Sundays

mornings…

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

7:02am. Ryan is lying next to me, slowly rejoining the world. I took him to bed with me for some morning cuddles; he fell back asleep instead. Now I have the privilege of watching him wake up and truly greet the day. It may be my very favourite thing to do.

He opens his eyes and waits – for what, I’m not sure, but he waits. It’s raining outside. The light from the window is gentler this morning as it first brushes his eyes. He stares at the leaves on our tree in silent reverence. It’s true, they really are a wonder.

A few minutes pass. Heaven. He finally turns to me, pauses to recalibrate, and smiles. My baby boy is here. We take his sleep sac off, then the jammies and the sopping diaper. I barely have time to do up the fresh diaper before my gentle waker is on his belly practicing his crawling. He’s instantly everywhere. The energy is bursting out of him full throttle.

It’s now 7:14 and I wonder how on earth I’m going to keep my spirited boy entertained (and quiet!!) so that daddy can have a sleep-in downstairs. Hmm.

And then I see it: the Jolly Jumper. That should last us a good 15 minutes.

20140713-101155-36715791.jpg

mxo

letting go

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

Letting go is difficult. Transitions are difficult. Slowing down can be excruciating.

I’ve spent the majority of the last two weeks at home resting, reading, watching movies, reading, resting, watching movies…

As I learn to settle into this new (temporary and transitional) phase of my life and let go of my former super-charged schedule, I keep mulling over these words: 

“What if one day you realized the best moments in life come in the mundane, everyday moments? But you were only fully present on special occasions… And someday, I’ll be grateful I didn’t miss my life.”

~ Rachel Mary Stafford

mundane-moments
Mundane moments with Charlie…

10 reasons…

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

               image

10 reasons why it was definitely worth getting out of bed this morning:

  1. Sun is shining. The weather is sweet.
  2. Brisk morning walks to shake off the cobwebs. 
  3. Cobweb-shake-off walks to procure delicious croissants and almond mylk lattes from Hula Girl. 
  4. Cobwebs are from a night filled with friends, family, great food (Playa Cabana is a must!), and music (Lusine at CMW). 
  5. New friends who I adore and who teach me so much about life (thx Bubbs). 
  6. It’s one of my bestest friend’s 30th today. She’s awesome. She plays the trumpet and the piano and all sorts of other instruments.  I adore her. 
  7. Bonobo and Erykah Badu on one track… is this for real?!
  8. My blunnies have finally moulded perfectly to my feet.
  9. Croissants delivered to a happy family. 
  10. It’s Sunday. It’s quiet. There’s still so much day ahead!

image

Happy Sunday!

mxo

busy, busy, busy…

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

It’s Sunday afternoon and the pre-workweek overwhelm has started to creep in. 

For the past few weeks, I’ve been bouncing around like a ping pong ball. Meeting. Ping. Other meeting. Pong. Meeting somewhere else. PING! Awkward in-between half an hour at my desk. PONG! The worst part is, I feel like despite the busyness and the overwhelm, I’ve accomplished a whole heck of not much. 

A colleague recently lent me Tim Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Workweek. I’m about 50 pages in and am floored by this book. It’s exactly what I needed.

image

The passage I just can’t shake has to do with the 80/20 principle – that “80% of results come from 20% of effort and time”.

If that’s true, why are we so busy? Because it seems a task will swell in perceived importance and complexity in relation to the amount of time it’s allotted. With the dinosaur 9-5 workday, we’ve got ourselves a lot of time to fill…

Translation: it’s unnecessary. At least 80% or so is.

“Being busy is a form of laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. […] It’s easy to get caught in a flood of minutiae, and the key to not feeling rushed is remembering that lack of time is actually lack of priorities.” Sigh. Yup.

All of this busyness has robbed me of my effectiveness, but more importantly, it’s also robbed me of my time to dream. More on that soon.

Happy St. P Day!

mxo

cherish…

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

I found myself in a cafe yesterday, drinking a delicious Americano and eating a scrumptious brownie, waiting for one of my best good friends, contemplating life in my journal. 

I do this often.

I wrote these words, “I love my life. I truly and utterly love my life. It’s strange, this contentment, and the silence that is left after the panic to fix things disappears.”

