We Run

You know how awesome it feels when you read something and it (*almost) perfectly sums how you think or feel? This gave me that feeling so of course, I'm sharing.

*ok, this almost sums up how I feel: I don't mock the dreadmill & if it read "WE RUN NYC"... well, you get the point

Eva's Update

Earlier this month, I told you about Eva, a woman who was about to run her first marathon and had contacted me to design a special necklace for her. These were Eva's words to me:

"My name is Eva, and l love love your designs! I want to see if you can create me something unique...here is my story. I have been fighting leukemia for about 7 yrs, at the moment am in remission, hopefully for a longer time this time around, either way am grateful, am also running my 1st Full Marathon ( Publix Marathon in Atlanta, GA). Is there something you can suggest or help me put together, I prefer a necklace I can wear, everyday....."

Since then, I've received quite a few messages asking me for updates on Eva. Well I'm happy to report that she kicked some major marathon butt and is officially a MARATHONER! Once again, she has given me permission to share an email she sent the other day:

"To my friends and Uncle.
I am not sure where to start, each one of of u has been had a great impact in life may it be a ride to the hospital, making me laugh, calling to check on me, bringing me food and making sure its healthy, prayers etc. l am truly blessed.

A few months ago, l decided to beat the odds and run a full marathon, despite the many health issues , and disagreements with my doctors, l signed up.

Today, l am happy to say, l am a MARATHONER, it took me 5hrs and 37 Mins but l finished.

Now, when l share my story, i can also say am a runner.

Thank you to all for your support, and to my uncle who is nothing less than a blessing, u can now say u have a niece who is a marathoner.

Enjoy the pics !!!

Blessings
Eva "

Isn't she incredible? A major congratulations to Eva! You are an incredible inspiration to me and I'm sure, to many others as well. I am honored to welcome you to the club!

Monday Mantra

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365: Week 12

Things That Make Me Go :)

Despite getting very little sleep last night, I woke up with a smile on my face. Feeling like that's a pretty great reason for me to take a few moments to recognize the things that make me go :)

1. I created a Press page on the Erica Sara Designs website this week which could only mean one thing... I have press! Check it out!

2. My cousin was inspired to begin cycling again and joined dailymile this week to track her workouts and to find a community of cyclists. I was so excited to see her on board! Her post yesterday read "Short but sweet.. just around the neighborhood. Nothing impressive but I'm still beginning, I guess" to which I'd like to reply with this

3. I've been busy working on rings & some new necklaces in the studio and I've finally begun to put them online. I'm especially excited about the Drusy stones I'm working with. Only one drusy ring up so far but stay tuned for more rings and necklaces using these one of a kind stones! I'll also be adding the stackables with bezel set semi precious stones. See? Told you I've been busy.

4.  I went to a baby shower the other day, fully expecting that there'd be nothing vegetarian or gluten free to eat; I expected to starve. So I was happily surprised to find these delicious vegan & gluten free cookies made by my dear friend Vegan Pimp! Even better than that fact that they are yum is that they are so darn easy to make. Check em out here.

5. My big brother posted this video on facebook this week. It's beautiful; makes me think of some of the incredible people in this world who I'm lucky to consider my friends. I can't stop listening to it. Enjoy :)


6. My running mojo is back in full force. Even the crazy Spring hail storm couldn't keep me away from the pavement last night. Which, by the way, was insane. I would NOT recommend running in hail storms. It hurts! But back to my point. I'm feeling strong and am having a great time running the miles. And although I had slated 90 for the month of March, looks like it'll be more like 74 due to a pulled hamstring the other week. But compared to the 34 miles I ran last March? I'll take it!

I'm sure if I thought some more, I could come up with 20 more things to add to this list. But alas, I must grab my cup of joe and head to the studio to make pretty things.

What are the things that are making you go :) today? Please so share.

NYC Half Marathon 2011

According to the calendar, Spring is here but it sure doesn't feel that way in NYC. It's dark, cold and wet (think rain & snow) but I'm in too good of a mood to care because this past weekend was awesome! After conquering two loops of Central Park on Saturday in preparation for the More Half Marathon, I spent my Sunday cheering for the thousands of runners kicking some major tush at the NYC Half Marathon.

I ran this Half last year and even though running through Times Square was pretty awesome, I decided not to try to get in since I needed a bit of a break after the Philadelphia Marathon. That left me available to cheer like crazy for all of my friends running the race and if you know me, you know I'm an expert spectator. I woke up at 5:30 am Sunday morning, layered up to brace myself against the cold morning, and headed to the park to meet Jess and Tavia for the 7:30 am start. Although it was cold, a little chill wasn't going to bother me. After all, remember the last race at which I cheered?

We watched the start on the east side and the headed quickly across the reservoir to the west side to try to catch the elites for a second time... and we missed them by mere seconds! We then hung around 86th street on the west side, where we'd promised folks we would be, stayed until the crowd thinned a bit, and jumped in a cab to arrive at mile 12 on the west side highway, only to once again miss the elites by seconds. Oh well.... I'll catch them next time. More important, we did get a chance to cheer on some friends like Baker, Maura and her brother, my beautiful friend Dani, Glenn, first time Half Marathoner Abbe, Chelsea, Hillary and Theodora multiple times which was all I really cared about. And of course, I took some pictures. By "some", I mean "hundreds". Enjoy!

My Sign!

Monday Mantra

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365: Week 11

Giveaway Winner!

And the winner of last week's giveaway is.....

