I'm in the process of re-doing the extra little room in my apartment, which has served as storage, an office, and meditation space all at once, and in the matter of the past six months or so, has turned kind of junkie. That is changing now because of the wonderful birthday gifts from darling girls Shannon and Elizabeth!

Shannon sent me a huge box of mediation room goodies, and I'm so excited to bring new life to my extra room. I'm clearing out the stuff that's piled up in there and boxing up the things that no longer fit. She sent me a gorgeous red wooden box for storing special little things (so beautiful), a meditation cushion, incense, a Ganesh, a red crackled glass candle holder, candles, tea, Jelly Bellies (because we can't keep our bodies pure and clean of toxins all the time! Okay, me, almost none of the time. I love chocolate!), and, best of all, a gorgeous frame with my favorite page from Eat, Pray, Love artfully displayed. I adore it, and, frankly, almost cried when I opened it. This page talks about the seven levels of existence and traveling through them--heaven is last. I was so touched when I got to that part in the book when I read it a year or so ago because of a similar experience I had during meditation/sleep once. It was so thoughtful of Shannon to remember and to make such a lovely gift. Also, she gave me a bunch of black and white Paris pics from one of her calendars and a great black and white flower card, all of which I used to make a piece of collage art for the room, with the flower in the center. I'm not very arty, but I liked my simple idea of how to do this, and it felt really great creating something to add to the space. Plus, I am proud of how right it looks where I have it, and I'm so happy to have more from Shannon to include. I love it all so much. Is it possible to be in love with a room and to want to spend tons of time in it? :-)

Elizabeth's gift is also a fantastic part of the room. It's harder to describe in words because it's all about good smells. She gave me a beautiful silver vanity tray with a bunch of delicious lotions and body sprays, as well as a beautiful bottle of perfume. I wish I could add each scent to the blog. So gorgeous! Each of the items had a great little Elizabeth story to go along with it, and I feel like that, along with the objects, is the perfect addition to all the good things in there. One of my favorite things about Elizabeth is her ability to find meaning in all things and to grasp that meaning with such full and complete understanding. She never forgets, and she amazes me. And, well, I keep running in to smell things.

I know I'm totally gushing here, but my birthday tends to make me mushy and so appreciative of all the wonderful people in my life. As I've gone through all the objects in my room, I'm blown away by everything others have given me, many intentionally and some randomly, that so match who I am and what I love. The whole room is pretty much made of gifts, and it's cool to me to have the energy of the people I care about right there. In addition to everything listed above, I have a great collection of books that are so in line with my interests, and many were handed down from people (tons from Elizabeth) as they cleaned out their own personal libraries. There is the cute little red desk that Emily gave me, which now holds the page 261 frame, and a star light she gave me for Christmas one year. There is a wooden bookshelf in the corner, stacked with books, my grandfather made when I was younger. There is the lighter and old fashioned playing cards that belonged to my great grandmother. My mother, who doesn't share in my woo-woo interests, has thoughtfully given me pretty items that totally fit in every way. I have sets of gorgeous tarot cards given to me by various friends (you aren't supposed to buy your own). I have a stack of journals, all gifts from friends or my sisters, that keep my joyful times, my hopes, my fears, my darkest moments, and all the funny things that happen to make life interesting and worthwhile. Of course, there is the grump girl journal, too, which is a gift I bought for myself and still love.

I think whenever I feel disheartened or frustrated by life, I just need to go sit in that room and look around to remember how much love is actually here. Gag, I know, but it's very true. Maybe I can find something snarky to say tomorrow.

Never mind that the rest of my house became a disaster as I moved stuff out to make one perfect room. It's one project at a time!