Enchantment Learning & Living Blog

Welcome to Enchantment Learning & Living, the inspirational space where I write about the simple pleasures, radical self-care, and everyday magic that make life delicious.

Two-Ingredient Sunblock

July 3, 2015

I love the sun as much as I love the moon--especially during the summer. I like longs walks in the sunshine and a lazy afternoon sunbathing. It's practically part of my Land of Enchantment heritage after all! Who could not love a gloriously open and sunny sky after growing up in this magical desert?

Alas, we've become pretty sun-phobic in many ways as we worry about sun damage and other hazards; that said, you can be sun-smart and still enjoy plenty of rays. In fact, they're good for you as twenty minutes in the sun gives you your daily dose of vitamin D, something I really missed when I lived in Seattle! If you want to learn more about how UVA and UVB rays affect us and how homemade sunscreens can help, check out what the Modern Hippy Housewife has to say.

I've always wanted to try making my own sunblock because I do believe in practicing "safe sun"--including using only organic sunscreens because non-organic have a host of chemicals that seem even worse for you than the rays they are supposed to protect you from. That said, organic brands can be pretty pricey. Naturally, the crafty life-hacker in me decided to see what she could figure out whipping up a batch of her own sunblock.

I took cues from recipes via Wellness Mama and the above Modern Hippy Housewife, opting for an easier recipe with fewer ingredients (hey, a beautiful afternoon poolside was calling to me, and I needed my goods ASAP!). I used my coconut body butter as my base because it was super easy to make and non-greasy when applied. I then added non-nano zinc oxide powder, the primary substance that offers protection against harmful rays. Make sure it is non-nano zinc oxide powder, as it is better for the body (you can read more about that from Goddess Garden Organics).

Coconut oil actually offers about SPF 4 and other natural oils, like shea butter, offer a similar amount of light coverage. Pretty cool, huh? But if you plan to be out in the sun for prolonged periods of time, it's a good idea to whip up a batch your own sunblock to boost your coverage. This recipe here gives you about SPF 25. As with any sunscreen, make sure to apply generously (at least a full ounce) and often (every two hours or so). And be smart about your sun exposure. It's never a good idea to bake for hours on end. With this recipe, I can now feel good about my outdoor time, both under the sun's rays and with the ingredients on my sunblock (which costs about $3 a bottle when all is said and done!).

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut body butter

4 tablespoons non-nano zinc oxide powder

Stir zinc oxide into coconut body butter until thoroughly combined, making sure not to inhale the powder. Store in a mason jar. To use, simply apply your sunblock as you would your regular body butter half an hour before sun exposure. Makes one cup. Enjoy on a sunny day!

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

Dancing in the Rain

June 30, 2015

Last night I danced in the rain.

I sang with the wind. I spread my hands high over my head and tried to touch the dark clouds weighing down the evening sky; and I called upon that storm to sweep away the cobwebs and dust from my mind, to let the fat rain drops fall upon my face, a soothing balm across the tender center between both eyes.

I let the distant rumble of thunder echo in my bones and the promise of lightning tickle my long wet hair. I, I did this, making myself one with the rhythm of nature, allowing myself to understand the bigness of it, the fullness of this universe that goes beyond myself and within myself. My bare feet rooted themselves in puddles as I twirled among the rain drops and clouds thick with cleansing desert magic.

I was a spirit dancing among other spirits--trees, grass, mountains, and their guardians. I was a raindrop covering the earth with my love. I was the quiet in the storm, the stillness in the dance, the held breath between one clap of thunder and another. I was the whisper of the earth's smile.

Mango Chile Lime Popsicles

June 26, 2015

As you know, I've been trying to beat the heat this week in a number of ways: avoiding the outdoors during the hottest midday hours, sipping cooling beverages, nixing cooking on the stove, sticking my undies in the freezer...you name it! Okay, maybe not the last one...although I did see Marilyn Monroe do it in The Seven Year Itch to beat the sweltering heat of a New York City summer. Fortunately for me, things are not quite so dire in the arid Southwest.

I am, however, more than happy to indulge in these healthy mango chile lime popsicles to keep cool. Like my pina colada popsicles, I use quality organic ingredients to whip up a tasty frozen treat that has way less sugars than your average store-bought popsicle--and those only natural at that. All you need is your own popsicle molds to get started.

