ella fitzgerald is serenading moi while my mint mojito candle makes the hotel room feel like home. finally in portland and settling in post way-longer-than-planned journey here. we were to arrive 20ish hours before we actually did and got to spend the night in a houston hotel SANS luggage. ahhh, gotta love life's curve balls. it keeps it all more exciting. of course, i did snag a few extra minutes in the houston airport borders and came across this cute book: don't get caught with your skirt down: a practical girl's recession guide. seems pretty entertaining/enlightening!

we're here for beau's brother's wedding and i have a plethora of dear friends to see here, too, so our schedule is quite full. first stop: powell's. my heart skips a beat just thinking about all the books! i'll be sure to capture all i can on film to share.

in the interim, i wanted to pass along these three visions of delicious eye candy. so the cupcakes speak for themselves. don't they make you salivate? yum! they were sent by a dear yogini on my birthday. next is sir louis napping in the back of the car with his beloved "teddie" during our intense road trip last week. last, i set out my accessories when i got to the hotel and thought the colors and sparkles were too fabulous to not share!

now, to bed. wishing you all a *gorgeous* holiday full of sparkles and more sparkles! xo

posted by kimberly wilson @ 11:46 PM | 2 comments

last night's tranquilology teleclass was très amusant! a BIG merci beaucoup for all of you who joined. as i dash off to my super-early manager meeting, i wanted to share these GORGEOUS flowers representing the 8 petals of shining brightly this summer. the artists so far are: shannon, melita, carolyn, caitlin, michele, julie, and kaileen. so creative, so vibrant, so sparkly! fun-filled day of meetings, lunch with dear friend, teaching my fave class (been teaching it for almost 10 years), taking yoga, and dinner with beau! wishing each of you a *delightful* day!

posted by kimberly wilson @ 8:23 AM | 10 comments

home after 2800 miles in 4 days! whirlwind adventure full of sorrow, loss, laughter, and family time. despite the circumstances, we all made the best of the situation and enjoyed our time together - including a spontaneous slumber party where we kept my 96-year-old gramma up until 2am watching the jane austen book club. very cute flick. gramma's words the next morning, "i'm sleepy." ha!

here are a few fun photos of our journey out to the wichita mountains outside of my parent's home, near where i grew up. beautiful! the pups had a blast and louis loves barking at the bison and long horns.

i came across this muse in o magazine. it felt apropos considering last week. barbara kingsolver writes:

every one of us is called upon, probably many times, to start a new life. a frightening diagnosis, a marriage, a move, loss of job . . . and onward full tilt we go, pitched and wrecked and absurdly resolute, driven in spite of everything to make good on a new shore. to be hopeful, to embrace one possibility after another - that is surely the basic instinct . . . crying out: high tide! time to move out into the glorious debris. time to take this life for what it is.

may we all take this life for what it is!

finally, join moi (+ a host of other fab femmes) tonight for our tranquilology teleclass on shining brightly this summer. have your journals, colored pens, and mug of tea (or flute of bubbly) nearby. can't join us live? no worries, i'll send you the mp3. here's the skinny. xoxo

posted by kimberly wilson @ 11:31 AM | 3 comments

• direct download (mp3)

Welcome to the 156th edition of tranquility du jour: a guide to bringing tranquility to your every day. Recording from the Pink Palace in Washington, DC.

Today’s show menu features happenings and musings on self love with Christine Arylo.

Tranquilology Teleclass: Join moi for our next tranquilology teleclass "Shine with Summer Solstice" on June 29 (a day before my birthday!). $10.

Tranquility Tip: Yay birthday week. Each year I do a reflection exercise and encourage you to join me in the process. I write out everything accomplished since my last birthday and another list of everything I hope to accomplish by my next birthday. It works out perfectly since I have a mid-year birthday, but you, too, can join me in reflecting on goals mid-year!

