Keep Calm

Gwyneth

I love Gwyneth Paltrow! I have always liked her, but since recently subscribing to her blog Goop, I have fell in love. She is so down to earth and full of really great information.

One thing that Gwyneth has introduced me to is Tracy Anderson and her workout method. This morning I followed along to one of her videos and I am already sore.  I have attached one of her fun videos below that was filmed for Gwyneth. You can learn more about Tracy and Gwyneth's blog Goop by clicking here.

Cooler Cleanse

Last week I had the privilege to try and review a one day juice cleanse by Cooler Cleanse. Cooler Cleanse is a company that has developed a nutritional cleanse that fills your body with all the nutrients and vitamins that may have been missing.The juices are mostly organic and they are endorsed by celebrity Selma Hayek, who says it is her go to to get red carpet ready.  Customers have four options to choose from when cleansing: a 3-day, 5-day, custom, or raw food + cleanse. Until now, Cooler Cleanse could only be used if you lived within the New York area, but on July 19 they began shipping nationwide.  

I was so excited to get my juices which arrived in an overnight box from New York. They arrived cold and fresh at my door before 10 a.m.  

Each bottle was labeled with numbers so I would know which juice to drink next. I began drinking immediately in the morning and I had a juice ever 2-3 hours.  There were five juice flavors: a green juice, a grapefruit mint, a red juice with beets and apples, young coconut water, and nut milk sweetened with dates. The green juice was really light and fresh, and not too sweet. The grapefruit mint juice was my favorite. It was delicious! It was the perfect mix of tang and sweet. The mint kept the flavor lingering in my mouth after I was finished. I have actually craved more of the grapefruit mint juice since finishing the cleanse and thanks to the custom plan I can order more anytime.   

The red juice was a little hard for me to swallow for some reason. I liked the flavor, but I think I was beginning to have my full on juice. The coconut water was refreshing and the nut milk was like a dessert, almost too sweet.

Overall I really enjoyed the cleanse and I would do it again except next time I would have more grapefruit mint juice and maybe skip the nut milk and coconut water.  I was not hungry the whole day. As a matter of fact, at the end of the day I was almost too full. I had plenty of energy, felt fantastic, and I lost a pound. 

The cost of the cleanse is about 58.00 a day plus shipping and handling. The price is pretty high, but it would cost way more for you to juice all these fruit and vegetables at home, so in the end I think it is worth it.

For those of you who are new to cleansing, their website Coolercleanse.com offers a quick cooler cleanse overview, which I posted below:

Stage 1:

• Choose the Cooler Cleanse that is right for you.
• Check our schedule for the start date that suits you best and check availability.
• Place your order. If desired, order The Raw Cooler for one to three days before your Cooler Cleanse.
• Book any treatments such as massages and colonics you may want during or right after your Cooler Cleanse.
• For one to three days before the juices arrive, begin eating the Cooler way.

Stage 2:

• Receive your first delivery of juices packed in ice the morning you begin your Cooler Cleanse.
• Follow the juice cleanse process as outlined here, for all three or five days. Remember to include optional enhancement activities or treatments when possible.
• If you are doing the 5-Day cleanse, you will receive a second delivery of juices.

Stage 3:

• After the last day, transition out of the juice cleanse for one to three days by eating the Cooler way.
• Gradually return to regular eating habits at your own pace. Do not return immediately to lavish, rich meals!
• Take some time to notice how certain foods and drinks you consumed automatically before the cleanse make you feel now. Many people find this is a natural time to let go of some unhelpful habits. 

Happy Cleansing!

Move over Susan Lucci.....

I found a brand new Malibu Pilates machine with 3 workout dvd's at the Goodwill this weekend for only $40.00! It retails for $315.00. I almost screamed out loud when I saw it.  Susan Lucci swears by this machine and I have logged many infomercial hours being convinced that it has been the fitness tool I have been missing. The husband is not convinced....yet.

(It is sitting in the living room right now.)

Friend

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares."
— Henri J.M. Nouwen (The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey)

Smoky Eyes

Recently MyBlogSpark and Covergirl sent me an amazing package full of Covergirl Smoky Eye Kits to try.  There were 3 Smoky Eye Look Kits  included in the package and I spent several hours playing with each. Covergirl offers a Natural Look kit, a Bold Look Kit, and a Glam Look Kit. Each Kit included a Smoky ShadowBlast, Exact Liquid Line, and a LashBlast Mascara, so it was easy as 1-2-3.

