Category: Thankful Thursday

A Good Ole Phone Dump – #ThankfulThursday
Animal Medicine · Music and Sound Healing · Photo Dump · Thankful Thursday · Writing Prompts

A Good Ole Phone Dump – #ThankfulThursday

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I made this monogram H dream catcher for my parents! This hangs outside and was a really fun project to make. H is metallic silver and wood.
Our first crystal sound healing bowl! She is huge, 18 inches in diameter. We took her out to the desert for a photo shoot.
DREAM! ASL statues in downtown San Diego. When my cousin graduated high school, we celebrated lunch at The Spaghetti Factory (vegan gluten free option- YUM), and then I solo walked to visit Josh in Little Italy. It was a long walk in flip flops and I pranced and danced the whole way!
Drinking champagne listening to country blues in the middle of the day- somewhurr in East County with Mark Tegio. I remember I asked for a shot of St Germain in the champs and the 4 year old bartender didn’t handle it well haha
GORGEOUS flowers outside the Plant Power in Encinitas! Celebrating after my brother’s high shool graduation. So many graduations!
Check out this dragonfly on the tip of Josh’s truck antenna out in Ocotillo! I bet this is your favorite picture. Hehe

What’s a phone dump?

A Phone Dump is a collection of photos that don’t have a pair, a soulmate. Photos you wanted enough to take your phone out and take a picture of them to keep forever, but not special enough to make your profile picture. Photos that bring you joy, that are fun with context, that don’t often don’t need explanation.

A phone dump is a memory recall for the photographer to recite and remember what they see. Pick a friend or a loved one- the first person that comes to mind when you sit down to write, and describe to them what you see! Today, I am describing my phone dump to my sister, Jessica. Ha. Enjoy, miss you JC Mae ❤

This writing prompt is a lovely way to visit your loved ones that have passed. When I am thinking about my late grandma, I will often describe to her what’s going on and what I see. Super cool- try it out.

Love taking a phone dump? Click the category at the top of your screen to see ’em all! Share your phone dumps with me! Comment below, add me as a friend anywhere on the interwebs, I love to connect!

Quarantine Crafting Queen Activities – #ThankfulThursday
Beanies · Chair Yoga · Curb Your Anxiety · Free Little Library · Gift Giving · Gluten Free · Handmade · Healing Modalities · Pinecone the Rhodesian Lab · San Diego · Thankful Thursday · Uncategorized · Youtube

Quarantine Crafting Queen Activities – #ThankfulThursday

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Well aren’t I a quarantine crafting queen! What have you been doing to keep busy? I know many have their hands full with working at home and having littles, so I am appreciating the luxury of being able to knit and already having so many extra supplies so that I do not have to spend any money. All situations are different and all are suffering, so I am doing my part and trying to stay sane in the meantime. Aren’t we all?

Some of my favorite crafts that have been keeping us busy:

1. Knitting beanies and plant sleeves with a KNITTING LOOM

2. Finally putting all those puzzles together that have been stacking up in our game cabinet

3. Bake a recipe that requires more than one step- I made cinnamon streusel!

4. Rearrange the entire house to remove stifled and stagnant energy. Bonus points if you are able to bring some of your outdoor plants into the house!

5. Notice things that you haven’t before, like your book titles that are put in upside down in the shelf. Ha- it took being upside down in yoga practice for me to notice this!

6. Check on our free little library! Using safe social distancing and sanitization practices, we have loved being able to walk outside, get some fresh air, and see how many people have been reading a little bit more than they are used to! The collective is appreciative of these libraries as resources because all city libraries are closed

7. Love on your fur babies- letting our dog stay in our bed a little bit more than he usually is allowed. I think he is getting fat!

8. Making and watching YouTube videos- my favorite past time, as I have a few months of catching up to do with Jenna Marbles.

Happy reading and viewing friends! Stop drop and stretch right now!

Frothy Repurposed Chair- Cha Cha Cha Chia! #Upcycle
Corder Nursery Catalogue · Thankful Thursday · Thrifting · Upcycle

Frothy Repurposed Chair- Cha Cha Cha Chia! #Upcycle

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Thank you Hanarahans for the plant and pot!
Thank you bestie for stopping in the middle of our hike to swoop some free patio furniture

Greetings wildlings! I hope this time in isolation and quarantine is keeping you well, if you are reading this in real-time!

There are few things that I love more than repurposed, FREE, quirky items that find their way to me. An avid American picker, I will absolutely slam on my breaks for a pile of free opportunity!

