☺ Motivational Mondays! ☺

. . . . . . . . . .

We're taking back Mondays!!!

"Motivational Mondays" are fabulous tips to get you excited and pumped for the week! 

Feeling low? Moody? Down on life? Well, that's what these posts are for! Time to feel awesome again and get some Positivity rolling! Just because it's Monday doesn't mean you can't have fun, smile, and enjoy Today! Apply these tips to your week and try to tell me that you don't start to see an improvement in your life! ;)

It's all about You! Change your perception, change your attitude, love your life! xo

. . . . . . . . . .

My motivation for you this week is the lovely image above! 

Why? Because the point of this blog, the point of these motivational monday posts are to get you to love your life and to love yourself and to live life to the fullest. What is life if we don't just say "f*#k it" to the norm, to the conditioning of society, to the value systems and beliefs of others, or falling into insecurities. I would hate not to live my life to the fullest because of insecurities. We are all beautiful, inspiring, amazing human beings just as we are and we need to learn to embrace every part of ourselves so that we may live the life we dream for, the life we Want, the life we can Choose. We are all full of Infinite Potential! 

Live a life your proud of. And be proud of the life you've lived thus far. Everything happens for a reason; for purpose can be found in everything if you look hard enough. Create a life that makes you smile, that makes you come alive. This is different for everyone, so don't follow the herd, express yourself as you feel is right for You. But make your dreams come true. Practice gratitude and smiling and things that make you effortlessly Happy. Live the Life that is right for You!  

Stop waiting for tomorrow. Stop placing limitations on yourself. Stop not doing things because you're afraid, insecure, or because you are devaluing yourself into believing you can't. You can do anything you set your heart to. Persist. Work at it every day. Dream BIG! And never back down. This life is yours! This life is yours to live to the fullest; to laugh and smile and be as ridiculous and silly as you'd like or as entirely calm and zen-like as you desire. Be Yourself. Express yourself Freely and openly at all times. Don't shy away from who you are; embrace  it with all your heart so that others can do the same. 

I want you to live a Magical Happy Life! Because you damn well deserve it! So! Put on that beautiful smile and take on the world! Because This Life is Yours! 

So much love from me to you! 

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Ⓥ Vegan Kitchen: Fancy Mac 'n' Cheese Ⓥ

I like to think of this recipe as an "adult" mac 'n' cheese--meaning let's add a little extra umph, some veggies, and other goodness. ;) 

I have made this sauce with just pasta for my younger brothers before as well and they loved it--and they are picky boys, so I consider this recipe rather kid friendly as well. 

vegan / gluten free/ refined sugar-free/ healthy

Fancy Mac 'n' Cheese 

Enough Pasta for 4 servings--I like to use a brown rice spiral pasta, but anything works.  

For the Sauce:

1/3 cup Rice Flour (or any other flour)

3 Tbsp Coconut Oil

3-4 cups Water

1 heaped tsp Miso 

1 1/2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

2 Tbsp Tamari (or Braggs)

1/2 tsp of Garlic Salt

1 tsp Salt

1/3 tsp Turmeric
1/4 tsp ground Mustard 

dash of Black Pepper

1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast

1/2 cup Daiya shreds

1/3 cup Sunflower Seeds, soaked in water so that they are just covered

1 head of Broccoli, chopped 

Tofu Mix:*

1/2 block firm Tofu, crumbled

2 Tbsp Tamari

1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast

dash Chili Pepper, Cumin, Black Pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook the pasta according to instructions on package. (depending how long your pasta takes to cook, start cooking accordingly ;)) 

For the Sauce:

While you soak the sunflowers, make the sauce.

Combine the flour, oil, miso, tamari, and vinegar together in a medium sauce pot and simmer on medium heat, stirring fairly often--until it starts to brown. Once the mixture has browned, slowly start to add water and stir consistently. Add the spices and continue to stir until your sauce is nice consistency. Add the daiya at the end. Let cool. 

In a high-speed blender (I use my blendtec, because they are amazing and use my blendtec for everything), add the sunflower seeds and sauce and blend until perfectly creamy. Add more water if necessary to get your desired consistency. 

Add back into the pot and leave to simmer on low heat. 

While cooking the sauce, if you can manage multi-tasking then make the tofu and broccoli. 

Simply sauté the tofu in tamari and spices, stirring so that it doesn't stick but allow it to brown and really soak up the flavour. 

