Grateful for apples! Day 7

I absolutely adore apples, and I think that’s part of growing up in NY. I’m also very particular about the apples that I like. The quintessential NY apple, of course, is a Mc Intosh, but they don’t grow around here. So I’ve taken to a few local(ish) favorites, like Goldrush, which are the ones in the box–> Stayman and Jonathan.

I’m grateful that there’s monthly apple delivery from Kuhn Orchards, a local(ish) farm that I love in PA—they’re at a bunch of the local Farmer’s market during the normal growing season. Even though I missed the deadline, they let me order (yay!) so that I can get my apple fix.

I will eat normal apples. If I have no other choice. But I find the local varieties to be so much more flavorful and appealing than what I can get at stores nearby, so I’m grateful that the stars aligned and I’ve got my apples!

• Posts so far:
  • Valerie’s Kickoff post
  • Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl’s Seeking Joy

  My 30 days of gratitude:

  • Day 1: Gratitude
  • Day 2: Grateful for Genghis Khat
  • Day 3: Grateful for amazing people: Day 4: The roundabout road to gratitude
  • Day 4: The roundabout road to gratitude
  • Day 5: Grateful for beautiful weather
  • Day 6: Grateful for New Experiences
  • Day 7: Grateful for Local Apples
  • Day 8: Grateful for Acts of Kindness

More on the December Sanity Retreat & Contests

The holidays can be a beautiful time of family bonding, celebration and beauty. They can also be an overdoing, overspending, overstressing time of all flavors of excess. For the last 3 years, I’ve been delighted to host the December Sanity Retreat and the July Self-Care Retreat. This is our 6^th retreat! I wish I could say it was all about altruism, but honestly, it’s been wonderful for me to have an extra excuse to focus on self-care and rein in my natural tendency to need to bake (at least) 18 kinds of cookies.

I know how powerful it is for me to focus on self-care, and I imagine it’s similar for most of you, so as a gentle extra nudge, we’re doing 2 giveaways.

Giveaway #1: Let us hear your voice!

Prize: a $50 nuts.com gift certificate) they are not sponsoring, I just wanted something with healthy gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free, etc. options (US/Canada)

Comment on any of our hostesses’ posts on the Sanity Retreat, like this one. Leave me a comment on how you cultivate gratitude in your life, OR what you’re most grateful for on this week’s post HERE

Giveaway #2: make the challenge your own!

Blog on your own self-care plans, and a post will be chosen at random as the winner. If you don’t have a blog, contact the hostess of the week and they’ll post for you.

Prize: um, ironing out details–either a gift certificate or a box of self-care books, meditation CDs, chocolate and other fun things from me.

As always, self-care is whatever it means to you. So the December Sanity Challenge can be on whatever YOU need to work on to stay sane during the holiday season

Balance around food * Joyful movement * Sanity & stress management * Making space for art, expression, and spirituality * Connection with friends and family

Or whatever else speaks to you along those lines.

The challenge—post on what you plan to do to make your holidays sane, happy and healthy.  Make it specific!  Not just “I’ll get more sleep”, but “I’ll get at least 7 hours of sleep, 5 days a week”.  Not just “I won’t go crazy making desserts”, but “I’ll make a maximum of XX desserts, and space them out over XX time”.  You know what you need to do to keep this doable, and writing it down will help you get there!

I’m delighted to be joined by wonderful hostesses with likeminded blogs:

• Kickoff: Gluten Free Goodness (moi)
• Dec 7th Kate of Eat, Recycle, Repeat
• Dec 14th Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl
• Dec 21^st  Valerie of City Life Eats
• Roundup: Gluten Free Goodness (moi)

I hope you choose to join us, too.  Grab a badge and we’re good to go!

We’ll also be meeting up in our Facebook group for extra encouragement and support. You’re more than welcome to join us there.