♥ Happy Halloween! Enjoy the Black Cats! ♥

Happy Halloween from ReLove Plan.et! :) 

Today I am sharing some adorable Black Kitties in honour of this lovely day, and to encourage people to adopt these adorable kitties! Black cats are still one of the least adopted cats, because people are silly and superstitious. Superstitions are in your head, so let a black cat into your heart. :)

Enjoy the cuteness! And have an amazing Halloween! ;D

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☺ 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

☺ Expect and Release! This is a delicate balance that I sometimes have a hard time explaining. I wrote an entire article on Expectations and to not have them. The reason is to release expectation to a desired outcome, so that you become open to what actually comes your way instead of leaving yourself disappointed when things don't go exactly as you imagined. However, it is also good to have Positive Expectations, to visualize in your mind good outcomes as then you will attract such positive outcomes. That is why it is good to have expectations but to release attachment to one particular outcome. Whatever happens, be open to it and make the best of it. Keep your mind Positive.   

☺ Do it Now! If there's something you've always wanted to do then go do it! I know, cliche, "live every day like your last", but if you don't then you could miss out. For example, I just found out that Lacey (the lead singer) of Fyleaf (one of my favourite bands) left the band. I have been wanting to see them foreverrrr but somehow it never lined up, or, to take responsibility, I never made it happen. Now I may never see my favourite band play and Lacey is such an amazing performer, it was definitely on my list of things to do in my life. So, learning the hard way, don't wait or you'll miss out. If there's something you've always wanted to do then do it, make it happen! Because you just never know what may happen. 

☺ Choose how you Feel. We often forget that how we feel is up to us. We have a choice about how we feel. If you feel really sad or down, then make the choice to change that. It’s not always easy but with the right support and motivation you can do it! 

☺ Write, write, and write some more! I've talked about having a "Happy Diary" before and since it's been a while I am going to remind you once again to get writing in it. Writing is a powerful self-motivator, plus things are 70% more likely to become real when you write them down (neat huh?). Use your happy diary to write yourself love letters, tell yourself how amazing you are, who you want to be, what you want your life to be, all the things you're grateful for. Write every single day! If you're stuck in a rut and need to get back on track I guarantee you this practice will get you back on track!  

☺ Be Weird! After all, being weird is just a side effect of being awesome. ;) Be the person you want to be and stop being afraid of what others think. I know I repeat this a lot but it's true. People need to learn to loosen up, have some fun, be ridiculous, and have a damn good time doing it! It is incredibly freeing when you learn to stop taking yourself so seriously and finally be the person you want and enjoy being! 

☺ Go an a Photo adventure! Go for a lovely walk outside and wander taking in the beautiful colours of fall while it lasts. It's such an amazing gift to watch the seasons change, the leaves change colours and drop from the trees. How beautiful! How blessed are we to see that?! Seasons come and go, change happens, so go with the flow and enjoy the moment you're in right now. This week, go for a lovely walk and snap as many photos of all the beautiful trees and colours and nature. :)

☺ "Promise me you'll always remember that you're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." ~Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh. We spend entirely too much time taking ourselves down and thinking we are lesser than we are. Spend more time reminding yourself how truly amazing you are. Because you are. ♥  

Now go ahead and have the best damn week ever! Much Love from me to you! 

Create a Nice Day! xo

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Ⓥ Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Ⓥ

You know how it is, tis the season for lovely pumpkin recipes! And what's not to love? There is so much you can do! 

Here is a super simple but delicious smoothie recipe if you're craving pumpkin pie but don't feel like making an entire pie. ;)

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree, unsweetened

1/2 Banana

1 cup Almond Milk

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

Stevia to sweeten (or other sweetener of your choice)

Toss all the ingredients together in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add less or more liquid to get your desired consistency.  

Top with Coconut Whipped cream and you're in heaven! :) 

Makes 1 serving. Enjoy! 

