Primary

 

Couples are yoga. 

Marriage - spirits dance, souls melt. 

fields, sky, streams and wonder

"In the name of the flowers and the fields, the stars in the sky, and the streams that flow down to the sea, and the mystery that breathes wonder into all these things, I pronounce you mouse and wife."

-Jill Barkley 
Brambly Hedge, Summer Story 

charmed

The Daily Doodle: Wearing a Missoni dress, Barrera shell earrings, a Moroccan cuff and a mammoth bone bunny necklace to bring me luck this summer.

What I wore on the east coast

The Daily Doodle: I love brunch.

sails up on Lake Erie

Providence I Do

The Daily Doodle: Celebrating alfresco: A foodie wedding frenzy in the country-side of Rhode Island. 

High-school Reunion: 3 Outfits

The Daily Doodle: As high-school sweethearts, the hubby and I attended our 10 year high-school reunion weekend and this is how we represented ourselves.

Sailfish

The Daily Doodle: After the positive feedback from this all-gussied-up photo, I decided to add another party people picture of yours truly and the mister.

Mr. and Mrs. Kirschenbaum poolside at the Sailfish Club, Palm Beach, FL.

unveiled

The Daily Doodle: Yours truly self-adorned in bun & veil for a wedding in Palm Beach, Florida last weekend.

Illustrations are stunning bridal gifts. ~ Above, an example of a personal Thank You note or Notepad.

Julian and Astrid Kirschenbaum at the cocktail hour. Marchesa fringe dress.

ode to bride

The Daily Doodle: I'm married so the jig is up for me, but boy do I love a good bride!

Elie Saab Spring 2012 bridal above.

on a mountain top in turqouise

The Daily Doodle: Hot pink bouquet and shoes: At a recent wedding, the bride wore turquoise gems- and later, a fur! 

what I wore all wedding weekend

Saturday: Wedding upon a Mountain Peak, glamourous and decadent drinks and dinner thereafter.  Oscar de la Renta dress, Sam Edelman six-inchers in jean w/ spikes, huge crystal necklace. 

Friday: Sumptuous rehearsal reception in a Brasserie. 

Pink Polka by Paul&Joe, DVF violet purse, Badgley Mishka barbie bow pumps.

Thursday: Party up Independence Pass, bluegrass and s'mores nestled in the Rocky Mountains

Maxmara booties, Winter Kate necklace. 

Wednesday: SAN to DEN to ASE.

 Head to toe lululemon, Ralph Lauren Ricky, lesportsac duffel

Mr. and Mrs. Kirschenbaum get the pleasure of spending their almost one-year anniversary back in Aspen, the location of their own nuptials. 

Paschimottanasana & Pound Cake

Pashimottanasana ~ Seated Forward Bend

Paschima : West

Uttana : Intense Stretch

Paschimottana : Intense Stretch of the West

Fold forward from the hips, not the waist, keeping your spine as straight a possible (only in the head-to-knee, Janu Sirsasana, variation may the back curl.) There is no shame in keeping your knees slightly bent in this pose. 

The lower belly should touch the thighs first, then the upper belly, then the ribs, and the head last. With each inhalation, lift and lengthen the front torso just slightly; with each exhalation release a little more fully into the forward bend. In this way the torso oscillates and lengthens almost imperceptibly with the breath. Eventually you may be able to stretch the arms out beyond the feet on the floor. (Keep in mind) A beginner's forward bend doesn't go very far forward and might look more like sitting up straight. Most students should sit up on a folded blanket in this pose, and most beginners need to hold a strap around the feet. Extremely stiff students can place a rolled up blanket under their knees. ––Yogajournal.com 

Sour Cream Pound Cake, fresh from the oven. Effortless. 

I whipped together this pound cake wanting to use some left-over sour cream from the Super-market Style Sugar Cookies CLICK! This pound cake is also reminiscent of a super-market loaf. It took me ten minutes to put together, and will take you more or less the same depending on how well you know your way around your kitchen. 

Uncomplicated Sour Cream Pound Cake

1 cup white sugar (if even)

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sour cream

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1 pinch baking soda

1. Cream butter and sugar.

2. Add eggs and sour cream.

3. Blend with sifted flour and soda.

4. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan.

5. Bake at 375 for an hour 

or until toothpick comes out clean (check after 40 minutes.)

Thank You, Will: allrecipes.com

Astrid and Julian Kirschenbaum tie the knot:

http://thelittlenell.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/wedding-of-the-month-parkerkirschenbaum/

Our wedding is featured on The Little Nell's site!... CLICK! It includes a nice write-up. Now if only they would change the brochures...

