Dear Wellness Seekers,
W Hotel South Beach, Spanista Adult Spring Breakers Work, Play, Shop outlines my agenda over an all too short stay but yet ever so enjoyable. Anytime one drives over the bay way after arriving in Miami’s airport to suddenly see infamous South Beach, Florida you know you are in for an adventure. It immediately feels like you are far, far away from the heart of America’s urban civilization as you know it. It has been called the American Riviera and an Art Deco Playground for good reason. The W Hotel here is one of my favorites. You can see it is spacious and comfortable while emoting a vibe that sets it apart from other hotels.
I love the asthetic of the Art Deco period South Beach was born of splendor and find myself drawn to it unlike any other period of architecture and design. How fresh, crisp and sophisticated it feels to me. I have many pieces of jewelry that capture its spirit and never tire of wearing the look no matter if it is in vogue at the moment of not. The pieces always feel modern when styled properly. Of course when in Rome – so after the work and play came a short period of shopping. I find the W Hotel to always be accommodating my fancies in this regard. The W Boutiques in the Hotel are curated with eclectic fashion finds that relates to the unique local. I always find an essential with the right amount of edge that updates my Spanista Spa Chic Style. See the red and black stilettos at the top of this post? They are by Pour La Victoire who always promises something special – of course I had to wear them to dinner immediately upon purchasing them.
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PINIMAGEW Hotel South Beach, Spanista Adult Spring Breakers Work, Play, Shop is a micro view of South Beach. I am here for such a short period of time I hardly left the hotel. But frankly who needs to when you have a great spot like this with all you need to enjoy. But really, This small little land mass punches well over its weight for being internationally cosmopolitan.
Everyone is welcome! Frankly English is not the primary language spoken where ever I went. I heard German, Spanish, Portaguese, French, Arabic just to mane what I could recognize. Arriving at night is especially intriguing – as you feel the balminess of the air, hear the waves caressing the shoreline and the latin music faintly in the back ground you find yourself craving a majito to quench your parched throat.
Full of an eclectic mix of world -class boutiques, galleries and stores. It is also a culturally hot spot for everything from gourmet to casual beachside cuisine. To view the Art Deco Architecture and the glamour, one has to do convertible ride down Ocean Drive both day and night to get the full lifestyle picture.
Spanista Tip: Always nap before a late night dinner as you can dinning into the we hours. Hope you get to visit it soon.
To Your Self Care Journey To Joy,
Ginny
Dear Wellness Seekers,
Spanista Wabi-Sabi Appreciation Elevates Japanese Design Culture is a follow-up to yesterday’s post about the new impact on humanity of design in the too-much-touch-screen technology world.
A complementary article in this weekend’s WSJournal features a story about the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi and its relationship to new trends in design. Spanista believes that emotional wellbeing and joy comes through the wise practice of stimulating the senses. In this post I emphasize the ‘importance of touch’. Spanista’s belief is too much of one type of sensory stimulus will drive us to seek the direct opposite of it. Examples are – new versus vintage – smooth, and cool versus textured and real, perfect versus distressed or fast disposable and lasting quality.
Upon reflection I could not but help to think how the natural forces of life push us to seek balance in all things. The pendulum swings to the extreme in one direction and suddenly we find ourselves craving something to offset it in the opposite direction, which brings us back to realize our humanity.
Our society’s extreme usage of digital screens is fueling the craving for natural high touch design experience – or what Spanista calls psychic refreshment. The Japanese have a term for the new design direction that we in the US are craving to feed our souls – Wabi-Sabi.
Expert Leonard Koren, author and designer attempted to interpret the Japanese aesthetic for our Western audience in the article ‘Wabi-Sabi for Dummies‘.
Mr. Koren states, “Things Wabi- Sabi are expressions of time frozen. They record the sun, wind, rain, heat and cold in a language of discoloration, rust, tarnish, stain, warping, shrinking shriveling and cracking. Their nicks, chips, bruises, scars, dents and peeling….are a testiment of their histories. You have to accept that things Wabi-Sabi are indeed beautiful – then you turn on to the wonderfulness of the unique, unconventional history of natural objects made of paper, clay, wood, metal and bamboo.” His first book Wabi-Sabi for “Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers” was so popular he wrote a sequel “Wabi-Sabi – Further Thoughts” given the growing demand for America to understand this inspiring concept.
Spanista Wabi-Sabi Appreciation Elevates Japanese Design Culture opens our eyes to our inner voice and needs in this fantastic environment of technological advancement. He believes Wabi-Sabi has become topical because of the pervasiveness of the digitalization of America – Spanista agrees. If you find yourself in a coffee shop or organic restaurant that’s design is highly weathered or distressed and enjoying the atmosphere – you now know why.
