Little Haven

I HAVE A NEIGHBOR, and she has been my neighbor as long as i've lived in my apartment complex- about 4 years now. She is an older woman, completely normal and grey in the sense thta she physically calls absolutely no attention, yet to me she is elusive and mysterious.

    In the spring you see her in the early early morning- she drinks a cup of tea/coffee and often has her camera in hand; she snaps pictures of the sunrise, the sunset. She sometimes takes her dinners outside if the weather is nice,

  In the summer she really becomes an enigma- she is out for hours in the late afternoon. She tends to her flowers and mini garden that is set up on her balcony. She sometimes builds boxes for them. I hear her sawing and nailing away. She likes to drink what i think is red wine at dusk and take pictures; of her plants and flowers,of the sunset, of people too I assume.  She makes me wonder if she has an indoor botanic garden of sorts- she never has her lights on in the evening, so i've never been able to tell.

     Come fall and winter she appears less often. I use to only see her outside when she walked her dog, but since he passed away i now only see her on her balcony.  Sometimes you see her during these cold days with a steaming cup of enigmatic brew, camera in hand.  She takes pictures of the trees and of the icicles that hang around her patio, of fluffed up little birds- of a great many things.

 

    I wonder a great many things about this woman. What is her name? what does she do?  I wonder if she has loved ones, as i have never seen a guest on her balcony. I wonder if she has anyone to come home to. I wonder what she likes to do other than tend to flowers and plants, and snap pictures of lovely little creatures. I wonder if she loves; and i wonder if she loves passionately, and i imagine that she does.

    I imagine she loves so passionately because she lives so passionately within her own little world- and she seems to love it intensely.  she appears to savour each moment shes on her balcony, she doesnt take a sunrise or sunset for granted; ive seen her face as she takes it in; she gulps it down and lets it warm her.  

    She has taught me a very valuable lesson- that it doesnt matter where we find ourselves in our journey across life, but it's how we choose to savor as we walk through it.  She has made her situation in life something lovely, bohemian, sensual. She savors her moments regardless of what is whirling around in the chaos of the cotidian. 

     I now make a concous effort to savor the cotidian, the mundane.  I attempt to make it poetic and sensual. Have i been able to pull this off with the same amount of finesse and pleasure that she appears to do so? Not a chance, but I plan on working towards that. 

Have a lovely day! You have the power to make it so !

Much love, 

Celina

Company Rave: SheaTerra Organics

MY SON HAS DELICATE SKIN. whenever he gets too hot or the weather gets too warm he breaks out into a heat rash and eczema at once; and it will stay for months on end.  When my son first broke out in eczemaic heat rash nothing helped; not otc creams, not baby lotions, not body butters, not even prescription sterioids. 

I didn't fee; comfortable loading my son's delicate skin with steroids.  So after thorough reserch on eczema, I came across an article that stated that patient's with moderately severe eczema had full remission after using Tamanu oil.  Further research sent me to SheaTerra Organics. I ordered a bottle of Tamanu oil, slathered it all over my son's skin-and BAMM he was in remission after about 10 days.

Their packaging is lovely, it comes in a glass amber vial with a dropper, which makes me feel comfortable because i know that the oil is being protected from photodamage or degredation.  What i didnt like is that after about 4 months of use on my son's skin, the dropper suddenly started leaking this strange, black goo from the rubber part. 

By this time my son's skin was perfect, so I just set the bottle aside and totally forgot about it.  Now that summer was coming i wanted to be prepared; but wait- uh oh, i had forgotten to get in contact with SheaTerra about this. by this time it had been 10-11 months.  I was sure they weren't going to do anything about it, but i figured it was worth a shot.

So i emailed SheaTerra and explained my situation. i was shocked when i received an email THE FOLLOWING MORNING letting me know that a replacement bottle had been shipped and  they provided me with a confirmation and tracking number, no questions asked and no pictures for proof were necessary. SERIOUSLY? AWESOME!!! When the parcel arrived, i was pleasantly surprised that they threw in a few freebies- a very generous sample of a sage and cinnamon bath soap and a sample vial of Ootanga oil (it smells lovely, like shea butter and has the consistancy and color of argan oil).

  the oil is a lovely viscous oil, its thinner than castor but thicker than olive.  It has a color similar to chartreuse, and it has an..interesting scent.  IMO it smells of uncooked bacon and earth...Bad description, sorry. :)

lovely color and luxurious texture

the oil rubbed in. (using it to treat the burn on my hand)

And best of all, they have changed their packaging- now its a sturdy little pump dispenser, which i love as its easier to use.

