by Tara Mackey | Beauty, Blogroll, Fashion, Green Beauty, Green Makeup, Hindu Doggie, Music, My Dog, My Organic Life, Videos, YouTube
Even though it doesn’t mean much for Southern California weather, I absolutely adore fall. It’s my favorite time to go hiking. Honestly, even though it’s totally necessary most days (or the 112 degree days) of summer, hiking in very short shorts always weirds me out (hi snakes, critters, spiders, brush, thorns and everything else in between!) and I always seem to be caught in something a little too big for me, with lots of flowy flaws for nature-times. So it was the perfect time to pick up some fall friendly yoga and hiking gear – something longer than shorts but shorter than pants – to keep me cool, as well as calm and collected during my favorite exercise with Raelie.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or3SQZQ9Whk&w=560&h=315]
You can check out the video I shot in my Jewel Toned to see how the street smart biker shorts wear during my recent hike.
Jewel Toned is shapewear made for every day. Also based in LA, I absolutely love this go-getting brand. Every single piece is designed to be worn on the outside (ok… maybe not the panties? 😉 ) It hugs curves perfectly while also “tucking in” undesirable areas. These bike shorts are a new yoga staple for me. Besides the cute design, butt hugging curves and the fact that they’re totally comfortable, these shorts don’t give you the dreaded cameltoe, which means these forward thinking women really have their shiz together. No chance of embarrassment – just you hiking, running, walking, jogging, yoga-ing with your perfect self.
At first I topped it off with a long sleeved, Quad-Tiger flowy box top from Wildlife Works – but it’s still a little too warm here for those! I managed to get a few photos in it, though, which is amazing because Wildlife Works is one of my favorite brands of all time. Go check out all the awesome work they do through REDD+ and their incredible humanitarian efforts to bring not just awareness, but to make better solutions to poverty and conservation, as well as create jobs. The company also finances the development of small businesses such as an eco-clothing factory, and sustainable charcoal production and distribution.
She sure does make some silly faces. 🙂
I call this one “kiss the puppy pose”.
I also broke my Ombu Lifestyle shoes out again since it’s not sandal weather anymore! I forgot how much I totally adore them! First of all, they plant a tree for every single purchase.
Second, they’re eco-friendly themselves.
Third, they’re run by women. 3 sisters in fact.
Doesn’t get much better.
Either getting into or out of tree-pose. . . Raelie is in “catch me if you can” pose.
Whats your favorite thing about fall? Who do you turn to for yoga gear and shape wear? I’d love to hear in the comments!
Happy Autumn everyone!
by Tara Mackey | Blogroll, Fashion, Green Beauty, Happiness, Modeling, My Dog, My Organic Life, My Photography, Product Reviews
Sing it!
This week has been wonderful for many reasons: I’ve had some awesome work, some validating adventures, and the kind of life-synchronicities that really good novels are made of. I got some great news about Raelie’s health, too. A small mass we thought might be “something” turned out to be just some fatty tissue. We are very, VERY happy that babygirl is well and we celebrated with an awesome hike at a new trail we found just down the block from our house. Happy National Dog Week, indeed!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WsjUkWo73w&w=420&h=315]
^^ Some fun vocal warmups from earlier in the week 🙂 ^^
I’ve also recently teamed up with Soul Flower, an online retail shop that promotes an eco-friendly, bohemian, peaceful lifestyle. Started on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1999, you can now find Soul Flower online, check out their awesome look books, shop Fair Trade wares, mens or cute kids clothing (when I say cute I mean SO CUTE!! I mean is this even real?!) These items are always organic, recycled, made in the USA, or Fair Trade, and very, very comfortable! This Sing It Tomboy T-Shirt is perfect for fall transition. It’s warm but breathable, wearable, and I just adore the message! I had a lot of fun striking poses in this around town – whatever gets people to read it. 😉 It’s really fun, the color is gorgeous and it’s just comfy comfy comfy (I’m a total sucker for comfort… can you tell?!) They also sent me some stickers and cute merch that I was happy to slap on an old cap and run with (literally…)
My crafting skillz. You’re jealous. ^^
#SoulFlower Girl 🙂
(^^ a little mountain lion sighting in the past 10 days never stopped anybody right…?)
(Raels didn’t seem to mind ^^)
(She keeps me company IRL as well as on my wrist at all times just in case she’s not there…
Obsessed? Idk. Maybe. What?!)
Catch!!
” I can see my house from here! And Arizona!”
The view is seriously unreal.
Found me an organic garden of course! 😉
Squishface!
Hey, LA!
