Tag Archives: winter

fall / winter 2015

9 Sep

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(image found via pinterest)

With 2015 nearing to a close…I know, I know, we still have four full months, but once September hits I can’t help but reflect on how I want the year to wrap up. September – December always seems to fly by and I find myself surprised every year on January 1st- it almost seems impossible that we are there again. The next four months also happen to be my absolute favorite time of year- I find myself most creatively alive during this time. I also love everything to do with the holidays and what they represent- family dinners, our wedding anniversary, carving pumpkins, dressing Frankie up for Halloween, cooking, warmth, bundling up, decorating trees, cuddling & new beginnings.

The last eight months have been an introspective time for me. Rather than exploring the world around me, as I usually do, I have been instead making the journey within. I knew at the start of 2015 that something was off.  I had baggage that I still hadn’t worked through and I was dragging it around with me. I couldn’t hide from it anymore. It was time to do the hard work, even if that meant that other things had to be put on the back burner. Something very hard for a person who desires immediate results like me to come to terms with. Instead I had to trust the process. It reminded me of that quote by Zora Neale Hurston –  “There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” Thus far this year has most definitely been asking me some questions. Ones that needed answering and ones that positively shifted something in me once I did. I feel empowered and for that I am incredibly grateful.

Life man, such a wild ride sometimes, right?

When reflecting about how I want the next few months to unfold, it was clear to me that I want them to feed my soul, creative mind, relationships, home & belly. I want to soak in every bit of goodness that 2015 has left to offer me. I have a feeling the next four months will bring an entirely different energy than the first eight did and I am ready for that new energy.

Some of the ways I would like to spend the next few months…

Deepening my meditation practice. I know I have only been scratching at the surface and I am feeling a pull towards more. In addition to developing a stronger home practice I want to explore Unplug Meditation, Against The Stream & Shambhala Center.

Reading! There are fifteen (I might be setting myself up for failure on this one) books I would love to read before the end of the year. I’ll share them in a later post.

Cooking- I plan on spending some quality time in the kitchen! Again, there is something about fall and winter that inspire me to want to cook. I love hearty recipes and the feeling of warmth that comes from the kitchen this time of year.

I would love to put a small dinner party together in our home each month to bring our family and friends together. I want to make a point to enjoy the ones that matter most in my life. I also love to entertain.

I want to finish a few work projects that have been on the back burner for many many many months. As I mentioned previously, I put some things on the back burner to focus on me and it’s time to dust them off. They involve getting two book proposals finished and ready to submit in the new year and revamping my personal website which has been in purgatory for the last six months.

Practicing yoga. I want to make my yoga practice more of a priority over the next few months. My love for it has been renewed recently and I would love to keep the love affair going. My body just feels so much more balanced when I am practicing regularly.

I would love to finally find a property for the business Brian and I have been building with a few partners this past year. I can’t wait to share about it in the new year! Granted we find a property and the ball gets moving.

My home life- one of the most important aspects of my life. It has been in an incredibly solid and fulfilling place and I want to continue to watch it grow.

*

There are years that ask questions and years that answer,

Years that

fall apart

and years that come together…

There are years that cry and years that laugh,

Years that wonder

And years that strike and clap and thunder.

. . .

Your job isn’t to know — not right now, not quite yet.

Your job is simply

to breathe,

to trust,

to rest

To know that it is all a part of the path —

The mystery and the clarity

The hardship and delight

The darkness and the light alike.

. . .

Dear One,

Haven’t you heard?

“This place where you are right now

God circled on a map for you.”

*

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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