Monday, October 31, 2011

I had "off-the-charts" fun this past weekend dressed as a 60's go-go girl! (I now know why they say blondes have more fun!) Goodness gracious....all these years I've chosen to not dress up; to just enjoy everyone else in their costumes.....never again. I had so much fun; danced my heart out, and probably burned more calories than a black cat chasing your neighborhood ghoul! So much for that relaxing weekend post that I was preaching about on Friday! Haha! 
Enjoy, my friends...and be safe!

"Fun is good."
-Dr. Seuss





Friday, October 28, 2011

You've earned it . . . .

Take a deep breath. It's been a crazy week and we all need to decompress. Don't let the stresses of the week overpower you. It's the weekend, and it's time to make room for relaxation. If your passion and joy went by the wayside this week due to stress, you owe it to yourself to bring the pleasures and energies that feed your soul, back into your life. Do it for your own well-being......for health's sake! Learning how to relax is so important! It brings a balance in our life that allows us to be more productive, and helps to keep burn out, stress-related illness and insomnia at bay. I mentioned in an earlier post about how it's so easy for us to fill our free time with errands and busy work, so the first thing we need to do is recognize that we need to make time to relax. It's not always necessary to fill our time busying ourselves with things that can wait! If you don't make the time, it won't happen. I promise, Monday will show up soon enough.  C'mon.....you've earned it.  Take a few minutes to regain that sense of peace that you so deserve. Slow down. Restore your body with healthy choices. Feed your soul with the things that matter most to you. Take a long walk. Listen to your favorite music. Pamper yourself. Take a long, hot bath. Lose yourself in a good book.  Smile, or better yet, laugh! S-t-r-e-t-c-h. Find your personal paradise, and enjoy.

"Sometimes the most important thing 
in a whole day
 is the rest we take between breaths."
-Etty Hillesum

Happy Friday my friends.
Have a wonderful (and relaxing) weekend!
xo

Thursday, October 27, 2011


Photo by
Ken Gallagher

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

I do believe that if people would just start by saying
"it's fun," when it seems hard;
"I'm happy," when they seem sad;
and "I know," when it seems as if they don't,
they'd finally discover 
that it really is,
they really are,
and they always have.

Works for me,
The Universe

(The Universe really does rock!)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Photo of Marilyn Monroe via Pinterest

Monday, October 24, 2011

Go there! . . . .

Let's just say that you were given the chance to go anywhere in the world, money is not an issue, and you're leaving tomorrow ......... where would you go? If you could throw caution to the wind, would you  jet set to the South of France, Tahiti or Morocco? New York City, Hawaii or Greece? If you're a foodie, maybe it's Rome where you can indulge in fresh-made pasta & sauces, or enjoy amazing pizza. 

Please don't think that these types of vacations only happen to others. Living the life of your dreams is for YOU just as much as it is for the next person! But first you have to stop the negative thoughts such as "It'll never happen." Listen....you can't reach a goal that you don't have! Decide that you can make your dream vacation a reality, and start today. Set the goal and work towards it. I promise, IT CAN HAPPEN FOR YOU! 

  • Start by deciding where it is that you'd like to go. Stop by your local bookstore and pick up a travel magazine.
  • Cut out pictures of your dream destination.
  • Hang this visual image somewhere where you can see it regularly. The simple act of converting your dream to a visual image has a way of stimulating creative thoughts, and that's what will bring you closer to it becoming a reality.
  • Share your dream with someone that you know will support & encourage you, not someone who will discredit your thoughts.
  • Take action. If it means you have to make small changes in your life to reach your goal, then do it! But think of the process of fulfilling your dream as an adventure, not a chore.
  • Be persistent. There are lots of options as to how you might achieve your goal.....if one doesn't work, go to the next one.
  • Be patient. Dreams don't just happen overnight. Never give up. 
"Let's go out and let stories happen to us. Let's work them, water them....till they bloom"

-Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Photo by Greg Bajor via flickr

Friday, October 21, 2011

Pure Pleasures of Orange . . . .

