It is funny because it is true!

So B and I went to Luc's in Ridgefield for dinner and had an excellent burger avec fromage et frit and pepper seared tuna and of course a dirty martini for dinner before heading over to the Aldrich museum to hear Roz Chast speak on her experience as a cartoonist for many publications most notably New Yorker magazine. She came across as a slightly obsessive-compulsive (in a New Yorker kind of way) really humble and funny person. The best moment was when she couldn't stop laughing and had to pull away from the microphone after bringing up the prescription sleep aid that causes people to eat, cook meals, roast chickens and even drive...while they are asleep. We all laughed at the ridiculousness of the state of our society - summed up so simply.

The event was filmed for a CBS Sunday Morning Segment on Roz Chast that will be featured this Sunday. Watch for B (and those fabulous earrings!) and me on your TV!!

XOXO
Kel.

A few things about me:
-I love the feeling of a freshly washed & cleaned car
-I love taking high heels off and walking around after wearing them all day long
-Anytime I see someone wearing a down 'puffer' jacket, I have to restrain myself from wanting to give them a bear hug.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY!!!! I hope you have a wonderful day and new year!

Our Suffering Stems From Ignorance

Observing respiration is also the means for practicing right awareness. Our suffering stems from ignorance. We react because we do not know what we are doing, because we do not know the reality of ourselves. The mind spends most of the time lost in fantasies and illusions, reliving pleasant or unpleasant experiences and anticipating the future with eagerness or fear. While lost in such cravings or aversions, we are unaware of what is happening now, what we are doing now. Yet surely this moment, now, is the most important for us. We cannot live in the past; it is gone. Nor can we live in the future; it is forever beyond our grasp. We can live only in the present. If we are unaware of our present actions, we are condemned to repeating the mistakes of the past and can never succeed in attaining our dreams for the future. But if we can develop the ability to be aware of the present moment, we can use the past as a guide for ordering our actions in the future, so that we may attain our goal.

--S.N. Goenka, in The Art of Livingfrom Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book

You can take no credit for beauty at 16. But if you are beautiful at 60, it will be your soul's own doing.
— Marie Stopes

I found my peeps while breathing in Aer After driving by the Yellow Monkey Center in Cross River, NY for almost a year, receiving their email newsletters and keeping a printout of their schedule on my desk, I got a kick in the ass: I was watching a skin care segment on Martha Stewart Friday after work, which, I seldomly make time to watch but for some reason it was TiVo'd and waiting for me. The owner of Aer, Basil, was there as a guest of Martha Stewart's and she talked about what a wonderful place it is (she lives in the next town over and has visited). I can no longer hide from it so I got my butt out of bed on Saturday morning and I went to what I think will be my second home. I took the Saturday morning Vinyasa class and Monday evening's Slow Flow class. The 200 year old building houses a spa, a beautiful shop, an upcoming cafe and the upstairs studios. Each of the two studios wide plank floors fit about 10 people max. They're intimate and have wonderful energy. All of the people that I've come across there, smile and have an openness about them. There is absolutely no pretension in the air.

Right after class on Saturday, I drove back into Ridgefield and stopped for coffee for myself and husband and the teenage cashier handed me my change and the coffee and asked "how was class?" I told her briefly that it was yoga and was wonderful. She smiled and said that I looked "so relaxed". It's true, I haven't felt this good in years.