*You could also just add in veggies dogs or faux meats of some sort, but I love the ease of cooking tofu and the better health factors. 

*I also love making tofu balls instead if you have the time. 

Add the broccoli to the tofu towards the end so it gets nice and tender but not overcooked. 

Add everything together in one large pot--you can probably use the pasta pot if you used a big one. 

Serve! Enjoy! 

Makes 4-5 servings. 

If you found this article to be helpful, please consider a small donation or visit the shop. Thank you for your love and support.

♥ New Artwork and Items on RedBubble! ♥

Make Happiness a Habit

You know when you create a new art piece that you're actually super proud of? That definitely happened with my latest "One with Nature" piece. I have to say, it's not too often that I do draw something that I don't feel like I could improve. I mean, there is always room for improvement when it comes to art, as there is with anything, but my point is that I was quite proud of myself for this one. ;) 

 "One with Nature"

"One with Nature" is now available in my RedBubble shop on tees (organic too!), scoop necks, tank tops, and even throw pillows! 

In my artwork producing week I also created two new pieces for redbubble: 

"Dreamcatcher Fawn"

and "Vegan Love Pride" 

(which is also available without the letters). This is a piece I have been wanting to do for a long time so I'm glad that I finally drew it up and got it all polished up. ^_^

All three of these designs will also soon be available on coin purses and brand new clutch purse designs in my etsy shop soon too--must be patient while fabric is being made!! 

Hope you are all having a blissfully wonderful day and week and that you are getting your creativity on as well! 

Find ReLove Plan.et: 

RedBubble Shop: www.redbubble.com/people/reloveplanet/

Etsy Shop: www.reloveplanet.etsy.com

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/reloveplanet

Twitter: www.twitter.com/reloveplanet

Instagram:  http://instagram.com/reloveplanet

Youtube:  www.youtube.com/user/reloveplanet

If you found this article to be helpful, please consider a small donation or visit the shop. Thank you for your love and support.

{this moment} - and the weekly {Smile-Up}

. . . . . . . . . . 

"There are no ordinary moments." ~Way of the Peaceful Warrior

{no ordinary moments} - Photos capturing moments from the week. Simple, special, extraordinary moments.

 -  using Daily Gratitude to see the world as anything but ordinary. -

Served with the weekly {Smile-Up} - gratitude practices to love and appreciate your life. 

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' and 'smile up' in the comments for all to find and see.

. . . . . . . . . . 

{no ordinary moments}

{my week of photos - 365 Grateful Project}

Wow it's been a while!!!

{Smile Up}:

☺ Lots and lots of sunshine!  

☺ Seeing all my favourite people ♥ 

☺ Thursday evenings with my ladies ♥  

☺ Gardening

☺ Laying in the grass, soaking up the sun 

☺ Sitting under the deck while it's raining, breathing in the beautiful air   

☺ All the silly things our kitties do 

☺ Yoga, exercise, walks

☺ New tattoos!! 

☺ Playing with our landlords pups

☺ Drawing and writing Everwake!

☺ Being really proud of new artwork--a great rare feeling! ;p

☺ Amaaaazing Potlucks with wonderful people!

☺ Watching anime

☺ Still seeing 333 everywhere! woot!

☺ Getting to take Lyla out on her leash again ^_^  

☺ Spring -- the most beautiful season, flowers blooming everywhere!

☺ Dates with my hubby

☺ Claiming my freedom and independence.

☺ 30x30 David Suzuki Nature Challenge

☺ #100HappyDays challenge! 

Loving: EFT • Daily Gratitude • Yoga • Tea Wisdoms • Apple Cider Vinegar • Flowers everywhere • Empowered Women! • Consciously Manifesting • SoleRebels Boots  • Pretty You and Me (necklace above-love love!) • Shorts and Spring outfits • 

Interests for the week:

✯ Reading: "Black Spring" 

✯  Current Anime/Manga: "Zetsuen no Tempest" and "Btoom" anime. "Dogs: Bullets & Carnage" Manga.

✯  TV Shows/Movies:  Vikings. Game of Thrones. 

