So, did you see Donny on 'Dancing' last night? First I was waaaay put off by Marie's antics in the audience sitting next to Mary Hart and practically passing out after jumping up and down every time he came on stage. I thought it wasn't fair to the other contestants to have Entertainment Tonight clearly on the side of their sometimes correspondent. Plus, I thought Kelly was so cute in her aching way of wanting to belong to some sort of group..to feel connected.
I remember that feeling. I was in some plays in high school, but I especially remember the camaraderie that developed during our amateur rendition of 'West Side Story' (I was Velma, head of the Jet girls....and still a Jet fan to this day...go figure), but, I could def cotton to how Kelly is feeling about this being a part of this group and how great it makes her feel to have this 'family.'
That said, when Donny came out for his second dance, the free style, he was so completely entertaining that I actually laughed out loud. Even my son was appalled at my laughing at a television show that didn't have Kathy Griffin in it. But he was terrific and as much as it pains me to say it, I think he stole the lead away from Mya last night. Oh well. Tonight should be interesting.
And, yes, before you wonder, I did get sucked into watching the schmaltzy adoption reunion show. ONLY because I was working on some research for a client consult I have in about a half hour and I needed to finish her notes up. So I left the television on that channel not knowing that I was about to get manipulated and maneauvered into tearjerk land. Enough said. A roller coaster of fake emotions happening here last night.
Saving that real ride for Thanksgiving day.
Just in case you are too:
Use yellow mums as your choice of decor or floral decoration and be sure to try and strategically place them around the house. These specific plants, along with fresh cut stems are known to usher in tranquility and peace while brining a healthy dose of recognition for your efforts. If you are visiting, bring a fresh yellow mum to the host or hostess. If they are into Feng Shui AT ALL, tell them to place it in their FAME area. That way your gift brings, two...two...two gifts in one! And a whole ton more after that!
Use side lighting (lamps) instead of overheads. Harsh overheads can create shadows, which will, in turn, on a very subtle level cause depressed energies to be invited to the festivities as well. And we can't have that! See, studies show that using a lot of overhead lighting is also believed to contribute to an air of anxiety..now, really, do we need that at ANY family gathering? Right. Turn on the lamps. And candles too.
Cover your table with a CLOTH cover (as opposed to paper or a runner that doesn't cover the entire table) as this is thought to absorb any negative vibes floating around the atmosphere.
Place a flat mirror (any size) under the centerpiece on the diningroom table in order to ground the energy in the room and reflect back wishes for harmony, happiness, peace and health.
Those last four things are the most important ingredients that should be mixed up on this day and are also, of course, what I wish most for all of you. Well, that, and some down time with a cocktail in one hand and a credit card in the other......a la yesterday's post..those Black Friday deals have started early on the internet.
Oh, Amazon......and, hey, while you're there...MAKE THIS YOUR LUCKY DAY...a guide to get you through the holidays with ease and grace and change to spare....
Speaking of change...tomorrow we'll talk about a very different kind of stuffing that holds MAGIC as one of it's main ingredients!
YUM.
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Remember when the 'Family Channel' had their annual 25 Days of Christmas movie marathon that actually started twenty five days before Christmas? Or the radio stations didn't start playing holiday ditties until AFTER Thanksgiving? Remember when we didn't have home pages on computers that "spilled" little spoilers about what retailer was having what GIGANTIC sale the day after Thanksgiving, so, we can get all geared up to go shopping (or worried as that case may be) as opposed to spending some appropriate time thinking about thanking?
I swear, I woke up this morning in a panic....how was I going to get everything done before Christmas? I sort of just breezed right over Thanksgiving and went right for the main event. Tree up and house decorated and PRESENT(s) all bought and wrapped and shipped. And it's not even Thanksgiving. And, honestly, that's not even me! So, I figured that if I'm all kinds of caught up then oh by golly there must be some of you out there who'd like to shoot the holly as well.
Firstly, I just want to share....if you are feeling pushed and prodded and gearing up for the whoosh of another holiday season, you're NOT alone. We're all here with you and for you. Secondly, I just have to remind...look, I get it...some families have TRADITIONS that call for the tree to be put up the weekend after Thanksgiving etc., etc., etc. But, if don't fall under that particular star, then, let's just remind what Feng Shui has to say about holidays....
Actually there's a traditional Chinese saying that says:
"HEED THE TIME LIMIT, THE FIVE COLORS BLIND."
