Just Be Indulgent:
Winter Spa Retreat
By Kathleen Daelemans

For a lot of us February is the dreariest month of the year. The days are short; the sun isn't always out and in some states its bitter cold. Where I live we're expecting a high of 5 degrees. Everyone's preparing as though a Hurricane's in the forecast. People are stocking up on groceries, filling their cars with gas and running all their weekend errands now. Myself included.

A bitter-cold weekend is I excuse enough to do a little online shopping and since I can't play outside I'm creating an indoor oasis of health and serenity. Well, I'm going to try anyway. My plan is to sit on my big comfy chair and enjoy my fireplace. I'll dine on quick to make restorative soups and read by candlelight late into the night.

Belle Fleur Candles
Guilt be gone if you choose to indulge in a Belle Fleur candle. Belle Fleur is one of the swankiest florists in New York City run by the very elegant mother-daughter team of Marilyn Waga and Meredith Waya Pérez. A favorite florist of New York's fashion world Belle Fleur has been written up and praised in Brides magazine, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour and In Style Weddings to name a few. Their flower arrangements often grace the set of NBC's Today show.

Belle Fleur has combined the perfume of rare botanicals and delicate florals into long-lasting fragrances that will turn any room in your home into a lush oasis. If you're looking to spoil yourself for no reason at all or if you're looking for a decadent gift beautifully wrapped for under $50 go to www.bellefleurny.com and choose from four scents; Jasmine Verbena, White Orchid Tea and Orange Blossom Pomegranate and my favorite Mayan Tuberose.

Lounging Pajamas
On spa weekends days blend into night and night turns to morning. There are no schedules, no reasons for alarm clocks and no appointments. Choosing the right PJ's is of the utmost importance. After all someone may come to the door. Before you consider answering it consider this: would you get up in the middle of a massage and entertain company? If you would, answer the door, get rid of the visitors and promptly make an appointment with a shrink.

I can never find pajamas to fit because I'm 5'2" and no one makes long pajamas for short-y girls like me. So I usually sleep in cropped PJ bottoms with my favorite Tees. I recently discovered Target has some really comfortable, really fun cotton pajama bottoms that don't shrink. And they're cheap! And yes I have the blue polka dot ones. I love them!

A Quiet Corner and a Great Book
This year I made a promise to myself to read more. To my horror I heard myself saying to someone, "I love to read but I just don't have the time". That's like saying I don't have time to eat healthy. If you eat, you can eat healthy. If you have time to watch even a half hour of television a day, you have time to read.

I love to read a bunch of books at once. Books fill up holes in your soul. Books can teach you how to make your dreams come true. Books make you laugh and cry and open your heart and mind to new worlds you'd never otherwise be invited into. And they're 100% fat free!

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron (Knopf, 2006) List price: $19.95; Amazon price: $10.97
My Mother handed me her copy of the book when she was done reading it, "You're getting old. You need to read this. It's funny." The book is roll on the floor hilarious and beautifully written. I happen to be a huge Nora Ephron fan. I don't have Nora Ephron posters lining my closets or anything but I go to all her movies and try to read everything she publishes.

The chapter titles in I Feel Bad About My Neck are brilliant; I Feel Bad About My Neck. If you don't get it now you will after the first sentence. Hint, "It starts to go at 43" and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. I Hate My Purse, Blind as a Bat, Me and JFK: Now It Can Be Told, The Story of My Life in 3500 Words or Less, The Lost Strudel and Considering the Alternative are a few other topics she delves into. If you're looking for time off life, a fat free escape or if you're craving an easy read and a great laugh, get the book. When you finish the book give it to your sister, your mom or your best girlfriend.

For the Love of Soup by Jeannelle Mitchell (Self Published Paperback, 2002) Amazon price: $10.97
My favorite place to stock up on cookbooks in Canada is The Cookbook Store in Toronto. The store specializes in International titles hard to find in the United States. The owner of this cozy corner shop has created a living room feel. Guests are encouraged to lounge and linger, ask questions and thumb through the books. The store's collection is as unique as the most avid cookbook collector's.

Right now, I'm cooking from For the Love of Soup. The book features more than 100 easy-to-prepare soup recipes. The recipes were created to increase their health value without compromising taste: they are all low in fat and sodium and full of flavor.

From Turkey Barley Soup to African Peanut Chicken Soup, the methods in the book usually feature only two steps. Mitchell offers tips for preparing, serving and making the recipes healthy. Most of the recipes make 4-6 servings.

You can find The Cookbook Store's titles on the internet but supporting this old fashioned corner bookstore guarantees your invite to every season's exhibit of titles new and not yet discovered. Books from $10 at www.cook-book.com

The Secret, edited by Rhonda Byrne (Atria Books, 2006) List price: $23.95; Amazon price: $14.37
A friend of mine called me from California and told me I had to get the book. So I did. I've been aware of The Secret and similar teachings by the authors Esther and Jerry Hicks. In fact, I'm also reading The Law of Attraction: The Basics of the Teachings of Abraham (Hay House, 2006; List Price: $14.95; Amazon Price: $8.97).

When I lived in Maui a bunch of my girlfriends and I would get together at the beach or we'd sneak into some luxurious resort's hot tub and listen to the cassette series, Special Subjects, the teachings of Abraham as interpreted by Esther
and Jerry Hicks.

Esther and Jerry Hicks channel the teachings of "a group of loving entities" they call Abraham and publish them. If it sounds a little hocus pocus to you it did to me too and I'm still not sure where I stand on how the teachings came about.

The Hicks' tapes and books discuss how all things, wanted and unwanted are brought to us by the Law of Attraction (that which is like unto itself, is drawn). For instance, "Like attracts like," "Birds of a feather flock together" and "It is done unto you as you believe".

"Everything you need to know about life and how to make it work... all the tools with which to create the experiences you've always wanted... what you ask for you get... you create exactly what you set your intention to create" all resonated with me especially since I wasn't in love with my life or my health at the time. I had nothing to lose. So I listened to the tapes with an open mind.

At our weekly meetings my girlfriends and I discussed the content of the tapes and set goals for ourselves. We compared notes throughout the week and kept each other headed in the right direction.

The first thing I did with my new found knowledge was to attract a new car. I was young, broke, had blemish-riddled credit and was driving a clunker. I began focusing on getting a new car. I imagined myself driving it. I imagined the make, model and year. I imagined the color, the extras and the trips I'd take in it. I imagined my dog Sophie tracking sand from one end of my shiny new car to the other. She loved to swim and trips to the beach were our favorite way to unwind.

Being very mindful that if I gave energy to thoughts of being a blotchy credit broke girl driving a clunker I'd end up with precisely that. I did not give negative emotions a chance to formulate.
I focused on believing that I deserved a new car and that it would come to me and it did. One day my car broke down in the middle of an intersection. Within a week despite my financial situation I was driving a brand new car. Not exactly the one I was visualizing but a brand new care nonetheless.

These memories came rushing back to me when my friend called from California to tell me about The Secret—I knew I'd love the book. The Secret is a collection of short paragraphs and bits of wisdom from some of the world's most successful people who explain how they used The Secret to create wealth, happiness and success in their lives. When I searched for it on Amazon The Law of Attraction came up so I ordered them both.

The minute I received the books, I realized how far removed I'd become from practicing daily intentions. Without a doubt I create my own reality. Dark moods create dark days. Positive energy creates miracles big and small in my life. I've been reunited with core beliefs I let get lost. There's no stopping me now!