Official What's In vs. What's Out Hot List:

So I’ve decided to do an official City Girl Chronicles short list of what’s in and what’s out.

What’s IN:

Men shopaholics: long gone are the days of the lady shopaholic because more and more man have outrageous shoe collections just like we do.  So ladies don’t expect to see your men venting in front of the T. V. yelling for a cold beer, nope now he’ll be standing in the dressing room line along side you with an arm full of skinny jeans and dress pants.  

Gucci Guilty perfume: Seriously I just rubbed some of this on my wrist from a sample in my Cosmo magazine and I’m officially declaring sweet scent as IN!

Calling up mama: Yes, calling your mother more than once a week or a day for that matter is totally on the cool radar so go ahead and dial those digits!

                 What’s OUT:

That old “Opposites Attract” theory: Remember a few years ago when all those celebrities were getting engaged but the relationship only seemed to last a few weeks and then it was on to the next? Well those poor souls were hooking up with opposites that they hope they could eventually change and after a few more dates and conversations they realized that picking out a ring on date 3 was probably a bad, bad idea. Now days people want more in a relationship so their looking for a partner who already has more in common with them from the start and it seems to be making relationships last longer.

Black fingernail polish: Seriously not cool! Do I really have to say anything more? Well, unless your into Goth but otherwise go for the lighter color!

Being enemies or even “frienemies” with anyone: Life’ short so instead try to live, love and laugh, you'll find it takes way less energy than hating someone!

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Truths of Monday:

Today I'm posting two truths, one personal the other universal:

Truth #1: Personal Truth

Truth #2: Universal Truth

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My Mama Said...

Today's post is simple:  We all have bad days but we can't let them get the best of us! Smile and press on and remember:

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When Co-Workers Attack!!

Good morning! Today I decided to work out because I only lost one pound at this week’s weigh in at my Weight Watchers meeting which isn’t bad but isn’t good either. So far I’ve lost a total of 10 pounds so I need to lose about 6.5 more to meet the Weight Watchers goal and for my own personal goal, I need to push myself a bit harder and hit another 10 pounds. Nothing else new going on this week... Just gearing up for a few trips during the next few months, still struggling to find time to write and still going home every night and doing nothing to help my book progress!

On another note, one of my co-workers/friend is currently pregnant and will be going on leave soon which I’m not looking forward to at all because that means I’m going to be stuck in the office for a month and a half without anyone to talk to because I really don’t get along nor talk to any of my other co-workers. I’m so not looking forward her leaving!!!  Oh that reminds me of a funny story, well not funny but just a random story. One of my “not-so-friendly” co-workers is hell bent on stealing my position and not only is she new to the job whereas I’ve been here for YEARS but she doesn’t know anything and tries to turn everything into a big deal so that it seems like she know something others don’t! Do you know how annoying it is to have someone trying to steal your job who is a MORON and who thinks they know everything but knows NOTHING! Every day I have to come in and hope she has not totally wrecked anything in her futile attempt to feel important!

On and here’s the funny part, she has also some how convinced our boss that she knows what she’s doing, I feel no need to set him straight because I look at it like this, when I leave for good and she has a field day ruining everything that I organized and built over the years, those actions will speak for themselves!






Happy Blogging!

From My Heart To Yours...

February is the month of love and though Valentines Day had come and gone, it doesn’t mean we can’t still take a little time to show some love!

Ever wonder why we only really celebrate love once a year when love is the one thing that brings everything full circle!

Well today I decided to list a few things that I really love about myself! We all have to learn love ourselves more, we have enough people in our lives making it hard enough so today is my day to mentally pamper myself!!

What I love about myself:

• I have a great smile (I should show it off more)
• I love to read (knowledge is everything)
• I’m helpful and kind to others (best way to be)
• I love my long hair (fluffy and soft)
• I love my adventurous spirit (whoot whoot!!)
• I’m focused, when I put my mind to it! (yeah, if I put my mind to it)

So there you have it, a few things I love about myself! Show yourself some love and list what you love about yourself! 

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Attention City Girl Readers:

Recently I've received a few emails from readers suggesting that I focus my blog on Inspiring and Empowering other women. I didn't really think that this was the right focus for my blog at this time but then I thought long and hard and reviewed my own life and the journey I have had.  I struggled with the idea of talking so freely about my personal experiences but then I was reminded of something that I've always wanted to do and that was to help people. I never knew how or to what extent I would do this, all I knew was that I had a desire and a passion to help in some kind of way.

Last night, I thought more about the idea of inspiring girls and women and empowering them to live their best life possible, "Could I do this, did I have what it took to help these ladies?"

