From Chaos Comes Happiness

It's that time again . . . Have you poured your coffee? Grabbed your comfy chair? Turned that phone ringer down a bit? I hope you enjoy it! . . . and remember . . . LOVE YOURSELF!! xo xo xo

So, I had a great conversation with my friend Dawn yesterday afternoon about . . . life. As with any conversation about life . . . it was a long one. And as I started to delve into my personal philosophy, I began to think that this would make a good blog post. So, here goes it. Before we begin, I should say that Dawn is a pretty cool person. I've known of her for years, but only recently began talking to her on a more regular basis. She has a great energy that is very motivating, so conversations with Dawn usually leave me feeling quite up beat. Dawn is a single mom, raising two great kids. She has spent the past 10 years (at least) holding various roles with home demonstration companies (direct sales), and most recently began taking bigger steps in leadership programs. I believe her long term goal is to begin some sort of life coaching and leadership company (which I can easily see her doing). While we were talking, Dawn mentioned how she sees such a need for stronger men...

WELCOME BACK, my friends! And WELCOME to the return of my Magnificent Monday Vlog ! Grab your coffee, pull up a chair, and sit down for installment #10 of our joyeous girl talk! I think I created a major fashion faux pas . . . I am wearing the same shirt that I wore in our LAST vlog, back on December 12, 2011. FOR SHAME!!! Note to self: do not wear repeat clothing on blog. It makes it look like your clothing budget is really really small for your vlogs. ;)   I'm so glad you are here . . . enjoy!

I found my way out of my gloomy creative-less state this week, and I think I'm really onto to something cool here. It all surrounds . . . Words. OUR words. Our Words for 2012. I've spoken before about how important this whole "Word of the Year" idea is to me. It has kept me focused on things that I need to be focused on for many years now, and this year is certainly no different. I knew that I wanted to celebrate my word with a special piece of art, and I knew that I wanted to do the same for some very dear people in my life. So, if you remember . . . it started with a trip to the local home improvement store for some letters. You may remember I shared this picture with you last week: And here are the steps I took to make my are: Glue torn strips of scrapbook paper, die-cuts, music paper, anything that you'd like to a plain unpainted canvas. Mod-Podge the layer for papers and let dry. Stick letters spelling out your word...

Oh, boy oh boy. . . I'm finding it. It's actually all around me today. And I am blessed because of it. Courage . I broke out of my gloomy creative state earlier this week and made the above "Courage" art piece, which will be proudly displayed in my family room. I love it. It's a new style of art from what I've done in the past (which took COURAGE), and it's a big time reminder of what I have in me to do (CREATE). I made three more for my dear soul sisters (LT, PK and CE) with their words for 2012 . . . I'll share photos of them after tomorrow (when I will present each of them with their pieces.) I hope they like them. Courage . And . . . I signed up for a course today. This course , to be exact. I've had my eyeball on it for quite some time, but felt such inner turmoil of spending the class fee on myself. After a little encouragement from some other creative souls, and a phone call with PG, I registered myself for this class. I thin...

Have I told you about my sister-in-law, Maria? She makes me laugh, BIG TIME. Always has. Always will.  I bought these hats for us after we visited the Pennsylvania Amish this past September. I thought it would be funny if we each wore them when talking on the phone, to connect us. Hmmmm . . . I wonder if she wears hers. Maria lives in New York, and I am here in Chicago. While we don't get to see each other nearly as often as we would like, our time spent together is usually filled with lots of adventures and many many laughs. And each visit MUST allow ample time to catch up . . . on our ailments. Yes, the physical ailment kind. It's kind of become our thing . . . almost like there isn't another living soul who would understand the silliness of our deadly spider bites or broken hip bones (both we have diagnosed each other with at various points of our friendship . . . and neither being quite accurate.) I guess that is what makes our relatio...

