life curation

Living Your Best Life: Take Control of Your Financial Condition

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Happy Monday! Nothing like talking about money to get the week started LOL!

I previously mentioned how my divorce was the catalyst for my personal growth. Part of that growth journey included getting to know all aspects of myself all over again. I had to do some HARD work, mainly in the realm of facing my reality without letting that reality depress me.

I eased into this work by starting with the things that felt truly neutral: in my case, the most neutral things I could work on were my money and my career. I know that money is usually a charged topic when it comes to married couples,, but I handled our household finances, and I felt pretty competent when it came to budgeting. So, starting here seemed like a good idea.

April 25, 2025

I realized that, while I paid our bills on time and had automatic withdrawals for our retirement accounts, I really didn’t know much about our finances. And, now that I was handling my finances solo, I needed to get a grip on what I had already in place, and what I still needed to address.

Enter a financial binder.

A financial binder organizes your financial information, so that you have all of that data at your fingertips. You can make copies of it and provide it to trusted family members, put it in your safe (and your safe deposit box), or drop it off with your estate attorney (assuming that you have one, which you probably will, after completing the binder and realizing that an estate attorney is a wise investment). The binder is particularly useful when you’re trying to figure out the “gaps” in your financial life, be it a lack of certain advisors, under-tended accounts, or backup plans that need to be established.

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Take time to get organized (but don’t put your croissant directly on your desk!)

Financial binders are a great way to get your money organized and to give you some peace of mind. This is especially useful if you’re navigating a breakup and you need to know what areas of your financial life need to be addressed now that you’ve “uncoupled” (oh how I love that term). The best part about a binder is that you don’t have to address all of the gaps in one day: you can pace yourself, knowing that you’ve got time to get it done and, with determination and focus, you can get it all done well.

I’ve had a few versions of these, but the one available online for free through Utah State University is by and far my favorite (click on the link to download it). It’s clearly written, captures a lot of information, and has a great set of instructions on the first page, so you have some solid guidance for what you’ll need before you undertake this project.

As tax day creeps closer, make it a point to start getting clear on your financial condition, whether you’re navigating a divorce/breakup, happily coupled, or satisfyingly single. Having knowledge of where you stand financially is extremely empowering and can really help you to feel inspired to improve your condition, or relaxed about where you are currently.

life curation

The Best Year of Your Life: the Dream It Section Follow-up

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A few weeks ago, I gave a brief recap of my revelations while working through the book, The Best Year of Your Life by Debbie Ford. I completed my notes on Chapter 1, but I hadn’t finished fleshing out my thoughts on Chapters 2 and 3. Here, I’ll follow up on what I learned from doing the work outlined in those chapters.

Doing the Work to Create my

 

Chapter 2: Exposing the Fantasy -I thought deeper about the feelings I associate with my “fantasy” life: I often fantasize that I will feel joy, eagerness (happily looking forward to the good stuff to come) and calm. Activating joy will be easy, since I’m doing the Joy Challenge and will be regularly activating that emotion on a daily basis. Eagerness will come from taking more chances and affirming the goodness of everything that comes across my path. I can engage the feeling of calm by instituting relaxation practices for different scenarios. Right now, I can only think of two situations that would greatly benefit from the relaxation practice: I’ll need one for when I feel stressed about work, and one that I can engage to set the tone for a good night’s sleep. Once I finalize the details of those practices, I’ll make another post describing them. That takes care of Chapter 2’s exercises!

Chapter 3: Stepping Into Greatness – I allowed inspiration to come to me, and I created my vision for this year: I will become a well-known influencer, using my reach to encourage people to supporting the arts, move past relationship disappointments, and create the most enjoyable, luxurious lives that they can experience.  The traits I mentioned in the previous post – discipline and boldness (extroversion) – still apply. Creativity is also required, as is excellent communication skills. Focus will be big for me: I tend to get sidetracked. I could easily list about 5 – 10 additional realms that I want to influence, but my primary love is the arts, so I’m going to focus on that, with healing from relationship trauma and living high-quality lives as secondary and tertiary goals.

I’m glad I got a chance to review these chapters and get clear on what I’m dreaming up in 2018. I’ll be sharing more on how I plan out this year’s activities in a future post. Ciao for now!

hollywood glamour · style

Make Your Own Hollywood-Inspired Ensembles

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One of my goals within the next few years is to learn how to sew. I can do simple repairs with a needle and thread, but I can’t operate a sewing machine, and I’ve never made a garment using a pattern. However, for those of you that are skilled at sewing (or if you’re working on mastering this skill), I have a treat for you.

Recently, I came across an article on ArtFido that announced that there is a Vintage Patterns wiki, with more than 80,000 vintage patterns. The best part? There is a subset of patterns titled the Movie Star collection. These patterns recreate the looks worn by the stars that we’ve adored for many years.

Now, here’s where things go a little wonky: the patterns aren’t actually in the wiki links. For that reason, I have to admit that ArtFido did some clickbait shenanigans. The original article presented the wiki as having patterns when all that’s there are photos. That being said, I’m mentioning the vintage pattern wiki because the organized photos make it much easier to search for the patterns using the identifying information listed in the photo.

