candlelight.

so it's getting to be that time of year. you know, where it gets darker earlier and we change the clocks back.

{here comes the hibernating winter feel. bring it on}.

as a result, one of the things i'm grateful for is candlelight at the end of yoga. and, you know me, there's nothing like a good chant in this setting. with the early evening darkness comes the romantic, peaceful, and soft glow of fire light. i guess we can call it wintertime yoga. loving it.

*build a fort with me soon, will you?

fleet week.

it's fleet week here in glorious san francisco.

and, wow, everyone is on the edge of their seat, literally!

it's one of my absolute faves. quite thrilling. so, i'm going to soak it up. got a best in town. wow, am i lucky.

you know that saying, good people find each other. i challenge you to live by it, okay?

see you back here real soon with lots of goodness to share. enjoy yourselves!

*photo found here.

i wear my best friends on my wrist.

i have this thing for wrists. in fact, wrist action seems to be all the rage these days.

here's a little taste of mine on this lovely friday afternoon.

i have this initiative where i want to wear all of my best friends on my wrist. see, i want a tattoo, but am a little too frightened as of yet. so, the symbolism of friends on wrists somehow compares in my mind.

today, we have the kate spade hand in hand bracelet. what a treat from a best! inside it reads there are strength in numbers. {you might also spy the kate spade love notes bow ring. a gem}.

the watch is michael kors, found at tj maxx for fifty percent off the regular price. thanks mama, i love me some rose gold.

the silver cuff bracelet is something i never ever take off. it reads: love yourself first and everything else falls into line. and even has a secret inscription inside that says: happiness is being happy with yourself. may i walk with confidence. you know me, all about the positive reminders.

the next two bangles are quite special. i've alwaaaaays wanted an alex and ani bracelet. always! and, now i have two! the om charm and the feather. feathers refer to our higher spiritual paths. this is a best friend soul sister bracelet to remind us that we must always soar to new heights. it will remind me to have a lighter outlook on life and on any situation that presents itself to me.

may you be light as feathers this weekend, dolls.

overwhelmed.

if only every day was a celebration of being born.

but, i guess, why can't it be? it definitely can.

i think we can shift a little more of this happy birthday energy into our everyday lives, don't you?

let's start.

i'll give you a little bit longer of a hug, and maybe a tight squeeze at the end to remind you that there is no one on this planet like you, oh you unique soul you. i will write you blessed notes of appreciation about how much you mean to me, because, i am grateful for you. not just once a year, but every single day. i'll shower you with love.

i can't wait to share some inspiring, treasured gifts with you, my darlings. birthdays teach you that you have the best friends on the planet that know you oh-so-well. that's what i learned on october the fifth. thank you for caring about little 'ol me.  i would be empty without you.

i've been a bit {well, a lot, in my opinion} under the weather this week. and, let me just tell you, i am no good at being sick. flat out baby. self-proclaimed. i'm yearning for the days of optimum health. we must not take those for granted. off to try and get ohhh eleven hours of sleep. fingers crossed. xoxo.

labyrinth.

so i got a assigned a little project.

i love a good challenge, don't you?

you need to go to grace cathedral. walk the labyrinth. mediate. what comes up for you?

i learned that the labyrinth can be used to quiet the mind, find balance, encourage meditation and insight, and  even be used for celebration. it's a non-denominational and cross-cultural tool for well-being.

seems about right  to me. in light of celebrating twenty six years around the sun and true to libra form - finding balance, oh yes please! - this exercise was right up my alley.

there are three stages of the walk. as you walk toward the center you are releasing and letting go of the details of your life to shed distractions. once the center is reached this is the time of receiving what is there for you to receive. and finally, returning on the path in which you entered where the healing forces at work in the world are felt.

each time you walk the labyrinth you become more empowered to find and do the work for which you feel your soul is reaching.

i love this.

it was a peaceful and sunny fall weekend afternoon. things were still. and, quite calm. everything is as it should be was the feeling in the air.

i have the potential to be so happy. i have the potential to be so happy. i have the potential to be so happy.

that's all that came to me. over and over.

rose.

rose is my alter ego.  do you have one too?

well, i guess she's more like the absolute essence of me.

i love that word, essence.

we once did a project in mrs. rose's seventh grade english class {the fact that it was mrs. rose - a detail i'm just now realizing - really makes this story come full circle} in which we were instructed to create a shield out of poster board. the outside represented the image of us as a person, and it opened up to an inside filled with things that symbolized our essence. the image and the essence project.

i'll never forget that one.

it's one of the lucky crafts that is hidden deep in an armoire at home sweet home. one of those that's too hard to part with.

i'll never forget mrs. rose either. she was the kind that made you think outside the box. perfectly wacky and free-spirited gaining her the utmost respect and leaving us twelve year olds with a hunger for reading and an urge to write.

i think we all have an image and an essence. a façade we are sometimes forced to put forth, and a true being that only our closest of close see. it's the best feeling...not having to try, isn't it? to have no filter and just laugh.

surround yourself with the ones that make you laugh. i love my closest of close and i'm oh-so-grateful for them.

this darling bunch took me to brunch... at rose's, no less!

thank you from the bottom of my heart. my life is so much sweeter with you in it.