eShakti Review II

I love my eShakti dress! I’m just going to do a quick write up about the delivery of my dress and how it looks.

It took about 3 weeks for my dress to come, and it really worried me because the tracking number only started to work about a day before it was delivered. It came in a pretty beat up box all the way from India. I was nervous about opening the box because it looked like there had been some water damage, but I was pleased to see that the dress came in a sealed plastic bag.

As soon as I saw the dress, I knew that it was perfect. The color was exactly as pictured. The fabric was a little thinner than I expected and very wrinkled, but I was so excited to throw the thing over my head.

The dress fit almost perfectly! It is a little too big in the waist, but other than that it is perfect. I was able to wear it to the Holiday Gala, and I got so many complements about how cute it was. It loved the way I felt in the dress, but most of all, I loved the pockets!

 

Sorry for the grainy picture

 If you decide that you want a cute dress like mine, go to eShakti and register so that you can qualify for a special discount!

Embroidery Project

Here is what I've been working on lately. I am using a 500 thread count black pillow case and three strand thickness of white embroidery floss for this project. When it is done it will be a throw pillow.

I drew out the image I wanted to embroider with a white pencil before going in with the floss. I have also just used a stem stitch for everything on this project. I'm about half way there and will show you guys the finished project soon (I hope).

5 Tips to Love Yourself

Life can be hectic, stressful, and hard. Know matter how talented, smart, thin, strong or hard working you are, things happen that you cannot control. I know for myself that when things in my life get hard, I turn to myself to see what I could be doing better and how I come up short in so many categories. Starting now I am going to try and break this bad habit I have created of judging myself too critically. Here are the tricks I've come up with to love yourself.

                                                   5 Tips to Love Yourself

1. Be Grateful

Everyday when you wake up think of three things you are grateful for. Change the things you are grateful for every morning and do not repeat. This will help you keep an attitude of gratitude throughout the entire day.Plus being grateful is good for you. Check it out http://huff.to/1vfmbCv

2. Sleep

The health benefits of getting enough sleep are plentiful. When you get enough sleep you feel better, it boosts your mood and it makes your look better. Check out all the benefits here http://bit.ly/1jSTqas

3. Drink Water/Eat Healthy

I'm not saying you should throw out all of the tasty food in your house. I'm just suggesting eating something naturally green at least once a day and drinking plenty of water. Staying hydrated is important in feeling and looking your best. http://bit.ly/1brMxTG

4. Positive Affirmations

I went to a Brent Dennen concert two months ago and he had a painting on his stage that said "Be the one who loves you the most."

I really loved that and it made me think, "What do I love about myself?" Tell yourself at least one thing you like about yourself every day, then give yourself a big ol' pat on the back. You deserve it!

5. Laugh

Don't take yourself too seriously. When things happen that you didn't want to have happen, try laughing. Even if you fake laugh at first it will turn into a laugh. Watching babies laughing always does the trick for me.

What are some of the ways you show yourself you care? What do you want to accomplish by loving yourself? 

#loveyourself

Should Women shave their heads?

I have Polycystic  Ovarian Syndrome, which among many other things, can cause women to lose their hair. This is something that I have been struggling with for the past six years. Every year my hair gets thinner and thinner.

Like most people, head hair has always been a big part of my life and losing it has been difficult for me to deal with. Although I am not ready to shave my head just yet I love the women that have the panache to do it.

Her are some of the women that have shave/buzzed their heads that I love to follow online. These women are bad ass. Check them out!

Elly Mayday

Autum Perez

Agynes Deyn 

Kirsty




Emily Bland 

Would you ever shave/buzz your head?

Why Thanksgiving is the BEST

I love Thanksgiving. It’s partially because of the fact that it has become a day dedicated to showing gratitude for the things we have, but it’s also because I love food.

There isn’t any food more comforting than turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. As I heap piles of these delicacies onto my plate, I don’t feel the shame that I would normally feel. I don’t feel embarrassed that my family members are judging. I only feel pure joy and happiness.  That in and of itself is something to be grateful for.

But seriously, I do love having a day wherein we talk about all the things we’re grateful for. I have so much, and it is so easy to take it all for granted.

I am thankful for my husband and our relationship. I am thankful to be able to attend Southern Utah University and obtain as much education as possible. I am thankful for my mom and all that she has taught me.

What are you grateful for and what are your favorite Thanksgiving foods? Let me know in the comments below.

How to Give Back: With no cost to you

I work for a nonprofit organization and this past summer, Amazon Smile (something I had never heard of before) contacted the organization I work for informing us that people have tried to donate to us through Amazon Smile.

I knew what Amazon was I had no idea what this Amazon Smile was about. The letter asked us to set up an account with them so that people who were making purchases through Amazon Smile could select us as the organization they wanted .5% of their order price to be given to.

As far as I understood it Amazon Smile was making it possible for people to give back with no additional cost out of their pockets. Everybody wins!

Now there is no reason not to be supporting the nonprofit of your choice. I do all the shopping I can through Amazon Smile now, you should too, there is not reason not to.

What nonprofit will you support?

Pet Adoption

For the past few weeks the only thing that I have been able to think about is how I would love to bring a dog into our home. I grew up with dogs and they were always such a joy to have around, to lift the mood, or cuddle with you.