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☺ Remember To Smile: Life Lesson Reminders ☺

With the busy-ness of every day life, we can easily get lost, and when we get lost we tend to forget those important life lessons that we've learned. So, time to take a breather and a refresher course and keep these in mind. :)

Life Lesson Reminders 

• Remember to Smile
• Remember to Laugh!
• Remember to feel, be, and express Love
• Remember to be Yourself
• Remember to be the best version of yourself.
• Remember that you can choose Who you Are. 
• Remember to go with the flow
• Remember to stop looking at the time and be in the present moment.
• Remember to see the beauty around you
• Remember to see good in everything
• Remember to breathe
• Remember to relax
• Remember to play
• Remember Balance
• Remember to express and feel Gratitude
• Remember to Be Positive
• Remember to Dance
• Remember to use your imagination for desirable outlooks (instead of stressing)
• Remember to expect the best, but to release attachment to outcomes; accept whatever comes your way
• Remember to enjoy yourself
• Remember to not get lost in the past, but to appreciate the lessons it gave you
• Remember to do good deeds
• Remember to eat healthy
• Remember to exercise
• Remember to be gentle with yourself, not be down on yourself, uplift yourself instead
• Remember to embrace Change (instead of resisting it)
• Remember mistakes are not mistakes, they are lessons
• Remember there are no right or wrong answers
• Remember to think outside the box
• Remember to take time for joy and the things you love
• Remember to spend time with positive people
• Remember to be in Nature, outside, connected with the earth.
• Remember to be kind 
• Remember to listen
• Remember to speak
• Remember to allow your emotions to flow and then let them go
• Remember to say "Yes!"
• Remember "Life Begins at the end of your Comfort Zone" so be spontaneous, adventurous
• Remember that you are Amazing and Beautiful and Wonderful and Perfect
• Remember Happiness is Now. 
• Remember that Life is what you make it, so have an awesome freakin Life! 

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♥ Crinoline Shop; Tofu Plush Toys and more! ♥

"I've always been crafty, and after I taught myself embroidery in 2003, I began making hand sewn felt creations. I found my true craft love in soft piles of felt and bright rainbows of embroidery floss. I love turning my little sketches and doodles into quirky, colorful plush and wearables that make people smile."

~Jamie (Crinoline)

Meet Crinoline, an adorable etsy shop filled with the cutest plush toys ever handmade by the lovely Jamie! Hosting a collection of quirky, colourful, crafty handmade goodness, the main attraction, in my opinion, is that most of the shop is filled with Food! Yup, Food! Well, don't eat them, they're for decoration ;) but they are super adorable and unique and fantastic. My favourites, of course, are the adorable Tofu characters! I mean, just take a look; one with glasses, another with a mustache, another with a bow, cat ears, mouse ears, how adorable??!!   

Not only is this shop overwhelmingly adorable, but all items are also created with Ecofi felt made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. This also makes them all wool-free (excited "eeeek!" for vegans)! And you know how excited I get over eco vegan goodies, so extra outbursts of joy here! The eco-friendliness doesn't end there though, where some shops fail with the other details, the lovely Crinoline Shop does not. The faces are carefully hand painted with Delta brand Soy Paint, and they are stuffed with Nature-Fil, a mix of 50% rayon fiber made from bamboo and 50% premium polyester fiber. 

The plush items are beautifully handcrafted, with attention to the sweet little details of each character. While they are not meant to be as toys for children or animals, they are awesome for us adults and plush collectors. I mean, come on, what vegan or veg-head doesn't want an adorable Tofu guy? ;) I imagine these would be super cute in a kids room for decoration as well. 

Crinoline doesn't just have cute veggies and tofu plush characters, if you're lucky enough to catch Jamie at a craft fair you get the full array of adorable owls, sugar skulls, dolls, and more!   

Plus because they are all handmade, not two are exactly the same. Gotta love handmade! :)

Soooo, what are you waiting for? Go check out the lovely Crinoline Shop for all the cuteness! Plus be sure to check out her blog to snoop through photos of more cute items not found in her shop. ;) 

Etsy Shop: http://www.CrinolineShop.etsy.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crinolineshop

Blog: http://www.crinolineshop.com

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

☺ Law of Attraction tip: Visualize! Remember when you are working on manifesting things in your life to take the time to visualize the end result. This is a powerful practice because you place yourself at the point of already having it, imagining that it's already done, that it is already yours. You are visualizing and feeling what it is you're manifesting, and therefore, bringing yourself to a place of believing it right Now. And once you believe, you will receive. 

☺ Don't place limitations on yourself… it's all in your head. There is a difference between saying you can't do something/placing limitations on yourself, and knowing your own abilities and strengths and working With them instead of against them. You can choose to know yourself and work with things instead of against them. Don't make them limiting, make them your power, your strength, your courage, your brilliance, and shine!!

☺ Take a Day Off! In case you missed it, I wrote up an article to convince you to actually take time off, so if you still need convincing, go read it. Now be sure to take at least one day, but preferably more days off this week! 

