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Real Beauty – All about Perception

April 30, 2013 by

A friend sent me this video, a Dove Project, and I found it fascinating. I could not stop thinking about it.  We, as women, can be so critical and hard on ourselves.  We see the magazines full of “how to look beautiful” all over the cover, we listen to the harsh comments about someone’s beauty or lack-of on TV, we see the sides of tall buildings plastered in advertisements depicting what beauty is and how one can become beautiful, we see other women on city sidewalks with the latest Tory, Chanel, or Yurman, stiff faces from Botox, and oily residue from the latest wrinkle cream or facial procedure, and we think this is what will make us feel beautiful, which in return, should mean happiness.  Right?  Maybe, for the immediate moment or as we walk out of the store and strut around for a couple days, and then it fades… Then it happens once again, we go back to the insatiable quest for beauty.

As I watched this video I could not help but see my daughter in these women.  It saddened me to think this could be her someday, seeing her own beauty in such a physical and negative way…

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As a mom, I hope to instill in my daughter how beautiful she is and that beauty starts from within.  I want her to look in the mirror and not see her wrinkles as flaws, but as blessings of a long life.  I want her to see the lines around her eyes as many years of wonderful laughter and for being fortunate enough to have had so much to smile about.  I want her to see beauty as a person who has a loving heart, has compassion for others, who is optimistic in life, is giving of themselves, and who leaves this Earth making it just a little bit better.  Hopefully, my journey as a mother, will instill these qualities into the already rapidly absorbing mind of my sweet innocent two year old daughter.  Not an easy task, by far, with so much in society working against us.  But, it will be a forever goal of mine.  I will always be her mommy, loving, and knowing just how beautiful she is.  My hope is, she can see it too.

What is your perception of beauty?  I would love to hear about it.

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Filed Under: For YOU, Health, Life   Tagged With: ,

New Year and New…

March 15, 2013 by

Bump!

Wow how time has flown!  I can’t believe its been over 2 months since my last post.  But I have a good reason for being away…we are expecting baby number 2!!  A New Year and new baby-on-the-way!  I was dealing with first trimester nausea and an energetic toddler.  All I can say is…wowzers!  No need to look back – I’m coming around and feeling great!  Ready to get back to reading the blogs I enjoy, posting, and getting out more now that Spring is on the horizon.  And I’m taking advantage of the remaining time I have with just Maddie and me.  With a beautiful baby boy just around the corner in July the mommy and daughter time is so precious.

Missed everyone’s comments and the personal blog emails!  Thought I would share just a few pics from over the last two months…

After Hurricane Sandy we had a blizzard!  We got out and enjoyed a little fun in the snow.  Brief, it was cold!!Became members at the Hall of Science and Brooklyn Children’s Museum.  Two places with so much creative fun for children.  Maddie could explore from sun up to sun down, while mommy caps it after an hour or two!

Took a family trip to Water’s Edge Resort in CT for a weekend get-away.  As you can see we are displaying great parenting skills in this pic.  Sometimes the only way to dine out is to include Elmo!  We also went to California to visit my family and Reno to visit some of Dean’s family for the holidays.  Two wonderful visits.

Then you can’t forget date night.  This night we went to the Opera “Carmen” at Lincoln Center – amazing!  Seems like such a treat to be out past 8pm and get dressed up!  At times I feel like I’m in my early twenties and I just don’t want the night to ever end :)

Do you remember a fun night out you recently went on and didn’t want it to end?  Would love to hear about it.  Have a great weekend!

 

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Filed Under: Around NYC  

White Winter Wishing

December 7, 2012 by

It has been a mild winter as of now.  But I keep hoping!  December is such a magical time in the city.  With the Christmas lights lining city streets and trees, holiday music playing in stores and heard on city sidewalks and how can you not love the beautiful holiday store front window displays.  But there’s something missing.  The snow!  In a city radiating holiday spirt, I cannot help the California girl in me that’s dreaming of a white Christmas.  Here’s a few pictures, I keep gazing at, which I took a couple years ago over Christmas on the Upper East Side and Central Park.

