Memorial Day Weekend

For me the Memorial Day Weekend does not mean that much. I just remember the first time I was in the US for the memorial day. I was living in Detroit Lakes, a small town in north-west Minnesota, at the time doing an exchange year during my Junior year in high school. The year was 1998 and I was 18 years old.

I remember driving by a cemetery with my host dad (or American dad as I call him, he was actually the one walking me down the isle at my wedding so he is just not a 'host dad' to me) and I could see all these flags everywhere. I had gotten used to seeing the American flag on a daily basis but not like that! That was just crazy - it was beautiful in some way...

Today when I think about it I have more compassion... I realize that most of these people died young, in another country without their loved ones because they wanted to do something good for their country, or the world... It is hard to think that they will never be able to tell their story, the story beyond the media, the story beyond the war...

Bless those many lost souls...

Summertime

Summer time is around the corner and I start to think about Sweden. I love Sweden in the summer. It is my place to relax and be myself. Hang out with friends, listen to how the language sound, look at the new fashion trends that will come to the US within a year or two, eat things I can't get here, walk in parks and enjoy people watching, see my family, enjoy watching all red cottages, see more blonds in a day then anywhere else, enjoy the sense of style in men, dance at my favorite club, walk in grocery stores and being able to trust the labels, stay up all night because it never gets dark, laugh until I cannot laugh anymore...

Yes, I miss my Sweden!

Going back to Dermalogica

I have given up hope on AHAVA products right now. I still like the bar soap but I am not seeing any improvements at all by using it or any of the other products that I have from the same brand. After my facial on Thursday I received some tester bags and as I kept using them my face kept improving. But over the weekend I used a lot of them up and now I am back to using my ahava moisturizer and my face is back to looking as a teenager.

I don't think that it is the ahava products that are bad, they are just not what my face need right now. I need to get something stronger for my acne, or for my skin infections as they are truthfully... I know; it sounds so much worse but that is what it is, no point in lying to yourself!

I saw incredible impact in using the 'Dermal Clay Cleanser' - it was a bit uncomfortable on my skin, but it really made an impact. I also am looking into getting the 'Active Moist' day cream and the 'Overnight Clearing Gel' I just feel that I am spending so much money on it... but if it works I really have no other choice... And I rather spend some money than look the way I do right now.

What is your favorite brand?

Lights went out

Yesterday I was goooone... I had my morning meeting with my elliptical at 5 in the morning and then off to work. I was so bored at work that I ended up leaving a little bit early... I was just thinking about everything else I needed to get done that sitting in my cube was driving me crazy... Then there was the highlight of the day - FACIAL time. I have had issues with acne for maybe four months now and I am trying to find the right products and the right way to take care of it without taking any drugs. It is a very slow process and I am not sure what to do next except having facials. They do make me look a ton better but it only last for so long.

Those 60 minutes of pampering makes me so relaxed and by the time I got home and had dinner I was out! It was only the 3rd inning of the Phillies game and I fell asleep on my hubby's chest... I woke up and it was the 7th inning.. I moved to the other sofa and tried really hard to watch the game but out I went...

Hubby woke me up a little later and off to bed we went. I don't know what happened after that but off I went again! When my alarm rang this morning at 4:50 am I turned it off and fell back asleep again. I was just completely wiped out!

I have been having some horrible cramps and feeling almost like I have had a fever so maybe I needed some extra sleep... I would say that by now I should be rested.

Last day of teaching dance classes tonight, feels strange but nice. I need the break, or I need the time I spend on that on other things for now.

Model found

Reaching out on Facebook is a good thing! A friend of a friend is letting me take pictures of her baby in my clothes - it is going to be so exciting!! I hope to get it done on Saturday.

My weekend is pretty much booked up, but I will make room for this! On Sunday I have the dance recital for NAC where I have been teaching dance since September last year. It is finally time for the recital. All the kids are so excited for it - not all might be ready, but they are excited!

I am even going to be on stage dancing. It has been a while but I am sure I still got the touch... after all I LOVE being on stage!

On a hunt...

I actually kept my promise. I finished the dresses that I was supposed to finish this weekend. As I am sure you have already noticed; I am not a girly-girl when it comes to my baby girl outfits - I like retro and I like to combine what I see in fashion magazine into something that fits a baby or kid. Now, that doesn't mean that I won't throw in a pink muffin dress with whipped cream on top every now and then - but that is not where I am at for the moment. Right now I am all about polka dots and down to earth... what I am tomorrow is another story ;)

So here is the dresses I finished: My "Olivia's Garden" Baby dresses:

100% Cotton (except for ribbon, zipper, and flowers) available in three baby sizes (S, M, L). I have not uploaded this to my Etsy.com shop yet and I don't know if I should, at least not yet. I so want this dress to come out great in the pictures and I feel that a little baby girl would make it look even better. What do you guys think? Does it matter if I have a baby model or not?

