indie in corporate beauty

space nk finds its space in bloomingdales - finally corporate is listening to the little people! space nk, great for introducing uniquely fresh brands sheds some much needed light on what seemed to be grandma's stomping ground.

almost homemade but definitely custom xmas gift

the return of the love note. instead of handwriting i have opted to type 100 personal minicards for my honey using moo.com for $19.99. moo.com is a quaint little brit site that lets you create bcards, gift cards and mini cards. why i'm obsessed with everything mini, not sure, but i am and this definitely satiated my urge for stationery and miniatures.

in addition to the minicards, they have mini card holders - what's not to love. merry little xmas early.

just when life slows down i have to take on more

a promotion, an assistant (well, at least until today - 3 weeks later, it just wasn't working out), and now a yoga class - me teaching to 7th graders, i'm just hoping that at least a few of them are shorter than me, but i guess we'll have to see in this day of steroid-pumped foods.

life was almost starting to get into a relaxing pattern and then wham, there i go again, add more stuff to my plate - i think i am suffering from activity obesity which often results in self-inflicted stressful situations. but i am attempting a new approach in which i am aware of my choices and that i control how i feel about things - so if there is something negative happening my attempt is to turn it into something positive. let's just call it operation 'under the leaf;' as i try to find the brighter side of me.

living alone

i have always been very independent, but have always had a roommate for financial reasons and now because of love. i have never really lived alone, but two months of every year i come pretty close to it. for the past three years, my boyfriend leaves for tour for the months of november and december.

i have found that i go through the same cycle of emotions. before he leaves, i gear up on extra-curricular activities to keep myself busy. for example, this year i took an additional yoga teacher training course on monday nights, taught a kids' yoga class on thursday mornings, and then on fridays a speech class after work. for the first few days i feel rather sad and don't really go anywhere else besides my obligated places (i.e. work, classes). then i create some ambitious goals for myself. this year it was a 5-day cleanse, learning to meditate and going to the gym. i am actually proud to say that i have achieved most of the initial parts of my goals - however keeping up with the meditating and gym has been less consistent than i would like. now i am back to the point where i feel lonely, unmotivated to clean my apartment and yet find myself touching on insomnia-esque sleep patterns (hence this blog at 5:30am on a sunday morning). i do hang out with my friends, but often cut it short or make up lame excuses to not go at the last minute and i am not sure why. instead i find myself zoning out watching tv and 'window' shopping online.

i guess this time of year allows me to gain perspective - i look back on my relationship, remember what i love about it and also how i think i need to change to make it even better. i look at my job, go back and forth about if this is what i really want to do or if i should just quit and focus on yoga - and then i usually come to the conclusion that i love it and can do both as long as i prioritize what is important to me. so maybe loneliness is not such a bad thing after all...i think from now on i will refer to it as alone time.