10 Things I Am Loving Right Now

NOW I’m happy again.

The weather has turned beautiful and all my worries about “Will the flowers ever bloom again?” have been assuaged. People, the flowers are blooming! Got $100 worth of annuals to plant (after Memorial Day).

I am sleeping with the window open at night.

The dog went wading in the creek.

I haven’t been on my bike yet, or out in the kayak, but it’s coming, it’s on the list (not that I keep that kind of list.)

The Yoga Challenge was so wonderful and so sweet and all 10 people who started, finished.

I am getting my personal practice back, too, and my wrist is pretty good. I still can’t do Crow, but I’m getting close. Headstand is back. Downdog is awesome. I can vinyasa with the best of them.

A friend of mine got a new car the other day. A nice car. An expensive car. And while we were talking, he said, “You know, even though I am tickled with this car, it’s just a thing.”

And I got that. “The best things in life, aren’t things.”

Yeah. Amen to that.

But I do appreciate certain things: helpful things, well designed things, inspiring things, delicious things.

So I thought I would list what I am appreciating right now, thing-wise.

Travis Eliot Short and Sweet

I have Travis Eliot’s “The Ultimate Yogi” and it is great, no question, but it takes close to 2 hours to do, and I just don’t have that. I really love this Short and Sweet DVD. 30 minutes. Bam. Done. Excellent.

http://www.totalfitnessdvds.com/Yoga-Short-and-Sweet-with-Travis-Eliot-p/2093.htm

Habit Master App

Here are the “things” I try to do every day: Meditate, Write, Yoga, Drink a green drink, Get in 10K steps on my Fitbit, Hold Plank, Do Wall sits, and take my Supplements. I use HabitMaster on my phone to track my streaks on all these things. I can set daily, weekly or monthly goals on this, but so far I only have daily ones. It’s cool. I like it.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/habitmaster/id430553435?mt=8

Chess

I am teaching myself to play Chess. I need to keep the gray matter active. To that end I bought myself this chess set and it is now permanently installed on my coffee table. I am also reading chess books. I am finding it very difficult. And this is a good thing.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040ZWV4E/ref=oh_details_o01_s02_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It Starts With Food

My friend Sandy is dealing with a goiter on her thyroid gland. She recently went to a holistic naturopath who is also an MD who recommended she follow the diet in this book. Since I am a Health Coach, I am naturally curious about all diets, so I bought this book and have been trying to follow it. It is a lot like Paleo, only much stricter. The authors recommend you go on a Whole Foods only diet for 30 days. They call it Whole30. I think it is solid.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1936608898/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Bali Coffee

When we were in Bali last summer we went to the plantation where they grow the Kopi Luwak. A luwak is a civet cat that eats coffee cherries, and then poops them out. They gather the poop and make coffee out of it. Best coffee I have ever tasted. We brought some back and drank it right up. But we also brought back just plain old Balinese coffee, which is A LOT less expensive. It’s been sitting here. The other day I broke into it. Oh my goodness. Heaven. This link  is not the place I got mine, but I’ll bet it’s great.

http://www.coffeebean.com/bali-blue-moon-coffee/d/1064

Soma Water Filter

I saw Tim Ferris endorse this and got it. It’s really beautifully designed in terms of form and function and I hope to someday get rid of my Culligan dispenser. (I suspect my Culligan water is from the Delaware municipal water supply anyway.)

https://www.drinksoma.com/carafe

Zentangle

I got this for Christmas and although I am not a really expert Zentangler, I love it. I have to sit and listen to lots of lectures as part of my Integrative Health coaching education as as I listen, I do this:

 

I find it fun, meditative and relaxing.

http://www.zentangle.com/

Simple Human Dish Rack

Slimy dish drainers are gross. Dish drainers that don’t drain properly are a daily annoyance. It’s the little, everyday things that are crappily designed that bug me. I find myself complaining, “We can put a man on the moon, but we can’t make a dish rack that works!” I sound like my grandmaw. So a few months ago I saw this dish rack at Bed Bath and Beyond and went, “Wo.” It has a freaking wine glass rack! And a knife block! This thing is so well designed I couldn’t resist. It’s $80, though. Which is cah-RAZY!! Are you NUTS?? 80 bucks for a dish drainer??? Yup. Bought it. I love it every single day. So much pleasure.

http://www.simplehuman.com/steel-frame-dishrack-with-wine-glass-holder-fingerprint-proof-stainless-steel-grey

Insight Timer App

This app not only times my meditation, but keeps track of my “stats.” I like the feature where you can see who is meditating with you around the world, as well as nearby.  I like the gongs that get me started and end it.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/insight-timer-meditation-timer/id337472899?mt=8

Jicama

This is my latest “food find.” Who knew? Love this stuff. Pronounced “hick-a-ma” is has the consistency of a water chestnut, but it’s sweet. So far I have only used it as a crudite, but you can stir fry it or steam it. I cut it into sticks and ate it with my tuna salad the other day. It was delicious!

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img4.cookinglight.com/i/2009/03/0903p22-jicama-m.jpg%3F300:300&imgrefurl=http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/essential-ingredients/jicama-00400000040558/&h=225&w=225&tbnid=VwVrxlpcyPmvZM:&zoom=1&tbnh=186&tbnw=186&usg=__6mAz0BcWpRYK5-2yfzeDSS_HfOE=&docid=NSN7Tk1DoSKjDM&itg=1&sa=X&ei=4uF0U46qCsy-sQT0t4KYCA&ved=0CKcBEPwdMAo

So this is what is amping my vibe in “thingdom” these days. What am I missing out on? What are you loving these days?