Happy weekend...

It's been a weird week back here in Boston, and I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend of staying local and really enjoying that extra hour of sleep. I'm also working on getting back to sharing some posts about our time away in Peru, thoughts on self-care routines for the fall and a few of the delicious recipes that we've been cooking since returning home. In the meantime, here are a few things that are on my radar:

• Taking in the most glorious sounds with Spotify's playlist "The Most Beautiful Songs in the World." They're the perfect tunes for a quiet candlelit evening or a moment in solitude.
• Making my way through Voracious, Cara Nicoletti's awesome set of recipes inspired by life and literary stories.
• Shedding my summer skin and embracing fall thanks to SunPotion's Wildcrafted Shea Butter. It's a thick concoction, but after warming the butter between your hands and giving a good massage, it's truly nourishing and has helped me steer clear of any fall itchies. 
• And finally, two parts of wonderful poems on grief from Mary Oliver that, when juxtaposed, have been greatly on my mind this week:

“Someone I loved once gave me
a box full of darkness.

It took me years to understand

that this, too, was a gift.”

— ("The Uses of Sorrow")

“And I say to my body: grow thinner still.
And I say to my fingers, type me a pretty song.
And I say to my heart: rave on.”

— ("A Pretty Song")

Happy weekend...

Happy Friday, friends! I'm looking forward to crossing about ten things off of our wedding planning checklist this weekend, and downshifting after a quiet, yet busy week.  More on that next week. Here are a few things I've been loving this week:

• Grooving to Mac Demarco's new album, "Another One," which plays like a hazy lazy summer day.
• Paring down my beauty routine to the basics these days. The other night we hosted a dinner party, and I pulled my hair back, mixed this fragrant facial oil, this delicious balm, and a bold lipstick and felt utterly radiant. Talk about a summer glow.
• Beginning to pack for our  honeymoon and still loving this Italian honeymoon travelogue in the NYTimes. There's something that it captures about that whimsical still-drunk-on-love in the early days of marriage feeling that I love reading about. 
• And finally, a quick few lines from Mary Oliver (as always) to take us out for Friday:

"As long as you're dancing, you can
Break the rules.
Sometimes breaking the rules is just
Extending the rules.

Sometimes there are no rules."

Happy weekend...

Happy Friday! It has been one hell of a hot summer week, and it's capped off this evening with a spectacular rare Blue Moon. Full moons are a great time to remember that life is full of cycles - in our relationships, jobs, and chapters - and having an awareness of the ebbs and flows that naturally occur can help you honor and be present to the shifting phases you experience.  I hope you stay cool and have a great weekend. Here are a few things I've been loving this week:

• Grooving to the sweet jam "What You Don't Do" from Lianne La Havas. 
• Lightening up my summer moisturizing routine because oil + sweat = grease. A few favorites include: Weleda's Wild Rose Milk, John Masters Organic Vanilla & Blood Orange Body Milk, and Farmaesthetic's Nourishing Lavender Milk. 
• Loving the appearance of stone fruit in the farmer's market. Last summer, my favorite thing to do was make grilled stone fruit open face sandwiches. Divine. 
• And finally, St. Augustine once said "You aspire to great things? Begin with little ones." Here's a poem from Mary Oliver that brings personal perspective to the notion that we should be patient in our journey to becoming who we truly want to be:

"Things take the time they take. Don't worry.

How many roads did St.Augustine follow before he became St. Augustine?"

Indulging the Mind and Body with Self-Massage

Happy Monday! I'm fresh off of a long gorgeous weekend celebrating family love and the amazing nuptials of our brother and sister-in-law. As always, after a few days of decadence and late nights, I'm keen to immediately restore my balance with good detoxifying foods, an increased intake of liquids and the reintroduction of slow and luxurious self-care rituals that were passed over in lieu of dancing and extra hours of sleep. 

Self-massage is one of the most beloved parts of my daily routine. It is so simple, yet invigorates the skin, encourages blood flow, and helps open the door to relaxation. I find it to be a wonderful way to really get in tune with your body and calm the mind by inserting a mindful pause into your day. There is even an ayurverdic practice called Abhyanga which is daily oil massage that promotes overall wellbeing. Below are a few basics when introducing self-massage to your self-care routine:

• Use a good oil or butter. For the past few weeks, I've been loving on Sun Potion's Wildcrafted Shea Butter, which is a heavenly skin food. It's solid in the jar, but becomes soft and heated when rubbed between two palms and massaged into skin. Other favorites include Coconut or Jojoba Oil. 
• Warm the oil, either in your hands, or by heating it slightly in a microwave safe cup or immersing a 1/2 cup of the oil in another cup of hot water briefly.
• Start from the top. A gentle scalp massage followed by a facial massage relaxes the muscles, reduces the appearance of wrinkles, and drains any puffiness from bloating or allergies.  
• Flow downwards. Use broad strokes and work from the neck, to the arms and legs, to the abdomen. Finish with the feet to help re-balance and ground.
• Consider timing. Self-massage is wonderful pre-shower (to allow the oils to penetrate before taking a warm - not hot! - rinse), post-shower (to moisturize and luxuriate) and before bed (to calm the mind and prepare for rest). 