If this Spring you find you have the urge for shopping for a natural aesthetic to refresh your home, you may now understand why. Spanista encourages you to indulge yourself in the psychic refreshment of the Wabi-Sabi aesthetic for you emotional wellbeing. Feed your soul though touch. Let us know what you find and how it makes you feel, ok?
To Your Self Care Journey To Joy,
Ginny
Dear Wellness Seekers,
Good News Monday: To Refresh Touch Something Besides Your iPad is an article in the Off Duty Section of this weekends Wall Street Journal offering a welcome perspective on the importance of reaching out for balance in ours lives through touch. Understanding the Power of Touch is is a primary theme in Spanista Philosophy. Stephen Treffinger reports in ‘Reach Out And Touch…Something Besides Your iPad’ that our American society has become saturated with the proponderance of digital screens which has driven a desire in us to offset it. The sleek, cool to the touch and responsive glass pads have brought us to the point of digital overload.
Seeking to relieve us from this intense shinny saturated world are artists and designers who are bringing us fresh sensual, tactile and organic Japanese design – a new wave of artisan craftsmanship that brings us what we crave most – a tactile, lush, less than perfect sense of realness born from the past. Things with history and journey that make us feel something more by stimulating our sensory imaginations.
Stephen shares that we see it in architectural trends – where reclaimed wood and salvaged looking eateries have have almost become cliche. “The search for that something, for the next authentic antidote to digital overload, has triggered a renewed appreciation of handmade decor from Japan. After the tsunami in 2011, a government initiated program called Japan Creative began reaching out to Western designers in the US and London to collaborate with Japanese craftsman on a series of contemporary products that would appeal to a broader market while using old world techniques. Hoping not to loose these treasured ways in their deep rooted culture.”
Adam Silverman a ceramic pottery artist, who is featured in the article says, “We are all tech-ed up – and we feel the need for warmer things in our hands.”
Spanista Takeaway: Good News Monday: To Refresh Touch Something Besides Your iPad reveals the yin and yang of life. Because we spend out days touching screens our bodies and minds crave hand made beauty we can touch to really appreciate them to the fullest – Spanista calls it the need for psychic refreshment. This translates to the ultimate need to reinforce our feeling of being alive – that people matter and that creativity is a treasured art of the hands – it reassures us we are humans have high value and purpose that cannot be replaced by technology. Food for the soul.
What do you think?
To Your Self Care Journey to Joy,
Ginny
Dear Wellness Seekers,
Friday Wellness Tip: Sorry No Wi Fi! Thank Goodness! Well then talk to each other while you eat ribs!
Spanista is hoping this menu board at a local Tampa restaraunt will make you smile and stop you to think about the message like it did me for your emotional wellbeing’s sake. Picture this: It is a day of onslaught Florida rains. The kind that saturate your body and soul with heavy down pours. Rivers of water wash down the roads headed for the bay. We decided it was a perfect day for barbecue at a spot we like just off Bayshore Boulevard called Kojak’s House of Ribs. A go to place for luscious ribs. It’s local charm emotes from the old two story house with a wide wrap around porch that’s been converted to a one of a kind eatery. You know the kind of southern style homes that were built before air conditioning became the conventional way to live. On warm days and nights the style was for people to sit out on the huge wrap around veranda. The place everyone loved to hang out for relaxing meal time and leisure time – hoping to catch a cool breeze. Today, we wanted to luncheon el- fresco on the veranda while enjoying the cool steamy comfort bouncing off the pouring rain pools. Dining on Kojak’s porch on a day like this makes you feel like a you are in protected cocoon. The banyon trees are draped in spanish moss and there is a magnolia blossom trying to save itself from a drenching. Can you smell it?
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Once settled in, we turned to Kojak’s menu board and laughed out load when we saw this message: Sorry No Wi Fi! Talk to each other while you eat ribs!
We took the challenge but honestly is was hard for both of us to keep from reaching for our smart phones when there was a lull in the conversation. But I looked around at the other tables and saw people glued to their screens. Adult couples not engaging with each other as they were also glued to their screens. I see it in many restaraunts with all kinds of people on any given day. This made Spanista sad. This behavior has to be hurting our relationships across the board. This in turn hurts our wellbeing long term. Spanista suggests its time for a dose of self awareness.
So I did some homework and want share what I learned. Caitlin Dewey reports in The Washington Post: Why You Should Really Stop Using Your Smartphone at Dinner that “Well over half of all American adults own smartphones. One-third of them use their phones during dinner, that most fundamental of social encounters. (Spanista thinks it is actually higher.) And a mounting pile of evidence suggests is increasingly the norm. Our smartphones are hurting our relationships — and that’s hurting us.
