52 of Me: Vices

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Yazmin

Week 6 - Dirty Hair

I am not a high maintenance gal. There is one tube of mascara tossing around someplace in my bathroom drawers and various types of lip balms are strewn around the house. One pair of everyday sneakers. One pair of jeans.

Except for my hair.

What the average woman spends on makeup, perfume and clothing, I could easily spend on my hair. I tend to find myself purchasing new products and trying new things on a monthly basis. Tough on the pocketbook, not always easy on my hair, as you can see from the photo above. Sometimes products don’t play nice and end up making my hair act like a lint collector.

No one likes to look like a lint collector.

So now you know my vice. What’s yours?

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52 of Me: Week 5

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Yazmin

It’s been a week of milestones:

  • first time Fi stayed the night elsewhere
  • first time I attended a WordCamp conference
  • first time I wore a MailChimp monkey cap

Well, the last one isn’t as much of a milestone. Moving on…  

If you’re wondering why baby girl spent the night elsewhere, it was due to the WordCamp Atlanta conference. It was today and yesterday. (So, so, soooo excited I was able to attend!) And if you volunteered to help out with the event in any way, you got to wear and keep one of these lovely monkey hats, courtesy of MailChimp:

Week 5 - Gone Bananas

You know the cap is sex-zy.

Anywho, WordCamp Atlanta presented a new problem for me. Since the hubby works through Saturdays, I needed someone to watch over her for the two days. It truly turned into a team effort by my local friends. 2 Days + 3 Friends and an overnight stay made for a very tired, but happy, baby girl.

Tuckered from a day of play with friends, I’m told she slept without a peep overnight and then again for her nap today. Suffice to say, I’m extremely glad she did so well with all the change these past two days. It also makes me confident she will be able to weather staying with someone else if we decide to do a missions trip to Taiwan this coming summer.

Good results indeed.

Anyone else have milestones they’re excited about this week?

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52 of Me: Week 4

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Yazmin

Work, work.

Week 4: Work, Work

Feeling like one of the horde orc peons from World of Warcraft. All I do is “work, work”… that is the only thing that seems to come out of my mouth these days.

I have one project in particular hanging over my head like a black shroud. It affects everything I do these days. It taints my thoughts, plans, goals.

I had hoped I would be finished with this project by the 1st of February, but the contractors I brought into the project are not meeting their deadlines. Last time I outsource any contract work.

Regardless, my life is feeling one-sided these days. And I still feel like I’m living in the shadow of last year. And really, it’s time to break free.

How about you… are you swamped with work… or are you living in the shadow of anything?

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52 of Me: Week 3

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Yazmin

Week 3: I Wear My Heart On My Sleeve

I have a history of wearing my heart on my sleeve. Not so much these days as I find myself guarding my feelings and responses a lot more in my old age, but I do slip back into old habits.

Speaking of old habits, I did so well last year to not buy those little candy corn pumpkins at Halloween. So you can imagine my guilt after eating half the bag of cinnamon jelly hearts… and the tummy ache that follows.

cinnamon jelly hearts = the evil

Any old habits of yours dying hard?

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Pretty Rocks: Jesika Jack – Constellations for the Body

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Yazmin

As I start listing my destash items on Etsy again, I can’t help but take a browse now and then through the jewelry section. I’m sadly disappointed with most of the jewelry. Much of it looks the same.

When I ran across Jesika Jack’s shop, I was so impressed with the focus behind the idea. Her pieces are beautiful. I couldn’t help but write a quick post on her jewelry line.

Leo Constellation Necklace by Jesika Jack on Etsy

Leo Constellation Necklace by Jesika Jack on Etsy

Virgo Constellation Necklace by Jesika Jack on Etsy

Virgo Constellation Necklace by Jesika Jack on Etsy

The necklaces are quite a statement piece. If they’re too much for you, take a look at some of her more compact necklaces or even her earrings:

Southern Cross Constellation Necklace Spiral Motif by Jesika Jack on Etsy

Southern Cross Constellation Necklace Spiral Motif by Jesika Jack on Etsy

Southern Cross Constellation Disc Earrings by Jesika Jack on Etsy

Southern Cross Constellation Disc Earrings by Jesika Jack on Etsy

Makes you want to wear your stars, huh?

