Gas Station Pranks can be Beautiful

It is clear from watching the following video that this couple has made a life out of seeing and creating more beautiful from others. When spoken to through a television screen above the pump, instead of jumping into the car and locking the doors (or bolting from the parking lot), this married couple/soon-to-be award winning duo, seize the moment offering us all an instant smile. Perhaps instead of shuddering at the price of gas the next time we pull in to fill up our tanks we can remember these two and belt a few (or take a little dance break). Why not?

Because let's face it, when we're "living on a prayer" by day, "sweet dreams" really are made of moments like these...

Cycling is a Cycle of Beautiful with the Safari Simbaz

Cyclist David Kinjah recognizes opportunities to create more beautiful in the world when he sees them - and on his bike he sees miles and miles of them. In the inspiring video below Kinjah explains that, "When we give the opportunities are endless." And with his Safari Simbaz cycling team their pedal rotations don't just take them up the road in Kenya, their story travels the world to impart beautiful change and hope.

The Safari Simbaz supports children in resource-disadvantaged communities around Nairobi to fulfill sporting dreams and help rebuild communities. Young adult cyclists talk of learning patience, perseverance, and hope through this outreach. From our own personal experiences on bikes, simple pedaling can offer these life lessons. Transfer that pedaling to a war-stricken area with great needs of everyday resources and this space for hope and inspiration is amplified.

Kinjah's cycle of giving from his successful cycling endeavors is creating space for beautiful around the world. Next time you see a biker pass you on the road perhaps you'll look at the rotations of their wheels as an invitation to grow the cycle of giving and kindness and hope, just like Kinjah and his Safari Simbazs.

Connect with the Safari Simbaz on Facebook HERE.
Connect with them on Twitter HERE.

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Are you looking for a for a tangible reminder to see beautiful, or know someone who needs one? Check out our See Beautiful™ products (and feel good knowing a portion of proceeds from every purchase is donated to charity. This month 20% of all product sales will be donated to St. Anne's Pet Area at The Lantern House. Click HERE to learn more.

Taste the Rainbow

We'd eat this metaphorical candy message all day long. You?

Thursday reminder that every ounce of your wholesome goodness makes the world a better place. We're grateful for you.

                                                                           Source: Uploaded by user via Larie on Pinterest

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Are you looking for a for a tangible reminder to see beautiful, or know someone who needs one? Check out our See Beautiful™ products (and feel good knowing a portion of proceeds from every purchase is donated to charity. This month a portion of all proceeds will be donated to Surf Dog Ricochet's SURFice Projects. Click HERE.

Pour Unhurriedly

For many, it feels we're caught in the hamster wheel of life. Spinning to stay on top of things. Spinning to stay in the game - ahead of the game is a joke. To-do lists trump stop-and-breathe lists. Until Duvel. Leave it to a refreshing cold beer to remind us to slow down. Life is best enjoyed unhurriedly - apparently beer is the same way.

Cheers (or Prost), Friends!
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Are you looking for a for a tangible reminder to see beautiful, or know someone who needs one? Check out our See Beautiful™ products (and feel good knowing a portion of proceeds from every purchase is donated to charity. This month a portion of all proceeds will be donated to Surf Dog Ricochet's SURFice Projects. Click HERE.

Pay It Forward: EAT & DRINK

Food. It's a basic need. Given that we need it, why not pay it forward in our selection of food and drinks we have to buy? There are wonderful companies who give when we buy and we love the way they're committed to make the world a more beautiful place. Now paying it forward is as simple as eating and drinking. That filling!
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Dancing Deer Baking Company: A company passionate about "food, nature, and aesthetics," Dancing Deer Baking Company serves up sweets using all natural ingredients with an eco-friendly focus. From pancakes to brownies to sweet towers the company oozes delicious opportunities to see beautiful. What's better? They're committed to ending family homelessness. "Created in 2001 by Dancing Deer Baking Company, The Sweet Home Project contributes to direct action programs to help homeless families establish stable lives and move into homes of their own." They donate 35% of the retail price of Sweet Home goodies & gifts, year-round, directly to scholarships as a pathway out of poverty to economic self sufficiency.

Check out their awesomeness HERE. 

