September 22, 2009

Time and space to create
What an exceptional day! I am very fortunate to work for a progressive company -- one day per month I get a creative day to pursue arty extracurricular interests! The only requirement is that I spend a full work day engaged in creative activities that in no way relate to my job description duties or ongoing work projects.

I work in for an advertising and marketing agency (http://www.swj.cc/ - check us out!), where I get to contribute in many rewarding ways, among them big picture thinking and strategy; both internally and for our clients.

My "off the work radar" passions are diverse and include painting/illustration, jewelry design, poetry, script writing, music of all kinds (including trying to learn to play acoustic guitar!) and traditional belly dancing. Today, I spent my day painting -- currently I am working on a four-canvas piece with a practical purpose -- I am creating a vision board for a dear girlfriend of mine. If you want to know more about visioning, let me know -- it can be very self-revealing and rewarding and it is easy and inexpensive (my information is absolutely free for the asking -- I am happy to share the goodness with you).

The ultimate tune-up!
An added bonus was that I was able to meet that same fav girlfriend for lunch -- and that was just splendid. We are celestial twins of some kind who finish each others sentences etc. Quite often we communicate without need of words at all :) We enjoyed homemade chicken salad and organic almond/apricot crackers with blue cheese and pears at my studio - washed down with sparkling water and Starbucks' coffee - mmm! It was a brilliant highlight to share this lovely, leisurely appreciation of healthy food with a kindred spirit.

This Chick's Chicken Salad for Two

6 ounces diced roasted chicken breast
2 large ribs of celery, diced
1/2 tsp. dried dill weed
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Sea salt, to taste
2 Tbsp. full fat mayonnaise
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
2 cups of shredded romaine, or other favourite salad greens

Lay out greens on two plates. In a medium bowl, toss chicken and celery pieces with salt, pepper and dill. Stir in mayonnaise and then add in the balsamic vinegar. Pile the chicken mix on the salad greens and enjoy!