21 Habits of Happy People

Without facebook, how in the world would we ever catch up on reading random new agey affirmation articles? I really enjoyed this one, it's a good reminder for all of us:

21 Habits of Happy People

Happy Thursday!

Salmon Fishin'

Last weekend gave me the amazing opportunity to go salmon fishing on my buddy's boat. That's been a major one on my list! Here's the lovely vessel, Overtime, fitting because its owner has spent 500 hours on her in the last year.

He can load her into the water in just a couple minutes, and backs up the trailer like it's second nature.

Out at sea with two ladies and a cute dog, we're ready for adventure and fearless to the fog and cold.

Less than an hour out, we get our first bite. My friend, Slim, let me reel the first one in.

A hefty 16 pounder was not too bad for our first catch.

What a thrill!

The fish can flap around on the deck for a while, and sometimes even escape, so it's important to club them and spear the gills so they bleed out.

With salmon you troll the line through the water, and often don't even need bait. Here is one of the lures my friend is hooking up to the line.

Slim brings in another one. He thinks it was all the female pheromones that helped us get 6 salmon and 1 rock fish for the day.

Here's a better look at the club he uses, with the curved blade on the end. If this seems cruel, remember that fish would suffer more if left to suffocate to death.

With a hook on the end, when looped through the gill, this shows the fish weight. Our biggest was over 20 pounds!

Check in tomorrow to learn about cleaning fish at sea. Look out, it's not for the feint of heart!

Another Vintage Picnic at Daisy's

Sometimes I wish I could buy a magazine company just so my friend, Daisy, could organize all the shoots, spreads, creative content and distribution of it. She just makes everything pretty.

To kickoff an especially great weekend, she hosted a gal party at the pond down the road from her house. I laughed and bonded in great company, with sunshine, music, food, and an invigorating swim across the pond to make me feel like an Olympian (with a floating noodle assist).

A preparty shot from Daisy

It really doesn't matter how pretty the place is, how classy the drinks or how artfully prepared the food is. Despite matching linens and handmade decor sewed fresh for the occasion, I know that at Daisy's place, I will always feel welcome and special.

Meyer lemon finished campagne from Della Fattoria with local cheeses.

Fresh cherries, apricots and raspberries with St. Germain cocktails.

And that was only the beginning of the weekend ...

Arts of the Islamic World

Okay, how much do you know about Islamic art? Because I know nothing.

So to continue with neato things from the Met, here are some snapshots from the tour of Arts in the Islamic World. Notice the importance of symmetry, arches, and the use of stone, tile, and woodcarving. This makes me want to jump on a plane and head to Morocco, or Iran, or the holy land, anywhere I can get more of this aesthetic and precision to detail.

Inlay.

Calligraphy- mostly found in Arabic for a traditional Koran.

Carpet weaving.

Blown glass.

At this point, I just started taking pictures of every pretty and/or shiny object my little camera could hold.

The Purpose Fairy

I read a couple articles from this blog last week and I've been thinking about it a lot. I've been thinking about a lot of things a lot, especially improving my mindset and my world around me.

This list was going around Facebook the other week and I finally learned about The Purpose Fairy, an inspirational blog with "ideas and suggestions about life." I checked out some other articles and got a great daily dose of emotional sunshine. Let's face it, we all need it.

Some great quotes to think about:

Ne te quaesiveris extra - Do not look outside of yourself for the truth


“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”  Ghandi


“Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?”


Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to.


“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”Winston Churchill


Beauty is not in the face, but rather a light in the heart.


Whatever it is that you want, you have to want it more for someone else.


"How you treat anybody is how you will treat everybody"


My goodness, I could read for days and I suggest you do the same. I guarantee it will add at least one random act of kindness to your day.

Birthday Weekend Picnic Baskets

What a weekend! One of my bestie's had a joint birthday/anniversary party, which turned into an impromptu weekend camping trip. Need inspiration for easy entertaining at your next big turnout?

The culinary highlight was individual picnic baskets, to cut down on dishes. (She thinks of everything!)

Also included were (French Laundry) lemon tarts, fresh fruit, asparagus flatbread, and smoked salmon tartar on cucumber.

Each basket contained: an abalone po'boy sandwich, personally foraged by Daisy's husband, Trout; a mason jar filled with potato salad (the classy Alice Waters one, not the mayonnaisy kind); a homemade chocolate chip cookie and wrapped caramel; and my special caesar salad (recipe to be revealed soon).

Now that it's summer, I recommend food that can be served cold. It's way easier to assemble and you have a little more leeway in serving time. Get an assembly line going for something like sandwiches, and the sides should be one-dish wonders like pasta salad, cous cous, or greens. Make it easier on yourself and invite friends to bring something, or at the very least, wine and apps.