These popsicles are a riff on the popular Mexican snack featuring mangoes sprinkled with chile, salt, and lime. I remember eating mango chile suckers as a child too; there is something perfect about that blend of sweet fruit dusted with spicy chile powder that makes my mouth water just thinking about it. (And yes, I write 'chile' with an 'e' and not an 'i' because I'm a New Mexican and that's how we spell it...but that's another story for another time!)

I've added an extra twist to this union by using Korean chile paste instead of chile powder. The result is a sweet, smokey kick at the back of your throat--but be careful, because the heat of this chile sneaks up on you. I put a little too much chile in my first batch, thinking it would be more sweet than hot. Wow were we surprised at the spiciness! With a little tinkering, I finally found the right balance of heat and sweet. That said, if you like it hot, make it hotter...just go a little at time and sample frequently until you find your right balance.

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen mango chunks

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

3/4 cup water

1 tsp Korean chile paste

Puree ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour mixture into popsicle molds and let sit in freezer for at least two hours or until frozen. I usually make them a day ahead and let them set overnight. Let the treats sit on the counter for five to ten minutes and then remove them from the mold. Eat immediately, with gusto! Makes about 6 with a little left over for a mango smoothie, tequila optional.

Pina Colada Popsicles

June 23, 2015

So it's hot out. Like, really hot. As in 100 degrees hot! Normally I love the desert summer, but I've found myself beginning to wilt in this heat. Forget cooking anything that involves the oven or even the stove for that matter. And you won't catch me baking under the midday sun. Most of my time is now spent finding ways to stay cool in the midst of this heat wave. Luckily, I have a perfect antidote to Albuquerque when it sizzles: these pina colada popsicles. Yum!

They are reminiscent of carefree days on the beach, sipping that rum-soaked pineapple and coconut concoction finished off with a little umbrella...only better because I use only healthy ingredients in this recipe. I swap out super sugary coconut cream with coconut milk and coconut water and use frozen pineapple for that pop of fruity goodness. What's more, these are super easy to make! All you need is a popsicle mold which you can find here or at your local cooking store (and sometimes even at your supermarket).

As with my other recipes, I use only organic ingredients for maximum healthy benefits and best-tasting results. Make sure to use canned coconut; the taste is richer than the carton variety--and don't be alarmed if the coconut cream is solid at the top of the can. It mixes easily with the liquid part on the bottom once you stir it up. It would also be a good idea to whip up a double batch of these popsicles because when the temperature goes up, they go fast!

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup coconut water

1 1/2 cups frozen pineapples

1 ripe banana

Confessions of a Flower Eater

June 19, 2015

You would grow a garden in your belly if you could so that your insides are blossoms, fat with pollen and thick seeds, strong roots, and liquid sunshine. It seems terrible to confess that you know you could be like those flowers if you ate enough of them. But it is true--they would infuse their spirit into your skin and, in return, you would give them a home. Just a tablespoon a day is all it would take, you think, as you gaze out at your flower garden, that alchemical blend of growing things and medicinal petals.

So you collect your marigolds and nasturtiums, your puffs of dandelion and your fat tulip bulbs, your sharp lavender and blowsy rose petals, and you begin the task of making your meal. You could grind them up with your mortar and pestle until each bloom dissolves into a thick paste, a murky drink not unlike your compost to rest in your stomach. But where is the fun in that? How can you delight in the feel of seeds down your throat or a soft petal kissing your tongue?

So you mix up your flowers--seeds, petals, stems, roots--into an otherworldly salad. The tulip bulb is your base, thick and earthy, to welcome your eternal spring and chase away the darkness. Then you stir in yellow marigold and passionate hope, and add peppery nasturtiums, streaked with orange and red, to make you feel brave; next is dandelion (puffs, roots, leaves picked from a crack in your garden path) to echo your tulip base of infinite possibility. And a few rose petals to dust the top, a delicate perfume to soften the aspirations of the other flowers--it is enough to enjoy the beauty of this moment. Your salad isn't complete until you sprinkle blue lavender buds across your feast, adding the final touch of tranquil healing.

