Author: Michelle

The Tuner of Silences

When I interviewed Kim Thúy (author of Ru and Mãn), she referenced Mia Couto’s “The Tuner of Silences” in her interview (“it feels like their organ to dream had been amputated from them.”).  I immediately ordered the book.  The only reason why is because Thúy wrote so beautifully and saw the beauty in words.  I wanted to know what inspired her phenomenal works.  This is a story of loss and pain, wandering through emptiness due to regrets and trying to live, yet not live at all because you are scared to face your truths.  You will never forget Couto’s work.

Set in an abandoned animal reserve in Africa, Mwanito lives with his father, brother and former soldier.  His uncle sometimes visits, bringing them supplies.  Mwanito grows up believing that they are the only people left in this world.  He is eleven years old before he sees a woman for the first time.

What he doesn’t know is that he is being forced to live in his father’s world…a place to forget and to be forgotten.  Why they are there is the question.  Are they in prison for something his father did? Or are they in a prison of his father’s own design?

Beautifully written.  When we are introduced to the woman, Couto’s writing changes into something much more passionate that will make you sigh at the beauty of his words.

[This post contains affiliate links.]

You are a Badass at Making Money

As a followup to Jen Sincero’s “You are a Badass,” she dives further into the concept of generating more money by bringing us “You are a Badass at Making Money.”  This is the book I started 2018 reading.  What I learned from this book is exactly what I’m seeing repeated in every book I’ve read about creating wealth and abundance.  It’s all about changing your mindset and tapping into that wealth.  Wealth is already available to each of us.  We just have to learn how to access it.  A lot of this has to do with facing our fears and taking a good hard look at how we view money.

For many people, we look at money negatively.  We don’t see money as a means to an end.  When we receive money, we are happy.  When it is taken away from us, we are sad.  When we don’t have any money, we are scared, fearful, and missing it like an ex-lover that has left us.  Yet, money gets a bad rap.  People claim it is the root of all evil, when in fact it is not money that is evil.  Money is a medium.  It is what we decide to do with money that determines whether the use of money is good or evil.  In other words, it is the person using the money that is innately good or evil.  We are the ones who decide that, not money.

By dealing with how we view and treat money, this book is designed to help us get to the root of why we are in the predicament we are in when it comes to money.  It is up to us to deal with and change how we view money, especially if we want an abundance, rather than a lack of it.

[This post contains affiliate links.]

You are a Badass

Stop what you are doing and get this book.  This book will help you get your shit together and believe in yourself.  You will learn how to reconnect with yourself (and a higher power) to bring greatness into your life.  It all starts with you and how you think and believe.  This was the last book I read in 2017.  The timing of it was perfect, because it helped me to formulate my goals and resolutions for 2018.  This book helped me come up with my theme for the year: Love Yourself.  This theme may have a little something to do with this book because she ends every single chapter with words aimed towards loving yourself.  That is the key ingredient.  Pick this book up.  Follow what she says to do.  Become inspired to start living your most awesomest life.

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Cirque du Freak: Tunnels of Blood (Book 3)

As we go further into this series, we start to learn more about the secretive vampire Mr. Crepsley.  An old friend of Crepsley’s stops by the Cirque to deliver a message…there’s a bad vampire killing people in his hometown.  He packs things up and brings Darren and Evra (the snake boy) with him.  For Darren and Evra, this is a mini vacation away from the Cirque while Crepsley sneaks around town.  He doesn’t tell the boys why they are there, while the bodies keep piling up.  Darren assumes that the murderer is Crepsley and seeks to stop him by ending his life.  Evra and Darren start following Crepsley, only to find that they’ve put their own lives in grave danger.

[This post contains affiliate links.]

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (Book 2)

In Book 2 of the Cirque du Freak series, Darren Shan is trying to adjust to being a half-vampire (and hating every moment of it).  The thought of drinking blood sickens him.  The thought of drinking human blood repulses him.  But if he is to survive, he must eventually drink human blood or he will die.  Mr. Crepsley brings Darren to the Cirque so he can have friends, something he was missing from being alive.  At the Cirque, Darren bunks with the snake boy and they become fast friends.  They help out at the Cirque by doing chores and even feeding the Wolf Man.