What kind of parties will you be throwing this summer?

Getting Back!

I've been in a good mood this week. The days are longer, the world is warming up, and last but not least, my elbow is finally showing some signs of normalcy!

Last night I went to yoga for the first time since my fall in January. It is an amazing feeling when your body has been limited and you start to feel like yourself again. Unflexible, worst-in-the-class me. It was wonderful. I still have a long road ahead of me, since even downward dogs got me winded. My elbow creaked and cried out to let me know what wasn't working. I listened. I'm going to be listening to my body a lot more now, if there's one thing I learned from the injury.

I'm normally self-conscious in these settings due to my total lack of coordination and grace, but it felt absolutely amazing to be back doing all those little things you take for granted. I backed off and took it easy, I felt grounded, and for the first time, I didn't want to cry. Yoga makes me very emotional and at some point in a session I usually have a cathartic cry.

Not this time! There's little to cry about when the sun is out till almost 8 and you have an elbow that can stretch out 95% straight.

And the icing on the cake- I'm at the airport waiting to board a flight to New York City! I am ready for a week filled with coffee, friends, laughter, blossoms, and the hustle and bustle that I've been missing so much. And yes, I will tell you all about it.

Will catch ya on the flip side of the coast!

Signs of Spring

The daffodils are here, making it officially spring in Bodega! 

Here's to longer days and more sunshine.

Life is Like a Shop of Chocolates

If I hadn't spent some wasted time today drooling over pictures of pastry in Google images, I never would have stumbled upon photos of my old staging spot in France!

Okay, a little more background. Just after culinary school, I went to Europe for 6 months where I worked as a trainee for La Varenne. I applied for the scholarship through Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, which led to being whisked away to lovely Burgundy for two months of recipe testing and kitchen assistance with five other lovely ladies. In exchange, we were granted the opportunity to stage for a month with a real French chef, and voila! Instant fairytale.

It was like a dream. And I didn't want to wake up, so I stayed an extra month before a backpacking extravaganza.

That was back in 2005. Was that really seven years ago? I've done a terrible job of staying in touch (mostly due to my poor written French skills), and after some basic updates over the years, the last I heard was the shop had been quiet in 2008 when I referred a friend there to do a short stint in the kitchen. As of today, I wasn't even sure the shop was still open!

Until I found photos from Adventures in Toulouse (top and bottom), who even linked to the chocolaterie's web site (middle two pics). They have a web site now! I love the internet for eventually closing in on all communication gaps in the world. I'm still in shock, although I shouldn't be, since everyone has a website or facebook page now.

The memories are coming back in full force. I can almost taste the lemon tarts.

The irony being that I have been writing a book about this shop for seven years and am now kicking it into gear to get it to press. Wow, I think that's the first time I've announced the project. This was a real kick in the behind for me to get back in touch and move forward.

And all I needed was an American in France to remind me of that.

Address the Present Moment

My fabulous aunt introduced me to the blog by Flux Capacitor a couple months ago. I check in when I need sensitive insight and feel starved for rich writing. The other day I stumbled upon this beautiful post from her and I think you should, too.

Some things I learned from her words about the natural rhythm of sadness and how to deal:

-Find something small that is beautiful and carry it with you
-Remember to carry your sadness inside. Do not bury it. Carry it. Remember to let it go occasionally and watch it fall apart at your feet. Remember to dance on its grave.
-Remember to lift the corners of your mouth enough to prevent an entire day of What's wrong?
- Let is be made clear that giggling and ridiculousness are both highly desirable and should be sought after as much as possible.
-Consume as much happiness as possible and is available.
-Better to become a Sickeningly Positive Person than a FSFY (Feeling Sorry For Yourself).
-Help someone else, every day.


Reminders of those things that really matter, and those things that don't.

A Hike Off Bohemian Highway

This weekend, I took my first hike in over a month, and quite possibly my first real exercise since the fall. And all out of the sling! (It's the little things.)

I packed some sandwiches and trail mix and hit the highway. Bohemian Highway. There's a large plot of land being donated to the Sonoma Land Trust and a little bird told me there was a waterfall.

There was.

Here are some things I love: water, rocks, ferns, moss, the smell of churned earth and clean mud ...

... and gnarly, twisted fairytale roots clinging for survival.

Here is me trying to get a shot from the top of the waterfall, but not daring to go any further.

My friend helped me out.

Then we raced sticks in the creek. Mine won half the time and the score will eventually need to be settled.

My dream house:

Yup, it's kind of ugly here.

Kidding.

I changed my mind and decided I want to live here instead: