i he(art) seattle

I’ve started 2011 off with a boom… diving straight into a daily morning prayer and mediation practice, eating more fish and greens and no red meat, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and also enrolling in many different types of learning programs. These programs have been both online and off, in the creative realm and in business. I am soo super excited about where I am right now in 2011! And am ready for the world…. I guess you can say I am FEARLESS!

I’m just getting back for a weekend in Shelton Washington. A dear friend and I went up to stay with our mentor‘s mentor or our “grand-mentor”, as my friend would say, Dr. M. Her place is a wonderful, artsy, quiet, cozy lakeside home… it is so peaceful there. I relaxed in her sauna, got threw session 1 and 2 of Inner Mean Girl (IMG) reform school, listened to some India Arie, ate some yummy lentil soup and sweet cornbread, and gained wisdom from our 82 year young grand-mentor.

Each morning, right before sunrise, I headed outside to the water for my prayer and mediation. It was beautiful! I love the pre-dawn air.

Saturday…

Sunday…

I had a blast in Chi-town with my BFF for my birthday vacation. We ate some delicious food at places like Earwax (very vegan friendly) to Hot Chocolate (best desserts ever!), we hung out and vintage clothing shopped in Bucktown / Ukraine Village, and we spent a full day in downtown Chicago and at Millennium Park.

If you are visiting Chicago, here are some things I highly recommend:

• Visit the Millennium Park – you can spend a whole day here… and it’s free
• Check out “The Bean”, officially known as Cloud Gate, it’s pretty amazing once you get right underneath. Very kaleidoscope like, great place for some fun pics.
• Don’t miss the photo opp right near Michigan Avenue and Washington Street
• Cool off at the Crown Fountain which consists of two 50-foot glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. The towers project video which all periodically open their mouths to allow water, a symbol of life, to flow out…
• Shop in Bucktown / Wicker Park! Milwaukee Ave has a plethora of vintage shops – Red Light, Crossroads, Buffalo Exchange, and Vintage Underground – just to name a few. Bucktown was awesome!
• Have dessert at Mindy’s Hot Chocolate – in Wicker Park on Damen Ave. A marriage of contemporary food and desserts inspired by seasonal, local ingredients. Did I meant chocolate & dessert?! YUM!
• Have breakfast at The Bongo Room – also in Wicker Park. I had the lemon ricotta and blueberry pancakes with brown sugar butter. I also wanted a bite from a few patron’s tables… Very yummy and great service!
• Go to the Navy Pier! So much to do, we didn’t have time to hang there but many beach volleyball, lay out in the sun by the water, ride a bike around the pier, even rent a Segway!

Ok, that’s a short list… hope to add to it

We also spent Sunday racing – the Muddy Buddy was a great experience and I really am looking forward to doing more in the future. Chicago is my kind of town!

This year, for my birthday (which is tomorrow July 29th – by the way), I will be traveling to Chicago, IL with my BFF, Nik. We love Chi-town haven’t been in years but our last trip there was fantastic! We hung out at the Navy Pier, stayed at a cool and crazy hostel, shopped the Magnificent Mile, attended at least 2 festivals and bought stuff at the The Art Institute of Chicago (I think it was closing), we also ate some really good food.

This year… we are headed there to celebrate my birthday and of course do many and more of the cool stuff we did years but also to challenge ourselves, hence the Muddy Buddy – a two team 6-7 mile off-road course with 5 obstacles scattered in between. At the start of the race, one team member will run and one will ride the bike. At the 1st obstacle, the rider will drop the bike, complete the obstacle, and begin running. The runner will arrive, complete the obstacle, find their bike and begin riding. Teams will continue leapfrogging each other through the entire course. At the end of the race, racers crawl through the infamous Mud Pit crossing the finish line together as official “Muddy Buddies”!