"Things that Make Me SMILE"

snow again - yes that is what i awoke to yesterday !!!!!!!!!!!!

-As i peeked out my window i was greeted by a winter wonderland - well this positive attitude quickly diminished as i stumbled to my kitchen to my trusty Krueg and brewed a fresh cup of Green Mountain Breakfast Blend in my fav mug.  As i sat sipping my indulgence reading one of my favorite magazines "The New Yorker" i contemplated my long day ahead of me - and just the thought of how the snow would just complicate things even more just seemed to add more unnecessary stress to my day and it was only 6AM.

         Normally i would let these little menial things like a snowstorm affect my entire day, my mood and my eating.  As i looked around my humble abode i noticed things around me that just lift my spirits and make me happy - my flowers from Valentine's day, pictures of my family and friends and watercolors of beautiful bouquets made by a special friend.   What things help put a smile on your face each and every day????   The day went uneventful - work, picked up a few things at the store and headed home in the snow - and indulged in one of my favorite outlets - making collages out of my fav magazines -  i love making collages - especially for others!!

        

Love all of the new styles for spring!!!!

What are some of your favorite fashion magazines and ideas for the spring???

On today's agenda - hopefully breakfast on skype with a friend , Anthropolgie run, therapy and a jam packed afternoon in the office!!!!   I wish you all a day filled with PEACE!!!!

xoxo aim

Happy Heart day!!!!!!

                                                     HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        I just want to wish all of you a very Happy Valentine's Day - i hope for each of you it is a day filled with love, friendship and family.  I decided to dedicate this post to all of the special people in my lives that i not only love and appreciate but also all of those who love, support and make life worth living each and every day.

When you think about it LOVE is a  broad emotion.  How many times a day or a week do you say you love something - we say we love a certain article of clothing, a certain food, a place, people.  Today think about all of those things that you love and appreciate and let these people know how much they means to you!!

        For me - I am thankful for my parents, brother and sister - without their constant enduring love i would not made it this far in my life!!!!    I am also grateful to all of my friends - you know who you are - for always standing by me and of course my new friends ive found thru the blog world!!!  You all are amazing and have been such great support!!!

     There is also one special friend i need to acknowledge -Amanda (Angel food) - i do no think i could have asked for a better friendship - you know me all too well and i am so proud of you!! 

You are one of the strongest, most inspiring, caring and selfless people I have ever met!!!!!  I now realize that ANYTHING in life is possible with the help of a friend!!!

I hope u all have a wonderful day either doing something you LOVE, being with someone you LOVE or just loving yourself!!!!!!!

 love to all   xoxo aimee 

       

Quickie post

Hi there - just got skype - love it!!!!!!!!!!!    You can find me at sunnyflwr27!!!!

I'll post later today - im off to my niece's first birthday party!!!!!!!

"Precious"

       Life is precious - a gift given to us - to be cherished - each and every day.  

Yesterday a dear friend of mine learned that a friend from high school committed suicide.  Upon hearing this i realized how precious life is and how we must cherish each and every day as well as those people in our lives who we truly care about.  I wanted just to reach out to my friend and be there for her during this difficult time - unfortunately we live hundreds of miles away so the phone was our only method of communication.  I

 feel like no matter what I say will comfort her but i guess just being there for her is the most important thing.

       I am mentioning this on my blog today because since la

st night I have been thinking about how precious our lives are and how much our Ed takes from us - i don't want Ed to take from my life the time and energy that I could be using for more important things - like my friends and family!!!    Life changes in an instant - we need to appreciate and cherish the lives we have - each and every day!!   

As i awoke today i realized how grateful i am for "today" - a new day, the love of my family and especially my friend who is struggling with this news - i am thinking of you and am here for you!!!!   What are you thankful for?????

On to the food front - yesterdays yummy meal:  Toasted Ezekial pita 

 (love these) stuffed with fresh spinach, Bibb lettuce, hummus and roasted eggplant and peppers!!!!

  Hummus and roasted veggies totally remind me of summer - 

Well i wish all of you have a wonderful Thursday and cherish this day!!!!!!!!!!!  Love to all

  xoxo aimee

"Snow Day!!!!!"

Hi there and happy Wednesday!!!!!!!   I woke up today to a beautiful looking Winter Wonderland  however as you all know i hate snow!!!  Its beautiful to look at but i hate being confined to my house.  I don't know about the rest of you but I love my daily routine of getting up and having a "purpose" every day.  I usually find that the days where i am less busy i have more time to "think" - more Ed time.  Unlike the past i have become more aware of this and today i am going to try to keep myself busy.  How do the rest of you deal with this free time???  

