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Here’s the thing, there is a magic to cleanses (juice cleanse, raw food cleanses, etc) that all of us are drawn to. We love the idea of committing to something, perhaps something even a little extreme, for a week or two. On a deep level we connect with this as a sacred ritual of transformation, a catalyst from where we are to a cleaner, lighter, more aligned us. So while I certainly have used cleanses in my eating disordered days for naught, wanting only a quick fix to make me feel skinnier, a cleanse with the right intention can be a really beautiful and healthy thing to do.

This week, I’ve decided to embark on a cleanse of my own making and thought I would share with you what it is and how you can “create your own reboot cleanse” with a clear, love-based intention to help refresh, rejuvenate and cleanse your God pod. The inspiration for my cleanse was primarily my upcoming trip to Israel (ahh!!) and then my trip to NYC immediately following. My body is still exhausted and readjusting from France and Spain at the end of February and I want to make sure it’s feeling as strong and vital as possible before I head on another long travel jaunt! The secondary inspiration for my cleanse is that we just had a full moon in Libra and Easter, both with great recalibration and resurrection energy — the perfect time to really rise up and realign with your priorities and purpose.

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I think having both a spiritual and a physical reason for a cleanse is fantastic because both with hold you through the commitment and will power needed to complete it.

What would you intention be for a cleanse? Do you want to simply take a stand for loving your earth suit up? Is there a life transition you want to tap into the ritual of? Perhaps a behavior or pattern that you are literally going to “cleanse” yourself of?

Once my intention was clear, the next step was to decide what foods would hold the energy for that intention. I had been reading a lot of Anthony William’s  (aka Medical Medium) books and loved his theories, food prescriptions and tools — I just hadn’t particularly resonated with the entirety of his detox program. Mainly, if we are being totally honest here, because the spinach and tomato raw soup you are supposed to have for dinner just sounded gross and I knew I’d be pretty miserable if that was my only dinner option, haha. Hey, know thyself, right? So I used some of his staples as my jump off point.

Morning lemon water

Followed by pure organic celery juice

Fruit forward smoothie with bananas, greens powder, mango, wild blueberries and coconut water

Then I added something that felt particularly nourishing while still being clean, my creamy tomato soup from Eat with Intention. I knew that I’d want some sort of healthy comfort food to hold me through any hunger I might experience, something that would satiate me with out sabotaging my cleanse process.

And then a great big salad with all sorts of greens, roasted cauliflower or broccoli, onions, apple and the homemade avocado orange juice dressing from Anthony’s book.

 

Grounding Salad

 

This cleanse, for me, is not about going hungry — its about jam packing lots of yummy nutrients in and eliminating inflammation increasing foods so that my immune system has a chance to reboot!

When thinking about your own DIY cleanse, ask yourself what foods are going to be in line with your intention. You may even want to look up certain smoothie recipes or meals that are good for your specific situation and cleanse objective and then mix and match with what you find. I really love having people use Eat with Intention to build their own cleanse because each recipe already has an intention connected with it (and a meditation — if you really want to amp up the energy!) so you can literally have a day that sounds like..

“Focus Potion Juice” (it’s intention: I am focused on my divine purpose) to kick off the morning,

“Grounding Salad” (it’s intention: I am grounded and steady) to anchor in the afternoon,

And “Cauliflower Rosemary Soup” (it’s intention: my patience is precious) for a light but filling dinner.

— sounds pretty bad ass, no? I mean who doesn’t want an intentionally curated, whole foods, plant-based cleanse?

Well if I’ve got your juices flowing and you are craving an outline to start off with, feel free to download my FREE 7 day Mind Body Soul Reboot here — it’s a sample meal plan, starter morning ritual routine, plus deep diving soul reflection exercises in your inbox each day! Take what you love and make it your own!

And of course, grab my book, Eat with Intention, and mix and match your favorite intention smoothie, juice, salad and soup recipes for the perfect prescriptive combination for what you need right now in your life!

 

I just had the most magical weekend taking a deep dive into my dreams, my obstacles, the ways I lie (and so do most other people!) and the personality traits that I love and the ones I’d prefer to lose. Eye-opening to say the least!

And since I know that a lot of the things I uncovered about myself while doing the two day Design Your Life program will probably hit pretty close to home for some of you so I wanted to share with you some of my biggest Ah-Ha moments as well as some of the juicy tips and tools I found super helpful! Plus — I totally got our fabulous leader (and my coach) Laurie Gerber, to record THREE videos for you guys on some of my favorite, most game-changing concepts!