My best friend and I were hiking in San Diego, doing our usual thing! Some hikes rural, some residential, this hike through Rose Canyon took us through some neighborhood streets. Lo and behold, a free outdoor iron table and chairs! A little rusted and dated, I had to have them. And so, we quickly hiked back to my car, a Camry at the time!, and after a few puzzle piece maneuvers, we fit the furniture in the trunk.

This plant never saw it coming! On a whim, Josh and I were wondering what pots we had that would fit inside of this sturdy iron chair frame. This plant was gifted to us by dear friends that moved to CANADA and could not take them along! We inherited a ton of amazing plants from the Hanrahans, thank you friends! This frothy chair is the greatest thing I have seen in my yard.

When two whatever items turn into magnificent greatness! I love when that happens! Thankful Thursday, my friends.

Speaking of chairs 🙂 If you need any chair yoga, I have your back!

Soyrizo Burrito Bowl – Vegan EATS Sprinkled with Signs from the Universe
Curb Your Anxiety · Thankful Thursday · Vegan · Vegan Shopping Lists

Soyrizo Burrito Bowl – Vegan EATS Sprinkled with Signs from the Universe

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A lovely meal indeed- these photos are so special to me! When I need to meditate and travel elsewhere, I take myself to this very scene. Let me paint it for you!

In 2018, my lovely commune of 5 OMies, 1 dog, and 4 chickens was forced to disband, as we received an eviction notice from our landlord. Since then, this house has been torn down. We mourned for this house. Yes, we were sad that we had to disperse and go our separate ways, but we were also saddened by this historic house being torn down.

We felt honored to be the last people that lived in the house before it was torn down. She was celebrating her 100th birthday, as this house was built in 1918 and smelled, looked, and mimicked all other old houses in the Hillcrest and North Park area.

On one of our last mornings in the house, I cooked myself breakfast. I know it was the last time I sat at a table and chair and ate a meal there- as I am sure that we packed these bowls and mugs shortly after this picture was taken.

First, the food- SOYRIZO gluten free burrito bowl ingredients:

  • Soyrizo- cooked until crunchy and crumbly
  • –can of black beans
  • –a bed of Late July corn tortilla ships
  • –1 ripe organic avocado– none better than from here in San Diego!
  • -sauteed garlic, yellow onion and a few red/orange peppers
  • -blop of garlic hummus

I took my gigantic bowl of soyrizo, and my coffee (I wonder where that starbucks mermaid cup went….) and I sat down underneath a lattice-worked patio. The wisteria had beautifully bloomed over the house, an unexpected surprise. Blankets of purple, gorgeous smells, and whimsical winds whipped through our patio. All good things come to an end, and the petals started to fall. In fact, they fell into my food and my coffee, which prompted some research.

Wisteria is edible! So, when lovely purple flowers float into your meal space- EAT EM. I can close my eyes and sit at this patio, swaying with the plumey purple breeze and munching on this meal. To date, one of our most favorite meals. We make it once a week, I’m sure of it!

Thanks for reading. I love vegan eats and love suggestions! For today’s Thankful Thursday, I am truly thankful for the time to look back and reflect on old photos and memories. It has been very therapeutic, a great privilege, and an unforeseen benefit of this restorative pandemic. I will never take access to vegan food for granted! Thank you quarantine for humbling me and reminding me of how truly grateful I am for food. Let’s just say…I can’t wait to eat out at every vegan restaurant in San Diego when this is over! I miss the luxury of being cooked for. My musings….

Need free and accessible chair yoga for yourself, your grandma, your loved one, your next family dinner? Pull up a chair and join me!

Beyond Korean BBQ Bowl – A Vegan and Gluten Free #ThankfulThursday
Animal Medicine · Gluten Free · Pinecone the Rhodesian Lab · Thankful Thursday · Vegan · Vegan Shopping Lists

Beyond Korean BBQ Bowl – A Vegan and Gluten Free #ThankfulThursday

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A picture of my lap, as I wear all of my husband’s clothes. Feels like home 🙂
I loved this sauce as much as I loved having these nails!
Our gorgeous Rhodesian Ridgeback Black Lab Great Dane MIX Mutt, Pinecone
Tastes even better than it looks, and tasted much saltier than takeout, but with considerably less salt! WIN!

Recently, we brought a cooking kit that taught us how to make Korean BBQ tacos! Totally gluten free and vegan, it was one of the best meals that I have had in 2020, hands down. Definitely top 3 best Beyond Beef recipes! Anywho…

For $19.99 full price, sometimes cheaper with a coupon, I cannot afford to cook Korean BBQ for two! I would rather go out to dinner and have someone else cook for me – *coughcough* Plant Power, Sipz….

