More Than Just Sisters...

These two have my back. Have done nothing but made this year easier for me. Pampered me and made sure whatever I needed they were there for me. People go through life not having people who care as much for them. Gratefully not me. I have this crazy army backing me up. Picking me up. Telling me just to focus on being happy. No matter what I need I will never be alone. These two are part of that army. Tough, smart, sophisticated ladies that I gratefully call my sisters. My best friends. My backbone. Extremely grateful and lucky to have them. 

Get Ready To Add The Next Chapter Of Your Life...

My New Years...

Happy New Years...I am stronger everyday because of these three girls...

Make 2018 About YOU

Self love, self healing, make 2018 about being good for

YOU and to YOU. Great article:

https://www.powerofpositivity.com/2018-selfish-year/

Goodbye 2017...

Studio D Hair Salon In Norwalk...Amazing!

My sister had her hair done here and it looked so good so she surprised me and got me a gift certificate for Christmas. I went today and saw Olivia and she was amazing. Of course I was that annoying client who didn't know what she wanted but said I wanted some layers but a long bob. I wanted a cut that would be easy to style. It came out PERFECT. 

Studio D is this little hidden gem located in Norwalk on 62 Cedar street. There's parking right upfront. The salon is very chic but so welcoming and comfortable. After ten minutes Olivia and I were joking around and laughing. She was very easy to talk to and she totally gave me the cut I wanted. It's like she read my mind since I couldn't put it into words. I can't wait to go back and try other fun cuts with her and best of all...she's half the price of other salons. Totally give it a try and be sure to ask for Olivia!

//m.facebook.com/studiodhairsalonllc

Feel Good Song: Younger Now By Miley Cyrus

Lessons Learned...

Divorce Isn't The End...It's The New Beginning

Beginning and starting over at any stage of life can be a challenge. Going over finances can be draining. Seeing your ex can be extremely draining. Co-parenting is super draining at times. There isn't one easy thing about getting a divorce except for... the excitement of starting over! No I don't mean jump into another relationship. I mean focusing on YOU.

When was the last time you did that? I was so caught up in being a mom and wife that I forgot about ME. I loved this article I found. I love that positive things are ahead. I love the ups and downs because I tend to stop and laugh at myself more. Divorce isn't the end. It's truly, 100% the New Beginning. Take the time and share this article with anyone who could use this right now.


Seven Ways to Thrive After Divorce | Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-intelligent-divorce/201309/seven-ways-thrive-after-divorce

You Will Overcome This Moment

Declutter Your Life

Since going through my divorce I noticed I have been focusing a lot on decluttering areas of my life. I need to make room for a better flow. Clutter tends to stress me out. People say when you declutter you are also cleaning out your emotions. Which is true. I feel so much better. I am allowing myself to "feel". I also did it this morning with my Facebook & Instagram Friend list. I know sounds so silly but do you even know who you are friends with? So I went in and removed people who I know aren't active on Facebook and people who I would never really have a conversation with. I love to share pictures of my kids and I need to be sure who is really seeing them are people I want to see them. 

Now that the holidays are over I plan on picking weekends to declutter areas of my home. My closest, my basement...even some drawers could use some TLC.

When was the last time YOU let go of stuff and allowed calmness in your life?

Focus On What You Want...

Christmas It's Love & Peace

First Christmas Eve and Day with the kids only being with one parent to celebrate and they did amazing. I had them last night and their father came over early today to open gifts and took

them after for the day and my girls did great. I am so proud how they are handling everything so amazing. They are calm and loving and helpful and I am so proud of them. Truly grateful!

Christmas Laughter...Christmas with the Kranks - Botox Scene HD

Hysterical! I could watch this clip over and over again. Laughter heals the heart. Brings out your youth and makes you happier. Enjoy the laugh and its benefits!

Elf Is Ready For Christmas...

In a weird way I am going to miss this Elf...Merry Christmas Everyone!

