Stress x 10

The bad weather, absence of sleep and lack of exercise have amplified the stress in my life.  It can be hard to even breath when you feel squeezed from all sides, but breathing can be the most important thing you do in a stressful situation.  So I am taking some deep breaths.

I have also been trying some positive visualization as an alternative to my normal disaster forecasting.  At the moment, my favorite visualization exercise is to imagine your life (the one you are striving for) as a magazine spread.  Glossy happy photos, neat rows of text describing how capable, brilliant, brave, successful  you are (insert your favorite adjective) and a giant drop quote summing it all up.

The magazine spread I keep imagining is pretty elaborate, but looks a tiny bit like this...(below).  The main gist is that finally I have the spark I needed to move on, work through and start being who I want to be... It might seem silly, but this and a little breathing is helping me to stay positive and not give in to doubt and worry...

One of those days.. in a good way!

This time of year, wet and cold is the basic forecast we have in the Pacific Northwest. The meteorologist try to make it sound interesting using such phrases as  mist, mixed precipitation, light drizzle, balmy, light breeze and my favorite, sun breaks.  They all say the same thing, wet and cold.  My first winter here, I heard a forecast that said rain expected through March. This is really the Seattle winter forecast in a nutshell.

So, despite the "balmy mixed precipitation", today I bundled up Pudge and made my way to the Starbucks on the waterfront not too far from our house.  I had a grande nonfat iced mocha with a single shot of decaf, 2 pumps of chocolate and low ice (this is my drink of choice and yes, I am one of those people) and Pudge had a bottle.  I sat her in my lap and we looked out the window and chatted about the view.   (I chatted, she babbled and people starred).  It was really rather nice and I was enjoying myself immensely when out of nowhere, the most amazing thing happened... the sun came out.  (Seattle, winter... trust me sun is a big deal). So we started our day with coffee, a bottle and a walk along the beach. What could be better?
Okay maybe some heat :-)   

So good you want to lick the screen...

Lactation Cookies

I am a huge fan of food blogs. Actually, I like food books, food magazines and just food in general.  When my daily fare starts to look a little sad, I frequently turn to the web for inspiration. 1.) Because cupcake closeups look so good on my big screen and 2.) Because looking up a recipe at work really isn't goofing off. (I mean a girl has to eat and the grocery store is on the way home )


Lately I noticed my selection of food blogs had gotten a little stale, so I did some updating.  I wiped everything off my list except my favorites, 

• Cook and Eat
• Delicious Days
• Pinch My Salt

To those, I added my new favorites, 

• Cooking Light (not a blog, but great recipes)
• Honest Fare (the Pumpkin Pie Smoothie won me over)

My favorite recipe of 2010 was actually medicinal.  The Lactation Cookie Recipe was circulated all over the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit when Pudge was in the hospital.  Made with flax seed, oatmeal and brewer's yeast, the cookie is said to aid in lactation and help boost your milk supply. A medicinal cookie that helps me feed my little baby... sign me up.  Nowadays, Pudge is doing great, but I still love these cookies.  Aside from the health benefits nothing is funnier than handing someone a cookie and casually mentioning they are lactation cookies (preferably when they have a nice mouthful).  One gentleman at the hospital was concerned that having eaten a cookie he might start lactating.."um no!"  So if you are feeling wicked, or could actually benefit from the healthy ingredients, by all means give them a try. 

Vacation Day...

Had the day off today and spent it monkeying around with Pudge.

First Craft of the Season

I have always been a big fan of mobiles and opted for a blank DIY mobile for Pudge's room, so we could change the theme each season.  We had fall leaves up for a long time and I have been meaning to adapt an idea I saw at a Amuse, local stamp shop.  With a little tweaking I was able to create a little brown girl mobile, complete with afro puffs.