My girls...

If you have to be inside three buildings---20 stories each----for 8 straight days, these are the girls you want with you. This is from left to right Barbara, Me, April. Kathy is pictured below...


We spent the last week buying for Simply Selma's in Atlanta. Our first order of business was to decide the themes for all the Christmas trees for this year (15 at last count) and buy ornaments and sundries for all of them in addition to an overwhelming amount of everyday product for the store. We stayed in a pretty small hotel room (for 3 people...Kathy had her own room) and got along insanely well.

We laughed until we cried....mostly at April....though we all had our moments and we planned and organized and bought accordingly for what I am sure could be our most eyebrow-raising year yet.

We met great artists like these guys and these.
We dealt with phenomenal staff at large showrooms that I have a feeling will be a part of Selma's family for quite some time. (sorry that there is no picture of Billy but he gave us too much wine for us to remember to take a photo)

(our buddies at K&K Brandon & Jerrod with our fearless leader Kathy (aka Big Baller) in the foreground)

As tiring as it is to be in what I refer to as the "Rat Maze" for 8 days...shopping....debating...planning...finding exactly the right reindeer for the window display, April, Barb & Kathy trying to keep me from buying too many things with horns, or the right martini glasses, or just the right baby onesies ...in the end, we laughed hard,


played hard,

(December Diamonds Peace Party...don't ask)

connected with each other and loads of great people (Addison...you rock hard honey), and in my opinion boosted the National Economy considerably. One of our favorite artists said to us..."You guys just walked right up and brought this amazing trail of 'happy' with you."

That is 8 days well spent.
There we are letting our light shine in a crazy mixed up world....

Gratitude.

"If you must look back, do so Forgivingly.

If you must look forward, do so Prayerfully.
However, the wisest thing you can do is
be present in the present....Gratefully." ~Maya Angelou

Powerful words from a powerful woman and so very true. This has been a wondrous and beautiful year. A year where I have been learning to appreciate the beauty of living in the present moment. It isn't as easy as it might sound.

We are all so busy...constantly running, multi-tasking our asses off and, at least in my case, most of that is self-inflicted. I don't need to be that busy...I don't need to make so much work for myself. Recently I have taken a few steps back from things that are unhealthy uses of my time and my family's time as well. At first, I felt less-than, guilty...like I wasn't being a 'good enough' Mom, friend, etc. and then I realized....these aren't my rules I was breaking. I didn't have any rules....I was a product of my environment. The guilt has subsided and I am happy in the knowledge that slowing everything down is good for me...good for my family...just good.

Today in yoga, John said, "It is impossible to think and feel at the same time. We we are so caught up in the thoughts in our head, we are missing the miracle in every precious moment that is happening right now." I realize just how lucky I am to have found this place. I am grateful for it every day of my life. I wish I could put you all in my pocket and take you there so that you could experience the gift of 'waking up' to every beautiful moment.

I have no regrets from this past year...just beautiful memories. And I am excited for the beginning of another year but I won't lean too far into it. I am mostly just grateful beyond words for all of it...the good, the bad, the scary, the beautiful. All of it. I wouldn't change a thing.

"You opened your eyes this morning. You are alive. Once you come in to the awareness of that precious gift, the only appropriate response is gratitude."
~Chris Yax from Tuesday's class

Enjoy this NEW year. Live every moment....
~Namaste.

Shooting Star...

Last night, Corey and I went to a Christmas party at the home of some very good friends. We were standing outside around midnight looking up at the sky when a brilliant bright star went shooting across the sky. It wasn't one of those shooting stars that you aren't quite sure when it is over that it really was a shooting star at all. This was big, bright and amazing. This shooting star was very sure of itself.
When we came home (around 1am), I checked in on my Facebook page to find one of my high school friends, Deonne, writing about the shooting star that she had seen in Chattanooga just before midnight. She was talking about how bright and beautiful it was. We started chatting about it and decided that her star and mine had to be the same. We wanted it to be the same one I think. So from Virginia Beach to Chattanooga, one big sky, one beautiful shooting star. We are truly all connected.