♫ Music Playlist: EarlyRise. Hana Pestle. Evans Blue. Thousand Foot Krutch. 12 Stones. Kraddy "Into the Labyrinth" ♫

✯ Food Faves: Black Bean Brownies ♥ Nachos ♥ PB + Strawberry Quesadillas ♥ Coconut Ice Cream ♥ GF bread ♥ SunWarrior Protein Powder ♥

Lessons of the week: 

 Actively Participate in your own happiness! ☀ Take control of your own life, take responsibility and therefore power--only You can change your life. ☀ Sunshine = smiling faces.  ☀ Try to smile as often as possible--it'll change your mood and the mood of others. ☀ Be Yourself no matter what--and stop caring what others think of you. Don't be a copy! ;) ☀ 

Wishing you all the most magical and amazing week ahead! 

What awesome moments have you had lately? Are you taking part in any fun challenges? 

So much Love and Hugs! 

If you found this article to be helpful, please consider a small donation or visit the shop. Thank you for your love and support.

☺ Motivational Mondays! ☺

. . . . . . . . . .

We're taking back Mondays!!!

"Motivational Mondays" are fabulous tips to get you excited and pumped for the week! 

Feeling low? Moody? Down on life? Well, that's what these posts are for! Time to feel awesome again and get some Positivity rolling! Just because it's Monday doesn't mean you can't have fun, smile, and enjoy Today! Apply these tips to your week and try to tell me that you don't start to see an improvement in your life! ;)

It's all about You! Change your perception, change your attitude, love your life! xo

. . . . . . . . . .

I'm late posting today, sooooooo…. something a little different… Your rules for the week are to follow these Four Agreements, courtesy of guidanceforgrowing.com ~_^ 

Now get out there and create a beautiful day and week, and don't forget to look for all the extraordinary moments! 

Much love from me to you! 

If you found this article to be helpful, please consider a small donation or visit the shop. Thank you for your love and support.

♥ soleRebels Footwear ♥

Artisan Crafted in Ethiopia

Making the world a better place... one step at a time

It is my great pleasure and excitement to share this awesome company today, but before I dive too much into my personal excitement, I'd like to share a bit about soleRebels first… 

soleRebels is an amazing footwear company founded in 2004 by company founder and managing director Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu in her community of Zenabwork, Ethiopia. What is truly unique and wonderful about this company--and has completely won me over--are the ethics, incentive, community support and the rich history and dedication soleRebels have created and continue to promote about both their community in Ethiopia and to reach around the globe. This amazingly fun and comfortable footwear company creates great employment opportunities right inside their own community: giving the often ignored a chance to engage in creative endeavors--which is a rare find these days and one we should all be supporting more. The company itself promotes development in a positive way, empowering themselves, their community, and controlling their own destinies. 

From the very start, soleRebels proudly employed and trained the highly marginalized or those thought unemployable; and together they set out to re-imagine the traditional Ethiopian “selate” and “barabasso” shoes in dynamic and vibrant new fashions. The goal was to create something that was authentically local but had a truly universal flavour to it, and from there soleRebels have accomplished this and so much more. 

As if fair wage and community support aren't enough to wow you, soleRebels has also maintains their focus on sustainability: crafting their footwear from a combination of recycled, organic and bio-based materials. What else is fantastic? All their shoes are made in the most energy efficient way: handmade! Yup, that's right, no factories here, just amazing employees making shoes with love.

WHY SHOES?

soleRebels: We selected shoes because we saw that footwear was an excellent platform to begin to share many of the indigenous eco-sensible craft heritages and artisan talents that we have here in Ethiopia with the world! It also meant that based on the approach we were taking to footwear creation, we could source and make almost all our materials locally thereby creating an export product from 100% local inputs.

And this allowed us to riff, recreate and re-imagine the traditional “selate” and “barabasso” shoes, a recycled car tire soled shoe that has existed in Ethiopia for a LONG time. In fact it was THE footwear from back in the day when the ORIGINAL “soleRebels” fought off the invading forces and kept Ethiopia as the only African nation to never be colonized!

