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Saturday, August 24, 2013

Costa Rica = PURA VIDA




Trying to collect my thoughts and feelings.  In some way I want to write out how my soul felt while in Costa Rica and the continuous internal smile that I still have inside after coming back.  "What did you love about Costa Rica?"  I’ve been asked this so many times.  I don’t know how to answer this question simply.  And my answer never seems to capture the internal feeling.

Costa Rica is simplicity.  It’s the PURA VIDA!  It’s the interconnectedness of nature and humans coexisting as one, just living life in its purest form. 

Forget media and TV – I was clueless that a tropical storm was hanging over us.   I knew nothing of this until I got back and people asked if the rain and storms stopped us.  All I know is we had some rain, it was pure, it was simple, it was refreshing.  PURA VIDA, we continued to enjoy Costa Rica and life.

I listened to the Ticos and their stories.  They live life, they work for necessities, they live PROUD of their country and its beauty.  They were the kindest people I have ever met in my travels.  CON MUCHO GUSTO (My pleasure) was always their response and not once did I think it truly wasn’t their absolute pleasure.

Humans coexisting with nature.  Costa Rica has a true sense of preservation.  Everything mattered.  The land belongs just as much to the monkeys, birds, insects, plants as to the humans living in the midst of it all.  You roll with the rain that comes in the afternoon and still stand in awe of the mist of clouds blowing across the mountains.  You look up and see the full moon and know you’ve got a beautiful day of surfing ahead!  That annoying Mocking Bird that woke me up EVERY morning in Monteverde meant I was in COSTA RICA.  A “GOOD MORNING” it’s going to be a BEAUTIFUL Day!



Costa Rica put a peace in my soul.  I felt one with nature.  Flowing with the rhythms of the earth.  Whether I was soaring across Monteverde’s Cloud Forest on a zipline, trees and the world beneath me.  I breathed it in, AWESTRUCK!  Trusting the rocks and the water while rapelling down waterfalls.  Giving thanks for fruit of the land that provides gluttony (coffee and Chocolate) and sustains jobs for the people of Costa Rica.  Finding a wave in the ocean and learning to trust that wave, stand up, and flow with rhythm of the ocean while surfing the Pacific.  Breathing in the salt air, breezes through the air, opening my eyes to an iguana lingering and howler monkeys playing it up in the trees.


It was ALL OF THIS and more.  Not just seeing these sights, but being ONE with them.  Feeling I was as much a part of the Land.  It’s the PURA VIDA Feeling.  Experience it and THEN and ONLY THEN will you understand what I LOVED about Costa Rica.

PURA VIDA mi Amigos!!!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Shoes, oh my, Shoes!!!

I recently discovered Angela Scott.  She is a shoe designer with all of her shoes traditionally made using artisan style cobbler techniques.  They are GORGEOUS!  Day after day I have gone to her website for my "Shoe Porn"  I cannot get enough of her gorgeous shoes!  On her website she has a photo journal that just oozes fashion creativity and is oh so heavenly.  I am inspired!!


Appropriate to start here before putting too many of these shoes on my wish list!!

There is just SOMETHING about these colorful striped oxfords I'm In LOVE  with!!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE the colors on these pumps!  READY For SPRING!!!

These shoes just SCREAM Beautifully Handcrafted!!!

Boots - Be Still my Beating Heart!







Oh Marilyn it is True isn't it?!!!




Hope you enjoyed these shoes as much as I do.  Seriously check out her website for some cute handcrafted shoes.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Baseball Memories

It's funny how the passion of your parents lives through you.  My dad Loved his country, TEXAS, the Longhorns, the Texas Rangers, the Dallas Mavericks, The Dallas Cowboys, and GOLF!!!!!!!!  I'm not sure when it happend, but that LOVE of sports and our Texas teams was fostered into me.  I Love Sports in general, but what I really LOVE are my Teams and my passion for them!

My dad and I went to countless Texas Rangers games.  I'm talking EVERY summer we were in Arlington going to Texas Rangers games - this was in the 1980s - Texas Rangers, WHO?!!!  Oh that team Nolan Ryan played for??!!  We Loved it! 

