During the month of February, many communities recognize National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. Officially, the date is February 21-27, but many colleges and universities spread their events out throughout the course of February.
I’m participating in events for a few schools. Check out my calendar and see if you can make it to a book reading!
I’m not a big proponent of New Year’s Resolutions in their typical form, cause, well, they usually involve extreme approaches to making change that aren’t realistic, and then backfire by mid-February. True change is generally progressive & gradual, and comes with forgivable slip-ups that don’t make us throw up our hands and say, “Oh well!” as we revert back to our pre-New Year’s selves.
I do believe, however, in positive intentions for making change & promoting growth in life, and I for sure think the New Year is as good a time as any (if not better) to look back at the last year (or decade!) and ahead at the next, while asking the question, “Am I living the life I want to be living?”
I believe we are the authors of our own lives. I believe we can cultivate the sort of quality of life that we most value and admire, and that brings a whole variety of happiness into our worlds. So with that said…here’s a few of my intentions as 2010 approaches:
1) I’m starting off with my friend (and brilliant writer) Kate Baggot’s idea for a decade full of pretty dresses. I think that sounds divine!
2) Less gossip! Zip it, Peach.
3) HORSEBACK RIDING. I really want to do this.
4) More time with friends, more girls nights out.
5) Fewer hours in front of the laptop.
6) Finding time for hikes with my hubby.
Notice that nowhere on my list does it say finish college, recover from an eating disorder, move across the country, get a master’s degree, get married, write a book, have a baby, or anything too reminiscent of the last ten years. I’m thinking small in the ’10s. Just like, living my life. (That’s not to say I won’t necessarily have another baby or get another degree or write another book…it’s just to say that, well, I’m not going to commit myself to those things!)
What’s your list like?
Tune in for my interview with Jeanie Manchester and the Own It, Sister! team on December 28, 1pm PST!
This time of year, I’m brimming with gratitude. The holidays used to stress me out, in fact, I remember wanting to avoid family situations, gift-giving, and decorating altogether. The year I lived in Boston, I went for a long solo run around the reservoir, spent a quiet Christmas day with my brother, and went home to my apartment to binge in privacy on cookies & peanut butter.
I look back on those lonely days and feel so immensely grateful for the full life that recovery has given me. My daughter is about to turn one and my home is filled with the scent of pine from my first Christmas tree as a married woman! There is so much to celebrate right now (including the winter solstice on Monday) that I can’t help but feel giddy.
Whether you have the extra cash to shop or not, it’s the perfect time of year to recognize your loved ones. In my yoga classes I’ve been inviting students to use their breath to send well-wishes to friends and family. The power of thought and intention can make a difference. Smile, reach out, offer a hug or a hand. And not just to your co-workers or your parents, but to yourself, too.
From my heart to yours, I offer you love and fulfillment this holiday season.
I’ll be reading from my book Diary of an Exercise Addict on December 19, 6:30pm, at Asha Yoga in Sacramento. Hope you can make it!
my book, Diary of an Exercise Addict was just released in paperback. i love the new cover. check it out!
it is november, after all…
1. jeffrey & victoria. we are messy, but we make it work.
2. teaching my 6am classes at asha yoga. i know it might sound crazy, but it’s a blessing to start my day this way. even when it means leaving my house in the dark after only a few hours of sleep!
3. my dear, old friend anna. i love you.
4. my new pair of cowboy boots!
5. cool, refreshing autumn air. perfect for walking. thank you, sacramento, for finally rewarding us after the long hot summer.
My mom is in town visiting this week. I’ve re-written that sentence a few times already, because it doesn’t really feel like she’s visiting. When my mom comes to town, we don’t go out to eat or visit museums or drive to Napa. Instead, we nest.
Now that I’m a mom myself, I need my mother more than ever. The constant selfless giving that comes from mothering does inherently give back, in the breathless, giggly smiles coming from my sweet Victoria’s plump pink cheeks when she looks at me, and nothing is sweeter than that, to be sure. But I never realize quite how depleted & strung out I am until my own in-the-flesh mother comes to the rescue.
