Feeding My Soul

Ever have those moments where you realize you have been going nonstop and desperately need to recharge? I think I need those moments more than most. Perhaps it's because I'm much more introverted than extroverted. Either way, I need to recharge. I need to take time to simply feed my soul.

Don't you just love the sound of that? What a beautiful concept. Feeding your soul. Doing something that is strictly for you and you alone. Something you love, but rarely do with others because they either don't care to do it...or for that matter just don't care for it the way you do. And sometimes, you have to throw yourself into that thing and let yourself go. Alone.

Take the time to think. Relax. Fall in. Enjoy.

Sometimes it means taking a solo road trip. Be in the car alone. Alone with your thoughts. You can play the mellow stuff and get lost in its beauty. Or crank the classic rock and sing at the top of your lungs. Let the you mood and the music guide you.

Sometimes it means baking chocolate chip cookies. It's the feeling of the whisk in your hand as you blend the baking powder and soda in with the flour and salt. It's the sound of the mixer beating together the brown sugar, soy milk, and flaxseed. It's the whiff of vanilla extract mixed with the chocolate chips. The whole house filling up with the smell as they bake in the oven. That delicious taste as hot, gooey chocolate melts in your mouth. That moment where you have to believe the world isn't too scary. Nothing is too scary in a wold where cookies exist.

Sometimes it means watching movies or reading stories that give you hope. Stories you relate to or dream about. Pride & Prejudice. A Homemade Life. Elizabethtown. 500 Days of Summer. Away We Go. Sabrina. Gilmore Girls. Whatever inspires you and makes you believe you can create the life you find so beautiful in these tales.

Sometimes it means reading through cookbooks. Grabbing a big mug of earl grey and a pack of post-its. Flipping through page after page, marking which recipes you can't wait to try. I could honestly do this for hours. In fact, I often do.

Sometimes it means grabbing a tripple soy latte, throwing some Norah Jones on your iPod, and journaling away. This alone recharges me more than anything else. Just getting lost in my thoughts. Dreaming. Scheaming.

Sometimes it means looking up my favorite Manhattan photographers, looking through their work just to have a good cry over how much I miss that city. This may not sound much like feeding my soul, but believe me it does. Because if I didn't take time to miss the city, I would forget about it. And if I forgot about it, I would forget about my dreams. If I forgot about my dreams, I would lose myself.

Feeding your soul can mean anything. Just don't forget to do it. Don't get so bogged down with social activities and work that you don't take time to just be. Take a road trip, bake cookies, journal, photograph, dance, do some yoga. Hell, go skydiving. Do whatever reminds you you're alive. Feed you soul.

Forget Me Not, My Dear, My Darlin'

This past weekend was beyond exciting for me. I made a trip over to Spokane to see The Civil Wars perform at The A Club.

One half of The Civil Wars, Joy Williams, had a solo career long before the duo existed. As a result of following her career, I have been a Civil Wars fan since they first released a demo version of "Dance Me to the End of Love" over two years ago. I bought their first EP and waited with great anticipation for their first full length album to be released.

Seeing a tour date so close to home astonished me and I absolutely had to buy a ticket! As excited as I was for the show, they completely blew me away. I have never seen two people so perfectly linked in musical collaboration as Joy Williams and John Paul White. If they're coming near you, do yourself a favor and buy a ticket to the show!

Opening act Rayland Baxter was incredible! He was insanely sweet and signed a copy of his EP for me :)

The Civil Wars were kind enough to hang out around the venue after the show and take pictures with us adoring fans!

Snapshots From My Kitchen

Here's a look at what's been going on with The Skinny Bitch Project lately- delicious, yes?

Tomato and Tofu Stew

 Kale with Peanut Butter Dressing

Minty Cantaloupe Surprise

Someday

Someday I will have a home with interior brick walls.

Someday I will have hardwood floors.

And beat up wood tables.

And tea cups. I've decided I'd like a tea cup collection. Old. chipped. stained. beautiful.

Someday I will have a chalkboard wall.

And in this room in my head I will have big, overstuffed chairs.

Chairs to curl up in and read.

Read the classics. Jane Austen. Dickens. Henry James.

Someday.



"It is greater than the stars- that moving procession of human energy; greater than the palpitating earth and the things growing theron."

-Kate Chopin

Day Dreaming of...

Brick walls and hardwood floors.

Big windows.

Tea stained mugs.

Music.

Soft acoustic guitar chords.

Soft blankets.

Warm cookies straight out of the oven.

Sweet girly dresses.

The smell of clean cotton.

Vases holding a single flower.

Simplicity.



Homesick

New York, New York, how I miss you.

I miss your yellow taxis. Horns honking.

I miss your subway tracks. The sways, the rumbles, the variety of people coming and going.

I miss the park. Its fall leaves, its paths. The running track by the pond. The bridges.

I miss the businessmen scurrying around the Financial District, strapped to their cell phones and brief cases.

I miss the lights, the feel, the energy.

I miss the sky scrapers and how it feels to be up high. To look out over the city and think, this is home.

I miss 5th Avenue. Feeling like Miss Golightly as I stroll past Tiffany's. Breathing in the fashion. Burgdorf's. H&M. Saks.

I miss the Village. The way the sun looks when it sets behind those buildings. The little shops. The cappuccino and pancakes in the cafe who's name is lost on me.

I miss places I've never even been and things I have yet to see. SoHo. Babycakes NYC. Even though it's now closed, CBGB's. The vegan joints I read about in my dining guides. Tribecca.

I miss the Met and corner cafe I ate at with my best friend the day we went. That feeling for two seconds where I almost belonged on the Upper East Side.

I miss the Brooklyn Bridge. It is beautiful. It needs no more embellishment beyond that.

I miss the sensation of coming up from the subway tunnels. Finding yourself someplace else- some other magical part of the city.

I miss the smell. Honestly, you have to be in love to miss the smell.

I miss the sense of invincibility the city gives you. Any dream can come true in New York.

I miss being there. I miss feeling as though my heart were full. That is the city's gift to me. Love. A pure, full, passionate love. A love that has yet to be matched.

New York, I love you

(Yeah for my 100th post on Tea & Audrey!)