I think often times as children, we really just don’t pay close enough attention to the important things.  And should we really, are we really expected to at 10?  No, of course not, but we should start paying attention in our late teens, early 20’s – sadly enough we don’t start paying attention until our mid 30’s.  And many times, this is too late. 

As parents we should really encourage our children, to take the time and pay attention.  Take the time to learn about their heritage and what their grandparents went through in their lifetime.  Things have changed so drastically.  And a lot of the time, these stories, traditions, recipes will die when we lose a certain loved one.  The line stops with them.  And why?  Because we were all too busy playing on Facebook/Pinterest!  What a tragedy. 

I myself am guilty of this – I recently came to the realization – again to late.  We always assume we have enough time,  never realizing that time can be taken away whenever it deems necessary.  And most definitely not always on our time.

What are some of your family traditions??  Submit your traditions new and old to fabulocity@mia-ink.com, by 01.13.12.  We will pick our favorite 5 and post on our blog under Things We Love and pin them on Pinterest.  So be sure to include pictures with your submissions.

One tradition I always paid attention to growing up: Snack Night.  Every Christmas Eve, our family would all get together and have snacks.  What kid doesn’t love snacks?  It’s no wonder this is one of the traditions that I recall! 

My absolute favorite snack of the night?  Won-Tons.  What are Won-Tons?  They are my parents rendition of the many Pu Pu Platters they had while my dad was stationed in Hawaii.    They are sooooo good – but we don’t get them very often.  They are easy to make – but you have to fry them!  Ugh – a little bit of a pain and surely messy.  Good news though, while pinning away on Pinterest, I came across an egg roll recipie that gave me an idea.  Bake them!  So I tried it out tonight and I have to say – not bad!  If you have had my parents original – they aren’t as fabulous – but they are still pretty amazing.  They will definitely work in a pinch – especially if you are craving them!

Interested?  Try them out for yourself.  Enjoy! 

Ingredients:  (Keep in mind, these are estimates, my parents don’t use exact measurements.)

1 package Won-Ton Wrappers

1/2lb Hamburger Meat

1 cup of Rice

Shredded Cabbage

Shredded Carrots

Shredded Cheese

Soy Sauce

Onion Powder, Salt, Pepper

Water

Cooking Spray

Directions:  (Keep in mind, I don’t write cookbooks!)

Preheat Oven – 400 Degress

Brown Hamburger Meat with Onion Powder, Salt and Pepper – Put in Fridge to cool

Cook Rice – Put in Fridge to cool

Mix Cabbage and Carrots together and finely shred

Combine hamburger meat, rice, cabbage mix and cheese evenly together

Layout Won Ton Wrappers, wet fingertips in water and thinly spread on wrappers.  Add a small spoonful of mixture in the middle of wrapper, fold in three corners and roll up.  Place seal side down on sheet pan.  Spray with cooking spray.  Cook 6 minutes, flip and cook for 5 more minutes, or until golden brown.

Let cool and serve with Soy Sauce.

The purpose of this blog when I started was to inspire, empower and motivate you.  And that’s the easy part of my job. 

 I want you fabulous women to be Leaders, Powerful, Strong, Successful.  But how many of you find it hard to swallow that same pill of advice when it comes to yourself?  I bet a lot of you…………

I can give you advice all day of how to make it a mans world, so why is it so hard for me to put on those same pants I offered you?  I will admit when it comes to taking care of people, “Me” is often at the bottom of the list – if on it at all!  I want to take care of others and I am sure many of you paddle on that same boat.  And we are know the old adage, “ You can’t take care of others, if you don’t take care of yourself first.”  How many of us laugh in the face of the honesty in that statement??  I know I am guilty of it.  How am I supposed to take care of others, if I am worrying about myself – right.  I am sure we have all said this to ourselves. 

But remember, we do need to take care of ourselves.  WE deserve the love, support, motivation, inspiration and  care we hand out everyday.

Let’s renew our commitment to eachother and ourselves as we kick of a new year filled with endless, new possibilities.

