Showing posts with label tips n tricks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips n tricks. Show all posts

Monday, September 19, 2016

What Are You Focus On?


There you go again! You want that newest glittery, shiny, sparkly object that you don’t have. How marvelous it would be to have that small addition into our lives! Surely it would beautify us, makes us feel like a million bucks, attractive, successful, wonderful, luscious, in love with life! How can you not have that!

Uh oh. Sounds too familiar, isn’t it?

That new shiny-sparkly-glittery object could be a new eyeshadow palette, on sale on Sephora. It could be that brand new oh-so-lovely rose-colored lipstick that hold a thousand promises to bring glamour to our look, and therefore, excitements to our lives! Perhaps it’s the new knick-knack from Dollar Tree, a colorful glass ornament, a new planner, new stickers for our projects that might get us to be more… crafty. Or, on a more dangerous path, it could be a dazzling smile of another man. A man who is not our boring, selfish, unattentive husband. A man who is willing to listen, flatter us and say we look beautiful, shower us with attention. A man who is already married. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Now let’s shift our focus a little bit. Look inside your drawer. You have, what, five eyeshadow palettes that you have not touched for months, because you are already comfortable with the one neutral palette that you keep using every single day. Instead of torturing yourself thinking about THAT one palette that you simply MUST buy, why don’t you think about what are you going to do with the five palettes already stashed in your own drawer? Watch some tutorial videos on YouTube and think how fun it would be to play with those five palettes?
Mix two tones of lipsticks that have been kept idly in your stash and see how it would come out. You can create your own, unique, custom-made-especially-for-you, shade of lipstick. You can even name it to whatever it is your heart desire! Coral Frost. That’s what I came up with mixing two a pale frost shade that is too pale for me, with a matte warm coral shade. Coral on the bottom, frost on the top layer. I got even a better surprise when I mixed the same shades but changed the layers: frost first, coral on top. It came out satiny instead of frosty! I felt a bit like LeeAnne Lauder or LeeAnne Revlon. Or maybe not. But you know what I mean.

What about finally really get down to it and create craft from your mountainous amount of craft supplies in the basement? Invite the neighborhood kids if you feel like feeding your inner Peter Pan and spend an hour or two being creative in your own Never Neverland! You will forget about shopping for new stickers on Etsy if your hands are busy having fun.

If you think that THAT man is much more charming and understanding than your own husband, well, change your focus to what you’ve already had. Yes, Ladies. The man who will be coming home to you tonite may not be very exciting, but he is yours and yours only. Focus on what he has done for you all these years. Think of what he has not done for you all these years: he has not let his eyes and heart wandered to other women, for example. And think about all the wonderful things you would want to do with him, for him, and for both of you that would make your marriage felt alive again. Want a picnic in the park but he never initiates it? Why don’t you prepare the picnic basket, wear a nice autumn dress and invite him along with you? You cannot suddenly kiss the random handsome guy you saw at the grocery store, but you can do so to your dear husband. You can even tickle him a bit and have a laugh!

Don’t focus on what you don’t have. Focus on what you have, and suddenly you will realize that what you’ve already had is nice and wonderful, just as well!


For today’s look, instead of coveting a new dress, I had a bit of fun by giving this old dress a new, fresher look with some layering. Check it out and let me know which look you like best: the original look, or the layered look.





Monday, May 2, 2016

One Can Do A Lot With Old Office Uniform

Sometimes, the good things in life really come for free.
At my previous office, uniform is a must. Hence, every year, we girls receive a uniform set consists of two short-sleeved plain black shirts, two white ones, two black blazers, two pairs of black slacks, and one black pencil skirt. Now that I've moved to my current office, I'm free to experiment and be creative with this free, versatile piece: the black shirt.

I can wear it belted with a scarf, like in this post.
Accented with this huge purple bead necklace, like in this post. Ow, forgive the squinted eye...

Wear it under this Missoni-inspired baggy tank, cinched with a belt, like this.

Layer it with a lavender vest like I did here, like a school girl!

Pair it with my Mom's vintage skirt for dinner and watching sunset at the beach, like this.

Ooooor, even spruce it up with a children's necklace for casual days, like here!

See? Free stuff, Ladies! And it works wonders in terms of versatility!

Monday, February 1, 2016

One Resolution A Month: Purging Part 2

 
 
Hi Lovely Friends!
 
Here's an update of my one resolution per month project. You can read about what I'm doing in this post here, but in summary, it's programming yourself to do one, - yes, just one, so it is very feasible and achievable - resolution per month on a consistent, daily basis; thus within a year we will have accomplished twelve resolutions in total, which doesn't sound too shabby, ain't it!

I am perfectly aware that by the third week of January, the word "resolution" has a stinking feeling to it. Terri Savelle Foy claimed that 30% of those who set New Year's resolution for themselves quit in the first week. And then we feel guilty, and yet twelve months later we keep doing the stinking mistake all over again.
 
