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check-in

7 Mar

When I originally started this blog a year and a half ago, it was ALL about accomplishing my goals. My obsession with it was actually verging on insane! I was NOT going to turn 30 without accomplishing all of them.

While it is still is a blog about setting goals and making them happen, it has also become a blog about everything that happens in between! All the lovely moments that make up my life.

The other day it dawned on me though…holy shit I am more than half-way through my 30th year?!!?!? WHAT!? Seriously? WHAT?! I’m going to be 31 in four months?!?! With this daunting realization I thought it would be a good time to check-in with myself on my progress with the goals for the year….

– Overseas trip (CHECK!)

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When I put overseas trip on my list I had no idea where we would end up traveling. I just knew I needed to get out of the states and go on an adventure with Brian. We settled on Hong Kong and Nepal and I am so grateful that we did because what an adventure we had!! If you haven’t read about our trip you can below!

Big news / the travel doctor / the toe  / Hong Kong 1 / Hong Kong 2 / Arriving in Nepal / Kathmandu / Patan / the monkey temple / Bhaktapur / trekking: the group / trekking: the water buffalo / trekking: the starry night.

more posts still to come…

– Volunteer as a big sister

I made a bit of progress with this right out of the gate, settling on the organization I wanted to work with and filling out the paperwork. Then the strangest thing happened…I did nothing after that. Life got in the way and I’ve had my application folded up in my date book ever since. But, the good news is I plan on sending it in this weekend once we finally set up our printer and fax! Fingers crossed that they think I am a suitable candidate to be a big sister.

– Artist dates (CHECK!) 

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I haven’t done as many of these as I would like but I have started them! You can read about them here, here and here

– New living space (CHECK! CHECK! CHECK!)

home

As much as I loved our little bungalow by the beach I wanted to move on because I couldn’t stand sharing a miniature closet with Brian anymore. That and the kitchen drove me nuts- the oven didn’t work for most of the time I lived there.  Let’s just say it was the perfect bachelor pad!

I was ready for us to have a space we could grow in. So I put this one the list thinking we would just rent another slightly bigger apartment by the beach. But sometimes the universe has bigger plans for you! Because we ending up finding a loft that we loved, made an offer, beat out seven other offers and now have a new home to build a life in. High five, Universe!

– Get a French Bulldog

Frank : inspiration photo

Frank : inspiration photo

We couldn’t get Franck until we moved but now that we have  it’s time to find our little boy and bring him home! I’m thinking we still need to settle in our new home a little bit more before we add a puppy to the mix. Soooo, maybe July? Maybe as a 31st birthday gift to myself!

– Publish my writing 

I work towards this goal everyday with my book agent. But alas I have not snagged the right book deal yet. Maybe in the meantime I should focus on publishing my writing other places. Do any of you have any fabulous leads?!

– Ballet classes 

I start a 6-week course at Align Ballet March 30th!! So very excited to get back to the barre. Posts about the experience coming soon!

– Yoga retreat (CHECK!!)

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Awwwww what a magical weekend that was. In three short days I had some major breakthroughs, adopted the motto “Be Fucking Amazing!“, laughed more than I thought possible and met two lovely ladies whom I now call dear friends. Oh, and came home to a surprise engagement!!!

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Speaking of engagements, let’s be honest, I wanted to put “get engaged” on my list of goals for the year but didn’t want to set myself up for disappointment! I also thought it would be slightly awkward to put such a thing on a public goal list. But it was on my secret list! So check that one off too!

What an interesting, life changing and fun eight months it’s been!

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
C. S. Lewis

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be fucking amazing!

31 Oct

BE FUCKING AMAZING

Jennifer Pastiloff’s manifestation yoga retreat will always hold a special place in my heart. The whole weekend was magical- including the fact that Brian proposed to me when I got home! I manifested a husband, people! I also walked away with a lighter heart, less anxiety, a new sense of purpose, hysterical memories, a sense of community and new friends.

I also learned I’m not alone in feeling insane sometimes!

Leading up to the retreat, I was feeling nervous about it. I knew that the experience would force me out of my comfort zone. First of all, as ridiculous as this may sound, I usually hate organized group activities. I was the kind of kid who never went to summer camp because even then I hated organized group activities. I am still that kid as much as I pretend not to be.

I have also been battling anxiety recently and I was feeling energetically heavy from it. Boxed in by it. For those of you who have never experienced anxiety, it can be an overwhelming force- it feels like a big heavy cloak and I wasn’t sure I had it in me to go but I knew I needed something. I knew I needed to push myself out of it and out of my comfort zone because I have learned, through tackling my goals on 365 til 30 the last year, that the other side of my comfort zone is a pretty incredible place. It’s a more alive, aware and brave place. It’s the space I want to live my life in.

So I packed up my car, and off I went in search of adventure.