I decided to make a different variation- I introduce to you: The BEYOND Korean BBQ BOWL! Servings: 4

Ingredients:

-black rice

-fresh green onions and garlic for garnish

-black sesame seeds for garnish (I found on amazon in bulk for $6; this will last our party of 2 for about 2 years!)

-Beyond Beef ground beef- 1lb (typically $9.99, I always buy when on sale for $7.99 or less)

-chopped onion, carrot, cauliflower, broccoli, snap peas

– 1 bottle of SEOUL KALBI SAUCE ($4.99- Whole Foods Market)

So simple! Cook the garlic, onions and beef together until golden brown. Add veggies, stir. Add sauce, stir. Add rice, stir. EAT, stir it up, little darlin’!

Instagram: @kellicorder @cordercollective

Want to practice yoga with me? In person- Hapa Yoga Mission Valley

Virtually:

iSpy with my Little Eye a Trailer Throwback- Thankful Thursday
Curb Your Anxiety · Dream Catchers · Etsy Shop Owner · Thankful Thursday · Trailer Time · Upcycle

iSpy with my Little Eye a Trailer Throwback- Thankful Thursday

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Lovely citrus from our neighbors! Working on dream catchers for our Etsy shop
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Our small and sacred altar that we kept at the back of the trailer
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Someone rear-ended my Camry and didn’t tell me. I walked outside and found it this way, but looked cute.
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Thanks mom for the really cute Free People Jacket! She found it for a really good deal, I never took it off my entire trip to NYC 2017
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Our lovely sleeping space, 2016. It has changed so much since then! Lovely seashell dream catcher hanging above us was clunky and divine. Seashell from Carlsbad CA
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Fresh lavender from our garden, Nag Champa incense, and Ganesha blessing our essential oils

Every week on Thankful Thursday, I take time and reflect on what I am truly grateful. When you get into the practice of turning to gratitude, you may start to realize that your laundry list of gratitude is starting to feel a little insincere. First, be proud of yourself if you have noticed a lack of oomph in gratitude! This is part of the journey.

Keep searching until you truly resonate with something that you are grateful for. I always tell my student/teachers in Yoga practice- Yoga is finding what you don’t like, what doesn’t work for you, what won’t work. Once we get comfortable in this uncomfortable feeling, we start to listen to our intuition and tap into what does work for us. This is a daunting task, as you rid yourself of limiting beliefs, preconceived notions, and the guilt trips that may have lead you to yoga, to buying that gratitude journal.

Yoga accepts us as we are. And so, during this wild week of pandemia and anxiety, I turn to my coping mechanisms that help me most! One of those is nostalgic, looking back to times in my life when I really felt grateful.

Sit down and reflect on a chapter in your life that you loved. Yes, we glorify these chapters, as they all come with their ups and downs. I take my mind and my gratitude to 5 years ago, when Josh and I bought our travel trailer.

Little did we know, this travel trailer would be a lovely oasis for us during this week! Completely isolated, respecting the quarantine, and honoring the hermit within, we are back in our trailer, back to simple pleasures.

Enjoy these pictures from when we lived in our trailer in Spring 2016, and when we were working on the trailer, at home, in 2016.

There are so many similarities to our time living in the trailer, and this current chapter of our life surviving and living with the hysteria of COVID-19. Why?

Isolation! When we first started living in the trailer, we realized what was the most important to us. We wanted to learn more about medicinal plants and invested a few hundred dollars in essential oils. From there, we made out own laundry soap, body soap, conditioner, and bug spray.

The BUG SPRAY IS what started it all. Remember this, Kelli! Bugs were eating your body alive, and you were so sick of it that you decided to figure out an herbal remedy to keep the bugs away. Gallons of melaleuca, citronella, and sage oil to keep those bugs away. The real trick to keeping bugbites at bay, in the deep wilderness, is to STAY INSIDE DURING GOLDEN HOUR. Our mosquitoes only attacked while the sun set. Cheers to paying attention.

And so, I rattle off my gratitude- I am grateful for our trailer, the best investment we have ever made. I am grateful for essential oils and that I now have almost 5 years of experience working with, and falling in love with, oils! I am grateful for my husband and my parents and the awesome job that we did remodeling the trailer and prepping it for us to live in for over a year. And lastly, I am grateful for the bug bites.

Just like I say in yoga practice….

Your pain and unhappiness led you to Yoga. BE grateful for it.

Love and light as you embrace all of your emotions that you are feeling right now, they are VALID.