Santa's Boot: Pigs In A Blanket

Every year I make pigs in the blanket as an app for Christmas Eve. I let the kids pick the shape to make. This year we made Santa's Boot. This is super easy and fun to make. You need three packages of crescent rolls raw dough and a package of hotdogs. Cut up the hotdogs and layer ontop of the shape of dough. Top with another layer of dough and let the kids decorate. 

Merry Christmas From My Family To Yours!

Holiday Song: Do they Know it's Christmas ~ Band Aid 1984

Christmas Therapy...

I kindof don't want to get out of bed this morning. Partly due to being tired. Partly feeling a little down. Even though my marriage is over and I have no desire to ever fix it, I can't help but feel a little down. They say divorce is like mourning a death. You have these rollercoaster rides of emotions. One minute you're up next minute you're down. 

Christmas Eve has always been my favorite. I love my family and we eat a crazy amount of delicious food. All my cousins are there and you walk away feeling so much stronger by the amazing energy of those who love you. So I know tonight will help me. But now I fully understand all the times my friends had breakups and all the times they felt down and lonely. I could so now relate and although this all will pass it's also showing me that I can now relate to those I couldn't in the past. It's showing me how to be more sympathetic towards others. To be able to say I get it now and to really deep down focus on your true self and what you really need to make yourself fully happy again.

Dear Santa...Let's Not Mix Things Up Again...

Holiday Song: Carol Of The Bells by Lindsey Stirling

Move Forward & Enjoy Your Life

It's About Making Memories and Creating Traditions

I was so tired but build up some energy to do sugar cookies with my girls. I made the dough with them and baked them and saved decorating for the next day. It was a mess and you wonder will the kids ever remember all this work you do with them? Then your oldest bites into a cookie and says "Awe there's my mommas sugar cookies. How I missed this taste" you can't help but feel a huge sense of accomplishment. I grabbed my daughter and kissed her up. 

Here's the real deal. You  try to keep the kids happy, build memories, while dough falls on the ground and the house is covered in flour. There is some yelling and tears and you say to yourself it's ok they are kids and your back aches and you wonder who even really enjoys these cookies besides yourself. But it's fun and Christmas music is playing in the background and you let your kids dump so many sprinkles on their cookies. So when my daughter came home with her dad the next day to pick up her sisters and bit into it and said that I almost cried. Cried from happiness that even if I am not perfect. Even if things are rough at times. It doesn't matter but I achieved my goal. My goal that I am building traditions and memories with my three kids that I cherish and adore and love me and I love them and it's so worth every mess. Every backache and every sprinkle and frosting covered on the counters. Mommy win for sure!

Relax-Stress Can Be Ok! How To Make Stress Your Friend by Kelly McGonigal

Massage...How Do YOU Relax

My sister treated me to a massage last weekend. We went together to Noelle's in Stamford and it was perfect. We went on a snowy Friday night and it was so peaceful. My body was in rough shape from

Doing wood and shoveling- yeah not sure what I was thinking- but after my massage the lady asked me what I do to relax. Hmmm I paused. I had no clue so I said meditate. She's like you have so many knots in your lower back and gave me some tips on how to help them. Honestly who REALLY relaxes? When my kids are with their dad I do stuff around the house. Catch up on my errands. I will admit I have been addicted to theHall Mark channel and love some silly Holiday Love Stories. But when I think of the word relaxing I picture reading a book on the beach with a cocktail in my hand and the sound of the waves crashing in the background- yeah I know amazing. But really how do YOU relax? Because we all need time and to do stuff to help heal our body and minds. 

Gingerbread Houses...Do It Your Way

I will never forget a couple years ago a friend at a family party was doing crafts with the kids and said do it your way to the kids...that is so HARD for parents to sit back and watch your kids do crafts without jumping in and taking over. 

So this week I went into my daughter's class and me and some other parents helped them make gingerbread houses. Oh man the stress level started to rise as the art lover in me tried to kick in and help and those words played in my head "Do it your way" as the kids houses started to collapse and slide down. I finally said to my daughter can I please help you. She laughed and let me so I attempted to save her house and make it look somewhat presentable. The funny thing is later this week I let my little ones make some at home and well I just sat back and said "do it your way"

Sometimes you have to just let things go and sit back and let them do things their own way. 

