Monday, January 27, 2014

1.27.14 excited about: future




I haven’t posted in months. All I can say is that I experienced a huge wave of change in the office that has kept me extremely busy over the past several months. Too busy for much else. (Insert many parental lectures about the importance of work/life balance. Yep - of course, they are right.)

I’ll keep this brief, but I am super excited about my future. I’ve begun by making changes (hopefully for the better). In the meantime, I hope that this new year has begun on a very positive note for you as well.

If you’re not - do something about it:
Dive in deeper (invest fully in what you want to accomplish) and expect more of yourself
OR
Ask yourself what else you might pursue - and then Go After That.

As my husband (pictured above) has been saying for a while now,
“Life is too short. Don’t have regrets.”

Monday, September 9, 2013

excited about - flats with a point






I’m a sucker for cute shoes, but lately - I’ve been gravitating toward styles that some might 
refer to as “comfortable.” I don’t care because I really don’t feel as though I’m sacrificing style for comfort.

On the weekends, except for church services, I been living in my Tretorns, my Birkenstocks (which as of this summer are a new thing for me  - and I’m really LOVING them) and running shoes. It’s intentionally a low key wardrobe and - yes - very comfortable.

I’ve purchased these pair of simple flats for the office/church - and I’m pretty excited because while they are flat, and simple - they really do work with most outfits (even pencil skirts!) and still feel elevated. I think the simplicity of the style actually adds to the total professional vibe. There are zero embellishments other than the pointed shape and the shine of the patent leather.

They are completely comfortable - although I had to purchase a half size up from my typical shoe size from this brand. They are available in two other colors - an orange shade called Burnished Rust, and a neutral blush called Soft Desert. I wish there were more colors available, such as a Navy option. I would snap them up quickly. Just sayin’. I am a VIV fan.

J.Crew VIV Patent Flats, item 71801 $188 
Photo from jcrew.com

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

so much fun!






One of my favorite parts of my job as the creative director for a beauty retailer is the model shoots. I don’t work in an environment that has a coordinator for these - so I basically get to meet each model at the model call, then I work directly with the agency, the wardrobe stylist and the hair and makeup stylist. 

Over the years, I’ve been really fortunate to work with industry experts and I’ve learned so much from each shoot. I love the talent that we get to work with. Each shoot brings new challenges, new hair and makeup looks and really fun personalities. 

I simply can’t say enough about Sara Domi, who owns a salon on 5th street in Austin. Whenever I can work with her, I jump at the chance. She is beyond talented and FAST. Another huge bonus is that she’s just a really nice person and very open to new ideas. She always brings fresh styles and usually knows our products so well, that she brings out the best in them. 

Although it’s a lot work to produce at shoot - which usually occurs in a very short amount of time, it’s just a lot of fun. When the shoot is over, I comb through all of the amazing images to determine which ones are the absolute best to select for post production and usage. The models are so talented, they make this part of the project really difficult.

There are days when I come home from work and just realize how fortunate I am. I always feel this way after a big shoot. I hope you have an element of your daily gig that brings this much fun and excitement to your work. If not, try to find some new opportunity within your position where you can do something a little fun. You’ll shine in the opportunity if you are enjoying what you’re doing. Go for it!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

new tools: fresh perspective





I had decided before going on my vacation that these two books would be my beach reads. I heard about them from my friend Jen at work. Neither of them are very racy. In fact, I’m sure that to most, these would be pretty sad options for a summery, breezy day - but I knew that I needed to recharge and rethink some of my work habits. These are just the perfect books to help with this.

One book was called, “Making Ideas Happen” by Scott Belsky.

The other was called, “Manage Your Day-To-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus & Sharpen Your Creative Mind” by Jocelyn K. Glei.

I really enjoyed both books. I gained a lot of inspiration and good tips about organizing my thoughts and daily routine, keeping the creative ideas coming and then understanding how to process the ideas that are worth pursuing. 

In this day and age with all of the possible distractions and time wasting activities (but who DOESN’T love to play a word search game on the ol’ iPad?), it felt great just to get into a good book and complete it and feel like I learned something from the contents.

These books pushed me back into a good mentality - and I needed that. I needed the break from the work stress, but then I also needed the good kick in the pants (so to speak) from the “I don’t have time for myself” pity party. The “Manage Your Day-To-Day” book especially helped with this.

If you’re stuck like chuck, and need that extra push - read these books. They will inspire.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Monday: back to reality





So - we took last week off for a nice beach getaway. 

I really enjoy just sitting and losing myself in a good book while feeling the ocean breeze and listening to the waves. SO relaxing. I don’t need anything else other than an umbrella and tons of sunscreen. This vacation was almost perfect. Perfect is when you can completely leave and be unreachable from the office. I was (of course) completely reachable. Still, we enjoyed a really good vacation. Good and important to get away and rethink daily life.

