I'm here. It's okay. I love you and I won't ever leave you.

Merry March!

I'm excited about this Spring and all the changes it will bring! The goals I have set for myself are challenging and have an allure I can't let myself ignore for another year. One in particular has a mysterious sparkle to it: I want to Peel Back To Me. I want to delve deep into myself and find out what makes me tick and what makes me feel vibrant with life, color and hope! This process is pretty frightening because I haven't been myself in over two years, and I'm just not sure who I will find or what new changes and goals I will want to work on once I do.

Some things I've been keeping busy with since I moved back to Santa Barbara about 12 days ago (Oh wow--I've been here for almost 2 weeks already??) are:

• cooking vegan dinners for my omnivorous parents (that they actually enjoy and ask for again!)
• painting with my lovely new brushes and liquid watercolors
• running with the dog at least 5 days a week
• reintroducing myself to my beloved piano (oh Chopin and Debussy, please come back to me!)
• searching for temporary jobs in the area
• reading Gilbert's "Eat Pray Love" and various meditation literature
• helping scrub, dust and keep the house tidy
• annoying my father to hell by singing La Boheme at the top of my lungs (I get so wrapped up in the story and melody, I sometimes forget I don't live alone anymore haha whoops!)
• weeding the flower beds and front patio/garden area--it rained a few days before I got my hands dirty in the earth, so it was really quite divine sittin' on my ass in the sun, just gently plucking up baby grass and munching on fresh cherry tomatoes as I found them. Whoda thought weeding could be so delightful?

And just yesterday, I pulled out my mother's fabulous sewing machine and made myself a pair of red undies from an old t-shirt of mine! I am way too proud for this to be normal, but I just can't believe I actually stopped being such a wuss and DID IT. My best friend can vouch for how long I've been wanting a partner in crime to sew some simple underwear with. Now...onto some sexy, lacy things!

Here's a picture of my latest dinner creation: Vegan Broccoli Quiche! Yummm