For a while now, my friend Lacy and I have been chatting on the topic of "happiness". What is it? Where does it come from? How do we get more of it? What makes us really happy? What makes one person a "happy person" and another not? The questions are endless, but the research, it turns out, is fun! We have in no way become experts, but have learned one thing: Happiness is, among other things, a practice. So like anything else we want to do better, we must make it a habit.
Lacy has been 'practicing' for a long time now, and I feel she has a lot to share on the topic. So when I decided to start this blog, I asked her if she would do regular guest-posts to talk about it. I plan to make a habit of reading them. xoxo, Leigh

Dress for Happy.

Hi all! Lacy here!

The great musical Annie said  "It's what you wear from ear-to-ear and not from head-to-toe that ma-ha-ha-tters!" I'm going to politely say it totally matters what you wear from head-to-toe. The way you dress can be completely happy-making!

I was recently sharing a beer with a stranger in an airport. I love airport drinking, love it. I feel so grown up sitting there with myself on a journey drinking a beer or having a glass of wine! We were in the security line together and then ended up seated next to each other at the airport watering hole so naturally we struck up conversation. I was dressed in bright purple leggings, ruffled mini dress, bulky gray sweater and half booties. I admittedly looked a little over the top but was totally comfy and proud of myself for being so bold with color. She looked comfy, sophisticated and put together in her jeans and sporty Adidas top and diamond stud earrings. She said that looking at me in line she wondered what I did for a living and complimented me on my fun clothes. ...Said I looked like someone with a story. Well, it just so happens that I have lots of them and so does she!

As we sat and talked she shared how she started off in corporate America where she had to dress in complete suits each day. Not separates. Suits! She looked at me and said, "I owned a brief case!" with this tone and look on her face of utter disbelief that I will remember for a long time. She was dressing for the job and every fiber of that tasteful suit was strangling her. I commiserated about my time spent in the cubicle and talked about how I ached for a life where I could wear stretchy pants everyday if I wanted to. Enter my yoga studio days where I did just that. Though for all those years I kept a pair of slacks (that were too tight and added to the misery of their place in my closet), a suit (that was too big), several sensible button downs + closed toed shoes 'just in case.' The day that I finally let go of those clothes I was free.

Now each day I dress myself in clothes that make me happy. Some days I look preppy, some days I look like a hipster, some days a bit like an orphan but always I'm comfortable and dressing for myself, for my life and for my happiness. I believe that clothes define stages in our life. They symbolize how we spend our days, our money, who we lend our time to and who we are.

What are your clothes saying about you? Are you proud in them? Comfy? Happy?
Could buying a pair of jeans that actually fit right here, right now save you some sanity + heartache?
Is there anything taking up space in your closet that you can let go of?

Clearing space brings literal + emotional room for more!
More happiness + more clothes that feel like this version of you.

To your happiness + to jeans that make your ass look amazing (we all deserve a pair or two of those)!

xo, Lacy

Lacy Young is a professional happy person ©. You can find out more about her on her blog. 

For a while now, my friend Lacy and I have been chatting on the topic of "happiness". What is it? Where does it come from? How do we get more of it? What makes us really happy? What makes one person a "happy person" and another not? The questions are endless, but the research, it turns out, is fun! We have in no way become experts, but have learned one thing: Happiness is, among other things, a practice. So like anything else we want to do better, we must make it a habit.
Lacy has been 'practicing' for a long time now, and I feel she has a lot to share on the topic. So when I decided to start this blog, I asked her if she would do regular guest-posts to talk about it. I plan to make a habit of reading them. xoxo, Leigh

Buying Happiness

Hi All! Lacy Here!

I'm here to tell you that money can buy you happiness.

Did all your red flags and beliefs about money and happiness just go up? We've been so trained to believe things like "money doesn't grow on trees" and happiness is often reserved for special occasions when it's appropriate to celebrate.  I've found life to be way more interesting and fun treating everyday like a celebration and releasing fears about money. The little apartment in the pit of my stomach where anxiety and worry over money used to live is now filled with love and trust that all is well and I always have everything I need. I'm not suggesting you need money to be happy but I am suggesting that you take just a little bit of it and buy things that create the essence of the life you want to live!  

