How to make better decisions

Decisions, Girl Power, Self Imporvement


Photo: CarolineXHearts.

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
-Samuel Beckett

From jobs to boys to ice cream flavors, I feel strongly that wishy washyness is a terrible and dangerous affliction. As someone who used to routinely find herself drowning in pro con lists and feelings of self-doubt, take it from me: listening to your gut is always, I repeat, ALWAYS the best course of action.

Here are some useful tips for tuning into that inner voice:

*Ask the question right before you go to sleep and see how you feel in the morning

*Free write in your journal

*Consult a pendulum

*Write down what you think you’re ideal self would do

Now repeat after me: No FOMO (fear of missing out, isn’t that great?!) and go ahead and make the decision already!

“The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves as well. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen accidents, meetings and material assistance that no one could have dreamed would come their way. Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.”
– Goethe

Sunday evening girl power!

Girl Power, Inspiration, Poem


Photo: We Heart It.

The following poem was written by a personal hero of mine, the playwright, actress and global women’s rights activist, Eve Ensler. Hope you find it as beautiful and empowering as I do!

I AM AN EMOTIONAL CREATURE

I love being a girl.
I can feel what you’re feeling
as you’re feeling it inside
the feeling
before.
I am an emotional creature.
Things do not come to me
as intellectual theories or hard-shaped ideas.
They pulse through my organs and legs
and burn up my ears.
I know when your girlfriend’s really pissed off
even though she appears to give you what
you want.
I know when a storm is coming.
I can feel the invisible stirrings in the air.
I can tell you he won’t call back.
It’s a vibe I share.

I am an emotional creature.
I love that I do not take things lightly.
Everything is intense to me.
The way I walk in the street.
The way my mother wakes me up.
The way I hear bad news.
The way it’s unbearable when I lose.

I am an emotional creature.
I am connected to everything and everyone.
I was born like that.
Don’t you dare say all negative that it’s a
teenage thing
or it’s only only because I’m a girl.
These feelings make me better.
They make me ready.
They make me present.
They make me strong.

I am an emotional creature.
There is a particular way of knowing.
It’s like the older women somehow forgot.
I rejoice that it’s still in my body.

I know when the coconut’s about to fall.
I know that we’ve pushed the earth too far.
I know my father isn’t coming back.
That no one’s prepared for the fire.
I know that lipstick means
more than show.
I know that boys feel super-insecure
and so-called terrorists are made, not born.
I know that one kiss can take
away all my decision-making ability
and sometimes, you know, it should.

This is not extreme.
It’s a girl thing.
What we would all be
if the big door inside us flew open.
Don’t tell me not to cry.
To calm it down
Not to be so extreme
To be reasonable.
I am an emotional creature.
It’s how the earth got made.
How the wind continues to pollinate.
You don’t tell the Atlantic ocean
to behave.

I am an emotional creature.
Why would you want to shut me down
or turn me off?
I am your remaining memory.
I am connecting you to your source.
Nothing’s been diluted.
Nothing’s leaked out.
I can take you back.

I love that I can feel the inside
of the feelings in you,
even if it stops my life
even if it hurts too much
or takes me off track
even if it breaks my heart.
It makes me responsible.
I am an emotional
I am an emotional, devotional,
incandotional, creature.
And I love, hear me,
love love love
being a girl.

Happy girls are the prettiest girls

Girl Power, Quotes


Photo: Femkeee.

“I believe in pink, I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.”
-Audrey Hepburn

Wonderful Weekend Recap

Weekend Wonderfulness


Photo: ruemag.com.


Photo: Reasons To Breathe.


Photo: Leaspea Musings.

Happy Monday everyone. Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Here are some highlights of mine…

*Friday night dinner at Circa in Dupont Circle (quickly becoming one of my fav spots in DC). One of my best friends was visiting from Boston and I got to meet her adorable beau!)

*Sleeping WAY IN on Saturday…sometimes a girl just needs some quality shut eye (love Kimberly Wilson’s concept of bed days, MUST start building more of these into my schedule!)

*Afternoon drinks overlooking the water at Sequoia on Saturday afternoon. Lovely to spend some quality time with the BF 🙂

*Going out in Georgetown on Saturday night. Fun fun fun.

*Wandering around the luscious Botanical Gardens with my Mumsy Sunday afternoon in celebration of Mothers Day. Then decadent dinner and drinks at The W (beautiful view and divine weather).

*Watching the season finale of The Vampire Diaries (OMG SO GOOD CAN’T EVEN STAND IT!!)

*Lighting lavender incense and perusing beautiful blogs in bed on Sunday evening.

All in all, a pretty fab weekend, oui? I’d love to hear what made your weekend magical!

Peace, love, and hair whips,

Rebecca

Dare to dream big darlin!