I for one, plan to take advantage of the renewed motivation that comes along with a new year.    Find the dream and focus on it everyday, until it is yours!

Just kidding. I know – what happend to me?? And the answer is SO much!! It has been a crazy couple of months and I have so much to share with you. It has definitely been a roller coster of emotions. But the good news – I think I am back. Ready to go. So ladies, fasten your seat belts – its going to be a fun ride.

I know.  Where have I been?  Did I fall off the face of the earth?

Truth is – I kind of feel like it.  I have been hit by what feels like a Mack Truck and am doing what I can to function.  And really just trying to find my way back to my normalcy.  As of late, the extent of my motivation – is to get things done simply so I can get back in bed!  I know, that’s not very encouraging is it?  I will always try my best to bring the positive and light things to you – but remember, I will always be honest with you.  So sometimes, it won’t always be happy.  

I did try to blog after the last race, almost two weeks ago.  And it was a great blog – only to be eaten by the wonderful world of the internet!  I have no idea where it went.  Sad day for all of us!  Good news – I think things are getting back on track.   Which means for most of us, we can pick up right where we left off. 

Don’t forget to send me things you want to read about and send me links to the things you want me to Rave about!

fabulocity@mia-ink.com

As you may have noticed, I have been M.I.A. the past week or so.  Well, I am back. 

We went on vacation – lol to Crazytown as I call it.  (More on that later!)

Are you ready to be shocked?  I didn’t work AT all while I was gone!  For those who  know me well, you know how crazy that is.  Even though I don’t get internet there, I usually find someway to work or go somewhere I can pick up Wi-Fi.  Not this trip.  This trip had two goals: Visit my sick granny and go to my little sister’s baby shower.  These both happend the first whole day I was there.  What happend after that?  I pretty much didn’t do anything but read and sleep!  Thank goodness for Netflix on my phone – I did get my XFiles fix.

It was a nice break from reality.  I felt rested and as ready as I could be for work when I returned.  But after vacation, what’s worse than having to go back to work?  Having to find all of your toiletries and the such to get ready for work!  Even though I was rested – I couldn’t find anything this morning.  So the frustration started off my day. 

How did my drive home go?  Excellent and this is why!  I put on my IPOD and played the music loud and sang along – all the way home.  I was very calm and relaxed when I pulled in the drive way.  SO……

Sing in the car………….  Sing anywhere.  It always makes my day.  I know some of my friends have needed a laugh this past week or 2 so try this out!  Or picture me signing these songs!

I like to sing super loud, like I am J-Lo.  I’m not, in fact I probably fall in the category of William Hung - well maybe not quite that bad! – but it still shifts my mood upward.  I sang once to my boyfriend at the time – a pro – that was hard on the ego!  But who cares!  If it makes you feel good – do it.

Here is one of my feel good playlists: DJ Mia

1.  Take it Off – Ke$ha

2.  Animal – Neon Trees

3.  Magic – B.O.B.

4.  My First Kiss – 3OH!3

5.  Like a G6 – Far East Movement

6.  Tik Tok – Ke$ha

7.  DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love – Usher

8.  Sober – Pink

9.  Please Don’t Leave Me – Pink

10.  I Hate This Part – The Pussycat Dolls

11.  Rude Boy – Rhianna

12.  Rump Shaker – Wreckx-N-Effect

12.  We R Who We R – Ke$ha

13.  Jump In the Line – Harry Belafonte

Giving back to your community. This sounds like such a simple thing. And it doesn’t take a lot of time. But the payoff is so sweet. More often times than not, you are going to receive so much more than who are giving too. How? Trust me. There is a very rewarding feeling that comes with giving to others. Do I feel selfish sometimes that I get something so huge out of giving of myself? Nope. The awesome feeling I get, is what I receive back from the people I have the pleasure of working with.

Look at your schedule and instead of spending your day at the spa, find a local charity to spend the day with. Giving back to someone else. I know I love the spa like anyone else, but the trade off is worth it.