I walked into the weekend totally excited to sit down and receive, receive, receive — I’m a total junkie for allowing myself to be in the mentee seat every once in a while since most of my days are spent coaching and teaching. It’s so important, in my opinion, to have a coach or advisor to see your blind spots and push you to new levels and I am no exception and have found working with Laurie personally to be quite a joy and incredibly helpful so I was excited to see what the weekend would hold for me. On Saturday morning as I was driving over I also reflected how fun it is to be going to this type of personal development workshop from a pretty good, solid place. I think a lot of times when we finally invest in ourselves we wait till we are at that total hot mess, my life is falling apart moment — I know I used to — but this time, to go when things are going pretty good (but I know they could also go even better and don’t get me wrong I totalllllly have stuff to work on! haha) was a special treat!

Some of my favorite take aways from the weekend:

1. Personal Integrity is the key to happiness.

Watch this video I recorded with Laurie here to get the full definition of Personal Integrity and why it’s so important.

Whenever you are feeling uninspired, bored or just plain old down, it’s a great time to ask yourself where your personal integrity chain is broken. Are your dreams (heart) aligned with your game plan (mind) and are you following through on the day to day actions that you are committed to in your game plan for that particular area of your life? I know for me it’s usually the daily actions. I am such an A+ dreamer, in fact, sometimes more larger than life than is helpful when creating an action plan for the next six months so we kind of lassoed by dreams down into what is realistic but still ambitious for the next year so that I could create a very real and doable on the day to day action plan. This is huge for me because — and we will get to it when we talk about lying — I have a very hard time honoring my priorities when it comes to what I do with work time. Leave a comment on the video and let me know where you tend to break the chain!

2. “You are either fighting for your dreams or you are fighting for your excuses.” – Laurie Gerber

Ugh, this is a mantra I want posted all over my computer, cellphone and home — what are you fighting for? Sometimes we don’t even realize it but we talk more about why we CAN’t have our dreams than get into the aligned action to achieve them or align ourselves with them. One of the things we did this weekend was after we wrote out our dreams, we wrote out all our obstacles. I was shocked to see how each perceived “obstacle” was really me giving energy to an excuse instead of my energy into courageous action. In the video below, Laurie and I get into what I refer to as “effective dreaming” — its the way you get crystal clear on your dreams in all the different areas of your life so that you can effectively use them as your “guiding lights” for your every day actions.
3. You can’t be a liar and expect to be happy, get your dreams or feel proud of yourself.

What? You? A liar? Never! haha Oh, how similarly I thought!! What I uncovered this weekend was just how insidious lies can be in our lives and how they are stopping us from fulling going after or getting our dreams — not to mention, it’s pretty hard to feel good about yourself when you are lying all the time.

We lie in many different ways, we out right lie – “I can’t go to the party tonight, my kids are sick.” when your kids are perfectly fine but you just don’t feel like going to the party, we lie by leaving out information — “I had a great day at work today” when we are intentionally leaving out the fact that we got a promotion as to not have our family member ask too may questions, and the lie that I found out myself to be the most guilty of –we lie when we are not honoring our ultimate truth.

For me this ah-ha was around the way I manage my time. I am very clear about my goals, and the professional ones are very ambitious and require significant time and focus yet, I was being a big ole liar when people would email me asking to “post about this” or “partner up for that” and I agreed to do it when it wasn’t actually aligned with my dreams or time priorities, I would lie when girlfriends would ask me to hang out and what I really wanted to do was buckle down and finish a work project but instead of having that difficult conversation and honoring my truth, I would just say yes and go along with it. These lies were literally zapping time and energy away from my dreams — all because I was being a lying chicken when it came to confrontation.

It’s amazing when you put your excuses, bad habits or lying into the context of directly coming in between you and your dreams how much easier it is to call them out and stop doing them! 

4. Make daily (and weekly) promises that are aligned with your dreams and then consequences if you don’t keep them.

“Feeling bad is a substitute for actually doing the right thing and owning that you had a choice!” – Laurie Gerber

Promise and consequences are my favorite part of Handel Method because it actually gets you into the power seat of realizing you ALWAYS have a choice. Another example they always give is called “the million dollar test” — if someone offered you a million dollars to do X every week for a year, could you do it? You bet you could! So maybe you are saying to yourself, “I just don’t know how to lose weight, get in a regular gym routine, start my own business, etc” — ask yourself if I offered you a million dollars to figure it out — could you? I bet you could!! You are the author of your life and you always have a choice of what to make a priority.