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52 of Me: Week 2

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Yazmin

When I look back, I find the ordinary and routine moments of the day make the best memories of baby girl. The morning wakeup, snack time, the snuggle before she’s tired and ready for a nap, bath time…

Week 2 - Bath Time Fun

Playing with duckies, whales and octupusses that blow bubbles… I never get tired of this.

These are the things that make me smile, laugh and giggle. Someone remind me of this when she hits her tweens and wants nothing to do with me.

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My grandmother should be on this show…

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Yazmin

Ok, so this is uncharacteristic of most of my posts, but my husband just asked me to look up the preview for the new Betty White tv show. It’s hilarious!

If you haven’t seen it, here’s a look:

My grandmother should be on this show. She’d fit right in naturally. lol

Anyone else have a “saucy” grandparent?

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12 For 2012

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Yazmin

Earlier I mentioned trying to find “my new normal”. My friend Brandi said she liked the term a lot… and I’ll be honest it kinda stuck with me, so I’ve made it the theme of this year – finding my new normal.

"Don't Go Through Life Without Goals" Wall Art by Walls That Talk on Etsy

"Don't Go Through Life Without Goals" Wall Art by Walls That Talk on Etsy

To that end, I thought it might be good to create some goals for 2012. Originally, with 40 looming next year, I was thinking of resurrecting my 101 list from back in 2008, modifying it to a more reachable 40 items, but really, the whole process just left me feeling like it was all so rushed. I just haven’t had time to contemplate what I really want to complete to feel a sense of accomplishment before the big 4-0.

Instead, I pared down my list to this varied 12 goals. One goal a month seems achievable. I suspect most of you would agree.

So here’s the plan for the next year:

  1. Catalog stray recipes
  2. Grow an herb garden
  3. Clean out garage (mainly so I create a kickboxing setup and use the fantastic 100lb hanging bag hubby bought me for Christmas – oh yea)
  4. Clean out spare bedroom (my mom is retiring this year, so it can no longer be my craft room)
  5. Learn to play suduko
  6. Run a paperless office (otherwise known as scan and shred all stray papers)
  7. Read 4 self-improvement/work-related/biography books
  8. Take a photography class
  9. Whittle down my photo backlog from 2010
  10. Try a craft I’ve never attempted before
  11. Create memory board
  12. Sew an outfit for Baby Girl

Sure… doesn’t seem like a lot, but with baby girl running in tow, even the littlest of tasks can seem like a mountain to scale. Who doesn’t know that feeling?

What about you? It’s the second week of the year, have you finalized your goals – made plans for the things you want to accomplish?

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52 of Me: Week 1

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Yazmin

Two years ago, I started participating in a 52 Weeks of Self-Portraits group on Flickr. With the announcement of Baby Girl, all my personal projects fell to the wayside.

Not that I need anything else on my plate, but more that I need to find that new normal I talked about at the beginning of the year, I decided to pick up the project again. Narcissism is far from who I am, but let’s see how it wears on me for the next 52 weeks. ;)

Abuse of Me

Clearly, Baby Girl has taken over my life. I’m in dire need of a pedicure. Let’s see if I can’t work a little on me this year…

Anything you need to put in balance in your life?

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A New Year, A New Leaf

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Yazmin

As the sun set on this last day of 2011, I took the time to review my year, as much of the world has done, I’m sure. Browsing my post archive for the past year, you’ll see I haven’t been posting much about jewelry. A lot of it has been about the baby girl and how she has taken over my life like a storm. Everything is shaded by her presence in my life.

Last dusk of 2011...

Of course, I don’t have a problem with that. However, maybe you who have come to know my blog for the beautiful (if I do say so myself) jewelry I created (considering I only created two pieces this year, we’ll keep that in the past tense) and other jewelry related items I talk about, might. So, let me apologize now and say “Sorry.”

Unfortunately, I can’t say I’m going back to jewelry posts. This year has been an eye opener. I’ve realized life can’t continue as it is. Not that it is bad, just that it’s different.

What has worked for me before isn’t working now. It’s time for a change… again. It’s time to turn a new leaf.

In the meantime, the blog will just be a jumble of different things. Family, life, books, baby girl and maybe some jewelry every now and then. I should probably change the intro to the blog, too, since it hasn’t been centered around jewelry for a while now.

Hopefully, while I try to find my voice again it will lead me to where I need to be… and that is my goal this year – to find what my new normal should be. I hope you get to start a new adventure, too.

Happy New Year to you all!

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