Journey

Many of you who know me, know that I'm passionate about the plight of victims caught in the sex trafficking industry. Honestly, I can't think of anything worse in life. For many of us, rape is our worst nightmare. The women and children, some as young as six or seven years old, enslaved in the sex trafficking industry deal with this every single day, over and over again.

I've learned so much about this in the past several years about this industry and hold an annual fundraiser of some sort to raise awareness and money for organizations working to end this horrific and barbaric practice.

Below is a five minute video of an art installation in New York City, called "Journey," dedicated to sex trafficking. This was compiled and is narrated by actress Emma Thompson, who I have an even greater respect for now. Please, please watch it.

I wish I could have seen it in person, but the video is amazing. Earlier this week I started thinking about what I could do for this year's event. I'm playing with a few ideas but am always open for suggestions.

Many thanks to Nancy at Shared Hope International who told me about this art installation.

Old to New

In the spirit of the new year, (and just because I really like it,) I'd like to chat about recycling. Not the kind of recycling you do for your plastics, metals, and papers, but recycling clothes, jewelry, and even junk, into new and gorgeous items.


One of the books I received for Christmas was, "New From Old: How to Transform and Customize Your Clothes." What a great book! I'm excited to start re-exploring the art of recycling old stuff into fresh, new things I'll actually wear.


If you're like me and like to dabble in art or creative pursuits, restructuring clothes or accessories is something to look into. Wearable art is a fantastic way to literally wear your art--on your jacket, dress, skirt, jeans or around your neck. I've made jean skirts into art, restructured shirts and am currently working on creating jewelry from straws and yarn (sounds scary but it's pretty--I'll post pics soon). All you need are some old clothes or accessories (excuse to go to the thrift shop), cheap paints, and any other artistic finds you have on hand or find by the side of the road (beads, found metal objects, fringe, etc.).


Of course, one of the best things about this kind of endeavor is that your saving materials which otherwise would end up in the landfill. It's the ultimate recycling plan and lots of fun. Here's are just a few online sites which will help get your creative juices flowing:

• Craftster.org--this is a great place to learn more about restructuring clothes and household items. Lots of tutorials, pictures, and threads of the forum for anything you might be interested in learning more about.
• Etsy--This is a hugely popular crafty site. The products here are for sale but you can use photos of finished products on this awesome site to inspire you. There are often also patterns for sale if you want to create things from scratch.
• Altered Couture magazine--This magazine makes me salivate. You can find it locally at Joann Fabrics and Barnes and Noble. It's full of absolutely beautiful altered clothes. A little pricey though--I always hold out and use my 40% off coupon at Joann's.
  

New year, new you. New decade, too.

Here it is: a new year. What are your hopes and plans? What have you been dreaming of doing for the longest time, that you'll finally begin? Starting an exercise routine? Volunteering with a local nonprofit? Eating more healthfully? Taking a class? Getting organized? Adding more fun and silliness into your day? Starting yoga or giving up cigarettes?

Whatever your dreams are for the year ahead, I wish you much success.

As for me, New Year resolutions are a thing of the past. I'm tired of making a gigantic list of 20 things I want to change in my life and then feeling let down and discouraged when I find the list (usually forgotten in a drawer or notebook somewhere) months later and realize I've met few of my goals.

This year I'm going to continue to ask God for directions on the road. I want to increase my health and energy through healthful eating and exercise, add more creativity back into my life (I'm exploring mixed media jewelry making), make more time for fun and connection with my husband, sisters and friends, and mostly, to remember that my job here on earth isn't what I do to make money, it is something much, much bigger.

Happy Food

Yum-yum-yummy.

There's something wonderfully fulfilling about making pretty food. Maybe it's because I haven't been as crafty as I like to be in other areas of my life lately that I'm taking such an interest in creating attractive food pairings.

Whatever the reason, this salad which was originally going to be veggie roll ups, was divine. Delicious. Scrumptious. Anyway, you get the idea, it was pretty tasty.

I started with bib lettuce then added avocado, carrot ribbons and marinated portobello mushrooms and onions. On top is a scoop of "Not Tuna Pate" from my favorite (and only) raw recipe book, "Raw Food Made Easy." Even if you aren't interested in eating raw foods, this is a fantastic un-cook book filled with easy to make and tasty dishes. I haven't tried anything in there that I haven't liked. Even my carnivore husband enjoyed this salad!

Walking in a winter wonderland

Yesterday, it snowed. And snowed. And then it snowed some more. It was so beautiful, the heavy, sticky snow perfect for making snowpeople and snowballs. I didn't do either of those things, but I did take the little guy out for a jaunt around the yard.

Though the snow changed our plans for the day, I still enjoyed it. Everyone needs a snowday now and then.

Holiday Aftermath

Photo courtesy of Windows XP

Christmas is over, the tree is down, decorations are put away. Most of the holiday parties are done--time to take stock.

I wasn't sure going into last week what to do about healthy eating. Yes, it's important and makes me feel good, but I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings or miss out on annual holiday treats. Somehow I don't think gingerbread cookies would taste the same in July. On the other hand, I didn't want to overindulge and spend the week after Christmas feeling yucky. I decided to wing it.

Here's what I did:

• Made fresh juice two mornings for breakfast with my "new" juicer that my friend Karen gave me. (She's soooo sweet--and so was the juice!)
• Walked and did video workouts when walking wasn't possible most days.
• Told myself to let things slide, to relax, and to enjoy myself.
• Made a raw "cheesecake" to share at my Mom and Dad's holiday dinner. (I give it 3 stars out of 5.)

Here's what I didn't do:

• I didn't stick to eating gluten and dairy-free. But . . .
• I didn't eat any "white" desserts like pie, cookies, candy, etc.
• I didn't have a stress-free holiday, but wasn't really expecting to anyway.

Even though I avoided white sugar (which was almost as hard as I expected), I'm still feeling the after effects of the gluten and dairy. My digestion is all messed up but more annoying is my mood--I feel foggy, sleepy, a little irritable and sad. Some of that may be just the holiday let down, but some I believe is directly related to my food choices. Especially since I started feeling like this before Christmas, but post Taco Bell and one holiday meal.

What about you? How was your holiday eating and how important are annual holiday foods to you?

Holiday Magic

It's hard to believe there are only 4 days until Christmas. Wow--where has the time gone? I'm usually a holiday fanatic--decorating, baking, and partaking in other "Christmas-y ventures." Not so this year. Part of this has to do with having an eight-month old who still isn't sleeping through the night consistently. Part of it is recognizing that a lot of those things--excessive shopping and buying, baking sweets and overeating, and planning so many "essential" holiday activities that I feel overwhelmed--aren't really good for me. I usually arrive at New Year's day feeling broke, bloated, and depleted. Oh, and I usually have a cold because of all the holiday sugar and the messed up sleep schedule.

The holidays can be magical if we don't get caught up in trying to make them perfect. My motto this holiday season is "Try to relax and enjoy." Note the "try to." For a recovering neurotic, I recognize that this will be a challenge!

Remember, eat good foods, take care of yourself, and spread some love this holiday season. I wish you and all of your families peace.