Congrats Jacqi! I'll be in touch asap so you can pick your Erica Sara Designs necklace.

And thanks to everyone for their awesome encouragement to Eva on her first marathon! I'll do my best to keep you posted on how she kicks major marathon butt on March 20th!

365: Week 10

Monday Mantra: One Day (A Song)

Today's Monday Mantra is a song and is less about just me, and is more about my wish for us all. It is in response to the brutal terrorist attack on an Israeli family this past weekend that has left me deeply saddened and angry. It has always been my policy to steer clear of religious and political topics on this site so please understand that this post is not about politics or religion. You don't have to be Jewish to appreciate it's meaning or to dream for peace, or at least for a world in which innocent children are safe while sleeping in their beds at night.

My 5 year old niece, who until recently lived in Israel and is now in England, sang this song to me over the phone last month. It was her birthday gift to me and she had no idea that it is my favorite song. These lyrics sounded especially poignant when sung by her young, sweet & innocent voice; I couldn't help hearing her voice singing this song again yesterday when I read this news. May you have a peaceful week.

For those of you are cannot watch the video, here are the lyrics for One Day by Matisyahu:

Sometimes I lay

Under the moon

And thank God I'm breathing

Then I pray

Don't take me soon

Cause I am here for a reason

Sometimes in my tears I drown

But I never let it get me down

So when negativity surrounds

I know some day it'll all turn around

Because all my life I've been waiting for

I've been praying for 

For the people to say

That we don't wanna fight no more

They'll be no more wars

And our children will play

One day x6

It's not about

Win or lose cause

We all lose

When they feed on the souls of the innocent

Blood drenched pavement

Keep on moving though the waters stay raging

In this maze you can lose your way (your way)

It might drive you crazy but don't let it faze you no way (no way)

Sometimes in my tears I drown

But I never let it get me down

So when negativity surrounds

I know some day it'll all turn around

Because all my life I've been waiting for

I've been praying for

For the people to say

That we don't wanna fight no more

They'll be no more wars

And our children will play

One day x6

One day this all will change

Treat people the same

Stop with the violence

down with the hate

One day we'll all be free

And proud to be

Under the same sun

Singing songs of freedom like

One day x4

All my life I've been waiting for

I've been praying for

For the people to say

That we don't wanna fight no more

They'll be no more wars

And our children will play

One day x6

The Beauty of Yoga

If you read my site, it should be no surprise that photography and yoga are two of my loves. I consider both a part of my meditation practice; time to get into my head, to think and be and smile and recognize the beauty surrounding me, as well as the beauty within.

I was overwhelmed by the beauty of these photographs taken by my very talented friend, Levi Stolove, so I wanted to share them with you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. You can see more of Levi's work at his website, or his facebook page which includes additional albums.

I hope your weekend is full of beauty and smiles :)

Pancakes. And More Pancakes.

Looks like after a few weeks of falling of the blogwagon I'm back! Trying to make it up to you all by posting every day this week. So far so good!

So today's blog post is a simple but extremely important one. The topic is pancakes. I love them. In fact, I'm on quite the pancake roll and have been making them every day this week. Yum you say? Yum indeed. But I've got to run to make some bling in the jewelry studio so instead of a long post with stories about pancakes, I'm just going to post two new recipes I've tried this week. The first is from Elana's Pantry and is made with almond flour. I turned Elana's recipe into blueberry pancakes and pureed strawberries to pour over it. Once again, "yum" would be the appropriate word. For the second recipe, I'm posting a a vegan banana pancake recipe I found in my current favorite cookbook, The Everything Vegan Cookbook. I'm pretty sure I could live on recipes found in this gem of a book. Both recipes are easy & delicious but taste pretty different. Do you have any favorite pancake recipes? Please do share!

Almond Flour is higher in protein so these pancakes may brown more than typical ones. Just make sure you don't burn them!

Blueberry Almond Flour Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce (gluten free)
Adapted from Elana's Pantry
makes 12 silver dollar sized pancakes
2 eggs
1/4 cup Agave
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 cup Blanched Almond Flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp lemon zest (optional)
1/2 cup fresh or frozen Blueberries
1/2 cup frozen Strawberries, defrosted, with juice

Combine the eggs, agave, and vanilla extract in your food processor or blender until smooth. Add the almond flour and baking soda, and process again until well incorporated. Stir in the lemon zest and blueberries. Let the batter rest or 15-20 minutes.
In the meantime, puree the strawberries and set aside.
Once the batter has rested, heat a large skillet or pancake griddle over medium heat and spray lightly with oil. Pour batter into small rounds onto the skillet, cook until bubbles begin to form on surface, and then flip and cook the other side for another 2 minutes or until done. Remove from skillet, drizzle with strawberry sauce and serve.

Vegan Banana Pancakes (gluten free)
Adapted from The Everything Vegan Cookbook
makes 10-12 small pancakes
1/2 Banana
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup Almond Milk (or Soy, or whatever milk you like)
1 tbsp Agave
1 cup of Brown Rice Flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Cinnamon

Combine the banana, agave, vanilla extract and almond milk in your food processor or blender until smooth. In a medium bowl, combine the the brown rice flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Pour the banana mixture into the brown rice flour and stir to combine well. heat a large skillet or pancake griddle over medium heat and spray lightly with oil. Pour batter into small rounds onto the skillet, cook until bubbles begin to form on surface, and then flip and cook the other side for another 2 minutes or until done. Remove from skillet, and serve with your favorite toppings. I drizzled mine with agave and sprinkled with a dash of cinnamon.