indulgence: CARE by Stella McCartney

100% organic, free from chemicals, environmentally conscious...CARE by Stella McCartney makes sense to me. it is definitely not the cheapest stuff but luckily i was able to snag samples of two of the elixirs, the 5 benefits moisturizer and the night & day cream from Holt Renfrew today. i bought the full size cleansing milk. this is a total chick post, sorry fellas...just thought i'd share my most recent girlie indulgence. i only wear make-up on special occasions but i do like to take care of my skin, especially in the dead of winter. so far so good. savour the deluxeness.

to sleep, perchance to dream

confession: i have a habit of waking up too early, too frequently or i wake up with racing dreams about work and seem to wrestle with trying to squash them, reroute them to greener pastures. in those early hours between 4am and 6am, there is also snoring to contend with...from the other side of the bed. if i was sleeping soundly, the snoring wouldn't be a problem...i'd sleep right through it. i have tried meditation and restorative yoga, relaxing playlists, natural remedies and chamomile tea. new parents are a brave bunch, how do they do it? i am going to conquer this. advice welcome.

clock stopped: 12:45 am

we have a clock in our crashpad that has begun stopping at 12:45am. we reset the time and it works fine until it gets to 12:45am again. it is like it has a mental block. while this may seem ho hum to most, i wonder if the universe is trying to tell me something? is this foreshadowing? it is funny because i didn't realize how often i check the time until the clock broke. insights welcome.

laugh track

my old laughter meditation class fell apart in the fall and i have been wanting to find another to fill the void. sunday, i tried one. it was a half hour laughter meditation held in a yoga studio around yonge and eglington. i was the only one who showed up. i could barely understand the teacher but was amused by his mannerisms. he suggested lots of belly laughs and facial expressions. he had the craziest laugh, very contagious. during the meditation, he recommended watching the thoughts come in and then simply letting them pass without judgement. trying to control thoughts or judge them just makes them hang around longer. it felt great to laugh again, i was so out of practice that 15 minutes of laughter seemed to drain my air supply. the studio was trying to disguise its' corporate shell with electric orange walls. it is a pretty far trek for me for just a half hour class but we'll see. i need to keep searching for solutions. laughter is the finger print of the soul.

your answer revealed

ok Zest, here is your e-reading for the question: If, offered should I take the job?

PAST
Brown haired woman
Good fortune

PRESENT
Power
Frustration

FUTURE
Growth (the card was upside down though, so it means the opposite of growth)
Ending
Inspiration
Stop! Look! Listen!

OUTCOME
Vulnerable

the cards don't lie, hope this helps. i had to smile at the brown haired woman in your past that came up.
if anyone else has any burning questions, ask away!

fortune telling 101

on the edge of 2008 i thought i would exercise my predictive powers with the answer deck. send any lurking questions and i will attempt to exercise my fortune telling skills. answers will be revealed in good time. put a rock in your pocket and a leaf in your shoe.

the definition of calm

from a tunnel of darkness, the light breaks thru and invites us into pools of many a splendor. a pool dedicated to flower petals, another to echo, then heat, then ice. we swim through another corridor and part chain metal curtains to emerge in an outdoor pool set in cinematic glory amid peaked mountains. copper taps host torrents of water from deep within the earth. i loved the layers of rocks that lined the walls and the way the cracks of light slipped down the layers making you forget everything else. it was like time stood still. floating on your back and gazing up at the electric blue pockets of light above, it was the definition of calm. a temple.

i thought i would start 2008 with a best of 2007 snapshot. the year had its' challenges, but it also had moments of stillness and reflection. here is a furtive snapshot taken from therme vals in Switzerland. a thermal bath we visited to celebrate my birthday in august. anything is possible, the new year is set out before us. collect the moments, folks.