Tag: life

life curation

A Word to the Late Bloomers . . .

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Happy Monday, beloveds! I want to start off this week with a little encouragement for the “ugly” ducklings that are still trying to find their groove. It’s going to be okay, really it is. You may not know it, but you’re on the cusp of being your best, most amazing self.

I realized that I needed to write this post after talking to one of my fellow late bloomers. We mentioned how much more fun we would have had years ago if we were aware of the tools that could improve our looks and lives. We live in a shallow world: having advantages in the looks department is powerful. But, we were both late bloomers: awkward, conditioned to “fade” into the background, and constantly grasping for our most confident selves.

It took years of reflection, experimentation, and even some harsh critiques, but we’re both looking and feeling our best. Changing our diets, wardrobes, hairstyles, and perspective has done wonders for both of us. We’re finally “pretty” girls, and this side of life has been wonderful. The best thing of all is that being more confident in our physical presentation has led to us meeting more people, and those people eventually discover that our interior beauty – the beauty that never fades – is the most captivating part of us. The “pretty” packaging draws people to us, and those people can get to experience the inner beauty that’s been there all along.

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The inner beauty is always the most import (from ForHarriet)

 

You all have seen my Boohoo hauls (here and here) but you don’t know that I amped up my hairstyling game, too. I recently started setting my hair in Rita Hayworth-esque waves and curls. The attention I’ve gotten has been mind-blowing, especially since my hair is the same length and color: all that has changed is the curliness. I also pared down my makeup, focusing more on intense eyes and less on matte, full-coverage foundation. Again, the attention I’ve gotten is astounding.

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Current hair inspiration, Rita Hayworth (from Allison Barbera Makeup)

 

My advice to any late bloomers is to continue experimenting and have fun on the journey. Looking like an airbrushed supermodel isn’t the goal: finding a look that makes you feel your best is what you should shoot for. Take care of yourself, and be gentle with yourself. You’ll find your lane, I promise.

life curation

Preparing for 2018: Commit It In Writing

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“Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie, though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” (Habakkuk 2:2, 3)

Happy Tuesday, loves! Look at me, already with a third part of the Preparing for 2018 series (Have you missed the other parts? Catch up here and here). This series is part inspiration, part instruction, and part reverse engineering. There’s no better way to duplicate success than to analyze what you did and try to recreate the results.

As part of the Preparing for 2018 series, I want to touch on one of the most powerful tools I’ve used on my journey. Without it, I’m not sure that I would have made progress as quickly as I did. That tool is, of course, the power of WRITING my goals.

I use writing to not only clarify my goals, but to help me identify my stumbling blocks, visualize the steps needed to accomplish my goals, as well as reflect upon what worked well and where I should apply some course correction. Writing is my favorite recommendation to anyone trying to turn their dreams into reality.

I advise everyone to get a journal and use it for capturing thoughts when inspiration hits. But, in this case, I go a little further: having a journal dedicated to your 2018 vision can really help you materialize what you want faster. Funny enough, writing down what’s happening all around us may help us see that what we really desire – happiness, prosperity, love – is already present in our lives: we just needed to pay closer attention.

Here is a book that I’ve referenced many times over more than ten years (!), which explains how to use writing in powerful ways:

I’ll do a review on “Write It Down, Make It Happen” by Dr. Henriette Anne Klauser in a future post. But for now, let me just tell you that this book is my ultimate guide when it comes to inspired writing. And, for the upcoming year, writing down your goals and vision should be nonnegotiable. After all, we actually want to accomplish our dreams, and writing them down will put you ahead of the game in so many ways; why wouldn’t you want such a powerful advantage?

That’s it for today. I have a special little series coming up soon, so look out for that. Until tomorrow . . .

 

life curation

The Best Love Affair Is . . .

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. . . The love affair you have with yourself.

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(courtesy of Pixabay)

Take time to nurture yourself, embrace the beauty of every moment and BREATHE. You’ve got this.

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(courtesy of Pinterest)

Take time to relax and do the things that make you feel ALIVE!

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(Courtesy of Dreamstime)

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(Courtesy of VideoBlocks)

Have you gotten into the habit of getting into an amazing love affair with yourself? If you haven’t, I encourage you to give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.

