Saturday, October 17, 2009

Day 11- Love Your Life Challenge, Validate

Validate your feelings
How many times have you heard or have you said “It's no big deal, there are people that are worse off then me” or something like it?

Everyone has stuff and just because there is someone worse off then you (and then always will be) doesn’t mean you are not entitled TO BE and feel.
Validate your feelings!
You have a right to be pissed off! Guilt free and it is more then OK.
Yeah, other people may have it tougher and they may be worse off but right here right now if you are happy, sad, frustrated, angry that is OK.

WHY?

Because once you get it out there you can move on, no matter how big or how small it may be negative "stuff" festers and that is where it begins. The essential part is MOVING ON. You have a right to be.
If your Partner or whoever else does not acknowledge how you are feeling then make them understand. Even within yourself, by validating your own feelings within yourself you are allowing yourself the freedom to be and think and therefore move on. Voice and move on and laugh about how silly it was later!
When you let things fester and a small problem will become big problem if it isn’t dealt with straight away. So validate! If the significant other respects you they will understand and support you and your feelings.

Look at things and people for how they are, are you pretending or do you know a pretender?

Stepford wives are 2 things
1.They are pretending because they don’t want to deal with their ‘stuff’ or maybe their stuff just hasn’t happened yet. But 9 times out of 10 I will say they are pretending because they have chosen that material things are more important then actually dealing with their ‘stuff’. However it’s just a smoke screen because you and I both know that happiness comes from within that is true success.


2.They can have their perfect make up, their perfect hair, their perfect bodies, their perfect houses and drive their perfect cars but at least you and I are keeping it real sister! When is the last time you think they let their hair down had a true belly laugh and laughed out loud because it was so funny!

Respect yourself! We feel for a reason so validate and move on.


This week's Prizes, brace yourself!

* Jewelery from the awesome Cherry Mag
* The coolest hamper ever by Hamperific
* A colour analysis valued at $330 by best Image Consultant of all time Imogen Lamport

* Feel like the star you are with a Photo Shoot and prints at MJPhotography valued at $540

I'm a finalist!


I had been nominated and am now a finalist (YAY!)for the Australian's Women's Blog Awards if you would like to vote for my good self you can do so at the Business Mums Network

Guest Post on Problogger

I recently had the honor of writing a Guest Post for the extremely talented and hugely successful Problogger.
With it attracting 40 comments and 118 Retweets!

Freedom To Be

Love Your Life Challenge- Week 2 WINNERS


Week 2 WINNERS
* Mad Cow & Moonchild you guys have won a new "DO" at award winning ZUCCI Hairdressing
* Vegemite Vix you can snuggle up and get inspired by SPROUT The Life You Love
* Bell You have scored the most fabulous creation ever Magnetic Meal Planner

If I don't have your postal address can you please email me braqueen@gmail.com

The next 2 weeks are going to be great with THE BEST PRIZES so keep those comments coming!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Day 10- Love Your Life Challenge, Eyebrows...

PERFECT EYEBROW SHAPE
Ahhhhh the answer to that million $ question!

This small thing can TRANSFORM your entire face! I kid you not. Where to start:

The perfect OR the most suitable OR the best brow shape is your natural one.

•Brush your eyebrows so they are in the same direction.
•Your eyebrows have 3 main points-
1.Inner eye should match up with the beginning of your eyebrow.
2.Your pupil is to be in line with the highest point of your eyebrow i.e. the arch
3.Your eyebrow needs to finish so it’s in line with your outer eye.
•You may want to draw a line to outline what you need to take off. But basically everything that goes outside of the 3 points above you need to take off!

PLEASE NO QUESTION MARK ? EYEBROWS! You know when you have that chuck at the inner eye you want to take that inner corner OUT. So you have a nice smooth angle.

