Clean Start***** (book)

WATERY BLUE EYES CUT OUT OF CLOUDY MASK, the Sky watched me drive home today.

TODAY I looked up. A plane ascended, a bird descended; both beautiful. Patches of pale blue sky, dark brooding clouds; both beautiful. Bright streaks of sunlight, dark shadows huddling; both beautiful.

What contrasts did you see today, accepting them all?

INSPIRATION. I planted some cuttings of Golden Pathos and Spider Plant at the base of my office "tree." You may think it silly since I won't be there much longer, but to me it symbolizes life and growth.

CLEAN START. My fav cookbook right now is Clean Start--Inspiring You to Eat Clean and Live Well With 100 New Clean Food Recipes by Terry Walters.

She promotes a healthy, sustainable approach to eating clean and living well. None of that dry, tasteless food, but rather yummy, locally grown, seasonal food that's fresh and bursting with flavor.

Last night was a soup and salad night at my house. I made Kale, Sweet Potato & White Bean Soup****. Bachan said "wonufall". It is now her favorite soup. This is a great choice when you when you want a quick meal packed with flavor. The ginger and mirin give it subtle Asian undertones. I loved the Watercress & Fennel Salad with Blood Orange and Thyme Vinaigrette.**** Deep red, dripping-juice orange slices against the bright peppery flavor of watercress. Heaven! I know Spring is here 'cause I'm craving greens.

If eating clean and living well sounds good to you, go to Amazon.com and buy this book for yourself.

For mor info about Terry, see TerryWalters.net.

May vibrant energy surround you,


Catherine

Neto's Market & Grill

TELEVISED ABRAHAM-HICKS WORKSHOP THIS SATURDAY. O, I'm so excited! I got an email saying we might be able to participate in the televised version of the Abraham-Hicks workshop happening in San Diego this Saturday, March 5, 9:30 am - 4:00 pm. They'll send more dets later.

I'm really loving the immense power of the messages coming out of the latest workshops.

If you're interested in participating, be sure to sign up for their email at Abraham-Hicks.com > Next Steps > Sign up for E-NEWS > enter your info > Submit. 

NETO'S MARKET & GRILL.  Bill introduced us to Neto's last week, a third-generation family-owned restaurant that makes its own sausage.

Not just any sausage:  home-made, hand-made sausage:  Linguica, Italian, Andouille, Calabrese (spicy Italian) and more.

I had the Linguica Sausage Burger. Mmmm! Moist, with just the right spices in patty form (no fussing and fighting with the casing) with a wonderfully soft, fresh bun.

This is a popular place with loyal fans, each insisting their favorite is the best.  Bill's is the Linguica Sausage Burger, the guy ahead of me insisted the Calabrese is the one to get.

They offer:
--  Andouille, a French Cajun smoked sausage.
--  Brazilian Smoked Calbreza
--  Country Sausage
--  Herb-N-Onion Sausage
--  Italian, Italian with herbs, Italian with herbs & cheese, Italian holiday sausauge
--  Italian Cabrese
--  Linguica
--  Mexican Chorizo
--  Morcelas, a traditional Portuguese blood sausage
--  Polish Kielbasa
--  Pork links, pork links with apple cinnamon
--  Spanish-style Basque Chorizo
--  German sausage
--  Smoked chicken sausage

With so many choices, I'll have to go back and try them all.

And not to worry. There's something for everyone:  steak sandwiches, marinated chicken, veggie burgers, etc.

And they're not limited to just sammies. They've got apps (Calamari Fritti, Cheesy Chorizo Bread--I gotta try some of that), soups, salads, entrees (Eggplant Parm, Grilled Salmon), seafood (Cioppino), pasta & generous dinners.

You could also order the Three Stooges (beef, turkey & salami), Eddie Spaghetti (roast beef, turkey, cheddar cheese & secret sauce), and Hot Damn (Calbrese Sausage with jalapenos & pepper Jack cheese). With names like these, you know this is a fun place!

This is no ordinary sausage shack. They've been featured on the Food Network & use no MSG or glutens.

With a full bar, big-screen TV, it's a great place to meet fam and friends. They even have live music on the weekends.

Their deli carries sausage and gourmet foods from Portugal, Brazil, Spain & Italy.

You'll find them at 1313 Franklin Street, Santa Clara, CA 95050, 1-888-482-NETO, NetosMarketAndGrill.com for more info.