Beautiful Little Nuggets

John Yax ended our yoga class this afternoon with this thought...

"How much of our day do we miss because our mind has shifted someplace else? Stay focused in the present and realize that there are no ordinary moments. There is magic in every moment. Every moment is a miracle."

I haven't been able to get this out of my mind. This isn't the first time I have heard this. John as well as his brother Chris have dropped that little nugget on us in past classes in some form or another. Like most big things though, it takes hearing them a few times for them to click into place for me...to really get it. Today was that day for me. It was the phrasing of it....'How much of our day do we miss'....I don't know about you but I don't want to miss anything. Life seems so big sometimes until you distill it down to individual moments? Then it is more precious...easier to absorb. We think on such a grand scale most of the time that we make it so hard for ourselves to notice the magic.

I think that is my work...to notice...to not 'lean into the next moment' (another Hot House nugget) but be acutely aware of the magic, the miracle happening in every extraordinary moment of every day.

Ahhhhhh.......

Jivamukti in NYC

How time flies...
Last week at this time I was in New York City with my husband Corey and our friends Meg and Tommy. We have gone every year for the last 6 years and we always have a great time. Every trip is so different from the last.

This time Meg and I decided to fore go our usual spa pedicure to go to yoga at Jivamukti instead. We cameback to the hotel early last Thursday night (12:30am) to get rested up. When the alarm went off at 6am, I was really questioning our decision but after we got up and moving, it was fine. Walking through the streets of New York at that hour is pretty peaceful really. That city changes by the hour and I loved walking to class instead of getting in a car and driving. That was centering in itself. As soon as you enter the studio, it is so obvious that you are someplace very special. This was a yoga experience like no other I have had before. Our instructor (Liz) was a cosmic dynamo. The first thing she said to us was, "At Jivamukti, we are all about pulling you out of your comfort zone and making you stretch." Big red flag for me. I like my comfort zone. It's comfortable...She placed candles in front of each of our mats and we began the class with chanting (new to me). As we were warming up, she came around to each of us and rubbed China Gel (similar to Tiger Balm) on our back and shoulders which was very warming. The next 45 minutes were phenomenal. High energy, intense and raw (in a good way). Liz was so energetic and dynamic and at no time during the class did she not have her hands on someone giving incredible adjustments. Clearly she was born to do this and I was so grateful to have gotten the opportunity to practice with her. She ended the class with a mini scalp and neck massage with a lavender oil. We did not want to leave and I had a contented smile on my face for the rest of the day. That will definately be a part of our NYC trip from now on. Aside from the obvious physical benefits of the class, it was good for me to do this. To be pulled out of my comfort zone, to experience something different and love it was needed. Now me and my newly expanded comfort zone are ready for the next challenge...

Renewal

"Even
after
All this time,

the Sun never says to the Earth,
"You owe me."

Look
what happens
with a love like that,
it lights the whole sky." ~Hafiz

This is how I feel today. Hopeful. Inspired. Grateful beyond words. Renewed. YES WE DID!!!

Rolf Gates

Last weekend my yoga studio, Hot House Yoga, brought in Rolf Gates for a weekend long Intensive. Our instructors have trained with Rolf for a number of years and this was my second time participating in one of his workshops at the studio. To say that it was phenomenal is an understatement. He is so very real and approachable. He began each of the 4 sessions with a talk centered around a theme (karma, spiritual practice and transformation) and then we would have a pretty intense yoga practice for between 1 1/2 to 2 hours. sidebar: I would come home completely wiped out and Corey would say, "What did you expect? It's called and Intensive."