Well i haven't been blogging much lately in the past few days - work as usual has been busy and ive also been busy with some fun things!!!!!   My eats the past few days have actually been great all as a result of mi cara amica!!!!!!!  Why do you ask????   Phone support!!!!  For me just talking to someone when i am struggling has been so helpful!!!!!!!!  I highly suggest finding someone you can confide with or just talk to who can understand what you might be going thru or feeling and realize that you are not alone!!!!!  I am so lucky to have found my special friend thru the blog world!!!!!!   Without her my de

termination and inspiration to keep trying would not be possible.  I am sharing this with all of you to encourage each of you to reach out

 and ask for help when you are struggling - i think also that the blog world is a great place to find the support that you need.

Yummy eats over the past few days:

  whole wheat linguine with fresh roasted tomatoes, garlic, fresh asparagus and spinach!!!!!  The result: delicious!!!!!!!!

      Another great find - for all of you Red Mango fans they have a new flavor out - Cocoa - the result?   Actually i liked it - usually i am a more vanilla lover i had a coupon for buy one get one free!!!!!! (you can get it off facebook) - so i tried it and it was good - my favorite is still original with fruit but i tried the Cocoa last night topped with banana and blueberries and was quite yummy!!!!!!!!!!!  

    Well i hope you all have a great Wednesday and stay warm and relax - ill be back tonight with some more eats of the day!!!!!   Stay positive!!!!!  xoxo aimee

     

" I Did It again!!!"

Hello my lovies and happy Thursday - can't believe another week has gone by!!!  Today I slept in a bit later - well not really - 5:30 as compared to my usual 4 Am despite my long day at work yesterday - i seriously need to consider a career change - my hours are so long!!!!

   Anyway - i have to make this a quick post - i'm off to therapy and then to a full day in the office as usual!!!!

     On a positive note - guess what I did last night - yes I made pizza again for the second time this week - i enjoyed it so much that I had to make it again - also my therapist had suggested that I eat my fear food at least twice in one wee

k - now many of you are probably thinking - oh no big deal but for me it was a huge deal - why?   I have always thought that pizza was an unhealthy food - a food that should only be indulged on certain occasions - like once a month - for me to eat it twice in one week?  Absolutely FORBIDDEN!!  Well after a long day yesterday i came home and was so tempted just to make something more "safe" - i tried to make excuses like it was too late to make pizza but i realized that the more we do something and face the fears the easier it will become - i knew that if i didn't do it last night eventually i would have to 

do it and it would just be more difficult!!!

The evidence: 

The verdict????  DELICIOUS!!!!!

Some of you asked for my homemade tomato sauce recipe - well over the summer I canned over 500 jars of fresh plum tomatoes - so that is where I get the tomatoes from.  They were simply canned with just their own natural juices and basil.  It is great because in the heart of winter I can open a jar and just savor the taste of a ripe summer tomato!!!  To make the sauce i simply season with fresh roasted garlic cloves, salt, red pepper, FRESH basil and oregano - the key is the fresh roasted garlic as well as the fresh spices - i never use dried basil or oregano - the fresh tastes so much better!!

Well I hope this inspires many of you to continue to challenge yourself daily and to nourish our bodies with what we truly desire - "Face the fear and do it anyway"

Love to all - xoxo aimee

Busy as a Bee

     Happy Wednesday - sorry i've been MIA for the past 2 days but ive been a busy little bumble bee!!!!  Work has essentially consumed my life - i haven't been getting home until 8 pm and waking up at the godforsaken hour of 4 am!!!!  Thankfully its already Wednesday!!!!!  THe only positive thing is that when I am this busy i feel that i have less time to actually listen to my Ed voice.   

      This morning i awoke to an unhappy surprise of 2 inches of snow!!! I though yesterday the groundhog said that spring was only 6 weeks away!!!  As i said above when i am busy my eating definately tends to be better - i think its because i have less time to actually "debate" in my head what i know i "should" have to eat rather than what "Ed" 

would rather me have.  How do all of you feel about this and how do you deal with busy days????  Overall though i have had a good few days - I again challenged myself to my all new favorite meal - whole wheat pizza topped with roasted veggies and cheese!!!!!  Easy, satisfying and well just downright delicious - why i have deprived myse

lf of one of my favorite foods for dinner I have no idea why - i think its because i have always associated this food as being "bad" and unhealthy.  I am slowly starting to realize that food is good - it is meant to be enjoyed and that we should not deprive ourselves of what we truly desire. I am so happy that I have been able to chal

lenge myself and guess what ?  Nothing bad has happened!!! And I intend on eating this delicious meal again this week - what - pizza twice in one week - (maybe Thursday night) - !!!!

     Well here's the evidence:

My pizza was topped with homemade tomato sauce, fresh basil, oregano, spinach, roasted eggplant, mushrooms and roasted red peppers , finally toped with cheese - so delicious!!!

Well, i hope you all can challenge yourself to eat something you truly desire and enjoy!!! Life is too short not to!!!!!!  Do you know what has helped me to finally do this???  A special person i met thru the blog world - to her i am eternally grateful!!!!!!

Have a great Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!     xoxo aimee