Inside The Bungalow Blog

International Women's Day & Half the Sky

2010-03-02T11:30:00Z

NCM Fathom and CARE, with the support of Delta Air Lines and Meredith Corporation, are partnering on a one night event inspired by stories from the NewYork Times bestseller “Half the Sky” by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Celebrate International Women’s Day on Thursday, March 4 ...at... 7:30p, and be inspired to help women and girls everywhere turn oppression into opportunity! Go to www.halftheskylive.com for more info!A group of us will be attending this movie at the AMC at Stapley & the 60. It plays at 7:30pm. Please feel free to join us!

Art Show This Saturday

2010-03-02T00:28:00Z

Sunday Drive Interrupted

2010-02-28T23:22:00Z

Don't you hate when you go out for a drive in the rain...

and the road disappears???

Happy Sunday!

DIY Friday: Creating Eco-friendly Invitations Using Photoshop

2010-02-27T02:40:00Z

Scrapbooking has evolved over the years and provides an excellent resource to make your own invitations. The three scrapbooking sites I use the most are Cottage Arts, Designer Digitals, & House of 3.

1. Create a new project in photoshop 6 x 6
2. Place your paper (I chose Cottage Arts BlankDeNoir 2papers # 7)

2. Pick your two colors (Springwedding colors for 2010 include teal, cobalt, poppy, coral, violet, andyellow, which can be paired with champagne, gray, and taupe)

3. Click layer tab- New adjustment layer- Gradient Map (Here you can play with the opacity~ I chose 70%)

4. You could choose to print your invitation here & overlay it with vellum or you could continue below

4. Click new layer
5. Choose white as a color and add the rectangular shape
6. Click on the layer tab- layer style- blending options
7. Click the drop shadow box (this will give the top layer a 3d effect); Play with the opacity here too (I chose 70%)

8. Choose your font & you have you own invitation to print out on recycled paper

Wedding season begins next week. Check back for photos!!
Happy Sunday,
Carrie

DIY Friday: Inexpensive Spring Eco-Friendly Wedding Centerpieces

2010-02-20T00:02:00Z

We are moving into our Spring wedding season at Inside The Bungalow. It is my favorite season because our orchid trees are in full bloom. I love the creative and unique centerpieces I discovered for this upcoming season. Moving from the upper left corner and moving left:
1. Fruit Wedding Candle Centerpiece Love To Know (I love the use of fruit & candles~ something you can reuse & is not expensive) 2. Wheatgrass Centerpiece Floral Verde LLC 3. Just Beachy Martha Stewart Weddings (I liked the idea of taking a pale & painting them with your wedding colors) 4. Bubble Clings Stress Away Bridal Shop 5. Springs Nest Country Living 6. Personalized Favors Country Living (this was such a thoughtful thank you!) 7. Real Wedding The Knot 8. Simple Beauty The Knot 9. Burst of Sunshine The Knot 10. Real Wedding Brides.com 11. Real Wedding Brides.com 12. Birdcage Brides.com
Make sure to use seasonal flowers and a local florist to make these eco-friendly centerpieces. I can't wait to share the creativity of our ITB brides this Spring. Stay tuned for more upcoming Real Wedding photos!!!
Carrie

The I Am Enough Mantra

2010-02-16T01:13:00Z

In the Yoga Sutras, Pantanjali reminds us that ignorance (avidya) is the root cause of all suffering. In Light On The Yoga Sutras, B.K.S Iyengar identifies the seven states of ignorance:
1. smallness, feebleness, insignificance, inferiority, meanness
2. unsteadiness, fickleness, mutability
3. living with pains, afflictions, misery, agony
4. living with the association of pain
5. mistaking the perishable body for the Self
6. creating conditions for undergoing sorrow
7. believing that union with the soul (yoga) is impossible, and acting as though that were so

As I continue to work with women through my yoga classes and workshops, I see a common thread... A feeling of inadequacy. Whether it came from messages in our childhood, culture, or workplace, many of us learned to put others first, to stuff feelings internally, to compare ourselves to others. Think about the messages you may have or continue to receive: You are selfish if (fill in the blank), Who do you think you are if (fill in the blank), Why can't you be like so and so?...
How much time, on average, do you devote to yourself on a daily basis? The two minutes it takes to brush your teeth? The 20 minute car ride into work? The 40 minutes during your child's soccer/hockey practice as you converse with other parents on the sideline? The 1 hour 20 minutes for your yoga class if the kids aren't off on Spring Break or a work deadline isn't due?
Yoga provides a wonderful opportunity for me to see where the imbalances lie in my life. On my mat, I have countless opportunities to observe, without judgment, my thoughts, breath, and sensations. I witness, firsthand, when I overextend myself (stuck in past conditioning) or when I am not reaching my true potential (concerned or fearful of what has yet to come). While I can appreciate not everyone having the luxury of owning their own studio, taking time out of our day for ourselves is critical to personal growth and freedom. It provides each of us an opportunity to cultivate an awareness of what keeps us stuck, what continues to create suffering in our lives and what we can do to overcome these obstacles.