What this means is that too much color, sound, activity, worrying, shopping, drinking, eating can all have a numbing effect on us. Actually, if I break it down, it says that too much color and/or food will exhaust the entire family while putting decorations up too early can cause a sublte sense of sadness and depression. There is a Feng Shui solution to this agenda and it's to put images of watery scenes around (like me crying when I can't get all that high school paperwork filled out that needs to be in yesterday!) or even images of wintry scenes will 'cool' the atmosphere and subconsciously create more harmony and balance. And, well, since you know that those last two things are what I wish most for your own happy holidays, then, please know that I'm not bah-humbugging it today at all. No, really, I'm not. What I am saying is that there is a collective or mass consciousness in the ethers that keeps pushing these holidays up earlier and earlier each year and the messages are always the same...Buy! Buy! Buy! Don't miss this bargain, don't miss that party. Wear the right clothes and spend over your head and don't forget to do that before the clock strikes midnight last night.
NO!
Enough!
Breathe.
There is more than enough time. Always. For everything. Unless you THINK that there isn't. Then there won't be. And Target and WalMart and KMart all know that. At the very least don't BUY that! Breathe.
And then do this:
If you start to worry or panic over ANYTHING then visualize a television screen sitting directly over your head. Now, run your PERFECT scenario of what the outcome of your PERFECT situation would be inside that screen. Almost like you're watching YOU on Bravo (and, c'mon, that means I will be too!) SEE yourself finding solution to your concern and finding it in the best, most ideal way possible! See the perfect happy ending. Then, once you have that in tact, BLOW FOUR BIG BREATHS INTO THE SCREEN. Take about 15 seconds between each breath. If possible, stand with your arms outstretched and your hands facing up while your feet are hip distance apart and feet firmly on the ground. Gather energy from the ethers before blowing each breath. Then wait 15 seconds and do it again. You are blowing prana or Chi or energy into the visualization thereby animating it or making it come to life. Because YOU have the power. And YOU have the power. And, oh, by the way, did I mention, YOU have the power.
Now, there's something to be grateful for as you're sitting around the table this week and taking a much deserved moment of silence and gratitude. YOU have the power. And can create your every reality. Wowza! Now, it's my turn to thank YOU! Again and again and again.
Okay, now, where am I gonna put that turkey until it's time to baste away?
Okay, I guess we start the annual Thanksgiving posts...well, the first annual ones anyway. I'm still scratching the blonde wondering how it's Thanksgiving week already? But, I can tell you another little woo woo story too....remember how I was sharing the other day that my trip to New York may have afforded me an opportunity to meet with a guy who can EXPONENTIALLY help my media efforts along? He knows my ICM agent and blah, blah, yada.
Okay, so, yesterday my agent emails me and wonders when I can meet him. He's amenable. She shares that he just can't meet until after Thanksgiving. I mean, c'mon, the way I was feeling the other day I could have sworn it would take me that long to detox. Anyway, I email back and ask if we can meet on the 18th of December. That was after I emailed all my son's friends moms to find out if the kids have any sort of finals or anything that week (because, remember, I'm the TRUE Mother of the Year!) Hold on here, I have to straighten my crown.
But Grayson and I have to go back to New York in December anyway... that same weekend of the 19th... for a family holiday thing and I just thought that maybe I'd take him out of school a little early that week and go try to take a meeting while I'm going to be back in town anyway...okay, you get it.
So, I suggest a meeting on the 18th. But RIGHT after I do that, I email my personal astrologer and ask her what dates I should be considering. You know, when will the wand be fully fueled and ready to knock him on his ear while I yammer and jammer in the other one. She tells me that I should go December 3. Wait? What? You mean like the December 3rd thats happening in twenty seconds. The same one that will more than likely be the day I finally get all my laundry done?
Okay, as I'm reading that mail, another one drops in from my agent saying that the 'guy' (as he will now be known until I can disclose his name..you'll KNOW some of his clients) is going to be in Hawaii the week of the 18th...can I come and meet him earlier?
I bite the bullet, thank the astrological gods for still consorting with me and send her back an email that simply says: 12/3 ???
But just as I hit 'Send' and that request heads off into cyberland, another one from her drops in that says, and I quote:
"Bill wants to know if you're available on December 3."
Um, uh huh.
Cue Twilight Zone music.
Anyway, at least I'll have a week of running around spending more money on tons of food that I'll not have time to cook so that I can give it all away next Friday before having to worry about whether I need to move up a size in the Spanx.
Really, you know what, even I can't stand my own whining anymore. But it's not NEAR as bad as those OC housewives. What a whiny, bratty bunch. Diamonds as big as, well, my Spanx, adorning their ring fingers while it appears that every one of them is going into foreclosure. Except workaholic Vicki and the new one.
