Be fabulous with me

Ladies admit it. We are all fabulous. But like most things in life being fabulous does require work. If you want to really rock the fabulousness. This thought started when my daughter asked me what I had wanted to be when I grew up back when I was her age (little did she know I’m still not even close to grown up). There were many things I had dreams of being at her age but now when I think of the answer to that question my response it, “the best version of myself.” A while back when I realized that is truly what I wanted to be, “when I grew up” I felt that fabulous was a perfect term to put to that quest. But I want to clarify that I believe we all start out fabulous and just need to continually work on it in order to be the most fabulous I can be. Because while we do all start out with fabulousness it is definitely a skill to increase that level especially in the face of the difficulties life can bring.

Every day I ask myself what I can do today that will make me a better person. It might be something small like have more patience with my children or say no to those McDonalds fries because they won’t help me in my quest to stay healthy. It helps me when I know I am doing something for myself that it going to make me proud of who I am.

Be fabulous with me!
Laina

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Lower your voice

So I admit I do like to eavesdrop on strangers. Especially in an airport. It’s entertaining to try and figure out their “story” or to make assumptions. As a writer I get some of my best material from taking little nuggets I hear and making them into dialogue for one of my characters.

Recently at lunch I overheard the following. I would love to hear from you what you think they were talking about. Doesn’t have to be even close to reality. Let’s have some fun!!!

Conversation between two guys….

my concern is what we do going forward

it’s not the quantity, it’s the quality

those skillets aren’t really available

i need a signed copy saying you and i talked about that

that will be effective july 1

that’s a non-issue in my mind

do you have any issues/concerns with this?

between you, me and the wall…

subpar performance at the stores

jim and brett want to drive the train

so looking forward…

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What is Chiczofrenic?

CHICZOFRENIC is my coined term for the woman who is purposeful and intentional in how crazy her life may be. I came upon this shift on a plane ride back from a conference and thought how even though I enjoyed the conference, I wasn’t as passionate as maybe I should’ve been about business. That led me to think about what I was passionate about. After much brainstorming- I realized this was it.
We need to recognize that so many of us women drive ourselves crazy, intentionally, by trying to be all we can be. I firmly believe we can have it all. A great relationship, marriage, be a great friend, a great mom, keep a good house (if that’s important to you, it’s not one of my top five), be a career woman, follow our dreams, work out, eat right, and many other things. However, somewhere while trying to accomplish all this, we can tend to go a little nuts. Some more than others, and some longer than others. I used to think I was normal. HA! What a reality check I’ve had. Normal is relative. I’m sure Howard Hughes and Andy Warhol thought they were normal.
Know it’s ok to feel overwhelmed with all you have to do to have it all. Life isn’t easy. However, we all deserve to have what we want. Women seem to have the knack of how to manage it all and not go too crazy. Women seem to always take on more and more…and dammit, we’re successful at it.
Being a woman is difficult and a constant evolution of self-discovery. It’s not an easy journey and through the process you realize every woman has her own issues, her own brand of crazy, which is my favorite kind of normal. Crazy is fine. Embrace it.
Women have tried forever to pretend they fit in the norm even when the norm wasn’t what they wanted. I want women to embrace what it is they truly want – without caring what anyone thinks. Learn to laugh at your own craziness and be cool at the same time. Be the strong individuals we all want to be while looking like a million bucks.

Laina

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Balancing it all

In the world of business, work/life balance is a buzz word. It seems so simple. Like it’s just a balance of two simple things. Work and life encompass so many different facets of your life and what you have to be to yourself and to others. It’s not a wonder most of the women I know are always in pursuit of this elusive work/life balance because it’s so freakin’ hard to find, if it even exists. I believe you can have a good work/life relationship but sometimes the balance part throws me. Though it’s just a word so maybe I’m being too literal. When a woman has a full plate what often happens is we let go of what we should do for ourselves to stay mentally, physically, and emotionally fit. Why? Because we feel guilty for taking care of ourselves first. We’re supposed to be the caregiver and put everyone else’s needs first, but we must make ourselves a priority and not feel guilty about it and still get everything done. My ex used to say “If mommy’s not happy no one’s happy” and it’s true. If we can’t be the best version of ourselves how can we take good care of others?

