Saturday, October 15, 2011

Let My Favorite Season Begin






The boyfriend and I had a lovely afternoon today that consisted of taking Brooklyn to the pumpkin patch and then a visit to the Meditation Gardens at the Self Realization Fellowship Temple in Encinitas (A gorgeous and serene must see if you are in the area).

The pumpkin patch, a necessity for me every October, was abound with small children adorned in orange and black with funky spiderweb and ghost clad socks, sparkley-painted faces and I think I even saw a Halloween tutu. Boyfriend made the astute observation that we were the only people that brought the DOG and not the kid to the patch to take pictures. But, he humored me nonetheless and posed with that rockstar smile. Here are some photos from our afternoon!

And here's a little tune to get y'all in the spirit:) Happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Girls' Nights




Today, I am looking forward to spending a lovely evening with a great friend and the author of the fabulous blog The Lonely Wife Project. We plan to drink lots of wine, watch lots of OC reruns, eat lots of yummy food (thank goodness one of us is a good chef, I cheated and got my dessert contribution from the local bakery, shhh) and just enjoy the company of another estrogen fueled beautiful being. Girls' nights are so important for our sanity and well being. Sometimes it's tough to remember to take time out from our busy work schedules, significant others, kids, pets, families etc. to just relax in the company of the ladies, but I'm sure glad we get to do it occasionally! What do y'all like to do with your gal pals?

Here's what's new on my Ipod this week that screams CHICK MUSIC to me!! I love it!

Monday, October 10, 2011

I've Been a Very Bad Blogger/ Check Out My New Kicks!

So I went and did exactly what I swore I would not do and got all gung-ho about my blog for the first couple weeks and then fell off the face of the earth. Shame on me. I must admit, finding the comments on the below article featuring my beautiful baby made my night (Thank you ladies!)

So in my defense.. this blog is about Saturn Return, and I DID turn 29 last week..so my life must be in complete chaos now officially and I was totally distracted by all the cosmic unrest I was subjected to, right?....You are not buying this, clearly.

Actually, I had a fabulous birthday thanks to wonderful family, friends and my adorable boyfriend. There was food a' plenty, thoughtful gifts, beautifully written cards and several glasses (cough, bottles) of wine drunk over the course of the celebration. I am truly blessed with a great life right now and I really can't complain...Who am I kidding, I'm a girl, I'm sure I can find SOMETHING to complain about!

In lieu of my birthday, I bit the bullet and finally made a purchase that I have been wanting to make for several years now and bought the elusive and over-priced Tory Burch ballet flats (thanks Mom and Dad for the Nordie's gift card)!

These are the ones I bought...Nothing too crazy.


And here are some other new ones from this season:







How do we feel about Tory Burch? Hot and you have to have'em? Over-priced and your pinky toe is squished and uncomfortable? Thoughts, ladies?

And thank you for your patience with me as I get this blog a'rollin!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Good Morning, Brooklyn



Meet Marley. Okay, her name is Brooklyn but the nickname has been thrown around upon occasion. I love waking up to my ever faithful Labradors' wet black nose peering over the side of my bed every morning. It's the same routine every day. Whenever she hears me begin to rustle around in my sheets, check emails on the Blackberry, send the morning text to the boyfriend, she unfailing reports for duty at the side of my nightstand. Even when I attempt to feign being asleep to avoid the getting up process this little canine is on to me. Brooklyn will be five this January, which will also mark our four and a half year courtship. She is the product of an impulse trip to the pound after convincing an ex that I could never feel fulfilled by a fish or a guinea pig. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Even when she pees on my pillow when she's angry. Anyone else have that problem?

Monday, September 26, 2011

Mindful Lovin'


Relationships. The hardest and most rewarding aspect of life. They make us laugh, cry, melt, throw stuff, write sappy notes (emails), eat too much ice cream, spend too much time daydreaming, drink too much wine, send mean text messages, send schmaltzy text messages, say things we don't mean, mean things we're scared to say, do sweeter acts than we thought we were capable of, and compromise our girl time to cheer on a touch down, home run, or swoosh(?)

Let's be honest though, they take a hell of a lot of work and no one ever told us that when we were plopped down on the papasan sippin a Capri Sun watching Sleeping Beauty and her handsome prince. As I have previously mentioned, I am big into self help----don't worry, not like Dr. Phil or anything embarrassing like that. This is by far one of the best relationship books I have ever read on applying mindfulness to your relationship. And while there are SO many quotable quotes in this book on mindfulness, ego, trust, acceptance, conflict etc., here's a little exert that I chose to share with a dear friend of mine this morning:


"So many frayed strands of disappointment, some barely noticeable, dangle from our hearts in the complex tapestry of a lifetime. We may experience a great and crushing disappointment about our partner or our relationship at one time or another, or many little ones along the way. Disappointment is a kind of loss, the loss of what we had hoped something was or could be. At bottom is the loss of an illusion to which we were clinging or relied on. The only thing that can be lost, after all, is illusion. Disappointment can lead to despair, the illusion that there is no alternative. But to experience disappointment consciously is to embrace it, learn from it, and go on loving, to accept that all humans are a combination of contradictions. Anyone can please and displease, come through and fail, satisfy and disappoint. No one pleases all the time, yet we do not give up on others. Projections about another person's perfection or trustworthiness collapse as we grow up and arrive at realism."
~David Richo.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

So Long, R.E.M.