Natural Summertime Skincare Essentials

It's no surprise that with the advent of summer comes the need to pay extra attention to your skincare routine. Below, I've lined up the power players in my summer beauty game after a few weeks of heat.

(Clockwise, from Top Left)

A floral water to hydrate. Strong summer sun zaps the moisture from your skin. I like to give my skin a spritz morning and night, followed by my daily and evening serums. Two favorites in my rotation are Evan Healy's Rose Geranium HydroSoul and the Heritage Store's classic Rosewater & Glycerin spray.

An easy-to-reapply sunscreen for the face and décolletage, like Mineral Fusion's Brush On Sun Defense. I swipe this on before leaving the house and keep it in my purse to reapply as needed.

A toner for greasy times. It's likely that you get a little schvitzy in the summer. I like to do a midday facial cleanse using the delicious Neroli Rose Facial Toner from Brooklyn-duo big & Baby, to keep excess oil at bay. 

A natural deodorant that actually works. And hands down, Meow Meow Tweet's Baking Soda Free Deodorant Cream is the only one I've found that doesn't irritate sensitive pits AND smells divine, thanks to grapefruit and sweet orange essential oils. 

A good natural sunscreen to protect your body. This is an essential, and with more exposed limbs throughout the season, you shouldn't go without it. I like local New England company Badger's All-Natural Sunscreen. 

A great refillable water bottle, like the clean and green bkr Bottle. I firmly believe that glowing skin starts from within, and no season requires more agua-intake than summer. To calculate how many ounces of water you should drink a day, divide your weight by two, and then add another twenty ounces for every thirty minutes of exercise or hour spent in the great outdoor heat.

Spring Soaking

On Sunday, we signed the lease on a new home. It's a sunny, top-floor apartment with bay windows, in a quiet neighborhood with much more space than we have now. But the real deal-sealer for me? A freshly re-enameled clawfoot tub - the sort of thing of dreams, my friends. In anticipation of our move in May, and many many luxurious soaks ahead, I've compiled a list of bath items to bring along.

(Left to right, starting in the top row)

A luxurious natural sea wool sponge, to massage soaps into the skin.

A detoxifying soak, to revive the body and warm the soul.

A new book, "The Untethered Soul: A Journey Beyond Yourself" by Michael A. Singer, to explore inner peace and serenity.

A bathtub caddy to hold my book, a candle and on the most relaxing evenings, a glass of red wine.

A delicious spring soap, with hints of lemon and rosemary.

A sumptuous bath towel, like the one we've placed on our registry, to lock in the warmth.

A gorgeous candle, made in Virginia and for a great cause, to fill the air with earthy scents.

A wooden bath mat, for stepping back into the world after blissfully floating away.

A natural tub brush to scrub down and prepare for the next night of relaxation.

Happy weekend...

It has been a long and busy week here amidst the cold April showers! I'll be back next week with some delicious recipes for both breakfast AND your skin. In the meantime, wishing you a peaceful weekend, and sharing a few things that caught my eyes, ears and heart this week:

• Feeling an instant wash of good vibes come over me whenever I revisit the music of Ghanian musician E.T. Mensah, particularly on "Day by Day."
• Being moved by Toni Morrison as she reads from her new novel.
• Purchasing a re-fill of this gorgeous local facial oil that gives a little extra oomph to my face after a few weeks of harsh airplane air and cold spring breezes.
• And finally, gorgeous words on finding solace in nature through the poem "The Peace of Wild Things" by Wendell Berry:

"When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."

- Wendell Berry

Happy weekend...

Happy SPRING Friday! It has been a quiet few days in our house. We were two days shy of escaping this winter illness-free, until somebody accidentally brought home the flu. I won't point fingers, but let's just say that one of us has been blending away some delicious new green smoothies (I've got a new one to share!) and wiping everything down with citrus all-purpose cleaner to limit the victim count to one. Here's looking forward to a weekend of feeling better and catching a little spring sunshine. But first, a few links to get you to the other side of Friday:

• Compiling a playlist of sunny tunes for cruising around the city. You can listen too here.
• Ordering double batches of this savior of a salve that has no rival these days for healing hands, lips, dry noses, and more.
• Interrupting this week's regular March Madness programming by revisiting the magical "Big Fish"(available on Amazon Prime Instant Video), in anticipation of seeing it come to life at the Calderwood on Saturday night.
• And finally, in light of the new season, and hearing those birds chirping more and more every day, a favorite line:

"sweet spring is your
time is my time is our
time for springtime is lovetime
and viva sweet love"

- E.E. Cummings