01. the other day i went to a barre class that was like therapy. i always love going, but i had a lot of heavy stuff on my mind at this one in particular and it felt so good to push myself, loud music going, and get a great workout in. truly! like a therapy session.
02. driving to the grocery store, florence and the machine’s shake it out came on and i decided not to turn into the store (the song had just begun and i didn’t want to be a crazy person in the parking lot jamming to florence by myself), so i turned it up crazy loud, and kept driving. i might’ve been crying a little bit too. (just a lot of shit going on for steve and i right now; we’re totally fine, it’s stuff outside of our control that feels heavy, and stressful, shitty, etc. etc. etc.) plus, her voice can get me even on the best of days.
03. parker and i have been getting in bed together at night and reading the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe together. i can’t tell you how precious this time is to me and how much i need it as much as he does. anders sits there too, half listening, and flipping through his own books. anyway, i read this passage the other day and it filled me up. the context: the 4 kids have just arrived in narnia for the first time and they’ve met mr. beaver. he brings them in close and says, “they say aslan is on the move–perhaps has already landed.” and now a very curious thing happened. none of the children knew who aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the beaver had spoken these words, everyone felt quite different. perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that someone says something which you don’t understand but in the dream it feels as if it had some enormous meaning–either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and are always wishing you could get into that dream again. it was like that now. at the name of aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside. edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. and lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.
04. changing gears from important(ish) to totally unimportant: these jeans. they have replaced my old favorite black jeans (which had huge holes in the knees such that i couldn’t get from point a to point b without someone commenting on them!), and are maybe my favorite pair ever. if you like your black jeans to be really saturated, dark black, these are for you. slightly high rise, fit is amazing. just a bit of stretch, do not stretch out, and are dark black. (also wearing this shirt above)
05. this one pot chicken chow mein. i shared it once before, but when i really, really love a meal, i feel like it should be shared twice so you guys will be convinced to make it. i made it last night. it’s very easy to make, is a one-pot meal, and all the ingredients aren’t super perishable which i always like in case you go to the store on a monday and don’t make it till friday. great flavor. we love it.
Sending love and positive thoughts. Thanks for the recipe, I am definitely in a rut with meals at the moment so new dishes are always welcomed!!
Your quote from The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe made me want to read it again! The first time I did was actually for my English Lit class in middle school and I didn’t like it (but who did when it’s related to work?). Definitely going to head to the local library to find a copy in the next few days.
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Things do feel heavy, don’t they?!!
I hope all smooths out over at your house.
Sometimes simply sharing that things are tough can move things along.
A glass of wine, new fab jeans and snuggle with the kids a sure fire ways to release the funk!
Cheers…and see you at barre!
And here I sit with my incomplete meal plan… what good timing! Good food and meals together always lighten the load. XO
I feel like I get this so much. I just returned from a self created “Wellness Weekend” due to some heavy circumstances in mine and people I loves life right now. My husband was going on a trip with his brother, so I went with just my dog to a mountain town a couple of hours away to do yoga, hike, read, spa, and just be me without any pressing outside distractions. It was just what my mind, heart, and soul (to be totally dramatic ha!) needed. Before hitting the road to head home I attended a restorative yoga class that was totally therapeutic for me. I had no idea of what restorative yoga was (I’ve never been someone who regularly does yoga) but found myself filled up with joy and hope and was (and still am!) just so so so thankful I made the random decision to attend that class and to have made the decision and effort to do the whole weekend. I highly suggest checking out a restorative yoga class if you’re feeling overwhelmed, down, or just not quite right. I’m planning on finding one locally to attend a couple of times a month for my mental and emotional health 🙂
I hope your heavy load lightens xo
I too had a problem printing your one pot chicken chow mein no matter what I tried. Can’t wait to try it but I had to hand copy the recipe.
Select, copy and paste into a word processing/note app and print. Easy as.
Your blog is my feel-good blog! I feel like the blogs I read are few and far between these days, I’m so happy you keep writing!
thank you so much cassie!
sorry you guys are going through stuff. that is always the hardest but just knowing you can make it out on the better side will get you through it. praying for your family!
It feels like meal planning and cooking is getting trickier every day with my family so I’m very grateful for every recipe you have here 🙂
Sending you love, Hunts ♥
<3 Sending you so much love, Bridget. You make the world brighter for many of us here following along to the blog. Like Glennon Doyle says, no beauty without the pain. Hoping you see glimpses of beauty in the midst of your heaviness.
that is so nice of you, Meghan!
Ps. I feel the same way about therapy through my spin class- YES! I can climb this hill. My instructor said yesterday, “This isn’t the hardest thing you’ve been through in your life. KEEP PUSHING!” I cried some tears, pretended it was sweat. Just shaking it out over here on my bike.
Sending love friend! I loved that LWW passage. So so good.
I love your post style today! It’s great. I’m a fan of listed posts and always do them on Fridays. I am sorry things are uber crappy right now! I hope some peace and clearness comes soon. In the meantime Barre and LTW&TW sound like an AMAZING escape plan!