☺ Drink more tea! It's good for you! Especially to coffee drinkers, time to change some dirty habits and make the switch. Green tea or matcha tea is a great way to ditch the need for coffee, from there you'll get rid of the caffeine addiction and then drink all the lovely beneficial teas available instead of that turribly bad for you coffee. If you need coffee to get up in the morning, if you can't function without it, you're doing something seriously wrong. 

☺ Remember that you are never alone!  Sometimes it's easy to feel that you are, especially when life gets tough and the world feels like it's against you. But you are never alone. Ever. There is a big huge world of support out there, of people you can relate to, talk to, and be friends with. Thanks to the big internet world that has made things so much easier as well to actually get in touch with those people. So don't alienate yourself, open yourself up to all the possible people that could be in your life, whether it's right at home or across the world. ♥  

☺ Take part in Meatleass Mondays! Hopefully you're already vegan or vegetarian, but if you're not then I don't think it's asking for much to sacrifice one day of the week to say no to meat (especially considering how many animals have sacrificed their lives to be on your dinner plate). You'll feel better. Promise. Vegetarians, this would be a good day for you to cut out other animal products instead. ;) 

☺ "She stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails." ~Elizabeth Edwards. This is one of the points I try to teach people the most; go with the flow! Whatever life brings you, be flexible, bendable, changeable, adjust and just go with it. The Universe knows what it's doing, have faith and trust to adjust your sails and let it guide you. The ride will be much smoother than going against the current.    

Now go ahead and have the best damn week ever! Much Love from me to you! 

Create a Nice Day! xo

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Ⓥ Vegan Kitchen: Raw Pumpkin Pie Ⓥ

This is surprisingly my first pumpkin pie recipe *gasp* and I figured it was about time I did one. This is recipe #1 of a few different pumpkin pie recipes I'll be posting. ;) 

Now, this is not your traditional pumpkin pie, it is raw! If you don't have pumpkins handy then you could just buy the store-bought canned stuff and it wouldn't be raw but you could still make it no-bake and I'm sure it would still be equally amazing. 

Actually, to be honest, this was definitely something new to me. Raw pumpkin is pretty hefty, so if you make this be sure you have lots of people to share it with as you only need a small piece to completely fill you up. The texture, honestly, was a little odd to me at first as well as it's pretty hard to completely puree uncooked pumpkin. Still, topped with a little coconut whipped cream this was divine. Just not your traditional pumpkin pie. ;)

Raw Pumpkin Pie

Pie Crust:

2 cups Almonds, (or pecans or walnuts)

1/2 cup Dates, soaked

Dash of sea salt

Soak the dates for at least 30 minutes. 

Blend the crust ingredients together in a food processor or high speed blender. You want it to be blended enough to hold together, but not so blended that you end up with almond butter. ;) Evenly distribute in the bottom of a pie plate.

For a different more "pie-like" variation of the crust, soak the almonds along with the dates. I personally prefer the texture and flavour of the nuts not soaked, but did this time around and it had a bit more of a traditional sort of pie crust taste.

Pumpkin Pie Filling:

2 cups shredded Pumpkin

1 cup Dates, soaked

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Ginger, ground

1 tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp Coconut oil

1 tsp Vanilla

1/4 cup almond milk or water to help blend

Again, soak the dates for at least 30 minutes. 

Chop the pumpkin into chunks and then "shred" it in a food processor or blender until it becomes more of a puree. Add in the rest of the filling ingredients and blender until smooth--this may take a while so be patient. ;) Add more water as you go so that it blends easier, but don't overdo it and make it too runny. 

Pour pumpkin filling into the pie crust and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. 

Top with Coconut Whipped Cream, enjoy! :) 

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Ⓥ Vegan Kitchen: Coconut Whipped Cream Ⓥ

This is so simple and delicious you'll wonder why you haven't been doing this for years! Fluffy, smooth, delicious, and free of unhealthy dairy and sugar! What's not to love?! 

Use it to top desserts, for sundaes, smoothies, cupcakes! You can also play around with different flavours! Boooyah! 

