Namasaturday 03: #JustBePresent

In these last crazy days before Christmas, it's easy to loose track of the present in our focus on preparing for the big day. Last minute gifts to buy, gifts to wrap, cookies to bake, houses to clean, people to visit all leave us rushing around from place to place without stopping to focus on the path and the moment.

That's why the hastag #JustBePresent has been all over the yogis of instagram this month. And yoga is certainly great for putting you mind in the moment when your in a class or on your matt.

But what about the rest of the time. I mean I certainly won't fold myself over into downward dog in the middle of my work Christmas party. But you can take some lessons from the matt anywhere you go over the holidays.

How to Just Be Present this Christmas.

1) Root firmly through all of your toes. Take a minute to practice Samasthiti or Equal Standing Posture by standing tall, weight balanced evenly between both legs. Root down into the floor by thinking about the way each of your toes, the ball and heels of your feet are in contact with the ground. This even works in those painful red heels that looked so perfect with your party dress. Doing this reminds us to stay grounded, and gives a momentary break from the rush and the moving to appreciate the moment.

2) Focus on your breath. Practice Pranayama or Yoga breathing. Maybe you won't make the darth vadar sounds in the back of your throat, but when your running around your house like a chicken before guests arrive, taking a step back to focus on your breathing can really slow things down and put them into perspective. Maybe it's ok that you didn't dust behind the down stairs sink, and that your bedroom is a mess (close the door). Take a second to breath and remember that the holidays are about spending time with the people you love, and who will love you back regardless of whether the table settings are perfectly aligned.

3) Look at things from a different perspective. We all love yoga inversions. So while you could do a head stand in front of your tree and enjoy it from the bottom up. You can also try to change the way you look at the holidays. Put yourself in your child's point of view and remember the things that made Christmas so special to you when you were growing up. Maybe it was stringing popcorn and cranberry garlands with your cousins? Bring back an old tradition. Surrounded by all the opulence of the holidays, try to look at Christmas through the eyes of the less fortunate, and donate some of the toys your kids have grown out of, or volunteer your time serving dinner at a shelter. There are so many ways to look at the holidays, take a moment to invert your perspective.

If you celebrate Christmas, then have a very Merry One. If you don't then best of wishes over the holiday season, and I'll see you all in the new year.

Namaste

 

Inverting my own perspective at Lake Louise on December 14th.

Deck the Halls!

Is it getting chilly where you are yet? We just came off of a week of -30 and colder weather, and let me tell you, there's only a few ways to warm things up when you're facing that kind of weather! One of my favourites? Cozy-ing up with a mug of tea in front of the Christmas Tree. (want to try something better than tea? how about this spicy hot chocolate recipe?)  I recently put mine up, and it really brightens the whole room.

However, apart from my tree, the rest of my apartment really doesn't look all that Christmas-y. So I've been looking around for ideas to add some extra jingle to my place.

Maybe a wreath on the door?

This beautiful number would look great all winter long. (buy it here)

Or something to stuff full of gifts come Christmas Morning.

If only I had a mantel to line with stockings! (pick up this lovely number here).

Even just a splash of colour, like a pair of throw cushions or a cherry red blanket can make any room seem all the more festive. 

I'd love to snuggle up with that gorgeous cabled throw. (Who couldn't use a little cashmere?)

At the end of the day there are so many perfect ways to decorate your home for the holidays, and you can scour the pinterest and the internet looking for beautiful, unique and trendy ideas. (Home and Garden TV has shared some of their favourite tips, I particularly like the snow flake curtain at the end, right up my DIY alley). And I just know that one day (in the hopefully not too distant future) I'll have my own house, just stuffed full of bins of Christmas decorations ready to come out on November 1st, just like my mother! Until then, and living in the sometimes cramped corners of a one bedroom apartment, I'll have to be more selective, thinking long and hard over each purchase. I'll look for items that will warm up my apartment all winter long, not only until December 25th. And more importantly, choose decorations that I will be excited to unpack each and every year, like my pretty white tree, and my glitter covered deer!

Is your home decorated for the holidays yet? What do you take into consideration when buying new Christmas decorations? Do you have any favourite pieces that you pull out year after year? Let me know in the comments!

12 Days of Listmas: Calgary Blogs!

Hey it's not midnight yet, so I can still bring you a list today.

But first, Yesterday I got something wonderful from the post office.

You guessed it, my blogger, Favourite Things, Christmas swap present, from the loverly Maria over at Little Miss Cornucopia!

And as you can probably imagine, it was chuck full of lovely things!

