Up to Speed.

I've been sick for the past three days, and I'm final feeling like a living person again!  Allergy season is always the worst, especially because I love being outdoors and breathing fresh, spring air.  I may not know my own limits, because it left me bed-ridden for the last 72 hours.  Having to slow down and take time off always makes me feel behind, but it's moments like that I realize that I need to take a break and just rest.  Health is by far one of the most important things to me, if not the most, because it's how we bring ourselves out to the world, and we strive to be in full health: body, mind and spirit,  and it's a valuable lesson to be reminded of.

Before I descended down the ill path, I got to celebrate a dear friend's birthday on Saturday.  The magical Claire Perry was turning 26, and also leaving us the next day for Las Vegas.  Funny enough, I had always imagined her being in that city, and I have no doubts that she will make quite an impact when she arrives.  We spent the day overlooking her beach view in Venice, and the followed with the most extravagent dinner at Mao's Kitchen.  We started with the Shrimp & Spinach dumplings, which arrived in a bamboo steamer with a garlic ponzu, Eggplant Pamphlet: eggplant slices stuffed with shrimp, and then fried in tempura batter, then dined on Long-Life Beans: vegetables in a black bean sauce, and The Coconut Curry that Changes Your Life: tomatoes, bok choy, celery, broccoli and chicken covered with a silky, delicious, coconut curry goodness.

Dessert was walking to the beach and catching the last rays of run before they were tucked away.  A few good snapshots with friends.  Hugs and laughter. 

Oh, and six red bean pastries.  That I ate by myself :)

Release and Allow.

 (I promise to start writing more, but in the mean time, a little blip of what's been bouncing in my brain)

I get these awesome, inspiring e-mails daily from Brian Johnson and his team over at en*theos, and below is one of the quotes I got this past weekend:

 "We need not to be afraid to touch, to feel, to show emotion.  The easiest thing in the world is to be what you are, what you feel.  The hardest thing to be is what other people want you to be."-Leo Buscaglia

I love these little nuggets of wisdom.  It reminds me that there is no perfection, only an ideal, and even then, we always have to be our authentic selves in everything we do.  Only then, do I feel, we can truly open ourselves up to who we really are and experience life like we never imagined.

With grace and sophisticated sass,
.:Anais:.