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.

snow

december has rolled in officially. i suspect it will be a hectic month, so likely to be another pause in posts. savour the ruby of the season. peace to one and all!

tribute: black mamba

here's a pic of dN's fixie: black mamba. ain't she a beaut?

tell your mother you won't be long

stumbled upon a few photos from my files that may provide a distraction from chilly winter moments. a mini virtual vacation.

hop on the bus gus

make a new plan stan, no need to be coy roy...just listen to me...random, yes!

slip sliding away

first snow of the season, black ice reigns the sidewalks and streets. i have fallen flat on my ass, twice in the last two days. sheesh!

long time, no blog

haven't felt inspired to post lately, so i thought i'd get back into things with a shadow pic from the summer. i was obsessed with the shadow tattoos witnessed across the hood, this one is out front of our crash pad. leave the substance for the shadows, the fortune teller says. happy tuesday.

remember november

november arrives in the stealth of darkness, a quiet creep of cold along your neck. the last golden leaves kicking around seem like last call at the bar. a cafe latte never seems as cozy other months of the year, especially when it is the last bit of warmth before you brave the cold night air. i am not sure if this is an imagined state or reality, it is the way november sits in my mind. snow hangs in the air like a question mark...will it appear today? there is calm in this november and peace, the elements have no control over that. i just keep thanking the universe for all the warm souls who have arrived alongside me lately, i feel like someone is looking out for me and it feels nice. maybe it is my grandma.

trick or treat

on halloween, let's take this opportunity to remember the crazy costumes of our youth. i had a phase where i was edible items...a jar of jelly beans, a pack of gum, a carton of fries. nothing healthy, go figure. my last official year of trick or treating i was a bird -- wore this hoodie coverd in felt feathers with a plastic beak. ironic given my recent run in with a fine feathered friend. in the early years, all i can remember are the converted pjs into clown costumes. sorry no pics but feel free to share your loot. ;)

caution: bird above

ok, folks file this one under strange events that happened while working. most folks know that i spend a portion of my working life doing usability studies, usually in the homes of willing families. so yesterday, i show up to test a few games with an 11 year old girl. she invites me in. we enter into the lair that is the family computer den. she invites me to have a seat. above me is a bird cage, seems harmless enough. we start the session and when the zingy zapper games music starts playing, i hear the loudest SHREEEEEEEEEEEEKKK! that startles me out of my chair. I look up, yes, the bird. so i ask if we can move him, perhaps. she says it's too high for her to reach and her father and mother have departed. so the subtext, is deal sister...the bird stays. a few more minutes pass when i look up and notice that there is a shower of feathers and white floating stuff softly falling on my head. supposedly bird feed, but let me tell you - i am guessing feathers and bird crap too. EW! revolted I jump up and madly start brushing the stuff off. it's even in my HAIR. newly washed so extra absorbant. we move my chair to the other side of the computer where i narrowly escape having air hockey handles jab into my back. better than bird doo. later as i walk back into the safety of my abode, my husband calls out to me...You've got that bird stuff all over your butt! of course, schmarmy 11 year old girl never mentioned this on my way out. ah, such a glamour job, I tell you. such GLAMOUR.

power

we had two power outages yesterday. one around 4 for a few minutes, then another around 5:30pm until about 8pm. the neighbours gathered outside their darkened homes collectively scratching their heads and wondering. we went for tapas in kensington and then came home, lit candles and waited the darkness out. it's funny we kept calling home to see if the answering machine would pick up, a sign the power was back on. kind of like, hello darkness? are you still there? there is something sort of fort-like about these emergency measures, like a secret space in time. i kept a mini flashlight beside the bed just in case. we laughed when the power came back on, the beep of the fire detector, the answering machine...all waking up from their slumber.

good friday

just counting my blessings today...dN brought me the sweetest bundle of mini calla lilies this morning and my mum called to invite me on a belated birthday mum & daughter day in yorkville on sunday...spa + lunch + movie. savour the deluxeness!

early bird

went for an early morning breakfast get together yesterday at the gladstone hotel with an old friend. we had the place to ourselves, a glorious corner seat, soaring high ceilings and smooth lattes. the food was ok, but the company was stellar. it is a good sign when you leave someone's company and feel inspired and energized...i am really noticing the drainers vs. the uplifters lately, trying to edit the time spent with drainers wherever possible. energy and time is too precious to spare.

more absurdity witnessed: scattered white substance

crazy chinese lady next door is back to her old tricks. this time, there is this rank unknown white crystalized substance scattered mid lawn to mid sidewalk. a long haired black chat was seen investigating and nibbling at the stuff. it seems like a cross between detergent and moth balls, some kind of radioactive salt. possibly poisonous? is she warding off bad omens or just sick of Tide? you be the judge.