Tips-
•If you have thick eyebrows. Don’t make them super thin you’ll look ridiculous when they are growing back.
•Don’t pluck the top of your eyebrows you still want them to look natural, so don’t go there unless you know actually what you are doing.
•If you have thin eyebrows you may need to use an eyebrow pencil or even an eye shadow to make them look thicker. If they are too thin they won’t complement your face. You want them to help shape your face.
•Use the tip of the tweezers and pull in the direction of your hair growth. You can also use your fingers to stretch the skin so you can see each hair easier.
•If you aren’t very good at seeing shapes then go to a professional then you can maintain yourself at home.

A small thing that makes you look totally different! GO GIRL.


OK! So we are 10 days in and how are you feeling?

•Are you following your ‘To Do’ list
•Have you written down everything that has annoyed you or made you angry
•Have you worn your sexy lingerie set yet
•Brows………. Off you go there is no time like the present.

In the final 2 weeks I have THE BEST PRIZES TO GIVEAWAY! So keep those comments coming.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Day 9- Love Your Life Challenge, Hair!!!

Guest Post- Roxanne Jowett-Hall, Creative Director Zucci Hairdressing

Fringes are the hottest things for spring summer 09 BUT you have to know how to style them.
Here is an example of what could happen to you:

You go to your salon and you show your stylist a picture of your favorite celebrity or model with the perfect fringe that you would love. Your hairdresser agrees that it will look amazing on you, then cuts and styles it…. and…. you walk out of the salon feeling amazing.
Two days latter you wash your hair, you go to blow wave your fringe and you realize you have no idea how to recreate the look yourself, or even better you are one of the lucky ones, you have a cowlick and your hair is sticking straight out from your head.
Is this you?
Well then…
You will need
1x Paddle Brush (flat brush) the best one I have ever used is the AVEDA Paddle Brush $49.95.
1x Round brush or straightening irons (GHD’s are the best on the market, a very good investment).
1x A Styling Product, I recommend AVEDA Phomollient $29.95, it will give you a little bit of lift and give you control of your hair.
1x A LIGHT (as in not rock hard) Hair Spray, I love AVEDA’s Air Control $39.95
1x Hairdryer.

Step 1.
Start with a wet fringe that has been towel dried
Step 2.
Apply a small amount of product in the fringe; make sure you distribute it evenly. If our using AVEDA Phemollient then half a pump would be perfect just for the fringe area.
Step 3.
Brush your fringe forward, it will make it easy to blow wave.
Step 4.
Using the hairdryer and the brush, start drying your fringe down and to the left for 3 seconds……. Then brush it down onto your face for 3 seconds…… Then down and to the right for 3 seconds…. and forward onto your face for 3 seconds. Continue to go back and forth until ALL the hair in the fringe is dry.
(If you have a cowlick you can be quite aggressive with the brushing so that you encourage your cowlick to sit flat and not wherever it wants to go.)
The reason you use this back and forth motion is so you dry your hair with no particular part, it can sit anywhere you want it to go, forward or to the side.
Step 5.
Once you have done this, take your fringe in one big section and bring it out in front of you (so it sits like a veranda to your eyes) use your round brush or straightening irons so create a small amount of bend to the very ends of the fringe (this will ensure the fringe sits well). Then drop the fringe down.
Step 6.
Style the rest of the hair to reflect the look you would like to go for. (It doesn’t matter if your fringe gets disturbed through out this process because you will be able to put it back into place when you have finished drying all the hair)
Step 7.
Finish with your light hairspray, especially on the fringe area. Fringes look best when they move so don’t get too carried away with the spray.

And there you have it, you can wear your fringe wherever you want it and even better, your cowlick should be sitting flatter and it shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes….
Remember the more you do this styling technique the better you become… just like anything practice makes perfect…

If you would like a fringe for this spring summer, the hottest ones to have are forward, sweeping or even parted in the middle.
Forward fringes should be long (touching the eye lashes) heavy, straight across with a little bit of curve on the sides and very soft on the ends
Sweeping or middle parted fringes again should be heavy but very soft on the ends so they seamlessly blend into the rest of the haircut.
But always take your stylist opinion on what will look the best for you;
Always match your fringe to the shape of your face.