I love summer. I love that I think it’s slower than school year time - but really it’s not. Our daughter took a class this summer to get ahead of her high school requirements. Our kiddos both are involved in sports that keeps them busy even in the summertime. The main difference is that there isn’t as much homework or school projects in the works; parent meetings at school or required weekend plans. It just seems slower (even if it’s not).

During this summer, the house has been cleaned out of clothes that don’t fit, beach towels that were worn or torn (from the tug of war games with our wet chocolate lab), old toys that weren’t being played with anymore or were broken, and old kitchen items that needed to be tossed or organized.

Today, we’re back to reality. The kids start school today which means that football practice begins for our boy (6:00am at school!) and our girl will be a freshman in high school (TIME FLIES). She spent our vacation reading “To Kill A Mockingbird” for her English class.

Change is in the air at my day job with new leadership coming in and questioning “the way we’ve always done it.” This means a lot of fresh perspective, new ideas, interesting projects, and creative opportunities. I’m excited for the adjustments and can only expect that the hard work with smart thinking will crush the new objectives.

I’m excited for my Monday. I’ve read most of the September issues and have my favorite trends all picked out for inspiration of upcoming projects. I’ve shopped online for some items to help freshen up my “fall standards” (even though it’s still hot outside, it’s ALWAYS freezing at the office). I’ve changed the pedicure from the minty blue polish to a dark shade and went with the same color on my nails just to announce my "fall is here" attitude. 

Thanks to the books I read over my vacation, I’m rethinking parts of my daily work schedule and organization techniques (yes - these are the types of books I read when I’m on vacation!). Pretty excited about being much more action oriented and yet continuing to store my ideas for future purposes. 

So much to too. It’s definitely MONDAY. Let’s change that connotation to a carpe diem type sentiment. Let’s go!!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Show you care




Thanks to Denise for the reminder of where to buy heart-shaped balloons! They make the PERFECT Valentine’s Day gift. 

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Make it special! 

Friday, February 10, 2012

You look marva-what?




What was for dinner last night?

When was the last time you worked out - REALLY hard?

When was the last time you walked into work with confidence about yourself and your ability to exceed all expectations?

The way we look usually translates into how we feel about ourselves - and how we feel about ourselves usually translates into how we perform at work.

I’m a sucker for watching shows such as “You Are What You Eat” on BBC America or NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” Even I’m surprised that the common storyline for these TV shows - people treat their bodies badly and ‘the road to recovery and rediscovering who they are’ - continues to interest me.

For BBC America’s “You Are What You Eat”, the nutritionist will display on a large table literally what their obese subject will have eaten for a week, prior to her arrival. The food and beverage always appears disgusting with no redeeming health qualities, whatsoever. Her typical comment has to do with the smell of the room. She goes pretty far into explaining to them what that poor nutrition is doing to their health and then she gives them an entirely new diet plan and exercise plan to follow at home, in their typical daily schedule. When they stick to it, they are shocked at just how amazing they look and feel. It’s pretty cut and dry - she doesn’t get very emotional about why the subjects gained the weight in the first place. It’s basically a case (each episode) of, “you eat terrible, never work out, and if you use my diet and exercise plan, it will fix you.”

You may be more familiar with NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” which includes a group of obese contestants who work out their bodies, and work on their nutrition and emotions on The Biggest Loser Ranch, away from their home and families. The show’s trainers have become celebrities because they seem to care more about the emotional state of the contestants (which always plays nice in TV land). The understanding is that these contestants spend most of their waking hours in the gym working out - while eating a healthy diet - and we’re always happy to see how that much effort transforms their bloated, distorted bodies into healthy, happy people with each week’s very dramatic “weigh in.” 

These shows demonstrate with every season that the healthier we are, the happier and emotionally stable we are. When a person is overweight, they feel less confident about themselves and confidence is a key element to performance.

So, think about how you’re treating yourself. If that nutritionist were to come show you literally everything that you’ve eaten this week, how embarrassed or how proud would you feel? If “The Biggest Loser” celebrity trainers were to show up and give you an amazing free “Last Chance Workout,” how impressed would they be with your ability to perform?

How good do you look and feel when you walk into work each day and how confident are you in your performance? The mind and body are connected - so the best way to improve your confidence and feel better about your performance each day on the job is to take really good care of your health. 

It’s Friday!
  • skip the free donuts that someone will bring in to the office to celebrate the end of
    the work week
  • think about what you’re putting in your mouth (keeping a food journal would help)
  • work in a work out to your schedule, makes you feel SO GOOD just to MOVE!

Look good. Feel good. DO good and BE CONFIDENT!