I’ve been reading more about Feng shui and since everything is believed to have energy the placement of everything in your home and office can either hinder or help your goals. I want to understand more about creating good energy because it can even help your health. I did create good energy in my work space and I’m happy with this room.

The Ba-Gua and the compass are the two main tools of Feng shui. The Ba-Gua is a map that contains the symbols of the I Ching which I understand feng shui originated from. I want to find a class so I can learn more about those 8 specialized areas and what they represent. Along with the color scheme that is best suited to them.

Feng shui has really gotten popular in the Western world in the past 2 decades and many people believe that it improves their life. We all want that positive energy to feel well and healthy and meet the goals we set for ourselves. The main goal is to create a place of peace and harmony and to achieve that you need to use the five elements and they each have their own characteristics.   
                                                                                                                                  

The five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal and water and these are used to balance the positive energy. To increase the wood energy which is connected to the color green and placed in the east portion of your space live plants are used like a small palm and fern and they help filter the air and increase oxygen making the atmosphere of your space more healthy.

Fire which is connected with orange, red, and purples would be something that uses electricity or produces heat and this would be the south portion of your space. A television or lamp with a red lampshade could be used to increase the fire energy of the area.

Earth would be the NE portion of your space and the colors would be tans, browns, and beiges. Brickwork and anything that uses rocks also clay pots, tiles, and ceramics increase the earth energy.

Metal is in the west portion and connected to white and gold. Water is in the North portion and connected to blue and blacks and represents winter. Water can disturb all the energy in your space if used improperly. Aquariums and fountains would be the easiest ways to increase water energy.

I have also recently learned that my bedroom is all wrong and the shape should be square or rectancular, the bed should not be facing the door and the headboard should not be in front of a window, no overhead beams above the bed or mirrors facing the bed.

These things will negatively affect the Chi of your space, I don’t have the beams, but everything else I have wrong, the room shape is okay though, but if the room was oddly shaped I could use a divider to help. I really need to learn more because I need all the positive energy I can get.

When I worked at the Trail Lounge in York it was owned by a Greek and he had Greek food, but he also had a Chinese cook that specialized in wok cooking amongst other dishes that she would prepare and the menu was varied. They also served American, Italian, and Indian dishes so you could pretty much get whatever you desired.

Susie was pretty cool though and I loved watching her cook, the Chinese cook and she liked to give tips which I found very interesting. Chinese recipes usually call for very specific ingredients and ways to cook everything. There are many tips you can use to save time and money and still have a top notch meal or add ingredients to make a good meal great.

She would tell you how to cut corners on rice, and different kinds of oil, even the kind of meats you use. Many people take the meat out of a recipe and call it vegetarian. A delicious alternative to regular cooking oil is sesame oil. Sesame oil will give any dish a very unique flavor simply mix a few drops with your normal oil or use by itself.

When cooking shrimp in vegetable oil it simply makes it taste like greasy shrimp, but shrimp cooked in sesame oil taste like a Chinese treat. Sesame oil has a strong and unique flavor that many people automatically associate with Chinese food.  It is higher in fat so if you are on a diet, it might not be a good choice.

Rice is common in all kinds of Chinese recipes. If you make a lot of Chinese food, you can cook a lot more rice than you know you will use. You can freeze the excess rice and use it later for fried rice. This will save the trouble of cooking a whole new batch and it tastes just as good. You shouldn’t  be afraid of changing the  recipes.

Many Chinese recipes call for noodles and the Chinese noodles cook a lot faster than Italian pasta because the ingredients are different and the shapes vary greatly. Boiled noodles can be used in soups, stir fry, with a hearty sauce, or almost anything. Noodles can also be substituted for rice in many different dishes.

If you have a great recipe for chicken, you can use crab or shrimp the next time or change up some of the vegetables to make your own unique recipe. Bill is such a stickler for following a recipe and he is very precise with ingredients, not so for myself. I change everything because it’s fun and you can create all kinds of different meals.

I have so many cookbooks, but I never follow any, well sometimes I do, but I still change things. We love a good stir fry and Bill is great with those and it’s such a simple meal to prepare. I love salt, but I have to stay away from soy sauce the amount of sodium in that would kill a Horse.

If you’re a beginner then you might want to start with something easy and fun for most people, the best Chinese recipes to start with are single course dishes. The easiest are usually rice, a few vegetables and one kind of meat and that’s why we love a simple stir fry. Bill is making Chili tonight, but I’m hungry for Chinese now.

Upside Living was formerly known as Devine Imports and they’ve been going since 1995. The Motto for this company is “The Choice of Luxury” and they certainly have much to choose from globally. They have a special panel set up to test all products before they even consider selling anything. The main headquarters is located in Sebastian, FL  and they have distribution centers in Denver, Colorado.. Danbury, Connecticut.. and Miami, Florida.

You will find many unique gifts here whether it’s for baby, kids, teenagers, that special man or woman, weddings, or any other type of special occasion there is something for everyone. Of course if you like luxury items you can find those here also. That’s what I love about the Internet so many cool places you can shop without leaving your home. I like any company that donates a portion of each sale to charity and they do.

I was looking at the baby gifts because we have the 2 coming in August and I saw a sheepskin rug/comforter and I can choose between natural or shorn wool and the price is very reasonable and the quality looks great. See photo below. Sheepskin is very comfortable and I know because I used it on the bike. This is around 32-37 inches lengthwise and width around 22 inches, it would be perfect for the stroller and very comfortable for the new Grandkids.