Happy Birthday, beloved blog, il bel far niente.
Yesterday was my 2nd blogiversary!
I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to communicate with all of you in this way.
Thank you for supporting my writing. Thank you for reflecting your beauty by commenting. Most of all, thank you for simply being here.
Just like last year, I’m going to do a big giveaway to say thanks…but this year I’m giving away twice as much:
If I get 50 comments, I’ll give one lucky winner a $50 gift.
If I get 100 comments, there will be $50 gifts for TWO lucky winners.
This year I’ll give you the opportunity to choose a gift certificate toward products or services from any of the nearly one hundred (100) Magic Wand Collective women small business owners I am privileged to work with as Community Organizer. There are so many awesome prizes to choose from!
Take a look:
- Shopping with local hot spots
Mish Mash Studio, Sewtropolis, CorAzoN, and Regla de Oro Gallery, eating at Crema Cafe (home of Sonny’s Ice Cream), getting pampered at Brogan Skinworks or Rue48 Salon, or going to a performance by Sunset Gun Productions - Shopping online for cool products
Lettergirl, ItWorks!, That Poe Girl, Black Onyx Creations, Buff Butter, iSeeMe, Wild Ruffle, Urban Halo, A Girl Named Michael, Adornments Jewelry, The Wellness Company, The Upward Ladder, Spoils of Wear, Silpada, Stella & Dot, Perfectly Posh! - Fantastic professional and personal services like graphic design, accounting, wine education, party planning, photography/ filming, floral design, interior design, home staging, contracting, home repairs, counseling, coaching, landscaping, writing, editing, web site design, branding
Soul Biographies, Sandy Bartel Design, Up Ur Game, Molly B Photography, Mindful Poetry, AngelShare Wine Partners, Clever Celebrations, Anna Dvorak, Spirit Out!, Faith Family Style, The Floral Studio, Noemi Photography, Teresa Hermes Photography, Indigo Journeys, Harvest Moon Photography, Shelley Johnson Creative, Perculcha, LMJ Solutions, Willow and Sprout, TWMay Photography/Living Memories, Foreign, Inc. eStudio Levi, Shift Home and Lifestyle, Sorted Affairs, JRose Bookkeeping, Strengths Way, Therapeutic Design, KMR Design Group, Relationships in Context, Harmony4Life, Metamorphosis, Sealed Mindset, Astrology by Moonrabbit - Wellness services and products like yoga, acupuncture, reiki, health coaching, reflexology, massage, integrative yoga therapy, homeopathy
PS Health, Inspiring Wellness, Anna Dvorak Classes, Retreats and Skincare, Relaxation Advantage Massage, Simply Flourish, Willow Reflexology, Spark Clinic, Twelve Petals Wellness, Take Time for Yourself Massage, The Wholehearted Life, Presence Healing Arts, Attune Acupuncture, Prospectives
Here are the rules:
- To enter to win, you must comment here mentioning one of my previous blog posts and why you chose it.
- You can get additional entries if you share this post and encourage your friends to comment. For each friend who does what’s required in Rule #1, and mentions your name, you will get another entry slip.
- I’ll announce the winner on Monday, January 30th.
Thanks for celebrating with me!
Love,
xo
Il Bel Far Niente 
I loved the blog about your Grandmother. My Grandmas story has always been such a steadfast part of my identity and yet I long to ask her all the questions a grown up would ask..the deep things, the personal things you never consider when you are young. i I still feel her with me, and I have always had this interest, this need to know the stories of peoples lives (which has led me to buying a lot of old photos in antique shops cause I cannot bear that they have lost their stories) love to read your blog!!!
Mindy
I love the inspirational quotes and pictures you post! They are always so encouraging.
I love when you share your heart and I learn more about you.
I love seeing you lead the Magic Wand Women into go after their dreams…you’ve been that for me for years!
I love you.
Rachel, you are generous beyond measure.
