my top ten in 2010.

i can't believe it's already new year's eve. it's been quite a year filled with so many sweet memories and milestones. here are my top ten from 2010 (in no particular order):

1 :: finishing my master's degree (while working full-time!)
2 :: deepening my yoga practice...in a hammock of all places!
3 :: launching My Yoga Story Project (share your yoga story!)
4 :: skiing at Stowe with my sister and experiencing a "freshie."
5 :: going to the Brimfield Antique Show for the first time.
6 :: loving a handmade Christmas (more to come on this.)
7 :: vacationing with my girlfriends in hyannis.
8 :: investing in an electra townie.
9 :: spending the holidays with my family (thanksgiving with my feet in the sand in florida and christmas with my snow boots on shoveling mounds of snow in connecticut)
10 :: and most of all, giving back to the organizations that i am most passionate about throughout the year (Off the Mat into the World, Yoga Reaches Out, Everybody Wins, Share Our Strength, Heifer International, and Semester at Sea).

a special holiday greeting.

a yoga girl holiday greeting card (made my yours truly) just for you!

may you all have a joyous day where ever your travels may take you and a very happy new year! 

link love.

i'm headed to sunny san diego tomorrow to visit with family and welcome home my cousin from a trip around the world through the semester at sea program! i can't wait to hear all about her travels, especially her visits to south africa and india.

happy weekend to you all! here's some link love...


:: a holiday wreath

{image: pickles}

a friend of mine shared some link love with me this week. it's a blog called pickles and the latest post features a DIY felted wool wreath that is f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s!

:: frock

{image: frock}

this one-of-kind boutique located in chester, ct is on my list of places to visit this month. every garment that is sold at frock is made on site by independent designers, trish ginter and laura williams-larson. check out their blog and website and you will discover that they've redefined the meaning of "frock" into something totally hip and handmade for women of every shape and size.


:: soule mama's studio

{image: soule mama}

one of my favorite blogs to read is soule mama. she and her family recently purchased a big 'ol farmhouse and her new studio space is just lovely. it's exactly the type of space that i long to have for myself one day. view more of her studio pics here.


:: 1,000 awesome things

{image: 1,000 awesome things}

yes, i'm going to say it...this blog and book are AWESOME! each and every post reminds me of how much i need to stay present in my life and enjoy each and every moment.

#380 really spoke to me...

hearing someone's heartbeat
while lying on the grass, lazing on the couch, or relaxing in some crumpled sheets, you sometimes just fall into the moment with someone you love. after the conversation dies down and the background noise fades away you smile silently and melt into an arms-and-legs embrace. gaze into their eyes, push your ears to their chest, and then shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

just listen.

latte art.

the barista at my favorite local coffee shop brought a huge smile to my face this afternoon when he surprised me with some latte art.

happy sunday.

off to cut down my christmas tree this morning! yippee! here's a look at the one from last year. izzy can't wait for another spot to curl up and sleep. happy sunday friends!

link love :: st. augustine

a little link love on this friday from three of my favorite places/stores in st. augustine, florida.

:: outre oeuvre

{image: outre oeuvre}

outre oeuvre is all about upcycling. have a stack of old t-shirts? send them down to st. augustine and the women at outre oeuvre will turn them into a fabulous skirt, tank, or hoodie. it's your choice and made with your materials! and the best part, it's one of a kind! 

when asked what the name of their store means the owner told me it's latin - outre, meaning out of the ordinary and oeuvre, meaning a work of art. 

you can follow them here on facebook. pics of my one of kind skirt will be posted soon. i've been wearing it to the beach every day so it needs a washing.  

:: blue planet co-op

{image: blue planet co-op}

i stumbled upon this place at the st. augustine farmer's market. they sell the most delicious organic foods. i was sold on the "garlic sunnies," which are dehydrated and seasoned sunflower seeds with a big kick of garlic. just my kind of snack. i also bought a pack of their kale chips, which i attempted to make on my own a few months back. theirs were way better. and to add a little something to thanksgiving dinner, i bought some of their organic cranberry orange relish. d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!!!! 

if you're skeptical about buying organic or just want to learn more about why you should be buying organic, check out their website: blueplanetco-op.com

:: 8 limbs yoga

{image: 8 limbs yoga}

located on anastastia island in st. augustine, florida, 8 limbs yoga is a gem of a yoga studio. i try to make a stop there each time i'm down visiting my parents. they offer an ashtanga style of yoga, which is a different than what i normally practice, but i love it! it's challenging, sweaty, and the people at 8 limbs are all so welcoming and nice. check out their website: 8limbsyogastaug.com 

happy thanksgiving.

happy thanksgiving from the beaches of st. augustine, florida!

we all have so much to be thankful for...namaste my friends!

link love.

i'm headed to the westport craft show this weekend. my cousin of thistledowns wool design will be showcasing some of her fabulous felted goodies there.

i'm also planning to do lots and lots of yoga here. and then visit with a friend and her new baby boy, aidan! don't you just LOVE that name??? :-) happy weekend everyone!