By definition, balance would be a division of some proportion that makes up a whole. When I talk about this in seminars I get asked a lot if work/life balance needs to actually be a fifty-fifty proposition. I say no. I mean how many things in life get split evenly? Life isn’t a teeter-totter. It’s more about where we each feel comfortable with where we spend our time. Most of us may not have much of a problem with that aspect as a standalone concept, but where we can run into trouble is comparing ourselves to others. How your neighbor spends her time is not how you should measure how to spend your time. Everyone is different and you don’t want to constantly compare yourself to someone else or measure your ability to balance, or how you balance, on how someone else does. You are your own person. You’re not that other person. I struggle with balance, mainly because I’m greedy, and I want to do it all. I try to figure out how I can do it all, but there are only so many hours in a day. Life is too short, and I have so many things I want to accomplish before I’m dead that I don’t want to let any opportunity pass me by. It can make the frantic pace worth it but can also make you question your sanity sometimes and with that your mental, emotional, and physical health.

You are important! Remember that and show it.

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Girl Power

As an only child I have always been self sufficient. I’ve never needed people around and actually cherish my alone time. Being in a marriage for almost 15 years with two kids hasn’t given me much chance to do anything alone. Not that I minded it’s just what happens when you have a family.

Since my divorce I have had the opportunity to travel and I can’t tell you how empowering it is to travel alone. Being able to do what I want when I want and know that I am comfortable in my skin. That being alone isn’t lonely. I can have so much fun by myself and I see that as a sign of maturity and confidence.

I love my life!
Laina

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Who doesn’t love Elvis

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I am sitting by the pool at the Aria in Las Vegas writing this post. The Aria has the Cirque de Soliel Elvis show so they have a lot of Elvis related props around the hotel like the photo in this post.

I grew up on Elvis music as my mother, like many of her generation, worshipped him. When I was younger I of course viewed this with disdain but as I grew older I came to appreciate, and enjoy, his music. I also came to understand how my mother, and millions of other women, went crazy for Elvis.

Music is so meaningful. While we might not like the same music our neighbor likes I think we can appreciate the talent and hard work that goes into all music.

Have a great day!
Laina

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Compromise

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“Life cannot subsist in society but by reciprocal concessions.”

Samuel Johnson

 

I am very much a person who doesn’t like compromise, which I blame on the fact I’m an only child. I guess that means I can blame my parents. I don’t like to apologize or ever admit I’m wrong. I like to say it’s because being wrong happens so infrequently but then if I said that I would sound conceited (please know I’m kidding). I just like things my way. However, one thing I’ve learned is life can be much better when you can compromise. I know that to be true in theory even if I don’t always do it in practice. Even if you think your way, your idea, is much better. It doesn’t always have to be your way. A compromise isn’t giving in or giving away your perceived power, as I used to think of it. Really, it can be the opposite. If you compromise, then that person will be more willing to compromise in the future, or they should hopefully. It’s the whole pick your battles thing, it’s not always worth fighting over. But in a pure form, without ulterior motives, compromising just shows you recognize the other persons value, their contribution. Just don’t make the mistake of compromising your personal values and ethics. Because from that can be a hard recovery.

Good compromise can come from good communication and good communication isn’t always easy. In fact, poor communication can often be a big issue in any relationship personal or professional. I have pretty good business communication skills and really poor personal communication skills, which may seem strange except for the fact I’m confident business wise and not as much with my personal emotions. I’ve never liked to talk about things that require a less than clinical, businesslike approach. I often prepare an agenda when discussing sensitive, personal information so I can keep my thoughts objective. I’ve never been a touchy, feely person for the most part, so I ignore my emotions rather than talk about them. I’m usually “fine” and if you ask too many questions, I go to what my ex calls the apple pie method. That’s when someone asks “How do you really feel?” to which you respond, “This is good pie” or whatever you might have in front of you at the time. You distract, change the subject and hope they forget that they asked you a question. Unfortunately, once people get to know you they figure it out and you can’t always escape and let’s face it, you have to talk about things that bother you or that are an issue or it will never get solved. You can’t be successful in a personal relationship without communication that is calm and rational. Not easy when personal communication has so much emotion in it. I’m not saying you can never have a heated conversation. Sometimes that can get out a lot of emotion as long as it doesn’t go too far.

Laina

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Hello 40 and 1 day

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Just kidding!!!!!! I am not going to subject you to a daily chronicling of my life at 40. Although it might not be a half bad idea. I could journal every day and after a year be able to reflect on all that has happened. I’m just not sure my life, even at 40, is interesting enough on a daily basis for people to want to read about.

Have a great weekend!

Laina

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Conversation with my daughter

This morning I asked my daughter what we should get her dad for Fathers Day. Our conversation went like this.

Me: What should we get your dad for Fathers Day?

Syd: How about something from Target.

Me: Ok. What from Target do you think he would like?

Syd: Do you think they still have the Hello Kitty lipgloss on a string that light up?

Me: I’m sure they do.

Syd: I think he would like one of those. And could you get me one too so we can match?

Kids!
Laina

(I wrote and posted this from my phone to try a new app. I apologize if any formatting is weird)

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