Random Thoughts from August 2023

Hey girl!!!  What's CRAPPENING????  (I just heard this term on a movie ... my daughter and I thought it was hilarious).

In my neck of the world, it's football season again!!!   



Last year I travelled to Lethbridge, Regina, Edmonton (lots) and Vancouver to watch my son play.  Out of all of the stadiums though Vancouver was my fave.  My aunt and I went and had SUCH a fun time at UBC.  The stands were full of people, mountains in the background and a BC fan who was super nice to us who were wearing green ... What's not to love!?    

COFFEE TALK 

While I get started with this email I want to apologize in advance for any spelling or grammatical errors that may be in here.  I'm writing this email just prior to midnight on the day I send it out and my eyes are starting to cross.  I'd like to say that I can see them but truthfully ... I'll only pick up on them once I see it in the already sent email.  I'm not sure why it's easier to see them in the sent copy than in the draft, but it is.  At this point I'm gonna just choose to believe that spelling errors are my "thing" and I'm gonna get the fuck over it.  I hope you do too.  If not, you can unsubscribe.  I promise my worth is not tied up in my subscriber numbers.  ;)

So now lets go .... 

I JUST heard 7 planets are in retrograde.


I don't know a lot about astrology, but at first blush this ... does not seem great.  

According to social media it isn't, cause if you're spending any time on there you've likely heard the moaning and groaning about it.  My daughter is convinced that when Mercury is in retrograde, relationships can end (this time last year she and three of her friends experienced this all within weeks of each other - they swear it's "a thing").   

I however, choose NOT to believe that disaster is around the corner.  Whether it stems from Feng Shui superstition, astrologers, conspiracies or the news, I would rather sit in blissful ignorance, than in a fear-based bitchy energy.  I mean really ... why do we INSIST on spreading fear and hate when ease and flow are within reach?

So here goes ... this is what I see happening with the retrograde-paolooza (keeping in mind that I am no expert, nor do I even have an Astrology for Dummies book nearby, but ... I'm aware enough to see things with my eyes lol):

What I've been noticing this week, is a beautiful unearthing of things that were somehow damaging us in the shadows.  THIS is what retrograde energy is to me.

It's a time for RENEWAL.  It's a time for GROWTH.  It's a time for EVOLUTION.  

Short term pain and discomfort and uncomfortable crap is turning into the most beautiful communication, relationships and futures.    It's the goopy mess of caterpillars turning into butterflies.  Hold on ... it's gonna be spectacular soon.  

They key?  

Don't fear or resist the uncomfortable ... don't bitch and moan about how awful it is ... just go WITH it.  The beauty is around the corner.



Also ... if you're interested I found this cool chart with a few of the planets on it!  Check out how you can USE the energy of retrograde!

FENG SHUI TIP OF THE MONTH 

STUCK???  One of the things I love to recommend is the 27 Things Cure.  

Now, I rarely use the word "cure" when I'm explaining Feng Shui ... mostly because I dont like to go with what everyone else says and also because "cure" seems a little superstitous-y and I'm not at all like that.  

However, in this case I'm going to because I haven't found another word I like yet.



Every single time I recommend this "cure", I get questions like "Sandra, can I move 27 Q-Tips around?"  (no)  "Sandra, can I move one thing 27 times?"  (no).  "Sandra, does it count if I move it somewhere and then move it back?"  (no).

Here's what I'd like to say to all of these questions:

If you refuse to find 27 things in your home that you could move .... THEN I WOULD SUGGEST YOURE STUCK!!!

You meed the damn challenge and a FUCK ton of flexibility.

Find 27 different things.  Move em.  Or don't.  It's not as complicated as you're making it to be.

WHAT (or who) INSPIRES ME

I've been seeing a lot of posts about entrepreneur and author Alex Hormozi.  Have you seen them too?




I started noticing women posting about how this dude was revolutionary.  Of course, as soon as something becomes popular among business coaches, several others will begin to write polarizing (aka asshole) posts in disagreement with the others. 

Sigh.  Why do we insist on doing this to each other?  We JUST got the vote a few decades ago ... let's not go BACKWARDS!!!!

Anyway, I had heard nothing FACTUAL about him so I googled.  He is an entrepreneur (worth approx 100 million) who created a business designed to help gym owners grow their businesses, but his advice was revolutionary.  

Uhmmmm he's worth 100 million ... let's see what he has to say before we SLAM the dude okay?

I found this clip of Lewis Howes interviewing him.    Here it is for those who want to watch:  

Alex Hormozi's 3 lessons for the world interview

And for those of you who can't pry your eyes away from my kick ass newsletter ... here's my version of the gist!!!

Lewis asked him, if all of his content was GONE one day and he could only share three lessons or three truths ... what would they be.  This is what he chose:

1.  Give first and without expectation and you'll get more than you can imagine in all aspects of life

2.  If you can't do it forever, then don't do it for a day

3.  If nothing matters then you get to decide what matters, so use the power wisely.  

I mean .... it's just good stuff.  I'm not particularly a fan of the Daisy Dukes ... but I DO love his advice and especially number 2.  


             

FUN STUFF from the INTERWEBS



Ok this actually wasn't something I saw on line ... it was a tea towel in a store in Edmonton.  I had to add it in here because well ... this fits me to a T.  ;)



I'm SURE this was just the style back then????  I dont know on who, but I can tell you that I'm hoping we don't see Chip and Dale in Alex Hormozi garb any time soon.  Eeeesh



One of my clients posted this this month.  Isn't this the CUTEST????