:: wilfred free

{image: wilfred free via artizia}

loving this wrap jacket by wilfred free. wishing i could throw that on this morning for my walk to work. interestingly enough a conversation with some sweet teenage girls from canada in a public restroom (ha!) led me to this website. they were raving about it. unfortunately this jacket, though, is all sold out. :-(


:: diy: advent calendar

{image: just something i made}

there are two things i want to make for this holiday season, 1) an advent calendar. don't you just LOVE this one with a message for each day? and 2) a gingerbread house (more on that soon!) if you don't have a spool rack, you can move your advent calendar to the tree! the templates for this project are conveniently available for download on just something i made.


:: rustic white

{image: rosenatti flickr album}

my dream kitchen! rustic and, of course, white! i love rosenatti's flickr album, blinded by the white.


:: stuffed squash

{image: a tale of two farm shares}

yum-o!! although i'm a vegetarian this stuffed squash with kale, sausage, and orzo looks soooo good. i suppose i could substitute the sausage with beans...or maybe chick peas! thanks to a tale of two farm shares for sharing this recipe.

happy sunday.

link love.

a little link love on this lovely friday morning. i'm headed up north to visit two of my dear girlfriends tomorrow. i hope you all have a great weekend!


:: pumpkin rice pudding + recycled crayons

i recently came across a new food blog that i love, not without salt. the photos she takes and posts to her blog are what some people might refer to as food porn. i've got my eye (and stomach!) set on making her pumpkin rice pudding.

{image: not without salt}

she also loves crayons (she is a mother of three!) and had this nifty idea of melting old broken crayon pieces in a muffin tin to create a whole new type of crayon! such a great way to reuse and recycle.

{image: not without salt}

:: oh, sacred yoga mat

i'm admitting right here on cafe taber that after trying out two new yoga mats recently, i'm still in LOVE with my cheapy teal yoga mat from t.j.maxx. i really tried to love the other two. i did. but practicing yoga on them felt nothing like being on my very first mat, which is now so weathered and dirty that i feel embarrassed to bring it into a yoga studio.

i never thought i would become so attached to a piece of rubber (or whatever it's made of). but after reading y is for yogini's post about her yoga mat principles and practices i feel much more at ease and less inclined to ditch my filthy mat. i mean, seriously, she treats her mat like it's a person! chauffeuring it around town in her back seat and giving it regular baths. i love it!


:: yokoo gibran

i had one of these around my neck yesterday. 

{image: yokoo gibran}

a co-worker bought two of yokoo gibran's cowls from her etsy store. you may have read about yokoo in the new york times last year here. her cowls are so soft to the touch and feel amazing around the neck. i would seriously consider wearing one to bed.  i'm also convinced that they would make nice neck pillows while flying.


:: free holiday wi-fi from 30,000 feet

and speaking of flying...for those of you traveling this holiday season (soon i'll be making my way down south to st. augustine, florida and then out west to san diego before christmas), you should take advantage of the free holiday wi-fi offer from google. access your email, social media sites, and cafe taber (wink, wink!) way up there in skies...for free! of course this offer is limited to certain airlines so check out the google blog for more info.

yarn bombing.

last week while i was on my lunch break, i stopped dead in my tracks on the sidewalk to take a closer look at this:

and this:

it's called yarn bombing (or urban knitting)! i've read about this before, but i've never come across an instance of it myself. to see the ugly parking meter adorned with such color made my day, despite the fact that this is in some sense a form of graffiti. but really, who cares? it's not permanent like bathroom graffiti:

{image: flickr}

happy sunday.

link love.

i stumble across so many interesting blogs, articles, and websites everyday that i think are worth of sharing with you. so here is the first of what will be a weekly post of links i love.


:: y is for yogini ::

{image: y is for yogini}

y for yogini is one of my favorite yoga blogs. check out her post about SYB's, secret yoga behaviors. i chuckled over her "meows" and "moos" when in cat and cow pose the other night when i was doing yoga. i'm not sure what my syb is... do you have one?


:: wee people ::

{image: wee people}

check out wee people, a new line of clothes for girls made by the folks of free people. aren't these wooly mammoth booties so adorable?


:: diy photo calendar ::

{image: cafe taber + shutter sisters calendar template}

i love, love, love the shutter sisters. hop on over to their blog for this diy cd photo calendar for 2011. i made one for myself using some of my favorite photos. the month of may is a favorite so far.


:: 30 days of creations ::

{image: variations on normal by dominic wilcox}

dominic wilcox, artist, designer, inventor and ‘thinkeruper’ (i think that's my new favorite word!) who works with everyday objects, did this super interesting creative challenge. for 30 days in a row he made something creative. check out his 30 days of speed creating posts. the pencil shelf is quite clever and colorful!


