Seeing Double: Inspired Dressing

In honor of Monday's blog post, "It's a Wonder-full Life," I dug deep into the archives to create this week's Inspired Dressing post... Wonder Woman!  My mom made this costume for me for Halloween when I was 4.  Isn't it great? 

Linda Carter as Wonder Woman

Yours Truly as Wonder Woman

Have a Great Day!

It's a Wonder-full life.

Last week, I told you about the book Attitudes of Gratitude (if you haven't read the blog post yet, click here to read it now).  It's not a long book and it's one that you will want to read over and over so if you haven't picked it up or ordered yourself a copy yet, make sure you do!  I'm actually only on the 4th "lesson" as I'm following the author's advice: 

This is not a book to be read at one sitting.  Rather, I encourage you to read one chapter and let it sink in for a while- a day, two days, even a week of longer- before moving onto the next.  Since gratitude is both an attitude and a practice, you need time to integrate the learnings so they can become truly yours, and not something you just read, put away, and forget.

The 4th lesson is about how Gratitude Makes Us Young.  M.J. Ryan describes how children look at the world with curiosity and how everything is new, exciting and full of wonder.  This reminded me of a little girl I saw on the street with her Mom last week.  She looked up at her Mom and said "Let's run" and then took off laughing and running down the sidewalk.  (I swear I'm not making this up for the sake of this blog post. It really happened.  Here's proof... I snapped this photo when I caught up to them at the corner while they were waiting to cross the street).

Anyway, as soon as the light turned and they crossed the street, the little girl said the same thing again, "Let's run," and she laughed and ran down the sidewalk.  It made me think about how something as simple as running is fun and exciting when you're little and that somehow, as we get older, running becomes something we have to do in gym class, a distance we have to run in a certain amount of time, something we do for exercise, for health and for weight management.  We certainly don't run for fun anymore, well most of us anyway. 

I realize that as we get older we become skeptical, we think that there has to be a reason or a purpose for everything.  If it doesn't have purpose, it's a waste of time.  Well, it's time to stop looking at the world through shattered lenses and to put the rose-colored glasses of youth back on.  It's time to notice again, that the world is a place full of wonder.

I'm going to put this philosophy into practice this week.  I'm going to be more observant of my surroundings and am going to make an effort to see the wonder and beauty around me, even if I'm in a rush or having a bad day... especially when I'm in a rush or having a bad day. 

This week, I'm going to post a picture each day on the Fresh Equation facebook page of something wonder-full that I encounter.  I'm also going to open the Fresh Equation facebook page for 1 week so that you can share your pictures of the wonder-full things that you notice, discover, appreciate and are grateful for this week.  So pop over to the Fresh Equation facebook page now and share a picture of something wonder-full you came across this weekend or a comment of what you are grateful for. And what better day to start being more grateful and appreciative than today?

Happy Memorial Day

Have a great day!

Seeing Double: Inspired Dressing

Last week's post got such a great response (thank you!) that I'm going to  include this "original way/my way" concept as a regular feature on Fresh Equation.  I hope this new Seeing Double: Inspired Dressing feature inspires you to shop your own closet and to wear what you already own!

http://www.fashionhippieloves.com/

Yours Truly Photo Credit: Bryn Sanders

Have a great day!

One of my favorite things to do is...

One of my favorite things to do when I have free time is to go to Barnes and Noble to flip through books and magazines that look interesting.  That's how I came across Attitudes of Gratitude.  The book technically consists of 5 chapters but it's really a compilation of 60 short anecdotes about how to incorporate gratitude into your everyday thoughts.

These are some of my favorites quotes from the book so far:

Gratitude creates happiness because it makes us feel full, complete; gratitude is the realization that we have everything we need, at least in this moment.

All of us are free to change our minds, and as we change our minds, our experiences will also change.

One of the incredible truths about gratitude is that it is impossible to feel both the positive emotion of thankfulness and a negative emotion such as anger or fear at the same time.

Gratitude helps us track success, to notice what is right in our lives... instead of what is wrong.

And those are only from the first chapter!

We can't always control what happens in our lives but we can control how we think about and react to each situation.  For those of you that read my blog post from last week, you know that How you do one thing is how you do everything (for those of you that didn't, click here to read it now).  Doesn't it then make sense then that How you think about one thing is how you think about everything?  Thinking of all of the things that you have to be grateful for can change your entire mindset.

If you don't believe me, there's even scientific evidence* to back it up.  After counting their blessings for one week...

• 92% of people felt happier and 94% of people who said they were depressed felt less depressed.
• 90% of people found that expressing gratitude made them more joyful
• 84% said it reduced stress and depression, and helped create optimism
• 78% said it gave them more energy
• Research also shows that being grateful means you'll take better care of yourself.
• Folks who kept a weekly gratitude journal had fewer physical problems and exercised more regularly, ate better and got regular checkups

That's pretty incredible!  So what are you waiting for?  Start thinking about one thing that you're grateful for right now and watch how your perspective on everything changes... because How you think about one thing is how you think about everything. 

Have a great day!

*As quoted on Attitudes of Gratitude pgs 14-15

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How you do one thing is how you do everything.

I recently attended an inspiring Health conference hosted by two of my mentors in the industry.  On the second day, they presented us with this statement:

How you do one thing is how you do everything.