One day, a young boy that lives near the camp shows up, wanting to run away with the circus.  As much as they try to scare him off, nothing works.  They also meet and befriend an activist, but things go awry when he sees the Wolf Man.  Thinking that he was a caged animal, he attempts to set him free, not knowing just how deadly that can be.

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Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare (Book 1)

It started off as a random, yet strange collection.  I went from library book sales to second hand booksellers in search of a rather strange YA series called Cirque du Freak.  The protagonist of the story purports to be the author, Darren Shan, a young boy turned vampire.  But upon further discovery, Darren Shan is really Darren O’Shaughnessy, an Irishman living in Limerick.  He created this 12 book series as his first children’s book series, following it up with the Demonata series.  What I thought would be a series about a Circus turned into a tale not just about a circus, but about a boy who stole a spider and had to become a vampire to save his friend’s life.  He became a half vampire, an assistant to a full-fledged vampire.  They travel with the Cirque du Freak, where they are surrounded by a protective community of people that are not like anyone else.  While the movie “The Vampire’s Assistant” was a good movie, the books, as always, are way better.

In this first book, we are introduced to Darren Shan.  A normal teenage boy whose best friend is not such a good kid.  They sneak out to the Cirque du Freak one night.  Steve recognizes that one of the performers is a vampire.  After the show, he approaches Mr. Crepsley and asks to become a vampire.  Crepsley refuses because he sees the evil in Steve.  Steve, feeling dejected, vows to become a vampire hunter.

Darren, meanwhile, is looking for his friend, but stumbles upon Mr. Crepsley’s magnificent spider and decides to steal her.  This winds up being the biggest mistake he’s ever made, because it is this spider that changes his fate.

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Long Way Down

One of my favorite books of 2017.  Jason Reynolds is a master storyteller and a man of words.  “Long Way Down” may be a quick read, but the message lasts forever inside your heart.  Will’s brother was just shot and killed.  The rules of the hood (no crying, no snitching, and revenge) dictate that he must kill the person that did this to his brother.  He thinks he knows exactly who killed him, so he takes the gun his brother hid away and decides to go after the suspected killer. As he takes the elevator for the short ride down, the lift stops on every floor.  Spirits of people he knew from the past get on.  People that were shot and killed.  Friends.  Playmates.  Family.  Father.  In a matter of sixty seconds, Will has to decide if he is going to have his revenge.  The people getting on the elevator are the ones shaping his decision.

Jason Reynolds is one of the best writers I encountered in 2017.  Everything I’ve read by Reynolds so far is inspiring and very well written.  He blows my mind with his stories and the lessons he is trying to teach the younger generation.  “Long Way Down” was one of the few books I read in 2017 that made it to my curated bookshelves.  This is a story you will keep locked away in your mind thinking this man Reynolds is something else.

[I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  This post contains affiliate links.]

Little Bigfoot, Big City

I am not going to lie, I really loved this story.  Sure, the book is for kids, but for this blogger who is always using social media, I learned a few things from these kids.  I did not read the first book, but I plan on picking it up (as soon as I get through the other 87 books I have to review).  This story follows two young girls, Millie and Alice.  These two girls are a little different than most kids.  For one, Millie is a bigfoot.  Alice, on the other hand, knows there’s something different about her, but she doesn’t know what that is.  Millie dreams of becoming a famous singer, so  she enters an online contest and uses one of the girls at school to lip sync while she sings.  She learns the importance of being more internet savvy to get votes (a little lesson for myself).  But while she’s pursuing her dream, her friendship with Alice starts to wane.  While Millie is busy trying to become the next big star, Alice starts looking for some truths of her own.  This sends her down a very dangerous hole filled with government conspiracies and cover-ups.

An excellent and fun read.  For parents, this is a book to read to your children.  They are going to love it. Or if you’re like me and just want a little escape from reality, pick this book up.  You’ll fall in love with the littlest bigfoot.