Oh yeah, individually wrapped good times!

And what was inside all those wrappings, a new dream journal, a smashing sparkly pen, forever nuts tea from david's (incidentally, this is one of my favourite teas), burts bees (essential for Calgary land of the perpetually chapped lips) a super cute tree ornament shaped like a Starbucks to-go cup, and chocolate (sweet sweet chocolate).

So Maria, thank you ever so much for putting such thought, care and awesomeness into this package! And I hope you have a perfect holiday season!

If you want to see what everyone else got, we're all linked up over at All you need is Love. So you can click the picture below to go there.

What else is totally amazing? Yesterday I bought gas for less than a dollar a liter! You have no idea how thrilled I was about that (way back when, before I could even drive gas in Ontario went over a dollar, and as they hastily added room for an extra 1 to all the price signs, my father told me "That's it, you'll never see it go under a dollar again." Well guess what, turns out all I had to do was move to the province the gas comes from!).

Finally tonight I made a singly sized strawberry and apply pie, in about 5min prep time and 35min baking. I'll get a recipe up as soon as I perfect it!

OK! oh and you may notice some changes happening around here in the next little while (let's just say I have big plans for 2013!) don't let them confuse you too much, posts will continue as usual until Christmas at least!

Finally today's list.

The 5th day of Listmas : 12 Calgary Blogs to check out over the holidays!

1. Scribbles and Sass by Laura 
2. All you need is love by Leigh 
3. The Fit Housewife by Jen 
4. Life and Times of Alison and Justin by Alison 
5. Nut Case in Point by Jen 
6. The Next Chapter by Lacey 
7. The Guiltless Life by Anna 
8. Runner Leana by Leana 
9. For the Love of Shoes by Leslie 
10. A Running Tale byLindsey 
11. Born Electric by Suzanne
12.  Life to the Full by Bonnie

If you want to see some more great Calgary blogs you can click the link in the header, and if there are any I'm missing be sure to let me know in the comments!

The First Day of Listmas: A Gift Guide
The Second Day of Listmas: Holiday Movie Picks
The Thrid Day of Listmas: Things I put off till the last minute
The Fourth Day of Listmas: Books I want for Christmas

12 Days of LIstmas: Holiday Traditions

Merry Christmas everyone! hope you are having an amazing holiday. So far mine has been a whirlwind of travel and family, wrapped up in phlegm (I've been sick as a dog, but am powering through).

Here's list number 6. 12 days of Listmas will be continued next year with the other half.

Today I'll share with you a list of holiday traditions in our family.

1. Watching my younger cousin's open their presents. Ever since my brother and I got too old for Santa, we wake up at the crack of dawn to live this joy vicariously through my younger cousins' Christmas Morning.
2. Christmas Eve seafood dinner. As good Italians, we don't eat meat on Christmas Eve, which of course means we eat seafood instead (someone somewhere decided fish and shrimp aren't meat).
3. Christmas day brunch at my house. As I write this my house smells like baccon from the 5 pounds of it my mom is cooking downstairs. I can't wait to stuff my face with breakfast foods along with my whole family (you'll notice that most of our traditions involve eating).
4. My dad buys my mom's gifts on Christmas Eve. Without fail he goes out shopping on the day before Christmas, another tradition he buys magazines for her stockings that she doesn't read, despite being told the correct ones to buy.
5. Christmas Eve at Lisa's. This tradition of  my family and my friend's family goes way back, we stop buy for a drink and gingerbread cookies on the way home from seafood dinner. Last year we broke this tradition tho, and this year, we meant to go, but I fizzled out as far as feeling sick goes around 9, and had to go home to bed ASAP.
6. Christmas home videos. When I was much much younger, my aunts and uncles and parents used to have a men vs. women competition each year of who could make the better hilarious movie. Last year we started this one back up, but kids vs. adults.
7. Uncle Dave sets off a bucket of fireworks. New Years eve usually results in a family party at my house, and my uncle lighting as many fireworks as he can get his hands on in the back yard.
8. The snow drop. When me and my Cousin Krista were kids, we used to spend hours over the holidays entertaining ourselves by cutting up bags of paper into tiny squares to be used in a snow drop at midnight on New Years, this tradition continues, although we still find paper under furniture from years past.
9. The Martha Stewart Christmas Tree. My mom used to have magazine cover worthy Christmas trees every year, which meant that when deccorting the tree as kids, we were heavily supervised over which coloured ornaments went where. Anything homemade that didn't fit the theme went on the back.
10. The New Ornaments. To compensate for this traumatic childhood experience, my mom mow buys us awesome ornaments each year, and the tree is now decorated nearly exclusively with personally amazing ornaments (and love).
11. The what do we get for Nana. Every year my aunts and uncles and mom frantically discuss what to get for my Nana, calling dibs on good ideas as they are generated. It seems that you never grow out of not knowing what to get your mom for Christmas.
12. New Years Eve. My family does New Years Eve big, and awesome and fun and together. Everyone comes in from out of town, we drink, play games, eat food, and party all night. Last year we even had an epic beer pong tournament. Subsequently I never worry about plans for New Years anymore, because I always know where I want to be!