And then a nervousness crept in – what if I lose all of this?

This reaction is a product of a lot that has happened in my life and I think, on some level, it’s natural. We all fear change. And, like it or not, we could lose it all at any moment – we could lose our jobs, lose our partners, get sick. The bottom can drop out and we can’t control how or when.

So what’s left? What do we do?

Simple: cherish every single moment. Accept its fleetingness and give it an extra squeeze of love.

Love every morsel of your life.

mxo

today…

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

Today feels like…
… New Neil Halstead.
 
… Texts from good friends about new life. Bless.
… Homemade apple almond butter. 
Apple Nut Butter:
  • 6-8 large apples, cored and sliced into big chunks. Keep the peels!
  • Splash of orange or lemon juice.
  • 1 tbsp vanilla.
  • 1 tsp cinnamon.
  • Nut butter of choice (1/2 cup or so for every 1 1/2 cup of apple butter).
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup.
  • Pinch of salt. 
…first, the apple butter: 
Place the apples in a slow cooker with the splash of OJ. Set to high and let it simmer for 4-6 hours. The longer you cook the apples, the more condensed the butter will be. Stir occasionally. Let it cool, then blend until smooth. It’s super delicious on it’s own.
…then, the nut butter:
Place 1 1/5 cups of apple butter, 1/2 cup of your favourite nut butter (I used almond), and remaining ingredients in a food processor. Blend. That’s it. 
So yum.
mxo
 

baked coconut chickpeas

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

The response to my last post has been absolutely overwhelming. Thank you, thank you, thank you… and I plan to cover more soon. 🙂

But for now, it’s Meatless Monday and it sure is a rainy one! 


Yesterday, I stumbled upon a recipe for jerk chickpeas on one of my favourite blogs, Oh She Glows. I wanted those badboy peas then and there, except that I didn’t have most of the ingredients and I was already in comfy pants (it’s a violation on a Sunday afternoon to trade comfy pants for real clothes).

Dressed in comfy pants and without ingredients, I was forced to get creative with what was in my pantry and boy oh boy, did it work out!
I made up a super easy peasy recipe for baked coconut chickpeas!
Ingredients:
  • 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed.
  • 2-3 tbsps freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice.
  • 2 tbsp tamari (organic and gluten-free if possible).
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil.
  • 1/2 cup coconut milk (the thicker, full-fat version works well).
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup.
  • 1 tsp cinnamon.
  • 1 tsp tumeric (you could also use curry if you’re feeling sassy).
  • 2 large garlic gloves, smashed and chopped.
  • 1/2 of a red pepper, finely chopped.
  • 1/2 cup red onions, finely diced.
  • Few pinches of red chili flakes. 
  • Pinch of salt and pepper.
  • 2 tbsp parsley or cilantro and/or a big handful of arugula and/or chopped avocado and chives for garnish. 

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 375. 
  2. Combine all ingredients in a baking dish, except the garnish. Give it a loving stir.
  3. Cover and bake for 30 mins. Uncover and bake for another 15 mins if you’d like it drier.
  4. Throw peas over some quinoa or brown rice, or serve as a side.
  5. Garnish with your greens of choice… and enjoy!
Really, it’s one of those recipes where you can throw out the recipe and just mix ingredients until it tastes yummy.
Happy rainy Monday of tumbling & stumbling!
mxo

It’s just 24 hours…

~ Maya C ~ Leave a comment

So I’m cheating today. 
I am taking a few hours away from Sunday Sabbath to take care of some admin matters (like my taxes… zoinks!) which means I’m fully, 100% plugged into all technology… and I regret it already.

It seems this whole business of unplugging is very chic these days! 

Look, Leelee Sobieski is doing it!
From the May issue of O


This really stuck with me:
“When I had a daughter, Louisanna, two and a half years ago, I started recording every funny or sweet thing she said or did on my phone. But on one of our unplugged days, I realized I’d been so focused on capturing those moments that I hadn’t been feeling them. I’d missed opportunities to connect with my daughter because my face was always hidden behind my cell phone… I need to let this moment exist. I don’t have to capture everything. I just want to experience it.”

Less capturing, more experiencing. With that, I’m signing off.

Happy tumbling & stumbling!
mxo