We head to Palm Springs on Friday morning for our 3rd annual Valentine’s Day escape. This is the 1st year we’re flying from freezing temperatures instead of driving down from Berkeley. I think I forget what 80 degrees feels like, so packing is a bit of a challenge. Sailor jeans, sandals, silk camisoles.

What are your warm weather staples?

The Saturday morning breakfast table is vastly improved by the green & blooms of my husband’s windowsill garden. Tiny reminders that spring will happen, even though it seems like my bones may never thaw. For bulb-tricking tips, go here. He adds the following: be careful about letting the bulbs dry out as you chill them, keep them not too wet & not too dry. Diffused morning sun is best once they’re planted for the longest lasting flowers. I add my own tip: marry a green thumb!

A couple people have asked to be kept up to date with my adventures in natural makeup, so here’s a few new things. Ilia is an all natural sheer lip color created by a woman who wanted a fancy, cosmetic counter style lipstick without all the toxins. The color I tried, Shell Shock, looks crazy but is actually very sheer & pretty. I’m looking forward to the matte line they’re launching in March, and wish they’d expand into pressed powder – I’m having the hardest time finding a nice natural one.

I also restocked my everyday perfume (Vrt from Captain Blankenship) and noticed that they have a few new scents and a sample pack. Wolf Moon is named after the full moon in January & is an ancestral, dark and smoky scent with Choya Loban (smoked frankincense) and Orris (iris root) along with of tuberose, Turkish rose and myrrh. Warm cedarwood, wild sweet orange and the honey notes of linden blossom rise to the top.  Sea Wolf is described as a more masculine and earthly counterpart to Wolf Moon, inspired by woods, waves and wolf ways. Emerald green pine needles, wild fir, vetiver, patchouli, myrhh and frankincense evoke a forest streaked with rays of light. A warm sun of honeyed linden blossom, wild sweet orange and black pepper meet the watery moon notes of wafting ylang ylang and airy palmarosa. Maybe a sweet Valentine’s Day prize?

I know all you ladies are Olo addicts, and while I think they smell lovely, my heart and my daily use goes to the Captain. If you know what I mean.

Back from a whirlwind weekend in NYC – I didn’t bring my camera, but took a few hasty phone photos – also here. I was so so excited to finally meet Jen from Honey Kennedy, who was in town visiting, and she very graciously let me stay with her in the posh Chelsea apartment her friend owns. I realized I am pretty starved for the lady friend times here, and I may have gotten tipsy and yammered too much. She’s even better in real life and I wish we lived closer.

We met up with Alison from Teen Angster , Shilo & Vivi at Rye for dinner right after I landed on Friday evening & it was cozy and lovely. Fancy cocktails & an endless parade of desserts. Saturday was running around with Anna from Door Sixteen, & Jenna from Sweet Fine Day  (yes, it’s weird to attach everyone to their blogs but on the off chance you don’t read them, go do so immediately) – and I got to have Ethiopian food for the first time since leaving Berkeley, which made me weep tears of joy. Such good times & I miss them all already. I’ll just be over here petting my neon pink friendship bracelets and rocking back and forth from wilderness loneliness. Ok.

The Egyptian wing at the Met – I could stay there for months and be blissfully happy. Pretending to read the hieroglyphs. Drinking rosé with a direct view of Cleopatra’s Needle. My first trip to Strawberry Fields. Diamonds at Catbird. French breakfast. Wandering the West Village when only the dogwalkers are awake. Daydreaming schemes (I’m the cynical one.) Late night falafel & curled up talking on a velvet sofa.

One of the “Pros” on my list of moving to VT was the proximity of NYC, and having been down twice in the last 2 months has been really, really great. The plane was a little crazy, drama both there and back, but now I have a $50 “Sorry we had electrical failure and made you cry” credit from JetBlue, at least. I might try the Amtrak for the next trip – that cab ride from the airport is actually more expensive than the flight.

Also, yes. I know my blog was hacked and the RSS and Search headlines are stupid. I can’t really do anything short of spending days and days I don’t have attempting to track down corrupted files, so yeah. I’ve been ignoring it since June. If you know any php geniuses who feel like volunteering to fix it, let me know.

I feel like the Year of the Dragon so far has been like one giant insane Mercury Retrograde. Everything is INSANE, up in the air, chaotic, and draining. Throw me a bone, dragon. A bone made of macarons and houses and babies.

So, the year of the rabbit has come to a close & the year of the dragon is here. In the last 2 hours, I fell really hard on ice (like a cartoon!) & got covered in mud and banged up, the cats killed a mouse, the thing that makes the bath water stay in the bath broke off as I was trying to take a bath, and I got an ER bill for $1300. Auspicious my ass!

But seriously, dragons. I’m adopting this year as my second year of magical power. (Sean has called me Dragon as a nickname since we met, as I am all fire & and I like shiny treasure.)

Reflecting back, I did not kick as much ass as I should have in the year of the rabbit. Sure, I moved across country, got the new job I wanted, put the wheels in motion on a house purchase and managed to spend my 1st married year sans homicide and divorce, but I feel like I barely did ANYTHING. Look at what Angeliska accomplished this year? Phew.

Anyway. Year of the Dragon! The thing I love about dragons is that they’re one of those myths that are omnipresent. Collective unconscious from the dawn of storytelling! Time for fearlessness, and high risks which give high returns. Chaos and fast fast fast pace! If you’re prone to overwhelm (yes, I did just start sobbing after all that stuff tonight) take extra precautions to prep yourself for dragon whirlwinds. It’s about getting stuff done & jumping into the fray, high energy, mobility, and prosperity.

Dragon things to do this year

1. Visit Ljubljana

2. Hoard gold

3. Smite all obstacles with fire

Dragon image from the Ishtar Gate