As I have said before, Jennifer is a force of nature. She’s incredibly positive and passionate as well as brutally honest about her own struggles with depression and anorexia. She isn’t running around the room sprinkling fairy dust on everyone and telling them to just be happy. While her retreats are about “manifesting your dreams”, they are also about letting go of the baggage that holds you back. About asking yourself to take an honest look at yourself and ask hard questions like…

“If I wasn’t afraid I would _________”

“Where am I playing small in my life?”

The first activity on the itinerary was opening circle. As you can imagine from the title we all (46 of us!) sat in a circle in the yoga studio and introduced ourselves. I was touched by how many different types of people Jennifer brings together. The room was filled with a trust and openness you don’t often feel with strangers. We all knew we were there to do work. We announced to the room what we were there to manifest. It was an incredibly powerful feeling to announce to a room of strangers what I was manifesting in my life.

I AM MANIFESTING A BEST SELLING BOOK.

I said it loud and I said it proud.

Jennifer shared her steps to manifesting, which I thought were just fabulous-

1.) Give a voice to your dreams. Set your intentions.

2) Write down your goals. Affirm in advance that you already have them.

3) Thank the universe, in advance, for what you are manifesting.

4) Expect to be delighted! Be in the feeling of what you want to receive.

5) Speak your goals with excitement and joy as if they are already in motion. 
Keep them fresh in your consciousness daily.

6) Take action on your dreams. Step out of your comfort zone.

7) Trust. Trust is the bridge between your asking and its manifestation.

8) Surrender and let go. Release what is no longer right for you.

9) Say YES! YES! YES! to your dreams and to who you are.

After the opening ceremony the rest of the weekend just flowed, we practiced yoga, we laughed, we danced, we cried, we wrote, we sang, we let go, we drank wine, we ate and we became a tribe. A tribe we warmly named the “Be Fucking Amazing’s”. Has a ring to it, huh?

I think pictures can speak volumes about an experience…especially when they are taken by the amazing photographer, Joe Longo.

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Ojai here I come!

19 Oct

 

 

 

 

(note: the above photo is not me! Although, I’m working on it!)

I leave for my yoga retreat with the fabulous Jennifer Pastiloff this afternoon! I’m SO excited. I choose this retreat for a few reasons-

1. I have a girl crush on Jen. I met her a few years ago when I took a yoga class from her and was immediately taken with her big, bold and joyful presence. She’s full of life. Over the last year Jen has become a dear friend of mine and I am so grateful to know her.

2. It’s a manifestation retreat! Jennifer is a firm believer in manifesting your dreams and brings that into all of her classes. Let the manifesting begin!

3. I love Ojai

4. It seems like it will be a fun weekend. The itinerary made me smile. There is wine tasting tonight, a dance party on Saturday night and a karaoke yoga class!

I’ll be back next week with stories and pictures.

What are you guys up to this weekend??

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“You get to decide as many times as you like just who you are. Moment to moment. Breath to breath.” – Jennifer Pastiloff

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namaste

12 Sep

(photos via)

I started practicing yoga 8 years ago and thank heavens I did because I swear, with out it I would be a cray-zay person. Yes, I would be crazier than I already am. Scary, huh? I’ll admit I go through periods where I practice more often than others and it’s no surprise to me that when I am practicing regularly, everything in my life feels more manageable, my head feels clearer and I feel more present, happy and grateful. Let’s just say that recently I have NOT felt all the amazing things I listed above. Quite the opposite really. My head has been all abuzz with fear, or as I like to think of it- False Evidence Appearing Real. My mind is constantly running over things, categorizing things that don’t need to be categorized and worrying about things that haven’t happened yet (and probably never will!) It’s an exhausting endeavor and I find that using all this brilliant brain power to think about worries leaves little time for creative endeavors.

When this starts to happen, I know that I’m totally out of whack and that I need to get back to my spiritual practice- yoga and mediation.

Yoga and meditation give me a break from the constant chatter of my mind. They show me where my blocks are and teach me about myself, even the parts I didn’t want to look at. I’d like to think that how I show up on the mat is a metaphor for how I show up in life. Do I approach my practice with patience, love and humor?

There’s something really beautiful about pushing your body that hard, yet remaining that peaceful at the same time. And, that 5 minutes of quiet, dark nothing at the end … I live for. The ability to simply exist and just be. You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can sometimes control what goes on inside.

I’m getting very excited to go on my first yoga retreat next month…

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Don’t let the door hit you on the way out summer.

5 Sep

In case you didn’t gather from the title of this blog, post summer isn’t my favorite season. This admission probably just garnered me some hate mail, but it’s the truth. When I told my mom and Brian my feelings about summer, they both looked at me as if I had just said something personally offensive to them. I guess people feel pretty strongly about summer. I’m not saying summer is all bad. I, too, enjoy long days, afternoon BBQ’s and the beach, but I find that I get tired of it all rather quickly and then I’m just hot…hot, drained and unfocused.

I much prefer the fall and winter months. I love fog. I love rain. I love bundling up in cozy sweaters. I love spending grey afternoons writing. I love the holidays. I love wearing boots. I love wearing leather jackets and scarves. I love crisp air. I love Christmas lights. I love fall movies. I love pumpkin spice lattes and gingerbread cookies. I love all things cozy. I do cozy really well. I also find that I feel more creative and alive in the fall and winter months and, well, I would welcome that feeling right about now.