Pumpkins.

Oven baked sweet potato fries.

Autumn leaves.

No-bake pumpkin cheesecake cookies.

A VW bus in a tree. 
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Sunsets.
Photo taken by me 
on Lake Michigan.


Happy Friday, my friends!
Have a lovely weekend!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

It's all you can do . . . .


....and that's okay.
Never 
stop 
trying.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

When you look in the mirror, 
do you look for what you love most?


Do you smile?

Did you just ask, 
"Is there any other reason to look into a mirror?"
(Smartie.)

Please tell your friends 
to never look into a mirror without smiling!

-via Notes from The Universe

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

A playful mind . . . .

As adults, we can get boxed in pretty easily. We lose spontaneity. We're always on a schedule, filling our free time with errands, and we forget to play.  When was the last time you pulled out a box of crayons? You don't have to be Picasso to create your own masterpiece! You're already capable of being creative! You've just convinced yourself that creativity is something that other people have. Not true! Stop these imaginary mental images, and change your perspective. We are all inspired by something! Focus on what it is that inspires YOU, and simply allow your imagination to go where it wants. Allowing your mind to be at play is perhaps the most effective way to stimulate creative thinking. Give yourself permission to break the rules and realize that there isn't a "right" way when it comes to creativity. You might be surprised what comes to you.....a thought, an image, a word or color that will inspire your next move to a great idea, and recognize your ideas as worthy thoughts!  Creativity adds excitement to our lives....a richness that is very fulfilling. Allow it into your life!

"Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way."
-Edward de Bono

Monday, October 17, 2011

Hello Monday!! . . . .

Dear Monday,

Thank you for coming around the corner 
when I need you most!
You always show up at the perfect time! My  weekend was great, but I always need you to get me back on track. You inspire me!! You always give me the boost I need to get it together. 
I love and appreciate you, 
Kisses, Connie

I've got a busy start to my week, then will hop a plane to Miami for a meeting and a little R & R. My friends, I hope you find the determination, clarity, willpower, creativity , and strength that you need to make it through another week.

Here's to a beautiful week!

Friday, October 14, 2011

girl: I love you.
boy: I love you too.
girl: Prove it. Scream it to the world.
boy: *whispers in ear*  I love you.
girl: Why'd you whisper it to me?
boy: Because you are my world.

Happy Friday!
Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Do what it takes . . . .

Time is relentless. It is the one resource that you cannot regenerate. The life you have now, the one you are living, is the only one that you have been awarded, at least in this world. And every moment in which you fail to take purposeful action is another moment wasted.
Life rewards action,
not intention.
The IRS doesn't care if you "meant" to pay your taxes; your child doesn't care that you "meant" to fix dinner; the people at the crosswalk are not at all comforted that you "meant" to stop. What matters, what determines the script of your life, is what you do. People who win take purposeful, meaningful action; they don't just think about it. To have what you want, you have to do what it takes.
Resolve now that you will take the risk, make the effort, and be persistent in the pursuit of your goals. Your life should be filled with victories and rewards. If you are losing, that means somebody else is winning, so you know that winning happens. It might as well happen to you, but it's not going to happen by accident. It will happen because you make it happen. It will happen because you know what you want and move toward it in a strategic, consistent, meaningful, purposeful manner. Take action, and insist on results. 

"It is not good enough for things to be planned - they still have to be done; for the intention to become a reality, energy has to be launched into operation."
-Walt Kelly

From the book
Life Strategies

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Friendship? Yes, please. . . .