Projects that I don’t have the time or energy for during my day to day have finally been tackled, under my mother’s wing, and I’m happy to say my closet is half as full as it was last week (and what’s left are the clothes I actually like, without holes, armpit stains, and that fit properly). Victoria’s wardrobe got an overhaul too, and we folded the tiny t-shirts and onesies she’s grown out of, tucked away in case we ever decide to risk it for baby #2(!).
Cleaning closets might not sound fun to everyone, but I can’t imagine a more nurturing way of spending time with my mom. Creating openness and accessibility in my home feels, literally, refreshing. And invigorating. And makes me happy to climb into bed at night in my stripey jammies, knowing everything is in place and my mom’s hands were there to help.
Beyond cleaning out and de-cluttering, we’ve also been cooking. After watching Julie & Julia, we decided to make boeuf bourguignon. My mother took classes at Le Cordon Bleu herself when she was young, and knows much more than I do about french cooking. So, I acted as her assistant, swigging a few sips of red wine straight from the bottle as we chopped and browned and simmered and…eventually ate.
Here we are at cooking school in Florence this summer:
My mom can’t stay forever, as she has her own life (and work) back home, but I intend to carry some of her inspiration and creativity with me when she goes. At least enough to tide me over until our next visit!
Even as I write this, I know that the real trick is learning to mother myself, while I act as a mother for my own daughter. How do you manage to be your own mom?
Most days I nag him: Oh my heavens, what would it take for your to put your shoes away just once?? And other days I whisper with girlfriends on long walks or cell phone chats about how men just don’t get it and they never will…
But the fact is, I married this guy for a reason and I would like to tell the world (or the small fraction of the world that looks at this blog) that I love him. Like, a lot.
This month three years ago he wrote me an email:
From: Jeffrey Dumars
Date: October 10, 2006 3:46:27 PM PDT
Subject: Re: hi
To: Peach Friedman
good for you peach-e. you’re happiness brings me happiness.
i’m sure it will pull together for you.
glad you’re coming back to Sac this weekend. what else would you like to do this weekend?
It’s a simple email (complete with spelling errors) but it reminds me of that rush I felt when we were first dating, the rush I’d feel every time an email from him lit up my inbox. I was living in Palo Alto; he was in Sacramento, and we’d travel between our cities every other weekend or so to run around the great state of California hiking, skiing, playing tennis, eating at fabulous restaurants and making lots of noise. When we weren’t galavanting around this state, we were jetting up to Portland, or back east to Virginia. Jeffrey documented much of that year and four months of our courtship (pre-engagement) in photographs.
We were goofy, carefree, and falling in love. No real expectations yet, thus no real let downs yet. No financial stress, no sleeplessness (except the blissed-out pre-skiing nights, but those were self-induced) or baby worries.
That stage of life is gone. My twenties spent dating and blowing all my money on weekend trips and clothes–gone. And what we have now might look a lot different (I’m far less blonde and use eye cream now, plus everywhere we go we tote around a 23-pound, smiley, drooling baby), but beneath all the surface changes, somewhere in there we’re still Peach & Jeffrey, traipsing around the state (or globe, as we did this summer). There’s new stresses, we sometimes feel tied down, and we can’t fly by the seat of our pants quite as often, but still…I love our little life.
Plus, he’s a good dad.
this is just how it appears on my recipe card:
PUMPKIN MUFFINS
2 eggs
1 c sugar
1/2 can pumpkin
1/2 cup oil
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg)
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon powder
pinch salt
1 cup choc chips
1 2/3 cup flour
15-20 min at 400 preheated
Mom says you put everything in together and then mix it…don’t over mix. And it’s good to sprinkle granulated sugar on top just before you put them in the oven!!
i usually double the recipe because it calls for 1/2 can so it’s simple to make a batch x2. also i actually HALF the amount of chocolate chips because, as much as i love chocolate, i like the pumpkin flavor and i thought this recipe had too many chips. so for me that usually looks like doubling the recipe but keeping the choc chip amount the same.
anyway, they’re yummy, & i’m eating one right now!
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