Take the challenge: Take 20 minutes out of every day just for YOU for the next seven days. Close the door to your bedroom if you have to. Journal, take a bath, take a walk. Come back and share your experience in the comment section below to be entered into a drawing to win some delightful Strawberry Hedgehog goodies.

Living Gloriously

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are Powerful beyondmeasure.

It is our Light, not our darkness that most frightensus.

We ask ourselves.

“Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?”

Actually, who are NOT to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not save the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so small

That other people won’t feel insecure around you

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to manifest the glory of God that iswithin us.

It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,

We unconsciously give other people permission to dothe same.

As we are liberated from our fear, our presenceautomatically liberates others.

~Nelson Mandela

Have a beautiful weekend. I look forward to your sharing
Namaste',
Carrie

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T02:32:00Z

In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share a couple of our winter weddings. Randy & Christina were a joy to work with! Joel & Sarrah we have been lucky to get to know through the last couple of years in the cafe. It was a treat to share in their special day. Congratulations!!

Fun w/Diana Rothery

2010-02-13T23:29:00Z

I had so much fun taking these photos with Diana Rothery. Thanks Diana!!

Month Two: Empathy

2010-02-07T15:01:00Z

"Being understood by others is the greatest need of all" ~ Stephen R. Covey
In one of my favorite parenting books, 20 Teachable Virtues, the author Jeff Wyckoff, reminds us that the first virtue we must teach our children is empathy. According to Wiktionary, empathy is 1. the intellectual identification of thoughts, feelings, or state of another person 2. capacity to understand another person's point of view or the result of such understanding.

As we continue through the Woman's Rite of Passage series, empathy is a key component to connecting with another human being. How can we truly understand someone else's intention, point of view, or feelings, unless we can put ourselves in his/her shoes? So many of our own personal misunderstandings (ie.how someone else has wronged us, or done something to us) comes from our inability to see things from their perspective. At the end of the day, we all want to be validated, understood. Empathy becomes the gateway to this validation. The greatest obstacle with empathy is not including our own personal story into the mix. It is natural to want to share our own story in an attempt to relate. What we don't see is how this, in reality, diminshes our ability to connect. When, on the other hand, we listen, without adding our own experiences, the person is left feeling heard and both of us come away feeling connected.

Experiment this week: When you engage in conversations, try not to add your own experiences or stories. Instead simply listen with full attention and try to explain back what you have heard.

Month One: Intention

2010-01-25T00:28:00Z

I always giggle when I am given material (aka real life experiences) to use as examples in my classes and workshops. These examples provide reminders of what happens when my life becomes imbalanced. Old habit patterns of judgment, inferiority, and doubt kick into full swing. These are the times when I add too many responsibilities to my plate (the classic overachiever, perfectionist). These are the times when I grow overwhelmed (the victim role). These are the times when I create dis-connection, distance, separation from myself and all those close to me. I shut down and assume auto pilot mode. Before I found yoga, I could live on auto pilot mode for days, weeks, even months. One of the greatest gifts, I have personally experienced through yoga, is the ability to wake up. Over the years, I have learned to laugh at myself when I feel so self important and feel the need to overcompensate by adding to my plate. I have witnessed the pain and suffering from dis-connection. I am grateful that it takes much less time to recognize the signs of imbalance in my life because of yoga.
Each year, I create an intention. Intention gives way to purpose. With purpose, I am not quite as easily distracted. It's easier for me to stay focused and balanced. "Intention is defined as a course of action one tends to follow; an aim that guides action; an objective." Robin, Ingrid, and I have been having so much fun planning our upcoming workshop series, A Woman's Rite of Passage. The first month is about creating intention. I always ask myself two questions as I create an intention:

1. What do I want to create more of in my life? (ie. patience, compassion, forgiveness, balance, friendship, love, etc.)
2. In order to create space for my intention, what am I willing to let go of? (ie. self doubt, criticism, fear, anger)

Check back this week as we explore intention. I'd love to hear what intention means to you or what you do to create intention, purpose, aim in your life.
Namste',
Carrie