Anyways, hope you have an amazing Christmas and New Years, or if you don't celebrate those, just enjoy some time off, and for sure time with Family. I'll try to get a post or two up over the next couple days. I'm for sure looking forward to 2013, I guess the Mayan's weren't so smart after all.

12 days of Listmas: The books I want for Christmas

Today Kev and I were in the book section of Walmart, and I dropped a hint that books are always a good choice for gifts for me.

Additionally I have been hooked on the vlogbrothers of late, and John Green writes books, book of the year type books.

So I thought what's a quick to put together list for Saturday Night, considering one didn't happen yesterday (grad student winter formal, Kevin bought me flowers, my insides are full of mush).

12 days of Listmas: books to buy me for Christmas

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Like I said I've been watching a lot of the vlogbrothers videos, and am intrigued to read this book asap. Lucky for me I told my brother (currently working at a book store to buy it for me). Check out the vlogbrothers on Youtube here!!

2. The emporer of all maladies: a biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee. I once took an anthropology of plagues course in undergrad, and loved it, the textbook for that course was like a narrative of diseases. I can only imagine this book will appeal to me in a similar way.

3. Bruce: The innocence, the darkness,the rising. Biography by Peter A Carlin. I have held off on buying this book myself based on the assumtion someone else will likely get it for me. (I love Bruce Springsteen, my one and only tattoo is of lyrics from one of his songs).

4. A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. I have been waiting for the end of the Wheel of Time series forever, then Robert Jordan passed away one book before the end. They brought Sanderson on, and 1 book became 3. Technically this book doesn't release until Jan 8, but a pre-order would be a great gift.

5. The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julien Rubinstein. A book recomending in a John Green video about books. The synopsis sounds great. Plus I always love true stories.

6. I don't know how she does it by Allison Pearson. This book was recommended to me by a neuro-opthalmologist in an elevator this Friday, during an afternoon which left me with much to think about; least of all that I should read this book.

7. Uglies by Scott Westefeld. Another John Green recomendation. Plus its a book about a dystopian future, so how can it be wrong?

8. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore. And I guess by extension copies of Graceling and Fire, which I don't actually own. If you liked the Hunger Games (I did) I promise you'll like Graceling.

9. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. The synopsis of this book reminds me heavily of the movie The Way (post about it here) so it should be a good read.

10. Bobcat, and other stories by Rebecca Lee. Lately I've been making an effort to read more Canadian Literature, and this one comes highly recommended.

11. Doppler by Erlend Loe. Common an endearing story about a man and his moose. Need I say more?

12. The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Kevin recently said this was one of the few books he's read cover to cover and enjoyed in full. I guess I should see what pulled him and two thousand years of readers in.

What books are you hoping for for Christmas? Or perhaps more importantly, what books are you going to enjoy reading in your time off over the holidays?

The First Day of Listmas: A Gift Guide
The Second Day of Listmas: Holiday Movie Picks
The Thrid Day of Listmas: Things I put off till the last minute

12 Lists of Christmas: Things I put off till the last minute.

Still with the 12 list countdown.

Who else is feeling the re-tiltle of this to :

The 12 days of Listmas?

List number one was a gift guide, list number two was holiday movies.

Today's apropirately themed list is

12 things I put off to the last minute before the holidays.

1. Christmas shopping. I still have quite a few people left (and I'm a student, let's be honest, I don't shop for that many people!)

2. Christmas baking. I have done a tonne of baking this month, and what do I have to show for it? none it's all been eaten! But I do have over $200 dollars raised for charity today, and this awesome picture of our periodic table of cupcakes (oooh yeah nerds!)

3. Packing to travel home. Flying home next weekend, in years past packing happens morning of, lets try and change that this time around!

4. Paper writing. As a perpetual student, I always have a paper due before the holidays, in true grad student fashion, I once again left it to the last minute!

