It's the last day of June, folks...yeeks! What are your plans for the holiday weekend?

I haven't done a favorites post in a long while. Let's do it.

Clarisonic Mia. Yep, I finally bit the bullet on this one. Skincare is my weak spot! So far I'm loving it, mostly for how it energizes my face in the morning and makes my skin feel ultimately clean and ready to soak in my other skincare splurges (magic potions and stuff). It also makes my face feel like babies' bums.

Nixon watch. Yeeeyyy this one makes me so happy! This is actually the watch that Jimbo gave me for my b-day more than two years ago, but I've been living without it for months and months now simply due to laziness (it needed a new battery). I got it back this month and it's happily back on my wrist each day. Nixon, I promise it won't happen again!

Clean perfume. I snagged a few samples from this perfume line at Sephora the other day, and I'm absolutely loving it. I adore clean scents for the hot summer, don't you? Many of the Clean scents are fresh and cool smelling. I especially like Rain and Summer Sailing.

The Goldfinch. I'm finally making headway in this book after getting it for my birthday in April. It's a slower read for me than usual, but I enjoy every line. Her writing is so descriptive and unique... I love a book where I: a) learn about a particular subject (in this case, art and antiques) b) re-read lines because they're so poetic and c) am surprised. This book has all three. It's been reviewed to death so I won't go any further but my vote is yes - a good beach read!

Deep Sleep Pillow Spray. It's been making me sleep like a baby.

First Aid Kit, particularly their new album Stay Gold. It's great, I've been listening obsessively! I tend to enjoy sister duos because I can daydream the whole time about my sis and I creating a duo and making it big, plus they're all about great harmonies which are my favorite part to sing along to ;). I saw someone say they're like the lovechild of Johnny Cash and Fleetwood Mac - how can that be a bad thing??

Kauai. Jimmy and I are heading to Kauai for almost two weeks in July so I've been poring over travel websites and blogs, preparing, planning and drooling :). Have you been there?? We would love tips on places to go and things to do!

Mindful 05 :: on the Job

Ciao my friends! It's been awhile since we talked mindfulness, but I think it's appropriate that I get back into it this week since I'll be attending a Mindfulness, Compassion and Regeneration Retreat this weekend.

Like many of us, I work a full time, Monday - Friday job. There are days when I feel completely on top of things; productive, energetic, positive and creative. But some days it's a struggle to stay focused. Between phone calls, texts, lists, drop-in meetings, incoming emails and competing priorities, a whole day of work can pass by without my actually accomplishing what I meant to. Sometimes I start the day with the very best intentions, but just cant muster up the creativity that I need to do my best work.

Well surprise, surprise. When practicing mindfulness regularly (which I admit, I currently am not), I feel much better about my work - more energetic, creative and purposeful. The compassion exercises help me communicate more effectively with colleagues. The focus on my mind and attention allows me to stay on task and therefore complete tasks. Mindfulness practice teaches you to observe and allow unpleasant emotions and find effective ways of managing them, which ends up being helpful in every aspect of life, not least of which being work. My mind "shuts off" at night, allowing me beautiful 8+ hour sleeps that propel me through the next day. 

I'm hoping this weekend will kick me back into my good habits! But in addition to (or instead of) a regular mindfulness practice, there are a few ways you can generally increase your mindfulness at work.

How to Work Mindfully

1. Hourly breathing. If you're not in the habit of doing a daily meditation, try doing 30-60 seconds of mindfulness every hour. It's a nice way to continually "start fresh" throughout the day. I installed the "bell of mindfulness" Chrome add-on which rings a bell every hour reminding me to be mindful of my body and take some deep breaths. Click here for a Chrome add-on, or here for the Firefox version.

2. One thing at a time. You probably have heard by now that multitasking doesn't work. Okay sure we can all sing while we wash the dishes, and many of us (especially women) are skilled at writing an e-mail while talking on the phone, but that doesn't mean we should.  Priorities your activities to ensure you are 100% focused on each task you commit to. Keep the number of windows and tabs that you have open to a minimum. Keep emails in your drafts and websites in your favorites folder rather than out there in front of your face. Try to do one thing at a time.

3. Change it up. Sometimes we go back and forth between tasks because we don't have the right solution to the problem or the right words to start the email you're trying to write. Try changing your environment from time to time throughout the day. Step outside for a moment to take a few deep breaths - it's surprising how often this will readjust your creative juices. 

4. Stand. Breaking news - sitting on our bums for hours on end isn't doing us any favors. I don't have a standing desk (yet) but I try to intersperse my day with conversations with colleagues and phone calls I can have while standing. There has been a lot of research behind the benefits of standing while working. Standing desks can be insanely expensive but I love the looks of the new StorkStand, a mobile standing desk (it attaches to your desk chair!) for under $200 that just got funded on Kickstarter. I can't wait to try one out. 

5. Plan ahead. Do you live by your Outlook/iCal/Google calendar like I do? Well then use it! Schedule a recurring 10-minute "meeting" with yourself to take a break and be mindful. Assess your current state of mind, meditate on your body or your breath, and enjoy some "me" time. 

Can't get enough? Check out six ways mindfulness will make you a more successful entrepreneur and

Arianna Huffington on the connection between mindfulness and the bottom line.

Do you use any tricks at work (or in life) to keep focused and energized??

Getaway Weekend :: Lost Coast Backpacking

We had an amazing Memorial Day weekend up on the Lost Coast with Steph & Tyler and the pup. We started at Usal Beach (Sinkyone Wilderness Park) and hiked in about 5 miles to the most adorable little campsite in the world (called Dark Gulch).  There was a clear, cold stream running through it, so with the help of our trusty purifier we had endless fresh water. There were separate little areas for tents, fire and sitting (everything having it's place feels so darn homey). We skipped over a "bridge" of rocks to cross back and forth across the stream, hung our food from a tree (though that's not the recommended mode of bear protection!), and cooked over a tiny flame.

We spent our second night camping right on Usal Beach. There's nothing better than waking up in the middle of the night to let the dog do some business, and hearing the dark ocean crashing beside you and seeing the Milky Way in full force above. Our neighbors on the beach invited us to share their (larger) fire, and we discussed the glory of Route 1 and the happy ability Sinkyone offers to pop up camp without much planning or forethought whatsoever. We fell asleep to puppy snuggles and a crackling fire dying down outside the tent. 

Monday was about taking the long way home (per usual), stopping in Mendocino for brunch and our favorite wineries for "dinner", and rolling into the bed with the exhaustion of a thousand lives. Thanks, Lost Coast - each time is better than the last.