In My Everyday Life

4 Tips for a Calm Holiday Season

Hello fabulous you!!! Happy Friday. Hope you’re well and feeling great!!!

Tis’ the season…I don’t know about you but, after another pandemic year, I’m so happy to be in the holiday spirit. Last week I bought a new wreath for my front door, and I’m laughing because this whole year I’ve had last years wreath hanging, I never took it down and I even considered not changing it LOL

I’m all about calm and self-care this season, I believe that it’s important especially during times when things can get way out of hand and we can let ourselves get stressed out to the max, I believe it’s important to find ways that can support us in creating more calm for ourselves.

Consider this your invitation to pay attention to the daily occurrences, the simple things that make you feel good, those things that fill you with joy, that make your heart sing. Write them down and do more of them.

Here are 4 things to try:

Start the day with gratitude. Being grateful feels good and benefits your overall well-being. Thank the universe, God, Higher Love, whoever you believe in, start with saying thank you for your life. Thank you for all that you have, thank you for your family, thank you for your health. Say thank you for whatever feels good to you.

Give yourself some time to enjoy a nourishing breakfast. Maybe that means getting up half an hour earlier than you normally would but, it’ll be so worth it. A nourishing breakfast will give you energy, it will help you to think better, it gives your body the fuel it needs to function properly. The benefits are many for your health and they have a lasting effect.

Take a pause during the day, if you’re working, consider spending your lunch time by yourself. No social media, no texting, instead – read a book, listen to music or an uplifting podcast or just stare out the window. Turn your lunch time into a little sanctuary for yourself.

Set the intention to have a calm holiday season and – this is really important – instead of focusing in on the how stressful this time is, focus on how you can create a little calm in the day for yourself, create a plan and stick to it. What you place your attention on is what you experience in your reality.

You can have a calm holiday season, you can make – calm – happen by exercising a little self-care every day.

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A few lovely things that are delighting me right now

If you’re into festive nails, you gotta check this out love them all 🙂

I’m doing December Pause with Liz Lamoreux, I did it a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it, here

Follow me on Instagram, here, love to see you there.

And

I’m so excited the December issue of the Inspired Guide mini mag is out now, find it here. My article “Get Ready for the New Year, New You” is on page 20 full of inspiration and guidance to empower you to start the new year ready.

I hope this post inspires, and serves you. Share your thoughts, I’d love to know.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend & week ahead & blessings!

December 3, 2021December 3, 2021

Masha2 Comments

A Little Delight and Goodness for You

Hello fabulous you!!! Happy (black) Friday. Hope you’re well and feeling great!!!

Anyone doing any shopping today? I hope you had a joyful and safe Thanksgiving yesterday and since this is the start of the holiday season, most of us are pretty busy, so I’m keeping this short and sweet.

First though, before anything, I want to say THANK YOU – A – BIG – HUGE – THANK YOU to each one of YOU. Thank you for being here, thank you for liking my posts, thank you for your wonderful comments and support, you inspire me. From the bottom of my heart – THANK YOU!!!!!

Today I’m inviting you to take extra special care of yourself during this holiday season and offer you some self-care ways that can support you.

What really helps me to take care of myself is, I remind myself that I’m important, that I also have needs and I’m allowed to give to myself and that I am magnificent and deserve my own attention on myself. And, because it’s way too easy to forget this, what I do is leave a post it note on the fridge as a reminder.

A few self-care tips- stay hydrated, take a little nap when needed, go for a short walk, get your nails done, order take out, do some stretching, relax for a few minutes with your favorite book. And, this is a big one to keep stress at bay, plan ahead and be prepared. Also, be aware of the little things that you’re letting bother you, ask yourself, how important are they? Laugh, watch a funny video. Do something that will delight you. Just giving yourself 15 minutes in the day, will reduce stress, you’ll feel more calm and in charge and guess what? You may even wind up really enjoying the holiday.

I believe that, staying connected to yourself, giving yourself “me” time each day, mindfully navigating each day, with you in mind, will set you up to a more delightful holiday season.

Here are a few lovely things that are delighting me right now

I’m reading this, Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year. “Celebrate a new kind of holiday season this winter – one where you radiate calm and cultivate delight.” Wonderful book.

Speaking of delight, I’m enjoying reading The Book of Delights by Ross Gay. Delightful.

I don’t normally wear red nail polish a lot, but I was in Target and saw this and decided this is my color for the rest of the year 🙂

And

In my kitchen this week, red carnations, make me so happy 🙂

*Full disclosure, I am not an affiliate with any of the products, I do not get paid for mentioning them.*

I hope this post inspires, and serves you. Share your thoughts, I’d love to know.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend & week ahead & blessings!

November 26, 2021

Masha2 Comments

I Love My Oatmeal Because…

Hello fabulous you!!! Happy Friday. Hope you’re well and feeling great!!!

