Life Lessons

Single on Valentine’s Day?

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Valentines-DayIt’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow!!!!

Yes, I know that Valentine’s Day is “just a commercial holiday”….but I still LOVE it.   I love that there is a day every year dedicated to celebrating love and appreciation.  Of course everyone should express their love all year round, but why not use February 14 as another excuse to do so.  How can you not love being surrounded by the colour pink and smiley people?

This is the first year that I have had a boyfriend (or date) on Valentine’s Day but being single on Valentine’s Day has never really bugged me.   I normally spend the day expressing my love and appreciation for my my friends, family and, more recently, myself.  Yes, you read that correctly, I take time to celebrate and appreciate myself on Feb 14th too.  I watch my favourite movies, have a luxurious bubble bath, make/buy a delicious meal, and/or spend time with people who fill my life with love.  What could be better?

So, if you have no plans tomorrow night – make some!  Do something special to celebrate you and all your fabulousness.  Need some ideas?  Click Here

Happy Valentine’s Day! <3


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“30 Traits Happy People Have in Common”

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This morning, I found a great article/list written by Marc Chernoff called “30 Traits Happy People Have in Common”.  I wanted to share it with you all because it’s a great “high-level” summary of many components that, I believe, lead to living a happy life.

My top 10 favourites “traits” from his list are:

  1. They are ‘glass half full’ people – while still being practical and down-to-earth.  They have an ability to find the good in any situation.
  2. They understand that happiness is a choice, and consciously and methodically create their own happiness, while others hope happiness will find them.
  3. They are ambitious.  They don’t believe in, or wait for fate, destiny, chance or luck to determine or shape their future.  They take control and choose to live their best life rather than spending it on auto-pilot.
  4. They rarely complain because they know it’s a waste of energy.  All complaining does is put the complainer in a negative state of mind.
  5. They don’t blame others.  They take complete responsibility for their actions and outcomes, or their lack thereof.
  6. They avoid toxic people, and spend time with positive, like-minded people. They understand the importance of being part of a team, and part of healthy relationships.
  7. They are solution focused.  They learn a lesson and move on to bigger and better things while others are still stuck on the problem.
  8. While many people are reactive, they are proactive.  They take action in pursuit of their goals and the things that make them happy.
  9. They are humble and they are happy to admit mistakes and to apologize when they should.  They are confident in their ability, but not arrogant.  They keep an open mind, and are happy to learn from others.
  10. They don’t invest time or emotional energy into things which they have no control over.  They concentrate solely on the things they can control.

I will be discussing many of these thoughts in more detail in my upcoming blogs…so stay tuned!

You can read the full article here.


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The Makeup or No Makeup Debate…

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Plastic Surgery App Pulled From iTunes After Twitter Backlash

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Read full story here.

“Within a world in which eating disorders are rising, children as young as 5 have been shown to worry about their bodies and a quarter of seven-year old girls have dieted to lose weight, it was incredibly irresponsible of iTunes and Google Play to make these potentially extremely damaging apps available to children as young as 9,” Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, told RT.

Couldn’t have said it better myself!


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How To Brand Yourself To Live a Happier Life

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I recently found this great article about living a happier life by understanding and owning who you are, deciding how you want to be perceived, and how you are going to convey that to others – ultimately learning how to be your own marketing manager and establish your brand.  Check it out…

“You may never have considered going into marketing before, but I hate to break it to you: you’re there already. When it comes to your own life, you are marketing your personal brand every single day, whether you realize it or not.

Marketing boils down to how you serve yourself up to those around you and what you consistently offer to them. The work you do and the friendships you provide are an experience you enable others to consume. When marketing yourself, it’s about consciously building that experience so that you can effectively get what you want in return from your life….

The key here is to take control. You are your own brand manager, and you have to set the course for your own brand experience. It’s your show — love your brand.

When scoping out their business models and marketing plans, all the big brands do an analysis to identify what they are particularly good at and what they want to develop. Big brands pull together an inventory of skills that could possibly make them who they are, and they construct it into a brand definition.

You should do the same as your own personal brand manager. Without a proper definition of your personal brand, you can’t possibly market yourself. Part of that process is also identifying how your brand can be unique from others in the same space, and how to build an experience, unlike all others around you.”

Read full article: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228569#ixzz2phBPuxGG

Based on my strengths and uniqueness, my brand personality traits are: vivacious, conscientious, nurturing, loyal, responsible, analytical, and determined….with a pinch of sparkle 😉

What are your brand personality traits?  What makes you unique and fabulous?


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“Labelled the world’s ugliest woman….”

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“Lizzie Velasquez is one of only three people on Earth born with an unusual genetic ailment that prevents her from gaining any weight.  She has never weighed over 62 pounds in her life, and in addition, Velasquez was also born sightless in her right eye.

She discovered a video of herself on YouTube labeled “The World’s Ugliest Woman” prior to her junior year of high school.  Unfortunately, the video had already received four million hits on the website. Velasquez’s parents attempted to get the YouTube video taken off, but the unidentified figure who posted it professed he would never remove it.

Instead of suffering from anger, hopelessness and depression, Velasquez took a different approach to her attitude.  After educating some high school freshmen about her rare disorder, she challenged the issue of bullying face-to-face and generated a schedule of dialogue arrangements.

As a result, Velasquez appeared on multiple television programs which allowed her to produce three books, including “Be Beautiful, Be You.”” (clashdaily.com)


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“28 Most Iconic Feminist Moments of 2013”

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“We all fight over what the label ‘feminism’ means but for me it’s about empowerment. It’s not about being more powerful than men – it’s about having equal rights with protection, support, justice. It’s about very basic things. It’s not a badge like a fashion item.” (Annie Lennox)

I am a proud, strong, independent women but I have never identified myself as a “feminist”.  In my opinion, the term “feminist” is a broad semi-outdated term that means different things to different people.

I believe in equality.  I believe that everyone, no matter what gender, race, religion, or sexuality, should be treated equally.  HOWEVER,  I also believe that there are things men and women are each biologically better at doing physically and mentally.  I’ve never liked the statement “women can do anything men can” because I think sometimes we can’t,  sometime we can do it better, or sometime we just do it differently.  “Equality” to me means giving everyone fair treatment and equal opportunities with the understanding that each of us have different strengths, talents and abilities which should be uniquely utilized to better ourselves and society.

Equality clearly has not been reached yet, but 2013 was a great year for female empowerment, protection, and justice.   I wanted to share this awesome article with you which celebrates some of the major victories we’ve had this year.  Click the link below and enjoy!

28 Most Iconic Feminist Moments of 2013


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