So how does it work? Well after you get clear on your dreams, think about what deliverables you’d want accomplished in the next 6 months in that direction, then you need to find some daily tasks that would put you in the energy of accomplishing those goals. For example, one of my promises is that everyday before I do anything else on my computer, I pitch 3 agents, managers or production companies (towards my cooking show goal) and if I fail to do this, my consequence is that I have to scrub the floor of one room in my home. Yesterday, I forgot and jumped right into a client call so my kitchen floor is looking pretty darn fabulous right now and you betcha I sent those emails first thing today! Your consequences don’t have to be super painful, it should just be annoying like scrubbing my kitchen floor, it wasn’t super fun but I’m grateful for the clean floor today!

5. You are actually the master of your thoughts and YOU get to make thoughts that don’t serve you ILLEGAL!

Okay, this has been GAME-CHANGING in my life so I had to do a video to have Laurie explain this in more detail and tell you guys about how I have used thought logging to completely eliminate thoughts like “I’m so exhausted” that are totally energy vampires.

 

Alright my loves, I hope you enjoyed my brain dump of some of my favorite take aways from this weekend, comment on the videos and let me know what you think, if you’ve had any ah-ha’s yourself and if you are curious about attending one of the Design Your Life Weekends yourself, you can see upcoming dates here, obviously tell Laurie I sent you. And if you are curious about Handel Method and don’t want to wait till the next weekend opens up, they have an amazing online course called Inner.U that I’ve personally done myself that walks you through all these different tools and more, it helps you write your dreams, get clear on an action plan, make promises and much more. You can read all about it here and use my code CASSIE75 to get $75 dollars off right now! It’s a great treat for yourself before the New Year!
Happy dreaming and doing!

xo,

C

(This is a sponsored post by Aveeno, however all my thoughts and opinions are my own and I only partner with brands I genuinely use and love)

Have you heard the saying, “You’ve got to fall in love with yourself first”? Well if you want a truly amazing and abundant life, I’m telling you, you need to make it your mantra! Self-care is a non-negotiable for us ‘wonder women’ taking over the world by day, loving up our families and partners and showing up to take care of the planet. It’s a big job and you better be well rested to tackle it!

Now, I’m sure those voices in your head might be thinking this whole self-care movement sounds mighty selfish, but I’m here to tell you it’s the exact opposite. When you’re loving yourself and putting yourself first, EVERYTHING in your life benefits. Loving yourself means caring for yourself deeply, making your sleep, nutrition and well-being a priority. It can be anything from making your gym time nonnegotiable or canceling late night plans so you can get enough sleep, to just shutting the computer off or not checking your cellphone after a certain hour. It’s about listening to your body and giving it what it needs to feel its best, which is why I was thrilled when Aveeno asked me partner with them for their #MomentforMe campaign — it’s a movement all about making sure women take the time to fill up their own cups so that they can show up for everything else in their lives as their most radiant selves! Plus, I’m a longtime fan of Aveeno personally as they’ve been a total life-saver for my ridiculous, nonsensically sensitive skin for years.

So let’s be real, I certainly slip up with my self-care from time to time, but when I hit a certain state of overwhelm and anxiety, it’s always a not so pleasant reminder that I need to schedule a little more time for ME into the agenda. That’s when I take a breather, light some candles, take a long hot shower with my Aveeno Positively Radiant Body Wash and good ole’ clay face mask, cozy up for a good meditation all fresh and clean in my robe and I remind myself of these five IMPORTANT things listed below. So I hope you bookmark this, print this out or take a screen shot on your cellphone and keep it close for those times when you slip up and fall off track and it feels like your head is about to explode. Take a deep breath with me and read the following out loud (or in your head if you’re at work and don’t want your office mate to hear!).

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1. Your job can wait (and it needs to).

You’re a much better worker, creative thinker and faster executor when you take care of yourself, which means the project that will take your frazzled, overwhelmed mind four hours will take your well-rested, clear head two. It’s always worth it to get adequate sleep, make your “me” time a priority and show up to whatever task you have at hand that day as your best self. Your boss will thank you and your career will blossom much faster if you don’t burn yourself out.

2. Your health depends on it.

Seriously! This is a pretty obvious one. Have you ever noticed that after a crazy, stressful week of pulling long hours at work and feeling overwhelmed, you finally get to the weekend and you wake up sick and don’t leave the bed? Oh darling, if you don’t put yourself first, your body will certainly kick in and force you to! Stress and lack of sleep weaken your body’s immune system and leave you more vulnerable for all sorts of nasty illnesses. Don’t even risk it!