Goals, Inspiration


Photo: Inspired.nickonken.com

“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose & imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.”
-Cecil Beaton

Ahhh I love this quote!! What are your craziest and wildest dreams? If you could take a year off and have NO TIME OR MONETARY CONSTRAINTS, what would you ABSOLUTELY LOVE to do? Here’s my list so far…

*Own a beautiful seaside abode decorated to the nines with exposed brick, massive windows, chandeliers, scented candles, raspberry walls, fireplaces, and plenty of splashes of fuchsia, leopard print (where I would host lot’s of fabulous soirees…)

*Dance in a hip-hop music video or as a backup dancer in a major rap/pop concert

*Have lunch with Oprah

*Take a photography safari through Greece and Turkey with Le Boyfriend

*Become super involved in an organization that provides micro loans to victims of abuse and sex trafficking across the globe. Half The Sky is so compelling and inspiring, though difficult to read. Highly recommend it. I’ve already begun researching these types of organizations, Kiva and Grameen America are fantastic!

*Get certified as a yoga instructor at Tranquil Space (cutest DC yoga studio I’ve ever been to, check it out!) and then teach yoga for six months on the beaches of Costa Rica

*Publish a best selling novel and have this blog become a booming success

*Appear on the cover of a major fashion magazine with my sister and best friend 🙂 (love ya Lindssss)

*Sit front row with all my girlfriends at the major shows during New York, Paris, and Milan fashion weeks

*Guest star on an episode of The Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl

*Meet and become friends with all my favorite bloggers

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Peace, love, and hair whips,

Rebecca

A sprinkle of magic for your Monday

Quotes


Photo: Flickr.

“I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as a seed goes to the next as a blossom. And that which comes to me as a blossom, goes on as fruit.”
-Dawn Markova

Self Improvement & Self Acceptance: Mutually Exclusive?

Books, Inspiration, Quotes, Self Love


Photo: We Heart It.

“As I thought about happiness, I kept running up against paradoxes. I wanted to change myself but accept myself. I wanted to take myself less seriously—and also more seriously. I wanted to use my time well, but I also wanted to wander, to play, to read at whim. I wanted to think about myself so I could forget myself. I was always on the edge of agitation; I wanted to let go of envy and anxiety about the future, yet keep my energy and ambition. Was I searching for spiritual growth and a life more dedicated to transcendent principles—or was my happiness project just an attempt to extend my driven, perfectionist ways to every aspect of my life?’
-Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

I found The Happiness Project, or rather; it found me, a few weeks ago during a routine visit to Barnes and Noble. In the vein of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love, the memoir chronicles the adventures of New York writer, Gretchen Rubin, as she spends 12 months, “test driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier.”

The paradox she describes in the quote above, between striving and self-acceptance, got me thinking. I mean, isn’t a certain lack of self-acceptance necessary to face the discomfort that self-improvement inherently entails?

After pondering this for a few minutes, I did what I normally do when I reach an impasse. I Googled. And found the following quote:

“It’s perfectly possible to accept yourself just how you are, to love the body, mind and soul that you have – and because of that love, to want to keep developing and improving, striving to be the very best person who you can be.”
–Ali Luke

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Here’s to loving yourself enough to continue to work to be the best person you can be!

What makes you come alive?

Inspiration, Quotes, Self Love


Photo: Summer-Salts

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
-Unknown

Yes! Could not agree more!

Here are a few things that make me “come alive”:

DANCING. Whether I’m grooving behind the wheel (as surrounding drivers watch with a mix of amused bewilderment and horror) or pirouetting in a ballet class, few things make me feel more alive and in my body than dancing.

TRAVEL. For me, little compares to the thrill of an adventure. I love exploring new places and meeting people who broaden my horizons and challenge my perspective on the world. I’m current dying to visit Costa Rica, Greece, Turkey, and India!

FRIENDS. Spending quality time with the people I care about is absolute bliss 🙂

BEAUTY. I absolutely adore creating and appreciating beauty in all of its forms. Art, nature, fashion, writing, dance, and music all make me “come alive”.

What about you?

Tutus, ring pops, & sparkles! (…and other stuff that made me smile this week)

Gratitude, Lists


Photo: Youtopia3.


Photo: Show Me Your Truth.


Photo: Count Your Blessings Now.

So far this week I’ve loved…

*Reading The Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss, so inspiring!

*Rocking my curly hair

*Sipping Blackberry Martinis at Circa with Becky 🙂

*Karen Millen Dresses

*Wandering aimlessly around Barns and Noble

*Getting lots of sleep

*Practicing my new favorite yoga posture, not surprisingly called, Dancer’s Pose

*Kerastase Deep Conditioner, a little pricey but absolute AMAZZIINNGGNESSS. And I mean, can you really put a price on good hair? Exactly.

*Catching a conservative looking dude in a suit sing along to You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift this morning. We were waiting in line for bagels…so obviously I joined him!

*Busting a move during a Street Jazz class at Joy of Motion

*Taking pictures of the sky

*Sunshine and warm weather

*Purchasing craft supplies for my art journal

*The arrival of Easter candy!

*Roberto di Camerio handbags

*spring cleaning. Wait, let me rephrase. The after effects of spring cleaning.

*Finishing my taxes

*Volunteering at Pals

*Wanting to live in a pink house like THIS ONE!

And obviously tutus, ring pops, and sparkles!

What made you happy this week?