A Few of My Favorite Things

Have you ever heard the saying there is no place like home? Well when I was younger there was no place like home because all of my favorite people lived there, but as I grew older I moved out and got a small apartment that I now call home. So what makes this place to special to me? Well I have no idea, but I do know that I love being home. There is no place more comforting than to walk through my front door. So I decided I would share with you a few of my favorite things at home. Things that give a warm and fuzzy feeling when I walk through the door.





My pet. I adore her, because she is always there and so cuddly. What would home be like without this sweet animal to greet me at the door every day with a sweet meow.

This was a gift from my family for my balcony garden. I thought it was so sweet that they actually thought about what I could really use and I love the saying they wrote on it. " May your life flourish. " It is so fitting for its purpose.









My bamboo wind chime. I don't know I just find this piece charming, and it looks so good hanging there on my balcony. It just creates such a warm environment.



















I wish I could of captured a better picture of this art piece, but this is my favorite piece inside of my house. I love looking at this picture of Amsterdam. I always feel that I'm transported from my living room to this place when I stare at the picture.




I keep live flowers in my living room, and they always add a different flavor to the atmosphere. The best thing about live flowers is that you get to change your look every time you buy new flowers. I really love these because they are bright and sunny.



http://youtu.be/dw2VX5wQYQg

Who Cares What Men Think

Ok ladies have you noticed how in every magazine or at every lunch date with your girls there is talk about what men like the most. For example the cover of Cosmo would read something like this " Little Things To Make You More Attractive to Men" or " The Top Ten Looks Men Love." If you are anything like me you have a whole entourage of female friends who also bring up this topic. They say things such as "oh girl I have to straighten my hair men hate curly hair", or "I really love my baby doll shirt but men hate these shirts" etc. etc.





Well here is where I stand. I am over it all. One guy likes it straight another one curly. One thinks the baby doll shirt is cute the other thinks it makes the girl look pregnant. One loves quiet girls the other prefers outgoing women. Really ladies???? Are we really just going to sit here and cater ourselves to men. Think about it. How many times have you met a guy and he says one thing and does a completely different thing for an example " I would never wear pink" and then 6 mon later he is rocking a pink polo?





Also have you ever noticed your closest guy friend be the biggest player in the world, and then suddenly one day get really serious about a girl? Or maybe your guy friend has a type of girl and would never date a certain type, but 1 year later you find him holding hands with the type of girl he would never consider previously.





Do you know why this is the case? The reason is everything is on a case by case base. Generalizations do not work at all. Ladies you just have to be yourself whatever that is, and there will be beauty that flows from that, and trust me the men population pool will not dry up because you don't do everything that you think they will like. People are transient. People change constantly, and people change due to their exposure. So be yourself. Do what makes you happy. Do what works for you, because at the end of the day MOST relationships don't work out , and you have to live with yourself. So to thy own self be true.





XOXO

New Beginnings

I have always had a love for plants. When I was a child my mother would give me a small plot of land to grow corn, squash , and watermelon on every summer. However I realized that I was a good plant owner when I was 15. A friend of my mother's had these house plants that were completely dieing. I decided that I would make them come back to life. After a few weeks of doctoring the plants they were vibrant once more. As a gift for taking such great care of the plants, he gave me a plant.

I loved and adored that plant, until one day my younger sibling cut it into pieces...

So I decided to give my green thumb a another try this year. Instead of buying germinated plants at Home Depot this year I decided to buy seeds just to test how good I really am. That was three weeks ago. Here is the progress. Do you have any planting secrets?

The Tools Week 1

Flower and Pepper Seeds

Since I was using the dirt I used to plant my flowers last year. I made sure to use a lot of plant food.
























The progress 3 weeks later

Victimized

Have you ever felt like you were wronged? That you were truly in the right, but made out to look like the bad guy. You run the situation over and over in your head and reach the same conclusion. You really handled this situation correctly. You over extended yourself to be the better person, but instead of appreciation for all of your efforts. You are met with disdain and contempt. You find someone twisting the story to make you look bad. What do you do?

Maybe you messed up in the past, but you swore to yourself that this time it would be different. However after all of your efforts your are under appreciated, disrespected and maybe even slandered. You find yourself with two options 1) fight for your honor 2)take the high road and deal with the pain inwardly. If you fight back you still look like the bad guy. If you hold it in then anger and resentment builds up within you. It is a catch 22.

What do you do? Choice 1 may not bring closure even if you make a fool out of yourself it may make things worse . Choice 2 is sure to eat you up inside.

Gosh it is so unfair you say to yourself. This is your reward for your efforts.

You are victimized … Which really sucks because maybe you had just recovered from victim syndrome and as soon as you found yourself healing from the past experience you found yourself once more as the victim.

So what do you do to help ease the pain and resentment?
1) Listen to every single angry song you own…(some good ideas are F**K it by Eamon and Kelis Caught out there) feel free to suggest others
2) Go for a run
3) Pray Pray Pray
4) Take a boxing class
5) Get a packet of lined college ruled paper rib it , stab it with pencils, throw it, and just lose control
6) Write poetry about it
7) Talk to the person about how you feel
8) No matter what do not take it out on other people

What are your tricks to deal with anger?

Late Night Call

I was sound asleep. It was 3:54 AM Sunday morning. Suddenly the peace was cut by the soft low rumble of a vibration. I rolled over and saw my phone vibrating on a stack of books nestled on my nightstand. I reached down to instinctively ignore the call when I notice the name on the screen. I answered “Hello” I muttered. “Is everything ok?”… “Yes” the voice on the other line stated. “Why are you calling so late” I asked…The voice states “ I just don’t know what I am doing with my life. I feel so depressed”

The funniest thing about this call is it is not the first one I have received. Nor Is there a single person making this call. I find this phenomena common among my peers. Everyone may not call in the middle of the night, but they are saying the same thing. What am I doing with my life? Am I doing what I always dreamed? Have I met my goals? When did I get so adult?

Have you ever felt this way? Well there is actually a term officially coined for this phase of life called the quarter life crisis. Interestingly enough it is quite common and there have even been books written about it. It is often contrasted to the midlife crisis. Although they do share some common characteristics such as fear, panic, and reevaluation the midlife crisis stems from a decrease in options ,stagnancy, feeling stuck, or looking back and not being happy with choices. The quarter life crisis stems from looking forward and not knowing what to do to reach your goals or even knowing what those goals are. Often it is the realization of one’s own mortality that sparks the quarter life crisis. During the Adolescent phase it is a well known fact that invincibility is characteristic mind set, yet during the twenties that mind set fades and the realization that we all have limited time really sets in. This often can be a spark for the beginning of a crisis.

So if you find yourself going through this right now. My advice to you is 2 steps.
1) Decide what you want to do with your life
2) Do it…You just have to find a way to make it happen. No one will do it for you, and no one has to live with the consequences of putting your hopes and dreams aside except you. My mother always told me “If there is a will there is a way”. I believe it.

Easier said than done I know, but after all what do you have to lose. Life is for the living. Mistakes will happen if you play it safe or not. At least you could live a life of fulfillment, and passion.