The essence of celebration is gratitude! For my 30th birthday I’ve been day-dreaming of all the little pleasures that enrich my life. The ultimate Love List! In no particular order, and leaving out the big stuff (husband, friends, family, etc), here’s thirty random reasons I’ve been smiling:
1) Stripey long socks. Will they ever get old? Methinks not. And with this particularly warm winter, they’ve been my ultimate ‘uniform’. Love!
2) 90s radio on the internet. Oh. My. God. I’m one seriously nostalgic sucker, and live-streaming straight up 90s top 40 . . . I’m in heaven! Salt n Pepa! Nirvana! En Vogue! Friggin’ SWV! I squeal. Like over, and over, and over again, I squeal.
3) Coconut Water. Have you discovered this stuff yet? It’s isotonic, full of electrolytes, naturally sweet goodness. Mmmm, my favorite brand is Amy and Brian’s – what’s yours?
4) Wooden baby paraphernalia. Why am I so drawn to wood?? Little pine rattles, tiny painted trains, itty bitty bamboo spoons, gah! I AM SO CRUNCHY!
5) Children’s music! From the nostalgia of Raffi and Peter, Paul, and Mommy, to the incredible, rockin’ modern melodies from the likes of They Might Be Giants. Seriously, kid jams are SO GOOD these days, as evidenced by the awesomeness of the art, music, and ‘message’ (science!) in the video above.
6) Celestial Seasonings Peach Passion tea. No, really. BEST. TEA. EVER.
7) And speaking of, I’m still drinking daily herbal infusions and truly, I swear by them. Nourishing and energizing!
8) Glass Drinking Straws from Glass Dharma. I love love love finding new ways to eliminate disposables and replace them with sustainables. And with my green smoothie habit, having these re-usable glass straws lets me sip with a clean conscience – and some style!
9) The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Undying devotion since high school, and I hear it’s making a come back, yay! Remember Rocky wisdom: Don’t Dream It: Be It (I had that scrawled on my bathroom mirror all through college . . . )
10) My Body. Fucking finally! I could write a whole post about this, but suffice it to say that through most of my twenties I wore a size 0 – along with a heaping dose of insecurity, self-criticism, and body shame. Now, many years, quitting smoking, and one baby later, I’m a size . . . um, not 0, ha! (just kidding, I don’t care about telling, I’m a size 5-6!) And you know what? I dig my new hips and I love my round rump and as far as I’m concerned, my shit is bangin’. And the imperfections? They just ain’t worth the time to worry about. CHEERS!
11) Typography. Mmmm, here’s an Internet trend I can get behind. Yes with the fancy fonts, yes with the word love!
12) My neti pot! Gross? Or just totally crunchy? Yeah, I know. But come on, you get to pour water up your nostril and it flies out the other side, and you cough and sputter and your eyes water and your husband laughs at you, and then you get to not get sick. *I* think that’s pretty cool.
13) Raw Vegan Desserts, which I enjoyed in abundance for my thirtieth birthday party. Blood Orange Cheesecake (tasted like a Creamsickle!) and Chai Spice Cheesecake. Um, YUM.
14) Rediscovering Bath Time. I wrote a bit about my long-term relationship with baths (ha!) in my 20s Retrospective. I really used to take a bath every single night – sometimes twice a day! In this coming year of pleasure over practicality, I’m recommitting to my former flame. Bath love!
15) Year-Round Farmer’s Markets. Yay! My co-op actually sponsors a mini market each week all the way through winter. It’s so wee and wonderful, all mushrooms and beets and bitter greens. Love it! And I love eating seasonally/locally in January!
16) Taking my ethics to the next level. Since going vegan over 2 years ago, I’ve continued to wear a few of my ‘pre-gan’ leather items. Namely, 3 pairs of boots that I’m seriously emotionally attached to (my combats, which are ‘essential Sayward’, and 2 other pairs which each took me 2+ years to track down, because I was determined to find the perfect look and my feets are huge and I only buy secondhand). But anyways, blah blah sob story. Yeah, I love those shoes. Yeah, I’ll get over it. It’s time for me to stop helping leather look good. New boots for me!
