appreciate the little things

The devastation in Japan is pretty much all I thought about all weekend.  I feel for those people who have lost family, friends, homes, pets, belongings, everything.  The pictures seem so unreal, their neighborhoods turned into junk yards, part of me wants to ignore the news and go on with my daily life safe in America just so I don't get upset but that would be just ignorant/selfish of me to do. 

The situation has made me think about many things in my life, what would I do if we had a major natural disaster here? The people of Japan in my opinion are handling the situation extremely well and with a lot of dignity.  The pictures of people lining up at the grocery store, no riots, no chaos.  They understand they are all in need and are patience and helping each other.  I don't feel like that would happen here, I would hope we would have the compassion for each other but would we really? 

*dailymail.co.uk

The little things we get upset, stressed and worry about seem so irrelevant.  A few weeks ago I listed one of my goals for living a life with intention as to enjoy the little things.  I really haven't put much effort into this intention to date and I am regretting that.  What if something happens tomorrow and I didn't appreciate the email from an old friend, the sun shining, dinner with friends and family?  This intention is now my priority, not my business. I want to work to live and not live to work and if I am enjoying the little things in life and am happy my passion for my business will be natural and I will enjoy all my successes small and big.

If you would like to help :

Text REDCROSS to 90999 to Give $10Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami

Creating my Life Week 2

This week I feel like I didn't have a lot of motivation to just get things done to create my small business but never the less I did get some work done and made time for myself.

Saturday ~ I had an amazing sushi lunch at Metro, it was great to be off work early enough on a weekend to be able to go downtown during the day.  I also picked up some great beads and spent the afternoon working on new pieces with Tricia.

Sunday ~ I pretty much did nothing all day.  I did visit Salem Antiques and Collectables, my Mum's store is opening a booth there.  The building is great and is building up a nice selection of furniture.  Check out www.salemantiquesandcollectables.com if you are into Antique hunting.

Monday ~  I did laundry ~ exciting stuff!!

Tuesday ~ Went shopping for more supplies and got quite a bit of the new collections made.  We seem to be on a nice roll of getting out Spring Collection together, but I also feel like its not fast enough.  We need a lot of new pieces for the store and then need items specifically for the photo shoot and online sales. I am impatient and want everything to be done today which is not realistic.

I know I shouldn't try to rush things but I have a clear view of what needs to be done just not how to get there.  I want to jump from the beginning to the end right away but I know that won't make my business work.  I need to learn some patience.

Wednesday ~ I felt like I was getting sick so I rested most of the day.

Today ~  I got some stock pictures taken of the new pieces and added them to our etsy store.  The names and descriptions need some work but I am excited to have some items posted.

Visit www.etsy.com/people/StellaJewelryStore to see our pieces!!

*Update on No Fast Food February 3 days in and I haven't been near a McDonald's lol

Starting to create....

So as my first week not working at my part time job comes to an end I thought I would go over the baby steps I’ve taken to create my new life and career.

The weekend ~ As I mentioned, I went to Charleston SC to get away for a couple of days and see a friend.  It was a great break and I was able to find some cute beads for my business.  I also had a bunch of ideas for a photo shoot for my summer collection by the water and downtown.

Monday ~ I spent the Morning with my Mum shopping for things for her store.  Then went to Blacksburg with Tricia (friends/business partner) to visit Beadsburg only to find out after 30 mins of the GPS taking us all over that the store was closed on Monday’s lol 

Then I got to see the beautiful baby Brianna.  Rachel and Matt definitely made one cute little love muffin!!  I fell in love immediately and cannot wait until she is around 1 or 2 yrs old and can talk and be animated J

 Isn't she the cutest!!!!

Although, I didn’t get to much business stuff done it was great to have a day off and see some of my favorite people.  My life needed this; I see some of my friends a lot and others never.  Working less will hopefully make it easier for me to make time for people who I care about.