 

words of wisdom

Words of Wisdom: Mae West

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As you all recall, this month’s book selection is Mae West’s biography. I’ve gotten through the first half of the book and I’m absolutely HOOKED! Mae was quite the dynamo, and her talent, discipline and creativity are inspirational.

Mae’s mix of sexiness, wittiness and charm is one reason why I wanted to feature her words of wisdom. Aside from those things, she was very accomplished and her ability to balance brains and beauty – during a time where women were expected to be one or the other (preferably beautiful), but not both – leaves me awestruck. Here’s some of my favorite Mae West quotes:

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(all pictures from Pinterest)

 

Do you have a favorite Mae West quote that I didn’t include? Make sure to let me know in the comments below!

luxury

An Eye for Gemstones

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Happy Friday, my friends! I’m eagerly looking forward to the weekend, as there are a lot of events going on and I’m ready to enjoy the last, lingering bits of warm weather.

But, if the weather should turn chilly, I have an online course I can check out to pass the time. I recently found a gemology course that I think will be great for increasing my body of knowledge. The woman that created the course, Barbara Smigel, is a college professor that knows her gems inside and out.

moziru(image courtesy of Moziru)

Even as a child, I was enchanted by gemstones. The sparkle, the colors, the amazing cuts … I can’t help but find myself hypnotized when looking at high quality gems. So it only makes sense that I would be drawn to this kind of course. I’m looking forward to going through the materials and learning more about gems!

Other than that, I don’t have much else going on this weekend. I hope you have some fabulous plans in the works! Talk to you all tomorrow!

life curation

Preparing for 2018: Before Setting Your Goals …

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Hello friends! Thanks for stopping by. In a previous post, I discussed the fact that I prepared for the things that I wanted during 2016 and 2017. I also touched on the fact that things don’t have to already be perfect in order to create a better reality in the year to come.

Today, I’m talking about goals. If you’re expecting the same kind of chatter that you would get from your average Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat “life coach”/”guru”, I’m going to disappoint you. I don’t repeat the words and sentiments of charlatans that make their living spouting off cliches and charging $97/$197/$997/any figure ending in “7” for exclusive “workshops” to tell you what you’ve already heard. I also have no interest in positioning myself as an “expert” in anything but how I choose to live my life.

Goals are as personal as fingerprints: no two people desire the exact same things. Because of this, I can only give you some general advice on setting goals for 2018. But this is the advice I’ve followed, and it worked for me, so take it for what it’s worth.

-It’s okay to start out vague. Most of the time, we are told that our goals must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achieveable, Results-Focused, Time Bound). The truth is, our biggest dreams are usually fuzzy and not very specific at all. That’s because our big dreams often are some general emotion that we want to feel (happiness, joy, love, contentment and satisfaction, secure, confident, etc.,). The problem with SMART goals is that the concept disregards the WHY behind the goal. Every goal is rooted in how it will make us FEEL. So it’s far more important to understand the desired FEELING than to have a SMART goal.

Improvisation News

(plucked from @ImprovUpdates on Twitter)

-It’s important to be honest about how you feel while aiming for particular goals. As the phrase goes, “Happy endings do not come from unhappy journeys”. To the greatest degree possible, avoid taking “unhappy” journeys in an attempt to “justify” your success. In other words, you don’t have to be uncomfortable in order to deserve good things. We often take to heart the phrase “no pain, no gain”. Yes, we can learn a lot from our pain and missteps, and yes, there are often sacrifices that must be made when going for our big dreams. But don’t torture yourself on the path to reaching your goals, simply because you *think* that the only way to get to the goal is to do it the “hard way”. The “hard way” isn’t always the best way. Personally, taking uncomfortable actions doesn’t work for me: the action must either feel neutral (doesn’t make me feel happy but doesn’t cause discomfort) or feel good to me. If the action doesn’t feel good, then it doesn’t serve me in the accomplishment of my goals.