Xoxo Kelli

Teensy Tiny Vegan Tacos – Thankful Thursday
Curb Your Anxiety · Healing Modalities · Thankful Thursday · Vegan · Vegan Shopping Lists

Teensy Tiny Vegan Tacos – Thankful Thursday

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Does anyone else love a romantic cooking date with themselves?

I absolutely love hosting space for other people, cooking for le husband, and trying new recipes. However, I don’t think I realize how long it has been since I truly cooked for myself, and exactly how I wanted it!

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Even if you are happily coexisting with others, it is still incredibly important to spend time alone. You truly do not realize how much you cater to other people and their needs until you take them out of the equation! It takes time and energy when you are constantly thinking, Does Linda like this hot sauce, is there enough food for two people, is there enough for seconds, When will Sam be hungry? These small and considerate thoughts are constant for an empath, and it is important to have scheduled times where you turn these thoughts off.

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When Josh told me he was taking his brother out for burgers and beer, I knew it was time for me to cook my spicy, teensy tiny tacos, exactly the way I wanted them!
Totally and always, Gluten free, Dairy free, Vegan
-First, stiry-fry: beyond beef, minced garlic, Earth Balance butter (10m)
-add corn, chopped cauliflower, 1 cup of your favorite salsa (15m)
-WARM UP YO ’tillas
-spread refried beans onto tortilla as GLUE
-garnish with: raw onion, raw green onion, red romaine lettuce, garlic hummus
Makes- 12 street tacos (about 3 full meals). This continued to be my lunch and dinner the next day!

My self-care routine always included the moving meditation of a homecooked meal for myself. A quick tap into the present moment, tangible work with your hands, and the love language of food- it calms me immediately!
Try to cook yourself exactly what you want when you are feeling anxious or worried. The repetition of chopping, stirring, and cleaning the kitchen really has been a powerful tool to take my mind off of my concerns and to dive deeply into the present moment. I am so incredibly grateful that I learned this life skill about 6 years ago. I had a fabulous therapist (miss you, Tabitha!) who introduced me to chopping vegetables to curb my panic attacks. My fear-based thinking wanted me to resist using sharp objects while anxious, but never in 6 years have a cut my finger during this moving meditation!
When the anxiety is brewing, clear off your kitchen counter and clean out the fridge. Chop and meal prep everything that you have. *also a pro-waste free tip* typically takes 20 minutes, and it is a total win-win for curbing your anxiety and setting yourself up for the week.
OM omm nom
Kelli
Create Your Own Gratitude Station- #ThankfulThursdays
Gift Giving · Healing Modalities · Thankful Thursday · Upcycle

Create Your Own Gratitude Station- #ThankfulThursdays

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I have always loved greeting cards! An avid collector, my mother always knows to fill my Christmas stocking with blank stationary and writing utensils. Ah, the lovely feeling of crisp and clean office supplies!

The love language of the written word is a dying art, and I love sending personalized snail mail to my loved ones. There is ALWAYS something to be grateful for! For this edition of Thankful Thursdays, I wanted to revisit one of my favorite rituals and moving meditations- writing thank you letters!You will need- a small box or storage crate to keep all of your gratitude belongings in. I suggest repurposing something  you already have! Ideas: a basket, galvanized bucket, suitcase, hat box, purse, crate, shoe box, empty drawer or shelf. It really depends on how many materials you have!

All envelopes, stamps and cards that we own are in this milk crate, featured in the photos above and below. Thanks Jamaica for giving this metal wonder to us! It is an excellent idea to store all of your items in one place, Marie Kondo style. Always have stamps that bring you joy handy.When I am feeling anxious for long periods of time, I need rituals to activate a mental reboot. Disconnecting from my phone, staying home to clean the house, chopping vegetables, and writing are some of my favorite moving rituals that help me get out of a lull. My gratitude station is also one of these healing modalities I turn to.

There are days where I will be ridden with guilt. Guilt that my loved ones don’t know how much I care, guilt from overanalyzing, guilt from being a recovering people pleaser. Guilt for feeling guilty! Enough. I need to transfer this energy and refuel my soul. I need a DRISHTI shift, a perspective overhaul. I stop, drop, and reflect on who I am really grateful for. I truly shift my guilt to gratitude.

I reflect on who I appreciate most in that present moment. I write their names on an envelope FIRST, get out my favorite colored markers, and thank them. Sometimes words and poems, sometimes drawings and stick figures, I always have a warm and fuzzy feeling in my heart after I send mail.This week, I sent a special thank you to my parents, my best friend and our weekly coffee dates that I will never take for granted, and to everyone that has donated items to our collective. I received so many lovely books to use as refills for Free Little Libraries across San Diego. Click here to read more about my endeavors!

