Vacations are a great way to take a step back and get some much needed perspective on things. I had a wonderful three day weekend packed with lots of fun, food and friends. I even managed to throw a pretty successful Memorial Day BBQ despite having cloudy, 54 degree weather. I also decided to follow through with some goals I set for myself. I’ve been wanting to take up some new hobbies lately and my first thought was baking! I’m basically a disaster in the kitchen but I LOVE the way baked goods look when they’re all done up with pretty packaging or on a gorgeous little plate. Yes, I choose my hobbies based on how well I can accessorize them. Yesterday, I decided to dive right in, I opened my latest issue of Martha Stewart Living and decided to take on her recipe for blueberry scones.

Okay, so maybe they don’t look as pretty as Martha’s (my boyfriend yelled, “who shot your scones!” as soon as I opened the oven) but, to my delight, they were pretty tasty. My neighbors upstairs helped us finish a dozen within an hour. I’ll take that as a good sign. The best part was, it was fun! So now I’m hooked. Next up, strawberry shortcake cookies! Yummy!

Following with my goals, I’ve also signed up to take 3 introductory classes with Namaste Yoga right here in Oakland. I took Yoga classes years ago when I lived in Los Angeles when everyone carried purse dogs, ate raw foods and did yoga. Not long into it, I found that it became an integral part of my life and well being. Between moving, traveling, and starting a business, yoga has taken a backseat but now I’m ready to jump back in. I can’t wait to go to my first class tomorrow! I’ve already started searching Etsy for a great yoga mat bag. I’m thinking maybe one of these:

Cherry Wallflower Yoga Mat Bag by poketsofsage

Yoga Mat Bag W/Lace Trim by ChellaBellaDesigns

Bubbly Yoga Mat Bag by oneblacksheep

I also had another thought. What about making my own? That means, of course, that I’ll have to learn how to sew. Hmmm… do I sense another hobby coming on?

I hope you all had a very happy and restful holiday weekend. I’ll be adding some great new products to the LAMA site shortly (I also made some time to get some product photography done over the weekend). Get excited! Lots of great new things are heading your way (and mine!).

Tags: LAMA, Martha Stewart Living, Namaste Yoga

Posted on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 7:02 pm / Category: LAMA News, Stories of a Shopkeeper. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.