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Endangered Species Chocolates: With organic, all natural, fair trade chocolates at your finger tips you can take a moment out of your day to savor taste. Add to the flavor that 10% of net profits are donated to protect wildlife and wildlife habits, your chocolate might taste that much sweeter. They're also committed to a social responsibility to supporting the environments from which they grow their cacao (see their amazing Project Ecuador).

Check out their awesomeness HERE.

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Numi Organic Tea: Upon entering the company's website the question, "Are you Numi-fied?" is posed to readers. After learning about the ways they're seeing and creating beautiful in the world we're totally "Numi-fied." Certified USDA Organic and fair trade, the Numi organic tea "inspires well-being through mind, body and spirit." The Numi Organic Tea company seeks opportunities to support local organizations in their own important world-changing efforts, while committing to providing equitable wages and working opportunities for women in countries where their tea is harvested. Oh, they they also use eco-friendly packaging (of course). 

Check out their awesomeness HERE.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PCC Natural Markets: PCC is the largest consumer-owned natural food retail co-operative in the United States. With over 45,000 members, they're doing a whole lotta seeing beautiful. Through a PCC Farmland Trust and a PCC Foodbank Trust, any way you shop their products you're making a difference. The PCC Farmland Trust saves farms dedicated to organic production. The PCC Foodbank Trust helps to reduce hunger in the community. "In 2011, more than $64,000 in PCC shopper donation were raised which helped to purchase over 58,000 pounds of food. More than 800 volunteers helped to repackage food for local food banks."

Check out their awesomeness HERE.

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Savannah Bee Company: Ah, the sweet, sweet taste of honey. The Savannah Bee Company is doing it right! Seeing sweet beautiful, the wonderful company located in Savannah, Georgia donates $3 from each purchase of Savannah Bee Beecause Honey to The Georgia Sea Turtle Center (a hospital for the rehabilitation of wounded sea turtles) or Heifer International's Central American Beekeeping Cooperative program. We love their commitment to making a difference extra sweet! 

Check out their awesomeness HERE.

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Are you looking for a tangible reminder to see beautiful, or know someone who needs one? Check out our See Beautiful™ products (and feel good knowing a portion of proceeds from every purchase is donated to charity. This month a portion of all proceeds will be donated to Guide Dogs of America. Click HERE.

See Beautiful Food of the Month: Pomegranates

POMEGRANATES (AKA, "THE SUPER FRUIT")

Linked back to original source

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Is it possible food helps us see more beautiful? Actually, yes. There are lots of wonderful foods out there, but one in particular that's being dubbed the "super fruit" and for that, we must feature it on See Beautiful. There are many health benefits to eating pomegranates and drinking pomegranate juice. Highlighting just a few: 

•  Help protect against osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis because of their anti-inflammatory properties
• Benefits your heart and arteries by improving blood flow.
• Prevents your arteries from hardening and becoming inflexible. This can help to protect you against a heart attack or stroke.
• May help to slow down the growth of prostate cancer.
• May help to lower the blood pressure of people who suffer from high blood pressure (hypertension).
• Can help settle your stomach.
• May help protect your body from diabetes and cancer.
• May help to slow down the aging process (Resources).

 Alas, there's a new item to add to your grocery list. Happy eating (and seeing beautiful)!

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Are you looking for a tangible reminder to see beautiful, or know someone who needs one? Check out our See Beautiful™ products (and feel good knowing a portion of proceeds from every purchase is donated to charity. This month a portion of all proceeds will be donated to Helen Ross McNabb Children and Youth Services). Click HERE.  

Eating In Bed For LOVE

Just so you know, this isn't one of those, "Breakfast In Bed" stories, though we can see a lot of beauty in having breakfast delivered to bed. This story was shared by a mom who didn't find it that beautiful when she discovered food popping in her bed. 

"A day in my life....

Mom (YELLING...and ANGRY): WHO was eating popcorn in my bed?!!!!

Will: I did. I was cold and your bed is warm and it smells like you when your covers give me a hug.

Mom (walking away, smiling, comment to herself): Damn! He is good!"

Leave it to the wisdom of a child to help us understand what it means to eat in bed for love. Here are a few ways he helped us see beautiful: 1) Covers give hugs. 2) Beds offer warmth. 3) Beds smell like people we love. 4) Finding a comfortable place to eat makes food taste that much better. 5) Eating in bed can be filling in more ways than one. 

