Truth & Love | 2013 Edition

There's a running joke between my soul-sister, Anne and I, that our daily texts and online chats could be a reality show of their very own. First of all, they translate verbatim as to how we talk in person. Let's just say it's a gift we both have - and it's hysterical.

We've always referred to our convos (in person, on the phone, via text or online) as "Truth & Love," because I'm confident that aside from Jimmo, no one can quite put me in my place better than Anne! (As a stubborn, strong-willed, determined Virgo, I mean that as the highest compliment.) So, hell, if we can't chat on the phone, then by god, we're going to tell it like it is online or via text - I mean, have you embraced Emoji as if they were hieroglyphics?!

While I was in Arizona for Pop's funeral, I was up in my tree one afternoon bordering on the brink of feeling sorry for myself. The emotional weight of everything that had happened was building, and my body was telling me that it was time to take it down a notch. So, I reached out to Anne and she came back with some affirmations I needed to take note of - hence why they are now listed in my "Reminders" on my phone!

As I spoke about last year, I'm not a huge fan of New Year's resolutions. But, in looking ahead to what this year has to offer, (as well as what I was happy to have left within the 365 days of what is now known as last year) I share with you Anne's personalized list of affirmations she sent me via text - ones that helped this gal get out of her tree and back on the ground:

Whatever I need to know is revealed to me, and whatever I need comes to me in Divine right order.

I trust the process of life to take care of me.

The will of God will not take you where the grace of God can't protect you.

I am perfect health.

I am supported by the Universe.

Life loves me and it is safe for me to love myself.

I am energized and renewed.

I am shaping 2013 with these affirmations. Yes, do I plan to juice more, be diligent about x, y and z, make the gym an even bigger priority, read more books and write more handwritten letters ... of course! But the aforementioned won't come naturally without a whole, complete me. All of those "to-do's" and "resolutions" are just a trap for failure if the real work doesn't continue and evolve on the inside.

At least, that's my belief.

And, finally, I read this earlier in the week, and it, too, has stuck with me. The loss of life and loved ones in 2012 really, really, really brought this into focus:

There comes a time in life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. Surround yourself with people who make you laugh, forget the bad, and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is part of life, getting back up is living.

 Now ain't that the truth?!

Cheers for 2013! Most importantly, here's to an even better, happier, more peaceful life living inside of you!

xx JN

Instagram

The month of December brought with it my new iPhone 5, and subsequently Instagram! I've been loving the opportunity of documenting my day to day experiences there, and hope you'll join me moving forward. 

Here are a few of this month's favorites:

Tilapia tacos made fresh by my cousin, Chef Sarah, while were together in Arizona for our Nana's funeral. The family who eats together, stays together ... especially when they eat my Aunt Ruth's & Chef Sarah's amazing cooking!

The most adorable retro kitchen at The Motor Lodge - a fully retro-renovated property that you must, must, must check out whenever life takes you to Prescott, AZ!

The view(s) from my parents' new ranch in Prescott Valley - 2013 will bring some incredible new adventures with them there!

Back home in Brooklyn - where a snowman blowup in front of a brownstone is actually charming!

 With my boy, Woody, after an emergency procedure. Doesn't he look like he's in a martini glass?

 My biggest girl reading "The Night Before Christmas" at our Hurricane Sandy Benefit Concert

 Nail art supplies as chosen by my girl on our mani-pedi date

 The "before" and "after" of my cheilectomy surgery on December 21st! Ho ho ho!

 Christmas traditions: our girl seeing Santa ... except Santa happened to be female ... again. Oh, yes, this was the second year in a row! 

No Christmas would be complete without our beautiful tree, as photographed on Christmas Eve.

I'm signing off until the New Year, my lovelies. Make sure to take a moment (or several) and give thanks for this incredible year of 2012, and declare your intentions and rituals for 2013.

Blessings abound!

xo JN

First Day of School

It is the first day of school here in New York today - our girl starts third grade at her amazing Brooklyn public school! As I was walking to an appointment yesterday, one of the private schools had posted a huge banner that proclaimed, "Happy New Year!" and it caused me to wonder why we only make (or at the very least, declare) our New Year's resolutions on January 1st?

We certainly are talking about New School Year's resolutions in our home - or shall I say - Jimmo is making sure to be up and at 'em earlier so that he & L aren't running down the block to school each morning. That resolution has meant that Mommy leaves the house earlier so there's one less Newman getting ready in one tiny Brooklyn bathroom!

I was reading through Louise Hay's Heart Thoughts, and came across a mantra I believe is worth sharing:

"This year I do the mental work for change" 

followed by

"Make this your new motto: "I go for the joy! Life is here for me to enjoy today!"

Louise talks about how in the absence of internal changes, resolutions fall away very quickly. She also says, "Until you make the inner changes and are willing to do some mental work, nothing out there is going to change. The only thing you need to change is a thought - only a thought. Even self-hatred is only hating a thought you have about yourself."

So as L starts third grade, I'm embracing this start of the 2012-13 year as a time to continue making my own mental and inner changes. Since my brother passed away in February, I have been diligent in trying to look at my life from a different vantage point, and by doing so, I have already found that my reactions and behaviors have begun to shift. Those "same ol' same ol'" patterns of the past no longer work for me. After all, my life and reality changed. But as I grow in my own year of learning, on my own path of personal growth, the growing pains of change are present. However, it is by going for the joy that continues to help me shape my decisions, my thoughts, my feelings, my outlook.

How you are going for the joy in your life? Is there something you are looking to change in your world?

New Year's Realizations

Pablo Picasso's "Dove with Flowers"

The holidays are over. The New Year is here. A fresh beginning. The next chapter.

I pondered two specific questions (among many others) during my 10-days off: "What has 2011 taught me?" followed with "What do I wish to achieve in 2012?"

I have always found the idea that you start the year with a "resolution" a tad perplexing ... because for me, a resolution comes at the end of a journey, not the beginning of a new one. Granted, I realize it merely boils down to semantics, but nonetheless, I would almost prefer them to be "declarations." After all, aren't the majority of these said declarations abandoned within the first few weeks of the year?

As I spent time contemplating the last 12-months, I was able to see that 2011 was a year about lessons & realizations for me, and with that, I believe that 2012 is about putting them into practice. I have been up in my head since August 2010, choosing to face some important questions in order to move forward from my own self-imposed roadblocks. And I asked millions of them, challenging many of my own beliefs and relationships, while allowing my core to be rattled when the answers did not instantly appear.

Sitting now with 2011 in the rear-view mirror, I am filled with gratitude that the Universe and my loved ones were patient enough with me (and I with myself) as I worked (and talked) a lot of mess out. It takes a village, right?

So, now, in a few words, I share with you some of the realizations I had over the course of the last year, and certainly ones I wish to carry with me into 2012:

Everyone has a voice and someone wants to hear it.
What you say, who you are and what you want matter. 
No one is put on this earth to fail. 
People really do change.
Our biggest challenge may in fact be our greatest blessing.
Expectations are not the same thing as intentions.
Work hard to play even harder.
It can be scary being real.
Nothing starts without action.
When we scatter seeds, we must be open to the possibility that they may sprout and grow in an unexpected place in the garden.

As you peruse your own list, know that you make a difference in the world merely by being you. And anything you do to improve yourself in the coming year, will make the world an even better place.

Here's to a beautiful New Year of 2012!

xo JN