The love is real, the love for Noe Valley and our new apartment. Today, to be exact, we have spent 6 weeks in San Francisco. I'm amazed with how fast time has gone by. 

The first few weeks we dedicated to finding ourselves a new home. We viewed at least 10 apartments until we found our favorite. Located just off 24th street in Noe Valley. It's smaller than our flat in Dublin, but more than enough room for us both and with lots of sunshine. 

It's the first time that we decorate our home from the ground up. Best investment so far has to be this mattress from Casper. Catching up on some deep baby sleep lately. 

I love how changing jobs, apartments or country (or all at the same time) gives you a fresh look at your life and the routines you have established. It's the perfect opportunity to change it up a little (or a lot), eating more wholesome lunches, getting up earlier, be more tidy at home, or trying a new exercise routine.

One such change I've been looking to make is to stay productive without coffee. Yes fellow Swedes reading this, you heard me right. My mum loves it, my grandmother loves it even more. My dad calls it fox poison, but drinks it anyway. The Local explains it quite well here. The thing is, I'm not particularly fond of the highs and lows that comes with it. Or the headache that creeps up on you a day without it. 

For this reason, I've been trying to change out my daily cuppa for a matcha latte. Matcha is packed with antioxidants, detoxifies your body, rich in fiber, chlorophyll and vitamins, and provides steady long lasting energy. 

The secret to a lump free and frothy matcha latte is to mix the tea with a little water or honey until it creates a thick green paste. Once you have your paste, slowly add your warm milk and stir it up. I find that this creates the perfect creaminess and smooth matcha beverage. 

The Perfect Matcha Latte
For one person

1 tsp organic matcha tea (I use this brand)
1 tsp honey (or maple syrup for a vegan option)
1 cup (240 ml) plant milk (I use unsweetened almond milk)

Add the matcha tea powder and honey to your favorite tea or coffee cup. Mix together until a smooth paste forms. Depending on the thickness of your honey you may need to add a few drops of milk.

Warm up one cup of plant milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Here you can also use an electric or hand whisk to create some extra frothiness. 

Once the milk is warm enough to release some steam. Remove from the heat and pour one third of the milk into your cup. Stir until the paste dissolves. Add the rest of the milk and any extra froth. 

Devour slowly while snacking on some dark chocolate, dried coconut chips or pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

It has been a few busy months but here we are. Finally settling into our new, yet temporary, apartment in the Mission Bay area in San Francisco.

It's such a relief to finally have arrived. The past few weeks have been intense. Throwing out, donating away and not the least giving away so many things. Organizing the VISA. Saying goodbye to our friends until next time. Working my last few days at Squarespace. And inevitably, teaching my last yoga class in Ireland.

We spent a little over a year in Dublin which is really not that long. At the same time, it has been an intense year full of work, traveling, and not the least wedding preparations and celebrations. All while getting to teach and practice yoga around the city. I'm so grateful for all the wonderful people I have met. For my beautiful colleagues and fellow yogis. The friendships you form in a place is truly what makes your life there. And the toughest part with moving country has to be the goodbyes.. 

At the same time, I'm super excited to start our new life here in San Francisco. While we've been here for holidays before, I just can't wait to explore the city further, study and practice with the local yoga community, and enjoy all the things that SF and and California have to offer.

Talk soon! With love,

Karin

Hope you all had a good start to the year! The holidays can be pretty intense, involving lots of eating, sitting and socializing with family and friends. In the middle of this, we also need some time for relaxation and reflection. I often find that there is little to no time left for this during Christmas itself, and first in the days before and after New Year's Eve I start to look back and set new goals. 

When I was a kid, I had these padlock-sealed diaries that I wrote in every so often. Nowadays, I treasure these books so much. When I go back home in summer, and happen to find any of these books, it is both sweet and fascinating to read about the things my 10-year-old self was preoccupied with. These days, I collect a lot of thoughts, ideas and learnings randomly in various notebooks throughout the year. That said, these notes are often scribbled between yoga sequences and to do lists and how could I ever separate these thoughts and events if I didn't write it down in a more structured way?

For this reason, every year I sit down for a few days (yes it does take a while) to write down what happened in my life from month to month and most importantly how I felt about it. This provides a unique opportunity to look back and better understand what's been going on over the last 12 months. 2015 has been A LOT; settling in a new country, beginning a new job, starting to teach yoga, developing my yoga practice, building new friendships, getting married and much much more.

I think the best way to set new goals, is to first look back to see what has happened.

Ask yourself:

What moments and friendships did I cherish? What projects am I inspired to take further? What gave me value, health and happiness in 2015? How can I do more of that? What else do I want to bring into my life?

I actively follow quite a few writers and sites that have published posts on how to best meet this new year, and how to keep your resolutions.. In truth, we can actually evaluate and set goals at any time during the year. That being said, now is always a good time - and better than later.

I think the best takeaways from the articles I've read are these:

Make the goals measurable and clear. For example, if you want to bring more happiness into your life. Then write down a list of the things that make you happy. 

Stake out a goal of how much time to dedicate to this each day or week:
 
1. Meditate 5 minutes - eg. each morning or night every day for two weeks
2. Go out with friends at least once a week
3. Try a new recipe or dish every week
4. Drink hot lemon water every morning
5. Commit to a 10 minutes simple stretch routine every morning or night

Write down the goals and share the goals with your partner or friend. When we share the goals with someone, the goals become more real.

Believe in yourself. We all have moments of doubt. On any journey, there is always gonna be some obstacles along the way, this includes moments of doubts, laziness or falling back to an old habit. But if the mind is focused, then we are far less likely to get entangled and lost as a consequence of such obstacles. For me, some of the best ways I know to refocus is to talk to a friend, exercise or meditate. 

As I was writing and thinking about Doubt, this one popped up in my Youtube feed. Blige and Swift for you all. 

Stay humble and allow for happiness in any shape or form!

Love,
Karin