Quotes

Don’t judge me.  But yes, I watch American Idol.  In fact I LOVE IT.  I especially loved the showdown between Kris Allen and Adam Lambert.  Adam was everyone’s favorite and of course he got my full support (I can’t deny guyliner and musical theatrics…we’ll get to my love of Simon and Seacrest another time).  But now that Kris Allen has released his debut album I can really see how talented the guy is.  I’ve been jamming out to this song and every word he sings rings louder each time.  Take the time to read the lyrics and see how you can apply it to your life.

Sometimes we fall down and can’t get back up
We’re hiding behind skin that’s too tough
How come we don’t say I love you enough
Till it’s to late, it’s not too late

Our hearts are hungry for a food that won’t come
We could make a feast from these crumbs
And we’re all staring down the barrel of a gun
So if your life flashed before you
What would you wish you would’ve done

Yeah… gotta start
Lookin at the hand of the time we’ve been given here
This is all we got and we gotta start pickin it
Every second counts on a clock that’s tickin’
Gotta live like we’re dying

We only got
86 400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell ‘em that we love ‘em
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we’re dying

And if your plane fell out of the skies
Who would you call with your last goodbyes
Should be so careful who we live out our lives
So when we long for absolution
There’ll no one on the line

Yeah… gotta start
Lookin at the hand of the time we’ve been given here
This is all we got and we gotta start pickin it
Every second counts on a clock that’s tickin’
Gotta live like we’re dying

We only got
86 400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell ‘em that we love ‘em
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we’re dying

Like we’re dying oh – like we’re dying

We only got
86 400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell ‘em that we love ‘em
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live – like we’re dying

We never know a good thing till it’s gone
You never see a crash until it’s head on
All those people right when we’re dead wrong
You never know a good thing till it’s gone

Yeah… gotta start
Lookin at the hand of the time we’ve been given here
This is all we got and we gotta start livin it
Every second counts on a clock that’s tickin’
Gotta live like we’re dying

We only got
86 400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell ‘em that we love ‘em
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we’re dying

Like we’re dying oh – like we’re dying

We only got
86 400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell ‘em that we love ‘em
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we’re dying
Live like we’re dying

xoxo,

Vanesa

It’s the first day of April and Spring has finally arrived.  When I think of Spring I think of flowers, beauty, sunny days, cold nights, growth, fertility, and ahhhh yes, SPRING BREAK.  I hope everyone had a joyous break to recharge.  As you can see my last post was in February but I feel ready to finally start fertilizing this garden I call my blog.  I posted the above quote because in all my years of living I’ve FINALLY figured out that there is always spring after a long winter.  Amidst all my complaining and my frustrations, life WILL provide a light at the end of the tunnel.  I guess the important part is to find joy and happiness through the winter, through the spring, through the good, through the bad.  I will work on this…I MUST work on this.  Or else I’m going to end up buying Prozack on the black market and we all know I would rather spend that money on shoes.

I’ve always underestimated the value of the spring break recharge.  This year I finally did it, and I will never, ever, ever scoff at the idea of taking some time to sit by a pool and do absolutely nothing.  Spring took me to the gorgeous locale of Cabo San Lucas.  A two hour flight out of LAX and I felt like I was in a completely different world.  Here are a few of my highlights:

Is this Heaven??? No, my friends.  This is the pool at the Marquis Los Cabos:

Kangaroo Cocktail? Check. Hilarious book by Chelsea Handler? Check. Paradise ahead? Check.

Taken from a speedboat as we set out to go whale watching.

My attempt to eating healthy.  Hopefully this fruit canceled out all the quesadillas:

Now I have two months to work off all of that “rest and relaxation” until summer arrives!

xoxo,

Vanesa

“I approach this position like I approach my life,” the first lady went on. “I try to be as authentically me as I can be, because it’s easier to maintain it. So what people have seen over the course of the year is really Michelle. And I find a level of comfort in that role.”

-Michelle Obama being interviewed by Matt Lauer on this morning’s Today Show

Read an article on the entire interview here on msnbc.com

xoxo, Vanesa

“…Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day – this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Picture from ehow.com

As you may know I’m on a serious kick to get in shape.  I’m working on my overall health by eating organic and grass-fed meats but let’s face it- I also want to get skinny!  I have my best friend’s wedding in August motivating me through this whole process.  All of my friends through college would raaaaave about the magic cardio goodness of spinning classes but I’ve always been too afraid!  Afraid of what you may wonder?  It’s just a bike, an instructor, and overwhelming techno music that brings back horrible memories of all the boyfriends you had while working your first job at Abercrombie&Fitch.  But for me it was FEAR.  Fear that I didn’t have the stamina, fear that I would faint from exhaustion, fear of not knowing what to do.  Well I am proud to say that this morning I faced my fear!  Not only did I face it, I think I kicked its ass I feel on fire now and that anything I put in front of me I can conquer.  I hope this yummy feeling is radiating through your computer screen so you can have the courage to face your fears.  And if you need the help of a posse to back you up, here’s a few good words from some folks that are far wiser than me….

Quotes on Fear:

Eleanor Roosevelt:

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.

Rosa Parks:

I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.

Anonymous

Fear is the prison of the heart.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, First inaugural address

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Sara Paddison, The Hidden Power of the Heart

If you are dealing with fears and insecurities from old head programs, have compassion for yourself. Just love your insecurities, fears and resentments. Release and forgive them as they come up. Judging, beating or repressing insecurities just gives them power. Then you have a pattern that never gets resolved. Recognize that your real security is built from your relationship with your own heart.

xoxo, Vanesa

Sometimes I feel like the smallest fish in the sea staring at all the great big sharks and sparkling seashells wondering, “Why am I here and they are over there?”  I need to get over this…not only is this feeling annoying, it makes me the block standing in my own way.  I don’t want to operate my life from fear, I want to let my own light shine!  I read this quote from the great Nelson Mandela and instantly felt strong and empowered.  I hope this brings you similar feelings of positivity and lifts any self-doubt you may be experiencing:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – Nelson Mandela

xoxo, Vanesa

There’s the gift, there’s the spirit, and there’s the work—all three have to come together. If one of those things is off, it can stop you from becoming who you were meant to be.
-Jay-Z in his interview with Oprah availabe in the October 2009 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, on newsstands September 15th

After I read Skinny Bitch cover to cover I became obsessed with decaf green tea.  After trying several different brands I stumbled upon Yogi Tea’s Pure Green Decaf Tea as well as their Green Tea Kombucha Decaf.  Both are wonderful teas that give me a soothing and healthier replacement to my love affair with Skinny Vanilla Lattes. Besides the wonderful taste I look forward to the cute little sayings that come on the labels of the teabag.  I love them so much that I started posting them as my daily Facebook status update and have become somewhat famous for them   Okay I can’t say I’m faaaamous for them but I can say when I don’t post my daily Yogi Tea saying, people inquire about the absence.  These small sayings can turn around my whole day with words of inspiration, strength and serenity.  I have taped to my computer the Yogi Tea reading, “I am beautiful, I am bountiful, I am blissful.”  And I swear to everyone my life turned around from the Yogi Tea reading, “Life is a flow of love.  Your participation is requested.”  You can read more about the Yogi brand here and get your daily tasting of inspiration from their sayings here.