Here are a few of my favorite patterns listed on the wiki:

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Lucille Ball’s princess coat is the thing dreams are made of

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Olivia de Havilland’s dress is sweet and innocent

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The crisp tailoring of Gloria Stuart’s dress would be flattering on a lot of different body types

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Grace Kelly’s dress is fit for a princess (naturally!)

Do any of you sew? I need a good seamstress (really!), but I’d also love some sewing tips, too. Feel free to comment below and let me know what you think of these patterns.

reading list

Reading List: April’s Book

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creativity is Intelligence having fun (1)

As part of creating the best year of my life, I’m committed to doing the internal and external work that will help me realize my intentions and create the lifestyle that I desire. In support of this journey, I am focused on reading books that will enhance my life, either through providing inspiration, knowledge, or entertainment, all for the sake of crafting a wonderful year.

For April’s book of the month, I’ve selected Lifestyle Design for a Champagne Life by Cassie Parks. I’ve read this one before, but I didn’t execute all of the exercises mentioned in the book. I have, however, read another of Cassie’s books, Manifest $10,000, and I got phenomenal results, so I am confident that Lifestyle Design for a Champagne Life will be truly life-changing for me.

However, as you all know, I’m doing the Joy Challenge for April, so I am going to read Lifestyle Design but I may have to save the exercises for May, when I have a bit more time and can give it my full attention. That being said, if I find that I do have a bit of time, and inspiration leads me to completing some of the exercises in April, then I’ll do so. I believe in not “overworking” my conscious creation muscle by doing too many things at once. But I also believe in following inspiration, so we’ll see how it goes.

Have any of you read Cassie Parks’s books before? Let me know in the comments below!

art · luxury

Art Collectors Conundrum: Unpredictability

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In the Art Collectors Conundrum series, we continue to explore some of the topics of interest for inexperienced art collectors/appreciators or aspiring art world professionals. Instead of simply noting the issue at hand, we ponder some ways to mitigate some of the invisible barriers of the art world.

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(all photos by James Van Der Zee)

One of the biggest stumbling blocks on the road to art connoisseurship is unpredictability within the art market. Many would-be collectors are unnerved at the thought of investing significant amounts of money into art, only for that art to potentially never appreciate in value.

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Here’s the problem with that logic: it assumes that art is purely an investment, when, in fact, art, is a tangible item that can be enjoyed now while also possibly growing in monetary value in the future. Let’s face it: we choose to invest in different things all of the time. We invest in our homes, our cars, our personal appearance, our careers, and our families. Many of these things are depreciable assets (cars will lose value, we won’t look 22 forever). However, art is one of the few investments that can be potentially monetized at a future date, though you can enjoy it right now, while you own it.

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The key to weathering the unpredictability of the art resale market? Only purchase art that you completely enjoy NOW. As a new collector, there’s no need to speculate about how much the art will be worth in the future if you’re enjoying the art right now, as it hangs on your wall or stands in your living space (in the case of sculptures).

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There’s no concern over how a piece will appreciate if you’re “appreciating” the piece right now, as it holds space in your collection. Focus on purchasing the art that moves you, the art that lights you up or makes you stop and think. Only buy the art that invokes feelings in you. Then, no matter what the art is worth today or tomorrow, you will have enjoyed it and you will have gotten immeasurable value from it right NOW.

(all photos courtesy of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts digital exhibit, The Black Photographer’s Annual, Volume 1)

 

food

Recipe: Easy Naan Pizza

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Sometimes, when I work from home, I have lunch delivered to me. One of my favorite cuisines to eat is Indian food (but based on my Anokha review, that shouldn’t surprise you!). At the end of my meal, I always find that I have a lot of naan (Indian flatbread) left over.

I adore naan, but I usually can’t eat rice, naan and pappadam (lentil wafers) in one setting: it’s too many carbs and I feel physically uncomfortable after overindulging. Trust me, I’ve done this enough to know the routine. I have to limit it to one carb serving per meal: 1 pappadam and half the rice serving; half the rice and half a piece of naan, or the full serving of rice.

That being said, I hate waste, so I wanted to find a new way to enjoy my naan.

Enter naan pizza.

As it turns out, naan makes an excellent pizza crust. It’s buttery, perfectly suited for pairing with sauces, and reheats beautifully. I sprinkle the leftover naan with a little water (so that it doesn’t dry out during the reheating process) then I make my pizza: I add sauce, cheese and toppings.

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Plain piece of naan bread, cut in half. This is perfectly sized for making two slice of pizza.

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Usually I spread one tablespoon of pizza sauce on half of a piece of naan.

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I then add about 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese (I LOVE cheese!) and a little bit of parmesan mixed in.

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Next, I add the toppings (in this case, mushrooms). I always sprinkle some extra herbs for additional flavor (my Sicilian Bread Dipping blend). Yum!

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I toast the pizza in my toaster oven for 6-8 minutes at 375 degrees, until the cheese is melted in the center. I make sure that the oven was preheated.

