Lucky in Love!
I don't know exactly how it happened, but somehow,..... I,  little ole ME.. ended up with the greatest boy in the entire world! Monday mornings just don't have the same sting when you wake up next to the love of your life after a weekend of relaxation. My ideal weekend has become as such: No plans, movies in bed, quality time with Ryan and family. Life is so much less chaotic when you eliminate the hangovers, and jam packed days. As my work life is becoming more and more demanding, I am relishing in my sleepy weekends these days. Hope everyone has an amazing week!! :)

"Joy is a return to the deep harmony of body, mind, and spirit that was yours at birth and that can be yours again. That openness to love, that capacity for wholeness within the world around you, is still within you. ~Deepak Chopra

Vision Board Friday

Ready or not... Summer is quickly approaching. Time to get focused!

Recommended Reads
I just finished reading "The Leadership Pipeline" and I loved it. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is trying to climb the corporate latter. It clearly defines the roles that you must play as you transition through different leadership positions in your career. One (of the many) things that stuck out to me was that when one transitions from "Managing Yourself" to "Managing Others" many people think that the same values will help them succeed. When in fact - You have to completely change your values, time allocations, and function. When a manager is not acting in line with their position (whether under or over it) they become a road block to themselves, their employees, and their company. It helped me as a manager, as well as someone who wants to continue to progress through the pipeline. This book really motivated me to want to empower my employees and help them succeed as much as I can. If anyone reads it, let me know what you think!! Happy Thursday Lovelies :)

Vision Board Friday

Today you are the culmination of every failure, heart ache, trial, and tribulation you have lived through. Each one has made you wiser, stronger and more resilient. Consider today as the most perfect day of your life because you are going into it proud of who you are and what you have overcome. Live free, laughing, encouraging others, and preparing for the next best day of your life...which is every day after today...

The Natural Progression to.....
I have been watching this happen for the past two years now... Hoping in fear that it would never happen to me. Im talking about the point when, a friend who use to be my "go to" bar hopping buddy grows out of the scene. It happens slowly, and there is a solid 5 month transition period. In the first phase, they still come out with me but have to get really drunk to have fun. Then the hangovers and silly Fax pas made under laser lights and house music further remind them of their fleeting desire to go out. The second phase is the worst though.. that's when they still go out, but have learned from phase 1, not to drink too much. They just simply go out, plan to be DD and have no fun. This goes on for the duration of the time until they fall off the radar completely. I have watched 2-3 of my fallen soldier best friends carry out the phases and leave me dancing alone on the bar. Today, I find myself with a much different group of friends that I had a year or two ago. It hit me this weekend that I have not only begun this natural progression but am finding myself smack dab between phase 1 and 2. I never thought this would happen to me! I can already see the fear in my friends eyes that I am on the tail end of this Scottsdale bar hoping train.

Happy New Year!

2010 has been my absolute favorite year of my life. I am dating the man of my dreams and have the greatest friends in the world. And although turning 25 was heart wrenching, I am starting to realize that the wisdom that comes with age is priceless. How many of you do New Years Resolutions? I can't make plans for the entire year because I have ADD and can only think AT MOST a few months into the future. So my goals for the next few months are to:

A.) Not use my savings while paying for all the travel in the next few months.

B.) Remind my family, friends, and Ryan how much I love them as much as possible.

C.) Work Hard

D.) Work Out 3 times a week

Hope that everyone had an amazing Christmas and New Years!! I have a GREAT feeling about 2011! :)

  

Merry Christmas

This year for Christmas My AMAZING friend Brian helped me give my parents such a great gift. He did a phototshoot of me and my sisters and I framed and wrapped the pictures for them.  Go check out his website.. he is so incredibly talented! http://www.brianthomasclay.com/

Here are some of the pictures:

Vision Board Friday
Are you blushing.. or are you're Louboutins just happy to see me?

Borrowed Words to Brighten Your Day..