I can still remember games at the old Arlington Stadium where the Texas Rangers started playing.  When they started to build the new Ballpark I remember my dad watching and keeping track of the construction and progress.  I can still remember when they were giving tours during the construction phase.  Being a kid and standing out on the pitcher's mound.  Then when the Ballpark opened going to this GRAND NEW BALLPARK!!!  I remember watching Nolan Ryan pitch, at the time I didn't quite understand the whole concept, I knew he was good, but I don't think I realized I was watching HISTORY.

I don't know that I followed the baseball games as much as I just enjoyed the time.  My dad was the dad that went TO THE Game, but LISTENED to the game on his radio headphones!  I never understood it and called him out countless times.  But I kept myself entertained, stealing the binoculars, eating Lemon ice slushes, and clapping and chanting the baseball songs/chants!!!  It's a feeling, it's a memory, and it doesn't take much to transport myself back to those days.  I can recall specific conversations, I can recall specific pictures in my head from those days.  It's memories and feelings of being with my dad that I hope I NEVER Lose!!

Texas Rangers and the Ballpark are MY Dad!  I remember going to my first Rangers game after my dad died.  I can't describe the feelings I had.  But I can tell you something that happened at that first game I went to September 25, 2009 - we were sitting out in Left Centerfield.  Ian Kinsler was set to have his 30th Home Run and 30th Base Steal that night.  IT HAPPENED!!!  He hit his 30th Home Run Straight out into Left Centerfield!  Right at US!!  4 seats down from me - a dad and his daughter that were with us, caught the homerun ball!!!!

The Texas Rangers have been on an upswing ever since.  In 2010 they became the 2010 ALCS Champions and went to the World Series!!!  I had an amazing opportunity to attend an ALCS game and a World Series game in 2010.  And now in 2011 here we are again in the ALCS.  I again went to an ALCS game last night to watch my Texas Rangers.

It is just unbelievable.  I can't help but think how much my dad would LOVE THIS!!!  There's not a game I go to where I don't stop, take in the sounds, the sights, the fans, the excitement...and wonder if he's right there enjoying every moment, smiling down on that team he Loves So much.  Oh if he could just see those Texas Rangers now!  My dad didn't teach me to Love Baseball, no he taught me to LOVE MY TEXAS RANGERS!!!!!!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Millinery Hat Fashion

It's Spring and we've witnessed a Royal Wedding and the Kentucky Derby is This Weekend!  I've always Dreamed of going to the Kentucky Derby.  Putting on a Colorful/Beautiful Spring Dress and topping it off with an off the charts, Gorgeous Millinery Hat!  I'm obssessed with the Millinery Hats and this Spring I've been able to get my share of Millinery Hat Fashion.  Like Home Decorating they have such Beautifully designed Structure and Color!  The women who wear Millinery Hats are Beautifully Sophisticated and Confident.  That's just how I like a decorated room to look - Beautiful, Sophisticated, Confident in the choices!

The Cloche Style hat screams 1920s Vintage Charm







www.louisegreen.com


 


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These hats have such defined structure, it's the shape and "architecture" you can't help but Marvel.
 
 
 www.louisegreen.com





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 www.louisegreen.com






 
 






Even the Fascinators have their place with pops of Structure and Color



 www.delmarhat.com








I could Peruse through these hats all day.  They are Just Gorgeous!  Later this month I'll do a post of Home Interiors based off of Millinery Hats!  You can take the structure and colors of the Millinery hats and decorate a whole room off of your favorite hat!!  As I believe, just like the perfect accessory for your room, the hat is the perfect accessory for your outfits!!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

I can see the Happiness and Light in your eyes

3 years ago, sadness filled my eyes and I saw the tears and sadness in the eyes of some beautiful people. Last night on Ash Wednesday I noticed Light and Happiness in some of those sad eyes.  You see 3 years ago my dad passed away and I attended a grief seminar at my church, PHPC.  I spent nights with some amazing souls.  All of us hurting and grieving the loss of someone very dear to us.  After the seminar finished I'd see these eyes around church and still see the sadness.  Last night I saw some of those same eyes and made an interesting observation.  I saw Happiness, I saw Light, I saw Joy.  It was a reminder that while inside we all still grieve the loss of a loved one, in time the light shines through again and we continue on our life journey.  A smile came across my face.



"People are like stained-glass windows.  They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within."  ~Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Monday, February 14, 2011

All the Single Ladies...