Tuesday ~ I met up with Jenna a friend and photographer (she a new blogger at http://birdseyeviewoflife.blogspot.com/ go follow her) to talk about a photo shoot for my Spring Jewelry Collection.  We spent most of the time talking, like girls do,  but did come up with some great concepts.  Right now, I am leaning towards a very girly tea party think a little Alice in Wonderland.  Lots of tea cups and clocks with the model in a cute spring dress, or just a cute downtown photo shoot.  I want something bright and fun.  Another idea was to convince a local Cupcake store to let us shoot there for some of the pictures! I am indecisive so I need to think about this some more.  Let me know your opinions! I would love to hear them.

Wednesday ~ I got quite a bit of the Spring Collection started.   Not completed but started and there is a clear direction I am going in.  I want the collection to be girly and feminine with some pieces that have a little edge to them.   

Bad Blackberry pick but this is a piece I'm currently working on.

Thursday ~ Continued to work on my Spring Collection and placed some supply orders.

Friday ~ I plan to relax and not doing anything business or work related.  Just a good chill night maybe go see No Strings Attached.  Has anyone seen it?

Time to make a change!

For a long time I thought I knew exactly who I was, but lately I realized I am not the person I want to be and have been trying to “find” myself. There is so much I want to do with my life personally and professionally.  I want to be a better child, sister, friend, worker, creator and traveler. 

I want to do something I love for my career and have been revolving who “I am” around that.  When I saw this card something clicked.  I don’t need to find myself.  I know the person I can and want to be, I know I want to have a career I am passionate about.  It’s up to me to create the life and job I want.  I need to act as the person I am/want to be and make a conscious effort to make changes to things I dislike.

Before I even saw this card I took a step to “creating” myself and the life I want. I have always worked A LOT and never thought twice about working more than 40 hrs a week. Over the last few years I’ve had a part time job, it’s a fun most of the time and a break from the stress of my full time job and of course extra cash is always nice J.  Recently, I took a temporary elevated position, I found myself working up to 70 hrs a week for the last few months. This was a decision I made and do not regret.  I appreciate the experience of the new position, but three weeks ago my gut told me this isn’t right about my work situation. 

My full time job is really stressful and over the last year has just burnt me out, I like the company and the co-workers but I just don’t want/need the stress in my life.  My gut keeps telling me its time for a change but it’s my full time job I can’t just quit without a plan.

The Plan

To become an amazing jewelry designer and make millions.  Well that's the dream lol!  My more realistic plan is become successful with my jewelry line and be able to run my business full time.  I know this will take time and effort and right now I don't have the energy nor the time. 

So as I cannot leave my full time job, the first step to reach my goal was to cut back my hours at my “fun” job and hopefully some of the stress from my schedule.  If you know me well you will know this was somewhat a big decision for me as I always work, but I feel it is the right decision and hope it helps create the life I want.

I want to see what I can actually accomplish with my jewelry in my "free time" time.  Then when I become successful, I can focus my full time career into something I love and leave the stressful job behind. 

I will be blogging frequently about my progress in creating my new life.  I hope you guys enjoy reading about it.

Quotes !!

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain

I find the above quote so inspiring and as much as I want to to "throw off the bowlines" of my life I can't seem to let me self do it.  There is so much more I want to do with my life but work in the corporate world and go to a part time "fun" job.  How do you find the courage to do it?  When my gut tells me to just do it, my mind says what about bills, what about your family, what would other people think?? 

Recently,  I have been thinking a lot about changing my work life and because of the real world responsibilities I am not comfortable just doing it but if I don't do it will my life change for the better?  I don't see it changing anytime soon if I don't do something about it. 

My gut seems to be right a lot about lots of different situations, but yet I continue to follow my brain and always have regret.  I think I need to be more like Gibbs, his gut is always right :)

*photo courtesy of google

~ Isn't he one Silver Fox ? :) ~

Do you guys trust your gut instincts or do you over think and analyze everything?  What works for you in the long run?