Creating our Lives

Well, mes amies ... how did your weekend go? Did you have time to take a look at your wardrobe and see if comfort still equaled elegance? I hope you did. I have to admit that this is something that I have been working on for the past several months. I happily hauled several bags of clothes off to either the battered women's shelter, the homeless shelter, or to women in my Church who needed the clothes more than I did. In return, I "had" to get some new clothes. LOL! I then proceeded to only purchase clothes that either:

1) I could foresee myself wearing 5 years from now (unless a miracle happened and I lost weight ... and then, Quelle Horreur!!! I'd have to go shopping again!!).
2) They were good quality clothing. They would actually last 5 years. With that being said, I refuse to not get a bargain, so this didn't mean that I've been spending all my money on clothes either. More about that later ... I have some great tips for you clothes horses, but that's another day.
3) They were truly "me." They accented my body type to its best advantage and they were colors that looked best on me.
and lastly,
4) They passed the "Do I LOVE it, not "just like it" test.

So ... if you're like me, you probably didn't finish the challenge I gave you over the weekend. That's okay. I still have drawers I haven't gone through. So, let's keep going, shall we? Only, now, let's add the four (4) new challenges I've just given you to the mix.

If you did try my challenge and looked for comfort and elegance (you can even change that out to excellence if you can't perceive yourself as elegant yet, but we're going to work on that, I promise!), then I congratulate you, and I also hope that you'll share your experiences. Please, when you have a moment, share your triumphs, challenges, and stories. We can all learn from and help each other!

In the meantime, I'm giving you another Coco's Pearl. It's a graphic I created for the Graphic's Fairy's Brag Monday party that I always participate in. I used her "freely given" label at the bottom of the graphic to highlight Coco's pearl (you can find her link to the right). I hope that you'll really take her wisdom to heart. Let's go forth and create our lives!!

Bonjour mes amies, and have a wonderful week!!!



P.S. As always, please feel free to click on the picture and then right-click to save to your computer. No mass production, please. However, please feel free to share via Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus so that others can get their own copy and join us in our quest.

Life's Lessons for Women April 2013: Coco Chanel

Well, mes amies, it's taken me a little longer than I had hoped but I am confident that you'll feel it was as worth it as I do. I'm so excited to announce our new journey to feeling beautiful by learning from successful women who have already forged the path ahead of us. And, as my loves of vintage fashion and all things french are so strong, I had to start of with Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, herself. What an amazing woman. What a path she blazed at a time when women had very few rights and very few comforts ... especially in the way of dressing. I don't know about you, but the thought of being trussed up like a Christmas turkey every day in order to wear my clothes, and then to try to get in and out of my vehicle with said clothes, while still breathing, is absolutely mind-boggling. I created the above graphic to get us started. Please feel free to download and print it out or save to your computer as a wallpaper. Many thanks to Karen at the Graphics Fairy for the beautiful french frame that I used in the background.

I know you all have a very busy life, so today's post will just be an introduction. But, if you do have time, please following this link HERE to a great, but not long, bio of her. It's in written or video form, and really quite lovely!

What is even more amazing about this woman, is that she was born in 1883 and lived until 1971, yet she still inspires fashion to this very day. Over the course of this next month, I'll be sharing little snippets of what made this woman so memorable. And, I hope it will inspire you to believe and know that you are memorable. You carry within you, all that she had. We're going to learn from her success, her mistakes, and her witty words of wisdom. It's going to Coco Heaven!! So hop on board, girls ... let's take this crazy ride!!

Before I close ... I have what I've been asked for, and promised, for quite some time to share with you ... a TUTORIAL!!!!! I know many of you think that you are not crafty. Many women think that you either have "it" whatever "it" is, that can magically make you creative, or you don't. Well, I don't believe that for a minute. I have found the most wonderful crafter who has hopped on board and will be taking this trip with us ... all the way. Her name is Tevis, and she will be offering 2 tutorials every month.

For those of you who are intimidated by crafts, there is Paper Crafting 101, which will be offered the first (1) week of every month. For those of you who are crafty, but want to learn something new, different, and maybe a little challenging, we will be offering Paper Crafting 2.0 (offered the 3rd week of every month). Each month the craft will correspond with the icon from whom we will be learning from. So, this month's craft is inspired by Coco.



This picture was taken when she was younger, but if you notice the bracelet she has on ... it could be just as popular today. So, you can click HERE to go to our tutorial page and meet Tevis. Or, you can click on the Paper Crafting 101 button at the top of the page.