Personally, my favorite is a combo of the Natural Look Kit Eye Liner and ShadowBlast with the Bold Look Kit Mascara. I have never really liked shadow "sticks" in the past, because the shadow would begin to crease as the day went on. Surprisingly, the ShadowBlast did not crease like the ones I have used in the past. I loved how the liner glided on and the mascara made my lashes really pop. You can learn more by looking at www.smokyeyelook.com or facebook.com/COVERGIRLMakeupMaster.

Happy Birthday America!

YardSale Find

I found this great madras dress at a local yard sale for only $0.50. What?!?! Amazing.

"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Oh, too often I have a small mind.

Ebates=Rebates

I love Ebates! I do a lot of my shopping online and with Ebates I have made money while doing it. I have received $36.53 just for shopping though their site. If you have never heard of this site, it is worth checking out. You basically just sign up on their site and when you find something on the internet that you want to buy, log in to their site, find the store you are buying from in their list, click on it and get a percentage back on what you buy. Plus they offer a lot really great coupons! Here it is step by step:

1. Click here to sign up.(You get $5.00 just for signing up.)
2. Browse the lists of stores that offer back a percentage of its sales.(Make sure to check for coupons.)
3. Click through the link on Ebates to your favorite site.
4. Purchase items as normal.
5. Receive a Big Fat Check! just for shopping.

Fabulous Thrift Store Find!

Today I got a great thrift store find! It is a brand new Land's End Pea Coat. The coat retails for $149.50 on the Land's End website and today I got it at the local Goodwill for $5.49!! Even though I have to wait a while to wear it, this thrift store find was fabulous!

J. Crew or Homemade?

I saw a simple clutch from J. Crew that I really liked, but it cost $88.00! What!?! I decided to try and revamp one of my own old clutches to get the same great look for a lot less buck. Here are the instructions and results:

I started with an old fake Louis, several designer tacs, and 1/2 of a yard of silky fabric.

I took the clutch and began to drape it in the fabric, tacking the fabric in place.

I then pulled the excess fabric over to the left side and twisted it into a bud, using fabric glue to secure to the other fabric.

Ta Da. What do you think? Not exactly the same, but better than $88.00.

Faith

"I have a lot of faith. But I am also afraid a lot, and have no real certainty about anything. I remembered something Father Tom had told me–that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns."  — Anne Lamott (Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith)

Hope

 

Shawshank Redemption

When memories are greater than vision, you have already started dying. 

-Jim Downing

Spring

Lilly

True

Impossible by Hmedley2007 on Polyvore.com

Often too true for me. I long to believe what is TRUE.

Friendship

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, "What! You too? I thought I was the only one!"

~CS Lewis

Photo:  CarbonNYC via Flickr

A disciple asks the rabbi, “Why does the Torah tell us to ‘place these words upon your hearts?’ Why does it not tell us to place these holy words in our hearts? The rabbi answers, “It is because as we are, our hearts are closed, and we cannot place the holy words in our hearts. So we place them on top of our hearts. And there they stay until, one day, the heart breaks and the words fall in.”

(Parker Palmer, “The Broken-Open Heart,” Weavings XXIV:2, p. 11)

Somethings Can't be Learned, They Must be Remembered.

The following clip is from the Legend of Bagger Vance. I recently saw this movie for the first time. It was quite an emotional experience for me that I did not expect. The movie had so many levels to it. I loved the symbolism and complexity of the story line. In my favorite clip, Rannulph Junuh has carried the weight of something that happened to him for too long. It has paralyzed him to really move forward in life, and has caused him to forget who he once was. In the scene Bagger Vance, who seems to me to be symbolic of God in his life, speaks truthful yet tenderly with him. He calls Junuh out of the shadows that has held him and into the light of hope, reminding him of who he really is and reassuring him that he is and was never alone. Beautiful.

Quotes on Grief

Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break.  

~William Shakespeare

Sorrow makes us all children again - destroys all differences of intellect.  The wisest know nothing.  

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.  

~From television show The Wonder Years

When a person is born we rejoice, and when they're married we jubilate, but when they die we try to pretend nothing has happened. 

~Margaret Mead

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 

~Psalm 34:18

In order to emerge from a state of loss and grief, and begin a new life, people need not so much a therapist as friends who are prepared to walk with them. 

~Jean Vanier