Love and Light – A Hostess Gift

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Love and light are two of my favorite things and I found a way to share them with friends. 
This year I’ve been making these beautiful jars filled with light, and giving them as thank you gifts to the friends who invite us to celebrate the holidays together. 

I love turning on the light and bringing the lit jar into their homes as we greet each other, sharing love and light.

If you’re interested in making them too, I purchased 8oz mason jars, short strands of firefly LED lights on Amazon, ribbon, tags and bows and tape. I taped the battery pack to the inside part of the lid and just twisted the light strand to fit inside the jar, and turned on the switch before closing the lid, tying on a tag and sticking on a bow. So simple, right?

Wishing you love and light.

nAMaste

Observing

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Today is my husband’s birthday and I loved celebrating him all day and night.

I decorated the kitchen the night before and had his cards and presents ready for him when he woke up.

I made our traditional cinnamon coffee cake and while we were waiting for it to come out of the oven, I made a bacon and egg scramble with sour dough toast, sausage and fruit.  The kids came to the table and we sang, “happy birthday” all before school and work.

We met for lunch in downtown Palo Alto and went to experience Sushirito for the first time together and it was really delicious! It was so nice to have time together in the middle of the day, just the two of us.

Finally, we went to play bocce ball with his friends from work as they were having their company holiday party tonight. I loved watching him really enjoy himself, playing a fierce game of bocce ball and enjoying his wonderful life. One of his coworkers made him cheesecake and they all sang happy birthday. This was such a thoughtful gift.

My favorite part of observing his birthday tonight was watching him get out on the dance floor, dancing with his friends to live music. He never dances and seeing him free and in the moment and living it up was just awesome to watch. His beautiful soul was shining and I loved being a part of his special day.

Happy birthday, Jeff!! I adore you.

  

  

Cooking Dinner

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I still love cooking dinner for my family. It makes me happy to slow down and to slice and dice and provide for my family this way.  

Tonight I enjoyed cooking this beef, green bean and scallions with garlic and ginger stir fry over rice.  As I was cooking in the kitchen, all the kids were studying together at the kitchen table and Juliana was helping to prepare our Christmas cards.  I loved that we were all working together in the same space and I was happy to be off my computer and to have her help.

This was one of the highlights of my busy and fulfilling day.

What was the highlight of your day?

Keep breathing and enjoying this one beautiful life.

xoxo

Day and Night – Love the Light

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I am stressed. This time of year stresses me out and gives me anxiety, every single time it comes around. I know it’s coming and I do my best to manage it but I find myself overwhelmed and loving it all at the same time. Yin and Yang.

I’m practicing slowing down in the busyness, at least to breathe and to pay attention to my family and my surroundings and to my body. That hopefully balances out the to do lists, chaos and disorder that surround and swirl around me daily. The key word is practicing. I’m still learning. *smile*

The light colored leaves captured my attention on my walk today with my friend. I love these colors and shapes and how they look both beautiful on the branches and fallen covering the ground.

The purple and pink sky took my breathe away and slowed me down before getting in the car to drive Charlie to his event. I loved driving around and watching the sky show. Juliana mentioned that it looked like we  lived in Aruba or Hawaii with that kind of sunset. I’m glad she enjoyed it too.

After Charlie’s practice, he asked me to drive down the street with his friends still in the car so that we all could see the house that is fully decorated with lights and animated inflatables, including santa in a helicopter. There was also a figure with a lit up countdown to Christmas that displayed there are 15 days left until Santa arrives. YIKES!! Only 2 more weeks to enjoy the insanity and make memories.

Wishing you love and light and peace amongst the chaos, BeLoveRs. Remember to breathe in happiness and breathe out stress. Naaaaaahmaaaaste.

xo Adriana

Presence with Family

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I got to enjoy all my family members, one on one today throughout the day and that made me happy. This is what I wanted for Christmas, and it came early!

Charlie brought his bagel with him to my desk while I was working and decided to just sit on my lap and talk with me. With one hand, he shared a bite and he wrapped the other arm around my neck. I enjoyed his presence and did not rush him off, which felt good. He innocently wanted to be with me and didn’t have to say a word and I heard it.

Christian and I went driving together and practiced his skills behind the wheel, with him driving us to get his hair cut and then to look for new shoes.  I realize that early next year, he will be able to drive himself and we won’t share these moments as frequently, if at all. I enjoyed his company.

