I love my boyfriend. He is incredibly kind, empathetic, thoughtful, patient, handsome, brilliant, charming. He even has an accent.

He’s amazing. Until he’s not. And one of the times that he’s really not is when he has post-travel exhaustion.

Fact: constant travel is grueling on the body.

No matter what class you’re riding in, planes and trains don’t offer much opportunity for circulation, stretching and proper sleep. Suitcases and shoulderbags can be killer. And changing time zones? Well, you know.

There are a whole host of travel-related tips that we’ll be covering soon.* For now, though, there’s one change we’ve made at home that has made a huge difference: (more…)

Recently, a teacher gave me and my classmates a homework assignment: complete a journal entry about what you want in this life.

I think about this often, but I’d hadn’t taken the time to compose an answer to this specific question. So I did.

Here is what I watched myself write:

I want a life of choice, of balance, of love.

I want a life of experiences, and delicious, spicy curries, and chocolate cake. Of simple, comfortable fabrics to wear, of clean air and sunlight. Of fresh drinking water. For everyone.

I want a life of giving and receiving, of working hard and playing fiercely, a life of vulnerability and openness and naked risk.

I want a life where mistakes are lessons, not regrets. Where details are remembered only to the extent that they make someone feel treasured, and then they are forgotten, so that we can see the big, beautiful picture together. (more…)

Here’s one of the inconvenient ironies about self-care: the time you need it the most is often right when you have the least motivation to do it.

Just remember the last time you really fell off of the wagon. Maybe you’ve:

• snacked on a pint of ice cream instead of edamame… and then got “oh well, what the hell” syndrome as you ate a whole pizza for dinner?
• worked like crazy all week without sleeping and kept going nonstop until a nasty cold took you down?
• quit exercising and, instead of compassionately picking it back up, you beat yourself up?

I used to do the same things.

And then I learned a new way. (more…)

Image Courtesy of chocolatecoveredkatie.com. Get her fab recipe at the link below!

Recently, I had this very sad eating experience.

It was almost as disappointing as the time my boyfriend and I went to a fabulous, “innovative” Parisian restaurant and, when told I was vegetarian, they proudly served me a plate of steamed vegetables. (Quelle horreur!)

This time, though, it was all me.

I was working on something, and decided that it was time for one of my very favorite foods: chocolate cake. (more…)

I sent this LoveNote to my newsletter readers this morning, but the message is SO important that I’m re-posting it here…

“Believe it or not, we’re almost in the third month of the “new” year. And from what I hear (and feel), things are busier than ever, so this week I’m letting you in on a little time-saving secret:

You do NOT have to read this.

I mean, since you’ve gotten this far, you’re obviously reading it this week… but that doesn’t mean you have to next week, or the week after. You can actually skip, 100% guilt-free, anytime you need to. You can even choose to just delete the old emails (!!) and start fresh later.

I call it… (more…)