Vegan Food Swap

Earlier this month I came across the Vegan Food Swap. I thought it would be an awesome idea so I signed up. The swap rules were to send a package of vegan goods to your swap partner (staying under $20) and include a handwritten note, then blog about the experience. 

I've been vegan for about four months now and I am always eager to try new vegan food. I thought this would be a fun way to discover food items that may not be available in my area. 

Plus, I love swapping mail. 

Yesterday my food box arrived from Elisa of Elisa In Real Life.

My package included:

- A bag of Uncle Jerry's handmade pretzels. Each pretzel is rolled and twisted by hand and baked in a stone hearth oven. They are delicious!

- A package of multigrain squares. They are a great snack and I enjoy them more than the typical thick and round rice cake.

- Two containers of soup - tortilla soup with baked chips and pad thai noodle soup. I am looking forward to trying them because I love soup.

- A bottle of aged Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, yay!

This was a super fun swap and I am looking forward to the next one. A big thank you to Elisa for the package and Cat (The Verdant Life) for putting the Vegan Swap together.

Book Review: How To Become A Famous Writer Before You're Dead by Ariel Gore

I decided to read How To Become A Famous Writer Before You’re Dead by Ariel Gore because I had read The Mother Trip and enjoyed Gore’s writing style and humor. 

How To Become A Famous Writer Before You’re Dead gave me more inspiration and guidance than I could have ever hoped. It is a practical guide for writers who are interested in being published. Ariel Gore covers basic writing advice, self-promotion, and incorporates interviews with various writers, including Michelle Tea and Margaret Cho. 

I am very much drawn to the do-it-yourself lifestyle. Ariel Gore made me feel self-publishing books is completely attainable and realistic. She does a great job of balancing DIY publishing with information about agents and submitting literary work to authors and editors. 

I appreciate how Ariel Gore shares her background of being a single mom and finding the time to write despite the hectic moments of life. As a mother of three kids, I can relate and she gives me the motivation to write more and make fewer excuses. 

I leave you with one of my many favorite pieces from this book.

I write during the day when my daughter is at school. I write at night when everyone is sleeping. I write in the morning before they get up. I write in the afternoon when my daughter is on the phone. I bought a blue velvet couch at a garage sale and put it out on the covered porch and it became my office. I've picked up the pace. If I get an hour, I can write five pages. It's nothing Kerouac would have been proud of. Fuck Kerouac.

Feel like a Goddess! DIY Sugar Scrub ~ Guest Blogger, Shai Smith

Growing up, I was never much of a girly girl. I wasn’t allowed to wear make-up, didn’t buy my own clothes, and washed my hair with the family bottle of Pert shampoo. Looking or feeling beautiful was just never a priority.  Then, after learning how to make my own laundry detergent, I started scouring the internet for other cheap, homemade products to help my frugal, young family while also helping the earth, and I just happened across the wonders of homemade bath products.  Since then, I’ve become an addict.  While I’m still not really a ‘girly-girl’, the act of creating and using my own eco-friendly beauty products has brought out an inner natural goddess I never knew existed.  Every woman deserves to feel like a goddess now and then, and you can, too, when you take control of your natural beauty and tell cosmetic companies you’re kissing their chemicals goodbye.

My all-time favorite beauty product that I make at home is my sugar scrub!  Even the cheapest container of sugar scrub at the local department store is nearly $8 and full of nastiness I can’t fathom rubbing into my skin. These toxic tubs can even be as much as $30-50 a jar!  Exfoliating, though, is an important part of skin care, as it removes the dead skin cells from the top of your skin and stimulates the newer skin cells underneath. So, what’s a woman to do? Make her own, of course!

Here's my recipe:

- 1 ½ c. sugar

- ¼ c. oil - grapeseed, olive oil, sunflower oil, and coconut oil all work great
- experiment and see what you like!
- natural oil extract or massage oil of your choice for scent

Just mix them in a recycled container, like a mason jar, and store it in a dry place such as your bathroom cabinet. When it comes time to exfoliate, make sure you mix the contents of the jar, as the oil likes to settle a bit. Personally, I often only use the first two ingredients. On the rare occasion I add scented oil, I use almond. I have noticed that vanilla and sugar mixed together with oil smell alot like vanilla vodka.