[I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  This post contains affiliate links.]

A Moonless, Starless Sky

This book is one of the most important books you need to read.  It is so well written and brings to light the stories of four people in Africa who are fighting extremism.  These stories will enlighten you, rattle you, anger you, and make you very sad.  In one story, a young girl wants to play basketball.  That is all she wants to do.  Yet, because she is a woman, she faces death threats.  In another story, children are kidnapped and forced to kill their families and entire villages.  They are victims forced to kill or be killed.  What happens when they try to escape?  What happens when they try to go home after what they’ve done?  In another country, a man fights to end slavery and receives backlash from religion and the slave owners.  And then there’s the story of the girls that were kidnapped by Boko Haram.

This book was one of the best books I read in 2017.  Alexis Okeowo did an incredible job telling these four stories.  It was so well written that I added this book to my curated library.  For writers and journalists, pick this book up and follow Alexis’s narrative on how to cover and write a story.  For readers, pick this book up for the written word and to discover the stories of incredible people seeking to change the world for the better.  It will inspire you.

[I received a copy of this book from the publisher.  This post contains affiliate links.]

Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want

If you are stuck in life and trying to figure out how to get out of that rut, this is the book for you.  This book helps you create a plan in your life.  Instead of dreaming about doing X, Y and Z, this book helps you create actionable items to help you create the life you want.  It also helps you focus on all aspects of your life that you need to concentrate on.  You may be successful in one or two categories, while completely negligent in other areas of your life (like health, family, relationships, etc.).  This book will help you focus on the things that matter as you put the pieces together and create a life plan that will work for you.

I highly recommend picking up this book.  It is one of the pillars that helped me design my resolutions for this year and stick to them.

[This post contains affiliate links.]

Saturdays With Hitchcock

A coming of age book that will make you remember what it was like when you were a young teenager (if you’re an adult).  Or if you are a teenager, you will relate to the growing pains of trying to figure life out.  The reason why I decided to pick up this book was the whole part about movies and Hitchcock.  Since I am trying to watch all of Alfred Hitchcock’s works, of course a book paying homage to the late director would catch my eye.  The surprise is that even though Maisie and I share a love for movies, this story is not just about Saturdays with Hitchcock.  Maisie is just like any average 12 year old trying to switch from being an innocent child to becoming a teenager.  Hanging out with boys is no longer just hanging out.  Now, there are crushes and love triangles.  That boy you can’t stand is now hanging out with your best friend all of the time.  Your best friend likes boys, and you don’t really care about that stuff…yet.  You have a grandmother that is forgetting everything, and then there’s a grumpy old man that all of a sudden has a change of heart.  Growing up is not easy, but the lesson in this story is that you will make it and grow into a better person.  This is a very quick read.  I read it in one sitting and highly recommend.

[Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.  This post contains affiliate links.]

The Edge of Winter

The Edge of Winter is a beautifully written tale mixing the present day with a unique part of World War II history in Rhode Island.  Neve and her daughter, Mickey, live in a small coastal town in South County.  Mickey’s love of birds has her risking her life to save a rare Arctic Owl.  With the help of a local surfer, they head to a bird sanctuary run by an old World War II veteran, and the father of the ranger that patrols the beaches.  As the richest man in town seeks to pull up the old German sub from off the coast to make it into a tourist attraction, Mickey and her new friend seek to stop it.  Neve, meanwhile, struggles to pay the bills as she tries to get an art show off the ground of a mysterious painter native to Rhode Island.  Her interactions with the ranger opens up her heart a little more as she lets love back in.  The history of this sunken German sub is so unique and worth the read (if you can get past the love story).  A relative of Rice was on the American sub that shot the German sub down, so she has very rich details to share of this moment in US history that they don’t teach in the history books.

[Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.]

Everyday Choose To Do Better than Good

Everyday we should not just aim to do good. We must focus on doing better than good.

With each action you make, consider looking beyond the initial act.  Think to yourself: how can the blessings I am putting forth go even further?  How can I do this better?

