I almost never drink soda (let's be real--the stuffs just not good for ya), but I couldn't resist this mini throw back bottle of my favorite pop around. Feels like the perfect Friday afternoon treat on this sunny day!
This gluten free pancake, with yogurt filling and a mixed berry compote topping, was definitely my favorite breakfast in Australia (I dragged B there 3 times for it...oops).
I'm wondering if anyone out there has a delicious recipe for gluten free pancakes they don't mind sharing? Or knows of an excellent boxed-mix brand? I've only tried to make g-free pancakes once a few years ago, and they turned out...well...nothing like the delightful dish you see above. I'd love your thoughts! Happy Friday :) In Gratitude, Trish The Grateful Life is on Instagram (or, as B likes to call it, "Instadork")! It's been fun starting to rummage through old photos, both iPhone and digital SLR, to choose which ones either bring back great memories, are Food For Thought worthy or just plain old would look spiffy with the right filter applied. I'm looking forward to adding on new images regularly!
Follow us @thegratefullifesf :) In Gratitude, Trish Oh I couldn't...
I really shouldn't... I simply mustn't splurge on this delightfully wrapped but extravagently priced home diffuser... (I did. I totally did. And my apartment already smells amazing...) sister wedding hugs This weekend I had the extreme honor and pleasure of officiating my cousin's (I've got 25 of them, total!) wedding ceremony back home in New Jersey. After getting ordained online (ahh, the beauty of the internet) I was all set in my Reverend-ship to stand in front of 205 guests, joining my darling girl in the union of marriage to her wonderful fiance. To say I was nervous in the minutes leading up to the ceremony would be a bit of an understatement...as I joked to B, I had more cotton in my mouth than after my wisdom tooth extraction surgery. But I managed to keep my cool and read the words I'd worked so hard to write in the months leading up to the wedding, and I am thrilled to know how much my beautiful cousin and her awesome husband loved and appreciated my "sermon". The wedding guests were all so lovely to me afterward--kind, complimentary, encouraging. My spirit felt huge for the rest of the night (in fact, I'm still ridin' the good-vibes waves as I type this) and I was able to freely dance my little heart out, feeling relieved (phew, I didn't throw up) and proud of this accomplishment. It's been a dream of mine to officiate a wedding and I am stoked to check that item off the ol' bucket list. During the final moments of the reception, while family and friends circled around a beaming bride and her adorable new husband, singing the Rusted Root classic Send Me On My Way, and while I laughed, twirled, kicked off my high heels, feeling incredibly grateful and alive in the moment...a tiny voice in my mind suddenly whispered Don't miss your life. If I may, allow me to explain... To be blunt, I have been struggling lately with bouts of crippling anxiety. I plan to talk about this further on a near-future blog post, as it is a deeply important subject to me, but I am allowing myself some more time to really collect my thoughts and feel ready to put them out there. (Note to self: OK little lady, you can't chicken out now). For the time being, I will just say it is a very, very slippery slope, anxiety; your mind swirls, your pulse races and before you know it you are doubting/questioning/fearing every topic your brain erratically jumps to and from. It is humbling, disruptive and saddening. It is overwhelming and it is scary. The past few months I've found myself navigating these anxious waters and it hasn't been very easy for me. I have allowed certain people to make my spirit feel quite small and I have lost the everything is going to be ok mental battle more often than not. Because of this, I have been missing it...(my life, that is)...in a lot of ways. I've missed out on laughter. I've missed out on play. I've missed out on connection. And I've missed out on trusting the process to the degree that has brought me so much joy and good in the past simply because my general bad habit of over-thinking has morphed into a real bitch of a disorder. But I'm dealing. Riding the waves. Learning to ask for help and making it a point to breathe deeply and have more patience with myself and this journey; learning to have more appreciation and love for both of us, as well. So, my sweet readers, I tell you all of this simply because if I could impart one single piece of advice to you--whether this is the 100th post you've read, your very first visit (welcome!) or your very last--it would be exactly what that tiny voice reminded me on Friday: Don't miss your life. Please, I beg you, don't let stress and worry, resentment and grudges, regret and fear (because in my heart of hearts, I know this is all anxiety is--fear at its strongest) prevent you from fully seeing it all unfold; from being deeply invested, present and alive. Let it go; let it be. As a friend once told me, pain is inevitable--but suffering is optional. So kick off your high heels, twirl and laugh. Trust the process. Because as far as we know, you only get one shot at this particularly life and I, for one, really don't want to miss it.... God is Love, Rev Tricia ;) I love this photo of my baby sister and pseudo little bro from our cousin's wedding this weekend...don't you? They both look so happy and I....the photobombing Reverend (I'll explain tomorrow!)