 As you crawl into bed tonight, perhaps you'll see beautiful in ways you never have. Let the covers give you a hug and carry you to sleep, feeling more love than this morning when you climbed out of the hug-giver. 

And for those days you find crumbs in your bed, instead of anger, feel the love. Who knew popcorn could help you see beautiful?

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Are you looking for a tangible reminder to see beautiful, or know someone who needs one? Check out our See Beautiful™ products (and feel good knowing a portion of proceeds from every purchase is donated to charity. This month a portion of all proceeds will be donated to CARE.). Click HERE. 

Is Your Glass Half Full? Half empty? Overflowing? Drained?

A popular saying to gauge the perspective from which one views life is, "Is your glass half full or half empty?" In today's post, we were inspired to ask, what do you see when your cup runneth over or your cup dries completely? One beautiful couple used this question to see the world through their cappuccinos*. What do you see?

With a full cup, what do you see? Do you see the See Beautiful™ dove? We do! 

And what do you see in the empty cup?

The beautiful couple saw the following: "To me, what remains looks sort of like the inside of a globe from the inside out.  Today, David and I found North America and Italy." Thus, the world is discovered inside her empty (focus on empty) cup.

Where can you find beauty in the most unlikely places? What opportunities does an "empty" cup offer you? If your cup runneth over, how do you see beautiful? Whether half full or half empty we love the inspiring idea that there's always an opportunity to see more than initially meets the eye.

Prost!

*Photos used with permission from Lindsay McCollum. Author of Our View from Wien blog. To read more about these pictures and their experiences living in Austria, click HERE.

Old Faithful

There's an opportunity to see beautiful when one friend or family member shares a coveted recipe with you. Whether it's a recipe passed down from generation to generation or a just-tried-it-and-loved-it recipe, as you add the first ingredients to make it your own, it's special. It's special because someone thought of you while making it and wanted you to enjoy it as well.

The family recipes, passed down generation after generation are perhaps the most meaningful. If you're lucky enough to own a recipe book, card, or slip of paper with the original chef's handwriting there's something nostalgic about simply holding it in your hands. You know the chef stood in the kitchen just as you're doing and often we can remember what she/he looked like as the ingredients married. And even though it's rare to make it half as well as the original chef, perhaps the memories are the secret ingredient in those "old faithful" recipes that keep us coming back for more.

We wanted to share one of our "Old Failthful's" with you and we don't expect you to understand the story or historical significance behind it, but we invite you to make your own memories with this recipe and hope you enjoy!

BLUEBERRY BUCKLE  

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, softened

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease one 8x8 inch pan.
2. Cream together 3/4 cup sugar, shortening, and egg.
3. In a separate bowl mix together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into sugar mixture, alternating with milk. Stir in blueberries. Pour into greased 8x8 inch pan.
4. To make topping: Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, cinnamon, and butter. Sprinkle over cake batter.
5. Bake at 375 degree F (190 degrees C) for 25-30 minutes.*

Best when served warm with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream. YUM!

Ways to See Beautiful:

• The sharing of a recipe from one to another.
• The sound of the first sizzle from a favorite "old faithful" recipe.
• The smell of an "old faithful" recipe that brings back the best of memories with you and the chef.
• The first bite of the "old faithful" that has you thankful for the chefs' willingness to share with you.
• The opportunity to keep the giving cycle alive, by finding one of your favorite recipes and sharing with someone else.

*Recipe retrieved from allrecipes.com. Click here for the link to the recipe and information related to nutritional value.

Chocolate? Yep, that's beautiful!

Two words: Theo Chocolate.

Most of us find chocolate, or sweets, a beautiful thing. But, Theo Chocolate is special. The makers at Theo Chocolate drive home the message to See Beautiful and here are a few reasons why. They:

•  are the only organic, fair trade, bean-to-bar chocolate factory.
•  are committed to using pure ingredients grown sustainably.
•  ensure growers earn fair living wages and have access to education for their families.
•  use green energy sources to power their factory.
• educate others about social and environmental accountability.
•  make AMAZING chocolate delicacies!! Yum!

If you're searching for ways to see beautiful today, here are just a few:

1. Beauty for Your Taste Buds
2. Awareness of & Commitment to Fairness for All
3. Going Green
4. Education