For great sausage in a warm & wonderful environment, you gotta go to Neto's.

May yummy food surround you,


Catherine

Everything In Its Perfect Time

INSPIRATION. Daily Quote from Abraham (see Abraham-Hicks.com > subscribe to daily quotes).  Some things you're not letting happen right now because the timing isn't perfect for you. Some you're not letting happen because you are very aware of where you are. But all things, as they are happening, are happening in perfect order. And if you will relax and begin saying, "Everything in its perfect time. Everything is unfolding. And I'm enjoying where I am now, in relationship to where I'm going. Content where I am, and eager for more," that is the perfect vibrational stance.
--- Abraham

Ooooo! This is my favorite Abe quote right now. "Everything in its perfect time..." Isn't it perfect? I want to remember it. I've put it in the signature block of my work emails, I'll put it on my calendar as a reminder, I'll repeat it on the way to work...

TODAY, Sunny organized a lunch at Emperor of India on Cottle Road for some of us to get together to say goodbye. It was so nice to spend a few minutes with friends, catching up on what they're doing. Are you staying? What are your plans?

Seems everyone I talked to had a job lined up, at least for a while.

That made me happy.

I love hearing about good things happening to good people.

My heart can rest a bit easier today knowing my friends are cared for.

OBSERVATION. I hit the snooze button several times this morning. It's not like I'm late to work because I get up extra early, but I was thinking. Hmm. If I was going to my dream job at my dream company, I wouldn't be hitting that snooze button...over and over again. I'd jump up, all excited about the new day, eager to get to work so I could dive into a fun project.

I know most people think "seeing is believing," but that only works if you want to continue whatever is going on in your life right now.

If you want to experience something more wonderful, then believing is seeing.

You need to believe and pretend and imagine and, most importantly, feel, what you want.

So from now on, when my morning alarm goes off, I'm going to pretend it's time for me to jump up and go to my dream job...with excitement in my heart and a smile on my face.

I feel more energized already!

What do you want to pretend?

May energy surround you,


Catherine

The Bright Side Project*****

TODAY I breathe in Spring. Pulling down on the window shade, feeling it resist, then loosening my grip so it pulls up tightly into a roll, it reveals my morning view. Sliding open the window, I breathe in a new day:  spicy pine tree leaning against the fence, dark mysterious richness of the wet garden below, ephemeral sweetness of flowers born on the breeze.

What scents remind you of the sweetness of Spring?

TIRED OF HEARING NOTHING BUT BAD NEWS? Well, you're not alone. A year or so ago, two New York friends decided to bring a little sunshine into a world of dreary predictions and a weakening economy. On that day (yay for us!), TheBrightSideProject.com was born.

How do they brighten the world, you ask? By giving away goodies every single day. They did this for months on end; now giving away something every week.

And not just anything. Good things. Wonderful things. Beautiful things. All contributed by trendy artists, up-and-coming designers, good companies. Yep. The good stuff.

But wait! It's not exactly free. You have to answer a question and if the contributer picks yours as the best answe, then you get your goodies.

These girls (Miss B & Miss Lindsey) are so chatty & up beat. I just love them.

I mean, look at their website:

Oh. Their mission is a little hard to read so I'll type it out for you:  "The Bright Side Project is here to bring you sunshine everyday with themed giveaways and witty repertoire. We hope to inspire you to stop for a second and remember life is (still) beautiful out there."

How can you not love them?

Even if you don't win, you'll still be happy because now you know where to get some beautiful, unusual products direct from the artist/designer/business like these:


Cake bunting from Kiki La Ru (see http://www.etsy.com/shop/KikiLaRu). Who knew cake could have bunting? Genius!

Pastel spatulas and cupcake apron from Ruby Sparkles (http://rubysparkles.com/):

LOVE THEM and you will too. Stop by and see them at TheBrightSideProject.com

May sunshine surround you,


Catherine

The Sentry--A Joe Pike Novel****

INSPIRATION. To ingrain yesterday's message of the Great White Egret, I repeated "the pace is perfect" as I drove to work today. Slowly...steadily...to the beat of its wings.

OBSERVATION. Yesterday, I was happy when I woke up singing Skippity Doo Dah. I was happy as I drove to working singing Skippity Doo Dah. I was happy as I walked down the hall toward my office humming Skippity Doo Dah. Then I saw Ben and asked him how he was.