...look as coo coo bananas as always. What a great pic from a great night! costa rica 2012 A few weeks ago I got selected as a finalist in SaveLoveGive's Facebook/Pinterest board-based contest, the final prize being a trip for 2 to beautiful Costa Rica. It was a simple contest: most votes at the end = tickets to hold baby monkeys with bff in paradise (my personal interpretation). I was so excited and deeply wanted to win in order to snag my favorite gal pal, A, and head out for an international celebration of about 19 years of friendship. My friends were amazing to me during this time, to say the least. My coworkers were a dream as well. They all dusted off their pom-poms and high kicked their support for me all over Facebook, email, Twitter, etc, to the point that my gratitude tank was tipping over into my humbled cup which then leaked through to my damn-life-is-beautiful plate. I felt loved, encouraged and supported. In the final moments of voting (and in the most what are the odds of that happening fashion), I tied with another chica. What happens now?! my pep squad all exclaimed. We wait and see, I suppose. I replied. And then about a week ago I received an email from the contest organizers that started with... Congratulations!... {Insert a millisecond's worth of heart palpatations} You've been selected as our runner up! {Insert mental scolding of said organizer's word choices} So I looked up from my email (I'm assuming with sad puppy dog eyes to rival Lucy when she knows she shouldn't have peed there) to face B (who immediately went into his do-you-kiss-your-mother-with-that-mouth dispute of my loss), sigh and reply to them with my requested address for a box of 2nd place "prizes". That's pretty cool, I thought. I know they work with some big fashion names, could be a nice little consolation gift... And then I got mailed a box full of logo'd tchotchkes (not one but two hot pink, plastic USB drive bracelets!) that promptly got dropped off at GoodWill because...well...no. Clutter is my latest personal nightmare and this was clutter at its finest. What a double bummer. Ah well, ya know? In all honesty, I had the extreme pleasure of retreat-ing in Costa Rica last May and I #whitegirlproblems just got back from the trip of a lifetime in Australia. Travel is my happy-place, if you will, but I am not lacking in that life department. I am extremely fortunate to have visited a number of awesome places over the years, so it's actually a-ok that I didn't snag a CR vacay, part 2. I will just have to figure out another way to hug monkeys with A :) Also, because I think it's worth saying, I really hope the little lady who won the contest has an amazing time. No bitterness to be had there. I found Costa Rica to be so soothing and healing, lovely and magic--I hope it is the same for her, as well. (But if she holds a monkey, I cannot guarantee the status of these good feelings...) To my friends and coworkers who genuinely surprised me (though I don't know why, considering how much mutual love flows between us) with the amount of skilled cheerleading in my honor (when did you perfect your pyramids?!) -- Thank you. You rock. I love you. And I am so, so lucky to know you. Entering this contest was worth every ounce of fleeting disappointment at the end simply because I was reminded of how many truly awesome folks I have in my life. You are not taken for granted. In Gratitude, Trish This is one of the best photos from our wonderful trip to Australia this month. It combines 3 of my most favorite things-- cute animals I can play with (this guy loved hanging out and having snacks with us), Penn State and B :) You can't tell from this distance, but that's a koala stamp on B's wrist. After the park tagged us for our visit, I insisted we not wash them off and rock them for the rest of the day as a badge of pride for checking off a bucket list item (Item #86: Hold a Koala). Lucky for me, B was too excited to be feeding kangaroos and wallabies to fight me on it...
...(I think he secretly loved it, too). love and light, Trish |
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