Coconut Whipped Cream

1 can full-fat Coconut Milk, chilled

1 tsp Vanilla

Agave, Stevia, or whatever you choose to sweeten

The essential part about this recipe is that you need to refrigerate the coconut milk overnight, so there is a little planning ahead. But the fun part is that you could just keep an extra can or two of coconut milk in your fridge for such an occasion. ;)

Once the coconut milk is chilled, flip the can upside down. This will leave it so that the liquid is now on top and your creamy coconut is on the bottom. Drain the liquid (you won't be needing this part but don't waste it, store it in your fridge and use it in smoothies). Transfer the creamy coconut part into a chilled bowl (the chilled bowl helps to keep the coconut cold and thicker while you prepare it). 

Beat the thick coconut cream in the chilled bowl with a hand mixer until thick and fluffy.

Add the vanilla and sweetener, beating into the coconut cream. I use about a full dropper full of stevia, if you're using agave or something else I'd say 1-2 tbsp, add it slowly so you can taste test.   

Now, the fun part, if you want different flavours: add some cinnamon or cocoa powder (you may want to increase the sweetener a bit); or you can also replace the vanilla with almond, coconut, orange, or any extract or liqueur you'd like! Fun, right?!

You can serve immediately, or transfer the coconut cream to a covered storage container and chill for 2 hours until the mixture firms. It will store in the fridge for about a week, but will harden the longer it's in there, so take it out about an hour before serving in this case. 

Enjoy! 

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☺ The Productivity of a Day Off ☺

A day off. It seems like this foreign concept these days, like a crazy fantasy land that only exists in our imaginations. A day off? But I have deadlines, things to do, things to accomplish, this and that and more. There's no time for a day off. We feel like we can never rest, as if we aren't allowed to take it easy when we have all these deadlines and things to accomplish and do. Well, I'm here to tell you that if you want to be productive and if you want things to go smoothly, then take a day off for just plain pure fun and relaxation and for You! 

Okay, there are some things that are overly obvious when it comes to the benefits of taking a day off, but I will be elaborating and making you realize just how much you need to actually take time for yourself, to Enjoy yourself, to Enjoy life, to laugh, and feel relaxed. 

Truly what I want to get across here is to realize the importance and Productivity of taking a day off! It may sound like an oxymoron, but I promise you it isn't, here's why… 

If you don't refuel then you're running on empty. If you're running on empty then how can you possibly be that productive? Things are going to take much longer than they should. It'll be more difficult to focus. It'll be more difficult to concentrate and prevent your mind from wondering. It'll be difficult not to feel frustrated. Refuel! There is no point in running on empty!

Life is meant to be Enjoyed! Aka, life is meant to be Lived! The point of life is to be happy, if you're not happy then what's the point? If you're not doing the things you enjoy then you are wasting your life away. Put the excuses aside and learn to take that time that is absolutely necessary for yourself. Remember, the only time that matters is right now, so stop placing happiness in the future or it will forever stay there just out of your reach. 

It's not Selfish. It Is Selfish. There is nothing wrong with being selfish, for if you can't make yourself happy and be all that you can be then you are useless to those around you. You must first help yourself before you can be of service to others. So be selfish, take a day off already!   

Good Thoughts Attract Good Things! This is the most important point I want to talk to you about today. If you truly feel like you don't have time to take a day off and none of the above points have yet convinced you, this is the icing on the cake, the "big" reasoning behind actual productivity resulting in taking a day off. *deep breath* okay… 

It is the most basic principle of the Law of Attraction (therefor Life) that if you want Good things in your life then you have to Feel Good. If you don't take a moment, a full day, to Enjoy yourself then you can't get onto a higher vibration, you can't get onto that frequency of feeling good, and therefor on the frequency of Receiving Good Things. It's really quite basic when it all comes down to it; Feel Good, Receive Good. This point is absolutely relevant, because if you don't feel like you have Time to take off to enjoy yourself then that will always be your reality. If you don't think there is ever room for play, then there never will be. Until you decide to stand up and change your routine, to change your life, to change your habits, and to change your attitude, then you will remain in the same circle where you have to work hard constantly just to survive. That is not life, that is not living, that is not joy. 

Say you want a better job, a raise, more free time, less stress, and so forth, then you are not going to receive those things until you put yourself on the frequency of receiving them. And to be on the frequency of receiving those things, you Must Feel Good. And to Feel Good, you must must must do the things that make you happy--which usually involves (you guessed it!) taking a day or two or three off to truly feel joyous and happy and stress-free while doing them. You know, taking a breather. Again, if you spend your entire life thinking that you need to work hard in order to get further in life then that will always be your reality, you will always be reaching for it, and chances are people will always take advantage of your overly hard work ethic. I'm not saying be a slacker. I'm just saying that you are Allowed, Deserve, and Need time off for joy in order to receive any good things in your life. 

