Spring means flower buds and blooming trees – and if you’re one of the millions of people who have springtime allergies, it also means sneezing, congestion, runny nose and other bothersome symptoms. Springtime allergies can make you pretty miserable, especially if you’re prone to the…
Now that spring is here, it is time for me to get back on my running schedule and I love doing it outside as often as possible. However, when doing this there are a few reminders that I need to give myself about being safe…
Feminism. This word hadn’t come up in a while for me, but has suddenly popped up repeatedly. I wrote an article a few years back about women in punk music, consider myself a feminist, and believe I am considered a feminist by others. My interpretation…
I recently came across a blog on Gaiam.com by Alison Neumer Lara, republished with permission from Earth911, entitled: Are females really the greener gender? I thought it was relevant as we move into April and approach Earth Day, April 22. The blog went into detail…
January 1st never felt quite right to me to celebrate and honor the new year’s turnaround, with it’s inherent hope and determination of starting anew for ourselves. It’s still the middle of winter, for goodness sake! A time needed for resting and comfort, not new ventures. Is it any…
Hearing the term ‘spring forward’ so much lately has me daydreaming about the day that it actually starts to feel like spring. Many of my daydreams tend to have a food related theme and one that I can’t escape right now is the longing for…
“Punk is not limited. Punk embraces everything but rejects ignorance. Punk grows like a tree. Punk is universal. Punk is fun, humor, rebellion and individualism. It’s like a child: free, honest and sweet and sometimes very loud and even angry, silly, and ridiculous.” ~Nina Hagen…
What do you write about when you don’t feel particularly inspired or creative? Winter in Portland can certainly be a challenging season for many of us, I know it is for me. It’s times like these I try to remind myself of the simple pleasures…
This week at the airport, we celebrated our first anniversary of our Portland International Airport location with an Open House and free massages. In February of 2010, the Dragontree was chosen to be the first, and only, full service day spa at PDX. The spa,…
As I take my daily walks this time of year, I am filled with delight at the tiny signs of spring popping up, reminding us of the regenerative power of nature. The Daphne flowers are starting to open up, filling the air with deliriously heady…
Working at the airport I am consistently reminded of and continually amazed by how little time it takes to make a big difference. Time is so valuable especially when travelling or working and it is truly gratifying when you can see the positive impact that…
I think the first thing I (and many others) always forget in living this life is self -compassion. I’ve been through A LOT the last few years. There is very little that has been consistent and most of the change has happened suddenly and harshly….
In the movies, when a person sits down to write something epic, they start with a few good, but not good enough ideas. Jotting down just a few sentences before it comes to them, looking up at the camera, no, just beyond the camera realizing, “they’ve…
I’m sick. Who’s with me? I work full time, am a mom to a (germ carrying) toddler who goes to pre-school 3 days/week, and I’m also a wife who tries to keep the house clean and healthy dinners ready for my family.All of that running…
I keep hearing a tremendous amount of discussion about ‘detoxing’ and ‘cleansing’ over the past few weeks. I suppose the start of a new year gets people in the mood to start fresh and make some self improvements. I know I certainly could use a…
In Part One I discussed what vitamin D was and how it’s produced in the body. In Part Two, I’d like to talk about some of it’s sources, health benefits, and appropriate levels for your body. Vitamin D is available in some food sources such as…
Why must we wait for the new year to make significant changes? There is something about the flip of a year that we as humans can comprehend a bit more? I watched a movie the other day called “Touching the Void” about a climbing incident…
I challenged myself to write a blog in 15 minutes. Can it be done? As if it was an assignment. It actually reminds of an exercise I did in a community creative writing class way back when. A mere 13 years old I hesitantly approached…
In my earlier days, I used to be a gardener here in Portland. It was a terrific experience working on lovely estates and perennial gardens in neighborhoods I don’t normally have a chance to linger too long in. I learned a valuable lesson back then,…
I love that this is the time of year that I don’t have to feel overly guilty about staying in and getting cozy. It’s the perfect time to get caught up on movies and even do a little marathon TV viewing. Of course, along with…
Until recently, vitamin D was known primarily as a secondary nutrient to calcium in helping build stronger bones by helping calcium move from the stomach to the bloodstream and then into the skeletal system. The major biologic function of vitamin D is to maintain normal…