-Get very acquainted with how you want to feel when you reach your goal, and tap into that feeling regularly. What I found is that regularly activating a particular emotion can reveal the fact that I’m much closer to my goal than I initially thought. Some emotions are harder to activate than others: activating a feeling isn’t always a clear, easy-to-do task. How can you feel “secure” when you don’t know if you will have a job next week? How can you feel “love” if you’ve never had a nurturing, satisfying romantic relationship? In cases where it’s hard to generate certain feelings, your best bet is to find someone that easily exhibits that emotion and emulate them and associate with them. Birds of a feather …

If the previous points resonate with you, try putting them into action before you get specific about what you want to realize during the upcoming year. Getting clear on your feelings prior to pinpointing your goal will help you get much closer to what it is that you really want.

 

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life curation · style

Clothing Solutions 101

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(Photo courtesy of ClipArtPanda)

Recently, one of my friends came to me with a dilemma. She dripped a bit of salad dressing on one of her favorite tops. She lamented over how the oil in the dressing had practically “ruined” her top. I’ll admit: I was genuinely confused. I had spilled salad dressing, coconut oil, frying grease, and a host of other oils onto different outfits and I never considered them “ruined”. Then it occurred to me: I didn’t think those items were ruined because I knew how to get the oil stain out of them. I told her my trick, she tried it, and she raved about how well it worked. I’ll tell you all about my trick in a moment.

That conversation inspired me to write this post. So many of us invest in beautiful, long-lasting pieces, and we want those items to look as stellar as possible for a long time. So when we encounter clothing issues, like awful stains, it can be a bit frustrating. But I’m going to share some of my household go-tos, which I’ve used consistently to preserve and retain the appearance of my clothing.

My first recommendation is Dryel. This at-home dry cleaning system not only leaves your clothing look like they just came from your favorite cleaners, but the concentrated stain removal solution enclosed in the kit is amazing. I’ve used that stain remover so many times, and you only need a little bit. One bottle tends to last me quite a while, even when I find myself using it regularly.

Lingerie bags are my next favorite laundry item. I used to buy them on a nearly monthly basis, until I purchased the ones made by ATopDay. These are the most durable lingerie bags I’ve ever owned. They are made of fine mesh, so they seem to protect your clothing better than the wide mesh that is usually found in lingerie bags. The price on these have doubled since I last purchased them but, given the number of lingerie bags I’ve purchased over the years, even the doubled priced still seems to be a good value. However, there’s a good chance that you can find these at a lower price, so feel free to shop around for the best value.

About that oil stain I mentioned in the first paragraph . . . Baby powder is the cure. The trick is to apply the baby powder to the oil stain, and pat it a bit. Allow it to sit for at least an hour, though I usually let mine sit overnight, or until I wash it (which could be two or three days later). After letting it sit for a period of time, launder the item and check to see if the stain is completely gone. Sometimes, the oil is pretty persistent; in those cases, I do the baby powder treatment again. No oil stains seem to last through that second powder treatment.

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(photo courtesy of StockUnlimited)

Baby wipes are another fantastic item to have around (I don’t know what it is with the baby products, but they are fabulous for laundry!). I use these to remove stains from clothing as soon as the spills occur, but I also use these to quickly remove and pretreat stains before laundering. These are good to keep in your glove compartment and in your laundry room.

My handheld steamer is my last favorite laundry item. This is great for knocking out the wrinkles that the dryer may have missed. I love using this on scarves and delicate lingerie as well: it gently removes wrinkles without too much direct heat.

The steamer I own is the Crazo Garment Steamer, pictured above.

 

Do you have any laundry tricks you’d like to share? Tell me in the comments below!

festivals · relaxation

Weekend Shenanigans

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Happy Friday, sweethearts! Yes, another weekend is upon us, and I, for one, am ecstatic! It’s been a hectic week and I’m ready to leap headfirst into the weekend! Also, Monday is a holiday (Columbus Day), so I’ll have an extended weekend. Let’s all do a dance for having an extra day off!

As it turns out, this weekend is extremely popular for Virginia festivals: I counted six festivals in Richmond and the surrounding areas. I have so many options: I don’t know where to start! If you’re in the area, the Richmond Times Dispatch has a list of all of the October festivals going on this weekend.