Rearrange your priorities. Figure out what you truly enjoy, what makes you happy, and do those more. That pile of work will always be there, no matter how hard you work, unless you put yourself on a positive frequency. That day off will always be in the far off distance, buried under the workload you are creating yourself. 

So the next time you feel too busy for a day off, remember the Law of Attraction. Remember that in order for Good Things to come you must Feel Good. You must spend time on Joy. You will be amazed by what transformations will happen in your life, quite often immediately. All of a sudden that big pile of work will magically be done for you. All of a sudden you'll get a raise and not have to work as many hours. All of a sudden your dream job will appear. All of a sudden your relationships will improve, your life will improve, and all Good Things will begin to come to you. 

Productivity is only relevant if you are feeling good. Productivity means nothing if you are constantly attracting more work. If you don't make time for play then there never will be any. Take a day off, even if you feel like you can't, and go out and enjoy life to the absolute fullest! Make Happiness your priority, take that day off to focus and feel joy in its most vibrant form and watch all Good Things come to you.  

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☆ Got Milk? You Don't Need it. ☆

For years, we’ve been told that milk does a body good. But does it really? Though touted as the healthier option at home and in restaurants, milk has roughly the same calorie count as soda and 2% milk contains the same amount of saturated fat as french fries. Given these two facts, the correlation between high milk consumption and high rates of Type 1 diabetes and heart disease makes sense. Even though one-third of Americans are lactose intolerant, the U.S. still consumes nearly 9 times the amount of milk that China does. So why do we drink so much milk? Because cows are making more of it. With the introduction of growth hormones like rBST, milk cows are producing nearly twice as much as they did in 1970.

Milk – bad for us, bad for cows.

Got Milk? by LearnStuff.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at  http://www.learnstuff.com/got-milk/.



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♥ Navitas Naturals: Super Food Products and Power Snacks! ♥

 
Allow my to introduce you to; Navitas Naturals! 

"Navitas" is the latin word for energy, and couldn't be more fitting. 

Navitas Naturals is a green business located in California, making amazing certified Organic, Kosher, and GMP/HACCP Certified products. They take great care in their products to create premium functional whole superfoods that are nutrient-rich, increase energy, health, and well-being, and are rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Navitas Naturals has a wonderful philosophy and care into their products to provide nutritient-rich whole superfoods. Their premium quality superfoods are always free of additives and trans fats, and are minimally processed, using methods such as freeze-drying and low temperature processing to ensure maximum nutrition and safety. And they also have third party testing of all their products. 

This company is Super to be sure! 

So what can you find from Navitas Naturals? Well, firstly, all of their products are raw, kosher, gluten-free, vegan, and 100% organic, and all without refined sugars. They have a number of simple superfood powders (such as acai, hemp, cocoa, maca, camu, and many more), cocoa butter and paste, and nuts and seeds. They also have chocolate kits (yum much?!), coconut palm sugar and stevia, as well as other goodies. 

The other part to make you swoon over is Navitas' delicious "Power Snacks." These are sooooo good you'll probably gobble up the bag entirely too quickly as I did. I love having on-the-go go-to snacks available to me when I need them and these couldn't be more perfect and delicious and nutritious. My favourite is definitely the Cacao Goji Super Food one, but hey, I'm a chocolate fiend, and these are a bliss of chewy goodness and cocoa flavour. Seriously amazing! The other flavours are also super (pun intended ^_~) delicious; Blueberry Hemp and Citrus Chia. These little bite-sized snacks are clearly packed full of nutrition, a fantastic boost at any time of the day.

On top of that, they also have wonderful trail mixes that my hubby is obsessed with. What more could you possibly ask for?

But wait! There is more! Aside from amazing products, the Navitas Naturals website is also a huge resource for wonderful recipes to make with such fabulous superfoods, just to help you out that much more. The website is wonderful, easy to navigate, and a fountain of useful information, listing off the benefits of each of their superfoods with suggested recipes along side each one.

You can find Navitas Naturals popping up more and more in stores, and if they're not in one of your local stores, ask them to carry their products. If all else fails, you can purchase off their website. Win win! :)

Website: http://www.navitasnaturals.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NavitasNaturalsFan

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NavitasNaturals

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/NavitasNaturalsTV   

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