and olé to you

I'm a ridiculously huge fan of Elizabeth Gilbert - she of the Eat, Pray, Love fame and untold other pieces of writing genius.  What I love most about her writing style (and that of another of my all-time favorites, Martha Beck) is that their voice - their personal, wonderous, unique sounding voice - comes through so resoundingly in their words.  For me, this is what I strive for when writing.  Either for myself or for my clients, it's my sincerest goal to have that honest, true voice speak through my words.  Sometimes it's professional, branded and on-message.  Sometimes it's funny, forthright and a tad sassy.  Regardless, I always hope that I can bring the voice through the message so that it connects and resonates with the people to whom it's directed.

I love how Liz talks here about this insane idea of creative genius, spreading out the love/blame for the quality of writing and just continuing the work regardless.  Olé indeed.

oui oui! midsummer bounty

I've been feeling rather French lately. I blame the vegetables. And the weather. And Molly Wizenberg. And the fact that it's August and - let's face it - I'm wishing I was with Anna right now in Brittany, soaking in the sun, buying cute little French soaps and sea salt (Anna, please - for the love of god - please don't forget my salt) and enjoying a nightly apéro.

But mostly I think I can blame the vegetables. Between my first week of being a CSA member, my effusive love for my Farmer's Market and my darling mother's garden...well, let's just say that my produce cup runneth over. And over.

First up, ratatouille. My dear friend Anna actually turned me on to this delightful dish several years ago and I have proceeded to enjoy it yearly since. There's something very effortless about whacking up a bunch of seasonal veggies and turning them into a hearty stew-like dish...which, after sitting in the fridge waiting for me, only seems to get better and better. I had just the right ingredients from the market and mom's garden: zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, onion, garlic. I got some peppers and started rifling through cookbooks - here, at Barnes & Noble, everywhere - looking for ideas. I went back to my old standby: Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything layered and baked number. On the first day, we enjoyed it with soft cooked polenta (his with cheese and butter, mine without...detox, afterall) and a crispy rosé. I plated up two little Apilco round au gratin dishes with leftovers, sent a bag with the chef to be turned into a stew the next day, and left the rest in the fridge for nibbling. The following morning, I drained the au gratin dish a bit, dug a couple of holes and cracked two eggs into the dish. Baked those at 350 for about 13ish minutes and I had the perfect breakfast. Of course, a toasted baguette would have been the preferred accompaniment but on the no-wheat adventure, I was happily surprised by simple corn tortilla chips stepping in and doing the job nicely.

Next task, leek soup. Or at least that's where I thought I was going with this. Only serving to exacerbate my little French problem, I also picked up the new-ish paperback version of French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, & Pleasure (Vintage) and remembered her original advice about leek soup. I think it was called "Magical Leek Soup," in fact. So I was thusly inspired. Checking out my cookbook collection - and considering the rest of my bounty - I aimed instead for a slight riff on Ina Garten's Zucchini Vichyssoise instead (from Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home. Now THIS would be the answer to my late night, no energy for cooking question. This soup is meant to be eaten either hot or cold, and I'm guessing it will not be the first time this season it will be made. It's going gangbusters on the stove right now and will fill the lunch gap nicely.

Next up, addressing the lettuce situation. Every weekend I get this wild idea that I need salad. Lots of salad. So much salad that I might explode. And, of course, I buy salad greens. But my fridge is not a salad green-friendly location. In fact, it doesn't like much of anything that prefers to be crispy and sturdy. So I'm trying an experiment. About 3/5ths of my lettuce is just fine, 4+ days later. 1/5th is dead and headed for the compost. The remaining 1/5th seems salvageable; I'm soaking it in ice water to see if the shock will stiffen it up and make it lunch-ready. Feeling a little lousy about this, but I'm trying to recover. We'll see.

Lastly, I'm drooling over Molly Wizenberg. You may know her as that Orangette blog lady, or the writer of that great book A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table for which I waited patiently (ahem) from the library while 13 other people had holds on it, and the proceeded to buzz through it in 2 days. Now, I'm torn. I love almost every one of the recipes in there. Should I scan them for my collection, or should I bite the bullet and buy the book? (Those of you who know my book situation would probably calmly advocate for the former.) It's due tomorrow, I can't renew it (lots of others waiting in line) so I need to decide quickly. In the meantime, won't you check out her blog and, in particular, her index of recipes? She's a major Francophile - which shines through nicely in her recipes - and her husband is a vegetarian.

Because really, how much inspiration do you need this time of year? Gotta go, time to blitz the vichysoisse! Au revoir!

