Words cannot express how much I love this! If only we all lived this freely and joyfully in our daily lives…
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Inspiration
This is rockin’! Happy Monday y’all…
From Novakistan, post Music Break: The Evolution of Music
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I really enjoyed this short 3-minute video about how the simple act of bringing more awe into your life helps you live more in the present and makes time feel more plentiful. Check it out!
Melanie Rudd, a final-year PhD candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, explains how experiencing moments of awe expands our perception of time and alleviates feelings of “time famine.” Rudd developed on her research with Jennifer Aaker, General Atlantic professor of marketing at the Stanford GSB and Kathleen Vohs at the University of Minnesota (YAY MN!)
From Novakistan, post Got AWE?
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As you may or may not know, I am addicted to Brene Brown, vulnerability and shame researcher extraordinaire. Why read about shame and vulnerability, you ask? Impossible to explain – just pick up one of her books and you’ll get what my obsession is with her work…. you can choose from her latest, Daring Greatly, or the classics, I Thought It Was Just Me or The Gifts of Imperfection.
When Brene released her book Daring Greatly, she also offered this beautiful Wholehearted Parenting Manifesto. The upcoming release of this in poster form looks like it could be a perfect addition to our kitchen! If you want one too, just click the photo of the Manifesto to download your own PDF copy! Thanks Brene!
PS – Here’s a BONUS of her Top 10 Most Watched TED Talk on Vulnerability
and here’s her most recent talk on Shame!
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I am a BIG fan of Christmas music, having amassed somewhere around 300 songs over the last 20 years. It all started when my family used to purchase the “Sounds of the Season” Album at Target each year (question: Do they make that anymore?) I loved seeing which mix of artists would be on the compilation.
After years and years of listening to Christmas Music, I’d like to share some of my favorite non-traditional songs (read: non-carols) for you to add to your collection.
Top 10 MUST-HAVES for any Holiday Music Collection:
- All I Want for Christmas is You – Mariah Carey
- Do They Know It’s Christmas? – Band-aid
- The Magic of Christmas Day – Celine Dion
- Step Into Christmas – Elton John
- Where Are You Christmas – Faith Hill
- Love on Layaway – Gloria Estefan
- Our Love is Like a Holiday – Michael Bolton
- Wonderful Christmastime- Paul McCartney
- Last Christmas – Wham!
- My Only Wish – Britney Spears
Best of the 2012 Holiday Releases:
- What Christmas Means to Me – Cee Lo Green
- All I Need is Love – Cee Lo Green
- Mittens – Carly Rae Jeppesen
- Something in the Air – Grayson Sanders & Jono
- Shake Up Christmas – Train
- Joy to the World – Train
- Heaven Everywhere – Francesca Battistelli
- Christmas Is – Francesca Battistelli
I’d love to hear some of your faves in return! Happy listening!
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Yesterday I had the amazing good fortune of joining the Canadian International Society (Not just for Canadians!) for a morning of volunteering at Casa Hogar, a home for single mothers under the age of 18. Knowing from personal experience just how challenging parenting is, it was mind-blowing to think of these 40+ teenagers raising children while trying to finish school and eventually gain employment.
I have to say, I was WAY impressed with the organization though. The kids looked healthy, well-cared for and had relatively nice facilities. The organization has a team of staff that teach the girls how to care for their child, make sure the child is getting proper nutrition and watch the child while the teen goes to school each day.
The teens have the opportunity to stay here until they’re 18 years old. The kids range between newborn and 5 years old, so if you do the math, the girls start arriving from age 12 on. We spent about 2 hours in total there, first playing with the children and then throwing a Christmas Party for the Moms & Kids. The Canadian Intl Society had been collecting donations all year, so we came with car-fuls of gifts, food and diapers.
I can’t tell you how good it felt to provide each of those Mamas with a custom-made care package full of goodies for she and her little one! Honestly, you could see thee gratitude in their faces.
My Swell Idea
As usual, I had my camera out to capture the fun. I had snapped a photo of a 17 year old Mama with her 2 twins when all of a sudden I had several other requests for Mom & Baby photos.
That’s when it dawned on me – these Moms don’t have many, if any, pics of their babies! I did some fast thinking and coordinated with a staff member to send the pics via email and then announced to the Mamas that I’d happily take their photo with their babes if they’d like. We set up a make-shift photo booth in the corner and off we went! Needless to say, it was quite popular.
This is the first time I have volunteered in Peru. I’m not sure why I waited so long, probably because I felt uncomfortable with my limited Spanish. I was reminded though that language is irrelevant – a smile easily bridges the language gap!
I hope you too can find a unique way to spread some love & joy this holiday season!
From Novakistan, post Giving Back: Christmas-style
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LOVE this.
From Novakistan, post An Inspiring Pair
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Oh Philippines, I’m so glad we met! XOXO
From Novakistan, post Get Out More!
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One of our traditions is to collect a piece of art from each country we are posted to. We always purchase it at the beginning of our stay, prior to the Embassy coming over to hang up all our wall art (I know, what can I say, we’re spoiled)!
Nick and I continue to gravitate toward abstract expressions of iconic images from our host country. In Manila we scored a beautiful abstract painting of Jeepneys in the street. In Peru, I found the perfect depiction of indigenous Peruana women toting their bundles (babies, flowers, etc). This is still a very common sight when you get out of Lima and to me it really sums up the rich cultural history that is still alive here.
Since the distance in the first photo fails to capture the skills of this artist (Rivera Rondon), I thought I’d provide some close-ups so you could appreciate the texture along with me.
So while Nick managed to nail me down to a budget, what he failed to bring up was just how large it could be. I decided Peru needed to be remembered with GUSTO, so we went with the G-R-A-N-D-E size.
I COULDN’T BE HAPPIER WITH IT!
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Nick and I were sad to learn that Lonesome George died at Age 100 at his home in the Galapagos (just shy of us meeting him in December). George was supposedly the last of his breed, but after carefully studying the above photos, we believe it’s possible that his species may not actually be extinct…
From Novakistan, post An Uncanny Resemblance
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