Toms. One for One.

My first day of school today. And a student said 

" Wow Miss, You wear Toms! "

I was so in.

And I remembered how much I love them.

( and won over some kiddies in the process)

So my story starts at the feet... but ends up in the head.

I was ready to start going barefoot everywhere; for shoes became the bane of my existence. 

The cheap ones were too expensive for what they were. Ripping off both the consumer and the planet. Yet I found the slightly more expensive ones were no better. Just more expensive.

I went through Ballet flat to ballet flat... searching for the perfect shoe.

Enter Toms. 

Stands for Tomorrows shoes. 

Socially aware. One for One.

His story is simple and inspiring. 

Went to Argentina, found a whole lot of people ( including kids) that had foot diseases because they had no foot protection. Not to mention many social disadvantages like not being able to go to school because of uniform policy. Rah rah rah... basically.. not wearing shoes sucks.

So what does he do? what any of us would do!! 

Come back home. quit your day job and start a shoe company... the guiding philosophy entertains the notion that when you buy a pair... He gives a pair to those in need! Not just in Argentina now.. but all around the world!

Thus Blake Mycoskie's and my own story become one.

They may not be a 'pretty' as my old preference for ballet flats or pretty shiney plastic nothings.

But comfort factor, lightness factor, social factor, inspiration factor... and according to little mr year seven ' cool factor'.... way up there!!

For the travel inspired. Fancy free foot ware. Pretty excited. Inspired by photojournalist Dan Eldon.

Join me? yes! Head to the website and register. Experiential empathy might be just the thing we need.

The website posts to Australia ( and because of our amazing cha change, end up a little cheaper) But Hype stores also sell them.

www.toms.com

Oh and you get a pretty little Tom's flag. Which I sew into cute little book bags. 

Shoes. Tick.

Book bag. Tick

First day of Teaching Internship. Tick.

Nap times....xo

Easy Peasy Almond Squeezy

Running out of things to put in my tea!!
A dilemma of sorts!
Cow's out... Latest news flash... Soy Sucks.
.. and I'm not a fan of old sugar-free blackie.

So I turn to my old friend.
Le Almond.
(yes, now he is French)

Lets milk it baby!
You need:
Half a cup of almonds. Soak them for a few hours so they are all tender like.
One cup of water.
Pinch of salt.
[One can sweeten with a fresh date or two if you wish. But I don't bother!]
Blender.
Fine Sieve/Cheese Cloth.

So pop the soaked almonds in the blender. Joosh up all messy like for 30 seconds.
Then add the salt and extra cup of water.
On high for 30 seconds.
Or a minute if you dare!!

Pour through strainer into a jug
The stuff that ends up in the jug is milk!!
Num Num Num.
AND! You can add more water, little more salt and go back for seconds. Joosh up again... strain again.
But it doesn't have a massive shelf life. So keep amounts with 3 day consumption mindfulness :)

The greatest thing is the by-product from this recipe. The wet almond meal makes amazing pancakes.
Of which, I will post a recipe... Once I have perfected this no waste miracle.


Easy Peasy Almond Squeezy.
x's and o's from the strange kitchen of Miss Pearl.

"Give me a home among the Gum trees"

On return from swilling abouts in the muck and wonder that is being human.
I return to my new home in Winmalee.
With such clarity, optimism and whimsy.

Many a plant in tea cup have settled in nicely.
and as i sit in my hammock; over looking the Blue Mountains National Park, I feel a rush of gratitude. To what ever has brought me here and to the people that have inspired me, helped me and brought me to such things.
Thank you.
Thank you.

School starts Monday. Iccccckkk.
Miss Pearl becomes Miss Taylor.
As all notions of herself are set to alter.
Although, I did talk to my teacher and her most pressing issue was for me to have a hat ( which, of course.. I have many) and a cup for tea!!
Maybe.. Just maybe, I'm in the right place??

Many pictures up soon. When I master the art of new m.b.pro.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx many x's

" I got the whole world... in my hands, I got the whole world in my hands"

I love this story.
and remember it when ever I need to remind myself that the world and how i experience it, is actually inside me.

" The creator gathered all of creation and said " I want to hide something from the humans until they are ready for it. It is the realisation that they create their own reality".
The eagle said " Give it me, I will take it to the moon".
The creator said " No, one day they will go there and find it".
The Salmon said " I will hide it in the mountains" "No, they will go there also".
The Buffalo said " I will bury it in the great plains"
The Creator said " They will cut into the skin of the earth and find it.
The Grandmother mole, who lives in the breast of Mother Earth and lacks eyes except for her spiritual ones, said " Put it inside them".
And the creator said " It is done"
- An ancient Sioux teaching

Just a little reminder.
xo bp

An Inner Brew.

Miss Pearl decided to swill around in the tea leaves for a while.
OH to the darkness at the bottom of a teacup.


So off she tra la la'ed to a Vipassna silent meditation retreat.
Yet the reality of this 10 day journey made itself apparent on day 2 or 3.
Silent: no talking, no expression, no eye or physical contact.
Meditation: Sitting... in your heart, til your back wants to divorce itself from you.
Retreat: You've vanished. You do not exist. All worldly possessions left sitting idle...
Yes it was hell. I saw the devil and she was me.


But totally, vitally worth it.