Set yourself up for success! I have always lived by the principle that the medium is the message. If the pen pisses you off, keep hunting til you find a pen that brings you joy. Don’t like the greeting cards you have? Donate them! Make your own with computer paper and creativity. Order cards that you love from local artists that bring you joy. Farmers markets, Trader Joe’s, and local book stores are great places to find inexpensive stationary to make your grateful dreams come true!

Pro tip- buy the card you would want to receive 🙂 Pick out what you want for yourself, and send it to others. Live a little, love a lot!

In-House Plant Nursery Updates – #ThankfulThursdays
Aloe · Corder Nursery Catalogue · Euphorbia · Healing Modalities · Thankful Thursday · Upcycle

In-House Plant Nursery Updates – #ThankfulThursdays

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Enjoy a little archive of the projects that we have been working on in our back yard! We love watching our little plants grow, taking cuts, giving, receiving, and replanting our plant babies.  Here is a little update on some of the things we have been working on.

 

This cute janky table was a free find! Josh found it in Little Italy and sure know how to cover a table QUICKLY. This awesome, vintage, light and portable table reminds me of many tables from our childhood that our parents still use!

We have so many baskets of cuts! We covered two outdoor tables with every single cut we had left and took inventory. We kept planting until we ran out of DIRT! We are always actively looking for pots, soil, and what we call ‘HOSPITAL PLANTS’- plants that need serious TLC that we would love to rehab and nurse back to life.
We have too much JADE! If you need any jade cuts, please come over and we’ll hack a few limbs off for ya.

Every time I see a plant that was gifted to me by someone else, I think of them! I walk past each plant, “Thanks Lacee, thanks Jamaica, thanks Lydia, thanks brother….”
We love to give and receive the gift of plants!

When I was in my Reiki I training, we did a lot of practice with plants. Watering the plants, observing the plants, and holding hands over the plants are a few of the ways we tapped into the magic of healing. Ever since this exercise, I have felt more aligned with the moving meditation that planting brings. I feel excited, creative, and like I am constantly running out of pots. Ha!

Featured: ALOE

Featured: EUPHORBIA (Called MEDUSA’s HEAD- we are excited to feature this plant soon in detail! She needs a re-pot. We were gifted this gorgeous plant two years ago from my grandmother for Christmas! Thanks ALICE 🙂

Echinacea- The Herbal Diplomat- #ThankfulThursdays
Corder Nursery Catalogue · Echinacea · Healing Modalities · Thankful Thursday

Echinacea- The Herbal Diplomat- #ThankfulThursdays

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img_7758Look at this cutie! Over the weekend, Josh harvested a few seedy pods from our thriving and rescued Echinacea plant. This is the center of the flower, looking like a hedgehog dragon fruit ball of wonder. They have been sitting in a wooden bowl on our altar, marinating and drying out for future use. Josh has been really curious about the medicial properities of the plant, so I dug out a few of our reading materials to revisit the sacred knowledge of this plant. Lo and behold, the first book he selected, the first page he opened to, was about the Echinacea sitting right next to us! We’re ready to learn.

Commonly known as a CONE FLOWER (our pupper’s name is Pinecone, so we are all ears!) Here’s a little excerpt of what we learned about Echinacea from Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide (if you want to read more about our favorite aromatherapy texts, click here):

This is one of the most popular herbs of all time, and for good reason! Amazing for our immune system fighting off disease and infection, this friend is one of the most effective herbs in Western medicine.

Lovely and easy to grow, this hearty plant is drought tolerant and will adapt to survive accordingly. Overwatered? No problem! She will likely live. You can use all parts of the plant- root, seed, flower and leaf. Apparently, some people have an allergic reaction to echinacea- this contraindication essentially asks you to  discontinue use if you are itchy, and you will know right away! I’m an allergy kid myself, so this is worth noting.

Incredibly effective and with no known side effects, this tenacious plant is often used as a throat spray for sore throats. This is where I personally have heard of the plant!

Botanical E. purpurea/E. angustifolia (E. shorthand for botanical names)

“Avoid wild-harvested echinacea unless you know and trust your source to be a responsible and ethical stewardess of wild population. Because of the huge demand over the past 40 years, corresponding to growing concerns of immune issues worldwide, echinacea is being poached unmercifully from its wild habitats. Several species are already at risk and endangered.” (p. 129-131) Do your hOMework!

Here at Corder Collective, we currently own 2 mixed Echinacea pots, filled with a few different species! There are 10 total species, according to Wikipedia. We are excited to collect more and use this tool if we ever have a sore throat 😉 and will be sure to report back.

Pretty flowers and NAMASTE

JK