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.

Flori-DUHHH
Last week I was in Orlando, Florida for a work conference. It just so happened that one of my best friends lives in Tampa so I got to spend the weekend with her too. I haven't seen her in 2 years and missed her like crazy. Let me just recap our night out... We hitchhiked to a club, talked a firetruck into taking us for a ride for $5.00, met a "healer", made a mountain of tomatoes, danced all night, ate everything on the Burger King Menu in 3.2 seconds, spilled 3 sodas in the back of a cab, and got bit by their dog. Here are some weekend Pics:

Truly great friends are HARD to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.