Holiday Handprint Crafts

Super cute link of handprint crafts to make with your little ones. https://www.babble.com/crafts-activities/15-handprint-and-footprint-crafts-for-the-holidays/

Christmas Humor...What Do YOU Really Want?

Teacher Gifts

I always try to give the teachers something creative and appreciative. We don't realize it but most days they spend more time with our children than we do. They make a huge impact on their lives. They teach, encourage and really guide them through their education. I must say my daughters always had great teachers.  Some were more out going than others but I was always pleased. 

This year the head teachers are all getting white chocolate covered apples topped with a marshmallow from Stew Leonards. The pre k classes have about 4-5 aides and I ordered holiday donuts for each class. It's hard to budget, yet want to spread some love. But these apples actually are much bigger than this picture and are an amazing price. You don't have to go over board. But with buying for three head teachers, countless class aides, religion teachers, and chior teachers. The list just never ends. But you can set a budget and find great prices, while still making someone feel special. 

Christmas Gift Suggestions...

Christmas Cookie & Wine Pairing

Be Happy...Be Happy In The Little Things In Life!

How Being Santa Is Like Being A Parent...

Holiday Eating Humor...

Cold nights, hanging solo, holiday cheer and blues well all lead to one thing...eating. So thank you leggings for being good to me and allowing me to eat in sorrow or happiness and I promise you will

be put to rest after the holidays. But for now it's ok to find some comfort in food. 

Santa...

Who Says Wrapping Gifts Isn't Fun...

Rest In Peace Sandy Hook Angels

Happy Hanukkah!!

Save On Admission at Stepping Stones On Dec 16th & 17th

Beat the cold this weekend by coming over to Stepping Stones Museum in Norwalk. They are offering $3 off each ticket this weekend only. Be sure to check out their calendar so your little one can take a picture with Santa.

Purchase tickets here using discount code: ADVANCE bit.ly/2AaDVpl

The Nutcracker At The Stamford Palace Theater

This weekend the Nutcracker will be playing at the Stamford Palace Theater. What a great way to get a jump start into the holiday spirit. Such talent and beautiful to watch the ballets take their art and talent to a different level. Learn More and purchase tickets here: https://shar.es/1MwLmK

Spread More Love...

With the recent bomb attempt at Port Authority in New York this morning you can't help but wish for all the hate in the world to come to an end. Innocent people traveling to work had to have such a horrible experience because someone had hate in them. It's awful to think someone could hurt people they don't even know or have a direct reason to. Gratefully the situation didn't cause more harm but with the holidays coming the last thing anyone needs is fear in getting to work. We all must try to spread as much love as possible especially to our children and peers. My wish is that we all can live in peace without fearing being around people or hurt by people who are filled with so much anger. 

*Image Source: Google 

Santa...Milford CT

All Children Learn Their Own Way

My three children are completely different. They play different. They learn different. As a parent it is kindof hard to grasp. We teach them all the same and expect same results. Well my third totally had me changing up gears. My two older ones LOVED doing flash cards and by three they knew all the shapes, colors, letters, and numbers. Now my youngest is extremely smart. She also is a big jokester. She also hates flash cards. Everytime I pull them out she asks to do something else. So finally I decided to teach her, HER way. I lined the cards on the ground and instead of lifting up cards asking what it was I asked her to give me the"yellow oval" and "green circle". 

This helped me know what shapes and colors she knew. She loved this. I then asked her what letter the colors started with. Having kids isn't easy. Having three is hard. I always wished I could clone myself into three. Give them undivided attention but I can't. So instead I need to take some time and learn what each kid needs in their own way to make them happy and make learning be fun.  

Live Life & Embrace The Wrong Turns They Are Lessons

Pumpkins...Who Has Pumpkins...