What a wonderful weekend we've had here in our Chaos home! Laughs, hugs, museums, snow, bowling, Starbucks, birthdays and more. My dearest sister-in-law, brother-in-law and nephew were in town (all the way from New York) and we've been going going going since their arrival.  Here are just a few of the highlights of life the past few days . . . It started with that beautiful snow I told you about on Thursday . . . and oh-boy . . . I loved it. Dear PG had to dust off the snow blower for the first time this season. Note to self . . . MUST buy a pair of boots!  Ella and Katie got to see exactly what it would be like to have a younger sibling. Katie loved it!  As for Ella . . . the verdict is still out.   We took a great trip to the Museum of Science and Industry . Here is Carlo with his Babbo. I adore my brother-in-law . . . he is a wonderful man and an amazing father.   Lots of f...

s   n   o   w  .   .   .   I took the long way home this morning, so that I could drive down my my favorite road.  Remember ? It is a serene spot in this chaotic life of mine, and it brings me peace each time I drive it. I love this road. I think it would be cool to start a blog with photos of this road . . . just photos. Each and every day . . . to see the seasons come and go. Hmmmm . . . maybe. In the winter . . . it is especially beautiful. As if The Big Man, himself, came down with palette knife in hand, and a big old tube of paint, and christened each branch with the most delicate edge of white. Whether you like the snow, or not, it's beautiful. And Chicago is making up for the lack of it . . . all in one day. They are calling for 6 to 8 inches. That's nothing . . . in my book. But whatever it is, it is already bringing a sense of calm to my psyche. And it's just what I need...

Something made me write this letter to myself. Some need to remind myself of how far I've come and remind myself of where I want to go. But primarily, a letter to get myself out of Funkytown. This, my friends, is my Letter to Me. Dear Me, Hi there . . . it's me. Well, it's you , actually, writing a letter to . . . you. I mean, me. Myself. I. (Oh boy, if I keep going in this direction, we're going to be here a while.) The truth is, I think you hit the nail right on the head yesterday in your post. And I think that it's time you have a good long talk with yourself. Because it seems pretty clear to me that YOU are the only person who can get YOU moving right now. So, here we go. You see, now that we realize what the problem is, I think we need to address it and then . . . MOVE ON. Alright? But before we do that, I think there are a couple of things you need to hear. Things that you need to tell yourself. Out loud. Because, my ...

I'm focused today. Lots of things on my list . . . and one way or another - I'm going to accomplish them! I've realized that I am the only person who can get me out of Funkytown. So, I'm working on it . . . one moment at a time. I'm leaning on my *COURAGE* this week. When I picked that word, I had no idea how much I would rely on it. We (COURAGE and I) are standing up for ourselves. We are believing in each other. We are encouraging each other. It's a wonderful thing. I also have these two amazing little girls . . . you know? These two little souls who continue to remind me of what really matters in this life of mine. I was having one of  those evenings last night . . . watching the clock every second waiting for bed time to come. Just praying for some quiet and the sounds of "Mommy . . . Mommmm? Mom! MOM! Mommy!!! Mom . . . Mom?!?!? MOM!!!!!" to rest their little heads down for the night and leave me with some peace....

I think I need snow. Or warmer weather. Kind of silly, isn't it? To wish for snow in one breath, and then warmer weather in another. It's been unseasonably lovely here in Chicago this week. But I think this whole loveliness outside has my psyche in a tither. At this point in the season, I'm usually hybernating. Locked up, shades down, fireplace on . . . settling in for a *long*winters*night. It was 55 degrees outside today. I should be happy. Right? But, I'm lost. I just sat down and read my dear friend Leslie's blog today . . . so inspiring, so motivating, so full of energy. I LOVE IT. Yet, I feel like I'm so far from that place . . . I've hit Funkytown, folks. You know Funkytown, right? It's right next to Crankville . Ah, Crankville . . . remember Crankville?  Oh, the good ol'blog days , huh? Well, Funkytown is right next to Crankville. And it's a completely different place. It's not that "cranky" state of mind. ...

I spent hours last night . . . hours . . . sitting at the computer and reading and reading and reading. Inspired. Sigh. By each and every one of you. I absolutely love the spirit in blogland right now. This whole renewed and reinvented time of year, when we celebrate the past and look forward to the future with such gusto . . . Ooooo, GUSTO . . . that's a great word, isn't it? Perhaps I'll have to keep that on the list for next year. So many of us in blogland participate in the "Word of the Year" or "One Little Word" movement, and I love that. So many of us blog about our words and share our dreams as the slate has been wiped clean and ready to start anew. I read some wonderful stories last night. Triumphs. Failures. All of it. I'm constantly in awe of the honesty that exists in our little community. My word for this year . . . .  COURAGE.  I shared it with you at the end of last week (click here if you...