Right now, I don't know but I really want to try and I'm willing to take this adventure head on. So within the next few days and weeks you will see changes and updates being made to my blog. I'll be focusing on topics that inspire and empower girls and women, I'll be providing personal development posts which will be largely based on my own life, lessons I've learned and research I've done or information I have obtained from professionals.


During my life I have overcome bulimia, depressions, abuse, suicidal thoughts/attempts and so many others issues. I was always ashamed to talk about these things mainly because people close to me made me feel ashamed but then I realized that I had overcame all of this for a reason, an important reason and I could use these experiences to help others realize that there is a rainbow at the end of every storm and a light after every dark day. Life can be inspiring and can be lived out in the best way possible!

Additional experience includes working within teen peer-groups to help support girls who struggle with life and all it's pressures. I believe all of this experience will aide me in my quest to help others.

Keep your eyes opened for many changes to come!


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What Dreams May Come...

Happy Tuesday! Its Tasty Tuesday over at FTLOB but I don't have any tasty recipes to share with your so  today I’m taking a little bit of a different route on my blog and posting a response to something I found over on Mallori’s blog, Aiukli. So one of her 30 days of truth exercises was to list something that she wished she had done in her life and this really struck a nerve with me because most people have that one thing that might have changed the path the of their lives forever had they gone ahead with it so without further ado here is mine…

List something you wish you had done in your life:

I got married fairly young in life. I was about 24 when I said those 2 little words that would forever link me to the man I loved so much and looking back over our marriage, I couldn’t have picked a better person to spend forever with! That being said, I often wondered what life would be like for me if I had not gotten married until I accomplished some of my own personal goals? Please don’t get me wrong, I love being married, it's one of the a greatest gifts in my life!  But its worth noting that from time to time thoughts flood my mind causing me to wonder about how life would be had I just waited a few more years. Marriage can be a joyful thing and it’s also a giant comprise to building up your partnership for the better and sometimes what one person wants just might not be all that beneficial to the marriage so we put our dreams on hold always with the intent to come back to them, of course we all know that rarely ever happens.

When I was younger I dreamed of being an artist, of painting and writing poetry and traveling all over and meeting many different kinds of people. I was never really your traditional girl who dreamed of going to college, meeting the right man, getting married and having a child. Nope I was far from that, in fact I never even thought of marriage until the day my husband asked me… (Seriously)

So we got married and well, with a mortgage, car notes and bills stacking up there was no room to go off exploring my creative side. I needed to work a regular 9-5 job, pay the bills and be a good little housewife and so that's precisely  what I did. I wasn’t angry and I didn’t blame anyone, I just understood that this was what needed to be done. I built a small art studio in one of our closets and would paint from time to time but life was always stepping in and preventing me from spending too much time enjoying my passions so my art studio became a semi-storage room and my life became jam packed with, well life stuff…

So the one thing in my life that I wish I had done was wait to get married until I accomplished some of my own personal life goals, however, I’m so blessed in my marriage and wouldn’t change it for anything!

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12 Steps, Withdrawal Is Already In Kicking...

So I had to post again today because I’m 3 days clean on this healthy eating diet and I’m seriously going through some sort of withdrawal and aggression stage in this healthy recovery thing! I don’t know what step withdrawal and aggression come into play but I’m definitely there! Early this evening I decided to run out to the market for some cream to put in my tea tomorrow morning and ended up spending 45 minutes in the ice cream isle.  I looked at almost every carton and flavor and I think at one point I had one in my hand ready to check out!  But my fluffy thoughts of sweet bliss were so rudely interrupted when some random guy in the same isle asked me something. I have no idea what he said and I honestly didn’t care, but I practically ripped his head off mainly because he was bothering me while I was lost in my ice cream fantasy and secondly because he was BOTHERING me! Oh the nerve! Needless to say, I pulled myself together and go out of there (minus the ice cream) as fast as I could.

So some people might criticize me for comparing my food diet to some sort of drug recovering program but think about this for a minute; a lot of the foods we eat have so many foreign chemicals, dyes, artificial flavors and who knows what else in them so take into considerate that after years of eating these kinds of junk-things, our bodies start to depend on them and trying to go cold turkey really isn’t the easiest thing in the world! Have you ever craved something like McDonald's or Wendy’s or some other food from your favorite restaurant, well you're probably craving those chemicals and you don’t even know it!  