Did I tell you guys how much I love oatmeal for breakfast? I not only love the way it tastes, but every day when I eat it, with every spoonful, I can actually feel the goodness in my body.

The older I get the more I realize the importance the food I eat makes on my overall wellbeing. I almost never eat processed food, and I carefully look at the ingredients and try to eat food that is not filled with preservatives and is more natural and oats is one of those grains that is chuck full of goodness. I once read that your stomach produces acid while you sleep and eating oats first thing in the morning is great because the oats act like a sponge in your stomach absorbing the acid.

One thing I’d like to mention is, there are a variety of different brands on the market to choose from but, don’t be fooled, you may think that oats are oats but, when shopping for oats my suggestion is read the ingredients first, especially those that come already flavored. I personally like organic oats, that have nothing added to them.

Here are just a few of the benefits:

Oats can lower cholesterol, help to stabilize your blood sugar, promote healthy bacteria in your gut, which is supper important. It can provide a healthy dose of antioxidants, and it can also provide protection against heart disease and colon cancer. Oats also keep you feeling fuller longer, which may help with weight control.

We all lead very busy lives and it’s very easy to just say I don’t have time and instead grab something on the go. But, the thing is that if you keep on telling yourself that you don’t have the time, then you will not have the time and other things outside of yourself become more important than you. Like I said in my blog post a couple of weeks ago (here) keeping my body healthy in optimum shape, is my priority. I have come to realize that a large part of my self-care is the food I nourish my body with.

To me, my health is worth spending 10 minutes in the morning cooking some oatmeal. I don’t like it mushy, my favorite way to eat oatmeal is cooked until pretty much all the water has been absorbed. I basically follow the instructions on the package, I use 1 cup water to 1/2 cup oats, I add a few raisins to the water, bring it to a boil, add the oats and when done I top it off with just a little drizzle of honey and yumm. You can also sprinkle some cinnamon as a garnish, add banana pieces, blueberries, a little brown sugar or, just eat it plain – bon appetite friends.

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I love this

20 Farm house neutral christmas decorations that you can make, here

Self-care tip on insta, here

And

On my insta, here

Hope this post inspires, and serves you. Share your thoughts, I’d love to know.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend & week ahead & blessings!

November 19, 2021

Masha8 Comments

Living an Extraordinary Life

Hello fabulous you!!! Happy Friday. Hope you’re well and feeling great!!!

I’m so happy to share my article that appeared in last months The Inspired Guide Mini Mag, get yourself a cuppa, get comfi and enjoy.

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I always knew that there was something more that I could be and could have. I always had that feeling that I wasn’t living my life in my fullness. I didn’t know what it was or how to get it but I knew that I wanted it.

I didn’t know it then but – I wanted an extraordinary life.

I’ve learned a lot since, the most important being that, I had to change in order to have an extraordinary life. I first needed to let go of the blame game I was stuck in for years, because no one is responsible for me. What happened when I was a child, what someone did or said, my mother my anything. My life and how I want it, is totally up to me.

It all started to change when I picked up that magic wand called ‘responsibility’ and I became totally responsible for everything about me.

It’s taken a while for me to recognize the gifts that assuming responsibility for myself have blessed me with. It’s empowered me to live my amazing life in ways I never knew possible. Living inside the blame game gave me the permission to happily veg out on the couch with a bag of chips watching TV, while blaming everyone else for my lack, pain, and inertia. Responsibility has empowered me to claim who I am and have dreams.

Being responsible for my own life, started my journey of healing emotionally, physically and spiritually. I’ve gained trust in myself, I’ve learned to value myself, to know that I’m worthy and deserving of all that I want and desire. To love myself unconditionally and live my life unapologetically me.

What I’m saying is, being responsible for yourself will change everything. I can’t tell you how to do it, I wish I could, there is no one formula that fits all. I can only share with you what works for me. But what I can tell you for sure is that, it’s your choice. You can either go for the rest of your life blaming everyone for your poor you situations, or you can choose to live your life in an extraordinary way, and once you pick up that magic wand and become responsible, your life will be magical.

Here are 4 things that transformed my life:

Wake up to your life. No one owes you anything. Staying in the blame game will only pull you down further into oblivion while your life is passing you by. You didn’t come here to play small, to be less than or to blame your life away.

Forgive yourself and forgive others. Don’t get me wrong when I say forgive, I know that this may not be easy, it wasn’t for me, it can be pretty darn uncomfortable. It also doesn’t mean you have to become anyone’s best friend if you don’t want to, but it will remove that heavy energy from your body and open you up to more inner peace, joy and free you to flourish.

Get to know yourself, read self-help books, spiritual books, spend time alone with just you, journal, ask yourself questions. Who are you? What do you want? The unraveling of yourself will open you to the wonders that are you.

Love yourself, the one most important love affair you can have, is the one that you have with yourself. It will lead you to your heart and open the way forward, it’s transformative.

