A New Year: A New You?

Yes, maybe, think about what was working for you in 2014 and see if you can change other things in your life, not just personally, but your outlook and view. I know everyone says to think positive, whatever that means, it's so flat and meaningless. Start with introversion, think about yourself for the moment and also how you can enrich other people's lives by your mere presence. 

Here are some quick changes you can make now, and inspiring ideas for yourself, your home, and hopefully, your bank account. I can't express enough that you need to pare down and stop with all the holiday waste and ring in the New Year as a new you, nope, not new, just refined and with plenty of what? Style.

Things to stop doing now:

Tacky, ugly nail designs. Your nails should be a no color clear gloss if you are not the nail type, and if you like color, pick one to compliment your outfits for the week. Don't wear all the colors at one time or a mish mash of designs, even if it is New Years.

Cheap ugly flowers. Ditch these in your home and in your office. Select fresh flowers and plants and place them on a table or mantel, or even in the kitchen, to brighten an area. Some fake accents look fine if used sparingly, but be selective and don't be afraid to throw out those dirt collectors, called dried flowers.

Get rid of useless decor. Nothing looks worse then some glass bowl or container with stuff crammed in it. Whoever thought this up with layers of junk on display squished into some clear glass thing, needs to go to prison and return everyone's hard earned cash they spent on it. Dump it now; you won't regret it.












Things you can do right now:

Set a pretty table. It is easy to change it with the seasons or celebrations. You don't have to spend a lot of money, but be creative. Small touches go a long way and you can mix the real with the fake, but think about your overall color scheme and do not just add clutter. Pick a basic neutral, then layer color on top.

Set a pretty face. Normally, you need to focus on one feature, the eyes, however, if you are not a makeup person [omg], remember clear skin is a must, so dig out that sheer foundation and loose powder, add some color on the lips and you are set. Blondes need to watch it with too much eye makeup, they will look stupid, brunettes can do just about anything they want, red heads need to tread carefully, as their hair is the focus. Choose warm colors and neutrals. If you love strong color on your perfect mouth, then ease up on the rest of the face for everyday wear.

Happy New Year

and don't forget to live your life with Style

Weight Lifting For Beginners

Nope, not those heavy packages you are lifting from all your shopping this holiday season since you decided to have some style and stop with the overspending and making everyone else rich but yourself, and decide to add some weight to your life in the form of working out, exercising, whether you are male or female, it's time to start lifting, it will lift your spirits as well as that behind of yours that will go south if you don't step up your game.

Very basic stuff here, start with three and five pound weights. Work up to ten and twenty pound weights, maybe thirty at the outside; anything more is for the pros and serious workout artists. 

1) If you are at a loss, buy a tape or DVD. I still love "Fabio Fitness", it's awesome for beginners and intermediate. There are plenty of tapes to choose from so pick one and get going.  

2) Remember: Stretch first and learn the weight lifting exercises first using no weights. After you are warmed up, pick up the 3 lb weight, too light? Try the 5 lb weight but use nothing heavier for the first four - eight weeks.

3) Many experts say you must do the same exercises every other day, using a different set of muscle groups. So if you have the same set of exercises, you can only do them every other day. However, if you start light, and don't over work yourself, it is safe to exercise the same muscle groups every day as your body gets used to working with weights. If you are doing a very hard workout, then rotate the muscle groups every other day.

4) Try for at least 20 - 30 minutes each day.

5) Weights are for the whole body. When you do squats and lunges, hold a weight in each hand, holding the weight upward, not down alongside the body because you will have no resistance and not work your upper and lower body together.

There are literally dozens and dozens of different exercises you can do using weights. Even the traditional floor exercises and stomach curls, you can hold one weight in your hands as you do sit ups. As you get used to it, you will find your favorite exercises and have fun discovering new ones as you get stronger and stronger. Your posture and balance will improve as will your self esteem.

Get started today so when all those sad little losers around you ask what your New Year's resolution is, you can say you are already doing it, and doing it well.

Develop Your Style: Holiday Decorating

Stop, stop, stop with the standard stale ugly Christmas decorating year after year, the stuff you drag out of the closet and dust off and display, especially the useless habit of buying a real tree and attempting to get it inside the house wasting time decorating it and panicking if one of your pets or the kids touch it or accidentally destroys the stale display.