BEN:  I'm very busy.

ME:  Oh, busy is good.

BEN:  Not this kind of busy. I'm shipping machines to China.

ME:  Oh.

By the time Bill stopped by my office to say good morning, I was very subdued and felt a little sad.

Gosh, darn it! It took me about half an hour to figure out I must have picked up Ben's energy.

I really gotta figure out how to stop doing that!

Well, the good thing is that I'm getting faster at noticing it's not "me."

REALIZATION. Shawnda has moved to a new job in a new area. I bequeathed her my Train-the-Trainer course materials and party decorations. As I was pulling things out of drawers and cabinets and putting them into bags and boxes, it felt good.

Really.

Like the feeling you get when you're going through the stuff you have in the house you've lived in for 30 years before moving into your brand-new house.

It felt like freedom...letting go of the dusty and old.

FOR THE LAST YEAR OR SO, I HAVE BEEN EXTRA CAREFUL TO READ MORE POSITIVE books and less negative books.

But I am crazy for Crais.

Maybe it's his characters. So real you'd recognize them on the street. Joe Pike, ever in sunglasses, red arrow tats on his arms, a man of much action and few words. His best pal, wise-cracking Elvis Cole (with a name like Elvis, you better be funny).

Maybe it's his writing. Clear. Colorful. Real. Set in Los Angeles around people and places we know.

Maybe it's the story. Funny. Fast-paced. Powerful.

In this latest book, Joe stops at a gas station and then notices two guys walking into a sandwich shop. He follows them and it's downhill from there. A woman. Lies. Big money.

I adore Crais and I have a secret crush on Pike so I would love to give the book five stars. But I deduct 1 star for the too graphic first chapter (it's almost like someone told Crais he had to have an evil, gorey opening because it's the lastest thing to do) and because I just don't get Pike's attraction to Dru.

Despite this one's flaws, I will read every book Crais writes.

Always entertaining and good for a few laughs.

May good books surround you,


Catherine

Message of a Great White Egret

INSPIRATION. ABRAHAM-HICKS DAILY QUOTE (to sign up for the daily quote, go to Abraham-Hicks.com > subscribe to daily quotes):  "Your happiness is the most significant contribution that you could make. In your reaching for happiness, you are opening a vortex which makes you an avenue for the Well-being to flow through you. And anything that is your object of attention under those conditions, benefits by the infusion of your Well-being."  --- Abraham

I love this quote. It's another reason to be happy happy happy!

REALIZATION.  Ow! I woke up with severe neck pain on Saturday. I decided to take it easy since my appointment with Dr. Julia Lewis, the most amazing chiropractor on the planet, wasn't until Tuesday. I guessed the pain probably had something to do with more people getting laid off at work. 

Since I wouldn't see Julia for several days, I decided to play around with the Braco energy. Many people have had amazing healings just listening to his voice so I listened to that section on "The Golden Bridge" DVD. I listened to it two times just for good measure, asked for relief, touched my sun symbol necklace and tucked his book under my pillow. Amazing! I woke up Sunday feeling much betta!

I did see Julia today and she worked on my neck...said it had to do with emotion related to people at work.

OBSERVATION. I drove by the company I intend to work at (grin). As I headed back, a Great White Egret flew in an open field, parallel to my car, perfectly framed in my passenger window. I know it's not possible, but I seemed to hear each powerful downstroke of its wings. Wumpf...wumpf...wumpf. Somehow matching the beat of my heart. Slow. Steady.

I realized the egret beats its wings at the same speed, always. It never flaps furiously like a sparrow. It never hurries.

Just like time...and life.

It is never late.

The pace is perfect.

I want to remember this moment.

What do you want to remember?

May wonder surround you,


Catherine

Baby Diaper "Cake"

INSPIRATION. Alexis' friend, Terra, had a baby shower today so we made a baby diaper "cake". We rolled up a bunch of  baby diapers and secured them with rubber bands...made three layers...and decorated it with bibs, a bottle, booties, bankies, and wash cloths...and finished it with ribbons, baby blocks and bows.

So pretty!

The last one we made was for a girl so it was fun making a blue one for a boy this time.

It's our favorite baby gift these days.

What do you love giving the mother-to-be?

May babies surround you,

Catherine