Highs of 2012

Stills of twenty twelve!:

January: Celebrated the beginning of 2012 in San Francisco; Completed The Green Yogi's annual Yoga Challenge. 

February: Visited my sister in Louisiana and survived my first Mardi Gras experience in New Orleans.

March: Hosted a fundraiser to help send me to Tanzania. Thanks to family and friends, I was able to raise enough money to cover my airfare and program fee. So thankful!

April: Coachella Music Festival with the best of friends.  

May-July: Spent two beautiful months living and teaching in a Maasai village in the mountains of Tanzania, Africa with some of the most hardworking and gracious people I've ever met (this experience opened my eyes and empowered me to live a more simple and less superficial life); Turned 25 Maasai-style; Safari at Tarangire National Park and Ngorongoro Crater; Danced and played in the Indian Ocean; Saw the sun rise over the Indian Ocean and set over the Indian Ocean in the same day (perks of tiny Zanzibar).

August: Got hired as a fourth grade teacher at Henry F. Kammann Elementary and moved to Santa Cruz! 

November: Survived Trimester 1; Cassidy visits for Thanksgiving :)

Goodbye 2012! Hello 2013:

kiss slowly, 

laugh insanely, 

love truly

and...

forgive quickly

-paulo coelho

raffle prizes for my fundraiser event

[thank you to all the businesses and individuals who donated!]

Hey beautiful people!

3 days until my event at Sharkeez in Manhattan Beach! I'm throwing this event to help raise money for my trip to Arusha, Tanzania with humanitarian organization ONE HEART SOURCE. 

While abroad, I'll be volunteering and providing English, community health, and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention education to children affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. 

It has been my dream to volunteer my time in Africa where there are serious needs that demand help. Before I start my professional working life as a full time teacher, I wish to further develop my teaching practice by gaining valuable experience abroad. This is my chance to get out there and broaden my world view! 

You showing up Saturday and making any sort of donation will not only make me SUPER happy because I know I have your support, it will also help further the program's efforts to improve the lives of these children and their local communities.

________________________________

Event highlights!...

Jeff Nisen and Tony Gonella of Sand Section will be playing an acoustic set! Yeee!

During the event, the amazing Alex Curry and I will be walking around selling raffle tickets in which you could win some awesome prizes.

Raffle Prizes include:

*$100 gift cert. to The World Famous Spot Restaurant
*Box of F.I.T. Bars (gf, non GMO)
*Bottle of wine and Bacchus wine tasting cert.
*cupcakes from Cupcakes Couture
*Two Guns Cafe gift cert.
*Pages bookstore gift cert.
*Nutrition Consultation from Holistic Nutrition coach Courtney Hermann
*Bates Chiropractic gift cert.
*One Private Surf Lesson with Jason Napolitano
*The Green Yogi gift cert.
*Teeki swimsuit
*Betinis swimsuit
*Spa package
*Landis Labyrinth toy store gift basket and gift cert.
*Mr. Kate rose gold necklace

....And much more!!!!

Come hungry! Breakfast is 20% off and drinks are $3.25 with a wristband! You can buy a wristband from me for $5 anytime before or at the event. I'll have them on me so you can get one when you see me or you can call me (310) 766-0091 or Amanda (310) 265-3386 for one.

_______________________________

And just so you know, any donation you make Saturday will be put towards the program fee which provides me all the teaching supplies for surrounding schools, training supplies, clean drinking water, and on-site orientation and pre-field orientation.

It's from 11-3pm! Hope to see all your beautiful faces there!

Much love,

Shelby


If you can't attend the event, but would still like to donate you may do so by clicking on the giftiki link below: :D

https://user.giftiki.com/BZmFjZWJvb2sANjcwOTQ4MQ==

And again, thank you for the support. I truly appreciate the generosity. 

weekend wonderments [7]: best sunny weekend in awhile!

Stills from my super, sun-absorbing, active, outdoorsy, and relaxing weekend:

Cruising on the Manhattan/Hermosa Beach strand is definitely one of my most fondest memories of summer. For that reason, whenever it's nice outside, I'm quick to jump on my strand cruiser (or my mom's as seen in this photo) and roll down to the beach for a relaxing, slow bike ride.  

I'm proud to say my wrist is the one with only 3 dashes ;) I'm a light weight which, for me, isn't a bad thing. My bank account's happy and my body's happy!   

 

I've been contemplating getting the "Om" symbol tattooed on my side for quite some time now. It's a beautiful symbol with a and powerful meaning. It's the only symbol I have ever come to truly appreciate and value. So we'll see... :)  

8:00am yoga with the fun and quirky Dani Dumani of The Green Yogi. It was my first class with her and I got into some very advanced versions of regular poses I do on the daily. It was an empowering start to my sunny Sunday!

Some happy palms, basking in the sunshine! 

After yoga, I was warm and stretched out and ready to play in my weekly Sunday soccer match. We lost 1-3. They were a lot faster than us throughout the midfield which, unfortunately, worked in their favor. We did, however, come back and dominated most of the second half and even made a beautiful goal. Better luck next weekend!

Good people. Good vibes. 25th street in Hermosa Beach (the new "8th street Manhattan Beach"). 

4:00pm in Manhattan Beach. 

5:52pm - sunset in Manhattan Beach. This place is pure paradise by day and by night. I am extremely grateful to live here.

No better way to end an excellent day than with a home-cooked dinner of salmon, asparagus, and brown rice!

choose to live healthy [4]: chakra healing system

The concept of chakra originates in Hindu texts, featured in tantric and yogic traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word for "wheel" or "turning" and signifies one of seven energy centers in the body. Each chakra in your spinal column is believed to influence or even govern bodily functions near its region of the spine - see description of each chakra center above!


In my Monday/Wednesday/Friday yoga practice at The Green Yogi with the lovely Amy Beausang, we have been targeting and focusing on a new chakra center each week, starting with the first/root chakra which is located at the base of the spine. Last week we focused our attention on the second/sacral chakra  located in the lower abdominal/navel. This week we are focusing on the third/solar plexus chakra located in the area above the navel, under the ribs. Each week, we work to open and awaken the focused chakra by first meditating and visualizing each chakra as a ball of light or a glowing flower that slowly opens. Following meditation, we usually do three rounds of Breath of Fire, a cleansing and energizing breath powered by abdominal contractions, in certain yoga postures that target the chakra. Then, throughout the majority of the yoga flow, we practice getting into different yoga postures that further open and work the targeted chakra.  


So far, these chakra focused yoga sessions have been a wonderful experience for me. I have noticed that when I work on opening my charkas in class I feel that my focused energy flows better. I feel more more aware, open, and balanced. I'm excited to see how I feel after learning how to open all seven energy centers!


Namaste lovelies!

igottahaircut

After my mom told me last night that my hair "looks like straw," I decided this morning to go get some maintenance work done on the good ol' long locks. Summer is technically over and according to my mom the "fresh-out-of-the-salty-ocean-dry-as-straw" look aint vibing with me as well as it was a month ago. After a sweaty yet awesome power vinyasa yoga class with the amazing Heather Archer at The Green Yogi followed by 10 stints up sand dune, I sat my rock hard toosh butt down for some r & r, a shampoo, cut, and blowout at Cielo: A Boutique Salon. It's been over a year since I got my dreads chopped (I guess I'm lazy when it comes to self maintenance) and I'm pleased to say that I love the results! She kept the length, which I told her was a must, added some layers in the back and taper in the front.  I walked out of there with a bottle of Morroccan Oil and Kevin Murphy angel wash shampoo and body builder volumising mousse. 

How long has it been since you got yer hair did? What salon do you go to?