I'm so in Love...

With my home that is, all of its magical nooks and crannies, all of its history (the two wonderful Buddhists who lived and past here at the age of 102) all of the wonder and life it holds, every crack and creek and smell of time. I love it all, I've never been so inspired and at peace in all aspects of my life, everything is just so right.

 I wanna share a few of my favorite things here that make this house the wonderful home it has become...

When I wake up the floors are still chilly from the night before, so I have to wear my fuzzy boots. And in my nightgown, I dance to get my heart going for the day!

My meditation room has my heart and soul within it. Its a place I come to reflect and let go, I chose to mount my favorite Georgia O'Keefe paintings from her desert series, The colors are perfect and a pleasure to look at. (PS- I made that large pallet)

And I realize this sounds weird, but if you know me, I tend to be a bit weird...

On this shelf in the meditation room where my first Reiki certificate for level one resides with my symbols from my second seminar there is an orb/swatch of purple and green residing. I questioned even sharing this, but who cares! Its a part of who I am and I'm not going to hide that fact on my own blog. Its in every photo, at all times day/night/darkness/light/even candle light or inverting the image to make sure its not dust or light (do you see it up there on the left). Even before the shelf or symbols were moved in I saw this colored light above the door to this room in photos, but chose not to post it, maybe I will on Flickr though. Green is the color that represents healing and the heart Chakra, and purple or violet is the crown Chakra and represents a spiritual consciousness. The crown Chakra is thought to be "open" while practicing Reiki...

I've just learned to welcome it, and know it probably means I'm on the right path in the healing arts. I like to think its the aura of my open crown Chakra or a guide who is pleased, whatever it is, its warm and loving so I welcome its presence and wanted to share. 

Okay enough with Metaphysical 101 and my orbs lol...

I have this spot on a throw rug in our bedroom that picks up the sunlight wonderfully, I love to sit here with coffee or tea and read and absorb... And yes that is one of my many scars and I'm okay with it showing if you are! 

We have so many nooks to fill still. These little caverns are what I fell for when we first saw this home, it gave it so much character. For now my favorite fall boots and sweater hang here, but I'll think of something else soon. Feel free to leave suggestions!

My pain from my accident is still chronic, but I'm happy here and find my surroundings soothing to my neck and back. Our big soft bed helps on days I need to just take it easy. I'm sure changing location, lifestyle, and people I surround myself with has helped but either way it is such a relief to me to have our bed back full of pillows and crisp white sheets.

Downstairs in the living room you can visually see me and Jeremy meld together in the details. There are always fresh flowers, this white bundle is in a cute thrifted dairy creamer (I found that for .25 cents!) the Candle sticks are also thrifted, they needed a good cleaning but for 2 bucks you cant beat it! We chose to display our engagement announcement interior with our favorite quote from Jack Kerouac's, "Dharma Bums"

This room wouldn't be me without Hitchcock books and a few elephants! The pillows I made from fabric from Ikea. And the marble "elees" are a gift from one of my Dad's many travels around the world. This living room is such a great mixture of memories, its sleek like Jeremy likes but cozy for me and full of personal touches. The wildflowers are in unmatched tumblers (also thrifted for .50/each) which make a wonderful stout little bouquet...

I took more wildflowers and the unmatched thrifted tumblers to use for our Thanksgiving centerpiece, I added our "Family" sign, a marriage gift, with the leftover gourds and pumpkins from Kristie's baby shower decor. Added a double wick pumpkin spiced candle to complete this for only 7 bucks total! I think it turned out good. I have some knitted place mats I have to finish up before Turkey day that will complete it.

Last Christmas we got this great espresso machine and I found these darling little cups and saucers at Ikea for only a buck for each set! I will be using a sharpie to write a little something for us both and baking them, as seen here on A Beautiful Mess... thanks for the idea Elsie :) My favorite picture (taken by Jeremy) of Rilo and I completes this dining room shelf and adds a personal touch.