Develop your own style, experiment with different looks, styles, textures, and colors. Create a relaxing and pleasant home atmosphere and stop with the clutter, it's ugly, but you are not. You should have fun developing style and personality of your own, and stop being just busy at the end of each year, and have some fun, take time off from work, and enjoy the closing of another year as we plan an exciting new year. Don't be consumed with storing away that same ol' xmas junk, toss it, donate it to some other sucker stuck in a time warp and style warp, start fresh, and don't feel you need to store away the same decorations like a rabid squirrel terrified of where its next meal is coming from. Toss it, recycle it, start fresh and new and get your mind working on new ideas and your personal style. 

Here are a few examples to get you started:

Now this is style! If you can score a bunch of these oversized Christmas ornaments, go for it. I love the color scheme here and the lighting will make you look gorgeous as people start snapping away with their candid photo shots, you will always look good in a room like this.

This is a beautiful display. Notice the gorgeous lighting and color scheme with only a few touches of red. This is an inviting, crisp look for the holidays.

I love the simplicity of this holiday decor, it is very pretty and easily taken down once the holidays are over. You can either store it, or donate it and start fresh next year. It is a good start to develop your own style. It isn't fussy or overdone, and could handle pet and kid traffic.

Are you decorating outdoors? Love this idea to decorate existing trees on your property. Looks easy, uncluttered and fun, and should be pretty sturdy in the weather, providing the ornaments are plastic and fairly lightweight should one break free and fall to the ground.

If you can't tear yourself away from that tree every year, decorate a table top or mantle with a small tree. Use your imagination on how to decorate it, and don't limit yourself to the standard xmas colors or decorations. Develop your own style and again, toss it or donate it at the end of the season and start fresh with new ideas for next year.

What about decorating a xmas ladder instead of a tree? Think about it, not a bad option, especially if you live in a small space. Just box up or donate the ornaments and you have a functional item year round [hang scarves, ties, throws, anything].

THE CLOUDED MIND SEES NOTHING.

CLEAR YOUR MIND AND YOUR HOUSE OF CLUTTER.

YOU WILL REVEAL A NEW YOU AND 

LIKE WHAT YOU DISCOVER

Holiday Ideas

Is it December again? I know, everyone says where did the year go? Hopefully it was filled with so much fun the time just flew by as we prepare to start fresh for 2015, but don't rush things, here are some ideas to spend December in a fun and relaxing way and stop making the corporations rich for another season and start enriching yourself and those around you.

Gifts

No need to spend a lot of money, buy a few pretty scented candles [be careful if you have pets or small kids]. If you are buying as a gift, I think disposable gifts are the best. Sometimes you buy someone a gift and they wonder where the heck they are going to put it, but candles? Use them and toss them, or save the votive for more candles, and they look pretty anywhere you place them.

You will never go wrong with jewels, for you or a friend, yes the real stuff, stop wasting your hard earned cash on the fake stuff, however, a few of the fake is not bad, I truly hate mixing the real with the fake as I have seen so many women make that mistake and it looks tacky. If you are on a budget, pick a few small pieces of the real stuff, if you wear the fake, only wear fake, but pick nice pieces, and don't wear everything you own all at one time...examples?

Good example of how to wear fashion [fake] jewelry. Large pieces look good and still doesn't overpower the model. Keep it in the same color family.

Looking for some of the real stuff? Anything from one of these blue boxes would do nicely. Surprisingly, Tiffany's does offer a lot of nice jewelry at non-millionaire prices.

Good example of wearing the real thing, make sure they match in size.

Good example of what NOT to do; even though you can afford tons of diamonds, do not wear them all at once.

Food

Watch your waistline as you browse the shops this year and start the day with herbal tea or coffee, making sure you eat something within the first half hour of waking to keep your system on an even keel.

Opt for a vegan lunch or dinner to lighten up this holiday season and get you started on a new you for 2015. [Pictured above are roasted carrots with mushroom, cashews and bread; check various Internet sites for some vegan or vegetarian recipe ideas to fit your taste.]

Movies

A few of my holiday favorites as we close out 2014 and ease our way into a new year and a year of more fun.

Turkey Day Again?