Shai Smith is an eco-friendly mama and the mastermind behind The Vagabond Studio. She is a full-time student, writer, artist, and nature lover. The creativity she radiates is infectious and I feel pretty lucky to call her my friend. 
Check out Shai's latest creations here.

DIY: 4-Leaf Clover Wall Hanging

Walking home from the store a few weeks ago with my daughter, we passed a large clover patch and she asked if we could stop to look for a four-leaf clover. I placed our bags on the ground and as I bent down, I saw a four-leaf clover next to my shoe. 

At first I thought I was mistaken. In 33-years, I have never come across a 4-leaf clover, to find one so easily was bizarre. I pulled it up from the ground and showed my daughter who counted the leaves to make sure I wasn't pulling her leg.

When we got home, I took a picture of it and then decided I must press the clover to keep forever.

I placed the four-leaf clover on a piece of wax paper, folded it over and stuck the paper in the middle of a heavy book. I put the book back in my bookcase and left it there for almost 3 weeks.

I decided I wanted to make a wall hanging using my clover. I enjoy inspirational quotes so I chose an Irish blessing that says:

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light,
May good luck pursue you each morning and night.

Using acrylic paint, I painted a mauve matte frame black. 

I glued a decorative piece of craft paper behind the matte frame. I dipped my finger in Mod Podge and applied a thin layer on the back of the four-leaf clover. I was afraid using a brush might tear the clover. I gently pressed the clover onto the decorative paper.

While my glue gun was warming up, I cut a few plastic beads from a bead necklace I bought at the dollar store. I hot glued a few fabric flowers onto the bottom of the frame & then added a bead in the center of each flower.

Next, I punched two holes on the top section of the frame with my one-hole punch. I threaded each hole with a piece of green yarn and knotted them in place.

My Dymo label maker came in handy for writing out the Irish blessing!

I cut the long label into sections and arranged them on the wall hanging. All done!

Yoga For Every Body, Interview with Anna Guest-Jelley

Curvy Yoga Founder, Anna Guest-Jelley

I came across Curvy Yoga while browsing the internet for information on plus-size yoga positions. It was surprising how little I found online about plus-size yoga. Thankfully I stumbled upon an inspiring and insightful website, Curvy Yoga. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, yoga instructor and writer, Anna Guest-Jelley, offers a great deal of guidance to yoga enthusiasts worldwide.


When did you begin to practice yoga? What were some of the challenges you faced?

I have a vivid memory of when I first started practicing yoga my Freshman year in college. I'm in my college dorm room (where there was justenough space for a yoga mat between my bed and my roommate's. 

I'm in Down Dog, although I barely know what that is (and feel like my arms might soon snap off). I'm also really in the moment (for lack of a less clichéd way of saying it) - feeling my hands on the floor, feeling myself breathe, feeling my body as a whole for perhaps the first time in my life. 

I realize this sounds like the start of a movie on the Hallmark channel, but please bear with me for a moment. All hokieness aside, that was a moment that has really stayed with me, even though I only recently brought it back into my conscious memory. 

You see, I grew up almost completely detached from my body. As that girl who was always bigger than the rest of the girls, I quickly learned that being in my body didn't get me anywhere. And even if I'd somehow changed schools or something, I wouldn't have been able to escape that message because I got it at home, too. 

My mom took me to my first Weight Watchers meeting when I was 11.

So for me to be in my body - to just feel good and not self-conscious or self-loathing - well, that was monumental. 

It was from that moment on that I got hooked on yoga. 

At what point did you decide to teach yoga?

I practiced yoga primarily on my own at home with VHS tapes for several years. When I did venture out to class (rarely!), I never felt like I was welcome or that I fit in. No one else's body looked anything like mine. And my teachers, while sweet for the most part, just didn't quite know what to do with me. 

I figured the problem was all me. 

Clearly, yoga was for thinner folks, so once I lost x amount of weight (which would surely be by next Tuesday, right?), I'd be good to go. 

Except, next Tuesday never seemed to roll around. Or, at least, the "right" Tuesday never did. 

For some reason, though, I continued to practice - holding out for that magic moment. At the same time, I started to finally address my history of bouncing between either binging or dieting. I was so tired of that struggle; I hoped against hope that there could be another way, but I was far from convinced that there was. 

As both of these processes continued to take shape, they began to speak to each other. As I became more in tune with my body in relationship to eating (i.e. eating when I was hungry and what I was hungry for vs. following some predetermined diet rules), I also became more in tune with my body on my yoga mat. 