You devour this salad, one bite at a time, crunching down on meatiness of the tulips, the melt-in-your-mouth silkiness of the rose, until there is nothing left on your plate but a marigold blossom, somehow still intact. You pick this flower up with your fingers and bring it to your mouth. You feel the feathery petals across your tongue, the way it falls apart under the pressure of your teeth, the weight of sunshine in your belly when you swallow it. This is your garden, each piece of your summer harvest preserved inside you so that you are now part flower, part hope.

Fried Sage Chips

June 16, 2015

One of my go-to appetizers come the weekend are these delicious and easy to make sage chips. They combine my love of fresh herbs with all the tastiness of a kale chip but are dainty enough to nibble on as you enjoy an evening cocktail. I even hesitate to use the word "fried" in my blog title because these chips aren't greasy or heavy, just light and crisp.

There is nothing like the woodsy taste of the sage paired with the pop of sea salt on the tongue to prepare your palate for your evening meal. It's the taste of this dish and taking the time to enjoy a pre-dinner drink that matters, rather than filling up on a heartier snack--it's like the Italian version of an appetizer in that way, making you slow down and enjoy the simple pleasure of a luxurious dinner. Like my roasted garlic scapes, these sage chips only require good olive oil and sea salt to make them tasty--you can always add a pop of brightness to them with my 3 Citrus Himalayan Salt.

Ingredients:

1 bunch organic sage leaves

Olive oil

Sea salt

In a saucepan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Use only enough olive oil to thinly coat the bottom of the pan, about 2-3 tablespoons. Once oil is hot, place sage leaves in pan and let fry until they begin to get crispy and golden, but not burned (about one minute). Make sure not to pile too many leaves into the oil at once, otherwise they will get mushy. You may have to fry them in batches. Promptly remove from heat and set on paper towel to drain. While the leaves are still hot, sprinkle them with sea salt. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

5 Tips for a Magical Staycation

June 12, 2015

This year I decided to forgo distant travels and enjoy my hometown for vacation. There is something sort of romantic about seeing your city through the rose colored glasses of a visitor--no day-to-day worries, just pure unadulterated fun! I'll admit that one of the draws of a staycation is the idea of sleeping in my own bed and never having to worry about whether or not I packed the right wardrobe (picture me freezing in my summer dress in still wintery Rome!). You have all the fun of traveling with none of the hassle.

A staycation is a great way to indulge in the simple pleasures you can't always enjoy when you travel--like sleeping in or spending an afternoon dallying on the porch. When you travel, you want to maximize your time enjoying the magic of the destination you find yourself in--getting the most out of museums, restaurants, nature walks...and so forth. Of course, the excitement of being in a new place and saturating your senses with new experiences is awesome, but sometimes what you really need out of a vacation is a little R&R. A staycation allows you to truly rest and enjoy the comfort of your own home.

I also love that it encourages you to see your city in a new light--and hopefully take some of that carefree magic into your everyday life. After my staycation, I felt more motivated to enjoy the events and places of my town on a weekly basis. So if you want to try a staycation this year--or just add a little more fun to your summer, check out my tips for a magical staycation below.

1. No schedules! While it's true you'll want to make sure you catch that museum show or work in that trip to the mountains, you want to avoid penciling in all your free time. In fact, you should start each day with no real plans, only a handful of suggestions of what you might do. I learned this from one of my favorite Audrey Hepburn movies, Roman Holiday, in which the heroine insists on no schedules while she takes a day out of her princess-ing duties to simply enjoy herself--just one of the few travel tips I've learned from Miss Hepburn.

2. Sleep in. Have a lazy breakfast. Linger over your cup of coffee. This will help you avoid the temptation to over-schedule yourself. It's also pretty delicious to sleep in on a weekday when you know the rest of the world is at work.

3. Indulge. You know if you were on vacation, you'd be having that glass of wine with lunch or that afternoon gelato...so why not do it while you're staycationing? Have your ice cream cone. Savor that decadent lunch. Splurge on that dress. Go out to your favorite restaurant dressed to the nines. Take a long nap under a shady tree.