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Here is the finished product, with some sprout salad on the side. So tasty!

 

Have any of you ever used naan to make pizzas? Let me know in the comments below!

international · travel

My First Safari!

Mstldelano3 Comments

No trip to Kenya would be complete without a safari. There are many safari options at different price points, but I decided to go to Nairobi National Park, since it was located within the city limits and is easily accessible. Don’t let the fact that the park is within the city deceive you – it is quite large and many African animals can be seen there. The only noticeablly absent animal is the elephant, though pachyderm devotees can check out the elephant orphanage within the park that gives care to orphaned calves.

There isn’t much to say: the animals were majestic, and I can’t put into words how much I enjoyed this experience.  Here are the photos. Enjoy!

 

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life curation · reading list

Book Review: How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci by Michael J. Gelb

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I’m a bit behind with my book reviews, but it’s great to finally get caught up.  February’s book selection was  “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci” by Michael J. Gelb.

I enjoyed that this book is broken down into 7 broad concepts, and the author goes to great lengths to describe how da Vinci embodied those concepts

The seven Da Vincian principles – Curiosita (curiosity), Dimostrazione (closely examining beliefs and learning via questioning), Sensazione (fully engaging the senses), Sfumato (embracing uncertainty and ambiguity), Arte/Scienza (balancing between arts and sciences), Corporalita (physical health and fitness), Connessione (understanding relationships between and connection among all things)- are the building blocks for living a genius life. Gelb provides examples from da Vinci’s life, as well as practical exercises, to describe how these principles worked in the past and how we can make these work in the present day.

 

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I especially appreciated how Gelb provided exercises for embodying the Da Vincian principles at work and while parenting. He took great care to show how these concepts can be applied wholistically. I feel that many books exclude multiple groups in favor of focusing on one particular group. But this is a testament to Gelb’s application of da Vinci’s stance of connessione: all groups are connected, related and at some level inseparable.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely reread it! I think I’ll draw upon these concepts for future posts, because I strongly feel that this multidimensional approach to life is crucial. In these times, where change can happen in an instant and we need to be able to respond quickly, I feel there is so much benefit to training ourselves to be the best thinkers that we can be.

Make sure that you check this one out! You won’t regret it!

life curation

April’s Joy Challenge: Join Me!

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Happy Sunday, my friends! I hope you’ve had an enjoyable weekend so far.

Whenever I come across something that I think you all would enjoy or find useful, I make sure to share it here. It’s my pleasure to share something with  you today that I can personally vouch for: I participated in this event last year, and I saw major changes in my life within 30 days!

Joy

(photo courtesy of Orfordville Lutheran Church)

Every April, Amina Makhdoom of Lunch With Cinderella hosts the Joy Challenge, a 30 day program designed to help participants reach their goals through the magic of including JOY in their day-to-day lives. Amina’s group is an amazing, encouraging group that helps keep joy at the forefront of the conversations being held.

Since I’ve completed the challenge, I can confirm the quality of the content and the efficacy. Amina has even won the Best Law of Attraction Program Award for the Joy Challenge. Best of all? This program is free of charge, and it is a great way to get a feel for the work that Amina does.

I’d love for you all to join me for this April’s Joy Challenge! You can sign up here for the challenge. I can’t wait to see what magic you create during the month!

life curation · travel

Review: Drury Inn and Suites Charlotte Arrowood

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During my last trip to Charlotte, I stayed at the Drury Inn and Suites in Charlotte’s Arrowood neighborhood. This location is conveniently located directly off of I-77 and is close to lots of Charlotte’s great restaurants and shopping.

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Photo from the Drury Hotels website

There are so many “pros” and only one or two “cons” from my stay. Firstly, the restaurant location is convenient and it has plenty of amenities (indoor AND outdoor pools, whirlpool, 24 hour gym and fitness center, hot breakfast and happy hour, free wi-fi, ample free parking, etc.,).

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The bed, so comfy, and there were plenty of pillows, too.

The room was comfortable and immaculately clean. I really enjoyed the product dispensers in the shower: no more mini-bottles slipping through your fingers when your hands are soapy. For curly girls, the conditioner dispenser is a godsend: you can finally use the hotel conditioner without having to ask housekeeping for extra bottles (ask me how I know about this struggle!)

Photos from the bathroom

The breakfast was tasty and had a lot of variety. Kudos to this hotel for having more than two waffle irons available for customer use. Also, the smell of fresh popcorn in the lobby (it’s available until 9 PM every night) was heavenly.

Now, I did mention that there were one or two “cons”. We contacted housekeeping to receive a few extra clean towels and it took nearly two hours to receive them. To the hotel’s credit, it was earlier in the day, so I’m assuming that the housekeeping staff was just busier than normal. Also, it’s a lower-cost hotel, so don’t expect super luxury. That’s not a true “con” in my opinion: after all, the hotel exceeded my expectations for the price point.

Overall, I loved staying at the Drury Inn and Suites. I recommend them and will stay again in the future!