Inspired by DANCE and Anne Marsen!

I love dance. I love to dance. I love the joy it inspires in a moment. I love letting go of my inhibitions and just moving my body. I love letting music infect me and make me believe in movement. I love allowing myself to be silly. To dance well. To dance adorkably. To just dance.

And I love to watch other people dance. Especially EXCITING dancers.

What makes a dancer exciting? Talent, yes. But that's not it alone. It's the love. The joy. Is it tangible? Can you feel it? Does watching them make you fall in love? With dance? With life in general? THAT'S an exciting dancer.

Anne Marsen is one of those dancers. I discovered her by accident. A happy accident.  Anne is an improvisational dancer. And an internet sensation. For good reason. You'll see. As a child she studied at the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center. And now she's unabashedly freestyling all over the world, including Mumbai and the Staten Island Ferry.

Dancing on the Staten Island Ferry
What made Anne an internet sensation was a collaboration with friends. A long form music dance video called Girl Walk // All Day. The trailer for the video was shot on the Staten Island Ferry and got some MAJOR hype.

From the Girl Walk// All Day website:

Girl Walk // All Day is a feature length dance music video and tale of urban exploration that follows three dancers across New York City. They turn the city's sidewalks, parks and architecture into an evolving stage as they spread their joy of movement.

I completely missed all the hype about this video.

I missed the video being posted on The Gothamist.

I missed the story on The Huffington Post.

I missed the story in the New York Times Magazine.

Instead, I stumbled on it by complete accident. I was searching "inspiration" on Twitter when I came across a Tweet from ModCloth about Got a Girl Crush magazine who did a feature on Anne.

So that's how I found this nugget of joy:





Girl Walk // All Day from jacob krupnick on Vimeo.

Right? RIGHT?! I mean, now you want to see more, yes? I know. I know!

The full-length feature is going to be released chapter by chapter on The Gothamist in November. I can't wait to see it. In the meantime, check out the official trailer on the Girl Walk // All Day site and Anne's wonderfully whimsical, inspiring and infectious dance videos on her Vimeo page.

Get. Sucked. In.

Want to know more about Anne? Well, you can check out the above link to the New York Times Magazine feature about her and the feature in Got a Girl Crush Magazine.

You can also learn more about her high school days from a story from NorthJersey.com that gives some insight. (By the way, she graduated high school in 2007. I'm not so good at math, but that makes her, what? Twelve?):

Teneack High School graduate Anne Marsen becomes and overnight internet sensation - NorthJersey.com

Now bust a move already!

LINKS IN THE TIME OF FORECLOSURE: How to live in a lighthouse & more

So you know I'm on Twitter, right? Yes! Right here. I mention this because today's links are all courtesy of Twitter. Links I found while reading others' Tweets. Should I call them Twinks? Or Litters. Twinks. Anyway...

Lighthouse Living


Remember how I wrote about wanting to live rent-free in a lighthouse? Well, these people found a way to do just that. They are the current lighthouse keepers at the Seguin Island lighthouse on Seguin Island in Coastal Maine. How did they find this opportunity? Why, The Caretaker Gazette, of course. (I SWEAR they are not paying me.) Island Caretakers - The Caretaker Gazette Blog via @housesitter


The Recession Hits Sesame Street

Have you heard the news? Elmo's mom lost her job! Fictional jobs are not even safe in this economy!

Actually, I think this is a really brilliant idea. Why? Because kids don't read blogs. Do they? No, I really don't think so. They watch Sesame Street. What a great opportunity to introduce your child to the changes happening all around them if not in their own home.

From the Daily Finance article":

...the message of Families Stand Together: Feeling Secure in Tough Times, an excellent program airing next month on PBS, is that Elmo's situation is not unusual, especially with the jobless rate expected to top 10 percent before the end of the year.

The producers of the show, which features Al Roker and Deborah Roberts, created a commendably realistic -- though not depressing -- look at the recession's impact on all sorts of families. According to the non-profit Sesame Workshop, Families "aims to help families with children, ages two to eight, experiencing difficult economic circumstances by offering strategies and tips that can lead to positive outcomes for their children's physical and emotional well-being during this tough economic climate."

It goes on to mention that the residents of Sesame Street even host a big garage sale to make some extra money and that Elmo starts his own Lemonade stand.

This link is courtesy of "Living with Less" - the human side of the global recession by writers and editors of The New York Times. @livingwithless


60 Ways to Really Save Money on Groceries


I don't know why, but I just hate clipping coupons. The time it takes seems to be way more than it's worth in the end. I know people will disagree with that, it's just my sticking point with coupons. That's why I like this post - How to Save Money on Groceries from Mommy Coddle. (I found Mommy Coddle via The Lovely List @thelovelylist.)

The list comes from Mommy Coddle readers and I find it incredibly useful. I've been thinking about this a lot lately as our move to the island draws nearer. I keep thinking, we're going to have to cook A LOT MORE. I'm both excited and nervous about that. It's a shift, but one I've been wanting to make for a long time. Anyway, check out the list of 60 reader suggestions on how to save money on groceries.

As a sampler, these are 3 of my favorites:

2. Taking a cue from many of our grandmothers, come up with a meal plan--like Pizza Friday (homemade), eat out Saturday, Grill Sunday (and grill some extras), Monday Soup and Salads (use some of the grill extras), Tuesday Fancy Sandwiches (like clubs and panini), Wednesday Pasta, Thursday Meat and Potatoes.

21. Buy a whole chicken. Cook it in the crockpot, then debone, chop and freeze for use in tacos, enchiladas, sandwiches, etc.

22. Have breakfast for dinner. It's usually cheaper.

And last link of the day...