And remember what goes around, comes around. I have had clients who came through their hard times and were then able to give back. It is an amazing thing to witness. We had a Ride 4 the Kids charity event this past weekend and I was blown away by the group of riders who gave their Saturday for the kids. They were an awesome group of people and I found myself getting emotional as they took their first lap around the track and rode of to start their ride.

If its on your heart, don’t ignore it!  Like I may have already told you and will tell you again, trust your instincts.  Follow your heart – listen to it when it says something to you. 

Two people in my life have suddenly gotten ill.  The last time I was back “home”, I wanted to go visit, but it was “too” far or some other lame excuse.  And in one case, I didn’t get another chance.  I pray that I will get the 2nd chance in the other case.  But you never know.  It may sound cliche or like it should read on a greeting card – but live everyday to its fullest.  Live everyday like it is your last.  You may not get the 2nd chance or have the opportunity to express your feelings or appreciation. 

 Don’t let the days slip on by.  Don’t take that chance.  You don’t want to live with regrets, you can’t go back and change it.  As always, trust me on this!

 So Carpe Diem!

For all my loyal readers, yes the whole 22 of you -

Sorry that the blogs have been lacking.  My family is going through a tough time.  To say I was overwhelmed last week would be a gross understatement.  We are nowhere near being through the storm, but I am going to do my best to swim through it.  Why wouldn’t I?  This is what I encourage each one of you to do everyday, is it not?  So shouldn’t I do the same?

Remember, often times when we are fighting against the current, if we turn around, we can take a break from the bumps and turbulance and concentrate on the scenery around us by riding down the stream.

There is only person who has the power to turn around your day.  Who is it you say?? 

Go look in the mirror – see that person staring back?  A reflection of yourself?  You have successfully found the one person that can make things take a turn for the better or continue on the path to the worse.  Take the time to try and find that silver lining. 

I will use my self as an example.  Today I had to go do Race Weekend shopping not only by myself, but with my tired 8 year old!  What a task, I only had a certain amount of time and strength for that matter.   So we forged ahead and I turned my looming task into a record shopping trip!  It turned out to be the quickest trip yet.

After that record shopping trip, I was exhausted and feeling like I was ready to throw the towel in!  But instead, I decided to make my husband happy and cook dinner.  After cooking dinner, I felt very relaxed and completely de-stressed! 

Make yourself happy today!  Take the time in your busy schedule – pencil yourself in – do something you love.  Maybe an old hobby that you let go to the wayside.  Take a dance class, a cooking class, read a novel, something, anything – but DO IT! 

No worries, you can thank me later.

Bueller…….. Bueller………. Bueller………….

Even Superwoman needs a day off.  One can only take on so much for so long, before they must take a break.  If not they will crack. Projects, Events, and the such that should be fun and amazing, start to seem like a chore.

You must learn to say no.  A wise friend taught me that – And I promise Sam, I am trying.  But I am to the point that it has to happen.

We all have days or weeks where it all seems like too much!  Ladies I have lived that week this week.  But I am going to give you some tools that I have used this week and they are helping me get through and shedding a little perspective.

1.  Remember, we may think we have it bad – but someone always is in a worse way than we are.  And if we really take a look at ourselves, our problem isn’t the size of the universe like we first envisioned.

2.  Do something nice for someone else.  How does that make you feel better?  Who knows – but it does.  I have a good friend who has been having a tough time and I delivered her flowers, just like 1800FLOWERS does and I am quite sure it made my day just as much as it did hers.  To be honest, it may have made my day more than hers.  You will be amazed the gift you receive, when you give one.

3.  We are blessed and lucky to wake up to a new day.  We get another day to dream a dream and work to make that dream reality.  Some people’s chance to realize their dream is often taken away too early.  So be happy when your feet hit the floor in the morning!

4.  When we are at the end of our rope, you may feel alone.  But this couldn’t be further from the truth!  My friends and family have been the ones who carried me through this tough week.  We can’t do it without them and they don’t expect us to!  Pick up the phone, send an email – they will have plenty of encouragement to get you back on track.