I have been on hiatus...sickness...rest...sickness...rest...Katie visiting in town. The Beaches. Dinner At Ciao. Out College Street Bar for some soul. Tequila Shots! Century, Cheval & Tattoo Rock Parlor to finish up the evening...Auditions...Acting Class. Starbucks. Motown Tunes reading of the Anam Cara. Hot Yoga and Yin Yoga up at North York. Hot Yoga Community Class back at Uptown. Group Century. My parents visiting the fabulous T.!Lunch at Hemingways. Stories from the weekend. Late Night Greek food at Christina's. Fantastic waitor. Wedding Dress fitting with my sister. Walks and tea up at Avenue and Eglington. Italian mid afternoon lunch at Amore! Glass of Wine with my dad at 4:00 perfect! Dufflet cake testing. Wiii tournament. Late night snacks at The Gem on Davenport. Hidden away Bar with the best juke box, soul, jazz, showtune music. Amazing atmosphere for late night red wine and tapas! Teeth Cleaned - Walk and browse and Pizza with my mother - who makes me laugh - so dear - at Hey Lucys on Bloor! And then off for the Graduation Experience with my ladies. Beer Bistro - White Wine...Drink at Canoe...Drink at Brassaii - Swedish Hockey Players? And Off to Cobra for a wicked dance party and running into my lovely friend Karla woot woot! To Fun Flirty Females- So Proud of all of you and your endeavors. You are powerful people who are capable of amazing things! Nikki you made my night :) Phone chats with a few old friends....acting class. Focus on Infatuation and Love! Nat, Farrah, Kris, Karla, Matty, Sarah M, Jules and Mama J - Love you all dearly and thank ya thank ya! xoxo Nyood Brunch with my Ladies. Oh boy a lot of Deep V's sported. But I do love a morning Mimosa. New Yoga Friend and Killer Power Flow Class. Thank you Michelle. A Yellow Lululemon Top on sale that makes me very happy in class and new pants. Thank you mom! Lots and Lots of Mom Time! I love this woman. Shopping and meandering and trying on dresses. Dinner at the Universal Grill :) Popcorn. Wedding Invitation Assembly Line. Yes - I was the one putting stamps on the envelopes. Hot Yoga. Hot Pilates. Thank you Anna - Back Body People. Work it out! Running shoe shopping with the mom. Thank you New Balance. AND Homemade Pizza and kitchen banter. Spoiled. Acting Class. Playing Michelle in my friends Pilot. Afternoon Bbm walk and sun, bench, bbm chat with Kristen! Bedford Academy Patio for Lunch. Walk. Tea and my mothers homeade Lemon Buttermilk Cake and Tea. I fully think this whole tea and crumpets thing needs to come back into business. Toronto in the spring :) Karla- Champagne before work and our dance parties are classic! And to my sister. You mean the world. I learn from you everyday. Food Diary: I am way tooo far behind to catch up on every day. One week was definitely filled with a focus on no or little wheat, no citrus fruits, brown rice water. And then there were the days of indulgence that followed thanks to my parents visiting! Bread, Antipasto, Capellini with Roasted Vegetables, Red Snapper with Rice and Flambayed Cheese--- oh yes! Swedish Berries! Summers Homemade Blueberry Frozen Yogurt! Green Tea Bubble Tea and Falafel. Springrolls Tofu and Veg Stirfry! BeerBistro Fries, Fresh Greens, and Amazing Pasta! Indulging Nyood Brunch with a Caesar Shooter to begin! Mimosas! Fruit Share plates. And all sorts of different egg concoctions and french toast! AND The mom continued to spoil my eating habits this week. Lots of Dinners Out and About. Salmon at the Universal Grill, Homemade artichoke, red pepper, tomatoe, & zucchini pizza. Salada at the Bedford. Italian pasta at the beautiful Trattoria with some Pinot Grigio Vereza and a complimentary Tiramasu. Come on. Ridiculous. So Tasty! Umm Have you been to Dessert Trends Toronto People? Well we went there wedding cake tasting - ended up having chocolate ganache, and lemon cheesecake, & gelato tastes. AND stayed for dinner. My tilapia with mushroom ragout. FABULOUS! Not to mention the Roasted Beet and Baba Ganoush Spread with Crostinis they had to start. Along with, of course, my apples, blackberries, cottage cheese and YES I FINALLY TRIED IT the Vanilla Greek Yogurt and my protein shakes and BUBBLE TEA is back rocking my world. So addictive! My eating shall now commence back to something a little bit more routinely. This Indulgence Period. Closed. It was a pleasure!
Gratitude: Everything I listed above. My heart is overflowing. I am not being specific here today -which is not what this is about and not the habit that I want to get in to. BUT Life has happened over these past several weeks. People who aren't always in my life were here and so, time was spent with them. People come first in my life. I look above at all of these moments and I don't know what else has happened over the last several weeks; but it doesn't really matter.
Joy Blast:
This is my mother. I'm Lucky. The smile that forms deep in my belly when she is in my life is strong and so beautiful. She is so intuitive. This woman makes me laugh and find more of my Joy every time I see her. With her I can be silly & honest & grumpy & sensitive. And when she smiles- I look at her and my entire inner being is light!
Reflection: From the Book Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life by Thich Nhat Hanh
AIMLESSNESS
In the WEst, we are very goal oriented. WE know where we want to go, and we are very directed in getting there. This may be useful, but often we forget to enjoy ourselves along the route.
There is a word in Buddhism that means "wishlessness" or "aimlessness." The idea is that you do not put something in front of you and run after it, because everything is already here, in yourself. While we practice walking meditation, we do not try to arrive anywhere. We only make peaceful, happy steps. If we keep thinking of the future, of what we want to realize, we will lose our steps. The same is true with sitting meditation. We sit just to enjoy our sitting; we do not sit in order to attain any goal. This is quite important. Each moment of sitting meditation brings us back to life, and we should sit in a way that we enjoy our sitting for the entire time we do it. Whether we are eating a tangerine, drinking a cup of tea, or walking in meditation, we should do it in a way that is "aimless."
Challenge of the Day: Spring Cleaning. Thanks to my lovely yoga inspiration today Michael. Spend some time cleaning out the insides. Use your breath. Use the breath to make space and get rid of old thoughts & worries & stress that you don't need and make some room to clear your vision and move closer to your Joy! When are you going to let go? In yoga, there is only one answer. The answer is now.