In order to be better than good, your actions must come from a pure, loving place.  When you give, you give of your heart and wish good blessings upon each person this effects.  Don’t just give because it is the right thing to do.  Give with love and good intentions that go beyond the initial act.

A Case Study in How to be Better than Good

In 1927, an American tourist named Amy Bend Bishop visited Morocco. While she was there, she was horrified by the suffering of the animals.  After her trip, she returned to Boston, worked with animal rights activists and established a veterinary clinic in Fes.

What makes this clinic so unique is that working animals receive free medical care there.  For many Moroccans, animals are a means of survival, whether it be for business, farming or transportation.  They are a vital resource.  The people live in extreme poverty and cannot afford veterinary bills if their donkey, horse or camel becomes sick or injured.

For those who can afford pets, they have to pay for the services at the clinic.  Their reasoning is if you can afford to own a pet, buy it food, etc., then you can afford to pay for its care.

When Moroccans tell the story of what this woman did for them, they speak very highly of her.  It is because they are so grateful for this clinic that they speak praises of her long after she died.  This clinic has been around for almost 90 years.  She did better than good for the people of Morocco.  By helping the working animals, she helped everyone there.



The Lesson

This act of love and kindness towards animals went so much further than just helping the animals.  She helped the entire city of Fes, Morocco and still to this day continues to help them long after her death.  Animal rights groups in America keep this clinic running.

When we set out to help, we must first think wisely.  Our heart strings are pulled to help, but we must decide how to best benefit each being we help.



Poverty in America

Poverty in America is very high with 40 million Americans living in poverty and nearly half in extreme poverty (Washington Post).  Homelessness continues to rise, especially near urban centers as welfare programs and public housing funding decreases.  Scurvy is well known to exist among the poor due to malnutrition and poor diets.

Instead of giving just money, a hot cup of coffee, toiletries or a meal, carry some oranges with you when you give to the homeless.  It helps protect them from not only scurvy, but from getting sick.

For years, I used to give an orange to a homeless man I saw outside of Port Authority every day.  The way his face would just light up to see this piece of fruit magically appear in his hand, it made me smile every single time.  Now, he’s gone.

These days, when I give out apples or oranges, I have an opportunity to stop and talk to the homeless men on the street.  I always tell them to make sure they eat it so they will not get sick.  The way they look at me when they thank me, it is with a sparked look of hope that they are not invisible and that someone out there cares enough about them and their well being…that they are still human.

Volunteering my time at the NY Food Bank has taught me about food, hunger and poverty.  At food pantries in the Bronx, I hand out food and see how little is available for the poor to survive upon each month.  I see involuntary hunger everywhere I go.  That is why I always pack a little something extra in case I see someone that is hungry.

Poverty and hunger are the two things that pull at my heart strings every single day.  Perhaps it is because I understand what it feels like to be hungry and not be able to afford food.  I was like that once when I worked for the government.  You do your time with the government and live in poverty so you can get carte blanche in the private sector (and command a large salary) one day.

I walked to work at 6AM, just to get there by 8:30AM.  I only had $70 to buy food for the month.  And they expected me to pay for my insurance out of that measly pay.

The poor are not necessarily lazy.  There are some homeless people working three jobs, and living in shelters with their families.  There are legal immigrants living in the slums that work all day in a factory, go to school, deliver food all night, and then go home to sleep 3 hours in a room filled with 10 other families where the bathroom is across the street at 7-11.

We live in a country with great abundance, but instead of helping each other, people take advantage of others in order to profit.  This is a selfish country where we put blinders on and refuse to see the truth.  There are 40 million people in our country that are living in poverty.  20 million of them can’t afford to eat.  That is one child, one parent, one human too many.



Give Because the Universe Gives to You

I learned a long time ago that in order to be wealthy in life, you must share your wealth with universe.  The universe shares its wealth with you, so in turn, you must share your wealth with the universe and those in it.

