21 Days: My gift to myself

21 days...Isn't that what it takes to change habits? I think I read that somewhere...In just under a month, it will be my birthday and I'll be one step closer to 40, than 30 (ok, maybe 2 or 3 steps closer. crap.). Across the past 5 years, I've been feeling...tired. When I fully absorbed the fact I was talking about five whole years of my life, I was shocked. Then, to make myself feel better, I rationalized that I have two small children, one of whom is turning 5 this month. It's been a busy 5 years, after all! I thought about my (previously) stressful job. That, before that, it took my son a good year to sleep consistently. All good reasons. Yup. Good reasons until I realized that I'd been feeling this way longer than 5 years. Isn't that like cold water on your head? I can recall my regular weekend afternoon naps when Andrew and I were first dating...over 10 years ago.

I truly believe comparison is a root of evil. But, when I looked around, I could see that something was off with me. First thoughts: maybe I'm sick? Depressed? Bad habit?? nope. nope. ...maybe?

This summer, I was inspired by my old friend Marla Carter of Marla and Shane Photographers and the popular blog, Left on Amelia. She wrote about TheWhole30 and eating Paleo...as in Paleolithic. Think eating foods like nuts, seeds, berries, fruits, veggies, lean proteins and healthy fats.

2-3 years ago, my husband bought a book called The Paleo Diet. So there I was reading Marla's blog, and I could see the good health in her pictures and hear it in the tone of her writing. Then I read about her mid-day bike rides b/c she was no longer tired in the afternoon. What the what?!

Andrew and I talked, and we did it. It wasn't always easy. But, that's the truth. It's not always easy. I LOVE a good muffin with my coffee, a little wine and dark chocolate, and I'm a comfort food girl at heart. But, the pay off was tremendous. Within a week, my troubled skin cleared up, I was no longer taking a siesta, my moods had evened out, I had loads of energy, and was thinking more clearly. I have no idea if those kinds of results were common, but they were mine.

Paleo Carrot Soup with ginger, cardamom, and coconut milk. Crazy good!

off-the-tree apple slices to saute in coconut oil, cinnamon and almonds

Then, enter our summer vacation to Nantucket. Hello ice cream cones, cocktails and Portuguese breads. Hello naps, moodiness and troubled skin. We got home, and we definitely had a great time, but we felt like garbage.

We've gone back on Paleo, (ahem) loosely. Some weeks more loosely than others.

Paleo-ish homemade oreo cookies

What beer? This is clearly a picture of me making a Paleo-ish Apple Pie!

All forms of denial and kidding aside, my bday is around the corner...and I'm thinking to myself, what do I want? A spa day, carte blanche at Anthropologie, jewelry, a vacation?? Ummm, yeah, ok yes I'd like all of the above. (Andrew, are you reading this?? Anthropologie, are YOU??)  But, really when I get down to it...What do I want?

I want to feel like a million bucks when I wake up on November 4th.

I want to open my eyes and smile bc I feel awake, rested, and aware. I want to look out at the autumn morning golden sunshine, and be totally psyched to start my day.

I want to give myself the gift of my good.

So, my reconnection with true Paleo is part of this gift of good health. But, really, there is more to the story than that. Good health is more than just food, it's about a balance of all things in my life. My first step and shift towards choosing my gift of good health, really started last year. For me, the logical next step was reconnecting with my husband, children and family. Career-wise, it has all been all about rediscovering with MY aesthetic, voice, and point-of-view.

I'm a working, designer mom with an amazing husband and two small children. I'm blessed with amazing friends and family...AND I'm starting my own business. YAY!!!! Budding and dreaming entrepreneurs, it's A LOT to balance. There are pockets of feeling overwhelmed and times of push and craziness, and it wont always work out like a feel-good tv show. But, it's also so totally awesome. There is always something else to do, and for the most part, I can't wait to do it! (no, I'm not talking about you dumb forms!!)  Just like my physical health, for my business to thrive, there needs to be good health within it.

I've made the decision to cut back a bit on my freelance hours, to free up more for belle&beanzer.  My freelance work is definitely a good thing, it's fun, I looove NYC, but it  isn't where my excitement lies. I'm lucky to have it, to interact with SO many creative, talented and interesting people. It's actually put me in touch with some key people I've needed to play a role in my business. But, ultimately, it's really about the bigger picture. The big picture being belle&beanzer, and that I want to go live January 2012. 

Speaking of which, the latest and greatest is... my final prototypes will arrive at the end of the month. As will my final costing estimates, etc. I'll need to plug those numbers in and see where I land with everything. PS - run your numbers, folks. Seriously, hard core numbers. In a future blog, I'm going to be interviewing an truly amazing woman who wrote a book for people just like me. We've opened an email correspondence, and she's agreed to be a guest blogger here. More on that later...

As for the one-piece, I'm REALLY excited to do a reveal as soon as I get the protos back. I've been pulling together the pics and video from along the way. I've got some goood stuff in there. We'll get a glass of wine and have a good laugh together! 

In the meantime, I can't wait to post my mood board, logo, etc. It's all getting there, with the branding. I find it SO serendipitous in my venture adventure, that order to have a clear brand and point-of-view, I've had to really understand MY point-of-view, aesthetically. It's a simple concept. It's amazing how long it too me to get it!! I was too busy doubting and second guessing myself and comparing my ideas to others. GAH! Done with it! 

The less exciting news, but reality, is the surprising amount of paperwork and the appalling lack of information about how to fill out said paperwork. 

Oh yeah, heads up!...pretty soon, hopefully within the month, I'll be migrating my blog to my website. Therein lies the next piece, technology...migrating my blog, getting the website looking the way I envision it, setting up my email, linking up all my social technology. LEARNING. CURVE. 

So, there you have it. 21 days to better overall health. Finding a better balance in all aspects of my life and how they interweave. I'll keep you updated!