Survivor Gabon Finale

Yes, I watch Survivor. Religiously. It functions as a guilty pleasure for me, and I am not so sure I feel that guilty about watching it. Anyway, I can't stand the last tribal council because people who were voted off invariably come back and say unforgiving things to those who outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted them. And last night was no different.

There was this one woman, Corinne Kaplan, who I am ashamed to say is a Florida Gator (my hubby went to Florida, and I usually root for those who went to UF in all things). Anyway, she said what has to have gone down as the meanest thing ever said on reality TV: "Sugar (yes, that is the name of one of the contestants), you are unemployed, uneducated, and a leech on society. All that I would vote to give you is a handful of antidepressants, so that you can seem more sincere when you're crying about your dead father." Well, maybe it wasn't that VERBATIM, but it was pretty darn close.

That comment knocked me back a mile. Wow, Sugar had lost her dad only 5 months before the show started, and was obviously still processing her grief while on Survivor. This woman's comment was so un-loving and hateful, and so completely unnecessary. What was she thinking? And then, on the reunion show, she was given a chance to apologize by Jeff Probst. When asked if she had any regrets, Corinne replied, "It was like being stuck out there with a colicky baby!" In other words, "No regrets. I am a true bitch, through and through."

Wow. I did not realize people like that existed in this world. I thank my lucky stars that everyone I magnetize into my sphere is loving and lovable. Corinne must be carrying around a great deal of self-hatred to behave like that, and to "enjoy" behaving like that. Talk about unconscious. She was definitely crowned Empress Bitch of Survivor last night.

My first Aromatherapy Class at Pavia...

Okay, I'm finally doing it. All that money spent on Aromatherapy education is not going to waste. I am teaching my first class on it, called "Holiday Aromatherapy," on December 14, 2008. We are going to make holiday-scented diffuser blends, bath salts, body oils, room sprays, and carpet powders. We are also going to have a blast - yes, that's on the agenda too.

Here are the details:

Date: Sunday, December 14, 2008
Time: 5:30 to 7:30pm
Place: Pavia
Cost: $35 (includes all the goodies you get to take home)
RSVP: 408-741-1555 to sign up!

"Beside" myself...

Lately I've been coughing up a storm. And not to gross anyone out, but stuff was coming up and it was....well, gross. Hacking away at work, at home, especially whenever I lay down flat on my back (i.e., to go to sleep), just had me feeling totally beside myself.

Which brings me to this rumination: what does it mean to be "beside" oneself? Is it like, I've stepped out of my body and I am sitting next to it watching it suffer? Or is it, I am so discombobulated that I am out of my mind (which could be a good thing) and disembodied, even? Well, these stream of consciousness rantings come as the culmination of several sleep-disturbed nights, that is for sure.

Last night, however, I did something as a last resort that seemed to help right away. I took a drop of Thyme oil on a teaspoonful of honey, and then I put a drop of Ravensara oil on a square of paper towel and held it over my nose. Then I went back to bed, and counted the seconds until I coughed again. I was like a cat waiting to pounce on a mouse as I lay there, watching, waiting, tensed up to cough.

But it never came, and the next thing I know, I am awakened by the sound of the tree-cutters working next door. So I guess it worked! Yay! My husband said it was the first truly "quiet" night he had heard since I first contracted the cough, so this could be good for him too. Poor guy, has had to put up with a phlegm-spewing and lungee-coughing wife for over a week now. He ought to be canonized.

Pavia Meditation 101 Seminar, 11/10/08.

It seems like all we hear is bad news on a daily basis. The economy is in turmoil, big, trusted companies like GM are running out of cash, respected investment banks like Lehman Brothers have gone out of business completely, and the government has put together a $700 billion bailout program for the banking industry that will cost each taxpayer about $8K in debt.

(Where is the government when small businesses need them, I wonder? I would not mind a bailout *wink*. But that is neither here nor there.) Actually, I don't need a bailout, because I have unlimited abundance and I create my own reality. And, I know how to meditate and anchor my life in harmony and peace.

This is why I asked my staff soul therapist, Theresa Hatcher, to give a session called Meditation 101. We know that times are tough for our spa clients, too. But perversely, we know they especially need relaxation right now, and do not feel they can afford it. So, we put together a "Meditation 101" seminar that will introduce them to two meditation techniques....and meditation is free, once you learn how to do it, and you can access that inner peace and harmony anytime.

Here are the details:
Date: Monday, 11/10/08
Time: 6:30pm to 9pm
Place: Pavia
Your host: Theresa Hatcher
Cost: $30 (but includes Theresa's "Meditations of the Heart" CD, which is a $22 value alone)
RSVP: 408-741-1555, or email info@paviadayspa.com

The list is filling up fast, so RSVP soon!

Wow, I am so happy.

Watching Jesse Jackson's face last night in the crowd and listening to Obama's victory speech, I felt so indescribably happy. It does not matter that as a small business owner I am normally Republican, or that I would have voted for McCain had he chosen a more palatable VP candidate, I was just happy at the change that America has gone through. Electing Obama says that we as a nation are willing to change, to release old patterns of consciousness, to evolve into something better, to live up to the standards that we set for ourselves so long ago. Watching him on TV and all the jubilant faces in the crowd, I felt a surge of hope that I have not felt at any presidential election since I first voted for Clinton in 1992. Since then my voting track record has been a bit....well, no self-judgments necessary. Let's just say I voted for Bush twice.

Anyway, I am excited and positive and hopeful. We've come a long way, baby!

I got lashed!!!!

Okay, I am really excited, perhaps unjustifiably so. But I got lash extensions today from my employee, esthetician Kristine Van Tassel, and I just love them! Wow, what a difference! No wonder I've always been so jealous of those with naturally long lashes...your eyes just look so much sparklier when you have long lashes!

Here are some before and after pics (hopefully, I don't have to say which is before and which is after!!!)

Doing my part for the economy!

Okay, let's not buy into the fear! I know things seem scary, but if we also realize that we, as a collective human race, created our reality, then we also realize we have the power to change things. We can create a different, and more prosperous, future for ourselves.

So I decided yesterday...to go shopping! If we all went and spent some money, we enrich each other and we can get ourselves out of this mess. Of course, what I spent was a drop in the bucket...$513 at Anthropologie on new work clothes...but it was the energy behind it that mattered. As I put down my debit card, I thought to myself, "I am unafraid to spend...spending with others increases the energy around others spending with me."

And I feel so confident in my new clothes, and they are so fashionable. They are sooooo worth it!