Birthday Presence

I just turned 30. And to celebrate Brian whisked me away to the wood’s of Cook Forest for a little R&R. At first I was hoping his gift would be more useful… more practical like underwear and socks to replace the dingy items in my panty drawer or a new yoga outfit I could wear when I teach.

But a getaway in the woods… Really? Not Brian’s style at all. So I knew something was up.

When I asked him about his choice of gift he explained that he wanted to honor my year of nothing new and give me an experience rather than more “stuff”. And he made the right decision, the weekend was magical and just what I needed. It really became a birthday of presence rather than presents!

(If you're interested – a few of my more practical girlfriends did give me the priceless gift of new underwear, but my socks still have holes!)

~Stacey

Flea Markets and Wedding Registries...

Yesterday, I got up early, grabbed a coffee, and braved the lines and parking (which really wasn't bad) for the Pasadena Flea Market, an event that happens the second Sunday of every month at the Rose Bowl http://www.rgcshows.com/. I recommend it, even though its completely overwhelming! There were antiques, artist booths, and lots of records and clothes and boots and anything you could ever imagine wanting to buy second hand! I left with an old 50's pyrex bowl, an apron, a few records, and some gifts for my friend Faith and Chris' upcoming wedding party.

I realized that I wouldn't be able to purchase something from their registry a few weeks ago and thought long and hard on what I could gift them for such a momentous occasion. I'm very satisfied by what I came up with and think it has more meaning then something from their scanned list: I made a cookbook with recipes of mine that they've enjoyed over the years, as well as new ones I think they'll like since they enjoy cooking together. And yesterday at the market, I found a set of James Taylor records that they will love to play together since he's one of Faith's favorites.

Hope they don't read this...wouldn't want to give the surprise away...don't think they will since they are in Hawaii, but if so....congrats Faith and Chris! I love you both.

-Courtney

Documenting What's Really Important

I'm working on a documentary and with it, like all good artistic projects for me, comes a lot of reflection.

The documentary is on my ex-guy's band, and my thesis is: What does it means to be in a band before anyone really knows who you are? Why do you believe in it and stick with it year after year? What does it mean to commit to a group of people and project? What does success mean and when will you know you've reached it?

I've been thinking a lot about what makes us do the things we do: with projects, with people, with work, with anything that we commit to...

Watching tape after tape of this band...of their family and friends...of my observance and interviews...I can't help but think of how much fun it is...how much love there is for the art and the work and the relationships...and how I've captured a lot of great footage on a rinky dink camera that I borrowed from a friend. Its intimate, its real...things I don't think I would have achieved if I had gone out and bought or even rented a nice HD camera. What I have instead is something real that I think a lot of people will appreciate. And I've not spend much money on it, or bought any large props for it...but I've spent time and love and thought. And those are always worth more to me at the end of the day.

-Courtney

Lost & Found

I lost my wedding ring.

When I realized it wasn’t on my finger I was pretty sure I had left it at the yoga studio. (I have a bad habit of taking it off during practice and placing it next to my mat – only this time I must have forgotten to put it back on.) When I retraced my tracks it was nowhere to be found.

A brief call to my insurance company revealed that our policy’s deductible was higher than the value of the ring, therefore I would not be receiving any funds to aid in the purchase of a replacement.

So, I spent a month without wearing a wedding ring and had no urgent plans to replace it. On a whim, I wondered into a local jewelry store and ended up buying a very simple estate ring, circa 1940. I was absolutely delighted with the substitute.

(I hate to admit it, but before this project I would have most likely thrown a hissy fit about losing my ring, marched to the nearest jewelry store, and bought (probably on credit) a new ring that was even nicer than the one I lost. Thus, I considered the whole ordeal to be a blessing and my reaction to be progress.)

Two weeks after I purchased the “new” ring my friend Katie was cleaning the yoga studio and found my original under a shelving unit!

I’m glad, of course, that my ring was found, but I learned some important things from the experience of losing (if just temporarily) a material item that holds a personal meaning:

1. I need to be more present. If I were paying more attention to what I was doing I wouldn’t have lost the ring in the first place.
2. Even a wedding ring (though a symbol of something bigger) is just a thing. And like with all “things” can be replaced.
3. I will never buy new jewelry again, as vintage pieces are cheaper and often more interesting. (A fact that I had never contemplated until this project.)
4. Fully insuring fine jewelry makes sense.
5. I’ll keep my ring on during asana practice even if it bugs me in headstand.
6. Some men actually do check to see if you are wearing a wedding ring, but that these are typically not the kind of men one wants to associate with.

~Stacey

Cleansing Myself of Boots with Lots of Fruit

I'm halfway through a week long yoga/fruit cleanse which I started on Saturday. Before that, I'd cut out alcohol for 2 weeks and coffee for a week. The cleanse itself is 7 days straight of yoga and the food part of the cleanse is this:

Days 1,2,6, and 7
Breakfast:
Organic yogurt with almonds
Herbal tea

Lunch/Dinner:
All whole foods, meaning a piece of fish or baked tofu or organic chicken
Organic fruits and veggies
Herbal tea

Days 3,4,5
Fruit cleanse
All fruit

Cleansing and following a discipline with food is challenging. It really puts things in perspective and gives me a greater understanding of my choices and habits. Am I eating cereal late at night because I want to feel comforted? Am I drinking too much coffee because I'm not sleeping enough? Am I gorging myself because I didn't do a good job snacking during the day? Why am I not satisfied???

With this investigation of myself and my relationship to food, I can't help but ask the same questions of my material spending/wanting habits. I notice that when I've started shopping in the past, its never enough and I can't seem to stop. My friend Faith mentioned something similar the other day.

With fall approaching, my inclination is to want new fall stuff: boots, sweaters, etc. I've been in and out of thrift stores on the prowl. I don't NEED any of these things, but something in me craves them because its become a habit. Also, I love the fall and how it feels like a new start. I've also began a new relationship and the dumb girl in me wants to look cute all the time and have new clothes to show myself off. But I don't need anything. I have a new start and a new guy without a new pair of boots, as silly as that might sound. I don't need to impress anyone. They are already impressed. :)

So I'm cleansing not only my mind of food habits, but fall shopping habits.

-Courtney

Cult of Less

A yoga student of mine sent me this link and I wanted to share it with all of you. Enjoy! ~Stacey

Getting Creative

I’ve had to get creative in order to accomplish/create some things that I usually would have bought without batting an eye. This involves a little thinking outside the box, which I’m enjoying very much.

Because I'm a writer, I always have a "board" up. This is what I use to plot out story ideas by clipping sequences of events and themes on ribbon with clothes pins. Recently, I’d run out of ribbon and I pondered where I could find some used. I searched a few different thrift stores, but came home empty handed. I was at the last thrift store I could think of, a bit discouraged, when I saw a bag of ties bunched together for $1.99. They were beautiful colors, very long, and I decided to try to string them together and use them instead of ribbon. It worked out lovely, and it’s actually sturdier and easier to pin my ideas, too. How cool. I’ll never go back to ribbon again!

Second thing is this: I helped organize a bachelorette party over the weekend for a friend. The bride-to-be loves cupcakes, and I wanted to do something fun and slightly inappropriate for her, so I decided to bake cupcakes and make them sexual in some way. In the past, I would have just gone to party city or an adult store and bought some plastic penises and slapped them on top of the icing. But instead, I had to think about this and get creative. While looking around my cabinets, I found gummy worms and bears, so I cut the worms in half and attached the bears to the side of each worm to look like a penis and balls. A total riot! What do you think? Fun, right?

-Courtney