Wealth comes in the form of money, but also knowledge, love, happiness, joy, luck, etc.  These are all things we must share with each other in order to truly sparkle in God’s eyes.  We need to focus on giving back what is given to us.  Everything that is given to us is a tool.  We are judged upon how we use these tools to better the world around us.

When you give, think beyond your initial act.  How can your act of kindness stretch further?  If you think in the karmic sense of what you put out comes right back to you, ask yourself if this act can go 3 to 8 times further.  Or in the case of Fes, Morocco, can your act of kindness go on long after your death?

We should strive to commit to acts of kindness like the one Amy Bishop displayed all those years ago.  Not only is she continuing to help animals and people long after her death, but she continues to receive blessings from many people every single day.  She wasn’t rich or famous.  She just felt the call to help and got the assistance she needed from like minded souls to create a blessing that would last for a very long time.

That is how you can be better than good and be the sparkle in God’s eyes.  Choose to be better than good every single day.  It benefits the world.



Dream Wardrobe: Which Handbag Do You Buy?

After spending over the last decade curating the perfect handbag collection, I learned a few things about collecting couture.  If you want to buy couture, you need to buy the right bag from the get go.

What do I mean by this?

When I first started out collecting couture handbags, I bought what I could afford.  In the end, I was not happy with my choices.  So I ended up reselling those bags before I realized I needed to buy the right bag.

Each designer has their own popular classic handbag design that is sold in a variety of prints and colors.  Influencers snatch up these beauties and fill up their social media feeds with these IT bags.  They develop a culture where every girl dreams of being just like them, carrying a black Chanel quilted clutch, a Celine Luggage, a Fendi Peekaboo, Hermés Birkin, or the Louis Vuitton Neverfull.

If you are going to go designer, buy the classics that have withstood the test of time.  Not only will you love your purchase, you’ll feel happier that you chose the right bag.  A collection, after all, must begin with the basics.

You do not always have to buy brand new.  Sites like Fashionphile offer discounts on pre-owned designer handbags.  My favorite part of their site is their Last Call and Outlet (on Ebay).  Purchasing through a reputable company that backs the authenticity of their product is very important.  It guarantees you are buying the real thing.

After you add these basics, you can begin to curate your collection around your needs (i.e. evening bags, travel bags, crossbodies) and your wants (i.e. artistic bags, limited edition, that cute $5 bag you find at a flea market).  As a rule of thumb, always remember that it is better to have fewer, but better things.  The only way you can achieve that is if you buy the correct item the first time around.

The Basics


Prada Saffiano Cuir Large Double Bag, $2,980.

Louis Vuitton Neverfull, $2,500.

Céline Micro Luggage Tote, $2,100

 Chanel Quilted Lambskin Classic, $1,800
Fendi Peekaboo, $6,250

Hermés Birkin, $17,563

 


Gucci Soho Small Leather Disco Bag, $1,190

Balenciaga Blackout City Shoulder Bag, $2,950

Chloe Marcie Satchel, $1,990

Anya Hindmarch, $697 (sale)

Henri Bendel Carlyle, $264 (sale), originally $528

Rebecca Minkoff Mini MAC, $195

 

Tory Burch Robinson Tote, $519.99 (sale), originally $575

2018 Resolution: Love Yourself

As the new year begins, I reflect upon the person I am and the person I want to become. Am I living my best life?  How can I do things better?

Before the ball dropped in Times Square, I set to finishing one last book for the year.  I chose to read “You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life,” by Jen Sincero.  I wanted to go into 2018 kicking and screaming: THIS IS MY YEAR!

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One common theme throughout the book, at the end of every chapter, Sincero tells us, “Love Yourself.”  If you want to live the best life, you have to learn to love yourself enough to go out and make the things you dream of doing happen.  You have to love yourself enough to get healthy, lose weight, earn more money, work hard for your dreams, and do the scary things that will help you accomplish your goals.  There must be enough love in there for yourself to be the person you dream of being.

We can make the usual resolutions, but we will not accomplish those goals unless we love ourselves enough to see it through.

