For your Must See list!

October 22, 2010 at 3:37 am · Filed under Must See, Yoga ·Tagged , , ,

Last night I went to a screening of the doc Budrus. Wow. Please go see it. Please pay attention to the power of nonviolence. Please hear how people who think they are sworn enemies can be changed in a single day. Or a single gesture of support.

Everyday we are overwhelmed with images of violence and discord and expected to believe that it is the only option.  Love can be so much bigger than everything else, if only we can take a deep breath and remember that we can always choose it.

In just the last 75 years we have seen extraordinary examples of what can happen when people choose love over fear.  Here is another.

May there be hundreds more in the next 75 years.

“Let the beauty we love be what we do”

~ Rumi

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for the love of cashmere

October 13, 2010 at 3:40 am · Filed under Joyella Designs ·Tagged , , , , ,

It’s that time of year again!  Chilly nights and crisp cool days with big blue New York City fall skies stretching as far as the eye can see (or as least as far as the eye can see between the buildings).  The promise of snowflakes lingering in the distance, and memories of hot sticky summer nights drifting away.

In celebration of what may be my favorite season here in New York, I’m busting out the wooly collection of Joyella Scarfs for sale online and in person, and crocheting like crazy!  New photos will be coming soon, but first – my work for this evening:

This yarn was ‘donated’ to me by a dear friend who found it discarded at her work.  The good news is that it’s the yummiest cashmere in a pretty pinkish off white.  The bad news – well, I think the photo shows the bad news pretty well.  And this is after an hour of loosening the knot.

I could just throw it away like the last person, but no!  I’m a treehugger dammit!  I believe in this cashmere!  I believe it’s destiny will look something like this:

But that will be tomorrow’s work.

Tonight I’ll be negotiating with one seriously committed knot.

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October 11, 2010 at 4:27 pm · Filed under Mindfulness, Yoga ·Tagged

Confession.

Lately I’ve found that I am suddenly less patient with people than usual. Actually, it often goes beyond ‘less patient’ into the territory of straight up judgmental. This is really strange for me because I like to think that I usually exist in a mind space of extreme openness, without feeling the need to classify and become attached to an opinion on everyone/everything I come into contact with.

So this new situation is kind of weird to me, and even weirder is the fact that I have no idea what drove the switch – I suddenly just started noticing these judgmental thoughts popping into my head.  A lot.

But maybe another way to look at it is that I’m suddenly experiencing more/deeper awareness of my thoughts. I have a feeling that normally I tend to just habitually follow my thoughts into an imagined world that I create around the belief in the absolute truth of those thoughts.

Now that I find myself (or at least a part of myself) sort of standing back and observing another part of myself having these uncharacteristic thoughts I’m beginning to wonder if it’s the thoughts themselves that are uncharacteristic, or if it’s the awareness of these thoughts that is new…

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Yoga adventures online and off

September 15, 2010 at 10:33 pm · Filed under Yoga ·Tagged , ,

So one of my obsessions is yoga.  I have been casually studying for a while now, but last summer decided to take my practice to a deeper level by completing a yoga teacher training with three amazing teachers – Leigh Evan, Paul Manza, and Summer Quashie.  It was such an incredible journey!  Here’s our whole crazy fabulous crowd on retreat in December  ytt group shot

Since then I have been assisting and teaching as much as I can, which thanks to my wonderful teachers has been loads!  I’ve added specialized trainings from Baby Om (mom and infant yoga is the cutest thing ever!) to the Lineage Project (an org that brings awareness based practices to incarcerated youth throughout NYC) and have been loving every minute of it…

As a student here in NYC there’s a hugely diverse yoga scene to choose from.  I’m lucky enough to have a really great studio across the street from my house, Greenhouse Holistic so I used to rarely venture beyond my block for a class, but I have big plans to broaden my horizons.

Starting in October I’m planning to do some serious yoga studio hopping to take advantage of the intro specials that most studios offer, and report back on what I learn.

In the meantime, I’m in Toronto & Halifax for film biz with M, then back to NYC to help out at Coterie, then off to Ohio for a buying trip for Stache (yay!).

With my NYC yoga plans on hold while I travel I have been exploring yogaglo a website that offers a huge selection of online classes. 

Yes, I too was a bit dismissive of the online yoga class, but M wisely pointed out that it could be a great way experience teachers who don’t teach in NYC, and might be a good tool for improving my own teaching.  He’s always thinkin.

  • Add-on: Elena Brower, a teacher whom I have a tremendous amount of respect for, is one of the site’s featured teachers.
  • Add-on: They have a 15 day free trial

So I figured I didn’t really have anything to lose, and signed up.  Turns out the 15 day free trial is only limited access, which was kind of annoying when I got blocked out of the restorative class that I was soooo ready for today, but there are still literally hundreds of “classes” to choose from.

A class can be anything from a ten minute breakdown of a specific pose, like this helpful handstand workshop by Dice Iida-Klein to full on 2+ hour classes (I haven’t tried those yet).

Under their duration tab they even have a 540 minute section.  It’s empty, which I was kind of relieved to see, but I’m wondering what they have planned for that!  Doing a quick pose workshop or even a full 90 minute flow class once in a while without a teach is probably reasonable, but it seems to me that anything lasting more than 90 minutes ought to have a trained yoga teacher in the classroom to monitor student’s progress.