 I’m only on day 3 and I’ve been in a foul mood all day. I’m smelling and tasting foods that are not there, I’m thinking of food every second of every minute of every hour (this is no joke) and it’s killing me that I reeaally want pizza, tacos, and Chinese but all I can eat is fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch and a small dinner.  Then I think of how far I’ve come (3 days is a lot, seriously) and of how tired I am of feeling bad about myself every day when I get dressed and I realize that I can get through all this, I just have to take it 1 day at a time.

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Another Day In The Closet...

Wow, I’m so excited about another Cleaning Out The Closet Wednesday over at FTLOB’s! If you all recall, last Wednesday I really went in and pulled out a lot of old baggage the needed to be removed. This Wednesday I think I’m going to stay on the surface and just take a look at what needs immediate attention.

So if you've been reading, last week was really rough but I’m getting over all that inner drama that I caused and have regrouped and centered myself. I know I have a lot of personal issues I need to sort out which is another reason why I LOVE Wednesday’s theme!  I think today I want to focus on things that have recently taken place in my life, the struggle I’m having with myself and fully understanding why I’m here. 

My entire life, I’ve always believed that God has a purpose for every person and that everything means something, that there really are no coincidences and that in due time the meaning of everything will be revealed, so that being said; recently I took a hard look at my life and at almost 30 years old I felt like such a failure. I could not think of anyone whose life I had impacted in a positive way, I have no children, and I really think my job is meaningless I mean I'm a Coordinator! As a child I always wanted to be able to help others and to be honest my job just does not afford me this opportunity and really I feel like I'm worth so much more than this. Besides being married, I have not accomplished any big feats in life. So imagine if you will, for your entire life being under the belief  that you are special in God’s eyes and that He put you here for a special purpose and then basically getting a slap in the face by realizing that almost 30 years in, He still hasn’t used you to do anything worthwhile!! Maybe He passed me over for someone better! Yeah those thoughts really hurt to think about!  

So anyway,  I really let this bother me and it completely rattled my soul. I started wondering all sorts of crazy things, like what I had done to God, or if He could even hear me, and  had He finally given up on me? All these questions ran through my mind…Then after taking a personal hiatus, I realized it was me, I had faltered in my Faith and trust in Him, I thought I had faith but then I would show doubt by having a plan B "just in case", what a contradiction! I had gone my own way instead of His.

So while I took my personal stay-cation, I was able to realize, it's not so bad, I’m still young and trying to figure this life thing out so maybe God is just waiting for me to get a better grip on my life and then He will give me my special job… 

So today, what I’m cleaning out of my closet is the fact that I feel so guilty for getting mad at God, for blaming and questioning Him instead of looking at my own actions and thoughts.  

It hurts me more to I think I’ve damaged my relationship with God then to believe that I've done the same with any person on earth. People come and go but God will always be there… 

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Just Another Day...

Happy Tuesday everyone! It’s Tasty Tuesday over at FTLOB and what a perfect way to start my morning! I’ve just arrived at work, barely because I was dozing off in the car driving to work! UGGHH... That could have been tragic! Anywhoo I’m here and ready to rock and roll…

Abortion Rally in DC -Monday evening

Yesterday ended on a somewhat interesting note, my evening drive home always takes me right through the heart of DC and little did I know there was some sort of abortion rally going on but believe me, I knew when I got there! Everywhere I looked I saw signs, people, police, tour buses and more people. Traffic was RIDICULES and at a standstill so I used this opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons and took a few shots of the rally for my blog post this morning. I have to say the saddest thing I saw was this sign that read, "I regret my abortion" which was being carried by this older woman. I didn’t want to take her photo because well, I just felt it would be rude but none the less it was sad.

When I got home I remembered that Coco had a vet appointment for her boarding shots so we headed out. While there she decided to bite the veterinary and I didn’t really feel too bad because my vet pretty pushy anyways and always trying to get me to do tons of tests and shots and a whole bunch of junk that usually costs about $500.00 which I don't feel Coco needs right now. Each time I refuse my vet treats me as if I’m the worst pet owner in the world, though I know better!

When I got home I decided to have a cup of tea while making dinner for my hubby and me (chicken fettuccine with a homemade white sauce, very yum-yum). Later I watched Bad Girls Club which seems to be getting more and more, well for lack of a better word, stupider as each episode goes along. Isn’t the point of the show that these girls come there to learn something and change their ways because all I see is partying, fighting and random sex with outsider guys who look pretty disgusting and a whole lot of unnecessary drunk-grinding on each other. I mean they could do all this back home! I want some Bad Girl intervention here!