Somewhere there is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you today just the way you are. Yours is the name they love most. Your face has been memorized, by touch and by sight. Your birthday is a holiday. You are the last thing on their mind at night, and the first thing on their mind in the morning. You are the light of their life, and the most valuable player on their team. Someone keeps the lamp of friendship lit for you, or the home fires burning, or meets you at the airport in the middle of the night, or makes you laugh until your sides ache, or tells you they believe in you before you can even believe in yourself. What an honor to be loved and appreciated by someone who knows you so well. What a joy if he or she is your favorite person, too. 
Somewhere there is someone who dreams of your smile, who finds in your presence that life is worthwhile. So when you are lonely, remember it's true, that somebody somewhere is thinking of you.
-Unknown

From the book 2
by Dan Zadra & Kobi Yamada

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Monday, October 10, 2011

Happy Monday, my friends. How was your weekend? I spent mine at my cottage with a few girlfriends, hiking, shopping, having cocktails, wonderful dinners, and lots of laughs. It is truly one of my favorite places on Earth, and it is certainly my favorite time of year! Beautiful sunny days, crisp nights, and color galore. Oh, how I wish it lasted longer. As much as I love this place, I now have to say good-bye for the season. I will be cutting back my garden today....always sad for me, but I know that I am making room for all the new blooms that will pop through the ground next Spring. Do you have a special place in your life that makes you smile? It doesn't have to be a second home. It could be a chair on a porch, a bench in a park, or a rooftop with a view. I hope you have one. Because once you find it, it not only inspires you, but it nourishes your soul

My favorite napping spot.

A sweet spot with a colorful view.

So long, sweet cottage....until next year.

"Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile."
-William Cullen Bryant

Friday, October 7, 2011


Happy Friday, my friends!
Have an awesome weekend!
xo, Connie

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

I am a big fan of StoryCorps. They are an independent nonprofit, whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of their lives. They do this to remind us of our shared humanity, to strengthen and build the connections between people, teach the value of listening, and to weave into the fabric of our culture the understanding that every life matters. At the same time, they create an invaluable archive of American voices and wisdom for future generations.
Listen and watch the animated video below as Joshua Littman, a 12-year old boy with Asperger's syndrome, interviews his mother, Sarah. Joshua's unique questions and Sarah's loving, unguarded answers reveal a beautiful relationship that reminds us of the best--and the most challenging--parts of being a parent.



Record your own story by making your reservation here.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Monday, October 3, 2011

Another wonderful experience. . . .

It feels so good to be home! I've been traveling for the past 12 days and it was heaven to crawl into my own bed last night. Vacations are great, but there's nothing like the comfort of your own space!

Today I would like to share with you a wonderful experience that I had while I was gone. After an incredible 8 days in New York City, I traveled to a friends home in Virginia, just outside Washington D.C.  To my surprise, he asked me to follow him into his garage, opened the door, handed me the key to one of his motorcycles and told me to get on. We weren't just going for a ride, he was going to TEACH ME HOW TO RIDE!! I jumped up and down like a little girl! I have a Vespa 250 scooter, so I've ridden, but c'mon......it's a scooter! There are no gears.... just the accelerator and the brake. This was the real thing, and this was something that I've wanted to do for a long time. When I was 18, I read the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and I have never forgotten the descriptions in that book of what it is like to ride, and more importantly, what it teaches you about life. It was time I experienced a small portion of that! So there I was on the back roads of Virginia,  experiencing the wonderful feelings that Robert M. Pirsig described in that book. He said, "You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other. In a car you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it, you don't realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame. On a cycle the frame is gone. You're completely in contact with it all. You're in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming. That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing, the same stuff you walk on, it's right there, so blurred you can't focus on it, yet you can put your foot down and touch it anytime, and the whole thing, the whole experience, is never removed from immediate consciousness." He was right. I was in the scene. I thoroughly enjoyed my first ride, and even though I most likely won't be running out to buy a motorcycle, I was grateful to have experienced that sense of presence, not to mention another level of self-confidence that I couldn't have gotten without trying it myself. By the way, I now have a real sense of appreciation for motorcyclists. Be aware! Watch for them, and safe travels.
"Unless you're fond of hollering, you don't make great conversations on a running cycle. Instead, you spend your time being aware of things and meditating on them. On sights and sounds, on the mood of the weather and things remembered, on the machine and the countryside you're in, thinking about things at great leisure and length without being hurried and without feeling you're losing time."
-Robert M. Pirsig

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams . . .

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams . . .
Follow your heart

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