I highly recommend you read soleRebel's entire "about us" section because it is simply breath-taking and incredibly inspiring--I think we all could learn a lot from their wise and beautiful story and words.  http://www.solerebels.com/pages/about-us

Now, I can't finish without talking about their amazing fair-trade and eco-friendly products… 

First, just WOW! I own a pair of the coZEEs boots in purple (pictured above) and I have never worn shoes more comfortable than these! Never ever in my entire life. They hug your feet and it feels like you are wearing nothing--not in the ouch pebbles way, but in the blissful walking in soft grass way, providing a light and dreamy shoe while maintaining a sturdy lasting feel. And these shoes are awesome, we can't forget about awesome. I just love all the vibrant colours and the different style options soleRebels has to offer. While the coZEEs are my favourite, they have so much more to offer. Not all of their footwear is vegan, but they have an entire "b*KND Vegan" section that includes cute flats, sneakers, slip-ons, sandals, and even bags and the "coZEES Pure Love" are all vegan as well. So yay! 

They have a ton of different styles to offer women, men, and kids as well! So take a look, fall in love, and buy the best shoes you'll ever own! 

Find SoleRebels: 

Website: www.soleRebels.com 

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/soleRebels

Twitter: www.twitter.com/soleRebels

Instagram:  http://instagram.com/solerebels

Pinterest:  www.pinterest.com/soleRebels/

Youtube:  www.youtube.com/user/soleRebels1



If you found this article to be helpful, please consider a small donation or visit the shop. Thank you for your love and support.

☺ Motivational Mondays! ☺

. . . . . . . . . .

We're taking back Mondays!!!

"Motivational Mondays" are fabulous tips to get you excited and pumped for the week! 

Feeling low? Moody? Down on life? Well, that's what these posts are for! Time to feel awesome again and get some Positivity rolling! Just because it's Monday doesn't mean you can't have fun, smile, and enjoy Today! Apply these tips to your week and try to tell me that you don't start to see an improvement in your life! ;)

It's all about You! Change your perception, change your attitude, love your life! xo

. . . . . . . . . .

Oh no! Oh my! What happened to Motivational Mondays?! It seems the writer had a certain lack of motivation herself. It's funny though, I need my readers as much as they seem to need me, for writing about motivation, about happiness, motivates me as well. I think this is why I recommend a Happy Diary so much: there is nothing more powerful than the written practice of Happiness. 

Well, Motivational Mondays are back, though chances are things will begin to change a little--perhaps be a little less structured and become a little more freely whatever I feel is motivating come Monday. ;) 

But, without further ado, it's time forrrrr your weekly dose of Motivational Monday!!! 

☺ Law of Attraction Tip: Write daily in your Happy Diary (if you don't have one, now is the time to get one). Writing out happiness, Who You want to be, and jotting down your dreams and aspirations are powerful practices that will help you see gratitude in your life as well as keep the magic flowing into manifestations. Remember to always write Who You Want to Be as well: use the words "I Am" as a powerful tool--I Am Powerful, I Am Free, I Am Happy!           

☺ Allow the Current to Guide You. Pay attention to the current to which you are swimming. Are you going with the current or against the current? When things feel like a constant struggle then it is certainly time to break down some walls and look for a new approach. Change can be scary--in fact, sometimes change can be downright terrifying--but change is as much a part of life as You are, and it's important to embrace changes. Plus, if life feels like a constant uphill struggle, you really don't have much to lose. ;)            

☺ Actively Particpate in Your Own Happiness. I mentioned this in my last blog post, and it is so so important. Don't remain on the sidelines of your life, actively participate and do things to make yourself happy. Do Things that will keep you on track, keep you motivated, and keep you noticing Gratitude.     

☺ 30x30 Challenge + 100 Happy Days! Again, I wrote about this in my last blog post, and this is a perfect way for you to do the tip above (you know, that active participation stuff ;)). Have fun with the challenges and embrace them full on!                         

☺ Start a Garden!  It's that time of year again and it's time to start gardening and get them yummy foods growing! It is so neat to see so many young people wanting to garden again--it is something we should all do, even if it's just a little window garden box to grow greens in. It is a gift and a privilege right from mother nature, and it is something that we should all learn to do.    

☺ Recover your Box of Crayons! Meaning, time to get creative! We are all born creative, even if you don't think you are, I assure you that you are in some form or another. Find your bliss, discover your talents, and roll with it. Creativity is a wonderful way to chill out, let your thoughts run freely, and discover something about yourself--and to connect to the "divine."    

☺ "Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be." ~ Abraham Lincoln. So, one last time: Actively participate in your own Happiness! ;)

Create a beautiful wonderful magical day filled with rainbows and butterflies and all those feel-good wonders!

Much love from me to you! 

If you found this article to be helpful, please consider a small donation or visit the shop. Thank you for your love and support.