4. Make time for the things you love--but don't always have the energy for. I personally love looking at art, going to festivals, and yes, dancing (as you well know). That said, I don't always feel like doing any of these things after a busy work week (the allure of wearing pajamas all day is just too much to resist). During my staycation, I went to a local wine festival, several dance events, and even a film screening (after a martini at my favorite bar).

5. Be a tourist in your own city--minus the fanny pack and frumpy tennis shoes. I know this might sound super obvious, but it's important to point out that a staycation is a time to see the important stuff in your city that you wouldn't otherwise check out, like that historical monument or gorgeous nature reserve--or the host of seasonal activities and events that you say you will go to each year but never do.

What do you enjoy most about staycationing?

Roasted Garlic Scapes

June 9, 2015

Imagine my delight to find garlic scapes at the f armers' market this weekend! Here I had thought that the season for these tender shoots had come and gone without me being able to feast on these perfect greens (I comforted myself with an unexpected batch of fiddlehead ferns). For those of you that don't know, scapes are the flower stalk of the garlic plant that are harvested before they flower so the plant sends its energy into developing the garlic bulb. Picked early in the season, they have a mild garlic taste with hints of earthy asparagus. Yum!

Typically, I indulge in this magical season by feasting on roasted garlic scapes. I like to roast them for a long time so that they are one part meltingly tender and another part garlic crisps. The great thing about scapes is that they don't need much to make a tasty appetizer. In fact, I only ever use olive oil and quality salt. If I feel like getting fancy, I sprinkle some of my 3 Citrus Himalayan Salt over the curled greens.

You'll notice that I didn't specify quantities here. I roast as little as a handful to a whole basketful depending on how many people I'm serving, so the recipe is pretty versatile. Just remember that the more scapes you use, the longer you want to roast them--especially if you want them slightly crispy.

Ingredients:

Garlic Scapes

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Place washed scapes on one side of a large sheet of foil and sprinkle with olive oil and salt. Fold other half of foil over the scapes and pinch the open sides closed so that you create a little pouch for the scapes to cook in. Place on a baking sheet and let roast in over for 30 minutes to an hour. Remember, the longer you cook them, the crispier they get, so cook they according to your own preference. Let cool for five minutes before plating. Enjoy!

My Summer Fun List

June 5, 2015

Summer is *finally* here (goodbye windy stormy May)! While I appreciated last month's rain, I found myself longing for sunshine and flip flops and polka dot dresses. It was hard to feel like it was officially that carefree time for teachers when I spent most of my time indoors away from the wind, hail, and thunder.

Now that the skies have cleared and the temperatures are up, it finally feels like sweet, sweet summertime! Oddly enough, this stormy May made me appreciate all the things I love about summer--and in all honesty, sometimes neglect to enjoy when I slip into my daily routine. When fall rolls around, I wistfully look back at the time I could have spent picnicking, stargazing, or generally goofing around instead of getting locked into a set schedule (that dreadful little thing!).

This year I have decided not to let that happen and this summer fun list is going to help me make sure I indulge in all the simple pleasures of the season. After all, summer, at its best, reminds us of the power of play.

So here is my list, in no particular order, and that will no doubt continue to grow:

1. Enjoy more summer cookouts. One of best things about summer is cooking outside and lingering over a refreshing drink and good conversation. Oh, and eating smores.

2. Visit the Farmers market. A lot. To feast on all those delicious local fruits and veggies!

3. Go to a baseball game. Summer isn't summer without at least one ball game.

4. Walk barefoot. Who needs shoes when the temperature is up?

5. Have more picnics. I absolutely love throwing down a blanket in the grass to enjoy a simple feast, a good book, and a sunny day.

6. Dance. Dance. Dance. Salsa dancing in my case. Summer is the perfect time to do all the things you don't always get to do when you're in the daily grind of your regular routine--like going out dancing without having to worry about being up early the next day.

7. Go swimming. There's something about diving into a pool and splashing around that makes me feel like a kid again.

8. Stargaze. New Mexico is such a perfect place to look at the stars--which, I admit, I don't do enough of--but when I do, I feel like I could drink up those stars forever.

9. Sunbathe. Right up there with stargazing, I love (safe) sun-soaking. It feels great to shed the extra layers of clothes in favor of a bathing suit and a pair of sunglasses.