I'm not one of those bitter single girls that hates this day.  Maybe I used to be, but I still LOVE Valentine's Day.  I love the sweetness of Romance, whether it seems forced or not.  I love seeing the flowers, the chocolates, the colors (red, white, pink), the sappy sayings.  What can I say I'm a Sappy Romantic.  Instead of dwelling on being single I thought I'd do a list of the UPs and DOWNs of this Single Life....


UP: planning a girls trip to wine country



UP: all the time in the world to keep up with all the latest celebrity gossip, which I consider a "hobby"

down: Some days you wish someone was greeting you at home with dinner

UP: You can have Macaroni & Cheese for dinner on the days you don't feel like "cooking."  Heck you can even have it in bed if you feel like it.  (I may or may not have had one of these days in the midst of the snowstorms)

UP:  All the time you could ever want to meditate, read, reflect in silence



down: too much silence and thinking by yourself can lead to negative thoughts...

UP:  I definitely keep myself feeling young cause I keep up with all pop culture (I was one of the few friends of mine that knew ALL the artists on the Grammys last night)

UP: all the guilty pleasure TV I could want - The Bachelor, Keeping up with the Kardashians, and all my other fav reality shows

down: I may or may not be getting a false reality to "LOVE"

UP: When someone needs a friend, a listening ear, a pal to run around with I'm available and don't have to ask for permission.

down: finding that time to talk, catch up, or hang out with others when I need someone to talk to, want to run to dinner with.   It can take a couple of weeks to a month to get together with those other married friends, after we've spent time comparing calendars, checking with spouses, kids, etc.  

down: some days I could really use some manly hands/strength around this house for all of these renovation projects.



UP:  I've discovered more strength, independence, and knowledge in performing home renovations as a single gal.  And you can't beat the satisfaction you feel when you see a project completed that you know YOUR Hands completed!!!

UP: That cute purse, shoes, outfit, yeah I bought it...SO WHAT?!



down: Some days I probably need someone to hold me back on my shopping sprees...that's what returns are for though, RIGHT?!

UP: I have been able to spend time needed to take care of family without being tied down.



UP: at my will I was able to up and fly off to New Mexico to visit my bestie and her family.

UP: Dance classes Every Monday Night



down: The bed can be cold and lonely at night

UP: No one's keeping me up with their snoring.


Bottom line, the UPs are far outweighing the downs and I'm pretty sure I'm right where I'm supposed to be at this time in my life.




Over the past year I would say I truly "UNDERSTOOD" what that meant.  And I'd say over the last 3 months have I actually begin to put it into effect in my life.  Those who know me, know I seek love, approval, and affection from others.  These last few months I've realized instead of waiting for that love/affection that always disappoints,  I've discovered it's been in me all along.  Doing things that I find happiness in, has led me to more Joy in the 3 months I've put it into action than the past 31 years I've been off in "search" for it!

Love to All my Single Ladies out there, we've definitely Got THE LIFE.  And I bet a few of you attached Ladies may find something to take away from this...nope that Love we all long for doesn't come from your spouse/boyfriend, it comes from YOU and the Amazing Love of our Lord!  Only when we realize this can we feel FULL!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Freshen Up the Dry Winter Air

Going on Day #3 of being "STUCK" Indoors.  Dallas had an Ice Storm and my street has turned into a skating rink. 



I have opted to stay home from work and keep warm.  Tuesday was the worse day with Wednesday a little better, and from what I'm guessing I think today is better, although we still have ICE with some more snow expected tonight.  I know there are many of us getting the Cabin Fever/Indoor Blues.

My heater has been running constantly trying to keep this cozy home warm with temps staying below 20 for 3 days now.  Today in an attempt to "freshen" up the house and get some much needed moisture in this home, I have made a Stove-Top Humidifier.


Pictures do NOT do the smell justice.  Give it a try...Fabulous is all I can Say!


One Large Pot filled with water, add Cinnamon Sticks, whole cloves and nutmeg and set it to boil.  Add more water as needed.  I cannot tell you how Fabulous my house smells!! 

Other Wonderful variations...add essential oils you may have, orange/citrus peels.  A definite uplift to being stuck indoors for several days.  ENJOY and Stay Warm my Sweet Friends!