Happy Thanksgiving!

"If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough." - Eckhart Tolle

This is one of my all time favorite quotes & is so fitting as we celebrate Thanksgiving.

I recently had a profound conversation with a very wise friend.  I was holding on to some negativity from the past & it was time to let it go once & for all.  She said to me, "No one has a right to be angry.  You were given the privilege of life on this planet.  Every breath in this world is a privilege & after that, nothing is a right."

Wow.  It shook me to the core & was so humbling.  I saw how my ego & pain body had hijacked a piece of my happiness for all these years.  As A Course in Miracles says, "Would you rather be right or happy?"  To conquer darkness you must bring in the light & stop the self-inflicted insanity.

Some of this may sound a little harsh- of course we want life to go smoothly & for everyone to treat us with love & respect at all times.  But the reality is each one of us is dealing with our own pain & issues & sometimes we don't treat others with loving kindness.  Don't ever take another's actions personally, they have nothing to do with you & everything to do with them.

You & you alone are responsible for your happiness & the beauty of this is that when it comes from inside it can never be taken away.  No matter what may be going on in your life, the fact that you exist is a miracle & every delicious breath is a reminder to celebrate & give thanks.

Gratitude is truly the key to attracting the life of your dreams & you can read more about its transformative power here.

I am grateful for each & every one of  you & wish you a Thanksgiving full of peace, heart-warming moments with loved ones & lots of fun & laughter!

Love & light,

photo: me (a W. Village townhouse in the Thanksgiving spirit)

Adventures Across the Pond- The City of Light :)

The Eurostar train ride was amazing- beautiful scenery of the English & French countrysides, lunch service with delicious cheese, bread & wine & in 2.5 hours it's, "Bonjour Paris!"

All we had to do was hop on the metro to get to our hotel & we'd be ready to conquer the City of Light...or so we thought...

Let me start with a little back story that will make sense in a minute...I'm petite with a petite stomach & therefore can't drink a lot at a time.  Hence, in London, I had a penchant for ordering half-pints of beer- the perfect size for me & it's not warm by the time I reach the bottom.  Well my sister & her fiance got a kick out of this & took to calling me "half-pint"...

So back to our arrival in Paris...

We put our metro tickets in the slots & proceed through the entrance doors...my sister walks through, her fiance walks through, I walk through, pulling my wheelie suitcase behind me, but then get stopped to a screeching halt as the automatic entrance doors shut on my suitcase.

I start yanking as hard as I can on my suitcase but the doors won't release it.  As I'm staring horrified at the situation my sister comes barreling up behind me yelling, "Out of the way half-pint!"  She grabs the retractable handle on my suitcase, yanks as hard as she can, the handle snaps in half on one side & then comes completely out of my suitcase & she goes flying backward with said retractable (broken) handle in her hand.

I scream & can't stop laughing & in the meantime my suitcase is still stuck in the death grip.  Finally my sister's fiance & another guy had to pry it out, breaking the doors in the process.

I don't know Paris, I know you're super chic & maybe you didn't want to let my wardrobe in but homegirl had to live out of a carry on for a week, cut me some slack!

After starting off with uncontrollable laughter, the trip continued to be some of the most fun & magic I've ever experienced...

strolling through the Luxembourg Gardens on a warm & sunny fall day...

 it was truly heaven on earth & I could have stayed there all day...

 necessary pilgrimage to the Motherland...

I'm on my way Karl!!...

Maje everywhere (which I LOVE)...

I'm old school- no nook or kindle or whatever- I love reading real books- seeing the design, font, turning the pages, underlining, dog-earing.  Only in Paris would you find a book store as precious as this... 

I'd been dreaming of sitting on a quai in the sunshine for a long time... 

 I could hardly believe it was happening!  An absolutely perfect fall day & a moment of transcendence...

mint tea in the garden at the Grand Mosque & then a glimpse of the sunset....

 followed by a champagne toast atop the Centre Pompidou...

I came back changed.  The time with loved ones & the memories & magic of London & Paris are part of my heart now, giving it an extra glow :)     

photos: me

Adventures Across the Pond :) :)

I was so fortunate to recently head over to Europe with family & friends...the trip was a beautiful example of manifestation as it came out of the blue as a very special gift.  I got the call, said, "YES!!!!" & before I knew it I found myself in London with near & dear ones...

Here's a peak at my adventures....

strolling around Mayfair in the sunshine was blissful....

 I adore this hood', it's kind of like a slightly grander, more polished

West Village...

Grosvenor Square captured my heart.  It's so beautiful & peaceful & they even have a 9/11 memorial...

& the doorways, well, the pictures say it all...

as luck would have it Saatchi Gallery was running an exhibit on Coco Chanel!...

& one of the biggest highlights for me was visiting the motherland that is Alexander McQueen...

& the warrior queen that they do so well...

I was struck by the contrast in London- from light & heavenly....

 to dark & ominous...

 (we even caught a full moon over the Tower of London!)

 now this dark side is way more up my alley...The Fumoir bar at Claridge's...

 the walls look lacquered but they are actually leather which doesn't absorb the smell of smoke... 

this, my friends, is what you wear to The Fumoir... 

I don't smoke but would make an exception to rock this outfit from the Chanel exhibit, cigarette extended from hand in a glamorous holder...

but alas it was time to say cheerio to London & before we knew it we were on the Eurostar headed to the City of Light...Paris up next!

photos: me