I Made a Bet to Lose 75 pounds by New Year’s Eve 2018

I made a bet with my brother that we could lose 75 pounds by the end of 2018.  He was a little reluctant to make the bet (he still is), but I went ahead and made the bet legit through the Healthy Wage app.

If I lose the 75 pounds by the end of the year, I stand to win $2,500 through the app.  That’s a nice little vacation or a new wardrobe (or both) after I reach my goal.  In other words, I would be getting paid to lose weight.  That is what that means.

[If you click through the link above and join the Healthy Wage challenge with me, they’ll add an extra $40 at the end if you meet your goal.]

Losing a lot of weight like that is not easy, especially when I know how difficult it has been for the last 20 years to drop the PTSD weight.  Or rather, was that just an excuse?

I Lost 10 Pounds in One Month

Last year, for the first time, I learned that maybe there was a way to lose the weight.  I attempted the Whole 30 diet two times.

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After the first month, I dropped 10 pounds.  I learned the science behind what food was doing to my body.  All of those chemicals we put into our bodies are making us sick.  Our bodies do not know how to process the ingredients, so it gets buried away in our fat cells.

Carbs + stress = cancer.  Reading how carbs and stress cause tumors in our bodies was a huge wake up call for me.  My last tumor was in a hormonal gland.  To think it was carbs that caused it…wouldn’t you want to change your diet?  I did.

It was a harsh realization that what I was putting into my body was making me sick and stagnating the weight loss.  Hence, it was not how much I was eating.

A Little Change Can Do Some Good

I am not a big fan of sugar.  When I have my sugar cravings, I eat a little sugar and that’s it.  I prefer salty and sour.  One thing that surprised me on the Whole 30 diet was just how much sugar is in everything we eat.  It’s in everything!

Sugar loves fat cells.  It sticks to those babies and doesn’t let go.  Whole 30 takes sugar out of your diet (you can get your sugar from fruit), and forces your body to get the sugar from your fat stores.  Instead of feeding your body sugar when it signals for it (through cravings), you are forcing your body to use what it has been socking away for a rainy day.

Yes, there is a process of detox through this month away from bad foods, but during that time you start to learn…OMG, I can lose weight if I change the way I eat.  You are what you eat is a truer statement than you will ever realize.  It is more about what you put into your body, not how much you workout, that will determine how healthy you are.

For the foods you love, you can find new ways to eat.  I am a huge fan of vegetable noodles.  Last year, I upgraded to a bigger spiralizer to crank out zucchini noodles faster.

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I can’t tell you how much the spiralizer has helped me to see vegetables differently.  As a result of this great invention, I changed the way I eat noodles.  I mean…I LOVE NOODLES!!!  To switch my beloved spaghetti or rice noodles with zucchini noodles was terrifying [aka what am I going to eat now?]…until I tried it and did an OMG!  It was so much better than the regular noodles.

Switching from rice to cauliflower rice was also a positive switch.  I could not tell the difference.

These little changes in how I eat my favorite foods not only helped me to lose 10 pounds for the first time in 20 years, but it also made me feel better.

It was losing those 10 pounds that I realized that I could lose weight.  I just had to change the way I did things.

I Love Myself Enough to Change

While there is a body positive movement going on, I applaud everyone that says they love every single thing about themselves.  It takes a lot of strength to stand up and say you love yourself just the way you are.

Not all of us are that way though.  We battle our own internal demons.  Over a decade ago, I was used to being in front of the camera.  Then one day, I got behind the camera and didn’t think twice about getting back in front of the camera again.

Like most people, there are parts of my body I never want anyone to see.  I hate my mother’s legs, so guess what I got?  Genetics.

As time goes on and our bodies age, we start to think back to when we actually loved our bodies.  For me, like many others, it was in my teenage years.

I am at the weight I am now because of PTSD.  I was sexually assaulted and harassed my freshman year in college.  I thought, if I had been fat and ugly, this never would have happened to me.  So my body responded with its self defense mechanism and the weight came on and refused to come off.



As I got older, I discovered that it did not matter what I looked like.  Sexual assault does not discriminate.  It can and does happen to people, no matter what they look like on the outside.