10. Drink frilly cocktails. On the porch. Sprawled on the grass. In some shaded garden nook. Poolside--wherever I can! With the bounty of the season, it's fun to mix up fruit and herb concoctions to quench your thirst. Hello, gin fizz...

11. Wear fun summer dresses. So I love flouncy dresses. Like, LOVE. Especially if there are polka dots involved. This playful season allows me to get even more cheeky with my wardrobe.

12. Stay up late reading. Okay, I've been pretty good with this one already. It is such an indulgence to get lost in a good book, especially when you know you aren't ruled by the morning alarm clock.

13. Garden. Who doesn't love fresh tomatoes from her own garden?

14. Pickle everything! This is like preserving summer in a jar--and no lunch sandwich is complete without fresh pickles.

15. Watch the sunrise. Taking time in the morning to appreciate the cooler temps and watch the city slowly wake up is the ultimate luxury.

16. Watch the sun set. With a glass of wine in hand. Too often I can come home with a to-do list (yoga, clean, eat) and lose track of those moments of stillness that allow me to savor the beauty of nature.

17. Forget schedules. Lose track of time. Often.

18. Visit museums. One of my favorite things to do, when I lived in Seattle was to visit museums, particularly one summer when the city experiences a record-breaking heat wave...and I had no air-conditioning in my apartment. Yuck! So instead of drowning in my own sweat (great for hot yoga, but not so much for getting through the day), I would go to a lovely air conditioned museum, look at art, and simply be. It occurred me that I don't do that enough in Albuquerque, so now's the time to fix that.

19. Mid-week afternoon movie watching. Who doesn't love an air conditioned almost empty theater?

20. Daydream...

...the list could go on and on, but I figure if I can even tackle half of these and enjoy a popsicle or two, I've had a nice full summer.

What's on your summer fun list?

To the Everlasting Yes!

June 2, 2015

It is not the question that matters, only the answer.

The Why is full of too many uncertainties, a tangle of threads knotted into a heavy ball of your potential histories (what was, what is, what will be, and--strangest of all--what might bes, those thin strands of chance that vanish and reform with every step in a new direction). It cannot be fathomed nor untangled; to try to separate one cord from the rest is to further knot yourself up.

And that is the reason it is not the Everlasting Why that matters, only the answer: Yes!

Let go of holding those threads so tightly and let them find their way around one another until they are not a snarl of string but a rich tapestry of the adventures you take on.

Yes, it is the Yes.

There is the thread that gives you life. You don't even need to understand, only feel it in the dreams carved into your bones. To taste it in the first strawberries from your garden or the spinach leaves with the tang of minerals from your lettuce patch. To see it in the way the robin gathers dry grass for its nest or in the industry of bees sucking down pollen from your fat hollyhocks; in the way it rains when only sunshine is promised, feeding the earth and allowing your seeds to drink up the evening's sweetness.

This is your Yes, that heady tingle of something just beyond your sight that permeates your worldly experience, filling it with light and the warming caress of an afternoon breeze. Here in the stillness is your answer. It clears away the dust and doubt, the painfully literal that, like a bookmark, attempts to pin down your story to one set page when it is an ever-evolving tapestry threading each day with new experiences.

It is tempting even to call this Yes transitory (more of that dust and doubt), but it is ever constant in the way it fills you up with breath and possibility--why not make your Yes the stuff of your everyday? Why not fill your heart with it until there is room for more Yes and more Yes and more Yes.

It is not about the Why, only the Everlasting Yes. The Yes. The Yes. The Yes.

You must only feel the Yes.

To Be Still

May 22, 2015

Still.

That terrifying word that asks for nothing--and everything. The fearful call it static; the receptive, moving within. You must pull back from the noise and the commitments, taking care to bring each strand, those silken threads that connect you to things outside yourself, back into you, like a stray hair that you tuck once again behind your ear or coil around your bun.

Find your footing, the stillness says. Feel the way the ground presses against the pads of your feet as if hugging them. Let go of the need to run, the ragged motion keeping your soles from this earth. Here, that is where you will find your center. Not out there, here, with blades of grass slipping between your toes, the scent of rain in the air.