Happy Styling

Rox
www.zucci.com.au
Melbourne
03 9654 8456

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Day 8- Love Your Life Challenge, Clear Your Head

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

Today we DE CLUTTER! De clutter our homes and we will be clutter our minds.

It is a fact that if you live in unorganized chaos then you can’t think straight. So go to that draw or that cupboard and sort that shit out!
•If you haven’t worn it in a year throw it out
•If it’s broken throw it out
•If you don’t use it throw it out
•Attack that filing cabinet clear out all that paper crap you’re holding onto for no reason.

Do it and tell me you don’t feel on top of things!
Let’s go, Let’s go, Let’s go! No distractions.



Food for thought! Have you ever wondered why people get annoyed at different things?

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Day 7- Love Your Life Challenge, Depression

Guest Post- Amanda and her story on Post Natal Depression
I was asked to other day “What is depression like?” by someone clearly interested, but with no experience of it.

How do you explain depression? It’s so different for each individual, and my experience is my own experience, based on, well, my own experiences. My particular life stage, too, is (was back then) similar to some, but different to many.

In hindsight, I guess I ‘suffered’ depression during my teens and early twenties. But my conscious experience of it was during my first pregnancy and for the first 18 months or so of my son’s life. I’ve had moments since, but it is this period that is most pertinent to me.

To explain it to someone who has no experience of it, the simplest explanation is to liken it to the Dementors in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. They’re described as having the ability to suck “all the happiness and hope out of the world” and leaving you feeling like you “will never be cheerful again”.

Only with the Dementors, everyone feels the same. The world goes black and dark and cold. The world suits your mood and your feelings and your thoughts. You feel safe in your despair.

Depression leaves you feeling alone and unsafe. Your cold, dark black world is not matched by the smiling faces of your family and friends telling you how gorgeous/clever/funny your baby is. Nor by the intensely blue sky and radiant sunshine. Your cold, dark, black world sits, unaccompanied, in a warm, bright, cheerful place.

It doesn’t fit.

My understanding of depression at the time was that it was characterised by a powerful sadness.

I didn’t feel sad.

I felt frustrated. Extremely, uncontrollably frustrated.

I’d had a non-textbook birth, a ‘natural’ labour ending in an emergency caesarean. Thus commenced my doubts about my abilities to be a good mother. Or any sort of mother at all. I hadn’t “given birth” to him, so how could I be his mother?

To compensate, I read all the books. I had to do this right, to be the best mother I could be. I had to do it by the book; to get everything right.

I also had a non-textbook baby. He slept through from a week old. I had no breastfeeding issues. He didn’t need to be held close to me and was happy lying on the floor, or sleeping in his cot.

The result of this was the lack of understanding from those around me. What could I possibly have to be worried/concerned/sad/frustrated/angry about? At least I had a “good baby”.

My frustration compounded, I had no release for my anger or angst. I had no one to turn to, no help or support from relatives, and an amazing husband who could do nothing right. Because I wouldn’t let him. I found fault with everything he did, try as he might.

The darkness that set over me, the bleakness and blackness was not sadness or despair. My thoughts were consumed with death. Mostly my own. Sometimes others.

I would become frightened that people would die. Just drop dead. The phone would ring, and when I answered I was overwhelmed with visions of the person on the other end dying. Sometimes just … dying. Other times in horrific, bloody accidents. Or illnesses.

Mostly, my world was overwhelmed by how I could stop my life. My drive out to uni, along a freeway, consisted of checking out every pole, every tree, every truck. I wondered if I should drive in front of one and brake, or turn into the path of another.

Preparing meals gave me something to focus on, to control. It was monotonous, yet purposeful. And flooded with visions of the knife sliding the length of my forearm and the blood running down my arm as I continued to slice the carrots.