It feels like the styles offered are weighted heavily toward Anusara and Vinyasa Flow, but maybe I’m just imagining it – I have only begun to explore…

So far the site is pretty easy to navigate, and to find a style/level that suits you.  I’m not sure when it launched, but it feels like a site that is just a seed with big plans to grow.  I’ll be interested to see where it goes and to hear what you all have to say.

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Vetiver Dream

March 26, 2010 at 2:43 am · Filed under Shopping list ·Tagged , , ,

About 5 years ago I started using these lovely all natural (real natural, not greenwashed “natural”) bath & body products made by Deep Steep.  It ruined me for the usual petroleum based body care products.

I used Deep Steep for a long while, but in my quest to shop local and buy from small businesses, I started looking for other options.  This past weekend I stumbled on a little pot of gold full of Goldie’s Soap at Artists and Fleas in Williamsburg.

The specific deliciousness that I discovered, and have since become obsessed with, was the Vetiver Dream Cream.

I cannot even begin to explain how amazing this cream is!  First of all, this the most moisturizing lotion I have ever experienced – it’s super thick & rich, and by two minutes after you’ve applied it there is no greasy residue, and your hands are like butter!  Plus it smells incredible too.  It has this warm, lavender and teak scent that I can’t get enough of.  I have been lathering it on from head to toe since Saturday. I couldn’t be happier and my skin is glowing.

Best of all?  It’s only $10!  What a steal.

The fun doesn’t end with the creams though.  I also picked up a yummy bar of soap, and a scrub with walnut  shell powder that’s delightfully bubbly in addition to being a nice gentle exfoliater.

At long last I have found my new favorite natural skin care.  I love the products, I love the packaging, and I adore the maker – she’s a Brooklyn girl too.  Check out the website and try a product or 12 – your skin will be thanking you for a long time to come!

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new Stache cards!

February 10, 2010 at 10:49 pm · Filed under Stache ·Tagged , , , ,

For years I have been acquiring vintage jewelry, handbags, clothing, (anything) under the auspice of reselling it.  A few times over the last five years I actually even managed a half hearted posting or two on etsy and ebay, but my heart just wasn’t in it.

2009 brought a ridiculous amount of traveling for work, and a lovely amount of time spent with my out-of-town vintage hound/partner in crime!  The sheer quantity of the resulting new acquisitions lead me to reconsider my half hearted efforts – that, and my boyfriend’s objections that there is no room left in our apartment for him…

So, Deb (vintage hound/partner in crime) and I began brainstorming for names – because any serious business must have a great name, right?  We settled on Stache pretty quickly, mostly because it made us laugh – although not yo’ shit was another strong contender (our long term goals include renting the most fabulous pieces to stylists & costume designers).

I had a “secret sale” in November to raise funds, during which I enlisted another fab friend Samantha (of dwell deep) to do the design work for the Stache logo/business cards.  I am a huge fan of her prints,  like the one I own:

And the one I would love to own:

She also does these fabulous custom illustrations as an alternative to family photos.  When my family consists of more than two I will mos def commission her to do one for me.  In the meantime I’m thinking it will be a sweet gift for my brother and his picture perfect family of handsome man, beautiful wife, and three ADORABLE girls.

Anyway – Two months after the secret sale and the decision to have Sam do my logo I finally got around to giving her a vague direction, which was apparently all she needed.  The first draft of the front of the card came back nearly perfect!  A few minor adjustments, and I am so in love with the result:

We didn’t want to add too much text on this side since the image itself is so strong, so we carried over the ‘stache and put all of my info on the back:

I think I love everything about it!  I have to confess that my website isn’t done yet, but I’m working on it (more specifically Mahyad is working on it).

I took the cards out for a spin last weekend where I was selling at Artists and Fleas in Williamsburg and everyone went crazy for it!

Lesson of the day: if you’re in need of the best illustrator ever be sure to contact Sam.

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Hello, hello…

January 22, 2010 at 11:14 pm · Filed under My Crazy, Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The most difficult part of starting a blog must be choosing the name…  After a month of contemplation that invoved such winners as Papercup Hater & this side of crazy, as well as many many unmentionable losers, here I am with the fruits of my obsessions.

Felted Orange Bag by knitknit on Etsy

The most difficult part of having a blog is actually having something to say.  I’m working on that.

My obsessions include yarn and gemstones, from which I make scarves and jewlery; vintage lace and buttons – actually, if I’m honest that could actually be vintage anything.  I have been gathering a collection of costume jewelry, hats, handbags and clothes that could rival most vintage stores.  Sometimes I sell it.

I love (and teach) yoga, organize a monthly social/networking event in NYC called Social Therapy.  I also have this crazy habit of consumer activism – I try to put my money where my mouth is, and support indie designers and local businesses.

I hate papercups for coffee, and I really hate how in NYC they take your papercup of coffee and put it in a paper bag with 800 napkins.  I love how they look at me like I’m crazy when I hand them my travel mug and give them back their napkins.

So that’s a little about me for now.  I’m still figuring out this blog thing, but I think it’s going to be fun.  I’d love to hear from you.

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