3. Your romantic relationships will flourish.

Whether you’re in a relationship or looking for one, I guarantee your partner will feel more enamored with you and more fulfilled in the relationship when you’re not afraid to make yourself a priority. First, by taking the necessary time for yourself, you give your partner the freedom to take that time for him or herself. Everybody wins, everybody’s happy! Second, when you’re well rested, relaxed and centered, you’re much more fun to be around. It’s OK if your partner misses you for a night because you need a yoga session and a bubble bath; the version of you she gets afterward is 10 times the partner your stressed-out self would be. Trust this.

4. Your friends and family will benefit.

You think your friends and family don’t realize when they’re talking to you and you’re half asleep or mentally distracted? Think again. These people know you best and love you most. They would much rather have you happy, healthy and clearheaded when they see you. Yes, even if that’s a little less often because you needed to take some time for yourself! You’ll be a better listener and more enjoyable to be around because you will be able to be truly present with them.

5. Most importantly, you’ll start smiling more.

When you are at your happiest, you are at your most helpful to the world. We should all strive to be our happiest and do those things that make us happy, every day. Don’t feel guilty about it. You are able to show up more for others when you start showing up for yourself first. So don’t be afraid to clear your schedule for a restorative yoga class, take a walk in the park on your lunch break or get yourself a massage, don’t be afraid to love you! After all, you are pretty fabulous.

 

So how exactly do I find my little “moments for me” with my jam-packed travel schedule and busy days? Well, as most of you know, my favorite me-time moments happen in my bathroom on the daily! My nightly routine IS my non-negotiable, daily, me time! It’s anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour (depending if I go bath or just take a shower) and it helps me not only ‘wash away the day’ but fill up my cup so I wake up feeling radiant the next morning and ready to tackle the world. Here’s how it goes for me — feel free to steal and make it your own! 😉

 

My Night Time Ritual —

** I shut all the lights off after sunset and my whole apartment has orange, non-blue lights, candles and I have a little Himalayan salt lamp in the bathroom for some sweet, relaxing lighting to wind me down for the day. It’s sets the tone and is such a big help in heading off to a super rejuvenating slumber. 😉 **

CRITICAL PREP — get a lovely nightgown! Ladies, if you don’t have a soft, pretty nightgown, I cannot stress investing in one enough. My first one was silk, light pink with a matching robe and when I tell you it made me feel like a goddess, I am not lying, I could not believe I spent so many nights wearing oversized ex-bf T-shirts to bed! No more. Dress like a queen, princess, goddess, Aphrodite, etc for your nighttime ritual — take my word for it, it sets the tone!

1) Clean that face!

To know me is to know I have make up on my face for as little of the day as humanly possible. I love my bare skin and when I take care of it, I feel my most radiant make up free! I’m also pretty lazy and have extra sensitive skin so I live and die by the Aveeno Positively Radiant Makeup Removing Wipes (especially on airplanes — can you say skin saving travel companion!?). I’m obsessed with these guys because they don’t irritate my super sensitive skin AND they get off my waterproof mascara soo it’s major win/win and they leave me feeling soo fresh and so clean!

Once the makeup is off I do little washy-wash with the Aveeno Positively Radiant Brightening Cleanser, it’s hypoallergenic while still being effective at getting all the dirt out of my pores which I will tell you was no easy task to find. A lot of you may know more about my food allergies than my overall body allergies but let me tell you that my skin is even more finicky than my digestive system and it took me LOTS of trial and error to find something that worked for my face and I do not recommend products lightly and obviously would never endorse something that I don’t genuinely use and love. Of course, if you are a sensitive snowflake like myself, try it out and make your own decision. Also — fun fact — I ONLY use a cleanser at night because I think it’s healthy for my skin to maintain the oils from overnight when I went to bed with a clean face!

2) Make your favorite herbal tea!

Okay, so usually the water is boiling while I’m washing my face because #multitasker, but then I will go into the kitchen and make myself a big cup of Tulsi’s Sweet Rose Holy Basil Tea — with a little coconut milk if I’m feeling extra decadent, haha. For me, this tea is like slipping into heaven so find your equivalent or feel free to try mine on for size. I’ve yet to have a disappointed customer. haha

3) Play some mantras or relaxing music!

