by Sam Tackeff | Jan 21, 2016 | Lists, Uncategorized
Welcome to my new office! Now that I’m working from my home several days a week building my business, I finally decided that I needed to get off the couch and get myself a desk. It feels so good to have a place to strategize, dream, and create! I made a big trip to IKEA and went wild. All I have to do now is add some art, plants, a lightbulb in my new lamp, and I should be good to go.
cart: raskog // tabletop: linnmon 59” // trestle: finnvard // side leg (out of shot) kallax bookshelf // chair with sheep
I have a secret goal to write a list every week in 2016 and publish it on The Second Lunch. One of the key ways to build a successful goal is to share it with others! So here you go. I’d like to hold myself to this practice, at least for the next month, when I’ll sit down and re-evaluate if it’s a thing I really want to do! I hope it is!
Here’s what’s happening over here:
cooking
I have a friend Traca who cooks multiple incredible recipes a week for a project she’s currently working on. She’s really pushing herself consistently to learn new things, taste new ingredients, and try new techniques. Each week she posts the list of her global conquests – Mole Colordito Enchiladas, Sichuan noodles and pork shoulder chop, complex recipes from Ottolenghi, Naomi Duguid, and more. I cook a lot of simple meals around here, and it’s really inspiring me to up my game! This week I’m doing the chicken thighs with caramelized onions and cardamom rice from Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem.
shooting
This week I’m taking a ten day natural light shooting challenge with my accomplished friend Kristin Tatem. She has a stunning studio in Lexington, KY – if you are local, consider taking a class with her! She also has online courses! It’s a good excuse to get some practice, and she’s such a capable teacher!
learning
I’ve started a new EdX course – Berkeley’s The Science of Happiness. It’s a 10 week self paced course that delves into the science of happiness, exploration of global and cultural happiness practice, and helps add to your own happiness toolkit. I’m looking forward to sharing some of my learnings with my clients!
reading
I made my way out to an independent bookstore for a book group this week, one of Book Riot’s read harder book clubs. I follow the organizer Jessica on Twitter, and I’m glad she tweeted about it! It’s an “any book book club” which actually works out great, because you get to talk about all different kinds of books, and we all got Book Riot Read Harder Challenge printables. Mine is going up on the wall!
I’ll also be participating in the Newtonville Books reading challenge, working my way through the Man Booker long list, and slowly working my way through the BBC Big Read – a long term project that I started a few years ago.
This week I’m reading: How to Cook a Moose // M Train // On The Move
by Sam Tackeff | Jan 12, 2016 | Wellness
One of my favorite parts of leading a wellness group is working through daily assignments alongside my clients. I find it personally rewarding to engage with the material – one of the most important reasons I chose to dedicate my focus to a career in health and wellness was because of my own pursuit for a healthier lifestyle. On the practical side, it encourages me to assess and reassess the curriculum if I find that I’m personally feeling resistant to the work!
An important part of my regular focus on well-being is my gratitude practice, and so I often begin my coaching work with a short gratitude exercise. Today in Secrets of Self Care, we wrote out 10 things we were thankful for. Here is the short version of mine. The long version took up two pages in my notebook.
Today I have much to be thankful for.
I’m thankful for my loving partner.
I’m thankful to work with some amazing women in my program.
I’m thankful for fluffy white snowflakes.
I’m thankful for a trip to Florida for a few months from now when the snowflakes will be less appealing.
I’m thankful for Jamie Oliver’s muesli recipe. With cacao nibs, blueberries, and maple syrup.
I’m thankful for my oldest friend willing to make an IKEA trip with a stitched up foot. And she let me push her in the wheelchair!
I’m thankful for the $20 *already put together* Raskog turquoise cart from IKEA I found in the as-is section.
I’m thankful for dear friends, both near and far.
I’m thankful for the safety of my family in Istanbul.
I’m thankful for my ever-loving sweet pup, Bertram.
What are you thankful for today?
PS: If you’d like to hear more on this topic, or are interested in future sessions of Secrets of Self Care, sign up for my wellness wisdom newsletter!
by Sam Tackeff | Jan 11, 2016 | Meal Planning
I spent much of the weekend preparing for Secrets of Self Care and am just now sitting down to one of my favorite rituals of the week – my meal planning! Still a few spots left in the program if you are “Monday motivated” and want to LEAP into action today. Send me an email!
For the past few weeks I’ve been trying out Blue Apron to assess whether I’d recommend it as a service to some of my health coaching clients. I’ll write up some thoughts soon, but after this week, I’ve put the service on hold – perhaps not indefinitely, but I miss coming up with my own meals! I decided this after getting the last shipment, so most of these dinners will be from the kit this week.
The other thing I’ll be eating is butternut squash. Somehow I’ve managed to amass a small arsenal of butternut squash, and haven’t been keeping up with cooking it. There are five on my kitchen counter, so I’ve been chopping and roasting like a mad woman this week. Do you have any favorite butternut squash tips? I’d love some more ideas!
Here’s what’s on the docket:
:: The Weekly Meal Plan: Week of January 11th, 2016 ::
Monday: seared cod and date vinaigrette (Blue Apron) with browned butter, quinoa, and spinach salad. Truthfully, I’m not big on quinoa these days, so this is likely going onto cauliflower rice.
Tuesday: cheese and snacks at the Wellesley College Club of Boston board meeting. In some of my spare time, I’m the co-VP of admissions and get to coordinate off campus interviews for prospective Wellesley women! Undoubtedly the best part is that I get to meet up with other amazing alums once a month and partake in high class snacks and wine.
Wednesday: chicken and udon noodle soup (Blue Apron) with napa cabbage and dried lime. I’ll be eating a late dinner because I’m going to try to head to Porter Square Books at 7pm for my friend Annelies’ talk about her wonderful tea cookbook Steeped! After that I have my business mastermind meet up – so this is going to be a late dinner!
Thursday: juicy lucy burgers (Blue Apron) with frizzled onion and romaine-walnut salad. Burgers are always a huge hit in this house. We’ll probably eat them bun-less, because I prefer them that way (and find that hamburger buns tend not to last several days in the fridge.
Friday: Out! Or more likely takeout from one of our favorite neighborhood spots.
What’s on your table this week?