I hope You enjoyed this short tour of why I love our new home so much! There will be more to come...

All of you guys have been so supportive during our move in comments and emails, I appreciate that you even find this outlet for my creativity interesting and wanna take a moment (with it being Thanksgiving soon) to tell you how incredibly grateful and thankful I am to have met such wonderful girls on this blog journey, whether I was dealing with rough waters or easy seas you were there to listen and give feedback. Thank you and I can't wait to share more of my journey with you.

~Niec

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! 

Hope all of you are having a fun and safe evening! This week we've been packing and bringing over more and more stuff and bit by bit everything is falling into place. Saturday is quickly approaching but it looks like everything will be moving along smoothly. Today I headed over to the new place with Rilo on my own to get her acquainted with her new home and yard. Within minutes she had a boyfriend! A gorgeous and very sweet Husky/Wolf hybrid (I'll get a pic to post soon) named Toby. Toby lives next door, both of the backyards are fenced but open up to a big field for Rilo and Toby to play in!We're relieved and excited for her new friendship. 

She seemed to love the new house and even fell a asleep while I messed with my gardening beds out back (you can see one of the three on the right side of the backyard yard in the first picture, that will soon hold lots of yummy veggies, oh and that potty pad was not for Rilo it was to wipe off my muddy boots lol). I then smudged the house from top to bottom and lit a few candles and did a few other things I typically do to prepare a new place before we move in. Our new home is so warm and so light and everything feels so right these days... I feel so blessed with how things have played out, so very blessed.

I've been making myself craft or read (from an actual book) every night to unwind before bed, so of course most nights I knit! This was the last of Noah's hats, mitts and booties sets, this slouchy beanie set is by far my favorite, can't wait to see him looking all cool in it! Thank goodness Noah will be cousins with our kid so that we can get some of these nice things back as hand me downs...

I continued my people and possessions purge this week, it was something I felt my soul needed. I got rid of things that I didn't want in our new home, some are actual objects but some were just attitudes, energy, and people, I don't need to have or be around or even exposed to. I will be posting a journal entry in the upcoming weeks about this change I've made, this conscious effort to stick to my instincts and not be afraid of the outcome, and letting go of all the other things that led to this so-called "purging" It has been an amazing experience and has given me a sense of peace I haven't felt in years... I wish I'd of done it sooner but, everything happens in its own time and in its own way.

Awesome album I can't get enough of this week. I've shared in the past my struggle with panicking whenever I have to pack so moving tends to be rough. As I'm sure it is for anyone that struggles OCD in any aspect of their lives. This album of native flutes and earth songs puts me in such a calm state of mind I found myself being relaxed and positive during packing! Listen to "Riding With Thunder" It is AMAZING and so empowering!

I Abide In You...

A Journal Entry: 

"Every year that passes us, its crazy how time just marches on. The day we got married, it was so intense, so earth shaking, it was as though time stopped and every so often when I'm alone with you or its late at night and we're talking, I feel that time stops again. When the moon hits your face just right during a night walk, as the cigarette smoke billows and dances on the nights air from your hands. Everything is still. Sometimes we can look at each other and not speak but know what the other is feeling, thinking-without words. We are just so blessed to have one another. So few people meet their great love so young, God, we are so lucky. I love our life together, I love that we are lucky enough to be able to be married. The most significant vow we spoke that day was that we now abide in one another. That is just, whoa! To abide in something is to stay, remain, dwell, and/or to act in accordance with a decision. We have become one heart, one home, a solace for one another away from the chaos of this world." 

Our Marriage Secrets...

The majority of emails I receive from you guys are questions regarding my marriage and my hair, The next two days I'm going to try and answer these questions to the best of my ability. I'd like to feel like I can share candidly with my readers in an open environment, but up until now I've been a bit uncomfortable in answering questions regarding my private life. My blog is new and I'm sometimes unsure what is appropriate to talk about. Usually, I'm am a very private person when it comes to my marriage but I have tried this week to be a bit more open, a testing of the waters if you will. I feel now I am ready. By far the most common question is,"whats yours and Jeremy's secret?"