Makeup: RMS Beauty Uncover Up, La Bella Figura Highlighter in Brazillian Denise, Gressa Bronzer Serum, Alima Mascara, Nudus Australia Lipstick in Halo.
Bracelet: Lokai, Vintage Find
Raelie Watch: Birthday Present 🙂
by Tara Mackey | Around the World, Blogroll, My Organic Life, My Photography, Travel
Art, Romance, Culture, Food, Music, Infinite Photographs, Love!
Paris really tops the cake.
^^ Jim Morrison’s beautiful grave ^^
^^ Eiffel Construction ^^
^^ the Cathedrals in Europe are just to die for…. ^^
^^ playing in the tombs of Jim’s cemetary ^^
^^ Hanging out in Versailles ^^
^^ the best view of Paris you’ll get ^^
^^ Still swooning over her… ^^
Location: Paris & Versailles, France
Previous Posts: Travel Views: London
Travel Views: Amsterdam
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Love & Light
by Tara Mackey | Beauty, Blogroll, Green Beauty, My Organic Life, Product Reviews, Skincare, Travel
The last thing I want to worry about when I’m living out of my suitcase is my skin. This recent trip to NY came at a stressful time in general – health wise, mostly, but little things also added up.
For instance, because I am Standby for the plane, as well as Standby for First Class, I have to dress like I’m going on the plane for First Class, regardless. Not only because if I don’t, they won’t let me on the plane at all, but – I don’t know, did your Dad ever pick you up from the airport after not seeing you for months? I mean, you wanna look nice, right?
Anyway, #firstworldproblems aside, that normally means I am stuck in the worst possible, last ditch Coach seat on the plane that everyone else looked at and went ” ewwww who wants to sit there?”, wearing the fanciest thing I own with a ton of makeup on for 5+ hours. Not only that, every time I travel from West to East, I lose practically my whole entire day from the time difference. You try getting on a plane at 7 am and arriving at 6 pm! I mean really?! A WHOLE DAY is gone before I can wash my face!!
Never mind all the time spent waiting at the airport before I get on the plane, or the drive home from it after arriving. That alone is enough to get my skin acting up for days.
But, honestly – I’ve never stepped off the plane more confidently. In fact, this trip – I didn’t even NEED makeup, and these travel-friendly skincare products were able to get some use on the plane ride! All thanks to a Travel-sized, TSA approved sample pack of Pai!
This is the story of:
This Organic Skin Care Sample Set is a perfect introduction to the Pai brand, and it includes:
1 x organic muslin cloth
4 x 5ml pots of moisturizers: Chamomile & Rosehip, Avocado & Jojoba, Geranium & Thistle and Macadamia & Rose
1 x 5ml pot of Kukui & Jojoba Skin Brightening Exfoliator
1 x 5ml pot of Camelia & Rose Gentle Hydrating Cleanser
I have extremely sensitive skin – it reacts to every little thing that I do (or
don’t do) to it! So I have to be super careful about what I use to treat it after a long flight or in dealing with totally different water than it’s used to. I used the
Kukui & Jojoba (my skin loves Jojoba – thanks Mixed genes!) for my Exfoliator when I arrived in NY and I couldn’t get enough of it! My only “complaint” is that I wish there was more in the sample! 🙂
Out of all the skin creams in this pack, the
Chamomile & Rosehip is my favorite! My super sensitive skin soaks it up!
It makes me skin feel smooth, calm and glowing! I am really sensitive to creams and this not only didn’t irritate my face – it worked!!
The smell is also DIVINE. I recommend this to anyone with eczema or skincare problems! I will absolutely be purchasing a whole bottle!
One day running around NYC shooting and your skin, nails, even the inside of your nose is likely to be clogged with some dirt and smog. For this, the organic Muslin cloth is actually one of my absolute favorite parts of this set! It’s perfect for removing dirt, makeup and crud from your face if you’re traveling, in a dirty city, on a plane or just woke up or plan on going to bed soon! 🙂 It’s been wonderful all around!
All of Pai’s products are 100% Organic, and they work fabulously!
Thank you very much.
Love & Light
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An Exclusive Look Into … THE WAKE UP EP!
by Tara Mackey | Around the World, Blogroll, My Organic Life, My Photography, Travel
Oh, New York.
I’ve prowled up and down your narrow 12 miles more times than I care to count, hop-skipped and jumped all of your gum stained sidewalks, taken shelter in your countless museums, corner bars and over-priced restaurants, bravely voyaged your subways in the freezing cold, pouring rain and stifling summer heat. I can finally appreciate your rain storms, your always-late trains, your hyper-manic town-folk, your dirty streets (still having quite a hard time with your high prices, but your amazing views, skyline, food and people make it really worth it!)