:: cookies ::

{image: orangette}

i'm feeling under the weather today. and while i don't have the appetite to eat anything these whole wheat chocolate chip cookies from a favorite food blog of mine, orangette, look soooooooooo yummy! i'm all for using whole wheat flour whenever possible.


so what links do you love? share them in the comments below!

happy hallOMween.

pOMpkin carving...

 

my great pOMpkin lit up!

and we had to roast the pOMpkin seeds...

roasted pOMpkin seeds

- preheat oven to 375 degrees

- toss pOMpkin seeds in olive oil

- add a dash of salt & pepper

place seeds on greased cookie sheet in the oven for 30 minutes.

enjoy!!

happy hallOMween my friends!

super 8.

two of my super cool friends (and i'm serious. they are super cool!) got married out in california this past summer and had their wedding filmed in super 8.

i love super 8 films! especially since everyone these days wants to watch everything in HD. there's something so raw, so organic, and so very beautiful about watching a super 8 film.

i love the beginning of their video when van is walking down the stairs to albert and they are seeing eachother for the first time! congrats you two!

my happy place.

my yoga instructor often tells us in class when we're in a difficult pose to go to "our happy place." and every time she says that, i always seem to have a difficult time imagining where that "happy place" is exactly. maybe it's because at that very moment the intensity of the pose, the stretching of my muscles, etc. is completely taking over every thought in my head.

so i decided to do a little post-yoga-class-homework to figure out where "my happy place" is (aside from my my yoga mat) and what it looks like. and interestingly enough, i discovered that i have many "happy places." in fact, so many that i am only sharing a few with you here...

my pad (especially at christmas time when i have a tree to admire!)

on my bike (street name "electra")

in the arms of loved ones

in the kitchen (baking up some kind of sweet treat!)

watching a new england sunset by the water (with my sister!)

and discovering *new* places!

where is your happy place (or places)?  share in the comments below!

my yoga story project.

holy cow! it's september already! where did the summer go?

well, actually i know where it went...at least for me, my time this summer was spent here: http://myyogastory.com

i'm so very proud to share with you the fruits of my labor from the last several months of my master's program...My Yoga Story Project.

i could go on and on about the details of the project here, and i might just do that one day soon because the process that i went through, from conception to implementation, is worth a post in and of itself. but i won't do that now. for now, i want you to hop on over to the site http://myyogastory.com and spend some time reading the yoga stories. and, yes, these are REAL stories of people whose lives have changed from practicing yoga.

my hope is that through this project people who may be reluctant, afraid, or even skeptical about trying yoga, will see the amazing benefits yoga can have on the mind, body, and spirit.

and for those of you who already practice yoga, share your story and inspire others to try yoga!

farm share.

hi friends & followers! check out my guest blog post over at a tale of two farm shares. 

one week!

a short post here...

writing my LAST paper for grad school tonight! yippee!! i definitely won't miss you footnotes...or citations. i've enjoyed you for the past two years, but it's time for you to go!

as i mentioned in a previous post, i'll be back here full-time in a few weeks sharing all sorts of goodies. but until then i'll be catching up on some much needed sleep and spending some much needed quality time with my family and friends. 

oh, but wait, i should mention a fun little project that i will be taking part in over at a tale of two farm shares... i'll be guest blogging for a week (8/15-8/22) while denise, one of the authors, is away getting her own R&R. so if you're interested in seeing what i do with a weeks worth of vegetables from the farm, hop on over there for a visit and check out my posts.

sister.

a happy birthday to my best friend and big sister!

yoga girl update.

almost there! in just two weeks i will be finished with my master's program, which means i'll be back here full-time blogging and sharing my thoughts and creations with you. i have to admit, i've missed this part of my life for the past two months. but something had to give in order to manage the other demands.

in the midst of all those demands, i was able to bust out another yoga girl design. check her out below and over at the store. she looks quite beautiful in her warrior II (virabhadrasana) pose. she would have been posted to the store sooner except that my artist boyfriend strongly recommended that i adjust the proportions of her head and body (thank you AJD!).

since i posted this new design, several of you out there are already wearing it! in fact, many of you from across the globe are sporting yoga girl apparel - from greece to spain to brazil and, of course, right here in the U.S. i'm tickled to know that so many of you are fond of the yoga girl designs.

and as you know, 100% of the proceeds of all yoga girl apparel is donated to an organization that i firmly believe in and support, off the mat into the world. i encourage you all to check out their website as well as make your own donation, if possible.

it's important to keep the idea of doing for others in mind as we go through life. giving back to your community or an organization in any way that you can, whether that be through donations of your time or your monies, is something everyone should incorporate into their lives.

i recently stumbled upon this quote by albert pike that speaks very much to this way of living:

"what we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal."

peace my friends!