I took a soul journey to Hawaii for two and a half months earlier this year and part of the take home from that experience was the realization of the importance of essence. Maybe you can't be on vacation all the time but you can foster a vacation mentality. Maybe you can't fly to the Napa Valley but you can create a fabulous cheese board and wine tasting at home.  That's essence.

So here we are all moved into our new Texas abode and the backyard has the most perfect hammock tree! And for me right now, happiness is a $50 hammock (total score 1/2 off on sale at Anthro and found via an instagram friend-- I LOVE the power of community and connecting via the web- such good stuff). I've wanted a hammock since I was a kid... truly for as long as I can remember a hammock, a scooter and a tepee have topped the list. My powder blue scooter is my main mode of transport these days and the hammock is now the spot where I do all my best thinking. It's just a teensy tiny detail in this new house and this new life in Texas but it's one of the things that makes today special. It's one of the things that gives me that feel good feeling called happiness.

What do you want to feel and experience?

What would add a little or a lot of delight to your days?

How can you invest in that feeling?  What can you invest in to create that experience? Can you get creative around it?

We love a challenge! Here's to the little details that make you oh so happy!  And to Leigh for being one of my great teachers on creating the kind of life I want to live.

Lacy Young is a professional happy person. You can find out more about her on her blog.

For a while now, my friend Lacy and I have been chatting on the topic of "happiness". What is it? Where does it come from? How do we get more of it? What makes us really happy? What makes one person a "happy person" and another not? The questions are endless, but the research, it turns out, is fun! We have in no way become experts, but have learned one thing: Happiness is, among other things, a practice. So like anything else we want to do better, we must make it a habit.
Lacy has been 'practicing' for a long time now, and I feel she has a lot to share on the topic. So when I decided to start this blog, I asked her if she would do regular guest-posts to talk about it. I plan to make a habit of reading them. xoxo, Leigh

Jump, Leap, Trust.

Hi all! Lacy here!

There’s a story that I sometimes read to my clients about jumping into the void. The message is that we think life is when we’re on solid ground but really, in truth life happens in the moments where we’re in the air leaping between the two places. When we can come to realize the impermanence, the illusions and reality of change then we’re free to experience life in a whole new way. For some it’s just a concept to entertain for others it’s a way of life. You get to choose where you land on the spectrum.

What I know of happiness is that it’s about finding it in all places, especially the places called transition. 

Happiness is a muscle that you exercise and a way of thinking that is not only practiced with diligence but also a healthy sense of humor. Transition is one of those special places that can either be wrought with angst or filled with head shaking, belly busting laughter. When you get to that place in your life remember that you get the choice to plant your feet firmly and not budge or to be flexible… to jump, leap and trust.

Here's to jumping right into the void!

Lacy Young is a professional happy person. You can find out more about her on her blog.

For a while now, my friend Lacy and I have been chatting on the topic of "happiness". What is it? Where does it come from? How do we get more of it? What makes us really happy? What makes one person a "happy person" and another not? The questions are endless, but the research, it turns out, is fun! We have in no way become experts, but have learned one thing: Happiness is, among other things, a practice. So like anything else we want to do better, we must make it a habit.
Lacy has been 'practicing' for a long time now, and I feel she has a lot to share on the topic. So when I decided to start this blog, I asked her if she would do regular guest-posts to talk about it. I plan to make a habit of reading them. xoxo, Leigh

Happy Whirled:

Hi All! Lacy Here!

This summer on Leigh's California adventure I got to spend some time with her and the mister and in the process we discovered a shared love of blended concoctions.  We're talking serious smoothie recipe sharing here people.