So I have been looking online at Pet Rescue websites in my area and I've been using Pet Finder to help me view pets from different shelters all in one place.

Here is what I have learned about the process of adopting a pet.

1. Pictures can be deceiving 

Just like online dating the profile you are viewing can be misleading. Make sure you go and meet the pet you are interested in adopting before you commit to it.

2. Get as much information as possible about your pets history.
Was it abused, if so are you going to be able to spend the time working on it's rehabilitation? If it was surrendered by an owner, find out the reasons why? Don't be afraid to ask questions. It will do more harm to you and your future pet if you bring them home and end up not being able to handle the responsibility.

My Aunt runs a pet foster program out of her house. She has had all kinds of pets come through her home and when I started to look into Pet Adoption she recommend these articles for me to read. I am now passing them on to you. Adopting an Abused Dog, Adopting a Dog, First Time Owners

3. Pets need love and attention just like me and you
Committing to a pet means really committing. You need to think about the time investment you are making when you adopt. Are you going to be able to take your pet out on a walk, play with it when you get home, give it the attention it needs? These are things you need to consider.

I know I have been having to really look into these things myself. I hope that soon I will be able to find a dog that fits into our family, and when I do I will share it with you.

eShakti Review

I love clothes. Living in a small town, it can be hard to find a large variety of cute things to wear, so I do a lot of my shopping online. One site that I found a little while ago is called eShakti. I really liked this site because it has a variety of super cute styles from vintage to modern, and every style is customizable.

A few weeks ago, I was looking for a dress for the Holiday Gala that I have been involved in planning for my Event Management class. The theme was It’s a Wonderful Life, so I wanted something that was vintage as well as school spirited. I came upon a dress that I absolutely loved, so I customized it to the length I wanted as well as the sleeve style and ordered it.

My exact dress is no longer available on the site, but I want to walk through the ordering process so that you can see how easy it is!

First you select the dress you want from the hundreds of options:

Then you can customize:

The sizes range from size 0-36W, and there is even an option to do a custom size based on your exact measurements. You can choose to keep the dress the way it is shown, or you can change the sleeves, length, and neckline. And let’s not forget that ALL OF THE DRESSES HAVE POCKETS. ALL OF THEM! You can’t beat that.

I really loved looking over this site, and I can’t wait to let you all know how my dress turned out.

Bell Centerpieces

As a part of my Gala group project for my Event Management class I was responsible for coming up with the centerpieces we were going to use. The theme is It's a Wonderful Life and to tie that to the centerpieces I decided we should use bells.

We bought everything in the enter pieces at JoAnn's. We had the vases.

12 Crackled Sliver Bells

12 Silver Bells

3 poinsettia bushes

24 small silver jingle bells

3 little branches of berry stem bushes

And here is the final result

How to Make Fake Flower Look Real

In my last post I talked about my Event Management class and how my group is in charge of the President's Holiday Gala at my University. Part of the responsibilities of the group is to create and put together center pieces.

Instead of buying real flowers (or poinsettias) that would eventually die and could never be used again for an event, I decided we should use fake flowers (or poinsettias) for our center pieces. The problem with this is that fake flowers get crushed and crumpled when they are stored or shipped from a warehouse. 

So how do you make them look as real as possible? I'll show you.

Here is the poinsettia from out of the box

Here is the same poinsettia after it's been steamed

And a comparison in a bouquet 

Watch my video tutorial on how to make your fake flowers look as good as the poinsettias above. Let me know how it works out for you!

                                          

How to Plan an Event

This past semester I have been taking an Events Management class. The class was broken up into four separate groups and each group would be responsible for planning and executing an event on our campus.

My group was responsible for planning the University President's Holiday Gala. This event is a way of thanking donors for their support of the school. This is a big responsibility and one that will took a lot of planning.

Fortunately, I found an Event Management Plan Checklist and Guide put out by  the Gascoyne Development Commission. It covered a lot of areas of planning that I had not thought of until this gala.

In my class we talked a lot about tips for running a successful event. Here are my favorite from this class.

14 Tips for Planning Events

1.     Anticipate Everything

      a.     Where is the biggest potiential for problems?

      b.     What are the solutions?

      c.     Have a Plan B, Plan C, etc.

2.     Plan Ahead

      a.     ICID- In Case I Die

                     i.     Who is my back up?

                    ii.     Work hard from beginning to end

3.     Make Sure your event has impact

      a.      Make sure everyone understands, set clear expectations, take charge 6. Break it down into       manageable tasks

      b.      Delegate or Committee

      c.     Know your audience

4.     Managing the expectations

      a.     Set the room smaller

                     i.     What do you want people to think when they come in

           ii.“This is a great crowd”-people coming in

5.     Communication, Organization, Leadership

6.     Break it down into manageable tasks

      a.     Don’t get overwhelmed

7.     People support what they help to create

      a.     Get people involved

8.     Develop, listen to, and trust your instincts

9.     Be yourself

      a.     Have fun—but be professional

      b.     You are running the event you are not participating

10.  It’s all in the details

      a.     Be redundant in your details

11.  Rehearse everything

12.  Stage Manage and run your event throughout the entire event           

      a.  Script

      b. Cues

13.  Follow up

      a.     Thank your people

      b.     Evaluate the event

14.  In the end, “Nothing is a Crisis!”

      a. Things happen, so how are you going to deal with it?