Friday was about Karma and conditioning. This was very relevant to a lot of what I am dealing with in my life now. Particularly 'conditioning'. Simply put, conditioning is how our past shapes our future. We have been trained through our past experiences to respond in a certain way to both positive and negative stimulus and by changing our attention, we change our direction and thereby change our destination. So by becoming aware of our patterns of response, we can change the outcome by noticing and responding differently until the new, positive response is our new conditioning. Make sense? I have an example.... there is a posture that I have never been able to do. Reclining hero. When that posture comes around, my reaction is to proceed to exactly the point that I go to every time and I do not try to proceed farther. I have convinced myself that this is as far as I will go and so it is. After Rolf spoke about conditioning and we began our practice, I really made an effort to notice the roadblocks I put in my way. When it came time for hero, I consciously shifted my attitude toward it and wouldn't you know it I was able to do it. It was a shock really. I did not think I was physically able to do it and yet there I was. During final savasana, Rolf was talking about doors (see post below) and our perception and attitude toward them. He said it was our nature to view a door as an obstacle and approach it with aggression when all that was really need was to gently turn the knob and step through. He ended our savasana with this statement..."If you take one step toward the divine, the divine will take ten steps toward you. Just open the door and take that step." I feel a 'door' necklace brewing to the surface....

Happy Birthday Lane!

Today you are 12. I can hardly believe it Lane. Seems like yesterday this was you....


And now....


You have grown into an exceptional human being. Kind and gentle with a fierce wit and wisdom that I have seldom seen in grown ups. Sometimes I look at you and still see that wee boy that you were. It could be a glance you shoot my way or something you say that reminds me that even though you are almost as big as me that you are still a boy. But, if I am honest there are days when I look a you and squint my eyes really tight and I can already see the man you will be. You are honest, fair and just and Lane the way you think about things....really think about them amazes and delights me. The way you devour whatever subject interests you is fascinating. Never lose that. One of my recent favorite moments was watching the debate with you. I couldn't believe it when you asked to stay up and watch it and I almost said no until I realized that at age 11 I would have no sooner asked to watch a Presidential debate as to have a dinner made up of nothing but liver and onions. Watching it with you and listening to your comments was eye-opening and quite funny. You observations were thoughtful, insightful and wise. You know that Meg is sure that you will be the President one day (she has been saying that since you were 7) and watching that debate and listening to you I couldn't help but wonder myself. Personally, I think you are destined for far greater things than that. You will make a difference whatever it is you decide to do. People listen to you already. They respect you and what you have to say. You make being incredibly smart look wickedly cool baby. So to say that I am proud of you doesn't even come close. I can't begin to find words that are adequate to describe what it has meant to me to have you in my life. You made me a Mom and you made us a family on October 24th, 1996. Thank you. Thank you for all the beautiful gifts you have given me every day since then by just being you.
Sidebar: You just woke up (7:15am). Why do you get up early on the days when you can sleep late and on the mornings you need to be up I need a bull horn to raise you? You did say something funny though when I was giving you a hug. You said, "It's the perfect day for my birthday. When I first opened my eyes and looked out the window, the sky was purple, which was my old favorite color, and when I looked again it was blue which is my new favorite color AND we don't have to go to school today."

Happy Birthday my love. I hope your day is all you want it to be. I love you more than I can say so I will close this post with what we started saying to each other when you were 2.
"Buddies forever...pinky promise."

Favorite Words

I love words...love them. Some words I like just because they are fun to say, some because of the feeling they provoke (ooh, that's a good one) Here are some of my favorites...what are yours?


ethereal....lucid...levity...provoke...sassy...handsome...sereptitious...
vapid...sublime...begin...
elucidate ...true...OM.....vessel... dogma...quagmire...commit....surrender....grove...completion...stillness....
alchemy...moxie...journey...mediocrity...molecule....boundless...dare...
authentic...energy...meander...flamboyant...amoxycillan...quirky...benefit...
tincture...balance...velocity...

Too many to list. I have to stop now before my head explodes.