Happy New Year!

If you are anything like me, every year at 11:45pm on New Years Eve, you are inspired by the hope of what is to come in the new year. In 15 minutes, your life is going to change for the better and you will now be able to live the way you have been wanting to. Chances to make good on all the goals and plans that you didn't get to last year, the pounds you are going to lose, the workouts you are going to start, the money you are going to make in the new year.

Since the 1st of this new year, I have been noticing all the inspiring quotes on Facebook everyone has been posting. They are so motivating and uplifting and I love reading them, as they go along with everything I believe in. They are affirmations that you can read over and over to keep you going and holding onto that hope of the new year and all it has to offer us with its renewed time. However, when the first week is over and the second, and the newness of the new year and all its hope starts to wane, it can start to get depressing and your motivation level crashes. All of a sudden you are starting to feel like its too much, too hard, and you can't do it.

Well Guess What? You are WRONG!!! You Can Do It!!! However, its going to take more than a wing and a prayer, more than a new year, more than the hope that comes with that clock striking Midnight. It takes conscious effort and day to day work. You have to wake up everyday and make the decision to make it a day of action, of things you can be proud of. I talk to myself all day, telling myself what to do , what not to do (lay down and take a nap, haha), to keep on going. I tell myself that doing what I used to do didn't get me to where I wanted to be so I need to change and do something different.

Wake up everyday with a plan of action for that day. Whatever you can do , even if its one small thing each day, that will get you closer to where you want to be, to the life you want to live. As you start to do this, you will feel stronger and stronger and it WILL get easier!
And most importantly, when you lay your head on that pillow at the end of the day, you will feel bursts of pride in yourself, and joy for the changes you are CREATING, not HOPING to happen!

A Woman To Look Up To

For those of you who know me well, you know I am a huge fan of this woman called Cher! Yes, I love her music, yes, I love her acting, but most importantly I love what she stands for. A woman who is in control of her life, her destiny and faces challenges, just like everyone else, and handles them with grace, strength, and dignity.
We all have different tastes in music, acting, etc... but you cannot deny the power that Cher exudes every time you see her. This is the type of woman I want to be and strive to become.
Her latest song from her movie, Burlesque, is somewhat of an anthem. Titled "You haven't seen the last of me" it is full of uplifting words and listening to it gives me that little push to keep on, keep on going!! I highly recommend you download it to your ipod today and start singing along. You will end up feeling powerful, strong and ready to take on the world!!

New Just Be Handbags To Die For!

Well my friend Suzi has been at it again. I am such a fan of hers and all her amazing creations! Check out our website for her newest bags that you can purchase!! This is just one of many! We even have makeup bags now too or use them as a clutch!!

My Latest Project

I have been working on these great new art pieces. They are 6 inches square and I have painted them and designed them , added a little piece of bling on each one and a hook on the back for hanging anywhere in your home for a bit of inspiration!!
Love them!!!

My New Man

Please meet the new man in my life! Fred. I love his shape, the way he fits in my hand, his uniqueness, and his charming name. Actually there isn't anything I don't like about Fred, other than he is hard to find. What good man isn't, right?

I was first introduced to Fred over a year ago on a trip my daughter and I took to Brooklyn looking at colleges. We stopped at a pizza place before hitting the road back home and there, in the cooler, I came face to, well, face I guess, with Fred. Based on his name and shape I knew I just had to try it. It was cool, refreshing, and really really great tasting water. I was in love!

Then coming home, I looked all over town for Fred but he could not be found. I tried refilling him and putting him in the refrigerator but it just wasn't the same. I was devastated. Fred was nowhere in Western New York to be found. I searched online, even emailing the makers of Fred to see if I could buy Fred by the case, but no luck getting a response. My heart was broken.

Then, in March of this year, my daughter and I were again traveling, this time to Maryland, and on a stop in Pennsylvania, who should we run into. None other than ,
FRED! I was so happy I purchased a whole armload of Fred's and on the way home stopped again to stock up some more.
Well, now my Freds are running low, down to one left, and I am beside myself. What will I do without my Fred. We just had two months of bliss together. I was so happy to see him every time I opened my refrigerator.

So for now its time to say goodbye to Fred, until we meet again. I will keep searching for a way to keep him in my life everyday, hoping that some day someone in Western New York will see in Fred what I see and make him available.

Until then, goodbye my love!

Here is a photo of the top of the desk in the previous post desk makeover!

Thrift Shop Desk Do Over

I was so excited to have a customer bring me this desk she purchased at the local thrift store for 19.99. I live for these moments! She wanted me to do magic to it for her high school daughter who loves all things French. The ideas started pouring out and I was so excited to get started.
First I drybrushed the desk in a cottage white. Then I used one of my favorite blue colors and dry brushed that on so bits of white showed through here and there.

My favorite touch was using antique french dictionary pages and prints of the eiffel tower and some french accents I put on the desktop and then I painted over parts of them so they looked like they had been there forever.
For the grand finish, I then put these beautiful white rose knobs from Anthropologie on the drawers and several coats of polyurethane on the top.

I am very pleased with the final result and so were they!