Bhujangasana

Bhujangasana ~ Cobra

Bhujanga: Serpent, Snake

Bhujangasana increases body heat and destroys disease; no doubt a pose that supports 'Tapas', click for more!

Bhujangasana awakens kundalini. A Kundalini awakening is when energy flows upward freely through the chakras and creates a heightened state of awareness. 

According to Tantra, kundalini energy rests like acoiled serpent at the base of the spine. When this dormant energy flows freely upward through the seven chakras (energy centers) and leads to an expanded state of consciousness, it's known as a kundalini awakening.

For some, the experience can be blissful and filled with feelings of love and a sense of the interconnectedness of all things. For others, it can feel more like a bad drug trip, or even a psychotic break, where practitioners go through altered sleep cycles, changes in identity, or depression. This discrepancy has led many Westerners to fear the coiled serpent resting in their spine, ready to strike.

Kundalini awakenings are rare in Western students because hatha yoga is practiced in a less spontaneous way today. "People are trying to hold the poses in a certain way, as opposed to doing poses that release energy blocks specific to their body." Kundalini reminds us that consciousness is far vaster than most of us have ever imagined, which can seem overwhelming and disorienting. –– YogaJournal.com

I just returned from my honeymoon in Maui (hence the 8-day break in posting,) which was blissful and filled with feelings of love and a sense of interconnectedness of all things. No, my kudalini did not rise on our island getaway, but I do feel lucky in love and marriage, which I will take over a bad drug trip or psychotic break any day. (Although I look forward to those inevitable parts of holy matrimony as well.)

Aspen Magazine

Happy first day of Spring! J and I were engaged one year ago today. 

You can click and zoom on the pic for the article... or I included it below. A better digital version of this page to replace the above photo is coming soon–– but I couldn't wait!  Aspenmagazine.com for a copy. 

Kindred Spirits

Astrid Parker & Julian Kirschenbaum

 Who? A pair of high school sweethearts from Cleveland who met at a school dance at age 15. They moved to Aspen straight out of college, Astrid working as a yoga instructor at O2 Aspen, Julian as a ski instructor for Aspen Skiing Company. The two now live in San Diego (while Julian attends Law School) but hope to return to Aspen as soon as an opportunity arises.

Where? The Ceremony took place at Ajax’s summit, with cocktails at the Aspen Mountain Club and dinner and dancing at the Sundeck–– all catered by The Little Nell.

What? A three-day extravaganza with a different theme for each day: Aspen Chic, Rustic Elegance, and Wild West. Thanks to the faultless planning of Astrid’s mother and events planner Jason Burns, Astrid claims that her engagement and wedding were one hundred percent stress-free.

            Aspen Chic materialized as an evening of pure glitz and glam at the Nell–– mountains of caviar, free-flowing champagne, an oxygen bar, a huge floating monogram in the pool, and fabulous fireworks to round off the night.

            Rustic Elegance, being the big day, demanded classic black-tie elegance on top of the mountain, with a dreamlike palette of creams and pinks coupled with sheer white cloth draping and tea-light chandeliers. However, the bride’s stunning pink, cream, pale yellow, and gold plaid dress kept things fresh and unpredictable.

            At the start of the ceremony, a fox came right up to the couple and quietly watched their nuptials from start to finish before scampering off into the backcountry, at which point Julian turned to the congregation and said, “Astrid is one foxy lady!” The newlyweds believe that the animal was the spirit of those who had recently passed–– Astrid’s father and Julian’s grandfather–– coming back to join them for their special day.

            The final day, with its Wild West theme, threw formality to the wind with a boot-scootin’ hoedown at the T-Lazy-7 Ranch. But the lowering of the pomp certainly didn’t equate to a lowering of standards: a well-known bluegrass group, Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband, kept the party alive well into the night. 

LoVE LOve

Hello month of love!!!

Sage advice from the Susan Branch Calendar:

The Romance of Home

Look for sheets with hearts on them; have breakfast in bed. Rent Shirley Valentine, Love Actually or Shakespeare in Love. With leftover spray snow, stencil hearts on bathroom mirrors. Make champagne cocktails (drop sugar cubes soaked in bitters in a glass filled with champagne.) Paint your [toe]nails red. Sprinkle red hearts over your [children's] oatmeal. Put on a cute apron; throw some flour around; cooking smells are very romantic in a cozy home.

Astrid and Julian Kirschenbaum

The Sundeck atop Ajax Mountain at 12000 feet

Floating floral arrangements in the Little Nell Hotel's elegantly dark hued pool

by Gruau

My Blue Valentine Wishlist all from dannijo.com