In our house we start the day with either green juice or a smoothie. This simple formula will get you blending with endless possibilities:  

LIQUID + FRUIT + SWEET + BOOST = YUM

1. For a belly-loving smoothie you'll need 10 oz of liquid.  
Choose from coconut milk or almond milk (coconut is my favorite for this recipe)

2. Then add two cups of the frozen fruit of your choice.
Try one cup mango and one cup pineapple (you will seriously love this, it's like perpetual summer in the tropics)

We always use frozen fruit and never use ice. If you want to thicken your smoothie use a frozen banana.

3. Add an element of sweet.
We used either a soaked date or a tablespoon or two of raw honey.

A note on:

honey.  Go raw and go local.  It's one of those things you will always find in my kitchen.  Let those happy buzzing bees boost your immune system with their sweet handy work.  Eating local honey can help to reduce allergies and it's a great way to sweeten while avoiding the sugar crash that comes with processed table sugar.

dates.
You can buy dates at the grocery store in the produce section.  They are usually about the size of your thumb, brown and a little sticky.  Once home remove the pits and then place in an airtight container in water and place in the fridge. The dates will soften and blend into your smoothie easily.  You can keep them in the fridge for a couple of weeks (or longer).

4. Give it a little super boost.
If you like you can add a superfood supplement to your smoothie to give it a little kick.
We're all about Maca in our house at the moment. Maca powder increases stamina and helps to combat fatigue. My favorite "boosts" come from Navitas Naturals

If you're just beginning to explore the world of superfoods, start with Cacao Nibs!  They're little pieces of antioxidant rich raw chocolate.  They are perfect in a smoothie and full of nutrient rich iron and minerals.

Here's to your health & happy taste buds!
Love, Lacy

_____________________________________________________________________________

Thriving Through the Holidays : Group Health Coaching Give Away!!

I am embarking on a healthy journey this holiday season and I want you to join me!! I have had the pleasure of having Lacy in my life for a good while now and have gotten to watch her shape her passion for healthy living and happy eating into a genuine mission. This is not a fast or new fancy cleanse. It's not a regimen or even a diet. It is a time that you set aside to dedicate to taking care of yourself and your little ol' body. It is about celebrating food and health and all the amazing ways that they are intertwined. It is a fast track to happy and habits of happiness, and I want you to get to do it.

Lacy has partnered with Lisa from: With Style and Grace and the together they have created something really special for you. They have generously offered me two prizes to award my fabulous readers! One reader will win a free spot in the "Thriving Through the Holidays" Group Health Coaching Session (Nov. 22nd - Jan 31) and a second reader will win $100 off!!

A little bit more about the course:

 Who is this for?

• Those wanting a different relationship with food: stop counting calories, understand your body, gain confidence in food choices, experience overall happiness in your life, set and accomplish goals, understand and reduce cravings, explore new foods.
• Women of all ages committed to their health and well-being.
• Women who are new or curious about exploring the naturally gluten-free lifestyle and those who want more energy by eliminating gluten from their diet.

Sessions are held via phone, once every two weeks for an hour.

What's the benefit?

• Open up the possibilities for a new way of life and a new relationship with food.
• Sense of community to help support your goals and hold you accountable.
• Learn health benefits and how to prepare new foods.

For just $299, you get . . .

• Three months of consultancy and advocacy to help you achieve your goals.
• Healthy, easy and creative ways to make recipes.
• Gift box full of healthy swag, clever reminders in support of your path.

You can get all the info you want: here. You can also sign up for the session here and here.

To enter the give-away:

Go to Lacy's Facebook Page and click "like" maybe even post a little hello there. Then leave a comment on this post telling me why you want to be part of this and what you hope to get out of it!

Act quickly, winners will be chosen on Wednesday November16th at 5pm EST.

Yay! I am so excited for this! Thanks Lacy for putting this out into the world!

For a while now, my friend Lacy and I have been chatting on the topic of "happiness". What is it? Where does it come from? How do we get more of it? What makes us really happy? What makes one person a "happy person" and another not? The questions are endless, but the research, it turns out, is fun! We have in no way become experts, but have learned one thing: Happiness is, among other things, a practice. So like anything else we want to do better, we must make it a habit.
Lacy has been 'practicing' for a long time now, and I feel she has a lot to share on the topic. So when I decided to start this blog, I asked her if she would do regular guest-posts to talk about it. I plan to make a habit of reading them. xoxo, Leigh

Food Rx:

Hi All! Lacy Here!