Anyway, in honor of Tasty Tuesday, here is my yummy recipe for Chicken Enchiladas. I don’t eat pork or beef so I make everything with turkey, chicken or seafood, I love these chicken enchiladas but it’s good to know that they can be very heavy and if you’re on diet, you’ll want to use low fat cheese and lean meat.

• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies (optional)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 chicken breast meat (or however much you desire)
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
• 6 (12 inch) flour tortillas
• Enchilada sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to about 350 degrees F. Use non stick spray on a large casserole dish to lightly grease it.
2. In a skillet lightly drizzly olive oil and began to sauté the chicken, ad your own seasonings for taste.
3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and sauté the green onion until tender (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the garlic powder, and then stir in the green chilies, sour cream.
4. Then pour in with finished chicken and simmer for a few minutes.
5. Fill each flour tortilla with the chicken mixture and roll up. Place tortilla seam side down in the prepared baking dish.
6. When all tortillas are filled and rolled, pour enchilada sauce over the entire dish and then sprinkle a nice amount of cheese over the top and back for 35 minutes with foil covering the dish. For the last 10 minutes remove foil and bake to get cheese lightly toasted and bubbly.
7. Eat and enjoy!

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Catch You On The Fly...

The weekend flew by and I hardly had time to write let alone participate in any of the Weekend Wander blog hops. I had a paper to finish up for school and then found out that my husband is headed back overseas again so we decided to spend a bit of quality time together and went to see the new Vince Vaughn film, Dilemma starring Wynona Ryder, who I suspect has not been in any major films since her shopping lifting stunt. The film itself was pretty funny and I’m glad we got to spend some time together before he leaves.  

Tomorrows we are going for dinner and then he’s off for a few weeks. I’m back at work and just like any Monday, I’ve got my head barely above water and am struggling to find any time to even write this blog, but I just hate looking at the same post over and over again! I have tons of things going on and decided to just throw caution to the wind for an hour and update my blog! I know today is Magical Monday but I’m having trouble finding anything magical about my day. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’d know that today was the day I was suppose to hear back about the job interview and its going on 2:00pm here and I have yet to have received any sort of news. Though I’m not taking this as negative but yet maintaining that it’s just taking the hiring manager a bit longer to realize what a great candidate I am and when he comes around, I’ll get the call that I have been waiting so patiently for! That being said, I’m forging ahead with my work in my current position just to make sure all my T’s are crosses and I’s are dotted when I do leave, I wouldn’t want to burden anyone.  

 

I’ll be headed home very soon and will be making my famous Chicken fettuccine for dinner and I can hardly wait! I have some pictures to post from last night’s dinner (BBQ Chicken wings) but it will have to wait until I get home since I left my camera/memory card sitting on my desk at home in my mad rush to leave the house this morning. Also I purchased some new facial products which I just have to share with everyone but that’s “Coming Soon” to a blog near you.

Well back to work! 

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City Girl

My Day of Inspirational Blog Hopping

Today is my inspirational day so I’ve hit up some of my favorite blogs to get big dose of creative juice flowing for this up and coming weekend! My first inspirational blog is one I refer to often for fashion ideas. Check out Everyday Eva if you’re looking for fashion on a budget! My inspiration from this blog is that my husband is always “complaining” that I spend too much money on clothes and shoes so now I read Eva’s blog to be a bit more cautious with my spending while still looking cute! Thanks Eva!

My second inspirational blog of the day belongs to Reflections of Something. I have had a heck of a week and only parts have actually been good, I have been in some sort of a foul mood and I have no idea why but this blog has help me to lift my spirits and also posed a challenge which I'm considering! (Thanks a lot Branson!)

My third inspirational blog of the day for me holds the crowning title because I came across her blog purely by accident though the Fab Friends Friday Blog Hop, but was so glad I did. Serendipity I’d call this, a fortunate mistake that has turned things around for me. This blog belongs to Rachel and is called Randomness with Rachel. Turns out we share the same love for Audrey Hepburn, Jesus, shopping and reading, oh who would have known there'd be another person who likes this same weird combination of things! Her most inspirational thing that helped me  through today was her homepage and it reads: 

So a big, BIG thank you to Rachel!

Lastly, I have decided to list Words by Katie as an inspiration blog for me today mainly because her blog just all around, cheered me up. She really had a great theme and I love her posts and concepts.  (Also we are both Tim Tebow fans!)

So to my fellow bloggers who have given me some inspirational thoughts and ideas as well as cheered me up after a somewhat bad week; you all have my gratitude! Thanks so much for doing what you do best (blogging) and inadvertently plastering a smile across my face!

Keep Blogging,
City Girl