There is something about Rose Champagne that makes me unconditionally happy. How can something bubbly and pink not make you smile? It is one of those wines that is both incredibly versatile, highly food-friendly and wildly unappreciated….the perfect choice for a romantic dinner, a girl’s night out or as I recently discovered perfect for drinking in bed in my pajamas while watching the Oscars and eating pizza. The Rose in question was a very special bottle of 2007 Domaine Andre Beaufort Rose. This small, biodynamic producer is completely commited to doing things as naturally as possible and it shows in the pure, ethereal, complex and lovely wine. (more…)
What makes the perfect meal? Like a good story it has to have a tantalizing beginning, a delicous middle and a satisfying end. It has to remind you in a sweetly notalgic way about meals you have had in the past. At the same time, it has to feel like a unique moment in time, never to be exactly replicated. It definitely can’t be too fussy or contrived. The perfect meal is never made up of teeny-tiny stacks of food or topped with foam (sorry to all of the molecular gastronomes out there!) It should be made of simple, yet extremely high quality, ingredients that are prepared with love and experience. The ‘classics’ are often the best. There must, most definitely, be plenty of good wine and good bread on the table. Most importantly, it can never be enjoyed alone. The conversation should flow and there has to be space for comfortable silences so that you can enjoy each bite. And of course, absolutely, under no circumstances, should there be appointments or rushing off anywhere after the meal…nothing more taxing than a long walk followed by an even longer nap! (more…)
Often our job on the yoga mat is to not get in our own way too much. We come to our mats loaded up with expectations of what our bodies should look like, what our practices should be like and how strong and flexible we should be. We look over at the person next to us and imagine that they must not feel the same way. The truth is that everyone feels this way at times on the mat, myself included. When we start to get out of our own way and just let our practice unfold, we realize that our bodies are just fine as they are and that our practice doesn’t need to look or feel any particular way. When we get rid of the ’shoulds’, we realize that there is no perfect. There is only were we are at in that particular moment. We already have all of the strength, flexibility and grace that we need inside of ourselves.
“The mysticism of yoga is this….that we can step up to our mat, and our life, without expectations of how things will turn out and with that finally begin to experience ourselves as we truly are. Light, spontaneous, resilient and strong.: -Doug Keller