The Inner Demons that Keep Us Down

Sometimes the demons of our past can haunt us for the rest of our lives.  We blame ourselves.  We belittle ourselves.  The horrible things the people we loved said to us echoes in the back of our mind.  We perpetuate the hurtful truths onto ourselves and put it on repeat until we believe we are that horrible person.

The person we really need to stop from making us into a victim over and over again is ourselves.  I am honestly tired of telling myself how unhappy I am with letting myself become this way.  It’s not just weight.  I am talking about the life I live, the decisions I make, the constant fear of success (so I sabotage myself).

The reason why I am this way is because of unhappiness, fear and not loving myself enough to know better.  The feelings of not being good enough to succeed are angry words I tell myself all of the time.  I am ready to turn off that sad song playing in my head.  Rather than victimize ourselves over and over again, each and every single day, we need to change our tune.



This Year’s Resolution

I made several resolutions this year regarding reading, losing weight, going on vacation (with Matthew Lucifer), finances, and making my dreams come true.  The success of those resolutions go back to one central theme.  I have to love myself enough to go out there and make those changes so that I can be happy with my life and who I am.

I am done with being too afraid to take the next step to be the person I dream of being, because I hear in the back of my head, “You will never amount to much.”  Instead, I choose to love myself enough to believe that I deserve the best life possible.  I choose to make my dreams come true by loving myself enough to go after each and every single one of them.

All it takes is believing in myself enough to take that first step.



The Love Yourself Challenge

This year, I will be sharing my journey.  On Instagram, you’ll find the daily meals, including the books I’m reading.  On the blog, I’ll be sharing recipes, tips and the journey.

I encourage all of you to join me in this journey.  Take some time and sit down to figure out what it is you want out of life.  What will make you happy?  Read “You Are a Badass” by Jen Sincero.  It will help you really take a look at your life and help you develop a plan to live your best life.

After you come up with a plan, how are you going to accomplish it?  Sometimes it takes a village.  So let’s do this together.  Let’s encourage each other, give helpful suggestions and do what it takes to make every single dream come true, because you love yourself enough to live the life you dream of.

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Fight the Winter Hair Blahs + Free Samples

Tea Tree Special Formula Shampoo from Maple Holistics. Background from Paper Source. Wooden camels – a gift from a vendor in Marrakech, Morocco.

Now that the temperatures have dropped, my hair and scalp are starting to take a beating.  During the winter months, I need to change my hair care routine.  So when Maple Holistics reached out to me, I decided to try their Tea Tree Special Formula shampoo during my spa day.

I noticed recently that I was starting to develop blemishes on my scalp, along with some flaking.  I used this once and instantly saw results.  The blemishes went away and the dandruff that was starting to appear disappeared.

I used my regular conditioner to soften my hair then added hair oil post-shower to keep my tresses from becoming dry and brittle from the elements.  Using this shampoo once a week has healed my scalp.  This is all thanks to the fact that this is a holistic, all natural product.

I’ve tried various drugstore versions of dandruff shampoos and had to stop using them, because it made the situation much worse.  It was like I was adding dandruff to my head instead of removing it.

In one wash, the Tea Tree Oil Shampoo fixed everything!  No harsh chemicals added to my head.  Just pure natural ingredients…the way nature intended for us to heal and soothe our scalp from the elements.

While I am still new to this product, some of the other benefits of using the Tea Tree Oil Shampoo may take some time to kick in (like slowing the shedding and thinning of hair), but I am looking forward to seeing these results.  This product also promotes:

    • Healthy Hair Growth
    • Slows hair loss, shedding and thinning hair
    • Prevents flaking and dandruff
    • Soothes irritated scalps
    • Eradicates lice

With all natural ingredients, this cure for dry scalp is a must have to add to your weekly routine.  It soothes and heals your scalp during these harsh winter months.



Maple Holistics

What I like about Maple Holistics is that they are a New Jersey based company (i.e. made in the USA).  My friends are huge fans of the holistic, all-natural, essential oil treatment approach.  Every time I have an ailment, a friend is always contacting me to let me know which essential oil to use to feel better.  After using a few essential oils over this past year, I see why they are such huge followers.