If there's one thing I've learned from my college days of baking and eating funfetti cake (no disrespect to Ms. Betty Crocker) for breakfast, lunch and dinner it is that food has tremendous power.  If ever there was a Rx for happy it's through amazing life giving foods.  
I'm delighted to bring you a few tips that you can take right to your lips.

1. Are you sitting down?  Ready?!  Fat is your friend.  Omega-3 fats are household names now-a-days but are you getting enough of them?  They are essential to brain health and have been linked to improve depression! Flaxseeds, salmon and walnuts are your friends!   

2. Eat at regular intervals to keep your blood sugar level.  Level blood sugar means you stay perky and those you love get to keep their heads.

3. Get complicated... go for complex carbs like grains and veggies.  Complex carbohydrates provide a consistent mental state and keeps you happily fuller longer.  Spoonful of nut butter anyone?

There you go, three little tips to keep you in the land of bliss and healthy benefits!

Here's to your health!
 

Lacy Young is a professional happy person. You can find out more about her on her blog.

For a while now, my friend Lacy and I have been chatting on the topic of "happiness". What is it? Where does it come from? How do we get more of it? What makes us really happy? What makes one person a "happy person" and another not? The questions are endless, but the research, it turns out, is fun! We have in no way become experts, but have learned one thing: Happiness is, among other things, a practice. So like anything else we want to do better, we must make it a habit.
Lacy has been 'practicing' for a long time now, and I feel she has a lot to share on the topic. So when I decided to start this blog, I asked her if she would do regular guest-posts to talk about it. I plan to make a habit of reading them. xoxo, Leigh

P.S. The image above is by Ezra Caldwell of Fast Boy Cycles. I stumbled on his blog recently and have been following his journey (whether he knows it or not!). I have not been so moved by someone's resolve and general spirit like this in awhile. He is a lucky and brave soul. Check him out here.

Shout your dreams

I read somewhere recently that children don't whisper their dreams and it made me pause.  I love the idea of a whisper.  I say it all the time... that I am whispering out this or that into the universe on the behalf of someone I love.  It comes from the place of pure sincerity in me.  I love to whisper BUT when it comes to dreaming I'm in absolute agreement... it's time we shout!  It's true that children shout their dreams out at you and any one who will listen.  Children say their dreams as is if it's so because all they know is infinite possibility.   And who am I to say that you can't grown up to have a unicorn farm and rainbow snow cone stand?!

So in response consider that today is the day...
Today is the day to explore your infinite possibilities!
Today is the day to know your dreams can be.  
Today is the day for less stress, more energy and an abundance of happy.   
Today is the day to play.
Today is the day to hoola hoop, to run and jump and be outside.  
Today is the day to create.
Today is the day for focus.
Today is the day for calm.
Today is the day to believe in yourself.
Today is the day to become the person you always believed you could be.
Today is the day to open your mind and your heart.
Today is the day to let go of your limitations.
Today is the day to write down all your ideas for happiness!  
 

I hope this finds you inspired.  I hope this finds your dreams very much alive!
Sending shouts, not whispers of love to you today.

Lacy Young is a professional happy person. You can find out more about her on her blog.

For a while now, my friend Lacy and I have been chatting on the topic of "happiness". What is it? Where does it come from? How do we get more of it? What makes us really happy? What makes one person a "happy person" and another not? The questions are endless, but the research, it turns out, is fun! We have in no way become experts, but have learned one thing: Happiness is, among other things, a practice. So like anything else we want to do better, we must make it a habit.
Lacy has been 'practicing' for a long time now, and I feel she has a lot to share on the topic. So when I decided to start this blog, I asked her if she would do regular guest-posts to talk about it. I plan to make a habit of reading them. xoxo, Leigh

Sit with it.  On Meditation.

