When you trust a broken set of habits every day, it’s only a matter of time before you feel broken too. Let go of your toxic energy and negative ways. Not only does today mark the end of a work week, but it also marks the end of the month, so let go. Thank God Its FRDIAY. 

Let's do a little bit of reflection on January.

Fashion Trends of the Month

        

Rules of the Month
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Book of the Month 
So I've been hearing such positive feedback about this book, that I decided to buy it on my phone, thanks to iBooks and read a little of it each night. I must say, it was definitely an enlightening book!

Quote of the Month 
"Dear Human: You’ve got it all wrong. You didn’t come here to master unconditional love. That is where you came from and where you’ll return. You came here to learn personal love. Universal love. Messy love. Sweaty love. Crazy love. Broken love. Whole love. Infused with divinity. Lived through the grace of stumbling. Demonstrated through the beauty of… messing up. Often. You didn’t come here to be perfect. You already are. You came here to be gorgeously human. Flawed and fabulous. And then to rise again into remembering. But unconditional love? Stop telling that story. Love, in truth, doesn’t need ANY other adjectives. It doesn’t require modifiers. It doesn’t require the condition of perfection. It only asks that you show up. And do your best. That you stay present and feel fully. That you shine and fly and laugh and cry and hurt and heal and fall and get back up and play and work and live and die as YOU. It’s enough. It’s Plenty.”

Recipe of the Month 

Fresh basil pasta with sun-dried tomato sauce

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose or semolina flour

3 eggs

1/4 cup fresh basil, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (the kind packed in oil), chopped

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup pureed roasted red peppers (or regular tomato sauce)

Salt and pepper to taste

Add the flour to a large bowl and crack the eggs in the center.  Sprinkle the minced basil on top.  Using a fork or your hands, mix together until dough is formed.  Add more flour if necessary to ensure the dough is not sticky.  Knead the dough on a floured surface for about 5 minutes.

Separate the dough into 4 equal portions and roll out each portion into a very thin sheet using a pasta machine (or rolling pin if you're really talented).  Lay each sheet on a floured counter or cutting board and hand cut into 1/2"-wide noodles. To ensure the noodles don't stick together, boil immediately in salted water or hang them up to dry until ready to cook.

Meanwhile, make the sauce.  Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan.  Add the garlic cloves, sun-dried tomatoes, and red pepper flakes, and cook for 5 minutes.  Deglaze the pan with white wine.  Add the red pepper puree and mix together.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add the cooked noodles into the saute pan and stir to coat the noodles with the sauce.

Serve immediately with more basil and/or freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Inspiration of the Month 

Mmm of the Month 

                                  

Don't forget to let go of this week's troubles and plunge into the weekend.  Relax. Have fun. Do something different. Whatever you do, don't hold on.

The madness of Monday... I know, the start of another work week and a crisp clean paper to begin that color coated to-do list. Okay fine, maybe that's just me.

Instead of setting our intentions today, because as all my avid readers know, Sunday's are for setting intentions for the week, we are going to talk about Healthy Habits. 

• Drink water 
  
• either go with the 8 cups per day theory 
• the recommendation to drink as many ounces of water as the amount of pounds you weigh 
• or go with my suggestion - at least 1.5L,  aim for 3L each day

• Meditate or sit in silence for 12 minutes every single day

• Less talking, more listening. 
• Take interest in other people. Make a point to learn about your environment and surroundings each day. Absorb what you can learn from other people's journey.
• Eat more fruits and vegetables 
• Prepare your own meals 
• Improve your posture
  
• Have complaint-free days

"First we form habits, then they form us." - Jim Rohn

• Smile more often 
• "We may never know all the good that a simple smile can do." - Mother Teresa

Wise Wednesday

Has it really almost been THREE months since I've written?
Well, it's finally Wednesdays so here comes those wise words.