Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 202

Today is one of those days where I can't believe I've made a daily practice of listing at least 5 moments that made me smile, or for which I was thankful, into something that has lasted so long.  One year and two hundred and two days.  It's one of those days where I'm struck by the slow changes this practice has wrought in me.  It's a day where, honestly, I was exhausted and drained, and spent various chunks of time working to fight off random spats of tears.  But it was a day that held beauty, in which I reached often for my phone and jotted items to add to tonight's list.

And so, here's today's Daily 5:

1. 1 year, 202 days of making these lists
2. coconut scented body butter, slathered on my legs after a shower.  On a day when I was longing for sun and palm trees, this was sort of a breath of hope.  A scent reminding me of summer.
3. whole wheat toast with butter and jam
4. a quiet Sunday morning, home alone
5. One last chance to spend time with L. before she gets on a plane for other continents, literally completing a trip 'round the world over the last four months.
6. Shopping with J and L, my former roommates and laughing together, enjoying the comfortable familiarity of those who have lived together and know each other's habits well
7. I finally purchased a rack for my collection of earrings, and I'm super excited about it.  It's pretty and cute, and I can't wait to get home tomorrow evening, sort through my collection and add them to the rack.  I took before (and will take after) pictures to share.  I wasn't planning to buy anything today, but I've been looking for a way to visibly display my earrings for literally years, and when I came upon this one that was both cute and reasonably priced, J and L, who have been on many a shopping trip with me where I've pondered options, convinced me that I couldn't afford to walk away.  I'm so glad they talked me into it!
8. catching up on blog reading - google reader has revolutionized my blog reading, and I'm loving that they're all in one place, just waiting for me
9. watching The Food Network, both on television, and online today.  Absolutely my favorite background for sitting to read, write, or otherwise putter.
10. Anthropologie - new to Canada, or at least to Calgary, but so pretty, and full of inspiration, even if I will never really afford anything there.  We spent a long time wandering around in there, fingering clothes, sitting in furniture, exclaiming over pretty things and fun ideas, and smelling candles (our favorite was a mango jasmine scented one).  I walked away feeling separated from the greyness of March in Calgary, and inspired to create something beautiful.  Not bad for a free pastime!

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

Quite honestly, I'm embedding this video as part of a contest to win a free paperback copy of Donald Miller's book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.

That said, I think the message of the video, and more importantly, the message of the book (available here on Amazon - and no I don't get any compensation for linking to it, other than maybe winning a paperback copy), is a really important one.  Last year my "one little word" was Story, inspired by this book.  Honestly, I think it's become the one word that will influence all of the one little words to come, and some of the reasons why were in this book, which I read at just the right time in my life, in a moment when my life needed some editing and rewriting.  So, I'm sharing the video with all of you!

Go buy the book - you'll be doing yourselves a favor!


What story are you telling? from Rhetorik Creative on Vimeo.

High Tea and Hotsprings

I thought I'd share a few photos of the time I spent with one of "my people" the other day.

We had two very specific things on our agenda, and everything else we fit was just a bonus.

We were going to have afternoon high tea at the Banff Springs Hotel, and we were going to visit the Banff Hot Springs.

The photos I have are all from high tea.  We didn't take any photos at the Hot Springs, because, well, why risk a very nice camera falling into the water for shots of my blindingly white skin that no one should have to see anyway!

This is us, enjoying our tea service.

One of the two varieties of tea we sampled.  I think this one was an apple spice tea.

The tea service.  It also included a cup of fresh fruit, and a fabulous scone.

The view out the window from where we sat to enjoy tea. Not bad, huh?

Because no trip together to Banff would be complete without a bit of a photo shoot.

Have I mentioned how much I love the mountains that I live near?

This is the Banff Springs Hotel where we had tea, from across the valley.

Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 201

It's been a long time since I've posted a Daily 5 before 10:30 at night, but the truth is, I'm exhausted.    I've been nursing a headache for a good chunk of the day, and it's finally getting the better of me.  I've been fighting to keep my eyes open, and my thoughts coherent since about 4:30 this afternoon, and I'm now losing that battle.  I have one email to write after I post this list, and then I'm letting the exhaustion win, and praying for a long and deep sleep.

1. Yoga class this morning
2. making a new friend at yoga (we've laughed our way through the last two classes we've both happened to attend)
3. a hot shower after the yoga practice
4. a brief skype chat with a friend
5. homemade coconut oatmeal cookies

Pondering Friendship

I've been thinking a lot about friendship again the last few days.  It's been a fairly constant topic of re-evaluation for me over the last six months or so.  I've made decisions differently.  I've chosen to handle some relationships differently.  Reading Safe People (see my mini-review here) very much shaped my thoughts as well.

In the last couple of days I've had two very distinct experiences of this thing called friendship, and they've left me pondering and deeply appreciative of good friendships with healthy dynamics.

On Thursday I spent a day with one of "my people."  There was no pressure, no expectations, just lots of love and the freedom of a well-established relationship, with boundaries that have created safety and a place for us to simply be who we are.  It was pretty much my definition of "the perfect day."  We spent an entire day together in a beautiful location, doing things like taking photos and enjoying really fantastic food.  And we laughed and talked and laughed some more.  We covered topics as diverse as travel, arranged marriage, body image and weight loss/gain, future plans, god, friends and family, healthy relationships, and mountains.   We shared tea, and sat in the hot springs, and laughed at the goofy guys wearing their toques in the pool, fresh off the mountains from a day of skiing, based on their conversation on which we couldn't help but eavesdrop a bit.

I left the day feeling peaceful and happy, after interactions that were easy and natural, and reminded about what love is.

And so I'm pondering friendship again.  Savoring the comparative tastes, and learning to recognize the flavor of that which is good.  Reconsidering boundaries I've drawn, and wondering if some of them need to again be tightened.  I'm thinking about friendship and finding myself amazed at the things I'm discovering, about myself, and about my relationships as I pause to ponder.