In listening to an R.E.M. tribute on 91X this morning on my bagel/gas run, I thought that this would be an appropriate post for today. The band, which has called it quits after over three decades of making music together, has undoubtedly graced the boomboxes, walkmens, discmans and tape decks of all of us eighties babies.




This is my personal fave, "Night Swimming" from the group's eighth album Automatic for the People released in 1992. And here is also an article from Rolling Stone about the breakup; because let's be honest, they know their stuff better than me!

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/r-e-m-break-up-after-three-decades-20110921?link=mostpopular1

Saturday, September 24, 2011

The Joy Formidable



I cannot seem to get enough of this song this month from the album 'The Big Roar'. Introducing The Joy Formidable, a band from North Wales currently residing in London.

They more than satisfy my nostalgia for early nineties girl bands. How about yours? Courtney Love, eat your heart out.

Friday, September 23, 2011

That's Me, I'm Alex!


As I embark upon my third go at the blogosphere, I thought a good place to start would be to tell you a bit about myself and what I intend to write, muse, ponder and expound upon on here.

I'm Alex and in a short week and a half I will be turning 29. This idea of the "Saturn Return" as previously posted about, has always intrigued me as I feel as though my glorified twenties while fun have been anything but smooth sailing.

I'll start by telling you I'm a Marriage and Family Therapist and am eternally grateful that I finally found my calling in life career wise. This is my third career move in six years, albeit this one required a Masters degree and a nice chunk of loans from the federal government. The previous ones in chronological order were writer and marketing coordinator/director sending me bouncing around the country from California, to New York City, to Charleston, South Carolina and back to San Diego awkwardly filling entry level positions that I knew were not stepping stones for me.

I've lived in TEN apartments/town houses/etc. (and even one friend's couch in Brooklyn, NY) since I graduated from college and have finally learned how to pair down my growing amount of material belongings before each move. I've been engaged (Scarlet Letter E) and had my heart broken a few times as we most have, but none so much as to leave me permanently damaged or feeling as though the right person isn't out there. I fully intend to cover the dating game and relationships on here FYI. I'm a marriage therapist, what did you expect?

I have a secret penchant for self help books, shhh...and the Twilight series. I hate conflict, most forms of exercise, barnacles, reusing the same towel, and insurance companies. And I love Diet Coke and red wine, as long as I'm confessing vices here.

What do I plan to write about? Not totally sure yet. Most likely books I'm reading, relationship issues, what I can tell you about my career without having HIPPA breaking down my door, music and the little I know about fashion but glean from those around me.

These upper twenties years are filled with change, uncertainty, exciting prospects for the future, failed and working relationships, some first gray hairs, first 401K plans and watching your friends become husbands and wives, professionals, mothers and fathers and dare I say it, adults. I thought this would be a good forum to discuss this overlooked time period in our lives.

I also SWEAR I will not write this much every day. I have a good friend coaching me on this whole blog thing and she tells me brevity is where it's at.

So go forth not-yet-thirty somethings and make the best of these years while you're still looking so damn good!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Time to Get this Started: Only Took Me 2 Years After I Created It.


A good friend of mine that I was fortunate enough to catch up with last night told me today, "I mentioned you in my blog!" Aside from being flattered, I thought to myself, wait a second, I think I started a blog once...something about Saturn Return...hmmmm. So instead of preparing to see my patients in just a few short hours, I sought out to find this blog that I vaguely remembered. God bless google, it still exists. The irony: I would have given it the exact same title had I created it this morning.

So why Saturn Return you are wondering...you being my non-existent readers that is. The term Saturn Return is something I came across several years ago on one of MY favorite blogs, 'The Frisky'. Essentially, it refers to the period of life between 27 and 31 when the planet Saturn returns to the position it was in when you were born. Saturn, supposedly, does a full rotation in about 29.5 years, marking the end of the first cosmic cycle of your life. This time period is eerily often marked for most with major life changes, unrest, beginnings and endings of relationships, beginning and endings of careers and general 20-something-year-old angst.

So yes, sadly, two years after I initially created this blog with great intentions of a literary masterpiece, I would still call it the same thing.

Here's some fun articles on all the wonderful things you may be experiencing during this time period. Hey, at least you know it's not just you, right? The latter is my personal favorite.


http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-welcome-to-hell-the-saturn-return/
http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-how-to-get-over-restless-life-syndrome/