TRUTH.  Stop holding yourself (or your family and friends) back from the challenges that are placed in front of them.  They are gifts to help you grow so lean in.



Yessssss

COOL SHIT

This month I had to think a lot about what my cool shit item would be.  I bought new wallpaper for my office that was pretty cool.  I bought a pink weighted vest for my anxious dog that I found kinda cool.  My daughter bought 854689 new makeup and skin care items that are likely cool (I can't keep up, but she tries a LOT of them).  

Today at the West Edmonton mall though we picked up a pair of Apple AirPods Max Noise Cancelling headphones.  



Uhmmmmm these suckers are AWESOME.  



I find the case a little weird ... but they WORK.

We had the tv on, two fans running and with the noise cancelling clicked to on, a bomb could have gone off in the living room and I wouldn't have heard it.  Seriously awesome. 

Where were these when my daughter was 2 years old and she talked so much that we used to joke that our ears were bleeding?????

WHAT'S COMIN UP?

This month in Intentional ...



INTENTIONAL:  Children/Creativity

When you are standing in your architectural front door looking in, the Children/Creativity area is located in the middle right.  You will want to work in this area if you are wishing to get back into hobbies, get your creative juices flowing, strengthen your relationship with your kids.  

I actually made a few adjustments in this area when my kids lived together last year.  I'm not gonna lie ... it was a scary situation for all of us involved so I did what I could to make things a little smoother on all of us.  haha

YES I WANNA DESIGN MY HOME WITH SANDRA!



I'm loving this little project of mine and as I find new techniques I share them with this group!!!  It's SOOOOO super fun (and transformative).

One of the things that we have been doing is creating an "I WANT" list.

In the manifestation world we have been told to write out what we want by stating "Thank you for (enter the thing you want)" because allegedly the Universe does not understand time.  The premise we have been taught is that if we say THANK YOU, we can quantum leap into having it.

Well ... I told ya that I don't like to follow everyone and their dog on stuff .... and this process of thanking the universe for what i wanted and saying it like I already had it ... felt like a LIE to me.  I never loved that.

When an astrologer recently said that going forward we should be saying "I want" it was a GAME CHANGER for me!!!!  

Plus ... two of the things I've been writing out every day have already occurred.

It's CRAZY powerful!!  Come join us if you'd like!

I WANNA CHANGE MY OWN DAMN LIFE




Wanna know something super cool?   I'm creating a new training for any of the women in my private coaching containers.  It's on BOUNDARIES because sheesh!!!  I've been having a lot of discussions about them!

When you work with me you get a bunch of different trainings I've done and then sessions with me depending on the level of support you choose. 

I'm obsessed with this coaching package and i've never seen ANYONE do it before me.  I'm cool like that ... 

CLICK TO WORK WITH SANDRA

TASTY SHIT!

My daughter and I made these bell pepper chicken nachos for supper this month.  As a rule, I'm not a huge raw bell pepper fan.  I actually don't love ground chicken either.  HOWEVER ... we both really really liked this recipe and were excited to share it this month. 

BELL PEPPER CHICKEN NACHOS


p.s. Marley says hi! 

Ingredients:

3-4 bell peppers in different colours
1 pkg ground chicken breast
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 onion, diced
2 c mozzarella cheese, grated (more or less, to taste)

optional:
 
sliced jalapeño peppers or red chili peppers (to taste)
Serve with:  salsa, sour cream, guacamole 
Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Sautee ground chicken breast on medium heat.  Once it's started to cook, sprinkle with garlic powder, garlic salt and onion powder.  Cook until no pink remains.  

Meanwhile, slice the bell peppers into large pieces.  We just took the top off, took the bottom off and then sliced the sides off into 3-4 pieces.  

Toss them on the bottom of a cookie sheet (scoop side up).  Top the peppers with the ground chicken.  Layer the grated mozzarella cheese on top.  Scatter the chopped onion on top and jalapeños or chilli peppers (if using).

Back for 15 minutes.

Top with chopped cilantro (if using) and serve with salsa, sour cream and/or guacamole.

Our Tips and Tweaks:

- I'm convinced that the key to ground chicken is to not overcook it.  It makes it really dry and tasteless.  Use a little bit of grapeseed oil on the pan, then cook it over medium heat.  Take your time!

- we used baby bell peppers and just cut them in half.  We like the taste of the baby bell peppers better, but they were a bit too small to hold the toppings.  We will use the large size peppers next time!

- putting the toppings of choice (salsa, greek yogurt or sour cream, guac ...) directly on the "nachos" makes it much easier and looks pretty too.  If you place them in dipping bowls, you'll end up with a bowl full of chicken and cheese .... no one wants that.  lol.

If you try it, or tweak it I'd love to hear what you do!  Post a pic on your social media and tag me!

***

Once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you SO much to all of you who regularly email me, recommend my group, my courses, my coaching or this newsletter to your friends and colleagues, your biz besties and your family.  I appreciate every one of you and every message that I receive.  

OH AND ONE MORE THING!!!

If you're loving this email but you're wanting all the blasts from the past, you can now access ALL MY PRIOR NEWSLETTERS on my blog!!

www.thefengshuichick.ca/blog 

"Life is not meant to be an assembly line of tasks ... it's meant to be a masterpiece.  Only you can hold the brush".  

Sandra Priestley 
XO





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