Workshops + Retreats: Tools for creative expression on July 13 (mp3 available), a tranquility-filled week at Kripalu August 9-14, a Living Your Yoga 4-week series in September, and the annual Fall Foliage retreat to the hills of Virginia October 16-18. In 2010, consider the 4th annual Hip Tranquil Chick retreat March 26-28 and a week long sojourn to lush Costa Rica May 22-29. All the scoop is on my workshops page.

Featured Tranquilista: After earning her MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and spending over twelve years marketing big brands such as Gap Inc., Visa and Frito-Lay, Christine Arylo traded in building images for corporations for a chance to inspire women to break free from their self-limiting images.

Merging her professional experience and extensive leadership and coaching training with a seven-year spiritual journey, Christine now works with women and girls as a catalyst for change. Christine’s clients -- who range from entrepreneurs to executives to women seeking a deeper personal path -- share one thing in common, they all want to live more of their most real and wise self.

A new kind of self-love expert, Christine takes a fresh approach to redefining self-love for today’s woman as hip, hot and hers. Her no-taboo, limit-busting conversations and workshops, Girltalk… taking it deeper™, take place in venues ranging from the Internet (www.letsgirltalk.com), to colleges and high schools, to women’s events in major U.S. cities. In 2008, she launched Madly in Love with ME™, an international movement to inspire, dare and guide women and girls to be, love and live their most real and wise selves (www.madlyinlovewithme.com). She is the author of Choosing ME Before WE, The Every Woman’s Guide to Life and Love, which was released on February 13th, 2009 (New World Library).

Christine lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her partner, Noah, and their Siberian Husky.

Savvy Sources:
letsgirltalk.com
madlyinlovewithme.com
Choosing ME before WE: The Every Woman's Guide to Life and Love

Signature Style: Featured "look of the podcast" is the organic bamboo 2-in-1 slip dress and 2-in-1 maxi dress. Purchase either online by July 31 and receive a complimentary copy of Get Your Yoga On. Watch TranquiliT's spring video featuring oodles of ways to wear your favorites. Like to be in-the-know? Join the TranquiliT mailing list to get the skinny. Follow TranquiliT on twitter. Add TranquiliT to your blog and become an affiliate.

Chic Community: Join our Facebook group. Become my Facebook friend. Follow moi on Twitter. Download tranquility du jour on demand. Watch bi-weekly tranquility du jour TV on youtube.com/tranquilitydujour. Explore mentoring with moi. Dive into my first book Hip Tranquil Chick. Become a TranquiliT eco-fashionista. Deepen your yoga practice at Tranquil Space. Get your do-gooding on with Tranquil Space Foundation.

Challenge: Send moi photos of you getting your artist date on and I'll share them with our readers. The most creative artist date photo/write up received by September 21 (the fall equinox) will receive a complimentary CD of my newest yoga-to-go class plus a complimentary mentoring session via phone or in person (if you're local). Create away + do share!

Omwork: How can you engage in more self love this week?

Au Revoir: To close out the show, we’re playing Sala by Abigal Washburn from Promonet. You can learn more about .

• You don't need an iPod to listen to the podcast! Click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes!
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• Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast. You'll automatically get the latest edition as soon as it's available.
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Interested in starting a podcast for yourself, your organization or your business?
Check out nineball media.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 12:24 AM | 1 comments

delighted to share a fabulous feature in wednesday's washington times showcasing yoga as a lifestyle at tranquil space. the photographer captured great shots of the studio on saturday and the interviewer asked thoughtful questions on how yoga translates beyond the mat - especially as a business.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 2:06 AM | 3 comments

when i received word early sunday morning that my gramma had passed, beau and i quickly reorganized the week and made plans to journey home. it's been a whirlwind of a week leaving moi emotionally exhausted, yet INCREDIBLY grateful. the numerous notes via facebook, twitter, and via e-mail have been so supportive. merci beaucoup times 100!