How wonderful is a company that they are so quick to take care of a customer's concerns. SheaTerra Organics really went above and beyond what was expected of them, they have, by far, THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED; no really.

I hope you will check out their lovely website. They have an extensive array of skincare items; cleansers, oils, steaming syrups, butters and such.  They are VERY affordably priced when compared to companies offering the same exotic oils-- at twice the cost for half the amount...tisk tisk.

I hope you will check out SheaTerra Organics; They are a wonderful company who knows how to keep their patrons happy.

I'd like to know, what oils do you use for your skin ailments?

Have a lovely weekend!

Celina
 

Ps- some info on Tamanu oil here
      SheaTerra Organics website here

Healthy Habits:Eat your greens!

WHEN I WAS A CHILD, I LOOOOVED MY VEGETABLES.  Then when i became pregnant with my son, all that changed- i wanted nothing to do with vegebles, and eating them was a massive chore.  Now I am trying to get back into my veggie-loving ways. As a parent I know that my child is an echo of my language and my habits.  I want him to love vegetables and to really embrace a healthy lifestyle. So these are the the habits that i have been trying to institutionalize in my household- starting with me.

1. VEGGIES ARE NUMBER ONE.  In order to make sure that i get my day's worth of vegetables, i make sure that every meal has veggies. I throw veggies in my omelet, snack on baby veggies (baby sweet peppers or carrots with hummus, now peas/bean pods, beets drizzled with olive oil, lemon juice salt and pepper, for example), have a salad with beans and rice and will usually have a salad or veggie soup for dinner. Also, i try to eat my vegetables first, so that i get want i need  versus gorging on what looks tasty ( lasagna I am lookin right at you).

2. BE SNEAKY.  I read once that Jennifer Garner sneaks veggies into the family meals, and that she favors putting squash into the maccaroni and cheese.  Since then i stole her tip and i put vegetables into everything i can.  If a soup calls for a chicken base, i just puree tomatoes and zucchini's and use that as my base instead. If i make a bean burger, i dice vegetables up and add it to the patties (usually this is whatever vegetable is starting to look sad and limp in my crisper).  When I make smoothies or juice, it mostly vegetables with a pear, apple, or orange to sweeten it up.

3. HAVE A BIG GULP. Since i mentioned juice and smoothies, i think i'll elaborate.  Make a smoothie or a juice for breakfast or to accompany breakfast.  That way you consume what your body needs up front- you will be more productive and have more energy throughout the day.  It is important to note that i try to drink my juice within the first hour of preparing it; the nutrients and powerful antioxidants in these vegetables start to oxidise after exposed to air, so gulp it up to reap the most benefits of intact nutrients.

4.  FAT IS YOUR FRIEND.  Some people dont like to eat salads because it doesn't keep them satieted for very long. So add some fat! Fat is actually good for us, it is essential to brain function, and it composes the cell walls of every single cell in our body- they are an essential allie and should be treated as such.  Don't eat your greens with nothing on them; add avocadoes, make an olive oil based vinaigrette ( My favorite dressing is equal parts EVOO and balsamic vinager, pink himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper). Salad dressings take literally seconds to prepare and are so good for us its shocking.  So don't buy into all the hype that you have to go fat free- a healthy fat is exponentially better than the chemical-ridden, fat-free options on the shelf.  In addition to fat being essential for our existance, they are also much better at keeping us satieted for longer periods of time than veggies alone.  It takes the stomach a long time to break down fats,keeping you feel fuller longer.  Also, vitamin A, D, E, and K cannot be absorbed without fats-so thoroughly enjoy that guacamole with your salad!

So, there you go! these are the things i have been doing to make vegetables part of my all day, everyday lifestyle.  I'd like to know, what do you do to make sure you get your veggies?

Have a lovely day!