So, while we vacationed I came up with a set of 10 things that we keep paramount in our marriage, the keyword being "our" These things will not work for everyone, we are all different, so take what you want from my humble list, and feel free to email privately with any other questions regarding any/all of these.

Right here, right now

Sorry for my lack of posts this week, I've been pretty swamped. Aside from the typical things that seem to eat up my time, I'm wrapping up an awesome history class I'm auditing online, and due to the intense research project on civil war era photography, I decided to do a second project for myself, you'll be seeing alot more of that in the upcoming weeks... I'm literally jumping in excitment to share this! 

So we start our vacation on Saturday, and for most I'm sure the week before a vacation is fun and filled with planning but packing and traveling cripples me with anxiety, it always has. No matter how excited I am to get away I become incresingly overwhelmed about every aspect of preperation!

An Epic Visit/Tattoo/BBC...

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, I have some bug that escaped the pits of hell and infected my GI tract early Monday morning, so I've spent the week in bed indulging in my unhealthy obsession with the bbc...In case you're into British Tele I'll make a list of my current favorite series.

I received a call late Friday night from my best friend, Daniel letting me know he and his wife Carly and -what is perhaps the cutest/smartest child ever-Cora or "Bean" were on the way down from Pittsburgh for a visit! I've known Daniel since childhood and we went to the same elementary school back in Honolulu/High School in Maryland. I pretty much live for these visits because they usually involve dancing, non-stop laughter, and wine...

Gratitude...

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.

-Aesop

Today while reading through the blogs I follow daily I came across an amazing post from an amazing woman.

Sarah Yates is the creator of A House in the Hills I've mentioned her before in this post, (btw-thank you to all the sweet ladies that emailed me responses to that post). Sarah is one of those women that just inspires me to be the best woman I can be, honest, and brave, and strong. She recently purchased her first home and shared this moving post explaining why shes so thankful, and what the significance of this home means for her. Its a touching story and one I hope everyone will take a moment to read. Sometimes its easy to be jaded and loose sight of what really matters, lets all try to count our blessings more often, and be gracious for what we do have. Sarah's story is one not far from my own, perhaps one day I'll be brave enough to share my journey. But for now, heres to you Sarah! Congrats on your new home I wish you many happy years and memories to come.

True Confessions

 True Confessions Magazine ca 1932, Henry Clive

Over the weekend I came across an interesting article on confiding in girlfriends. I think we all have those moments where we either think, "oh god, did I really tell her that?" or "ugh, I feel so much better after talking about it" or the dreaded, "god, I love her but I wish she'd just get over him already!" 

We've all been there but Elle writer, Monica Corcoran Harel sheds some interesting light on the nature of women confiding in women. I found the article really informative and thought I'd share. If you happen to be a science geek (like me) I will also link the original study cited in the article by Brown, Its easy to digest so worth checking out.

True Confessions

Social Closeness Increases Salivary Progesterone

Enjoy!

Girl on Girl Hate

Stong woman Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games 2012 Lions Gate Entertainment

This post is a bit of a hybrid, half of it stems from something I recently witnessed that pains me and half from my straight up disgust for the girl on girl hate that keeps popping up in the media!
Recently I witnessed a level of cattiness that could only rival that of Regina George, Although I did not partake in it I was still affected to the point of disgust and couldn't speak to anyone afterwards not even my closest friend for days because of it, it was like poison. I kept asking myself, "where would such words come from?' After mulling over the  personal attacks on almost every woman she knows I came to a conclusion: insecurity.
Insecurity breeds the worse kind of girl hate there is, "girl on girl" hate. Anytime one girl can rip apart another girl whether its "juicy gossip" or "drama" that girl is seriously insecure with herself, whether it be hatred of ones size or weight, hatred of ones personal beliefs, hatred of ones relationship status/woes, I can guarantee 99% of the time its because those aspects of their life are not healthy and the person is insecure with that fact.

