Chocolate Bark .. My Not-So-Guilty Pleasure

I have discovered the joy of bark.

A cleanse I did at the beginning of the year and for a little treat it allowed a bittersweet chocolate bark.   It was light on sugar and heavy on nuts and dried fruit.  And I found that just a tiny bit was enough to give me a chocolate fix if I needed.

The bark is now a staple in my house.  I love that I can add in any nuts, seeds or fruit that I want so I can adjust it based on desire or convenience.  I love that it take 2 minutes to make.

Melt bittersweet chocolate int he microwave in 30 second intervals until almost completely melted.  Then stir to melt entirely.

Pour the chocolate onto a sheetpan lined with plastic wrap or parchment and spread until fairly thin.

Sprinkle on your choice of nuts, seeds and/or dried fruit.  I also like to add a bit of sea salt or crushed peppercorns and sometimes even some herbs.  This bark was sunflower seeds, dried cranberries and black sea salt.  But my favorite is almond and coconut!

Let the bark chill in the fridge until hard and then break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Gypsy Curtain Tutorial

We renovated my youngest daughter's bedroom last spring.  And the contractor has yet to find and install a closet door.

So I have taken matters in to my own hands.  I made her a really cool curtain door.

I started with a beaded curtain and installed it inside the closet.

Then I hit the fabric store and bought 4 different fabrics in the color palette I wanted. I selected fabrics that where not to stiff so that they would fall nicely.  I bought 3 yards of each to be sure I had the length tho span the height of my door.  I also purchased some spools of thin ribbon in my color palette.

I spent the following few hours cutting strips of fabric approximately 3 inches wide and longer than the door. I took 3 strips of fabric and tied them to the curtain rod and braided them together and knotted them when I reached the bottom.  Perfection is not necessary here!  I filled the entire rod with strips of braided fabric.

I added in a few strips of fabric without braiding them.

And then I tied on pieces of the ribbon.

Voila!  A whimsical, gypsy curtain!

Fear ... The Real Reason Behind Discomfort and Indecision

Today I had the realization that discomfort is just a giant flashing sign that is trying to tell you that you are veering away from doing something because you love it and are heading in a direction fueled by fear.

My realization took place yesterday afternoon.  I was sitting in the waiting room of my daughter's dance studio discussing with another mom how I really wanted to go next door and order a pizza for dinner but I am doing this cleanse so there is no cheese or wheat for me this week and I would instead be heading home to make baked cod with crispy kale and quinoa cakes.  I sat there thinking about and discussing my decision.  For a long time.

Then I thought that I was feeling awfully uncomfortable over this silly situation and giving a lot of thought.  And I realized it was because I was afraid.  So I broke it down.

If I was happy with my plan to have kale and cod and quinoa for dinner then there would have been no discomfort.  

If I really, really wanted to eat pizza for dinner then I would have saved the cod for the next night and happily gone next door to order the pizza.

What I was doing was questioning my decision to have the cod for dinner because I was afraid I was going to be unsatisfied and I was afraid that I was too tired to cook.  My fear was leading me to abandon my original decision and go order a pizza.

This dinner dilemma helped me to realize that each and every time I am feeling uncomfortable... with a dance move, with an outfit, with a decision I have made... I am letting my fear creep in and try to tempt me away from a decision I made and loved.  

When a dance move enters the combo and makes me uncomfortable, it is because I have stopped just loving to dance and have let fear ask me if I look silly doing this new move.  

When I look in the mirror at the outfit I put together makes me uncomfortable, it is because I have stopped loving my own style and have let fear ask me if other people will think I made a poor choice for my body.

When I run the same decision over and over again in my head because it is making me uncomfortable, it is because I have stopped loving my decision and have let fear ask me if people will think I made a bad call.

I think this happens to work for physical discomfort as well as mental discomfort.  Like when you go horseback riding in the middle of winter and get stuck in a freezing rainstorm.  If you spend the whole ride back letting fear ask you why you thought that was a good idea or letting fear ask why you didn't dress everyone in snow pants then you will be a whole lot more uncomfortable than if you just continued to love your decision to go for a nice trail ride as a family!

That's not to say that there won't be times that you have made a decision and then something you love even more comes along and you change your mind.  But then you are doing it out of love, not fear.  And there won't be any discomfort associated with that change of heart at all!  

From this day forward I vow that when I feel uncomfortable, I will ask myself what I'm afraid of and take that stuff off the table so that my original decision feels comfortable again.  I vow I will never spend quite so much time wondering if I should order a pizza!