Do you know of any baby girls 6-18 months that would look adorable in this dress that would want to be my model?

Any comments are welcome!

Making a commitment

Ok - tonight I WILL finish one more dress!! I promise! I am not stopping until it is done!

Just so you know - even though Phillies are going to play the whole day and night... I will find the time to do it! Go Phillies... or wait - Go Sewing!!

Focus on the Red Thing

I am a bull that sees red sometimes, but it is not a bad thing necessarily. It is just that when I see red I have a hard time focusing on something else but this red thing!

My red thing for the moment is to learn as much as I can about Real Estate Investing. I am consumed by it. I can't think about anything else. I look at real estate for sale all over when I have a moment over. I try to play the game Rich Dad Cashflow for an hour before I go to bed and I read about real estate investing while on the elliptical, watching TV, and whenever I have a moment over. I am so focused on it!

But I also have my little business that I want to excel in and get more sales from, not because I think I can make Candie Ink to anything big, but I like doing it and I think I can learn from that experience! For the moment I have a hard time taking time to finish some items I have laying around. I have this awesome dress that I love that I just need to finish... but when I sit there or when I get ready to sew I just think about Real Estate. I can juggle tennis balls, but I have a hard time having two bowling balls in the air at the same time; they are a little heavy! And especially when I intend for my real estate ball to grow into something larger than myself one day.

But with you all here - let's do this: If I don't have at least one more item in my little online shop by next weekend you have to promise to NEVER buy anything from me, promise!

Second Sale

Things are going slow with my Etsy shop but I finally got a second sale and this one was my favorite - the 'I Love Shoes' printed hot pink toddler t-shirt!!

I have been a little slow in my makings too, I have had so much other stuff going on that I haven't talked to the people that have said I can use their kids as models or even finishing up the dresses I was supposed to finish 3 weeks ago. No rush I guess, we are still going into summer and not going out of it.

Life is full of surprises

Fearless girls ... I'm in the middle

I am still amazed on how everything has just tumbled upon me - it truly feels like it has. I haven't been looking for it because I had no idea what to look for or where. Donald Trump to me just a few weeks ago was one of those 'rich ignorant guys' - how wrong I was!!

How can I learn to be rich, or at least a little bit more financial stable, from someone that is still going to work every day, maybe even two jobs??? On what planet does that makes sense??? Apparently on this one! Why don't we learn from the best, from the people that have done it, tried it and have succeeded from basically nothing?? When you ask it like that it is pretty obvious but do people in general think about that stuff?? I don't think so, at least I didn't. But I do now...

I went to this workshop yesterday presented by Rich Dad Education and I was literally bubbling of excitement. It wasn't like all other workshops where you find the sales pitch in every sentence (yes it was a great sales pitch going on but it was beyond the point) this sales pitch made so much sense to me and it felt like it hit me right in the heart. All I wanted to do was to stand up and scream, that is how excited I was. I so know I am capable of doing this, I truly am. Yeah sure, some seconds here and there I get these fear attacks and think to myself 'who the heck do I think I am' but the excitement takes right over... And there is a drive inside of me that I almost can't manage.

It off course helps that every night when I come home I found a sad hubby from disliking his job, feeling that he is worth so much more. Yesterday I whispered to him 'I will get you out of this'... and I truly mean it, I truly believe that it will happen!! And it will happen in probably less than one year.

Fear not the fear itself but what will happen if you do not try!

I want it even more now!

Last week was a "sit-back-and-think" week. I was thinking about changes; that it was time for some changes for me (yeah I don't like getting to comfortable - I want MORE). First I planed my changes to be just taking charge of my horrible weight gain since coming off the pill. But for some reason Faith had more in storage for me. It was like I needed something bigger not to get bored.

On our way home from Florida over a week ago when our flight got delayed I fount this book 'Why we want you to be rich' and it made me think bigger. I am still not done with the book but it has opened my eyes already to what is out there for me to grab a hold of and never let go. I want it so badly now and I am willing to work hard to get there. I realize that it is not a walk in the park but I think I can get there, I really do.

Anyway after a lot of thinking I came up with a whole bunch of bullets and motivational things to keep me motivated and they all boiled down to this short vision and dream:
My dream is to one day be able to teach others how I made my dreams come true. I want to teach them why I was able to pay off my student loan with one single check, I want to show them why I now call multiple houses my home, I want to show them why I no longer fly commercial but private, I want to show them how they can also have their name on a building, I want to show them the difference between security and freedom, I want to show them the real meaning of what leverage is, I want to show them how they can accomplish the exact same thing over and over again no matter who they are or how much money they already have.

And then like a star in the sky I get to see it... I even get to touch it... I got to touch my dream for a little bit. 
I can't get a better teaser than this:

  A little piece of my future...