Home & Garden???

So first off, apologies on my week off after the first week of blogging. I'm sure that breaks about every blogger rule there is, but after a mystery stomach thing and a kinda weird weekend I needed some time to myself... Its fun to see that my traffic hasn't slowed down during my time away, thank you readers, you make me not feel crazy, like I'm talking to myself :) Things have been a bit hectic this month, I'll be posting exciting details as to why very soon. One of the fun projects I've taken on lately is gardening??? So why was that a question??? Because I've not the first idea as to how to garden. Nonetheless, being the Aqaurian I am an needing to be an expert in random fractions of things as well as constantly learning I needed something in between all my other "things." In a perfect world I'd be as good a gardener as I am a scientist, but alas that just ain't true! So I decided to challenge myself with my very first edible gardening project, a 5.99 "monster melon" I don't  particularly love watermelon or "sandia" as I grew up calling it, but I hear you can fill them up with liquor and have a "drunken watermelon" so I'm excited for the possibility of this happening by August. Jeremy and I also planted some cacti for his office, hopefully they survive because they are beautiful. Something about cacti at night has always been so serene and beautiful to me. Along with all these plants we had my brother over this weekend, he had a wedding on our side of town so I made him sleep over so I could see him in his tux...

The Real Me

A few months back when I was still toying with the idea of blogging I asked myself, what is it that makes the blog world so alluring, why do I follow these women who choose to share portions of there life? The answer was, "I don't know why" I just know that in the world of blogging we see super versions of ourselves that are nicer to look at, we see what we want to be, we see what we think is successful and beautiful we're bits and pieces of the people we love, all put together into one shiny "you" that can be posted daily! We are escapes, we are women who have perfect skin and bodies and don't need makeup, who don't have meltdowns, we are moms that seem to never break a sweat.

On "Easy Peazy" I get to be this girl who has this perfect relationship with the women in her family, a girl who obviously is madly in love with her very attractive husband and never has arguments, a girl who is okay with just being what she is, who crafts pretty jewelry all day and has long talks with her friends...

After the Rain

We've had some pretty nasty storms here in my little suburban pocket outside the district. At one point we had a tornado warning or watch (can never decipher what each means). So yesterday and today have been such a treat! Sun is out and begging for us all to go frolic. Here are a few pictures of how the plants and flowers are enjoying the sun after the rain.

angel plants

azaleas in bloom

Weekend Notes

This weekend consisted of a much needed convo with my best friend, Daniel, you know when you have those moments with some one you've known for years and its like no time has past, ugh! its the best!

Aside from catching up, me and the hubby visited one of our favorite local spots for Bim Bap, Bulgogi and Kimchi. I grew up in Hawaii so I need my Korean food fix at least twice a month, if you've never tried this delicious symphony of flavor find a good mom and pop in your area and run don't walk there right now!

After nursing the Bim Bap baby that developed as a result of too much sticky rice, I decided to make a little jewelry (DIYs to come). Geodes and Morse Code are two current obsessions.

I have a pretty intense collection of stones and its always fun to use them in jewelry projects. Stones are beautiful organic creations of nature, and I believe they emit different energy and can really alter your state of mind, that said I was in need of some Angelite this weekend so this geode was perfection!

And so it begins...

I have toyed with the idea of starting a blog for quite some time. The thought of basically having a bucket to drop daily thoughts into on just about everything has always seemed pretty awesome. I love to create! whether its a doodle, a craft gone good, or bad (that sits on my shelf of rejects), or an inspiring photo that led to some off the wall nail art (I'm a bit of a nail nerd). I love it all. I'm not entering this with any hopes of filling some niche that hasn't been filled online, or even going as far to labeling this a "lifestyle" or "DIY' blog, this could change but for now this blog is retaining my doodle diary/view on most things, "Easy Peazy".

Hopefully, we can inspire each other and share some of the experiences that make life, well...life.

Anywho, away we go!