Hello, 2012! 2012 is definitely bringing in lots of change & excitement! Are you ready to take it to the next level? Now, more than ever, is THE time to be in the present moment. INHALE in new beginnings & EXHALE out old patterns that no longer serve you. Breathe in all this fresh, new energy & breathe out all that old, stagnant, stale energy. Be HERE, right NOW. The molecule of this moment is where life is happenin’. Get excited about change, get comfortable with the unknown, and step into the year as the BEST version of yourself! New year, new opportunities. READY, SET, SHINE ON!
Coming into the next cycle & phase is always a reminder to be grateful for where I’ve been and gets me super amped 
up keep things moving forward. Last year, on 1/1/11, I launched AR-Yoga.com. The times & seasons have come full circle & I am happy to say AR-Yoga has officially turned 1 year old :)
This past year I launched 60 pages worth of content, 53 blog posts & now am offering AR-Yoga services! To continue nourishing my positive and healthy lifestyle, I am happy to say this past year I stepped up my Reiki game, dabbled in shamanism, survived another year of physical therapy school, incorporated more intuitive work into my physical therapy 
practice, re-connected with Corepower Yoga & started teaching for them again, had major breakthroughs, formed and maintained healthy and positive relationships with myself and others, and accomplished so many more blissful things. So, 2012, BRING. IT. ON!
Within the past year creating this website/blog from the ground up has been equally amazing as it has been frustrating. I’m incredibly grateful to be surrounded by supportive family & friends who encourage me to pursue the things I’m passionate about. AR-yoga.com gives me an opportunity to unite & connect through all things that bring me joy. Last year I said, 2010 allowed me to heal & grow & 2011 was the year for me to continue expressing my Truth. In 2012, my theme is rise & shine. I intend to wake up early, appreciate the sunrises, be prepared to conquer & welcome BIG opportunities, expand my talents, and be ready rise to any occasion that comes my way. Overall, I am committing to put forth the absolute best version of myself in effort to grow, shine, & expand on all levels, minus in the waistline, of course :).
I rang in 2012 surrounded by good people & healthy food. Check out more of my healthy celebrations on a budget “how-to’s” below!
How-To: Throw a Healthy Dinner Party for 15
Hosting a healthy dinner party doesn’t have to be stressful. I hosted a NYE dinner for 15 people at my place, but to keep it simple I asked guests to bring healthy items for a pot luck dinner. If you’re going pot luck style, simply set the stage by throwing out some healthy suggestions for your guests to bring, and as the host provide a super healthy main entree. From there you’ll have a good base and then lots healthy supporting actors. I decided a simply baked slab of salmon, quinoa with veggies mixed in or brown rice, some sort of green salad, and ground turkey lettuce wraps were going to be the bulk of the dinner, from there I delegated other items out & hoped for the best. We had a good turnout of delicious & nutritious dishes. Here’s a peek at some of the items that ened up on our final menu…
- Baked salmon
- Ground turkey lettuce wraps
- Quinoa with veggies mixed in
- Green Salad with pears, grapes, and cranberry vinaigrette dressing
- Tomato basil pasta salad
- fruit platter
- veggie platter
- Cheese spread with whole wheat crackers
- stuffed mushrooms
- chips & salsa
- Almond, cashew, cranberry trail mix
- pumpkin muffins
- 4 gourmet cupcakes for everyone to share
- 1 small red velvet cake
How-To: Decorate for a party on a $ 25 budget
Setting the ambiance for a party can add another element of fun! I decided I was pulling the room together for under $30. My thought processes on how I made that happen is outlined below…
Color: I decided the color scheme for the party was going to be pearl white & gold. Without a doubt, color will set the tone for a party, whether it’s a bright and bold summer soiree or a romantic upscale kinda night.
Do it yourself Hanging Pom-Poms: Made 4 of these for $7. Thank you martha stewart! Check out visual instructions here!