(Update: the soup was absolutely amazing - recipe coming later today - and the lettuce snapped to like good soliders. Successful lunch all around! Now, where's that baguette...sigh.)

review: Green Clean & recipe

In my ongoing research for safe, effective and yes, natural ways to clean my home, I found a book at the library (love the library - how thrifty AND green!?) called Green Clean: The Environmentally Sound Guide to Cleaning Your Home and found it intriguing enough to pick up. First, the form factor: an eco-friendly book printed on a non-recycled paper?! Whaaaa? Well yeah. It's actually printed on a synthetic paper that makes it waterproof, stainproof and therefore infinitely durable. It's also resistant to tearing (shhh, yes, I checked). It's called a DuraBook™ in fact, which seams to suit the material perfectly. I like this concept quite a lot, particularly considering the abuse softcover books tend to take in library environments. Long live the library!

Anyway, I found the book to be a straightforward, helpful guide. There was some excellent reference and educational information, some basic housecleaning tips turned green, and lots of recipes. This probably isn't a book for an already-educated, hard core green household, but an excellent starting point if you're just beginning this phase in your life. And, as the book describes, you can just store it right in your cleaning bucket next to your products. It won't fall apart under the pressure!

Here's a recipe I'm going to try...(directly quoting from the book)

Vinegar of the Four Theives
Legend has it that grave robbers during a plague outbreak rubbed this on themselves to prevent illness.

2 quarts organic apple cider vinegar
Small handfuls of dried lavendar, rosemary, sage, rue, mint
Large jar (about 2 quarts) with a screw-top lid

Mix all ingredients in a jar and cover tightly. Let sit for at least four weeks and strain out the herbs. Pour into a spray bottle. Spray anywhere that's ripe for germs - such as places where lots of hands have touched, or in a sick room.

series: personal branding, starting out

In the past week, I have been reminded several times of the importance of a personal brand - the individual, identifiable face we put out to the world - in our everyday lives. Things are changing all around us. Things are changing in our checking accounts, our retirement balances, how we make our living. Things changing that much would be enough to send the most secure, introspective person into bed for a week with the covers over her head. Crafting, or really documenting, our own statement about who we are and what we stand for can bring some real clarity. And the truth? It's already in each one of us. Even if it's hidden deep beneath all of those notions about "what I should do," "who I thought I would be," "what used to be passionate about before I simply ran out of time, " it is really, truly, positively already inside us. Sometimes we just need to help it out.

Many people are being sort of forced to self-evaluate due to job loss. I've SO been there over the years, and I know many people I know are in this mode now. To even start thinking about what do I want to do now? is incredibly overwhelming. My answer to so many of these fork-in-the-road life challenges is to research, read, ask people to share their experiences and ask people who do this kind of thing for a living. And I really tend to put a lot of faith and attention towards those who are outwardly living their values. When you meet them, you just know. It's almost electric just being around them or reading their words.

About 3 years ago, I went through my 2nd layoff. I took a year off and did a lot of navel gazing. I thought about the values and beliefs I had deep under the façade of my job, my title, my paycheck. When I could take that GIANT step back and gain some perspective, a few things really stood out for me. I knew - really knew this time - that getting back on the corporate roller coaster wasn't going to work. I constantly felt like a square peg in a round hole. Would you have been able to tell that about me at the time? No. I did my best to put my work face on and go in each day determined to do my best. Even if I wasn't doing what was best for me. I look back now at some of the work situations I allowed myself to get into and realize that I was doing the direct opposite of being authentic. I let others define the role I would play in my work life and, quite frankly, bought into the entire program. Led by false values – title, perceived status, money – I made career decisions that didn’t really fit who I was. And that took me off course. I set my own dreams and aspirations aside. Well, no more.

So how do you start figuring out your own authentic values, your personal mission statement, your brand? Here’s what I’d recommend:

• Do your own self-inventory and exploration. Get a great journal and a nice pen that feels good in your hand. Be consistent about using them both; you’ll have to set aside time to really do this.
• Get inspired. Read books and magazines like the ones listed below. Watch motivational movies. Watch Oprah! Do whatever it takes to get your head into a positive, uplifted, and open place.
• Don’t try to cram it all in at once. If you get a book to work through or just wing it on your own (or even with my guidance), don’t muscle through it with the idea that you’re going to quickly resolve things. It just doesn’t work that way.
• Be patient with yourself. Not every day is a day of significant insight. Leave that pressure to the Nobel prize winners of the world.
• Start with gratitude. One of the first things that I recommend is to take that notebook and about 3 pages from the end, start a gratitude list. Write down 100 things you’re thankful for in your life. You probably won’t crank it all out in one sitting but make sure you do finish it.
• THEN, dig in to the exercises that will help you put a finer point on your personal brand. I'll be pulling together some of these and posting here if you're interested.