Whether it’s Adi Shakti, anything by Ajeet Kaur or India Arie’s ‘Soulversation’, I love having a little background music going while I’m getting ready to take my shower or lay in my bath and it makes me feel so sweet, sexy and feminine.

4) Draw a nice bath with a book or take a long, hot shower!  (depending on your mood)

So most days, I opt for the bath because I’m a pleasure addict and epsom salt junkie but sometimes I am just too tired or straight up not in the mood so a nice decadent shower will suffice. The music is playing, I’m sipping my rose tea and the lighting is sweet and soft so either feels super rejuvenating. I set the intention for this final step to be a clearing of the day. “Thank you water for washing away the stress of the day, for removing any negative thoughts or beliefs I’ve dirtied myself with and cleansing my energy field of anything that’s not serving it.” Then I will step into my bath with lavender epsom salts or wash my body in a hot shower with Aveeno Positively Radiant Exfoliating Body Wash (soap-free, dye-free, hypoallergenic as well soo no nighttime sneeze attacks!) and just stay present to the water really cleansing me, rejuvenating me and washing toxins off my mind, body and soul!

After I wash, I slip back into my nightgown, light candles on either side of my bed and curl up with a good book! My current read is “Witches” by Lisa Lister and I am LOVE LOVE loving it!

 

I hope you guys enjoyed this post and little sneak peek into my nighttime ritual. Let me know if you give it a go yourself or what your favorite way to take a #MomentforMe is — and don’t forget, self care is the furthest things from selfish!

xo,

C

In the first episode back after our hiatus, our host, Cassandra Bodzak, interviews Phoebe Lapine, a food and health writer, gluten-free chef, wellness personality, culinary instructor, and speaker, born and raised in New York City, where she continues to live and eat. On her award-winning blog, Feed Me Phoebe, she shares recipes for healthy comfort food and insights about balanced lifestyle choices beyond what’s on your plate. Her debut memoir, The Wellness Project, chronicles her journey with Hashimotos Thyroiditis and how she finally found the middle ground between health and hedonism by making one lifestyle change, one month at a time.

Grab Phoebe’s book The Wellness Project at http://amzn.to/2wepyi9 or Cassandra’s book “Eat with Intention” at http://amzn.to/2v6gVpJ

You can find Phoebe on her website: http://www.feedmephoebe.com
or follow her on social media at the links below
http://www.facebook.com/feedmephoebe
http://www.instagram.com/phoebelapine
http://www.twitter.com/phoebelapine

Get the book we talk about on the show about the Fertility Awareness Method here: http://amzn.to/2ub3RSU

**Please leave your thoughts, love and suggestions in the comments on iTunes – we LOVE hearing from you and appreciate all of your beautiful words and ideas!**

Thanks for listening to the LIGHTMAKER podcast, a carefully curated collection of interviews with spiritual entrepreneurs and heart centered change makers designed to ignite your inner light and guide you in creating your most expansive life with your host, Cassandra Bodzak, holistic lifestyle expert, author, speaker, mentor and host of Eat with Intention TV.

 

On the eve of my thirtieth time around the sun, I spent just a small chunk of my red eye coming up with these 30 things I learned before reaching 30. Truth be told, it’s a bit of a tradition for me to do this exercise each year on my birthday because I love rereading the stream of consciousness list of items I come up with and having a moment of gratitude for really being another year wiser, not just older. However, this year, since I’m entering a new decade and feeling wiser than ever, haha, I thought I would share it with you all! Keep in mind, I could do an individual mini novella on all of these lessons but for the sake of this post I kept everything relatively short and sweet. Feel free to comment below or on social media about the items that really hit home for you and of course, any questions or thoughts.

So here it goes, 30 things I learned before 30:

