2012 Is My Sweet Ride!

Today is one of those 'off' days for me. Lately my life has just been all over the place with so much opportunity and blessings crammed into such a short time. Then I have a day where I'm broke, and nothing eventful seems to be going on. Most of the time these days drive me mad; this falls into the most category... I never seem where to start or what I really should be doing after tidying things up.

Most of the day involved cooking, baking mini fruit pies and scones, and cuddling on the couch. It was a good day for these things since LA is having one of those rare occasional gloomy rainy weekends. The best part of these days are the talks with Eugene about the way things are going. This is when we made a fascinating discovery, we were utterly content.

Yes, this year has been so climatic in its failures and triumphs that I can honestly say that we have lived every bit of this year up until now. We have made our way without money, tasks, etc.; we pushed 2012 to the limit. As we come closer to the end of it dotting the I's and crossing the T's, we've had one hell of a ride. This month alone has turned out absolutely nothing like I would have expected. I've traded a quiet month of NaNoWriMo for so much more.

This my friends is an ugly day; the gem of being human in blog land. I haven't showered yet, I'm coughing, and I'm covered in grease and flour in a sweatshirt. There's a sense of comfort tell you this because I'm living and these days make the awesome days so much more. I've learned that blogging is a modern take on Carpe Diem where you learn to love the little things that fill your 24 hr days as you grow and shape into the person you were made to be. Today is just as much of a day as any other, and it's beautiful that way.

I have 5 remaining blessings for the month. Today while web browsing I came across blog posts intended to stop people from committing suicide through encouraging words. I was contemplating creating one sometime. In the meantime it got me to think of how the last post for the month should end. This has change my last 5 blessings, to things that I feel should matter and be simple truths in everyone's lives.

I've been saving them up, and with good long thought; here they are to share with you:

Trouble: Eugene and I concluded that we love to get into trouble. We've lived such a fulfilling life by never playing it safe. This very principle in life I'm grateful for. Its bliss that I have a partner. The Unseen: Not knowing what the future brings makes me feel like a bad ass! I mean think about it; living is staring life in the face and challenging it to bring what may. Being Human: I have ugly days, I fail, I am not perfect. But you know what? I'm still here, and I adapt and learn from my errors. Change:  Nothing beats looking back at a nostalgic beautiful past than a future. Growing up isn't a period of life, it's a never-ending fact of life.

Thank you for being a part of my journey. Another month of sheer astonishment at how much this blog has grown in such a short amount of time.

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Mini Holiday: Arroyo Grande

Our next trip was Arroyo Grande. We piled into the little Fiat and drove about 20 minutes away from where we were staying. Arroyo Grande is this little town that has specialty shops. Much of the older buildings are preserved for historic purposes. I'm not quite sure its heritage, but I'm curious to learn more and spend more time here on my next visit to the area.

For lunch we found this interesting little place called Klondike. It was a pizza parlor that was to resemble a bar feeling that you would in Alaska. What I loved about it was the laid back atmosphere and the arcade.

Little known fact: Eugene and I are Arcade Children. In our early years together Eugene was heavy into fighting games while I was into Bemani games. As we waited for our order we went crazy with the selection they had. Where they didn't have any Bemai games, there was a good amount of fighting games as well as a Pirates of the Caribbean Pinball Machine.

My mom called me because the cheese bread we order as well as a side salad had come to the table. It was so yummy! I really enjoyed the loads of garlic on it.

As to describe the BBQ Chicken Pizza: AWESOME! It was gooey and irresistible. The cheese was dripping everywhere. I particularly enjoyed the dough they used. From what I read from the menu it was made fresh with each order. It wasn't chewy or too dry; it almost felt like I was eating a freshly made foccacia out of the oven.

When we were finished, Eugene and I made our way to Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab. I'm always on the hunt for Bubble Gum ice cream as it's only sold in one specialty shop a few cities away from me. Thankfully they did not disappoint! We also found some amazing flavors aside from my beloved Bubble Gum so we went and made a Sunday to share. Our sundae consisted of: Bittersweet Chocolate, Lemon Chiffon, Bubble Gum, and the stores signature flavor Merlot Raspberry Truffle. Each one was absolutely decadent, no flavor was better than the other. I felt like each one had a different mood to it.