How proud I am to call you my birth place, my home town, the isle of my first real job, a place that I was educated about life and allowed to happily and curiously explore as a child.
I don’t know who I’d be without you:
For real.
It does finally feel good to be back in the City – somewhere I know every nook and cranny, all the short cuts, every side street, every little nuance so that I can play a sort of restaurant roulette – saying hi up and down streets to friends and comrades who I normally catch glimpses of between longer travels. Normally can’t have a long chat with, never mind one or two full days spent enjoying each other’s company.
I finally got a chance to see Jane’s Carousel in DUMBO! Jane bought the carousel as a whole at an auction in the 1980′s so it wouldn’t be sold off piece by piece. It was originally created in 1922 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. After buying it, she then spent the last twenty-something years restoring it in Brooklyn with her husband. They hand-scraped through 62 years of park paint to get to the original colors and wood carvings of the carousel and restore it to its original self from 1922! 62 YEARS of paint!! The killer backdrop of the Manhattan skyline with both the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges in view doesn’t hurt the overall experience, either! 
I meant to go back to NYC for only a week, but, like I touched on in this post, I stayed for 2. It was really nice to not have to rush through anything, to enjoy my company, to explore things with my family, to go at a slower pace and bring peace into every action. 
I am super grateful to be able to go back home to NYC so often. A small perk about Dad working for the airlines for 50+ years is that sometimes, just sometimes, when I wish and hope hard enough, and the Airline Gods are with me, I get First Class… 
This was one of those times. There is literally no better way to start a trip!
It was SO nice and I felt like a Princess. Didn’t even have to sit next to anyone!
Ahhh!!! Dreams come true.
They say ” You can’t go home again“…
I beg to differ. 🙂
I got to spend a considerable amount of time in Brooklyn. Couldn’t be happier about it.
(Click for a larger-than-life BK collage ^^ )
I think I’ll post on Manhattan another time, because Brooklyn really touched my heart this time, and I think it deserves it’s own little space.
I remember working here 6 years ago, in the same neighborhood I now frequent, and feeling mostly unsafe. The streets were empty a good amount of the time, and my walk from work to the LIRR was often panic-striking when I was alone. I remember the patrons being rude, the tips being bad, and the neighborhood being mostly uncared for. The locals were extremely passionate though, and overall I found everyone to be really resilient and die-hard about their home town. However, any plans to build a Park always turned into building a Parking Lot, and it looked like the dream of a Better Brooklyn might never happen…
The exact same streets are now some of my most beloved and favorite to walk. I feel a unique kinship with a place that I was willing to travel in every day because I had hope and vision of what it could become, along with it’s residents. So many parts of it have far surpassed that little vision I carried, or any hope I ever discussed with anyone. I love all the little neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and the unique, quaint, one of a kind atmosphere. I love walking around aimlessly, I love strolling around with friends, I love watching the landscape change and finding little hidden greenery in the alleyways and abandoned buildings. I love the graffiti and the ultimate personality of the place so, so much.
I will miss my little haven and my home town.
But, believe it or not, the West Coast has really stolen my heart…
But I’ll be on the East Coast again before I even know it (or can catch my breath!) I missed Raels and my family here a lot though… but I really want to be in LA for my birthday, which is in 6 days!!!!
!!!!
I used to dread getting older, but I have some super beautiful things planned and I’m really, really excited for it, actually! I’m so grateful I get to be in LA for my birthday (I mean, who can deny that being one of the most beautiful views ever?^^). This is where I’ve been my planning to be for years and years now, for this birthday specifically! Feels good to be where you’re meant to be!
Like I touched on here, my trip back was so inspiring and amazing, based mostly on my outlook on the situation. It’s absolutely amazing what your point of view can do positively for your entire life if you are absolutely bent on Positivity!
New York definitely gave me the inspiration and drive to finish My Kickstarter Project, which I am SO happy and excited about!! If you haven’t gotten a chance to take a look yet, please do! I’ve gotten a lot of support about it already and I’m so grateful!!
I’ve made my rewards REALLY affordable – just $1 gets you the digital download of my newest single sent straight to your personal e-mail with a big thank you! Up to $50 gets you The Wake Up EP, personalized art, a bonus track, a video thank you message, and a cover tune!!
xoxo
I appreciate all of your love and support!
Thank you very much.
Love & Light
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An Exclusive Look Into … THE WAKE UP EP!