I know, everyone loves the Thanksgiving holiday that is coming up rapidly next week, and I think I have made it clear that I steer clear of animal food products, especially meat from poultry, lamb, beef and pork and especially at all costs try my best to avoid all dairy products. I say, try my best, because I love real cheese on a panini sandwich with lettuce and tomato but limit myself to never having it; I mean, cold turkey folks.

And what about that cold or heated turkey, I mean unless you are walking out into your backyard and chopping off the head of your own turkey, that turkey you are buying in the store is years old and FROZEN as in FROZEN, like from the earth's ice age.

There are no healthy benefits to stuffing your waistline with turkey meat, and god knows what is being fed to those turkeys before you incinerate it inside your oven. They are fed all sorts of stuff to fatten them up for slaughter, but we are talking about a slaughter that probably happened when American Indians actually still owned and lived on the plains of America. So you are eating old meat, with zero benefits, I mean, let's just say it, there are alternatives to padding the bank accounts of corporate America pushing products and pushing the slaughter industry onto the public around the holidays.

As I always say, and I am quoted often, save your money for important things, or a nice treat for yourself or a family member; a nice vacation or something you have been saving for as a reward to yourself for another year well done, another year where you have worked your best to enrich your well-being and focus on your nest egg as you enjoy each day knowing you are trying to live a cruelty free life, with the only cruelty being that alarm clock that rings at the crack of noon to wake you for another hard day of facing that cruel world out there as not all people have the same intelligence as you have. So, try and enjoy the holiday season with window shopping on Main Street, that stroll along the ocean in the crisp air, or gabbing with the girlfriends proud of your salad days waistline that will strengthen yourself and the people who rely on you.

Behind The Bed

What do you do with that wall space behind your bed? Isn't the standard headboard a bit dull? Even that built in bookcase routine is pretty bad, I mean, who uses their bed as a library? Well, no readers of mine, that's who, as a bed is for slumber not getting your Ph.D., well, not really, depends on who you are studying.

I found a few ideas from various sites on the web to handle that trouble spot behind the bed that might spark some ideas of your own as we head into the cooler months and that nice warm bed seems very inviting as you end your busy day of lunching with the girls and ferreting out those special steals in the quaint shops on Main Street and settle down with vino and chocolates thinking about nothing but that much needed night of sweet dreams...or making a few memories.

The Onion

Cold and flu season is here, and allergy season is usually every season, but believe me, these small changes in your diet will work wonders. I know, I know, onions are awful, but we are talking here about fresh raw onions, and specifically, the golden onion. 

Need some quick tips for feeling well this season? I don't think I have made it a secret that everyone should avoid animal based food products at all costs; however, I am the first to acknowledge the benefits of fish and seafood. Plain ol' tuna fish in a can packed with water [not oil] helps alleviate sniffles and runny noses. You can mix the tuna with onions and celery on top of lettuce with avocado and tomato for a plain salad. Opt for that tuna fish sandwich sans cheese for lunch along with a veggie salad sans those globs of fat sitting on top of the lettuce commonly called beef or chicken.

This is an easy diet if you begin to feel under the weather and just might help you avoid that dreaded dull doctor's visit. You will start feeling back on track with your shopping schedule in no time.

Stop with your regular diet for a week, and start this routine:

2 cups of black coffee in the morning to ease any breathing difficulties

Raw onion with plain, real sugar at bedtime to ease coughing

Pearl onions peeled, raw or boiled, as a snack when you start to feel ill

Large raw onion diced and peeled [of course] added to hot soup

Drink hot water with fresh lemon

Drink hot teas, especially Ginger, Licorice, or any variety you like with fresh lemon

Drink hot water with a tiny amount of iodized salt and lemon for an upset stomach

Pearl onions as a snack or with hot veggie soup or broth will get you back on track in no time.

Don't forget your surroundings, a comfortable bed when you are striving to recover and get back into your routine is important; tune into a classic movie channel, and scented candles can do wonders while you cleanse your system of bad food and liquor and start thinking about how you feel and not only how great you look when facing that world out there.

Lush Life: Remembering Oscar de la Renta

Sad news of the passing of a fashion icon, Oscar de la Renta, and his lavish and lush dresses are easily recognizable on any girl as they catch the eye and fulfill every girl's wishes of how she wants to look, like a princess...and don't think you have to be especially tall or thin to wear one of his exceptional gowns, here are a few examples in remembrance of a great man with extreme style: