The things you can find at Ross (Dress for Less!)

The things you can find at Ross is back!
This time, with a them:

Bling, Glitz, Rhinestones, and Mirror Pieces...

Do you need a new shelf-sitter for your living room?
A disco ball-esque bull or perhaps a jeweled Egyptian piece?

Of course Ross would not be complete without beautiful rhinestoned gowns and handbags that any true lady would love. Both glittery especially for you!

Don't forget about your feet!
They love rhinestones too- especially in this beautiful gold color.

After a day of shopping, consider a cup of tea out of this "Elegant Party" mug.
I NEED more rhinestones on my mugs!

And for the finale...

Buddha is referred to as "the awakened one" or "the enlightened one".
He once said “To understand everything is to forgive everything”.
I do not forgive the designers of these ridiculously be-jeweled Buddhas,
therefore, I do not understand them.
(Actual statues are much more glittery in person!)

Sunday Sconeday

Sunday SCONEday!

Sometimes, when I am lucky, I get to go to Sunday Sconeday at the Sanitarium...

Suzanne is a master baker and comes up with creative and super yummy flavors.

Marjoram romano and black pepper

or Currant ginger anyone?

Yes please!

And the toppings...

Lemon curd, nutella, orange zest cream...

The presentation is gorgeous- of course anything would look good in the Sanitarium!

And the company & conversation great as well!
(Top right is the lovely lady who makes this all possible - Suzanne!)

I love being part of this community of awesome people!

Stay tuned in the next week for more photos of the Sanitarium, a truly inspirational place!

yoga inspires

It has been a month since I started doing yoga regularly.
And it is one of the most inspiring things I have ever done for myself.

I have become such a yoga-advocate, excited to talk to anyone who will listen to my exclamations about how wonderful it is!
I know it has been around for thousands and thousands of years, but it is new to me, therefore I want to tell the world all about it as if it is the new hot thing in town.

I am practicing at The Yoga Centre, here is SLO. It is conveniently a few blocks away from my house. I have been going 3-5 days a week and am totally addicted.

This is my favorite pose right now:

Parsvakonasana - Side Angle Twist/Bend/Pose

I am also working on my upper body and core strength so that I can improve my handstand and headstand and all of the poses in general.
Let me tell you, though- the first time I did a handstand, I was so freaking excited. Actually, every time I do a handstand, I get excited. It is really hard for me and not a natural thing so when I do it, I am really proud of myself.

If you have never done yoga, I really encourage you to give it a try.
For me, it has improved my mind, body, and spirit. I feel energized after class. It is one thing in my life that I do for no one else but myself- and that is pretty powerful for me!
And if I entered class with a dark cloud over my head, it quickly turns into a bright rainbow and I walk out of class at peace.

So yea, Yoga- you totally inspire me!

happy birthday to me!

It was my birthday on the 26th...

And I had a really great day!
It started out with breakfast at one of my favorite coffee shops, Sally Loo's, with a good friend...

Then a 2.5 hour yoga session followed by a glass of wine and bowl of soup with my mom!

For dinner, I met up with my brothers and sisters-in-law

(solve this one for me: sisters-in-law or sister-in-laws ???)

Grant, me, Tyson, Angela, Sharai!

We had dinner at The Ranch in Santa Margarita.

Have ya been?

It is really good. Probably one of the best restaurants in SLO county.

muscles, wine, conversation, photo taking, fun

My brothers with their mini glasses...

They are giants (if it wasn't clear).

Creme Brulee!

Beautiful Angela!

After dinner, we went to the new Galaxy Theater in Atascadero...

pretty fancy!

Champage at the VIP theater.

And the movie, Limitless, was good.

Seats were roomy and comfy.

Oh and assigned seating...

Overall a great movie experience!

And a really great birthday.

Thank you to all who contributed with calls, texts, fb messages, cards, packages, etc etc etc!

I really appreciate it- this year probably more than others!

xoxoxoxo

Olive and Brooklyn outside

My cats are my babies.

And since I am a photographer, and I think my cats can be very photogenic, I often take photos of them! Lately they have been loving sitting outside on our "landing" when it is sunny...

Especially Olive. She loves to chase the leaves and bask in the sunshine.

She will stand on the table next to the door and paw at the door knob and cry until I let her out.

I wish I had more to offer them for an outside experience besides the landing, but for now it will have to do!

Basking in the sun... oh it feels so good!

Olive loves sitting on the railing...

She also loves it when I join her outside.

Brooklyn isn't as anxious to get outside like Olive, but he does enjoy it (I think!).

Sweet Olive.

challenging times call for stopping to smell the flowers

The last month has been a very challenging time for me.

But one thing that I have tried to do to keep myself grounded and present is to, literally, stop to smell the flowers.

I mostly always walk to/from work and yoga and there are such beautiful flowers in my neighborhood! And though they are right there, hard to miss, it is easy to just walk right by.
Well I have been trying to make it a point of stopping to gaze at their colors. Or smell their nectar.
In one spot, there is the most amazingly sweet floral smell! I can not figure out its source, but every time I walk past (which is often), I stop and breathe in.

Here are just a few of the flowers in my neighborhood that have been capturing my attention!

Poppies!

Can't help but to love them.

This cluster of flowers is down my alley way.

The flowers just had to reach out to get to the sun!

This yard is beautiful... On this day, the home owner came home while I was taking photos. She was really sweet and told me that soon there will be the most beautiful bulbs blooming.

Can't wait!

This tree has been blooming for a while and I often take photos of it.

So how about you?

Do you notice the beauty in your every day?

Do you stop to enjoy the simple things?

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday.
Happy Birthday Dad!
I was thinking about birthdays and him and got a smile on my face when I thought to his birthday a few years back.
For those of you who know me well, you know that I like to make people feel special and I love birthdays!

So a few years ago, when I was living in NYC, my stepmom Jenny and I were in cahoots to plan a surprise visit for my dad.

And it was a total surprise!
I flew in to Billings, MT the day before my dad's birthday... Jenny picked me up from the airport and we went grocery shopping as her cover up. She had been stellar on not telling him that I was coming... which is pretty good! If you need to keep a secret, Jenny is your gal!
When we drove up to their house, my dad came out to help Jenny with the groceries.
Jenny said something like "there's something heavy in the back seat, will you get it for me?"... of course that was ME! Thanks to tinted windows, my dad had no idea that I was sitting in the back seat.
So out I jumped!
My dad was so surprised and I could tell that he was so happy and amazed and confused.
I don't remember exactly what he said in that moment, but I know it was something that combined those three things... Excited amazed confusion.

It's one of those moments that you can't make up in your head...And when it came into my mind the other day, it put a big smile on my face.

To finish the story, I had a nice visit at my dad's and was happy to be able to celebrate his birthday with him in person, something I had not done in 10 or so years!

Love you Dad!

Dad and Jenny