  1. Sometimes the best decisions are the toughest ones to make. I’d say for most of my best choices in this past decade, those closest to me second guessed or straight up tried to talk me out of the most epic calls I’ve made. Luckily, I learned the importance of trusting YOUR gut above anyone else’s even earlier on in life.
  2. When in doubt, go for the option that would make a better chapter in your memoir. This has been a hilarious but great barometer for the “should I just hop on that plane?” moments of life and I’ve yet to regret going for the more adventurous choice.
  3. You are not your elevator speech, you are not your job — you are just gloriously you and that in itself is enough without any of the glitter and gold. You will survive past any title that anyone wants to give or take away from you and to the people who truly matter, it’s all just sprinkles on the top of the already amazing cupcake that is you.
  4. You have to know deep inside your being that you are incredibly lovable because no man (woman/lover/etc) will ever be to make you feel that way if you don’t already know it yourself. Enough said, non-negotiable.
  5. Be kind to everyone. See people. Smile at people. You never know how much someone might need that sunshine in the middle of a gloomy day. When in the depths of dealing with my brother’s illness, I’d have a guy hold the door for me at the supermarket because I had two bags in my arms and his kindness would make me tear up in gratitude. The little stuff matters. We all need those micro doses of human love and kindness.
  6. Hearing your own intuitive guidance is 10% of the battle, the other 90% requires you actually trusting yourself enough to listen and having the courage to take some action.
  7. The people who disappoint you need your love and forgiveness the most. This was a tough one for me but I truly have realized that people hurt themselves the same way they will hurt you. We are all our own worst critics and oftentimes our own worse crucifier so you can put down the sword and just send them love.
  8. Pain is part of life but suffering is a choice you make. Sounds a little crazy, right? It’s a game changing decision to decide not to tolerate suffering. It’s amazing how much more effective you can be in handling any situation when you isolate the suffering from the actual pain. I’ve also gotten a lot of time back in my day from releasing it as soon as I see myself going down to suffer town. (P.S. “Stress” is suffering — we’ve just been tricked into thinking it’s normal and necessary. It’s a choice.) 
  9. The answer is always inside. To any and all questions — yes even ones involving big financial decisions– especially those! Trust your inner expert.
  10. The most confident men(or women) will still need your love and compliments to feel their best. Don’t hold back your praise just because they are receiving compliments from everyone else. There is so much magic in the woman he loves (or man she loves) reflecting back to him how wonderful he is. Be a cheerleader.
  11. Don’t be so hard on yourself. No one is perfect. No one is happy all the time. And anyone pretending to be either isn’t real or honest. It’s okay to experience the whole messy human spectrum — it can even be fun if you don’t take it too seriously.
  12. Stop hiding how weird you are because there are so many people waiting to love and connect with your quirky side. You can’t find your tribe if you don’t take off that mask your wearing.
  13. Don’t pay attention to what anyone else is doing, how old they are, how many followers they have or how picture perfect their life looks on social media. Keep your eyes on the road in front of you, listen to your own gps system and you will get exactly where you are meant to go so much faster.
  14. Keep the impossible on the to do list. For some of the greatest things I’ve done, everyone in my life thought I was ‘delusional’ or ‘naive’ when I first put them on my agenda. That lyric, “if you can dream it, you can do it” is actually truer than you may think. (That song also always make my heart explode and tears roll down my cheeks — “I believe I can fly” by R. Kelly… before he got trapped in a closet.)
  15. Release what you thought it was supposed to look like. Focus on how it would FEEL and allow that to be your compass.
  16. “The best thing to hold on to in life is each other” – Audrey Hepburn, call your grandma, tell your parents how much you freaking love them and drive the six hours to hang out with your brother. You will never regret the time you spent with family. They are your greatest treasure (even when they drive you crazy).
  17. Pets are angels sent here to show us unconditional love. Don’t be ashamed that you talk to your dog, cat or fish — I’m pretty sure that you’d be weirder if you didn’t. It’s okay to love them to pieces and it’s also okay to be a hot mess when they pass. Don’t let anyone tell you different.
  18. Best friends are just as precious as family. Being across the country hasn’t made a stitch of a difference in my relationships with my nearest and dearest. Although I miss hanging out in the flesh often, I’m so grateful for regular cross country calls and text threads. They make my life so much sweeter.
  19. Writing a book is more intense than anyone tells you it’s going to be but more rewarding than you could have imagined. Holding this thing you created in your hands or watching someone you’ve never met buy it barnes and noble and email you about how it’s changing their life is never not a surreal moment. One of the coolest yet hardest things I’ve done to date for sure. 
  20. Sleep is a magical cure all. Getting proper sleep will make you a whole new human. 8 hours of solid sleep will allow your body to do what it does best and self regulate and heal. Listen when it wants more, it has work to do.
  21. Honor the seasons of your life, they all have their benefits. Winters and falls in your career or love life allow you to release what doesn’t work, rest up, take care of yourself and get yourself in fighting shape for spring and summer when you’ll be grateful you had that time to rest and reflect before life got so busy and blooming again.
  22. Music is great medicine for the soul. Choose what you ingest wisely but use it liberally in your day. I don’t know what I would do with out it. I have a playlist for almost everything.
  23. No one actually knows what they are doing. There are only varying degrees of pretending like you maaybbbee might. We are all just winging it…(cause that’s what angels do, haha.)
  24. With all decisions, pretend life is a video game and two options drop down from a menu –– do X or do Y. The option you’d choose in the video game tends to be what you truly want and the option you lean towards in life will usually be what will ruffle the least feathers or cause less friction. Do your video game choice.
  25. Being sensitive is a super power. My body is so sensitive and often people feel like they should feel bad for me because of it. I actually see it as more of a secret weapon that it’s actually able to communicate to me so clearly what food and products are hurting it or toxic. Even my feelings, which can be intense,  show me the soul aligned answers to most decisions before my mind can even get to it’s rational and logical conclusion.
  26. Always bring your own food for flying. (C’mon – – had to sneak one health one in there..)  Chia seed pudding with fruit and granola (for morning flights) and guacamole or a salad for later flights will always make you want to give yourself a pat on the back a few hours into the your journey. Snacking on my gluten free pretzels and guacamole that I brought from home as I write this on my flight tonight and I’m happy as a clam!
  27. When someone wants to be in your life, they’ll make it happen. Life is too short to chase people who don’t want to make time to see you. Whether it’s a guy who’s not asking you out or a girlfriend who constantly flakes on plans and is hard to reach — let go of the people who don’t care if you are in their life and get to loving on all the fabulous people who do!
  28. Just ask! You never know the answer unless you put yourself out there and ask the question. At the end of the day, regardless of position or power we are all just people. Be kind, courteous but certainly throw your hat into the ring. The Wayne Gretzky quote, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” is a mantra that plays frequently in my head when it comes to making a courageous ask for something I truly want.
  29. It’s a beautiful thing to enjoy your own company. And it’s perfectly acceptable to schedule time with yourself on your calendar, in fact, I highly recommend it. If someone can’t respect that you would rather show up for your pre-planned me time date than go to some last minute party, that’s their problem.
  30. Life is a big amusement park. We are all just riding our own rollercoasters. Sometimes your going to be on the way up and sometimes you’ll be on the way down. Neither is permanent and as long as you realize your on a ride, you can enjoy the whole journey.