My analytic mind, perhaps in an attempt to gain any sense of something tangible, would attempt to calculate how long before I collapsed, died, someone found me. Would they find me before I died? And how would they react.

Long, warm baths, infused with determining how long I would need to hold my head under before I drowned, and whether my body, in an attempt to survive, would force me back up, or if my mind would override this instinct were a regular occurrence.

Under this blackness, underlying these thoughts and feelings, I had retained, although I didn’t know it, an ability to see the funny in all situations. I did see a GP who diagnosed me, at 10 months post partum, with depression. I’d gone for a routine pap smear, and burst into tears. She immediately had me referred to a psychologist, where I contemplated a frivolous discussion about my stressful life, but when she came back to me, coffee in hand, I confessed.

I was prescribed anti-depressants and weekly counselling. The combination dulled the black; the suicidal thoughts stopped, and I found humor in my life again. I could see my inability to muddle together a cup of instant coffee was no reflection on my ability to parent. My birthing experience had also shown me that things happen, and everyone has their own story, experiences and beliefs. None of them are wrong, they just are.

A miscarriage, another baby boy, a degree, a business and yet another baby boy later, I still can’t manage some mornings to make a proper coffee, but I can laugh at it. Just as I can laugh at the ridiculousness of the situations I sometimes find myself in.

The Dementors do attempt a visit sometimes, but Mad Cow (so named by my husband) has the ability to laugh them off.

My motto: If you don’t laugh, you’ll probably slit your wrists.

It’s true for some, and was for me. However, as dark and humorless as those times were, I am thankful for them, because they have made me a more resourceful, compassionate and empowering person. Not just to my family, but to many.

If you are feeling anything like this please see your G.P or go to
Beyond Blue.


If you feel like you just want to have a Wah Wah and not get judged then I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you go to Real Mums. It's a place you can go and be free to talk about whatever you want too. Have a whine about your kids or whoever, you don't have to feel like your are a shit parent because you let your kids sit in front of a TV or you don't play with them enough.
YOU'RE REAL AND YOU'RE YOU AND THAT'S OK!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Day 6- Love Your Life Challenge, Eating!


Make the decision to eat healthier. What is your weak spot? It may be a food you eat OR it may be organizing what you eat OR your portion size.

Here is your task-
Plan your meals, for 3 reasons
•You will save time and energy trying to think of what you are cooking.
•You will save money because you are eliminating those drop in/last minute grocery shops.
•You will eat healthier so then you will feel better.

Here are some tips for you-

•Focus in your main meal, presumably dinner.
•Decide what you would like to eat in a week fish, chicken, red meat etc
•Think about how you cook it opt for grilling opposed to frying
•Try to limit “packet foods” use fresh herbs instead.
•So it may be something like this-
Monday- Fish
Tuesday- Chicken
Wednesday- Steak
Thursday- Fish
Friday- Chicken

Then with it you just have to choose what you want with it like salad, veggies, cous cous, rice whatever….

Give yourself a “free day” to eat whatever you want too.

Lunch-
I find the best and quickest lunches are salad or soup. I try to think of things other then sandwiches, soup is my fav I make a big batch for the week.

HOT TIP- I am shocking for portion, I tend to eat very little during the day and eat a big meal for dinner. What I have done to stop this is have scheduled snacks in between like yogurt, corn thins with cottage cheese on them, fruit, nuts and have a smaller meal at night. Healthy snacks NOT CRAP! Maybe you can bake healthy muffins?

HOTTEST TIP- If you snack after dinner try brushing your teeth after dinner it will stop that urge from eating!


You may want to read Eating Healthy Is Easy or Urban Smiler has some good tips as well!

Do you have any tips?


THIS WEEK'S PRIZES-
* A new "DO" at award winning ZUCCI Hairdressing
* SPROUT The Life You Love from Award Winning Entrepreneur Sarah Pout
* New To The Streets Magnetic Meal Planner by the fabulous Mum e Assistant a must for every Family!