As soon as they said it, a light bulb seemed to go off for everyone in the room and they all nodded in agreement at this revelation.  They all seemed to get it.  But honestly, I couldn't figure out what it meant. How could the way I check my email, the way I spend money, or the way I dress have anything at all to do with the way I watch TV, the way I read a book, the way I eat or the the way I cook? 

How you do one thing is how you do everything.

It sounds so profound yet, how could it be true?  In an effort to figure out what this might mean, I started to break down the things I do on a regular basis.

When I check my email, I have all 3 of my email accounts open at once, I have facebook open, pinterest and usually at least one other blog or article open that I'm in the midst of reading.  So even when I'm "checking my email," I'm never just checking my email.  If something else beeps, rings, flashes or seems more interesting, I'm easily sidetracked and often lose sight of what I was doing in the first place... which was checking my email. 

This, I realized, is how I read books and how I watch TV.  If I hear about a good book, I have to have it... now.  I read it until someone recommends a different book that I just have to have immediately.  I buy that book and read it until I come upon a review of yet another book that I have to have... you get the picture.  So I read a lot of books without ever really finishing any of them.

When it comes to TV, I'm not much better.  My husband can't stand to watch TV with me (lucky for him, I don't do it very often) because I start out watching one show until a commercial comes on or I get bored and I turn the channel to look for something better (unless it's HGTV, in which case I shamelessly watch whatever show is on and don't even consider changing the channel).  We end up watching the beginning of one show, the middle of another, part of a 2 hour movie and the end of another show.   

How you do one thing is how you do everything.

But what about shopping?  Let's see... when I shop, it's usually online because I don't have the patience for dressing rooms or crowds and I love the satisfaction of being able to purchase something at the exact moment I decide that I want it. Anyway, I don't shop often, but when I do, it's a wallet draining shopping spree that includes almost everything on my wish list and anything else that catches my eye along the way.  In the end, I usually wind up returning most of it because the excitement has worn off and I start to remember all of the reasons why I would be better off just putting the money into my savings account. 

So what does this have to do with how I eat?  Well, I normally eat very healthfully.  But, when I splurge, it's an all out indulgence fest.  I buy my favorite foods and treats and prepare them in portion sizes normally reserved for family style dinners.  Before things get too out of control, I usually remember all of the reasons why I generally choose fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats and I end up throwing most of the indulgent food away.  Sound familiar?

How you do one thing is how you do everything.

If you follow my blog, you're familiar with the way I cook.  I find a recipe that looks and sounds good and I follow about 1/3 of it.  1/3 is adjusted to suit my personal taste. 1/3 is adjusted because I don't have the items on hand that are called for in the recipe.  The outcome is usually something that resembles the original recipe but totally suits my taste and I don't even miss the ingredients  that I had to omit or replace.

As for my personal style, it's a mix of inspiration from magazines/blogs, pieces in my closet that I love and the help of my stylist (and sister), Bryn of Byrdie (check out her blog here).  1/3 of my outfit is usually inspired by a magazine tear or post from a style blog.  1/3 of my outfit is adjusted to suit my personal taste.  1/3 is adjusted because, sadly, I don't have an Hermes Birkin, a Cartier Love bracelet or the adorable J.Crew heels that Olivia Palermo is wearing in the photo below.  So, I make do with the next closest thing in my closet.  

How you do one thing is how you do everything.

Normally I share my recipes with you, but in the spirit of this post, I thought it would be fun to share with you how I interpret my outfit inspiration and how, just like when you start with a recipe, you can usually come up with something pretty darn close and equally amazing with what you already have on hand.

Olivia Palermo

Yours Truly Photo Credit: Bryn Sanders

What I learned from all of this is that I'm easily distracted, seek instant gratification and don't always finish what I start but that I'm also pretty resourceful and don't waste time on things that I don't have the patience for or don't enjoy.  And in the end, I'm usually happy with the results whether it be the dinner I made, the one item I end up keeping after a major shopping spree or the part of the book that I read first because it sounded the most interesting to me.

How you do one thing is how you do everything.

Have a great day!

Think of it as a dinnertime version of breakfast...

Whole Living had a recipe for Baked Eggs in Whole Roasted Tomatoes in their most recent issue.  I was talking to a (very talented) friend, Jemme Aldridge*, recently and she told me that she had tried it so I asked her to share her results.

Photo Credit: Whole Living

From Jemme:

The original recipe is from Whole Living.  Here is my version...

• preheat oven to 400
• slice off top of an organic tomato, scoop out most of inside
• place tomato in baking dish
• drizzle tomato with EV olive oil 
• chop up a garlic clove, fresh rosemary, fresh oregano, thyme and sprinkle on tomato
• broil tomato until tender (about 30 minutes)
• crack an egg in tomato (sprinkle with sea salt & fresh cracked pepper )
• broil again until egg is cooked (only a few minutes )
• serve over couscous, salad, asparagus, etc...

I love cooking the egg until it has the texture of a poached egg, so that when you break into it, it becomes like a sauce for whatever is below.  The picture below shows it over Moroccan couscous.  Think of it as a dinnertime version of breakfast...

Photo Credit: Jemme Aldridge

This sounds delicious.  Thanks for sharing, Jemme!

Have a great week,

 

*When you click through to Jemme's blog, you will see a warning that you need to accept to view her blog.  This is just due to the nature of some of the beautiful artwork on her site.