Calling All Ghouls & Boogie Monsters..

Saturday, Oct 26

12-4PM

Come Join Us For A Halloween Craft-A-Bration

Art in a Box Company

31 Main Street @ One Station Plaza

Ossining, New York

Happy New Year!

"Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go. "-Brooks Atkinson

Ringing In 2013

With this being the last week of 2012 I have taken the time to reflect on this past year.

I spent much of 2012 learning alot about my family, friends and acquaintances, co-workers and more importantly my self. I now understand where the key players in my life stand and what I can and can not expect from them. 

And in turn I have learned, and am still learning, how to define what they should and shouldn't expect from me. I hope to take those lessons into 2013 so that I can continue to live a life that provides the things I need to feel supported and happy.

Like many I make a New Year Resolution List. It isn't written in stone but I do use it as a guide to move toward larger life goals I continually set. The list is a living list. I schedule monthly appointments throughout the year to check in, check off, move around and edit. Those check-ins generate weekly to-do lists that I tried to edit on a daily basis.

Did I accomplish everything on the list?
No, but I am pleasantly surprised to see many things manifested and more importantly many things that I thought I needed to experience, own or do eliminated themselves as the year evolved leaving the core definition of my interests and needs. In the end I did what I needed to do and now I am lucky eough to have 2013 to look forward to. I am, as always, grateful.

So what is it that you want to do in 2013?
What did you do in 2012 that you are proud of and want to continue into the new year?
Have you made your 2013 Gratitude Jar yet?
How will you be ringing in the possibilities of the New Year?

 

 I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. 

                                                                                       ~Charles Dickens

All Images © Simone Rene 2012

Ramadan Mubarak to friends and family that celebrate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan

Laissez le Bon temp rouler!

(Let The Good Times Roll!)

Happy Mardi Gras!

Happy Valentine's Day

Saturday, February 5

It's National Nutella Day!!

click on title to join the celebration!

Remembering...

Martin Luther King, Jr. on his birthday

(January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)

Thank You

(click on title to hear the speech that moved/changed us all)

Happy New Year

Happy 2011 Good Readers.

I hope this entry finds you all in good cheer and good spirit.

There was a time when I stressed the end of a year and the celebrations that surrounded it. Panic always set in after the candy cane dust of Christmas settled and the last week in December arrived. This last week of the dying year reminded that I had left much of the previous year's resolution undone.  Instead of seeing the week between winter celebrations and the new calendar year as a quiet time to reassess and reaffirm my direction and intent I saw it as a reminder of opportunities and time wasted and as an exercise of transferring many of my goals and resolutions from one year’s list to the next year's list. Somewhere along the way that changed. 

I no longer stress the New Years Eve celebrations. Give me some family, a few close friends, good food and wine and a warm room and I am happy to welcome in another year. In the end I think that all the parties, pretty dresses and dancing until dawn were a search for what had always been with me - the love of those I cherish and the reassurance that they had the same desire to move forward with me in their company and them in mine.

I no longer see reviewing the to-do lists of the year gone by as a reminder of what I have yet to achieve. It is because of these yearly assessments that I have come to know myself in ways I am extremely grateful for. And it is that gratitude that allows my ego to accept that many of my goals are long term and without true time constraints and that many of my achievements are small incremental steps towards those full life goals. And even when I decide to let go of a specific intent I am not lost because the yearly review has allowed me to see the me, myself and I while still maintaining a view of a journey that far out sizes the scope of my expectations. Because I have been given this gift in the end I understand and accept that regardless of what goals I set or what resolutions I fail to achieve I am as I need to be in this here and now. 

Here's to a New Year of opportunity and knowing that despite a list of resolutions and goals that you are perfect as you are!

Welcome 2011!

Ring In The New Year with

100s of Brooklynites  as they gather in

Prospect Park

for

Entertainment, Refreshments and Fireworks

on

Friday, December 31, Midnight

The celebrations start around 11 p.m

click on title for more details

New Years Eve Plans?

click on title for details

Happy Boxing Day

The food is stored for left over enjoyment, the wrapping paper placed in the recycling bin, the gifts are lined up neatly and exposed under the still sweet smelling tree and the laughter of family and friends is now a memory to be mulled over on the Christmas Eves to come and most of us are now wondering what to do on New Year's Eve but for many around the world today is Boxing Day. 

Boxing Day is a day set aside for local donation and sharing. Unless you're located near the Canadian border or of British descent most Americans don't celebrate this holiday, but it's a tradition I think many of us should begin to adopt. 

Many of us believe we have less than most would want or need yet if we stopped and took inventory of all the things we have that we don't eat or use we would realize that we have more to share, pass along and give than we would have ever suspected. Many of us, including myself can become so distracted by opportunity and option we often forgot how a simple meal, a warm garment regardless of fashion or the promise of even $1 can help someone along the way. If we truly took a moment to consider what little it takes to comfort and support those whose lives are still, by choice or circumstance, a matter of survival, we might understand how we are all connected and how that connection sustains us on levels over and above the satisfaction of acquiring and experiencing the material. And in that realization we may each find the bit of happiness we keep seeking in those things we consume.

Click on title to find a New York food bank near you and remember that the New York Coat Drive runs until December 31st. Or ask your local place of worship if they are collecting donations for a worthy cause and remember "T'is the Season"....

Merry Christmas...

click on title

Favorite Christmas Song..

click on title

Merry Merry Christmas

For the past few weeks I have been playing reindeer games.

I have decorated, shopped and wrapped, baked and planned.

The only thing left is to clean house and prepare the Christmas Eve meal.

Christmas Eve is my favorite night of the season.

As the winter evening wanes on  a stillness and quiet peace seems to hover.

And I can't help but stop and look around at those gathered

It is in that moment I know

I am wealthy beyond measure and grateful beyond words

And I feel a love and gratitude so large time seems to stop.

Wishing You & Yours Joy & Peace In This Holiday Season

Christmas Thought...

(Tree 2010)

Most of us have a fondness for the winter holidays. For some of us it is a time to share the warmth of our homes and love with family and friends. For others it is a time to wind down the year and reflect upon years past while we plan for the year to come. Many of us can get sidetracked by all the glamour and glitz of the Christmas season and become lost in the tinsel and tree, the wrapping paper, the candles, the cookies and music and because of this can be seen as "typical" holiday revelers. We fall into our traditions and roll around in our past. It keeps us and those we love warm during the winter months ;)

One of the gifts I believe we each need to give ourselves this time of year is the gift of time and silence. Each day we should take a bit of time to sit quietly with ourselves and our thoughts and let go, breathe, allow our truths to come in and meet us. In the moments when we allow our inner voices to be heard we can set aside what we have come to believe this time of year should be and discover what the season truly means to us. In that time there is no need to judge, instead briefly hold each thought and let go knowing we cannot change what has happened, we can only greet what is to come.

How you spend your holidays should be a reflection of who you are but should never trap you into that definition. Taking the time to hear yourself above the noise of the season helps you to just be in the season and is one of the best gifts you can give and receive. 

Happy Holidays!

Hanukkah Explained...

click on title for video

Happy Hanukkah!!

Potatoes - check!
Onions - check!

Salt - check!

Flour - check!

Grater..errr..Food Processor -  check!

Frying Pan - check!

Veggie Oil - check!

Link to the New York Time's Hanukkah Recipes - click on title!

Happy Thanksgiving

Remember to Share What You Have

Give What You Can

And Be Grateful For It All!