I, too, loved your post about your Grandmother’s story of secret grief over her first born. You’ve written many more, but my sieve of a brain has let all those stories slip away from my conscious memory. What remembrance I have left is that of knowing to my core that you are a writer of depth and passion.
I can think of two right off the bat: the one about inspiration from a couple years ago (spring or summer 2010?) and any post that includes a story about your dad — what a wonderful father you have!
Congratulations on your blogiversary, Rachel!
Rachel,
Solitude changed my life!
To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter into the desert of our loneliness and to change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a garden of solitude. The movement from loneliness to solitude, however, is the beginning of any spiritual life because it is the movement from the restless senses to the restful spirit, from the outward-reaching cravings to the inward-reaching search, from the fearful clinging to the fearless play- Henri J.M. Nouwen
I love the winter solstice post you did a while ago. It is perfect for this time of year. A lot of reflection going on.
Keep up the great work on your blog!
Congratulations on reaching year 2! What an amazing and heartfelt gift you share with us.
How could I possibly pick a favorite?!
Some of my favorites have been when you combine a quote or saying with a beautiful image – words & beauty are two things I am drawn to so I enjoy seeing how you bring them together in such a lovely way. For a specific post, I would say the ballet girl one resonated with me “If I was not meant to dance, then why so much music?” Happy Anniversary!
Oh, I loved that one, too!–about the dancing. 🙂
Happy birthday to your beautiful space
….I’ve been touched and soothed and inspired
here time after time
and I’m grateful for your presence and sweet spirit.
Keep sending life and love into the world, dear Rachel:)
warm hopeful squeeze,
Jennifer
Congratulations on two years! Good work.
Happy anniversary, Rachel! There are so many posts I’ve liked… thank you for sharing your thoughts in such an intimate way.
I really enjoy the photos accompanied by thought-provoking quotes. Can’t pick just one. 🙂
(And happy blogiversary!)
I am choosing this post because it’s my first one since I just joined and learned about your blog. Happy birthday Il Bel Far Niente ~ The beauty of doing nothing! Two years old! Such a big girl! 😉 What do you wish for your on your birthday?
I wrote my post a few days ago, but just as I pushed the button our internet went out, so I’ll try again. My favorite post is “The Risk to Blossom.” It is a realistic and yet hopeful view of the journey we take towards change. I love the writing in it, but more than that, I love what it represents – my sister is where she is, rather than where she was. xo
“The Girls Who Went Away”- thank you for sharing this incredible story, and drawing attention to a tragedy in our not too distant past. My family’s life has been deeply affected, for generations, as we work through the tragic consequences the adoption secret had on my biological grandmother, adoptive grandmother, and mother. It is important to bring these stories into the light and take away the power of these ideas which, sadly, are still with many people today. Thank you, Rachel!
I feel I should say the blog about your grandmother. It was wonderful and moving. However, I am so in love with the boots from ‘What I Wore December 14th’. The tights are great too. Loving it!
Happy Blogirthday! I loved the story about your grandmother too. Well written. Made me feel like I was there. A beautiful tribute to her.
I chose “Spend” – April 15. No, not because it’s tax day (I just noticed that!), but because you remind me that what I put on my calendar says a great deal about what I am valuing and honoring. Whether looking at one day, a week, or a longer span, lives are lived by such choices. Thanks for sharing this!
Your blog that comes most quickly to mind is the one about Anne of Green Gables. If you can believe it, I had never read it myself and my daughter and I enjoyed reading it aloud so much! I also remember your Henri Nouwen quotes and thinking you a kindred spirit 🙂
Congrats on 2 years, Rachel, and for lifting up so many women. I loved your recent post about your grandmother – really insightful. Hope it continues to be a joy for you!
The post that most recently comes to mind is The Girl Who Went Away. I found the story of your Grandmother so touching and sad to think of how she must have felt such anguish all of those years. It brought me to tears.