Now, I'd say, why do we have to wait until the clock strikes midnight on December 31st to improve ourselves? Self improvement is like tax, it's for a lifetime. Just because it's already February and therefore can no longer be considered as New Year, it doesn't mean we cannot start something fresh, anew, a good habit, make a resolution to better the quality of our lives and make us feel better about ourselves, right here and NOW!

My January resolution was to declutter, to purge one unneeded item per day. So how did I do?
  • There were many many days when I purged more than one item!
  • There were many many happy recipients who are blessed with things that I purged. A girl maid received a lovely mint cardigan that had become too tight on me. The man who hauls our trash daily received lots and lots odds and ends from our home that we no longer care for, but he could sell for some money. The local gardeners and security guards received promotional T-shirts, notebooks, and jackets that Hubby and I regularly received for free from the companies we work for.
  • On days that I couldn't think to get rid of anything tangible, I purged unneded files, pictures, or videos from my hard drive.
  • I don't limit myself to just stuff inside my drawer/closet/cupboard, but expanding it into unneeded furniture, as well! A neighbor gladly took a small drawer that had been sitting idle and on everybody's way for months, empty and not adding anything to the room but the nagging feeling of "I don't need this, it should not be here." I also got rid of two old shoe racks and an old chair that had become an eyesore.
  • Hubby donated a box full of books to a local school project for underprivileged children.
  • It feels soooooooooooooo good to know that so many unneeded items have left my home, and that some of them even could benefit other people!
  • Whenever I open my closet/cupboard/bathroom/storage or see the empty spots where I used to "display" my unneeded items, as well as the rooms where it used to feel so cramped with uneeded, unlovely furnitures, I feel so much relief and much much less guilty feeling of having so many stuff that I don't need!
  • I have done major purging and decluttering in the past, but only sporadically. Knowing that I only need to purge ONE item per day instead of going through a whole closet/room, encouraged me to get down and actually do it; because it did not feel overwhelming or overly ambitious.
  • I didn't need to set aside a spesific time to do this "project". I am only about to toss ONE thing! So I have no excuse that I'm too busy, since purging one item literally doesn't take time at all! And quite often, I ended up purging more than one item, so that's a bonus!
I like to see how much I have gained with this new habit, I am so happy with my progress, that I decided to prolong the "purge one unneded item per day" habit another month till February, just to make sure the habit of regular purging really sticks with me.

This is a resolution that I'm sure I can carry for years to come, because eventhough we are not shopping a lot, people always give us things and we receive a lot of things for free all the time, sent to our home. I still have so many things to purge: seasonal decorations, digital files, plastic food and drink containers. Lots! So I want to make sure that this habit will stay with me instead of deteriorating if I try to eat more than I could chew and add a brand new habit or resolution to my plate.
What's your resolution for February?


I'm linking up to these wonderful Ladies:

Monday


Tuesday

Wednesday


Thursday

Friday

Saturday
Sunday

Thursday, January 7, 2016

One Resolution A Month: January is to Declutter

Hi Lovely Friends!

Happy New Year and have a blessed 2016 for us all!

Here's an update of my one resolution per month project. You can read about what I'm doing in this post here, but in summary, it's programming yourself to do one, - yes, just one, so it is very feasible and achievable - resolution per month on a consistent, daily basis; thus within a year we will have accomplished twelve resolutions in total, which doesn't sound too shabby, ain't it!

We don't need to wait for New Year to better ourselves. But since this is the beginning of the year, I think it's just so apt.

My November resolution was taking up yoga twice a week, which has been working very well. My office built an employee gym and it has started operations in October. Since then I have been attending yoga class religiously twice a week. It's much easier to commit myself to doing it, when I don't need to drive to the nearest mall, look for a parking spot, then walk across the mall to reach the gym. Very convenient, and I'm so grateful that my office now has the facility.

December was a busy month, with so many things happened, and rushing to finish everything before holidays. I knew better not to overpromise myself anything for that particular month, or else I would be tormented with guilty feeling have I failed to deliver. December is to wrap up everything needs wrapping up, and welcoming the most wonderful times of the year: Christmas to commemorate the birth of Christ, and year end holiday.
Here's my January resolution:
Decluttering project: purge one unneeded item per day.
It sounds simple, but I know it's not really. There are times when I know I have TOO many things, yet I cannot persuade myself to part with any of them, even stuff that I have not used for years. I want to embrace a simpler life, because I have learned that simplifying my life brings forth enormous freedom and gifts of sanity, clearer mind, and more time to spend with family, loved ones and nurturing my one-on-one time with the Lord.
What's your resolution for 2016, or simply for January?
I'm linking up to these wonderful Ladies:

Monday


Tuesday

Wednesday


Thursday

Friday

Saturday
Sunday
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