My home right now smells like candy canes, because of the peppermint essential oil I am currently using.  Peppermint helps with allergies and breathing.  Back in August, we had a black mold situation and I discovered I was allergic.  Three bronchial infections followed back to back over the next three months.  Then a couple of weeks ago, someone coughed in my face and I wound up with a cold that knocked me out for three days.

That cold could have been much worse if I had not used peppermint oil in my humidifier (and on my pillowcases) and taken ibuprofen (news alert: I learned that ibuprofen is the best medicine to use for the common cold).  It helped me to breathe and lasted all night, unlike NyQuil.

Finding the right company that sells qualitative essential oil products is difficult.  You can’t just buy an essential oil and assume it will work if it is not from a reputable company.  It could be a fake.  You have to rely on testimonials from people that use the product to know if it works or not…and I’m telling you…THIS PRODUCT WORKED FOR ME!

The tea tree oil shampoo was a pleasant surprise and it worked on the first try.  It worked the second and third time too with instant results.  It is that type of quality that I am looking for in a product to win me over as a customer.

No more reaching for chemicals to fix the winter blahs.  I am going the all natural route.  Maple Holistics has won me over.



FREE SAMPLES

Now, to the part you want to know…how you can get free samples of their product.  It’s simple.  Go to their site HERE, fill out the form, and choose which product you would like to try.  Men, women, children or pets can try their all natural products for free.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised how wonderful these products are for you.

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This post was sponsored by Maple Holistics.
All content and opinions are my own.

Norse Mythology

Marvel gets it wrong. Perhaps they should have picked up the old Norse Mythology stories before developing the movies.  It was because of the Thor comic books that this book exists.  Neil Gaiman loved Thor.  He loved the comic books and the Norse stories.  The books that told the old stories started to disappear, so Gaiman decided to preserve the tales as best as he could and release “Norse Mythology.”  In these stories, you’ll find similarities to the Rick Riordan “Magnus Chase” demi-god books.  You will even find how wrong Marvel’s Thor Ragnarok was.  [Spoiler: In the movie, Hela is Thor and Loki’s older sister.  In the mythology, she is Hel, daughter of Loki.]  If you want to expand your knowledge of human history, you must read this book.  These stories are the old stories of the Northern gods.

[Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.]

As You Wish

Due to be released on January 2, 2018.  Imagine on your 18th birthday you can make one wish and it will come true.  What would you wish for?  That is the question Eldon is faced with as he approaches his wish day.  He has no idea what he wants to wish for.  His mother wants him to wish for money, so they are not stuck struggling anymore.  His sister’s medical bills are breaking them.  Maybe he should wish for his sister to be ok, and not comatose.  But then again, if he were to do that, the medical community would ask questions.  Then the town of Madison’s little secret would be revealed.  As Eldon questions what to wish for, he notices something…everyone who made a wish already are unhappy.  Their wish did not bring them happiness.  He wants everyone to be happy, but what could he possibly wish for that will bring everyone in Madison happiness?  You’ll never guess what his wish will be…

[Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.  This post contains affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.]

American Gods

As America became the new land people throughout the world immigrated to over the last few centuries, they brought their gods with them.  Now, the gods of yesterday (Norse, Egyptian, etc.) battle against the gods of today (the internet, television, etc.) for survival.  Shadow is thrown in the middle of this war and he has no idea why the gods have taken an interest in him.  Wednesday (Odin) hires him as his driver as they seek out the gods of old to join in the war against the new gods or risk becoming extinct.  What no one knows is that there’s a two person con going on.  Who are the con men in this story?  That is the question.  For those who’ve seen the Starz series, this book will give you a sneak peek into next season and what you can look forward to.  Excellent story and a great way to learn about the gods of old from all around the world.  I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next.  Also, watch the Starz series if you haven’t yet.  Great show!

[Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on any of the links, I may receive a commission from the sale.  That commission goes to help fund this site.]