Become comfortable with the space you have created for silence (that most elusive of creatures, hardest of all to find and keep); relish the rich fullness that emerges in the absence of white noise, the whispers you can hear when you tune out the empty chatter.

To be still. Now that is a worthy dance.

The Story Eater

May 19, 2015

That is all you want to do lately: gobble them up, each story as they unfold, slurping up sentences like a strand of spaghetti, feel the tang of so many words sharp and full on your tongue.

Some you want to savor as you would an artichoke, tearing off each page and running your teeth along its fleshy insides until you reach the heart of the story, one part thorns, the other ripe flesh. It is the process of tasting your way through its earthy labyrinth as much as it is finding the tender center that fills your soul. Others you would nibble at, like a wedge of fine cheese or a square of dark chocolate, loath to rush through the velvety decadence--and some you have no patience for, tossing their thick words and empty plots aside like so much wilted lettuce for the compost, nourishing (you know not how, only that all composted things must) your future words if not yourself.

Then there are the ones you must devour in one sitting--those ripe peaches whose early blush make you unable to suffer through the tender courtship of each chapter parceled out over a series of days that they might require to fully digest. These you must bite into and greedily consume their fruit, thinking only after, when you are left with a listless paperback, that you should have taken your time, knowing full well you couldn't--only it would be something to read this part or that again with virgin eyes.

Still others you turn to time and again, the familiar comfort of a well-trod plot as with the perfume of crushed garlic and rosemary staining your hands, the sharp scent of things simmering on your stove, an invisible ink absorbed from the pages of those stories, to flow from your own pen.

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational collection of musings touching on life’s simple pleasures, everyday enchantments, and delectable recipes that will guarantee to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe here.

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Easy Coconut Body Butter

April 29, 2015

One ingredient. Under ten minutes to make. Silky soft skin as a result. Need I say more? I stumbled across this body butter recipe from Living the Nourished Life on Pinterest and immediately had to try it. You know I love making my own body butters already because they are much more nourishing for your skin than traditional lotions (even organic ones that like to sneak in preservatives). Plus, they feel positively luxurious!

As easy as my body butter recipes are, I don't always have the energy to wait for beeswax to melt and then whip up my oils and other ingredients--especially this time of year when I am in an end-of-term-grading crunch. And as much as I look forward to my rich mojito body butter after a day in the sun, I find myself needing a lighter day-to-day moisturizer now that it is warmer out. Enter this decadent and easy to make coconut body butter.

You simply whip up solid coconut oil until it is nice and frothy like whipped cream; this ensures that when you slather the butter on your body, it quickly absorbs into your skin, rather than leaving an oily residue. You can add essential oils to it, but I find I like to preserve the gentle perfume of coconuts--feels so summery and festive!

Ingredients:

1 cup organic coconut oil

Place solid coconut oil in mixing bowl--don't melt the oil or it will not whip. Using a handheld mixer, whip coconut oil for 6-8 minutes, or until oil is frothy like whipped cream. Transfer to a small mason jar or other airtight container and store indefinitely in a cool, dry place. To use, simply apply to skin post-bath in small amounts. Makes about 1 1/2 cup. Enjoy!

On Living Your Creed

April 24, 2015

It is not always enough to believe--you must live it every day.

You must find your home in its embrace; however strange it may seem to others, however difficult it may be, you must turn away from other outstretched arms, seductive folds that would gather you into the temporary ease of all-inclusiveness. Yes, this collective energy can momentarily assuage the wear and tear of walking your own path but ultimately stifles you with the price you must pay for this comfort: silence. Only your voice, that seed of sound and breath, the song of who you are, the breeze that allows your wings to unfurl.

But you cannot turn your back on your creed. The one made up of lessons learned the hard way and a future paved by dreams and flashes of inspiration and--sometimes--past lives, those tatters of ghostly tendrils that snake their way through the cracks in the earth beneath your feet. It is yours and yours alone.