"If you live to be one hundred years old, I hope to only live to be one hundred minus one day. That way, I will never have to live without you." ~Winnie the Pooh

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams" ~Dr. Seuss

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." ~Dr. Seuss

The Self-Esteem Quiz
Confidence is a highly coveted trait. It is something that in my mind has to be practiced, and acquired through maturity, and self-awareness. We make our biggest faux-paus when we are running low on confidence, and subsequently can end up hurt the people around us. Not only is confidence important to living a healthy life but it is also one of the most attractive quality's someone can posses. When thinking back to the "popular" kids in high school, most of them really had nothing going for them except for their unexplained source of confidence. And for some reason, since they were so sure of themselves, so were the rest of us! I found a quiz on Dr. Phil's website that lets you gauge your esteem.
Ask yourselves the following questions:
1. Is your self-esteem based on what others think of you?
2. Do you do things to make other people happy, even if it makes you feel bad?
3. Do you have a hard time being happy for others when they succeed?
4. Do you call yourself names like "stupid" or "dummy" when you make mistakes — or sometimes even when you don't?
5. Do you have a hard time taking risks?
Scoring: If you answered yes to any of these questions, your self-concept or self-esteem may be distorted. If you answered yes to three or more, then you are not living authentically.

I think if we are being honest with ourselves we have all met one of these criteria at one point in our lives. As we should - we are humans and this is a tough subject. Here are some tips that I use to develop more confidence and continue to grow:
1. Set goals - Accomplishing goals - even little ones - makes you feel good about yourself
2. Girl Friends - They are a MUST! The most confident girls have strong, happy woman in their lives. They will be your strength when you are weak, tell you your beautiful when you need to hear it, and most importantly they will talk crap on anyone who is making you feel less than perfect.
3. Healthy Relationships - If you are in a relationship that is making you feel insecure - Get Out!
4. Buy yourself something pretty - Don't go too crazy because an empty bank account will just add stress but splurge on yourself every now and then.

Go confidently into the direction that you were meant for, appreciating all the stops along the way.

Last night I was suppose to go out for a friends birthday. I feel bad for not going but My day started at 7am and I didn't even walk into my house until 10PM. The last thing I wanted to do was get all dolled up be social. Instead, I curled up on the couch with my roomie and watched the Notebook. I found it interesting how all the different times I had seen that movie, it has brought to the surface different emotions. The first time I watched it, I was utterly depressed. It ruined my entire week. Why? Because I was in a miserable relationship and watching Allie and Noah just put a spotlight on how unhappy I was. The second time I watched it, I was single, a bottle of wine deep, with mascara running down my face - Not pretty. Isn't it funny how other people's happiness can make us so miserable? So here I am today, completely in love, and happy. And what do you know? last night, Noah and Allie, simply made me smile. Thanks Ry! :)

Need Some Fun Ideas!!

So Ryan and I are planning a huge Christmas party for all of our friends and I need some fun party ideas! All I came up with is Duck Duck Goose, and Red Rover. Unfortunately, after saying Red Rover out loud I pictured myself being pummeled to the ground every time since I have the weakest arms. So now.. I look to you my blogger friends!! The success of this party is in your proverbial hands :)

I need some fun drinking games, cute invitation ideas, and anything else that your amazing brains can come up with!!

Hope everyone is Fabulous! XO

When He's Ready to Cheat....
I am not a big magazine reader. When I rarely do buy a magazine, I start at the back and flip through looking at each picture and mentally file away future outfit ideas. Well, on my last flight I had 6 hours with a Cosmo, and read it cover to cover. The article that stuck out the most was titled "When He's Ready to Cheat". It said that every man is tempted to cheat almost daily, and it gave you tips on how to prevent your significant other from doing so.  It went on to say that when your man meets an attractive new girl that his testosterone levels rise. This could be a new co-worker, friend, one of your friends *gulp, or some one he meets in passing. The advise was to raise his levels yourself on a continual basis so that when these other women come around he associates that positive feeling with you not them. The tips were pretty basic: Lingerie, Cooking Dinner, Gifts, Surprises, Etc.
Okay here is my problem.. This stressed me the F out! So you're telling me every time a guy sees a hot woman their testosterone levels are raised? Um... They are everywhere! So how in the heck does one counter act this? Walk around daily in La Perla Lingerie, while cooking, cleaning, and complimenting their mans every move? Eff It... Go cheat.. I'm too tired for all that.

The other articles were equally as stressful. There were testimonials from girls who's BF's left them for their best friends, his girlfriends, etc. Not only did they have these endless depressing stories but the magazine provided ways for us WOMAN to prevent these scenarios. Maybe it's just me but ladies..  You do not need to change yourself to "Keep his attention" I promise you, a confident, non-affected by petty insecuritys, strong woman will breed the healthiest, happiest relationships.... Nuff Said.