A few resources I love:
Oprah's website and magazine and tv show, of course. Lots of great content on living authentically, simply, honestly...in your truth. A definite idol for me.
PINK website and magazine. Good insights for working women...and what woman really isn't working?
Make a Name for Yourself: Eight Steps Every Woman Needs to Create a Personal Brand Strategy for Success
Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live - another wonderful idol
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It - this one is wonderful if you've ever considered going out on your own, but I also found it to be a great resource for the "finding myself" process even when I worked for others.

getting unstuck

I frequently return to this book when I have those days of unmotivated, indecisive, lethargic blah. And somehow it always seems to make me feel like I can get a grip again. To me, If the Buddha Got Stuck is sort of a digestible and practical take on some basic Buddhist concepts. It's not rife with God or religion or anything that feels heavy or overwhelming, or to the point, something that will make me feel MORE stuck. It's bite-sized chapters that you can just poke through and pick what moves you for the day. There are some journal-y exercises to do, as well. I'm thinking of throwing it on my Kindle just so I don't have to be without it; it's that valuable of a tool for me during this process of transitioning my life. Talk about potentially overwhelming.

Best of all? It has siblings: If the Buddha Dated, which I could definitely use at this point in my life, and If the Buddha Married, which I clearly should have made friends with already. But part of this whole process is learning and not being too hard on one's self, right? Mostly I think this wonderful author, Charlotte Kasl, is joining my list of idols along with Martha Beck.

Today I'm enjoying chapter 50 titled: Seventeen Strategies for Staying on Track. Which could actually be the name of the manual for my life these days. I'll give you the list and just a few of the concepts that are working for me today:

(the bolded portions are directly from If the Buddha Got Stuck by Charlotte Kasl)

1. Do not demand perfection.
2. Have realistic expectations, be flexible, and start with small goals.
3. Develop strategies to make life easier. This is key to success with so many things and she mentions here about eating healthier; buy healthy prepackaged foods like washed salad greens to make the whole good food thing easier on yourself. After my time with WeightWatchers, I absolutely know this to be true. And while you're at it, portion those suckers right when you get home. Nothing like a little bag of potato chips to satisfy a salt/crunch need vs. half a bag to fuel your guilt.
4. Start with whatever is easiest.
5. Get help from a friend or be near other people.
6. Change the setting.
7. Hire someone. This is a wonderful lesson that applies to all facets of life: don't stress about something you need to repair or create or whatever if that something doesn't really fit your passions or your available time. Find someone else to do it. Focus your unique skills and energies on what does move you and let the other experts do their thing. So sensible. And with a new business and a crappy economy out there, this is also giving way to another of my favorite concepts, bartering. Get creative while you move forward!
8. Give yourself rewards.
9. Readjust your goals.
10. Do something for a given period every day. I'm taking this one to heart this week; I've been craving schedule and structure so I figured out how much of my time should be dedicated to writing/researching, networking, finding new clients, taking care of myself, etc and then I'm starting to give them some borders in my calendar. I'm excited about this one.
11. Stay focused on the big picture.
12. Make appointments on your calendar. Whoa. See #10. Fantastic alignment, no?
13. Hang out with your resistance.
14. Give yourself a whack. Kasl describes this as tantamount to "just say no" or giving yourself a little lecture about not going there anymore...wherever there is that keeps you stuck.
15. Take one extra step. This is so critical to finding your way forward, because we all come with these notions of who we are and what we're comfortable doing. Who came up with these ideas anyway? In the end, we're setting (or accepting) our own boundaries, sometimes unintentionally. So, if they're in our control anyway, why not just push through them and set new ones?
16. Do it anyhow - anxiety and all.
17. Lighten up. I'm going to hope Kasl forgives me but I think this is a really important one to leave you with:

"Remember, in the big picture it all matters - but it's not serious. Whether you keep moving down the track, sit by the roadside, or even have your feet stuck in the mud, it is just where you are at this moment - nothing is better or worse - it's all part of the big cosmic dance, the One Energy. We take the steps to lower stress and bring ease to our lives so we can have more clarity of mind and peacefulness of body. Make your best effort, and watch the unfolding drama.

Imagine flying up in the sky and looking down at homes, hospitals, prisons, office buildings, bars, and movie theaters and watch the unfolding dramas of so many lives, very similar to yours. Not on the surface, perhaps, but at the heart everyone wants to be free of suffering, be cared for, know happiness, and find some form of peace. Above all, be kind and merciful with yourself."