1. Stack eight 20-by-30-inch sheets of tissue. Make 1 1/2-inchwide accordion folds, creasing with each fold.
2. Fold an 18-inch piece of floral wire in half, and slip over center of folded tissue; twist. With scissors, trim ends of tissue into rounded or pointy shapes.
3. Separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time.
4. Tie a length of monofilament to floral wire for hanging.
Do it yourself Banners: I made “hello, twenty twelve”, “happy new year!”, & “cheers” banners using key items I already owned: stock paper, letter stencils, black marker, glue & gold glitter. Choose a few key sayings based on the party you’re throwing and then get to makin’! The reason I like banners is because you can spread them across the entire wall and that’s a lot of real estate that you now have decorated. I chose 2 banners to go over door frames & the the “cheers” banner to go over the drink area.
Lighting: I choose to do soft lighting. I used Christmas lights I already had to outline window frames. I lit a few non-scented candles and since a lot of people were coming over, for safety reasons, I used flameless candles. I headed over to the christmas clearance section at Target & CVS & scored 6 flameless candles for $8! I also happened to be at Goodwill dropping off old clothes and found 3 brand new flameless candles for $3 and 6 brand new floating candles for $2. Never underestimate all the goodies that can be scored on the cheap at second hand stores and thrift shops :) All my lighting cost $13
Table cloths & Napkins: Again made out like a bandit in the holiday clearance section at Target. I Bought 3 gold table cloths for $3. I used the table cloths to: cover the dinner table, drinks table, counter top (makes for easy clean up!), & even covered art I already had on the walls with the gold table cloth & attached my glittery “cheers” banner to it. And for $1 I got 24 gold and white stripped napkins, how fitting :)
Dinner-ware: The beauty of having white as a part of the color scheme was that I was effortlessly able to incorporate the all the plain white dinner plates I already had. I needed bowls to put salsa, trail mix, & fruit in, so I took what I had and simply covered it in aluminum foil. Whala! Now we’ve added silver to the gold and white mix, but the colors still blend together nicely.
Home made wine tags: I had plenty of wine bottles on tap and had several wine glasses that I collected over my many wine tasting adventures. Wine tags needed to come into play so that my guests could keep track of their wine glass throughout the evening. My homemade wine tags were one of my favorite things I made! I had a ton of big in your face decorations, these were the minor detail decoration that helps bring everything together. Other minor detail decorations included sprinkling glitter on the tablecloths and hanging Christmas tree tinsel from the lights and spreading it around the wine glasses & wine bottles
- I took a whole foods paper bag, placed it flat, and cut out 24 circles.
- Using tape, I attached a Christmas ornament hanging wire (which by the way, I got on clearance for 5o cents) to the back of each circle. If Christmas season is not around while you are reading this, paper clips will work just fine.
- I added an outline of gold glitter to the edges of all my circles.
- Finally, I choose positive words that would inspire my friends to start the new year on a good note. I found a font that gave off a vintage typewriter vibe and printed my words, cut them out, & glued them to the center of my circles. Words I choose:Breathe. Wonderful. Dope. Beautiful. Peace. Health. New. Hope. Love. Grateful. Begin. Alive. Fresh. Abundance. Inspire. Heal. Shine on. Happy. Brilliant. Bling. Hello. Prosperity. Truth. Keep it real. Leader. Magic. Surf. Flow. Do.
- I washed all my wine glasses & wrapped the wire around the stem & set them out as a very functional decoration. I had extras so I wrapped them around the neck of the wine bottles. Upon arrival, all the guests were encouraged to choose a wine glass that “spoke” to them or close their eyes and choose a random word that would be their theme for the year.
So that my friends, is how my happening new year came to be. Hopefully, I’ve gotten your gears grinding on how you can add a dash of health & lots of pizzaz into your future shin-digs. To everyone that has supported AR-Yoga in 2011, Thank YOU! Get excited because AR-Yoga has a lot more fun, fresh, exciting content in store for 2012 :)
Shine on party people,
xoxo
ar