5. Mailing my Christmas Cards. I make my own, and this year I was way ahead of the game on that. Now lets see if I can get them in the mail by (lets say Tuesday).

6. Christmas knitting. I usually do some knitting for someone's gift for Christmas. I usually spend Christmas eve frantically sewing in ends.

8. Tree decorating. Ok mine's been up since the middle of November. It's only about half decorated tho.

9. Christmas travel. Once again, I will be getting home on the 23rd....which isn't so bad compared to those rushing home on the 24th I suppose.

10. Pre Christmas apartment cleaning. Often I get back to Calgary to find my apartment in the mess I left it (usually by packing at the last minute) let's try to avoid that this year.

11. Christmas Painting. I once gave my parents an oil painting of one of their wedding photos for Christmas. The paint was still wet as I had painted it the night before.

12. Annnd finally Christmas blogging. But hey things can change, and I'm holding myself accountable on this Listmas thing.

Anyways hope you are having a great Thursday! What do you leave to the last minute during the holidays? Let me know in the comments.

12 Lists of Christmas: Christmas Movies

Yesterday I gave you my first of 12 lists of Christmas, featuring a gift guide for everyone on your list. Today I present:

List number 2 : 12 Movies to Watch this Season.

Disclaimer, ok there are some missing from this list, that you might love (I mean I didn`t even put Nightmare Before Christmas on it) but I was going with 4 categories ok. Tell me your favourites in the comments!

Technically not Christmas Movies

1. Rocky, the ultimate underdog story. Is it a Christmas movie? not really but it has many Christmassy bits, and will leave you wanting to race up and down the stairs at city hall, and shout for the one you love.

2. Tim Burton's Batman Movies, specifically Batman Returns, once again arguably not a Christmas movie per say, but for sure (much like most Burton movies) set around the holidays.

3. Die Hard the ultimate Christmas Eve is absolutely spent with Bruce Willis, taking out terrorists.

Laugh out Loud Christmas Movies

4. Home Alone (and for that matter Home Alone 2). Watching Marv get beat up throughout those movies kills me every single time.

5. Jingle All the Way, watching Arnold do what it takes to get his hands on a Turbo-Man action figure, amazing.

6. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, why not spend the holiday's laughing at the Griswalds?

Children's Classic Christmas Movies
 

7. Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer this stop motion classic must live in the hearts of all of us.

8. The Muppets Christmas Carol. Easily the best rendition of this time tested Christmas tale.

9. How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Jim Carrey brought the grinch to a new kind of life, but I still love the old animated version too! (yeah Max)

Top 3 in no particular order

10. Elf. "I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel." Need I say more?

11. A Christmas Story. Oh how many ways do I love this movie, so many that I can't put my arms down!

13. Love Actually. OK there has to be one perfect love story on this list, and this movie gives you several. Love actually is all around.

All images came from Wikipedia.

Christmas Christmas Christmas

Merry 29th of December, which as tonight's news informed me, is the Italian lucky gnocchi day (well the 29th of any month) so maybe you too will find gold coins under your plate of gnocchi tonight.

I have been home in the Soo for for the last week and a half, and enjoying time spent with family and friends (and not in the lab). What have I been doing most?

Christmas baking! before I left Calgary I made a Rum Cake and Brownie Roll-Out Cookies. Since I've been home I've added the following (from left to right):

• Macaroons
• Biscotti (well my mom made those)
• Mars Bars Squares
• Peppermint Bark
• Peanutbutter and Butterscotch haystacks
• Peanutbutter Cups hide-aways
• Gingerbread Cookies

If you want any of the recipes, leave me a comment and I'll get you a copy. In the future I promise to post some as I do the baking. They all turned out delicious, even the macaroons which kinda flattened out a bit.

Also this year, in an effort to beat the pre-holidays blues, I bought my first Christmas Tree, which I set up in my Calgary apartment (around Dec. 1st!). And I love it!

 My very own white, pre-lit (this is key, no struggling with lights) artificial tree! Decked out all in blue!

 With the exception of this little guy, who I got at Home Sense, for like 4 dollars....so worth it!

And yes, I did the cool thing, and took a picture reflected back in a bulb. You can see my cute little pink Sony Cyber-shot camera, that I use for all my pictures....for the last 3+ years. Maybe I`ll upgrade in 2012.


Anyhow! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! or Festivus! or Snowflake Day! or whatever! Hope you all enjoyed yours as much as I have been mine! Did you do any baking? Did you decorate a tree? Is it real or fake?