So as I sat there... for roughly 10 hours a day, re-writing my life as a spin off to Eat Pray Love, called Eat, Breathe, Sleep... I came to some very fun new things. About simplicity. About birth and death and all the little things that happen in between.  4am starts saw the lone lotus sleep; the day brought its birth, then the night its rest.. and by the 10 days end, its eventual, predictable and beautiful death.
Isn't it Nick Cave that says "All beauty must die"? So impermanence
becomes the name of this years game. "This too shall pass" style...


Anicca Anicca Anicca. 


I wouldn't 'recommend' these trips... (as you'd meditate on how awful my advice is for 10 days) But I'm putting it in your line of vision. I'm saying... This is out there. Its hard work, it takes guts.. and you'll grow. And I ask... are you ready? One day maybe... one day maybe never...
A simple offering of a path.
A growth in self learning. Take a hint from Socrates... "An unexamined life is not worth living."


With Metta,
Bryanna Pearl


http://www.dhamma.org/
ps. Metta means loving kindness <3
pps. Without pens, paper or books... I drove myself crazy! Yes, making origami cranes from toilet paper led me to believe there is a conspiracy from companies for devising 11x10cm squares. Oh the woes of the stationary challenged soul.

'Tis but the next great adventure

...Sometimes I feel very much like Vasco Pyjama from Leunigs meandering mind.

And once again I am setting sail. Into the sea of life.

Leaving dear Curly flats behind...

For the lower Blue Mountains and all I may find there. Beautiful little quaint Winmalee.

Teaching internship be thy name. A tiny little school called Korrowal stole my heart. 

So 14 weeks of Monday to Friday work is for me. 

A massive change from meandering abouts... filling teacups with plants... or tea.

I would love visits in the mountains... Food on picnic blankets, cuddles by the fire ( when it gets chilly!)

New address is 33 Ridgeview Close Winmalee 2777. Bring on the post dear lovelies :) A beautiful house with 2 creative and inspiring souls. and a cat! perfect!

Anyways. Just a quick fill in to mull over. A pretty little nothing that makes up a pretty little something.

Right now Frost's  'Road not Taken' rings a zillion bells.

"Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back."

 ...This is kind of how I feel about my temporary mountains move. Who knows what beautiful people, amazing experiences and exciting adventures it may lead me to... Ill keep you posted.

Good Bye Douglas Park, I'll miss your blue wren wake up call. xoxo

A Bountiful Bloom

This little adventure has been in the works for many many years. 

When one finds herself with an abundance of tea cups, coupled with a passion for things growing from things...

There is a logical conclusion:

For all my years as a sculpture student at COFA; I was told .." oh no, drilling into porcelain and china is risky and dangerous"
I now say Pish to this.
Well maybe my middle name is risky and dangerous. When it comes to tea cups. Fill me with russian caravan and a powerful piece of machinery.. and there's magic a-brewing.

Secret is a block of wood underneath, sorbelene creme (for the drill bit, not your hands), A masonry drill bit with a tungsten tip and... pressure. 

"ahhh push it. p-p-push it real good."

" I'm sweet enough, thanks"

A celebration.
1 month of sugar-free-ness.

After years of strange battles with my tummy... distorted body perception, blood tests, alternative medicine, western medicine and just plain dealing with pain on a daily basis, I finally feel some contentment with it all.
It's this 'living with' that has brought me to so so many new beautiful perceptions of the world. And for this I am grateful. Yet lack of energy and fragility make actually 'being' in this world somewhat intangible...


I'd heard so many times that " The best healer is yourself" and " the answers are inside you"... This is all well and good. But when you can't tell what your body is saying... Makes for some confused communication.
New years brought forth many new intuitive conclusions.
Candida.
Ick. I hate even saying the word. 
But it can be life destroying.. and so many people have it!
I'm not here to rant and rave about sugar free diets, or to even talk about health or food. ( Which I can usually talk about for days)
But merely to express...sugar free rules. And I've never felt better. 


Keep an eye out for gluten and sugar free recipes...For when I say sugar, I mean intense sugar free ( Normal sugars, sweeteners, fruit and grains) Thus My cooking has topped itself with strange-ness. 


Here's to strength in an authentic lifestyle. A celebration. x

...Ready to hop hop into the real 2011?

Happy Chinese New Year! 
It just happens to be one of my favorite times of year. January for the life of a student is always so so, there is a metaphoric death happening all around. 
And then birth: the Chinese New Year is upon us and we may start our year.
Alas, all the pretty 2011 diaries are all sold out and every year I resort to the discount table. or thoughts and scribbles on the backs of receipts and train tickets.


And I'm v pleased to report... Its the year of the Rabbit. Those born in 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011 are all rabbit folk. 

Yeps. I'm a little rabbit. And forecast is this year will be very rabbit-like... A little more contented and peaceful than ass-whipping metal tiger. 

Thus 2011 is my year. 
A Sagittarius Fire Rabbit. Ready to set the world on fire...Or maybe I'm getting ready to let the world light my fire. Maybe its a reciprocal relationship. Titt-fo-Tatt. 


Superstitious-wise I hear those rabbit folk should wear something red everyday. Hmmm for the sake of new toys... Miss pearl may invest in a crazy little woven string bracelet from some little pokey asian bizarre. 


All the best to you in your 2011 endeavors and adventures. May you have many. And strive for contentment, simplicity and beauty in all you do. 
xoxo Bryanna Pearl