Lacy here. I've just emerged from 4 days in bed with the flu. It was the rotten kind. After days of fever and sore throat I was finally starting to feel like myself again. I got in bed on Thursday and on Easter Sunday about 5:00 I decided it was time to get up and venture downstairs to sit in the sunlight on the patio while the getting was good. I got to thinking that 4 days spent any other way would have been a luxury and I realized that for the last 4 days I didn't think about much. I spent my days focused inward on the sensations swirling or pounding inside my body, on the fever that was fighting for me and on my breath. When I couldn't breathe I stacked up all my pillows, covered my eyes with a damp cloth, closed my eyes and focused inward on that spot between my eyebrows, often called the third eye. Each time the fever would spike again I'd do the same. 10 minutes would turn to 50 and before I knew it I had been meditating for over an hour.  

Meditation has become a way of life for me and a key ingredient to my habits of happiness (even through sickness). In the last few weeks I've even gone so far as to buy myself a fancy meditation cushion.    

Mediation reduces blood pressure, which reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases. It reduces stress levels by creating a safe quiet space for you to go to and hit your internal reset button. Once you cultivate that sense of calm within you will be able to more easily access it anytime you need. Meditation won't suck the stress out of your life but it WILL give you the tools you need to better handle and therefore reduce the stress in your life.  For me less stress has always equaled more happiness.

Are you giving yourself deliberate moments on quiet each day?  
Would you be willing to?  

Start small, find 5 minutes at the same time everyday that you can carve out to sit, close your eyes and just breathe.  Set your phone to vibrate 5 minutes later so you know when you're done.  Once you master 5 up it to 7 and so on.  Before you know it time will pass in a blink and you will feel refreshed and grounded.  

Here's to the best 5 to 20 minutes in your day!

Lacy Young is a professional happy person. You can find out more about her on her blog.

For a while now, my friend Lacy and I have been chatting on the topic of "happiness". What is it? Where does it come from? How do we get more of it? What makes us really happy? What makes one person a "happy person" and another not? The questions are endless, but the research, it turns out, is fun! We have in no way become experts, but have learned one thing: Happiness is, among other things, a practice. So like anything else we want to do better, we must make it a habit.
Lacy has been 'practicing' for a long time now, and I feel she has a lot to share on the topic. So when I decided to start this blog, I asked her if she would do regular guest-posts to talk about it. I plan to make a habit of reading them. xoxo, Leigh

Let's Be Neighborly

Some time ago I saw an Oprah episode on happiness.  Naturally Goldie Hawn was her guest, love her!  They talked about San Luis Obispo, California.  It's considered the happiest place to live in America.  It's on the coast, the sun shines abundantly, they were the first to ban smoking in restaurants, they widened sidewalks so bicycling is a major mode of transportation, they do not allow fast food chains in their town.  That's right folks, there's not a single drive through!  It's a place of mom and pop shops where people know their neighbors!  It's in every sense a community.

Now I am not packing my bags and heading south to San Luis (that's what we call it here) and I suspect you are not either so how do we create a that happiest place feel without ever leaving home?  Easy, walk next door and meet your neighbor!  Go to a girls night and invest in friendships and laughter.  A sure-fire way to create a life in a place is to develop relationships that leave you feeling like someone cares that you live there.  

When my mom was pregnant with my little brother she met a gal in her Lamaze class and they've been friends ever since.  That was nearly 20 years ago.  At 32 I can now easily measure my friends by decade and life chapter.  It's one of my favorite parts about flipping the calendar pages.  And lately my favorite little event is a monthly craft night lovingly called the Stitch & Bitch.  We get together and work on little sewing projects and when needed bitch though, I have to say we are a pretty positive bunch.  Love those girls.

So how about you?  Are you living in your version of the happiest place?  What's your fave part about where you live?

Here's to happiness and knowing your neighbors!

Lacy Young is a professional happy person. You can find out more about her on her blog.