“Even without active use, the presence of mobile technologies has the potential to divert individuals from face-to-face exchanges, thereby undermining the character and depth of these connections,” reads a disturbing study from researchers at Virginia Tech. “Individuals are more likely to miss subtle cues, facial expressions, and changes in the tone of their conversation partner’s voice, and have less eye contact — just because a mobile phone is physically present.”
“Researchers and tech-watchers have long understood that the chirping, insatiable temptations of our little screens change the way we interact with other people “IRL.” In the past couple years, a mountain of studies have demonstrated that cellphone use makes us more selfish, more easily distracted and more stressed. A survey last March suggested that nearly 9 in 10 people feel that their loved ones neglect them in favor of technology on a weekly basis. A smaller-scale observational study suggested that, when parents and young children dine together, parents frequently pay the most attention to their phones.”
“Parents on smartphones ignore their kids, — reflecting, perhaps, a growing consciousness of (and discomfort about) the subtle ways our smartphones blind us.”
“This new paper from Virginia Tech is concerning because it confirms that the mere passive presence of mobilephones cheapens in-person conversation, even when we’re not looking at them.”
Friday Wellness Tip: Sorry No Wi Fi! Thank Goodness! Spanista suggests this weekend while you are sharing meals with loved ones, try to put the smartphones away and practice REAL TOGETHERNESS! Find a spot where your can have a porch like atmosphere. Look your loved ones in the eyes and start a conversation. Work to hold their attention with artful exchanges – Learn something new about each other, make plans, share secrets, have a meal that fills you with love and laughter – not just good food. Get dessert and linger over it. Let me know what magic unfolds as a result ok? Enjoy it. And remember to smell the magnolias!
To Your Self Care Journey To Joy,
Ginny
Dear Wellness Seekers,
Spring, Spring What A Wonderful Thing! It is what a Spanista expects that Spring delivers. A rainbow of joyful color. If you are having a good day – this will take it to the next level. If you need a lift – this will help turn the corner to a brighter day.
This weekend in Kansas City I came to the door of the home of a very dear lady in my life. A woman who takes her role as a mom very seriously – she is full of energy and love for everyone who walks across this threshold. She and I are very different but yet we have several things good things in common. One in particular is we share a passion for celebrating the seasons. So now we love the promise of spring. You can see how seriously she takes this from the pic.
We love chatting away about planting the best flowers and a first time vegetable garden – all the details are explored like what, when, were and how. The dream. It makes for a joyful relaxed time sitting on the patio with a cup of our favorite tea in hand. The sun warming our faces with a kiss on the nose. We forget about all the stresses that life. We are surrounded with ideas and plans for beautiful bounties – color flowers of life and healthy vegetables full if vitality. Even if we do them or not does not matter – it is the promise of planning that lifts the spirits. It evokes the feelings of joy remembering back when I heard these chats between my Mother and my Aunts. It symbolizes life does go on and we must keep pace to enjoy it.
Everyday in Spring, Mother Nature delivers a fresh new vibrant present. It’s a joy just to wake up every morning, pop into your workout gear and take a Spanista Reflection Walk to discover what given birth this new day! On the way home I spotted these spring treasures that would only last for a few short days. I felt blest to find them on my – it was like our joyful conversation attracted these to me so I could share them with you.
PINIMAGE How lovely it is to stroll through a garden as spring is about to appear
With all the blossom and buds bursting out of themselves,
as if saying “Look, we are here”
The colours abound in pastels and hues of all shades and sizes,
With whites, and pinks, and blues and all other disguises.You sit for a while on a garden bench,
Feeling the warmth of the energy that surrounds you,
Smiling to yourself and thinking how wonderful it is,
This is the life you tell yourself, how could there be need for more
When you look at all about you, and feel at peace ever more.Ah well! You tell yourself, Lets not get too carried away,
There’s plenty to do, like mowing, and clipping to keep busy,
On this beautiful balmy day,
You don your gloves, and bend your knee to tend to the plants
that are asking for your care,
And again you become enraptured by the scene
Of this tapestry thats enfolding right there.But this time, you’re part of it, as you dig, and pull and tug,
Becoming one with the earth, rejuvenating both you and the shrubs above,
Shaping them, with practised eye, and watching for the bud,
That will bear the fruit in the coming year,
As a mark of their love.You finally finish at days end with a sigh and a wish,
That all about you are well and contented
As this feeling you have of sweet accord,
Of being one with the world, and one with your lord.
by LizzytishSpanista Takeaway: Spring, Spring What A Wonderful Thing!
To Your Self Care Journey To Joy,
Ginny
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