I also enjoy your light-hearted and inspirational quotes – please keep them coming! 🙂
Congratulations on your 2 year anniversary, Rachel! Bravo!
Oh, I’m interested in leaving a comment, I just didn’t want to sway your vote due to my pure awesomeness. 😉 My favourite was, of course, your post about Wesley. He’s a doll. Crazy enough, the post that keeps coming back to me are the boots you wore mid-December….LOVE those.
Happy Blogiversary! This is LIVIN’! 🙂
There are so many, so do I pick just one? I love the quotes and artwork, they are always lovely and very timely, but my favorite has to be the one about your Grandma Sylvia. I feel like you really shared a big part of you, and it was lovely. Thanks for all you do!
xo
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I agree with so many, every one touches me in a different way. I love your willingness to expose all aspects of yourself. It has helped me grow and care for myself in a new way. you are amazing. Keep going.
I really loved the blog about Dylan meditating and recruiting others to meditate with him. I also really responded to the reading about your grandmother’s heart-wrenching lack of choice is giving up her child for adoption. So many thoughtful ideas and beautiful graphics, hard to choose a favorite. Your ability and willingness to bear your soul for us is inspiring.
Grandma Sylvia’s story was such a powerful reminder of the complexities and pain people might carry around us….even today. The tenderness with which you wrote the story brought many tears and her picture in London brought a smile. Of course I won’t forget the picture of your favorite boots and what you were wearing that day…….your blogs are fantabulous, Happy Anniversary!!!
I love you Rachel, and so wish we lived closer, but I am grateful technology today allows us glimpses into each others day to day lives. I love your blog, and your writing, and apprecaite you sharing it. It is so hard to pick a favorite … but I have to go with the one I return to time and time again, YUMMY! – the granola recipe. It would be simple to just refer to the printed copy I have, but every month or so when I make it, I go to your blog – it is like having a little visit with you. Happy Blog-a-versary, and I look forward to the posts to come. XO Cath
R- it is hard to pick just one post. The quotes and pictures are inspiring and always seem timely in my life. You write with passion, honesty and joy. The duchess and me was a very meaningful post for me. Thank you for that one amoung the many! And thank you for all you do for all the women in your life and the lives of women in the ripple of that group.
Rachel. You are a gift.
Happy Blogiversary!
XO
Intrigued and drawn in by The Girl Who Went Away…amazed at those who were the senders and inspired by the strength, determination and pain the young mothers survived all alone. what a story.
The story of your birth! Moving and momentous!
Also, I just read your bio – LOVE the beautiful nothingness of this blog!
Rachel I’ve enjoyed reading about your experiences in life….motherhood, work etc. Thank you for sharing some of your trials and triumphs!
Your post about your Grandmother really touched me. I adore my Grandmothers; I have one here on earth on earth and one who looks out from me from up above. Your authenticity is inspiring to me, Congratulations on the birthday of your toddler blog! 🙂
I loved the one about your Grandma. It is amazing what women had to endure and still endure. It was sad and beautiful AND of course beautifully written.
A heartfelt Happy Second Blog-a-versary Dear Friend!
May you continued to be inspired, just as you have inspired us!
Your blog looks wonderful of course — full of color, texture, depth and life — so much beauty. An apt reflection of its creator.
I love you, and I enjoy all your work, Rachel.
Congratulations on this milestone. 🙂 Woo-hoo!!!!!!!!! xoxo
Congratulations on your anniversary! Your post about your grandmother’s first child was so heartbreaking and beautiful. While waiting for our daughter to be born, I spent a lot of time thinking about how the adoption of sweet E. would be one of our greatest joys and one of her (birth)mom’s greatest sorrows. I’m grateful to live in a time and place where it’s possible to share our baby with her family of origin.
Rachel, I enjoy reading your blog very much! Congratulations on reaching this milestone. While difficult to pick, your “Differientiated” post struck a cord with me. I made Pete read it too! Keep ’em coming and thanks for sharing your gifts!