Saturday evening, I’ll be checking into a hotel and enjoying a change of scenery. I won’t be venturing far, but it will be nice to relax in a space that isn’t so stimulating. As much as I love my loaded-down bookshelves, I enjoy taking a break from looking at them LOL!

Aside from this weekend’s festivals, I should have enough time to get deep into the October book selection and work on the next post in the Preparing for 2018 series. I may even have enough time to squeeze in another vintage movie. The last time I watched an old movie, I saw “Gang Smashers” (I can’t wait to tell you all about that one! It’ll be in another post, pinkie swear!). But I still have to watch “Sepia Cinderella” and “Hell’s Angels“, so maybe this weekend will be a good time to squeeze in another movie.

For now, enjoy a couple of screenshots of the gorgeous Nina Mae McKinney in “Gang Smashers“. And be sure to get out and ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND! These are the perfect fall weekends that we’ll be longing for when winter comes. So SAVOR them, and have some fun!

 

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Nina Mae McKinney in “Gang Smashers”

 

 

 

 

 

life curation · relaxation

My Desk Altar

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Happy Tuesday, dear friends! I wanted to share the space that has helped refresh and restore me, even when I’m hard at work.

When I transitioned into my dream job last year, I was determined to make the best of it (one of these days, I’ll tell the story of how I landed this job). I was really maintaining my positivity and wanted nothing more than to create a much healthier environment than what I’d experienced in previous positions.

So I brainstormed how to best create my ideal workspace. And thus, my desk altar was born.

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No, I don’t actually worship at this altar. In fact, it’s mainly trinkets from my travels and memorabilia from previous positions. It’s a tribute to where I’ve been, and all of the magnificent experiences that have made me the woman that I am. I wanted a sacred space that was infused with positive energy: indeed, even the items from previous jobs were items that brought back good memories.

I started a practice to help set my day on a positive note. I would think about someone that inspired me and I’d search on Google for quotes that were attributed to him or her. Then, I’d write the quotes on small, ornate notepaper, and place it on the altar. Whenever I’d hit a low point during my week, I’d look through the quotes and it would be an instant mood lifter. I’d also flip through my “Joy in Every Moment” book and find a passage or two that spoke to me.

Admittedly, I didn’t need this mood lifting practice often. In fact, the only thing that I can recall making me feel less-than-delighted with my new position was the fact that I missed my old teammates and felt kind of isolated. Other than that, my position was interesting enough and fulfilling enough to keep me happy most of the time.

Since I believe that our spaces should reflect our ever-changing selves, I’ll be updating my desk altar soon. When I’ve finished adding/removing/rearranging items, I’ll be sure to post an updated photo.

Do you all have altars or sacred spaces? Or do you have practices that help you get into a positive headspace? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

life curation

Preparing for 2018

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Happy Monday, beloveds!

Can you all believe that we are THREE short months away from 2018? I’m blown away by how quickly 2017 has passed! This has been a monumental year for me: so many milestones, so much growth!

I had to take some time to think of the little things that made my 2017 spectacular, and I’ve already started setting myself up for an incredible 2018. As it turns out, you CAN pave the way for a spectacular year to come, and paving that way doesn’t require, nor does it have to involve:

-getting major cash windfalls

-meeting “the one”

-dropping tons of weight/getting to your ideal body

-landing in your dream career

Yes, all of those things are wonderful and can greatly enhance your enjoyment of the following year. But these shouldn’t be prerequisites for living well. Living well is about establishing a day-to-day (even a moment-to-moment) cultivation and appreciation of everything that gives you joy, fulfillment, peace and delight.

I know for a fact that everything doesn’t have to be “perfect” in order to create a wonderful life. For that reason, I’ll periodically share what I’m doing to pave the way to a spectacular 2018. I’ll try to make this a weekly series and I’ll aim for consistency. These weeks leading up to the end of the year will give you all a behind-the-scenes peek into how I am setting myself up for a fabulous year to come.

I hope you all will try some of these exercises with me and see the difference that preparing for the next year can make! I’d love to have some company on this journey. If you’re interested in practicing some techniques for a fabulous year to come, let me know in the comments below.