Extraordinary asks that you remove, let go of, discard, change everything about you that doesn’t spell extraordinary. It asks you to remove your false self and open to your authentic higher self to live the vision you create for yourself.

Your self image, confidence, trust, success, transformation, it all hinges on if you’re living your life while rooted in your own power.

And here’s the secret, there’s nothing more freeing, empowering, loving and sacred than honoring yourself, shining your light and living your extraordinary life.

I love this

30 books to read out loud with family here

In case you’re wondering how to decorate your Christmas tree, here

And

On my Insta, here

Hope this post inspires, and serves you. Share your thoughts, I’d love to know.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend & week ahead & blessings!

November 12, 2021November 12, 2021

Masha4 Comments

Cooking for Myself is a Healthy Choice

Hello fabulous you!!! Happy Friday. Hope you’re well and feeling great!!!

I love cooking for myself, I love my own food. I love shopping and cleaning and preparing and cooking it, it makes me so happy. Keeping my body healthy in optimum shape, is my priority. I exercise, I stay away from stress, I pay attention to the thoughts I have about myself and I watch the food I eat.

In my early 40’s when I found out that I had high blood pressure, was the first time that I realized that I had to change my eating habits. So, I started to change towards a healthier lifestyle and I’ve been watching what I eat ever since. I started reading the labels on everything. I started buying fresh vegetables instead of canned, or ready cooked food that was filled with preservatives to keep it fresh and tasting good. And over the years I’ve learned how to cook and how to shop. I’ve developed a sense for combining different herbs, to flavor the food, I don’t use salt, sugar or a lot of fat in my cooking.

I hope that I can inspire you to make healthy choices that will benefit you but, I’m not going to lie, creating good habits takes effort and commitment. We don’t always have the time, or feel like it, and that’s ok, you don’t have to cook every night, and keep in mind that this is a journey that will take time. It didn’t happen for me over night, I learned along the way, I’m still learning, but the more that you’ll become aware of the benefits to yourself from eating fresh ingredients that you cook up yourself, the more you’ll want to cook and aren’t you and your family, worth it?

My mother-in-law always said that, what you put into your body when you’re young, will show up on you when you’re old, and boy was she right. Before finding out about having high blood pressure I didn’t pay attention to how I was abusing my body and the effect it was having on me. A couple of years ago I developed IC which my doctor said is because of all the years of smoking I did. Everything affects your body. Now more than ever I have to be very careful of what I eat so, cooking for myself is a must if I want to stay healthy, a good thing I love to cook 🙂 I even bake my own cookies, I’ve learned to substitute ingredients that are better for me but give the food lots of flavor. For example, I use carob chips instead of chocolate chips, I have the flavor of chocolate but carob does not have caffeine which is not good for me.

Here’s a tip for you:

One of the things that really helps me, is to always have cooked food in the freezer. It’s great for days when I’m too tired or, I don’t feel like cooking. What I do is when I’m cooking, I always cook extra, I divide the leftovers into portions and put into the freezer. I always have cooked rice, pasta, fish, baked chicken, beans, and of course cookies 🙂 it’s great.

My health is the most important thing I have. By cooking for myself I know what ingredients I’m using, I know the quality of the food and that makes me feel healthy, happy and grateful.

Worth sharing

Beautiful Thanksgiving table scape, I love this, here

Courtney Carver’s 5 gentle rules to help you feel good, I love this here

On my Instagram, here

And

OK I have to confess, when I saw the sign for the Pomegranate, I thought it was misspelled LOL so I looked it up and turns out that’s the correct spelling and I’ve been wrong for years, I always spelled it, pomegranet LOL, who knew?

Hope this post inspires, and serves you. Share your thoughts, I’d love to know.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend & week ahead & blessings!

November 5, 2021November 5, 2021

Masha4 Comments

A Gentle Thought

Hello fabulous you!!! Happy Saturday. Hope you’re well and feeling great!

For today I have a gentle thought I’d like to share for you to consider.

Maybe, just maybe, just for this day, just for one week, say YES to yourself. No matter what happens don’t let it upset you, don’t let it tumble over you, feel your emotions but don’t hold on to them, feel them and let them pass, let them go.

At the beginning of each day say thank you for this day. Thank God, Source, Universe, whoever you believe in and say thank you for your life. Thank you for all that you have.

Set the intention that everything will work out perfectly for your highest good and that of all. Be present with yourself. Give attention to your inner world. Be aware of your needs, ask yourself – what do you need today? How do you want to feel today?

Choose yourself. Choose calm. Choose awareness. Choose to love yourself. Choose joy.

Be aware to your life.

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Worth sharing

How creative are these

One pan dinner, looks yummy

And

A little self care

Hope this post inspires, and serves you. What are you up to? Will you say YES to yourself? I’d love to know.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend & week ahead & blessings!