And, mark my words here, the mean girl...the one who calls herself the hottest housewife? I can't think of her name...Tamra maybe? Her husband is definitely up to something. He hasn't a nice thing to say to her, can't meet her gaze, doesn't answer questions, is criticizing her constantly....just be sure that you heard it here first. I mean, who would put their relationships, their most intimate gifts from God, under a spotlight like that? I will have to say that I did cry when Lynn's youngest daughter kept saying how everything was changing so fast and the more it changed the more she was just desperate to make it stay the same? Remember when you were a teenager and the whole world felt upside down and then your parents, who are out in the expensive cars buying ridiculously expensive La Perla lingeree were served an eviction notice but they weren't home so you had to take it from the process server? What? You don't remember that? I want to adopt that girl. But, then again, my son couldn't remember to take his lunch one out of the two days I was away, so maybe I'm overestimating my parenting skills too!
Okay, it's Magically Delicious Friday which means.....recipes!
With cute stories attached:
There is a story told in many traditions regarding the lovely acorn that falls from the magical mighty oak tree. This story says that there is an enchanted forest inhabited by a race of acorn people who all live in an ageless oak tree that stands highter than the heavens in the center of the this forest. Every one of these acorn people from the age five to sixty-five wears a bracelet that has one word engraved upon it.....NOW.
Those who are younger than five and older than sixty-five don't need to wear this adornment as they instinctively understand the gift that being in the present moment brings. As well, each acorn person has their own special gift that they recognize and nurture and that they are happy to share with their entire loving little community. They all love one another wihtout condition and they all allow themselves to be loved while never judging or condemning any other.
They say that these acorn people have scapptered their acorns to the wind in the hopes that when anyone finds an acorn that persona will come to embrace their own inner and special unique talents and gifts (that only YOU are each born with) as well as committing themselves to sharing that gift same gift. From this they will then receive the ultimate gift, never ending and abiding love!
Remember that the next time you find an acorn on the ground. Its the little people sharing the power of the NOW with you! And love....always, always love!
ACORN SQUASH SOUP
Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 small acorn squash, seeded and cubed
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup cream
sea salt and cayenne pepper to taste
1/4 cup sour cream for garnish
Pinch of nutmeg and pinch of ginger, for garnish
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until it turns translucent. Add the squash and both broths. Lower the heat and let simmer until all the veggies are tender, about a half hour. Let this mix cool.
Into a blender add the veg miz and the yogurt and blend into a puree. Return this mix to to a saucepan and stir in the cream until the desired consistency. Add the salt and pepper to taste and cook over low heat until heated through (about 8 mninutes.)
Transfer the soup to previously warmed bowls and tops each with a spoonful of sour cream and a sprinkling of the ginger and nutmeg.
This tastes so good I could go for some NOW!
It will noursish and nurture and fill you with love. A little dollop of THANKS on top too!
Thanks Acorn People! Just thanks!
Gosh, I guess I'm glad that I flew in late last night and didn't have to deal with the FAA "glitch" in their computer system that totally screwed up air travel earlier today. But, then again, I had me secret mantra AND me travel companion card AND me mystic knot image all working their magic as I took to the friendly skies.
But man am I ever fried today. I mean, I couldn't even make my son's lunch. Good thing he forgot the one I made for him to take to school on Monday (which is EXACTLY why that emergency $20 is in his backpack...I mean...seriously...he's 14..AND I left a note hanging off the big bowl that sits IN HIS FACE while he eats breakfast at the dining room table that said.....wait for it....DON'T FORGET YOUR LUNCH!...Just sayin') Anyway, I don't know if it was the guy sitting and coughing and sneezing like it was a TB ward in back of me on the plane (yeah, I was ballsy enough to ask him if he had the pig flu..and I threatened him that he better not lie to me either...he told me it was allergies but I think we're about to find out if that was true or not) OR if it's just that I MUST stop acting like I'm twenty years old while I'm out and about in the big City...could it be that my FAB reserves are finally heading south along with everything else on my body? Nah. I think it was more the constant dog and pony...you know...running from place to place making sure my Spanx was allowing me to breathe every five minutes or so while possibly drinking all the pinot on the upper West side.
I will say though that it was great of Cat who hosts Night Rhythms radio on 100.7 WHUD up there in Westchester where my sister and her family live to invite me on the show. Too bad I was busy draining all the pinot out of the upper West side or I would have LOVED to been a guest!
So, I met with my agent, Betsy, over there at ICM and we did a bit of brilliant brainstorming and a whole piss pot full of gossiping which I wish I could relate here, but, alas, then I'll never find out what's going to happen to....oh...wait....SHUT UP ELLEN! Betsy did promise to put in a room with a guy that I've been really hoping to cross paths with again in the hopes that he would pick me up off my dead ass feet and push me in another media direction. Like television. I met this man five years ago and he seemed interested in managing me until he didn't. Been there/done that a thousand and five times (can we all say Russell Simmons..??....nah, never mind, let's don't!)