What is something you hope to see or experience in your area this December?  Would love to hear about it.

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Not Just A Tree

December 4, 2012 by

Is it tall enough?

Is it wide enough?

As for me, growing up, it was the tree that made the season feel so magical.

And picking that right tree took time.

This year we walked two blocks down the street to the corner Christmas tree stand.

Ah, that smell, the smell of freshly cut pine trees signifying the scent of the holiday season.

Our same Christmas tree guy was there.

We chatted with him about how his daughter was doing and his trek from Canada.

We searched through the 6 and 7 foot Fraser Firs.

Critiquing.

Analyzing.

Comparing.

Until we found it.

The one that, with a lot of work and a little magic would light our mornings and evenings for the next month.

Dean hoisted the 2 foot Fraser over his should and we headed home.

The tree, suited for a toddler.

Set up time was short.

No need for trimming or rearranging furniture.

Lights were strung in 60 seconds.

I remember, as a child, the mystery of that darkened room and the beauty of those twinkling lights.

Maddie looked on with wide eyes as the lights illuminated our first Charlie Brown tree.

This year we carefully picked just a handful of our plastic and wooden ornaments, sparing all glass – I’m sure a couple will hit the ground, be tossed across the room or sway with the tree.

The special memories relived through each ornament – my mother’s duck, Dean’s martini shaker, our trip to Rome bulb before Maddie was born, the Cape May boat of our first family trip of 3.

Then I came across “Baby’s First Christmas,” time sure is flying, faster than I had truly imagined.

Already so many precious memories in just a year and a half.

Wow.

Maddie hung a few ornaments.

Analyzing each branch where her tiny fingers were determined to place them.

This year spacing didn’t matter.

Several ornaments on a single branch were waved.

Not the same tree as in the past – small in stature, but big in meaning.

Family history lives and is growing on that tree.

Tonight I played with Maddie next to that tree.

Together.

With those ornaments.

The past, the present, all woven together with so much meaning, so much joy and so much love, on and next to that Christmas tree.

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Thankful For Gifts In Disguise

November 16, 2012 by

Thanksgiving is approaching and I was thinking about all the things I’m grateful for.  Of course family, friends and health, but I was also thinking about all the little things that seem to be trying at times.  The things we should be grateful for, but are sometimes gifts in disguise.  Here are my top ten…

1. Be thankful for growing older. Not everyone gets this opportunity. Aging with health and grace is a rare and beautiful gift.

2. When your parents are pressing your buttons, be thankful you still have them around.  If they are no longer with you, take a moment to be thankful for the time you had with them.

3. If you have to wait in line at the supermarket for your Thanksgiving dinner, be thankful that you can afford what you would like to eat. We are all aware of the many people waiting in line to have a meal at the soup kitchen.

4. Be thankful for the ability to pay your bills, even if it means you have to give up some things you want.  Having basic needs met is a luxury for some.

5. If you have to get up before dawn for work, be thankful you get to see another sunrise and have a job to go to.  What if you slept everyday until noon and didn’t know when you would get your next paycheck?

6. When you’re stuck in traffic, be thankful you have a car to get where you need to go and money to buy gas.   Some are waiting in the freezing weather for the bus.  Well, unless you’re a New Yorker!

7. When your children are testing your patience, be thankful you have children to love and who love you back.   Some would love to have children, but are unable.

8. When your mate is acting grumpy or giving you a hard time, be thankful for having love in your life and someone to grow old with.  A life partner is someone that less than half the population has.  Your partner is a blessing that needs to be counted.

9. When you sit down with loved ones for Thanksgiving dinner, be thankful for everyone and everything that makes it possible.  Some have no one to share this holiday with.

10. We’re leaving for Wisconsin today to spend Thanksgiving with the in-laws.  I’m thankful that we are able to afford to travel, have family to visit and spend time with, and to have “special news” to share with loved ones!

Wishing you a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!  See you in a week!

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?  I would love to hear about it.

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