Jeff came home from work before I had to leave and we sat on the couch by our Christmas tree together for 10 minutes, sharing a conversation before the next round of evening events. I loved that we both took the time to just chill and that the kids let us be without interrupting every 2 minutes.

Finally, Juliana came with me to my Christmas gift exchange party tonight and I was elated that she even wanted to come. She’s a high schooler and still likes me!  I loved sharing glances and watching her interact with my friends, and enjoying the evening together.  She is my angel.

Life is good, despite the stress and busyness of the holiday and work season, for those who choose presence.

Be present, BeLoveRs and choose to Be in the moments as they present themselves. Wishing you love and light and presence.

nAMaste

Christmas through His Eyes

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He loves the holidays, and was so excited to get one more inflatable this year. At first I said no, that we didn’t need to buy another Christmas item, and told him that we couldn’t have everything that we wanted. I was being like the Scrooge, killing his Christmas spirit while I was trying to teach a lesson, not that I have to give him everything he wants, but what if this is his last year of being like a child and I blew it being Scrooge-ish? I was stuck in the middle between the yin and yang of giving and just being happy with what you have moment.

I was going to stick with the no-line, until we tried to untangle his lighted, spiral, outdoor Christmas tree from last year that took forever and a day and I just threw it away.  After that, I decided to change my mind and since he looked online to compare prices and found a local store that had one for sale for less than I was prepared to pay, I said yes. You should have seen the thrill in his eye. He gave me a big hug and then asked me when we could go buy the 6 foot tall Santa Clause. I told him he had to wait until Sunday and that practicing waiting was a good thing to learn. I still wanted the opportunity to teach and to not just indulge his latest instant gratification request.

He waited patiently and I was able to surprise him the next day because he wasn’t expecting it. Together we searched two stores to find the right one and brought him home. Charlie was so excited to set up Santa and got right to work. Luckily I slowed down to enjoy his enthusiasm and to share his joy. Look at his smile!    I love Christmas through his eyes and am thankful that he’s still youthful and innocent and enjoys every minute of this season.  Thank you, Charlie for being you.

Merry Christmas!

One Light

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Tonight Charlie was at a friend’s house as they were preparing for the first night of Hanukkah. He had been with this family for almost 24 hours, as he had a birthday party and sleepover there the night before and never left.  I love how kids can just play all day. He wanted to be sure he didn’t leave until they had passed the 24 hour mark of togetherness and until the jelly donuts were ready.

You see, my friend began making homemade sufganiyot, the deep-fried Israeli delicacies, first thing in the morning and they were just going into the fryer late in the afternoon, and she had promised Charlie one before he left. I watched the perfectly plump rounds of dough turn golden brown and then cooled, while she piped strawberry jelly into their middles and then sprinkled them with powdered sugar. They were little delicious miracles.

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She called for the kids to come into the kitchen and Charlie came out to enjoy this Jewish tradition with his Santa hat on top of his head. I wished I would have taken a picture to capture the sweet innocence and yin and yang of this moment. Her and I both laughed, as we saw the same thing and appreciated the sharing of our traditions, together.

Happy Hanukah. Wishing you love and light.

nAMaste

God Bless You

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I saw this on a license plate frame on a car parked next to mine in the parking lot, after returning from an ornament exchange party tonight. It made me think about the expression and what it means and why we say it.

God bless you.

It’s kind of like, “Hello, how are you?” and “Namaste.”

It’s kind of like a receipt of acknowledgement of our presence and seeing the good in one another.

It’s a beautiful expression.

I think that God is Love – One Love, whether you’re Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Atheist, Buddhist, Black, White, Asian, Mexican, male or female. We are One Love, collectively, and maybe that can be our shared belief that changes and connects our hurting world. 

What we see, is what we create. See love. Acknowledge it in yourself and others and change the world through the power of one. You!

God Bless You, for being you, exactly as you are, BeLoveRs. You are beautiful.

xoxo

nAMaste

Welcome, Rain

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It rained today in California and the sound and sight was beautiful. I even loved the blustery wind blowing all the leaves off the beautiful trees. 

Charlie was so excited to see the grass covered in colorful leaves and asked me to save them so he and his friend could play with them and rake them up. We have always played with the leaves and I love that he’s still excited to play outside. 

On my way home from work, I saw the rainbow that you can hardly see in this picture and it made me smile.  There’s something magical about rainbows shining in the gray sky.

These were some of my simple joys today. What made you pause and notice today?

nAMaste