While I know it’s not officially fall just yet, I have decided that now that it’s September, I’m going to act like it is. I’ve picked out soup recipes to make, changed my closet over to sweaters and boots, painted my nails grey, my toes blood-red and I even…dyed my hair brown! For some reason that felt like the biggest F-U to summer.

Kate McClafferty has brown hair now, Summer!

Not only do I love fall and winter but they are shaping up to be a pretty fun travel filled few months. We are heading to North Carolina at the end of September with Brian’s family for a wedding. While I have never met the people getting married, I do love a good wedding, enjoy traveling with Brian’s parents and I’ve never been to North Carolina before! Win, win, win. Then in October, I head to Ojai for a yoga retreat with my favorite yoga teacher and sweet friend Jennifer Pastiloff. Her “manifestation retreats” are known to be life-changing, amazing and FUN. I mean there is even going to be Karaoke yoga! Oh and wine. So again this is a win. Then, on November 2nd, Brian and I take off on our adventure to Nepal…with a stop in Hong Kong first! Hong Kong was a recent addition and I am excited about it. We have to stop there anyway on a layover and have decided to make a trip out of it. Why land in Hong Kong, and not see it right?? When we get back from our trip,(if I survive the 10 day trek) the craziness of the holidays begin- my absolute favorite time of year! Then, somehow, it will be 2013? WHAAAAAT?

Are you guys as excited for the change of seasons as I am???

Signed,

your brown-haired blogger friend Kate

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zeeee list is done!

25 Jul

I’ve certainly taken my sweet ass time deciding on what my new goals for the year will be, haven’t I? In my defense, I found it extremely hard to choose them this time around, maybe because I now know how much effort it takes to make them a reality and I want to choose them carefully. I also really want to be thoughtful about what I want to accomplish this year- my first year as a thirty year old. I want to pick goals that feel like the organic next step for me in my career, relationships and life.

My long time readers may notice that a few of my goals have been carried over from last year. Why? Well, because I haven’t accomplished them yet and I still want to!

Let the fun begin! Here goes…

 Volunteer as a big sister

I decided that when I volunteer this year I want to work with children. I also now know, after last years volunteer work at PATH (People Assisting The Homeless) that I prefer working on a one on one basis. Armed with those two pieces of information, I settled on volunteering as a big sister. I am realllllly looking forward to this experience.

Overseas trip with Brian

Brian and I both LOVE to travel (Thank God because I honestly don’t know if I could be with somebody who didn’t love to travel too) The last big trip we took together was to Nicaragua in 2011 and it was amazing experience. Well, other than the stomach bug we both got, but hey, it only brought us closer. We have both been visualizing another trip somewhere foreign and are on a mission to accomplish it this year. Our top choice would be a trip to Thailand and Cambodia but we would pretty much go anywhere for the right deal as long is it was out of the country and neither of us had been before.

Nicaragua April 2011

Art

I have always been a fan of the book “The Artists Way” (side note- you must read it if you haven’t. Even if you don’t consider yourself an artist it’s still inspiring) One of the tenets that I love most in the book is the idea of taking yourself on artists dates once a week. What’s an artist date? Anything that brings you inspiration and makes you feel alive- a trip to the museum by yourself, a walk in a new neighborhood, painting classes, pottery classes, photo projects, spend the day watching a bunch of old films, go somewhere you haven’t been since you were a child, take yourself on a picnic in the park, finger paint, garden….you see where I am going with this right? I got to thinking about how long it’s been since I have made time for such things in my life on a regular basis…too long. So this year I want to get back into carving out the time to take myself on a date once a week.

New living space

We really need to move from our sweet 1 bedroom home into something different. It makes us both sad because we LOVE our little place by the beach (morning walks on the sand are hard to beat!) but we really want a bigger space, a yard, an updated kitchen and I personally want a bigger closet- my shoes are cramped!

French Bulldog

Frank! I’m coming for you!

Ballet classes

When I was a little girl, I danced ballet for 10 years and I found such joy in it. The other day I got to thinking..why can’t I take ballet again at 30? Clearly, I’m not trying to become a professional dancer or anything but there must be classes for a girl to have a little fun in, right? So what it’s been twelve years (oy) since I put my point shoes on! Like riding a bike, right?!

Publish my writing

This is a carry over from last year. I. Still. Want. To. Accomplish. This. Goal…very badly. Onward!

Yoga retreat

Considering I am a yoga nut, I can’t believe that I have never been on a retreat. This year that is going to change! I signed up for Jennifer Pastiloff’s Manifestation Yoga Retreat in Ojai, CA in October. If you have read my blog before than you know that Jennifer is not only one of my favorite yoga teachers, she’s also a dear friend. Her retreats are known to be beyond amazing and I am so excited! I also get to sleep in a yurt with a bunch of other people….so there’s that to be excited about too.

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