Also, be sure and join either my facebook page, or my twitter as I will be sharing little bits of wisdom over the next month regarding Coco. If you're not a huge Facebook fan, but love Twitter, that's the way to go. If you don't tweet, but like to check in on Facebook, then that's best. Of course, you can join all of my buttons and just have a complete Chanel fest if you'd like. Anyway you want to ... come join us as we learn from one of the top 30 women listed as Women Who Changed the World!!

Bonjour Mes Amies ... I hope you enjoy draping yourselves with Coco's pearls this month.

Lorraine

Never, Never, Never Give Up! (Winston Churchill)

I could start this out as in a really happy way, but I'm not feeling too happy, and I can't fake it. So, this post is for me as well as you!!

Have you ever had one of those weeks where NOTHING went right? Well, this has been mine. I've literally wanted to crawl into the bed and not get up until next month. I know this sounds like a "Debbie Downer" but I'm being real and authentic ... and it does get better.

So, as I looked for inspiration for today's Freebie Friday, I realized that I needed to motivate myself and I, hopefully, will motivate you as well.

Because, while I did have a really bad week (fridge water hose sprayed all over the kitchen, ruining 20 tiles drying on my table (as well as the drywall behind) ... 20 tiles having to be redone ... again because the weather didn't cooperate, 20 tiles still not drying because of the weather ... yada yada yada), I can report that I can find some good in all of this.

I refuse to give up! I truly do. So, while nothing seems to have worked well, I can say that I have persisted, and I will keep persisting til I get everything worked out. So, today's Freebie Friday is a little pep talk for me, and for you if you need it!

*Personal use only, no mass production, but please feel free to direct anyone to my blog to download their own copy. Just click on the picture and then right click to save to your computer.

So, I'm gonna put "my big girl pants" on (as my daughter says) and get back on the saddle, and get those tiles done!! Whoo ... I feel better already, and am smiling again.

I hope you have a beautiful weekend mes amies, and that it is better than my last few yesterdays!

J'adore my followers!
Au Revoir,

Lorraine

Welcome Mes Amies to my Oo La La Blog.

"Life is a garden. It is an opportunity. You can grow weeds, you can grow roses; it all depends on you."

I'm so excited to start this wonderful journey with you. I have decided to try to finally conquer the image or beauty insecurities that seem to plague many women in our society, and along the way, hopefully help other women come to terms with their own beauty. To start off, I wanted to share the above quote and gorgeous picture with you. I thought the butterfly appropos because they are such delicate objects of beauty - dancing their way through life, but they have to go through so much in order to get to that state. And frankly, let's face it, they start out as caterpillars, while inifinitely exciting for little boys to squish in their pockets, not terribly inspirational for the eyes.

In my lifetime, I have mostly felt like a caterpillar. I believe I know some of the reasons why, but I definitely know that I want to search out more and get rid of those weedy thoughts. I want my thoughts to be filled with roses, to refer back to the above quote. Why, now, when I'm in my late 40's would I grow (and no, that's not a typo) through this? Well, probably because I am a stage 3 breast cancer survivor and from 2007 through 2010 I spent most of my time just trying to physically survive. The past couple of years I have been bordering on the brink between the fear of living, the fear of dying, and the ultimate determination to live each day that I have to the best of my ability ... filled with happiness and hope. Also, I know that I'm alive still for a purpose. I want that purpose to be the means to inspire every woman that I come into contact with, to feel good about herself - to feel beautiful - to feel unique and essential in her own sphere of existence.

And while I'm writing that, I'm realizing ... why is it that we as women have such a difficult time seeing the best in other women? We do not, as a whole, often compliment someone verbally, but we can spend an inordinate amount of time mentally picking apart their faults? What is so wrong with acknowledging another's beauty? It doesn't diminish our own. In fact, perhaps if we can see and acknowledge the beauty in other women, maybe it would be easier for us to feel confident enough to acknowledge our own.

Okay, so that will be my first experiment and challenge to you. I'm going to keep a small journal in my purse and when I see another woman and have the opportunity to compliment her, on whatever I possibly can, I'm going to write down my thoughts and feelings about the interaction. What is the other woman's reaction? How does it make me feel about myself and my own self-esteem? Does it add or subtract. I'll let you know how it works out. And, I'd love to hear your comments as well. What happens when you do the same?

To close my first "epic" post, I'd like to leave the following quote and beautiful picture for you (and I) to ponder:

"Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical." - Sophia Loren