Do you eat debt for breakfast? This Guy Does!


His name is Adam Baker and he's at war with debt. He eats debt for breakfast. His slogan is "Get out of Debt... Get Into Life." And he documents his journey and shares such useful information on his blog Man Vs. Debt! What can I say, I'm inspired! Apparently the birth of his daughter had him reevaluate the way he was living, spending and carrying debt. That was the turning point for him and when he declared war and wrote an actual declaration. It's genius. Bob and I should do the same thing. I've mentioned this to him. I think I'll print this declaration and read it to Bob at some point this weekend to inspire one of our own.

Here is the Man Vs. Debt declaration of war:

We, the leaders of the Baker household, formally DECLARE WAR on Debt!

Let it be known that we will not stop until Debt is eradicated from our lives! We will not win every battle, but we WILL win the War. There will be no negotiations, there will be no cease-fires, there will be no treaties of any sort.
We pledge the following:

* We shall cancel all of our credit cards and shall not apply any new credit.
* We shall track every penny we spend.
* We shall spend less than what we earn.
* We shall “give every dollar a name, on paper, on purpose at the beginning of every month.”
* We shall use strictly cash for variable monthly expenses.
* We shall constantly strive to cut spending and fixed expenses.
* We shall dip into our emergency fund only during true emergencies, after all options are fully exhausted.
* We shall never have a car payment.
* We shall rent until the war is over, we have 20% down, and we can afford a 15-year fixed mortgage.
* We shall never co-sign for a loan, for anyone… anywhere.
* We shall never loan family or friends money. If we choose to give, it will be a gift.
* We shall utilize books and blogs to study our enemy and develop our strategies.
* We shall invest in ourselves and our earning potentials.

Declaration of War reaffirmed as witnessed on March 27th, 2009

Inspiring, right? What would you pledge?

Thanks to @wisebread for tweeting this. By the way, Wisebread also has a wonderful website all about "Living Large on a Small Budget."

Photo credits:
-Lighthouse image is courtesy of The Caretaker Gazette
-Elmo is via Blog of Wishes
-The cherry tomatoes is a photo I took of the beautiful tomatoes from my mom & Tom's garden! Hooray for home-grown.
-The picture of Adam & his daughter is from his site Man vs. Debt

A priceless reminder to just be happy from a Zen Master

So I fully intended to do a Friday “Links in the Time of Foreclosure” blog post to stick to my new and self-imposed structure for the blog, but I got sidetracked with the post about the Release of Lien and ran out of time to do the ‘links’ post.

It was a busy week as I started a new project (thankfully) and am commuting from Barrington to Chicago every day. Which is easy with the express train, but definitely an adjustment.

Anyway, the one link I found worth sharing with you was to an article I read in the New York Times on the “Happy Days Blog.” Today is Sunday. It’s beginning to look like rain. The trees are swaying in the breeze and I’m still thinking about this article.

“For the Time Being” by Norman Fischer – Happy Days Blog [The New York Times]

Norman Fischer is a senior Zen Buddhist priest and poet. And what he wrote for The New York Times about happiness speaks so powerfully to our experience. It’s like he’s in my head! Well, he is a Zen Master. He writes about happiness and the human experience. I was especially taken by this passage:

“We want enjoyment, we want to avoid pain and discomfort. But it is impossible that things will always work out, impossible to avoid pain and discomfort. So to be happy, with a happiness that doesn’t blow away with every wind, we need to be able to make use of what happens to us — all of it — whether we find ourselves at the top of a mountain or at the bottom of the sea.”

Somehow knowing this helps. Knowing that it’s impossible to avoid pain and discomfort is a good thing. The goal isn’t to avoid it, but to learn from it. Perhaps? And accept it when it comes along. Pain & discomfort... hardship doesn’t have to take the place of happiness when it does appear. They can live side by side.

And by the way, to me pain has nothing to do with suffering. There's pain and then there's your reaction to it. Ever see someone who is completely calm after having just broken a bone? I broke my arm skiing in college and I still remember this eerie calm that came over me. Yes, it hurt. Yes, it was painful... but I was determined to get through it. Or little kids that fall and whack their heads and get back up and keep playing? To me, they are choosing FUN and PLAY instead of suffering. Their head might throb, but playing is more important to them. (I'm not a parent, so parents... feel free to disagree. Or agree. Either. Both.)

That’s what I’ve learned through all of this. I’ve experienced it first hand and sometimes I still forget. And I get stuck thinking that there's somewhere to get to. Like this:

Once we're on the island, we'll be happy.
Once we're out of debt, we can breathe.
Once we're dead, we can sleep.

We used to say, "Once we sell the house, things will be normal again." But what is normal? To me, Norman is saying that pain and discomfort are normal. That this is it. Truly. I've complained about being in a constant state of transition and how challenging it is. What if life is a constant state of transition?

"...to be happy, with a happiness that doesn’t blow away with every wind," Norman writes, "we need to be able to make use of what happens to us — all of it — whether we find ourselves at the top of a mountain or at the bottom of the sea.”

Whether we find ourselves in the house of our dreams or in someone else's dream home... Put like that it seems so silly that we would suffer a minute over our situation. One thing that is so clear to me is that we have truly been using what happens to us... all of it.

It’s wonderful to be reminded. And we're with Norman on this. We’ve found that it is possible to experience both love and happiness in the time of foreclosure.

That discovery is worth more than the dream house and all of our possessions combined.

For the rest of Norman’s poignant article in the New York Times, click here. Go read it and then come back here and comment. I'd love (as always) to hear what YOU think!

photo credit: courtesy of Katherine of Chicago