While you're eating they have a set of toy trains that follow tracks overhead the shop. They're there to represent the railroad that went through the area at some point. I thought it was a nice touch. Something that was definitely a character to the shop alone.

 When we were done, we needed a stroll to settle the crazy amounts of food that we ate.So we found the local park in the area with a few cool surprises in it...

Crazy as it is, I was in love with all of the lose chickens and roosters in the area. The locals were laughing at me because I was a little giddy for my own good. So pretty, so friendly. I still would love a pet Silkie Chicken...

They build cat tree houses around the cliffs edge. I thought that was pretty interesting. If you look closely you can see a little kitty sleeping inside and the cute food and water dishes that seem to be filled often. I could dig living in an animal loving town.

My favorite was this awesome bridge! It was an actual rope strung bridge like in the old days! Granted it was rebuilt and made much more secure as it was before, but it still rocked and swayed when you went on it. After sometime it gave Eugene and me a bit of a freight and we had to get off. I think I sorta get the fear in all of those adventure movies about bridges now...

Next to it was the stairs that led to the brook below. If was so beautiful! I loved how lush and green everything was and the way the light filtered through the leaves. I hope to take more walks in places like this back home.

After sometime in it was already hitting late afternoon and Eugene and I had a 4 hr road trip back home. So we piled back into the little Fiat and made our way back to the resort. It was a great little break to be away from the pressures of the city. I loved the fact that I got to savor things more than spending on them.

I hope next time I come back that I can explore more of the things up in the ocean town's of middle California. I saw some ads of new wine vineyards and tours as well as whale watching. Hopefully sometime soon... Until then, I'm grateful that I have the chance to vacate every now and then.

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My First Meditation Class (w/TEA)

This weekend I finally came around to trying meditation. This is something I've been wanting to try for quite sometime. When I was looking over the program of the Tea Festival and I saw the class, I knew that I had to take the class Meditation with Tea. The thought of anything for the first time with tea is something that I can easily dip my toes into. Think of it like your teacher holding your hand as they lead you to recess when you were younger, scary but comforting...

I was led to an open forum in the Japanese American Museums Resource Center just across from it. The walls were curvy and aided to a soothing water like feel. People were already gathering in a circle and I dived right in with a little courage (it helped me of course that Eugene was with me). The classes started and to my surprise it wasn't structured at all. I enjoyed that the Instructor felt the way the crowd was an slowly took her time getting to the points.

I got to learn breathing techniques and how to ween the mind from distractions and worries. The techniques were simpler than I thought they would be, which was opposite to the way my brain normally functions with it's task and competitive nature. We moved on to meditating on the blessings in our lives, something that everyone was happy to reflect on. We even did a writing exercise where we listed three things: what was on our mind that instant, what we were grateful for, and what people in our life we couldn't live without. She suggested we keep the poems to reflect on the next time that we do our meditations. She finished this exercise by handing us haikus and explaining how to meditate with them and poetry.

As for the tea, we reviewed how to be involved in the process of tea. We started with understanding the importance of meditation as the tea brews and being present with the pot and not to be distracted. Next we went over the idea of savoring the notes of flavor in the tea and using it to hone in on our senses. Her choices were a Keemun and a Green Darjeeling; both I felt were perfect since they are underrated for their complex notes and natural unique flavors.We also lightly discussed food pairings to add into the meditation of the tea process. The one highlight I took from the whole thing was the importance of taking a Sabbath for ones self. This is attained by picking a day out of the week just to relax and unwind. This way your soul and body are rejuvenated and ready for life's busy tasks.

Overall I really loved the whole experience. On a personal level, I adored learning from the wonderful Diana Rosen. She was so positive and enchanting and had a way of grabbing your attention softly but gracefully. As an advocate of body acceptance, I loved that she was bigger woman that didn't care about her image and ran the class with a balance of love and assertiveness. I hope to grow up with as much poise as her through experience and age.

I bought her book and I look forward to reading it. Just from flipping through it I can tell that she has an amazing directory and glossary from her personal tea journey. I look forward to further practices of meditation. I am starting with her breathing exercises every morning which have given me a burst of energy. I have yet to try tea meditation on my own, but I'm looking forward to it. Anyone curious about meditation, don't be scared to try even the simplest for of it. It's wonderfully beneficial.
-Stef

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