For a while now, my friend Lacy and I have been chatting on the topic of "happiness". What is it? Where does it come from? How do we get more of it? What makes us really happy? What makes one person a "happy person" and another not? The questions are endless, but the research, it turns out, is fun! We have in no way become experts, but have learned one thing: Happiness is, among other things, a practice. So like anything else we want to do better, we must make it a habit.
Lacy has been 'practicing' for a long time now, and I feel she has a lot to share on the topic. So when I decided to start this blog, I asked her if she would do regular guest-posts to talk about it. I plan to make a habit of reading them. xoxo, Leigh

Hand Me Up!!

There's something so wonderful about giving and receiving. I pride myself on being a giver. I just love to give for the sake of making someone's day sparkle a little brighter.  Some of my fave things lately are hand me ups.  Ok so yes- I know they are traditionally called 'hand me downs' but as a glass half full kind of girl I am deeming them 'hand me ups'!  My iphone was a hand me up from a girlfriend who upgraded and didn't want to let her old one just lay around. It is now of course, appropriately dressed in a fancy Curly Girl Skin!  You never know when something that is seemingly out of date or used up to you can bring joy to someone else. I mean seriously that phone is never far from me and because I had my own I didn't have to get a contract for my service, double score!    

A few rules of thumb for maximum hand me up happiness:

1.  Don't pass it off as new. There's just no need. The days of secret re-gifting are long gone. Saying --hey I am not using this anymore and thought you might like it is plenty nice enough.

2. Send the good stuff. Your gently-worn-just-not-quite-right-on-you sweater may become your gal pal's all time favorite sweater!

3. Box it up. The potential for a party in a box is huge with hand me ups! And let's face it anything in the mail that is not a bill is a total delight!  Old clothes but new tissue, make a joy to unwrap and discover!  

4. Always include a little handwritten love note. Ahem... on a Curly Girl card of course.

5.Pass it on. If you receive something that isn't quite right for you pass it on to another friend, give it to a homeless person or send it along in your next donation box.

Lacy Young is a professional happy person. You can find out more about her on her blog.

  For a while now, my friend Lacy and I have been chatting on the topic of "happiness". What is it? Where does it come from? How do we get more of it? What makes us really happy? What makes one person a "happy person" and another not? The questions are endless, but the research, it turns out, is fun! We have in no way become experts, but have learned one thing: Happiness is, among other things, a practice. So like anything else we want to do better, we must make it a habit.
Lacy has been 'practicing' for a long time now, and I feel she has a lot to share on the topic. So when I decided to start this blog, I asked her if she would do regular guest-posts to talk about it. I plan to make a habit of reading them. xoxo, Leigh

Lighten up to Brighten up!

It's as involuntary as breathing in and out... you read one of her cards and say to yourself Y-E-S!  Sometimes it's a small little soft yes that says that her words touched your heart in such a tender way and sometimes is a gigantic billboard sized YES to symbolize that OMG DUH- how does she always said it just right?!  I call it her YES factor, Leigh has it in bucket loads and every time I read one of her cards it's there again.  When I read "Just wait until you see what is possible when you shine your little light on the world" it got me thinking... In order to truly shine we have to recharge.

Each year I choose a word and with it comes a list of goals.  This year my word is lighten and one of my goals is a Sunday Unplug to Recharge.  It's a time where I pry my phone and computer from my hands and turn everything OFF. I completed my first successful Silent Sunday last week and I gotta say it was HARD for me to do but totally worth it.  I saw my phone sitting on the table all day and resisted the urge to pick it up like a 100 times.  I went into my studio, cleaned, puttered and had an entire day technology free and this brilliant thing happened.  I found myself completely transformed.  The day-to-day stress of endless to do list's was replaced with conversations with myself and singing show tunes.

The next day I woke up ridiculously happy so much so that my husband said ---yeah so Silent Sunday is my favorite thing ever.

At the root of happiness is an undeniable light.  How you cultivate your light to completely up to you.  It doesn't have to be Silent Sunday in your house but I strongly suggest you find something that will recharge you and then make a standing appointment with yourself and defend it with wild enthusiasm.    

Here's to shining brightly together!
Lacy

Lacy Young is a professional happy person. You can find out more about her on her blog.