If you know each seed you plant will blossom, you must sow wisely. If you know each thought is a thread coloring the tapestry of your life, you must think carefully. If you know that your lungs need fresh air and open space to fill them up, you must find a land without fences in which to breathe deeply. If you know that only you can create your future, you must wake every morning to pave the next row of stones that carve out your path. If you know your life is made up of conversations with the universe, you must speak with the cosmos often, shout out to it, sing to it, and listen to its response even if no one else can understand or hear the exchange. They see only dust, where you see stars.

On Mid-Week Gardening

April 21, 2015

You are able to sneak away for a little bit--just a handful of minutes really--to tend your garden. You tune out everything except the hum of bees and the crackle of things growing. You smell nothing but damp earth and rosemary; feel thick roots twine themselves around your fingers and tender radish leaves kiss your wrists.

You know there are stacks of papers waiting for you on your writing desk along with a fresh pot of tea. But for now, you take a moment to be still, to tune into the thoughts and feelings that have been pushed to the bottom of your spine as you go about your work day. You release each lesser one as you would the weeds you pluck from your garden so that your tomatoes, as with your joy, may be plentiful. And you keep the good ones, planting them alongside your strawberries so they may grow as ripe and lush as those ruby berries.

With your bare feet on the earth, you feel the soul in your soles connecting you to that vast web of roots and minerals, leaves and petals and--soon--fruit. When your hands are blackened by dirt and your shirt splattered with water, you no longer feel the tendril of tiredness in your bones; and though you know you must clean yourself up before returning to your work, you allow your hair to be messy and loose around you, a half-curled nest like the spring onions you tended only moments ago, a reminder that you are earth and roots as much as words and tea.

3 Ways to Use Baking Soda and Vinegar to Clean Your Home

April 17, 2015

In my last post, I gave you a recipe for an all-purpose cleaner to show just how simple and affordable it can be to green your home care routine. Today I'm going to add to this by showing you how you can use baking soda--that miracle pantry staple--and vinegar to take care of some of your bigger your cleaning needs. Like my all-purpose cleaner that only used vinegar and essential oils, these easy recipes only cost you a fraction of what an organic cleaning product would and yet are as gentle on your home as they are on the earth. In fact, using baking soda and vinegar to clean your home is even less expensive than buying those chemical laden commercial products!

1. For Your Toilet: Pour 1 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup baking soda into the bowl. Scrub thoroughly and let sit for 20 minutes.

2. For the Bathtub, Kitchen Sink, or Other Tough to Clean Surface: 1/4 cup baking soda and about 1/8 cup water (enough to make a thin paste). Combine ingredients until they form a thin paste and spread across desired surface. Scrub until surface is clean and rinse off baking soda with warm water. The baking soda will not only remove soap scum and other substances but also deodorize and disinfect.

3. For a Clogged Drain: Pour 1/2 cup baking soda down the drain and 1 cup vinegar. Cover drain so that the foaming action of the two ingredients stays in the pipes. Let sit for half an hour then pour hot water down the drain. This will clean out regular build up.

These are just a few ways to use such simple products on those hard-to-tackle places in our home that often need more elbow grease to get sparkly clean. You can also use vinegar to deodorize your refrigerator (simply put an open cup of vinegar in your fridge for two days to absorb odors); placing an open box of baking soda near your trashcan will likewise get rid of any funky smells. Between my all-purpose cleaner and these recipes, you can safely and cost-effectively clean your home!

All-Purpose Cleaning Spray

April 15, 2015

With Earth Day around the corner, I find myself thinking of all the super easy ways we can be eco-friendlier in our day to day routine, especially when it comes to cleaning our homes. We often think that if we want to green our cleaning routines that we need to shell out a fortune on organic cleansers and other goods. In reality, we can be good to our environment and our wallet by going back to basics.

This all-purpose cleaner does just that, using the anti-bacterial properties of vinegar to clean your home--a recipe I learned from my mom. It can be used on everything from windows and bathroom sinks to the kitchen counter and floors. I like to throw in essential oils into this mix, usually peppermint or lavender to soften the smell of vinegar. What you're left with is a nice smelling all natural antibacterial cleaner that costs you under $1 a bottle.

Ingredients:

1 cup vinegar

1 cup water

30 drops essential oil (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a spray bottle and shake until combined. Enjoy!