I saw this and could so relate. Everytime I drove out of my driveway I got a glance of the pumpkins still on my stairs. Yes I know it's December but I am always running in and out I didn't mean to keep my pumpkins on my stairs, meanwhile the reflection of my Christmas tree can be seen from my window. Reality is I don't have any Christmas lights up and everytime I had intentions to put them up my ex insisted he would do it for the kids and well it still hasn't happened. But with that being said I did toss the pumpkins finally before the snow had a chance to cover them up and I am glad I did or else they would have stayed there until Spring.  

Parenting ...It's About Teamwork From Both Parties

My daughter was so excited to go to see Pentatonix. Her father wanted to go too so my parents got an extra ticket for him. I knew it would be fine going together because it was for my daughter. We ended up staying the night due to bad weather and the focus was just on making my daughter happy. Now our divorce wasn't due to cheating it was due to two people knowing that their journey together was over. The goal is to now be a team. A parenting team. To be able to not fight for 24 hours in each other's presence is a huge win for us. We are going to need to be a team forever for our kids. And what a great gift to be able to do it in Peace. I have come to terms knowing our marriage is over and also came to terms that our actions affect our kids. To be able to work together to make this transition easy on the kids actually makes it easy on us. 

You have to realize that when your journey with someone is over it doesn't mean this person can't still be in your life. My ex will always be my children's father and by me letting go of the hurt and anger I am allowing peace between us. By taking the lessons I learned about me and my marriage is allowing that journey to turn into something else. A journey of teamwork so our girls live a life that is happiest for them. This isn't easy and takes both parties involved to understand the purpose of the new journey and accept it. I have accepted the death of my marriage but also welcome the rebirth of a new relationship as being a parenting team. 

As I mentioned before "Thank You For Your Journey " you have to own up to your part in something failing. You have to forgive the other person and yourself. 

Joy Of Giving and Getting...But Where Do You Put It All

There's nothing more magical than seeing your kids happy on Christmas. You plan and purchase with the mindset that it's towards their happiness but once the holidays are over and the magic of Christmas is gone the reality of all the gifts received makes you want to lose your mind! I could empty their playroom and day after Christmas it will be filled again and it can be super stressful. It's a beautiful thing, you're grateful that people made your kids happy but reality is they don't need all the stuff they get and I too am to blame for contributing to my own holiday spot finder, where to put it all madness. 

Taking It Back To My Happy Place: The 80's

Lately I have been LOVING some music from the 80's. The more I thought about it the more it makes sense. I am reconnecting with times in my life that made me happy. I was born and brought up in the 80's.  Most of my childhood was great. I picture rocking out to these tunes and not having a care in the world. Just being happy,that's a huge goal for me, regardless of how hard divorce is and the roller coaster ride it is. I need to embrace the "little things" that makes me happy. 

YMCA Greenwich Events

Relationship Status...Be Good To Yourself...Love You!

Feel Good Holiday Song: So This Is Christmas by John Lennon

It's Beginning To Smell A lot Like Christmas...

I walk into the grocery store and smell cinnamon. Calming, heavenly and I look

for where this smell is coming from and it actually was scented pine cones. I put the bag in my carriage and contemplate buying them. Even though it gave me a scent of comfort and holiday spirit and actually was just $5. So I go to register and decide to buy then and then somehow got $5 off my bill so they really were free. I put them around the house and instantly it was like a big, warm, holiday hug. I know sounds so silly but when you are alone and down and tell yourself enjoy the simple things in life well that's what you do. You find happiness in little things and little gestures. Little pleasures like cinnamon scented pine cones can make your whole day better! Be sure to go buy some. 

Feel Good Holiday Song: Christmas Canon -Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Full )

My all time favorite Christmas song! Amazing how magical this is. Even when you're not in the holiday spirit it's hard to not listen to Christmas songs. It's good for the soul.

Ugly Sweater Christmas Fundraiser at Dry Dock

The Real Christmas Miracle...Keep Calm Moms!