Celina

Cookbook: Sweet Potato and Rutabage (aka Swede) soup

THIS IS PROBABLY THE EASIEST MEAL TO MAKE. In fact it is so easy, i just put everything into a pot and walked away.  This recipe calls for sweet pototo and rutabaga. I have made this with both the red and white variety of sweet potatoes and they are both lovely.  Today's version has rutabaga and idaho potatoes, as that is all I had on hand.  The original recipe goes as follows:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups rutabagas, cut into 1 inch peices
2 1/2 cups sweet potatoes, cut into 1 inch peices
4 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
1/2 cup milk
1 cup apple cider
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in pan.

2. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent.

3. Add sweet potato and rutabaga to pan. ( I also added carrot matchsticks to add more sweetness as I

   was using the Idaho potatoes instead).
4 . Cover with chicken stock.( I love the Trader Joe's chicken broth. It's flavorful, organic and low

sodium:)

5 Bring to a boil.
6 Cover and simmer 30 minutes or until veggies are soft.
7 Add milk and cider and mix with an immersion blender. (i didnt add either as i didn't have apple

cider and i didnt want a dairy note in this soup).
8 Add salt and pepper to taste.

Et Voila! You have yourself a dinner that is hearty; feeding both the body and soul.  It is particularly lovely with a slice of crusty bread and a drizzle of olive oil and garlic :)

The Verdict: It really is a lovely soup, it touches on alot of different taste notes. It is also satisfying, but it isn't heavy or overly fatty soup, so you don't feel slightly uncomfortable or ill after eating it.  I also add other spices such as paprika, oregano, cumin, etc. And I most enjoy this with pink Himalayan salt- i feel that it adds a little something that regular sea salt just doesn't.

Bon appetit!

Celina

Book Review: The Sugar Queen

    I ADORE BOOKS, I always have. I use to skip school when i was younger and just read! Now, as an adult, working mother who goes to school I no longer have that luxury.  I decided that this summer i was going to catch up on lost time and read as much as i could.  

    Among other books, I've read Sarah Addison Allen's book, "Sugar Queen". And honestly, I loved this book.  This is what Fifty Shades of Grey or the Twilight series should have been.  Sarah's writing is down to earth, clean but not too clean (she pops in a bad word or a mildly racey scene enough to keep it real), and her style of writing engages you and keeps you hooked from the first paragraph.  

     So, the book is about a woman named Josey Cirrini- 27 years old who lives with her seventysome odd year old mother (bitter broad). Josey tolerates her mother's insufferable and condescending manners in hopes her mother will  forgive her for earlier life events (can't say what-don't want to spoil anything). And Josey is miserable, so miserable she has made herself numb and comforts herself with sweets-- an UNGODLY amount of sweets. Out of nowhere one day the town rough and wild resident, Della Lee appears- in her closet-and literally turns Josey's world upside down. 

      As you read the book you see this quiet, self-doubting, introverted,friendless, guilty feeling woman blossom into an assertive, brave woman who realizes that she is the only one who can control her life,that the only approval that matters is her own, and that she and only she can can make herself happy.  Along the way we meet wonderful people; Brad, the mailman she has been longing for since the day she laid eyes on him, Chloe who becomes her close friend very quickly, Margaret- the bitter broad who you greatly dislike but at the end realize she is only human (so you don't hate her as much by the end). 

    This book is a wonderful, light read. It will make you laugh and turn the page- and there is enough tension between the protagonist and her love interest to keep you turning the pages to find out what happens. The love scenes are believable, detailed enough to really get your mind going, but not at all vulgar (ahem, im speaking to you Fifty nasty Shades of Grey).  Im 27 and i enjoy it, i would feel comfortable letting a 16 year old read it, but probably not any younger; as it is definately an adult book. 

  I think what is most endearing about this book is the magic that surrounds these people; the subtly magical land they live on, and the magical people and occurances that sprinkle their lives is just lovely and refreshing! Who said that an adult book had to be depressing, disturbing, or overly sexed? 

  All in all, its a lovely, fast, and refreshing read.  It's like a glass of pink lemonaide in the summer sun- you will feel all smiles, warm and sunny when you are done! I highly recommend it!

  I hope you will check in soon for my review on Sarah Addison Allen's first book, Garden Spells ( I actually read this one first!)

Until next time, many blessing and smiles!

Celina  :)


p.s- Author's fb page:  here
        The BEST fifty shades of Grey review EVER here 
        To buy the author's book: here