they will do the same for you. You’ve probably seen her art before and didn’t even know it. Delicate yet emotionally powerful, it is easy to see why Sarah has made such a successful career out of her art.
My wish: that Sarah had a blog! (though she does update her news page each month) It would be great to get an inside peak into her life in Paris and ongoing projects. You can feel the positive energy flowing from each piece, done by a woman who loves life & has happily found her purpose within this world.
My 2nd wish: that Sarah sold prints of her art! Couldn’t you easily see some of these works hanging in your kitchen or living room?
[All images courtesy of Sarah Wilkins]
June 14, 2009 - 8:43 am
If you enjoyed the teaser from my wedding day, then you’ll love to see all the pictures!
Here are a few from our favorite 27 shots (Minyan sent us over 70!):
Want to see the rest? You can view all 27 images on Flickr.
[All photos taken by Minyan Zhu]
June 10, 2009 - 8:34 pm
I was born in 1984. I will be 25 tomorrow. My first e-mail account was with AOL when I was in middle school, when I also had my first pager. I used an original Apple computer to play Oregon Trail in 5th grade (I always died in less than a week). As a kindergartner, my friends and I read books & played outside – computers weren’t available commercially.
The evolution of electronic communication is simply dumbfounding. Our humans minds are in no way ready to process the immense amount of information we receive daily. Personally I find the manipulation of our emotions, or lack of emotions period, the most disturbing factor of all.
In less than one generation, the entire world has changed in ways we can’t even fathom yet. We should treat people online the same way we would if they were standing right in front of us. We can’t hide behind our monitors and expect success to come to us. We have to walk. We have to talk. We have to act.
Readers of my old blog will remember that I’ve openly written about my struggle with clinical depression and social anxiety before. I still battle these issues daily, especially now that I am no longer on medication for them. Hiding behind my laptop is something I’m very familiar with, but things have to change. Though I can’t escape the reality of how business is done these days, no one can depend on the internet world to replace genuine face-to-face interactions.
Let us not discount the pleasure of sharing a pot of tea & hearty conversation together – in person.
[This post was inspired by Holly Becker's emotive interview on Simply Hue.]
- 10:54 am
If you fancy all things eco-related, then you probably know of Vanessa Farquharson … though maybe not by her name. She’s the Toronto gal behind the now-infamous Green as a Thistle blog, where she pledged to make one green change every day for an entire year. The irony: she picked a leap year.
While you can still read about her daily experiences from that year in the Green as a Thistle archives, Vanessa’s new book, Sleeping Naked is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days, hits stores on Thursday, June 11th (my 25th birthday, haha). It gives readers a true behind-the-scenes view that you won’t read about on her blog.
I had the delight of getting my hands on an early copy of Sleeping Naked is Green. Three words: honest and hilarious. Vanessa gives a brutally authentic view at the constant conundrums of being a sustainable consumer, all the while trying to live a “normal” life of work, friends, and family. I can’t even begin to describe how much I enjoyed the book, being able to read many of the thoughts & frustrations that I have regularly, knowing I’m not the only one.
My only complaint is that I wish the book was longer. Only about half of the changes that she made each month are talked about in the book. Looking at Vanessa’s full list of eco-changes, I’m tempted to go through and note which ones I already do & ones I’m thinking about taking on … but you don’t want to see all that. 
GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
Here comes the fun part. I’ve got two copies of Sleeping Naked is Green to give away! All you have to do is post a comment with the one eco-friendly change you would never dream of doing (check Vanessa’s list if you need some inspiration). Make sure to include your e-mail address in the space provided or I can’t contact you if you win.
The contest will run from now until next Friday (June 19th). Since my blog is new, please help spread the word about this contest – Tweet it, Facebook it, Stumble it, even mention it on your own blog … whatever you like. An early thank you & good luck!