Okay, so, once I left ICM's offices I went over to meet my friend Karen Lee who took a really beautiful photo of us together..I'll have to see if she can email it to me and then I'll try to post it. But don't hold your breath because unless Sarah can show me how to do it when she comes for Tumblr training (yeah, we're moving the blog to Tumblr but don't worry, I'll (wink, wink) be able to show you everything you need to know.....and just because all the instructions will sound just like Sarah wrote them...well, I'm just that good a mimic!)
Now, Karen lives in a brownstone on the East Side. For the last three thousand years she was the head talent scout at Elite Model Management and she still lives in the house where all their young girls stay. She watches out for them. She's been a guest judge on 'America's Next Top Model' and now is involved with Desiree Gruber's new project, Modelinia dot com. We had Mexican fun. Which means, in part, that I had my pinot in a sangria glass. Somewhere between those two appointments I also made it for quick oysters at Smith and Wollensky. Like the old days. Sigh.
I never made it to Patty's in Brooklyn yesterday. Kath came in and picked me up and we went for lunch to some famous restaurant out by the airport. A place called The Parkside. Which was funny because the park it was 'side' by was as big as my backyard with a merry go round from one of the old Twilight Zone episodes sitting dead center. Felt like I should have been wearing a peter pan collar and a poodle skirt. Over my fifty fifth Spanx of the week. I'm washing them all now. They filled the washer. Their own load. Not kidding.
Okay, so, on to some useful Shui anecdotes already right? So, since next week is Thanksgiving and lots of 'us' will be traveling and staying in spaces that aren't our own, here's some of the stuff I bought with me and then how I used it to make sure this trip was as successful as it seems to have been. Of course, I'll have more time to think about what I need to do next to make the magic really happen, but, first, I have to find my brain. Have you seen it? Anyone? I'm too freakin tired to look. And, well, frankly, don't care right now either.
So, bring with you...an image of the mystic knot. You can get one off my site or you can download off the internet. Put it in your wallet. Or anywhere really. Just have it handy. If you're traveling and something happens that causes delay or challenge, take it out and run the hand you write with over the top of it three times..in a circle...clockwise direction. Voila...ease and grace restored.
And here's what I (almost) always do when I get to whatever room I'm staying in....I burn a bit of incense to clear and cleanse the energies. If that's a little too airy fairy for you, the sulphur from a lit match will do practically the same thing. Then I throw just a few pinches of sea salt in each corner of the room to make sure that ALL negative vibes from anyone who's been in there before me are completely absorbed. Unless I'm at my sister's house where I'll have to haul the vacuum up to my guestroom on her third floor and vacuum that condiment up before I go. In that case, I'll take a small dish or ashtray (remember them....??) and I put some sea salt in there and just leave it on a table in the room someplace for the length of my stay.
I also ALWAYS locate the 'Wealth' corner of whatever room I'm on and put a red envelope with nine one dollar bills in it in that area. Back left hand corner of the room from the door. If I'm staying at a hotel for just a day or two I leave the envelope there for the cleaning staff. If I'm staying longer I add another nine bucks. Karma kids, karma. If I'm staying at my sister's I just slip her kids some cash. Same deal.
Okay, lastly, I also always remember to stop and quiet and feel myself surrounded by white light. Then I "see" the whole room filled with this same light. While in that space I invoke whatever entity I want to partner with me on my little escapades....sometimes like this:
PRAYER FOR BENEVOLENCE
Archangel Zadkiel
Archangel Zadkiel
Archangel Zadkiel
I invoke your intercession.
And then say:
"I am Archangel Zadkiel's ambassador
bestowing riches and love
upon all life everywhere." (Thanks again Jo Cornug for this great prayer!)
Then, while you're out bestowing riches and love be sure to remember that what you give out you get back three-fold.
Because you deserve it.
And, hey, while you're out there, if you find my energy will you tell it that I'm looking for it? Thanks a bunch! You're swell!
M-I-C-K-E-Y Mouse! Remember when we sang that name waiting for the mouseketeers to come on the television screen and entertain us? What? What do you mean, you don’t remember? Before there were tweets there were those of us who sang that Mickey Mouse song. Well, today, you’ll have to move that melody out of your head to make way for another well-known one, the Happy Birthday song. Because today is Mickey’s 81st birthday! And, well, let’s face it, Disney’s most important icon never goes out of style. As well that little mouse has made A LOT of money and garnered even more luck for that same studio. Could it be because Walt Disney knew his Feng Shui and also knew that the mouse or the rat, according to the ancient Shui texts, is also associated with intelligence, street smarts and survivability? Or could it just be that Disney knew that the rat symbol in Feng Shui represents and activates both career and income fortunes and luck? Either way, let’s take a page from the Disney comic book and use an image of the rat if you want to scurry and scamper away with the sort of money that big cheese Walt and his ancestors keep earning and earning and earning. Piece of cake!
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