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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Love Is All We Need

It’s a new day, time to hit the ground running, don’t focus on the past because better things are coming!

Okay so Monday has finally arrived, actually I should say its arrived way too quickly! But nonetheless it’s here, so in true City Girl style, let’s make some lemonade! For those of you who read my blog on a regular basis you know that I’m doing this whole positive thinking thing and also working on a 21-day Food, Fitness and Faith journey which includes examining all aspects of my life and making changes in ways that benefit me permanently and for the better. So this weekend it seems that the lessons I was suppose to learn had a lot to do with starting fresh, not looking back on the issues of yesterday and realizing that today is a new opportunity to look at things with a new perspective. This is exactly what I plan to do.

 “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing!”

Isaiah 43:18-19

Moving on to the FTLOB theme for this month and it just happens to be Love Letters! Since I currently don’t have any personal love letters of my own (that I wish to share)  I would like to share one by Dylan Thomas that I just love! It was written in 1950 to his love Catlin.

"I love you. That is all I know. But all I know, too, is that I am writing into space: the kind of dreadful, unknown space I am just going to enter. I am going to Iowa, Illinois, Idaho, Indiana but these, though on the map. You are not.

Have you forgotten me? I am the man you used to say you loved. I used to sleep in your arms - do you remember? But you never write. You are perhaps mindless of me. I am not of you. I love you.

There isn't a moment of any hideous day when I do not say to myself. 'It will be alright. I shall go home. Caitlin loves me. I love Caitlin.' But perhaps you have forgotten. If you have forgotten, or lost your affection for me, please, my Cat let me know. I Love You".

Dylan

What a great letter, happened to this kind of shivery?  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this letter! 

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Attention All You Fashion Bloggers!

Hosted by IFB and Mac & Milk Studios

Okay fashion bloggers, Feb. 10 & 11th, 2011 is the IFB Fashion Bloggers Evolving Influence Conference hosted by IFB and Mac and Milk Studios located in NYC. There’s still time to register but space is filling up quickly so get your tickets as soon as you can.  If you're like me and reeaaallly wish you could attend but have a prior engagement, don’t worry you can watch it right here! Make sure you're ready to take notes because there are some great speakers lined up for this one! 

Check out my website to view last years Fashion Blogger Conference.

Register here.

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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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Lemons To Lemonade

Happy Thursday! I’m starting today on a positive note and am going to attempt to use today as my day of inspiration by taking a tip from Tina Crane over at Sitting on my Strawberry Swing and try to be positive about things instead of all whiny and negative! Believe me; I could easily make a GIANT list of things that get on my nerves but why use my efforts for such negativity, it’s only going to make my life that much worse! Example: As I was driving into work this morning I started thinking about how badly I really want a new car and all the stuff I really dislike about my current car but then I stopped myself and said, “Hey at least I have a car!” So SCORE 1 point for me! I turned a lemon into sweet lemonade! Anyway, speaking of drinks, its Thirsty Thursdays over at FTLOB’s so I’m going to post a recipe for a yummy drink at the end of this post!

Moving on, so if you’ve been paying attention, I’m currently reading (FFF) Food, Fitness and Faith for Women as well as (PP) Prayers and Promises for Women. So today one of my lessons in FFF for Women was to start building a set of healthy habits to aid my Christian journey so to do this I have to write out some healthy habits that I want to establish as well as identify some unhealthy ones that I want to get rid of.

I try to read the required pages before I leave for work because I believe it’s helping me to start my days off with a better outlook on things which leads me back to the whole thinking positively thing. It’s funny because whenever anyone ever told me I was negative, I'd reply back with,  "I’m not negative I’m just realistic"  I still don't feel there's anything wrong with this and I still stand firm behind this theory but maybe I can be realistic with a positive twist!  So I’m putting that on my list of things I want to establish as a healthy habit!

1. Be positive 
2. ??????
3. ??????
4. ??????
5. ??????
   

I think that’s a good start for now, FFF for Women is a 21 day life changing journey so if I read this book according to the plan, I should be on the right track in 21 short days! Now that’s some positive thinking! 

Okay now for my drink recipe: 

Last summer I went to Mexico and had Non-alcoholic Pina Coladas every day so I have to share this home made recipe with everyone!

Pina Coladas (non-alcoholic):

Since I don’t drink alcohol my recipe will not include it however, you can add it if desired.

Prep Time: approximately 5 minutes:

You'll need:

• 2 ½ cups of ice
• ½ Cup of milk or heavy cream
• Pineapple chucks (8oz can or about ½ cup of fresh pineapples)
• ½ cup of Mr. & Mrs. T’s Pina Colada Mix
• Garnish: Cherry and half sliced pineapple and Whip cream
• Substitute: Milk or heavy cream for approximately 3 table spoons vanilla bean or pineapple ice cream

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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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Classy & Fabulous...

Happy Tuesday to all you here in blog-land, I’m up and running and feeling so much better, back to my old self! Its Tasty Tuesday’s over at FTLOB and I have some really tasty eye candy for you this morning! 

J. Rudy Lewis Cuff

 Today, I really want to share with everyone some unique one-of-a-kind jewelry that I just know you’re going to love! Unfortunately I am not as talented as these two designers so no, I didn’t make these pieces but I’ll gladly share with you who did. The first set was handcrafted by J. Rudy Lewis who’s actually located in Philly, not too far from me (might have to stop over sometime). 

J. Rudy Lewis Earrings

These designs are handmade and not something you’ll see on just anyone walking down the street. Check out the site for more details and take a look at some of these great creations below.

The next artist I wanted to feature today is Judith Hass.  I really love her pieces which are so abstract and unique. Judith started designing in 2003 in Soho and today her jewelry can be found in department stores from Japan to the UK, also right here in the good ole USA. If her prices were a bit more in my price range, I’d have to treat myself to one of her rings. 

Anyways, check out her site and the pictures below for your Tasty Tuesday eye candy! Don’t you just love these! I’m glutton for individually so both of these designers caught my eye right away; I mean who wants to be seen wearing the same thing as everybody else?? NOT ME!! 

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