5 Cocktails to Cure Spring Fever

April 10, 2015

If you're anything like me and my fellow teachers (and our students!), you're feeling a little spring fever creeping into your day to day. It's so lovely outside--something the tall glittery-green aspen trees outside the floor-to-ceiling windows in one of my classrooms remind me. Then there is the sunlight, that ephemeral gentle kiss of golden splendor that just begs for you to pause a moment under its touch. Who needs to grade papers when your garden is calling to you? (Answer: me, but if I get my papers done soon enough, I can ease the throbbing in my green thumb.) Can't those lesson plans wait in lieu of frolicking outside? (Answer: no, class is in twenty minutes.)

Fortunately, there is an antidote to the spring fever that clouds your brain with carefree longings in the midst of the end-of-semester grind--several in fact. And yes, they come in the form of cocktails, those perfectly crafted restorative liquors that were once, in truth, used for healing minor ailments from ill-humor to stomach aches. So why not use them to cure a little spring fever? These cocktails whipped up in my own kitchen are for anyone who needs a little fun after the work-week, not just teachers.

The prescription is easy: Take one of the below cocktails and mix with a cloudless evening, great company, and good conversation. Also pairs well with a well-groomed backyard or garden nook. Repeat as necessary. Caution: Extreme relaxation and enjoyment may occur.

1. 3 Citrus-Ginger Gin Fizz

2. Spritz Cocktail

3. Coconut Water-Kiwi-Lime Cocktail

4. Lavender Gimlet

5. Grape & Lime Gin Tonic

Gardening, I Love You

April 8, 2015

This post is a day late, in part because I got carried away in my patio garden yesterday--watering thirsty plants, trimming dead leaves, watching those little radish sprouts grow, and clipping fresh herbs for my dinner. I couldn't help it. I was seduced outdoors by the intoxicating fresh air, redolent with the perfume of blooming lilacs and greening grass; by the way the sunlight seemed to pull my beets upward until their leaves doubled in size under its loving gaze; and in the way my breathing just seemed to slow down when I took a moment to brush my hands against the dirt near my strawberries and onions.

Such is the glory of gardening. It grounds you. It connects you to this world, this earth. It sweeps away the cobwebs of the day and reminds you that there is blood pumping in your veins. It is all the possibilities you plant in your life made tangible, even as the more ephemeral seeds--hopes and dreams--take a little more time to manifest.

In honor of these glorious feelings, and the necessity abandoning the writing desk for time in the garden, I leave you with three posts on the delicious, delicious pleasures and revelations found among plants:

1. On Grounding and Gardening

2. On Watching Your Garden Grow

3. On Tasting the First Tomato from Your Garden

On Celebrating Spring

April 3, 2015

The romantic in you wants to wear flowers in her hair and walk barefoot through the newly greening grass; the lover of fine clothes is eager to don her first flouncy pastel dress of the season, and the earth woman wants nothing more than to plant the seeds heavy in her open hands.

But it's more than that. You want to celebrate the seeds you've sown in the past year and the ones you hope to plant now. They are promises, these pods cradled in the palm of your hand, of a prolific year, an abundance of whatever you choose to give to the soil. You are intoxicated by this delicious itch to create new life, bringing dreams into your waking life.

Soon you will reap your first crop of radishes--full of earth and pepper--and those little tender lettuce leaves, the product of your love and care. But what about your other seeds? The wish floating on the cottony dandelion wisp? Or the fertile black disks of a hollyhock, shameless in their pursuit of life? What of the hollow bulb empty of everything save for a few fragments of a past life?

You must be careful which seeds you choose to plant for now, under the light of the blood moon or the gaze of the spring sun; whatever you plant will surely take and grow strong in this receptive soil. The seeds weigh down your palm--the dandelion heaviest of all. You do not need more ghosts haunting your waking life, no memories of what was walking by your side. You crumble the all-but-dead bulb, consigning it to the compost where its remnants will feed your garden. You take that thick hollyhock seed and shove it deep into the earth, knowing it will reach to the sky and bring her sisters with it.

Lastly, you take that dandelion wisp, full of your own wishing, and cast it into the sky. Let it find its own resting ground, its own soil to make its home and grow full and strong in its own time. It will find its way back to you, as all wishes do when you are ready for it.