Simple Joys of the Week, May 11th Edition

Before I get ready to jet off to a day-long TS manager's retreat (starting off with a workshop at the "Do Good Summit!"), I wanted to share my simple, sensory pleasures from the past week with you. Although this week has been a total blur, it's still easy to look back and pick out the many small pleasures that I've been lucky enough to enjoy :) What's made your past week extra wonderful? My simple joys are below... 

Image via facebook.com

Hear: The GLEE cast performance of Florence + the Machine's "Shake it Out"

As you can tell, I'm pretty behind on my GLEE Episodes, but I just watched "Episode 18" last weekend and was floored by the GLEE rendition of one of my all-time favorite Florence songs (who you probably know by now--I'm OBSESSED with), "Shake It Out." Listen/watch below--I hope you agree with me that it's amazing!

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See: Artomatic--all of it!

As I mentioned yesterday, much of my life over the past week has been consumed by Artomatic. I worked the first of my three, 5-hour volunteer shifts last weekend, then painted and prepped my wall, then ran lots of errands for it all week, prepared my work for hanging, and hung most of my wall yesterday. The thing that makes Artomatic such a simple joy is that it is just a visual feast--an "art explosion," if you will. It's this HUGE building (11 floors!) just FILLED witha art of all kinds--truly, if you can imagine it, I'm sure it's there. And as they mentioned at orientation, you're the curator! You choose what you like, what you don't, and what you spend time looking at. It's very cool :) 

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Image via gimmesomeoven.com

Taste: Homemade "Granola Bites" (or, "No-Bake Energy Bites")

My friend Sara brought me a few of these homemade granola bites this week, and after eating just a few, I'm hooked. They're pretty healthy (honey and dark chocolate chips are the only sugar!), and they taste AMAZING. She's just had a baby, so is trying to stay away from unhealthy foods, and said that they've become a staple in the house for her. I have a feeling that they're going to become the same for me! The recipe is here. Enjoy!!!!

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Smell: Badger Sleep Balm

Although we've had this stuff forever, Ben and I hadn't really gotten in the habit of using it until now...and we really like it ;) I'm not sure if it truly works or not, but the scent is really calming and enjoyable, and I'm a big believer in doing the same rituals every night before bed in order to get the body in a routine (reading every night before bed, going to bed at the same time every night, etc.)--you know how important sleep is in this household!!! So anyways, we really like it and definitely recommend giving it a try if you're in the market for a new bedtime ritual ;) We like to massage it into each other's temples, jaw, and brow line--a nice little massage before bed, too!

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Touch: New return address stamp

I know this is like the dorkiest thing ever, but I've never had an address stamp before!?! We got one for all of our wedding invites, thank you's, and RSVP cards, and I love it--I've been using it on everything ;) And the best part is that it was only $10! Why haven't I had one of these my entire life? It's right up my alley...I think I'm going to start getting personalized stamps for everything. Why not? They're so fun! I got ours at StampXpress.com (cheapest I found!), but they're everywhere online...


So that's my week!? Who knew that such small things could bring so much joy, huh? 

Speaking of joy--if you're in the DC area and feel like joining me for a workshop this weekend, come see me on Saturday at TSA. I'll be teaching a Jump into Yoga 2 workshop from 5-7:30pm--a great workshop for anyone who wants to take their practice up a notch and work specifically on jumping forward, jumping back to chaturanga, headstand, and crow. Lots of fun! Check out this link to read more and sign up online. 

I wish you a *wonderful* weekend full of simple joys...

Namaste!
Mary Catherine

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