 

PS. In true birthday spirit, I also got really clear about where I want to go this next year and what adjustments need to be made. Cliff notes version: Aprecity is shifting to include a facebook group where we can take our community building and support to the next level (keeping it open to the public for the first 30 days so join here if you are curious!), the majority of my focus is going on Eat with Intention! I’m excited to be traveling for more book signings and speaking engagements as well as churning out new episodes of Eat with Intention TV and aligning with a network to help grow the show even further, to make room for this I will only be taking on 4 full time ‘practical magic’ mentorship clients at a time and a la carte sessions when possible based on my schedule. If you are interested in either, visit my coaching page to book a session or get on the waitlist once it fills.

I thought it would be fun if this year I share some of gifts to give to other light-worker friends. Here are the links to all of the goodies I mention in the video:

  1. Modern Ritual NYC Abundance Candle
  2. Modern Ritual NYC Love Candle
  3. The Pocket Chögyam Trungpa
  4. Fern Olivia Radiance Alchemy
  5. Spaceship Earth Starwater Yoga Mat
  6. Naturopathica Lavender Protective Moisturizer
  7. “In Love We Trust” Super Love Tees 
  8. The Love Bomb Co. Mug
  9. Organic Bath Co. Zesty Morning Organic Sugar Scrub
  10. Jivamukti Lavender/Aloe Aroma Lotion
  11. La Tierra Sagrada Treatment: Hair Medicine
  12. Musings of an Earth Angel by Suzanne Adams
  13. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
  14. Benshen Rose + Aloe Hydrosol
  15. Benshen Nourish // Serum no.1
  16. Syd by The Suburban Monk

This year, let’s support people that are creating beautiful things in the world. I’m all about supporting small businesses with our giving this year. Let me know if you end up getting any of these as holiday gifts or if you have great gift ideas for this giving season.

xx

C

 

 

Ah, Paris! 

I feel like I have always loved you, Paris. I’ve spent so many nights dreaming about you, you’ve been on every vision board I’ve ever made and I’ve been learning your language since before I hit puberty. My love runs sooo deep for you. 

A couple nights ago I sat on my bed and looked behind me at the picture of the eiffel tower on the wall, the little bonjour sign, the postcard that says “mercy!” on my bulletin board and the glass turquoise eiffel tower I keep in a glass case across from my bed and I cried. I cried like a little baby, except these tears were pure undeniable joy. For those of you who believe in manifesting, and I sincerely hope that you all do, it took me over 10 years to manifest my first trip to the city I’ve loved so dearly from afar for so long.