And that's when it hit me: the problem wasn't my body!

I'll say that again because it was like the biggest lightning bolt moment imaginable: the problem wasn't my body!

The problem was that my teachers just didn't know how to teach me. And my search for relevant information was pretty much exhausted after one quick online search.

And so began the seed of the dream that I would teach the yoga I'd always wanted to find.

Please tell me about Curvy Yoga.

Curvy Yoga is body positive yoga for people of all shapes and sizes. It was born out of my own practice but has grown to be so much more. 

My vision is for this to be available all over the place so that whoever wants to can try yoga on their own terms - in a safe and welcoming environment. 

On my website, I share lots of yoga resources for curvy folks, including free podcasts, videos (use the code "Curvy20" to save 20%), options for practicing poses in a way that works for you and a body positive blog about yoga, body image and all the cross-over in between. 

I've also recently started offering Curvy Yoga Certification for yoga teachers. So you might see it popping up in your neck of the woods soon! Or, if you're a yoga teacher already, you can bring it there yourself! 

Anna Guest-Jelley in Downward Dog pose

What advice do you have for beginners who want to practice curvy yoga on their own? 

Find good resources that are tailored for curvy bodies. You can certainly use any of the things I linked to above from my site. In addition, there are a few great DVDs available from other teachers. I have them linked on the Resources page of my site.

I think my other advice is to give yoga some time and approach it with an attitude of curiosity. Even if you practice with excellent resources, it can sometimes be challenging to get into a groove with yoga if you're not used to it. But don't let one awkward moment slow you down. Watch the videos above for another way to practice the pose. If you go to one class and don't connect with the teacher, try another. And even another. 

If you want additional help, don't hesitate to be in touch. I'd be happy to share what I know! 

What is your favorite yoga pose?

It's hard to narrow it down to just one! I love shoulder openers of any kind because, as someone who spends most of her day at the computer, my shoulders are often t-i-g-h-t! I'm also a big fan of hip openers like Pigeon - pretty much for the same reason.

Ultimately, though, I've got to choose a restorative pose. I think these poses, which work to quiet our oft-stressed nervous system, are the essence of yoga. My fav out of these is definitely reclining bound angle pose. So good! 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anna Guest-Jelley is the Founder of Curvy Yoga, where she writes and teaches about yoga and embodiment as the foundations of a live well-lived (and body well-loved). She is also the Editor of Curvy Voices, a compilation of people’s stories from around the world about their journey with loving their body through yoga. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

Veggie Update & Baby Chicks

It's been a week since I measured the veggie plants so I opened up my gardening journal, grabbed the tape measure, and went to work. It's hard to get an accurate measurement because the plants are twisting around so the measurements are close estimates.

The cucumber plants measured around 6 1/2" - 7 3/4" last week and now they are between 10-18 inches! We've spotted close to a dozen teeny tiny cucumbers, too.

Do you see the teeny tiny cucumber?

The tomato plants started off around 8 1/2" - 11 3/4" and now they are both 14 inches tall. A few flowers are beginning to open. Thankfully, we have had quite a few sunny days so the plants are getting lots of sunshine.

Since the plants are growing lightning fast, I decided I needed to stake them. I went to Big Lots and found a 4-pack of marshmallow sticks (for camp fires) for $2.00. They work perfectly. The onion seedlings are 3"- 4" tall and we've harvested & enjoyed most of the spinach.

Since repotting the chives, they have doubled in size!

A few days ago I received a wonderful surprise. My apartment manager delivered a gigantic planter full of beautiful flowers. Our manager offers a monthly contest for residents who pay their rent early or on time. Each month a random winner is chosen and we won for the month of May! Our back patio was bare since all of our plants are indoors so this prize was perfect. The maintenance man even hung it for us on a decorative hook since it is extremely heavy. 

Yesterday my friends Krista and Jess posted they would be live streaming their hatching eggs. I made sure to check their blog throughout the day and after dinner the kids and I watched two chicks hatching. It was amazing! As soon as Bella woke up this morning she asked about the chicks and when we checked, we caught the third chick hatching, lucky us! And then a fourth.

It was beautiful to watch and I am thrilled the kids experienced the chicks hatching. It's not too late to go to their blog to check out the chicks. I'm sure they'll be documenting the chicks' progress.