17) Vegan Donuts. I think this made the list last year, too. It had actually been ages since I’d had one, but then some friends flew into town for my birthday and showed up at my house at 11pm with a full box of Voodoos. Good friends, good donuts!
18) Vida Vegan Con! The first ever vegan blogging conference is being held next summer right here in Portland. And I’m speaking there! Eeeee! Public speaking is hands down my biggest fear, so volunteering for this was a *huge* act of courage. And I’m so excited!
19) French Roast. I’m so damn picky with my coffee these days. And I’m french roast, all the way. Give me french or give me death! Mmm, smokey goodness.
20) Mormon Mommy Bloggers. True! I read this article and now I’m totally hooked. My favorites are Rockstar Diaries and Underaged and Engaged. Help me!
21) Herbalism. I’ve slowly been incorporating medicinal herbs – mostly teas – into my life over the past few years. But recently I did some serious research, and all I can say is, fascinating. I love the empowerment that comes from diy care. Like nutrition, herbalism is all about taking control of your own health and well being. A new obsession? I think so!
22) VEGAN BABIES! There’s a whole crew now – Clementine, Amelie, Maceo, Madeleine, Ruby, Scarlett, Kavi, and more! They are all so sweet and amazing and they fill me with so much hope and joy. You guys, I’ve seen the future and it is BEAUTIFUL!
23) My bangs. Yes, from hope to hair just like that. The littler things are important too!
24) Homemade Blackberry Liquor. It was a *very* happy birthday party for me, hee hee. That stuff was a hippie heaven . . .
25) Rotten Food. Of course by which I mean, cultured and fermented foods, ideally diy. Life changing. Essential. Delicious! My favorite these days is homemade coconut yogurt, which I feed to Waits (and myself!) every morning.
26) And speaking of feeding Waits, I love making baby food! I’m totally into preparing the most nutrient-rich, nourishing foods – from probiotics to soaking and sprouting, I’m having a blast. I actually had a moment the other day where I thought, “Wait, you can like, buy baby food?” Ha! HIPPIE!
27) Playing “I’m Gonna Get You” with Waits. It’s his favorite game, and he is SO FREAKING CUTE laughing hysterically as he flees. Please note the wild hop he does at the very beginning of this video. Gah! Too adorable!
28) The Vegetarian Food For Thought podcast. I can’t even describe how much Colleen inspires me. Just listen to it, seriously. She is a true teacher.
29) Loooong Walks. Especially at night, and especially the fact that it’s January and I’m still able to do that. It’s the best way to digest my dinner, baby strapped to my front and a podcast in my ear. Bundled, umbrella-ed, and blissed. Oh and have I mentioned how much I <3 Portland? I love Portland!
30) 2011. Because man, it’s gonna be grand.
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Jackie
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Tenise Rae
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http://www.lindsayginn.com Lindsay
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http://rachelpio.wordpress.com Rachel
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Virginia
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http://the-fire-witch.blogspot.com Danielle
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Darciefaro
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Charlotte
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Rebecca
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http://eatingappalachia.com Jes
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Angela
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Sarah
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http://www.windycityvegan.wordpress.com Monika {windycityvegan}
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Kelly H.
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http://vegmomof4.blogspot.com April
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http://kiwimartini.wordpress.com/ Beens
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http://lynniebee.blogspot.com Lynn
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http://www.wix.com/StMongo/MoonDragonArtPhoto StMongo
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http://Elilaiann.bloodspot.com Carissa
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http://hautemacabre.com Sam
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jess
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Rea
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http://www.thedomesticvegan.com Jess – The Domestic Vegan
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Sam
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vicki taylor