And do you know what I think FINALLY shifted it?

I had finally been in a place where my life is going great, the business is doing wonderfully, I’m writing my first book and I’m traveling all over on behalf of business. Paris was becoming inevitable. I could feel it inching closer. However, my travel schedule didn’t leave too much space for leisurely get-a-ways as I’m very much a fan of my little new york apartment in between my various trips these days. I hadn’t spoken a lick of french in years since college where I took a literature class with discussion in French to keep myself up to par. And then I received a divine blessing!

I got an email from a lovely lady named Carrie Anne James who happens to be the creator of the online French school French Is Beautiful who happened to be a fan of my blog and my love for the french language was reunited! I started studying again with her online course, watching her weekly lectures, practicing my french as an act of self-care, to treat my soul and falling in love all over again. She made it so easy and stress free for me to brush up on my french skills while still running my business and having the blissfully packed schedule that I do and now she will certainly also be a forever friend.

Mind you, I started taking her course simply because it felt expansive, it felt good for my soul, it was purely pleasure and something I did for ME. Yet, not even a month later, I got an email to go to conference in Barcelona and speak. They were putting me up, taking care of my flights and of course, paying me for being there. Almost simultaneously as I thought to myself ” Paris, after?” did I get a text from a friend and colleague also going to Barcelona saying, “Hey, want to go to Paris afterwards?”.

ummmm HELL YES!!!!!

So here I am, going to Paris, speaking a little french, loving life a lot and reminding you that just because something you’ve been calling into your life hasn’t happened yet, doesn’t mean it’s not on it’s way. It’s “on the truck” just waiting for the perfect delivery time. This trip could not have come at a better time. I’m renting out an apartment for the week in Paris and will be finishing my first book there. Just like I’ve always dreamed.

If this stirs something in your soul or your moved to deepen your french knowledge and conjure up your very own french fairy tale, Carrie and I have teamed up to give you a very special offer! I am very happy to be able to offer you each 30% off her February online high school French review course that starts this Saturday, February 7th. Your lectures are uploaded to Vimeo every week and can be watched throughout the 4 week course. It also comes with daily homework assignments and a weekly Digital Immersion Guide with an option for private coaching via Skype (limited to 5 students). More details HERE. Use coupon code: lightworker30

Yes, it’s tomorrow – so follow your HEART, listen to your SOUL and I’ll see you in class. 😉

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I saw this on Facebook and I just couldn’t have said it better myself!! And what perfect timing when we’re just about to launch our own sweet and skinny special orders section of the website! So if your in Manhattan, stay tuned because soon you’ll be able to get a taste of sweet and skinny delivered right to your door! Now if that’s not just happiness in a box, I don’t know what is! 🙂

 

 

If your work is what you love, then you love your life… And you never stop working.

As a film/tv and theater actress in New York City you can find me in everything from character-driven independent features to comedic ‘funny or die’ shorts. When I’m not acting, I’m writing and producing my own webseries. And when I’m not doing that, I’m practicing yoga, dancing and of course, sampling vegan cupcakes.

That’s right, cupcakes. As creator of GoSweetandSkinny.com, I’m dedicated to demystifying low fat and vegan living. I’m here to prove that taking care of your body and making healthy choices can be easy and you don’t have to give up the foods you love!

My all-time crush is Audrey Hepburn, the embodiment of classic femininity. Her example inspired women to their highest aspirations. I’ve committed my career to honoring her example, and to empowering the women of my generation to a life of class and integrity.

Life is a lot like baking cupcakes, sometimes it’s a big, sticky mess and it sure gets hot with the oven always on but when you combine the right ingredients and mix it all up with love, it always ends up sweet and skinny.

 

Let’s also get this straight, when I use SKINNY on this site, I do not mean anorexic, unhealthy, dangerous skinny. I playfully refer to SKINNY as in the way you will feel when you are eating right, exercising right and at a comfortable weight for your body. I personally do not have a HUGE amount of weight to lose. That is not to say that you can’t use the tips, tricks, and advice from the site if you do have a good amount of weight to lose. This is meant to be useful for everyone and if I think something would work more or less depending on your current size I will state that specifically on a case by case basis. I am open and welcome to any questions or comments you may have, so don’t be shy!

Of course, before you start any diet or fitness routine you should ask your doctor to make sure it’s right for you.