we decided to road trip it and brought louis along for the adventure. attached are photos of my backseat "office" (note laptop, goosedown pink blanket, tranquilista manuscript, damask ideas book), beau and louis enjoying their first trip to a sonic drive-in (yay cheese tator tots!), a quick stop at graceland to get a photo and hit the loo, and louis enjoying the journey from the front seat. we arrived late tuesday night to the tunes of country and an amazing oklahoma sky.

today was the funeral. j'adore my nephews and eat up "bad boy" carson (forced by moi to sit on my lap - yep, weird auntie). this photo was taken at the luncheon before the funeral. seeing gramma was very hard on me. it's never easy, as the finality of death is so hard to grasp. she's been a part of my life in some capacity for almost 36 years. i know it must be especially hard on my father to lose his last parent. the final photo is us laying her to rest where beau served as a pallbearer. we'll stay one more day with family and then start our 2-day, 1300+ mile journey back to dc.

life is tricky. fleeting actually. the trivial things that are so consuming fall away in the face of finality. at times like this, i find it important to contemplate ways to show love each and every day. reach out and let someone know you are thinking of them. thank someone for making a difference in your day. cut out an article for a friend. write a snail mail letter and enclose a tea bag or small gift. remember birthdays. make amends. forgive. let go. hug. cry. be kind. smile. always do your best.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 11:55 PM | 5 comments

tomorrow morning beau, pug, + moi will start the 21-hour journey back to oklahoma. my grandmother (not the yoga-doing, e-mail-writing, spry 97-year-old you've seen on my blog) passed away last night. she had been declining rapidly after a stroke so we were prepared for the news. however, the finality of it is always a bit shocking.

i'm savoring a lazy sunday morning in bed with my laptop and pug nearby. pensively planning and canceling appointments, meetings, classes, obligations for the week ahead. moments like this bring me back to the ongoing question "am i leaving a legacy?" for some reason, this is incredibly important to moi. making a mark drives everything i do.

take a moment to journal on this point. how are you leaving a legacy? it can be as simple as smiling at a disgruntled pedestrian you pass en route to work (seriously) or as grand as adopting an orphan from another country or dedicating your life to a cause.

may we all positively affect as many people as possible through our thoughts, words, and actions. i wanted to share a post i just came across on making a difference. this is from an interview with the lovely fran monks in 2005 or 2006 and felt apropos considering my muse.

this post is dedicated to my grandmother, jessie marie zorger wilson. let's leave legacies.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 10:19 AM | 15 comments

summer solstice staycation + artist date challenge/contest

today's summer staycation was filled with goodie bags stuffed with delights for the senses (including leopard print armwarmers), creativity, organic snacks, designing a vision board, yoga, tea sandwiches, letter writing, heaps of yummy tea, a discussion on healthy habits, journal writing, and overall reflection topped with peonies, a gardenia scented candle, fun tunes, and incense. we had a delightful day and i was blessed with an impressive group of ladies. read more about the experience from the lovely city girl and the lovely melita.

i assigned omwork: one artist date per week until they receive the letter they wrote to themselves around the winter solstice. then continuing is optional. want to take this challenge with them? an artist date is a one-hour solo adventure that nurtures your creative spark: a picnic in the park, bookstore browsing (my fave), walk in the woods, shopping the accessory sections of anthropologie, sifting through magazines, reading curled up on the couch, knitting, beading, going to a concert, shopping the farmer's market, enjoying an art exhibit, sipping tea at an outdoor cafe, writing in your journal on a park bench.

you get the gist. join moi and today's lovely ladies on this artistic challenge! **send moi photos of you getting your artist date on and i'll share them with our readers. the most creative artist date photo/write up received by september 21 (the fall equinox) will receive a complimentary CD of my newest yoga-to-go class plus a complimentary mentoring session via phone or in person (if you're local). create away + do share! **

xoxo

posted by kimberly wilson @ 10:40 PM | 9 comments