Saturday Images

This post is coming to you from the future, or is it the past? [I'm so confused] What I mean to say is that I wrote this yesterday. Why? Well because today I had a meeting at 8am, then another one at 9am, then work all the way until 4pm. Which means I couldn't be my OCD self and post my Saturday Images in the middle of the day so I will schedule it [should  Isay this in past tense?]. EWWW, I really don't like doing that, cause if something goes wrong, or the HTML decides to do whatever, I won't be here to notice and/or change it until waaayy later. But I'm hoping for the best.

Anywhoddles, today's lil' theme for my pics is clearly work. Does anybody else has to work on the weekends? Or is just me? :'(

Have a great weekend lovies!!! Kisses XO

PS: Do you guys schedule your posts???

What am I wearing?

This was my Saturday's outfit for work, sorry for the ultra late post. I've been in and out of the dermatologist with crazy allergies and skin reactions, and most of the meds [benadryl, anyone?] make me sleepy.

But still revolving around a boho-ish vibe, [I really don't know what got into me last week], I decided to wear my semi-harem pants. Why semi? because they're not draggy all the way, but they kinda make me feel like Jazmin, from Aladdin. I secretly call them my jazmins. Well, I paired them with my amazing new yellow top from I heart Ronson (found at JC Penney) and some red beaded necklace I found while shopping there [I was actually looking for lingerie, LOL]. I wore my always loyal Steve Madden flats and voila! I received a lot of compliments, isn't life good?

What am I wearing?

Ok, I've showed you what I wore to the movies this week, here is what I've been wearing for work. Still feeling a little bit boho-ish I wore one of my favorite dresses of all time, also from one of my favorite stores, Valija Gitana. I wore my little cute vest again, and the studded gladiator sandals, with my lovely wood bagles. I also wore my peace earrings again, WOW! I've been really recycling styles this week.

 

 

Making Your Blog Fashionably Professional

I will start by saying that I am not a very computer oriented person. Yes, I use my computer all the time [remember how I don't watch TV] but I don't think Facebook, Twitter and MSN Messenger count. So venturing into having my own blog, the way I wanted it and actually making it work has been hard but extremely fascinating at the same time. I have learned so much about computers, the blogsphere, gadgets, widgets, and all things imaginable. I will now share all this knowledge with you. Hopefully this will b ethe first of many posts to come, since I hope to keep learning. Actually programming makes me feel all important and computer savvy.

I am going to post a link to all the sites I'm using at the moment to make my blog fashionably professional, and also, to the ones I've found so far on my journey this past couple of days.

Background

I think everybody should start by picking a background. STOP right here if you want a three column page layout like mine, you should change that first. See it doesn't make sense to go looking for a background, fall in love with it, and then realize that you want three columns instead of two, because then that background won't work anymore. Go here if you want to do that. You will also find how to remove the border lines behind headers, how to remove lines between your sidebar items, how to remove the navigation bar on the top [all of which I did] and a lot more other tricks that you can do to customize your blog.

Now, if you decided that two columns is fine for you, I did found a great place, shabbyblogs.com where you can get your background, blinkies, buttons, and all that extra shabby stuff.

Networking

We all know how to network, at least a lil' bit, I mean, who doesn't have Facebook, and/or Twitter? But the thing is, it doesn't stop there. Yes, you should definitely market your blog everywhere possible, but I found some blog targeted communities, that happen to be really useful [so far], so go take a look, and see if they work for you. There's technorati and blogcatalog where yo can claim your blog, as well as meet other bloggers, aheemm, increase traffic, anyone? I really like blogcatalog, it has really cool widgets that you can add to your blog, as well as groups you can join, and you can friend other bloggers, etc.

Widgets

I don't have a fancy definition of what a widget is, but if you know how to use blogger, you probably know already. They're all those little things you can add/remove from your blog (the archives, your profile, AdSense, polls, lists, etc) in order to customize it. Two of them that I'm using right now and I really like are LinkWithin which links related posts, and the AddThis button, which lets you do just that, add your blog to other places.

Google Tools

They're FREE! So take advantage of them. Google AdSense and Google Analytics. AdSense makes you earn money just for blogging... I know! They choose the ads for your page and everything, and Google Analytics, well they analyze pretty much everything for your page. You can see how many visits you got, how much time visitors spent on your page and all that good information that helps you be a better blogger.

I think I covered all the basics, because like I said, I am no expert and I'm also just starting, so this will save you days of searching, investigating, and reading to see what works, and what not, or where to find all those cool things, everybody seems to have, but you can't find anywhere.

Extras

Some other useful links. Enjoy

Pro Style Bloggers
My Blog Makeover
How To's For Your Blog
Make Money Blogging
Blog Tips
Blogs By Women
Templates

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Many people don't know what it means to make a sacrifice. However, sacrificing means a lot, at least it means a lot to me, and not because I'm a martyr, but because in doing so, I've found rewarding outcomes.

I've sacrificed many things, from being with my family, and friends, to my social life, and my style, among others. But RELAX I'm about to tell you the SECRET of how I did it. How I found something positive and good in everything that I changed in my life.

Did I mention that I also sacrificed CLOSET SPACE???? I know.....

Family

As you already know, I live with my boyfriend in SoCal, which means I live pretty far away (say a few thousand miles) from my parents. SAD!! I know. Positive reward: My relationship with my mom has gotten better (no need to fight anymore over curfew, YAY). And I just appreciate them a lot more than I used to when living there, I LOVE YOU DAD! You get to see the other face of the coin, which is the sacrifices that they made for you.

Friends

There is no point in explaining how this feels, is just horrible. Not knowing anybody, not having anybody to share a laugh with, to recap after some event, TO GO SHOPPING, to do your hair and make-up when you're going out, and all the infinite things girlfriends do together. Positive reward: My boyfriend and I have gotten closer and more intimate on a friendship level. Yes, we were good friends before, but now he is MY BEST FRIEND in the whole wide world. Do I still miss my friends? Each and every second, but we're still friends no matter what and that is also pretty rewarding itself. Knowing that even though we haven't been together in ages, we can call and be like nothing happened, like we are still going to see each other in the morning. I love you crazy friends of mine =).

Social Life

I know what you're thinking, "she already talked about her friends." I know! But my social life used to be so much more than just my friends, it was a culture, or should I say sub-culture that involved anyone who just wanted to party and have a good time, alomost on a daily basis. Was that good? For me it used to be perfect, but it also happens that my grades were NOT. Positive reward: I have a LOT more time to concentrate on my studies (something I should have done a long time ago). Also, I can save more money, since I don't have to spend it on admission tickets to parties plus the new dress, shoes, bags, and accessories you see? Also, who has the energies to go out after a day of work and school? I seriously don'y know how I did it. I'm not gonna lie here, sometimes I feel a little weird like you know all of my peers are out partying and I'm stuck at home cooking and doing laundry, but I just tell myself that I already partied enough and that it was great and I have great memories and even better pictures. Take THAT social life!!!

Fashion/Style

Now, don't you go thinking that I am one of those women (no offense!), who will change her wardrobe completely just to be with someone. What I did was just a few alterations so that boyfriend here wouldn't have a heart attack every time I walked out the door. Plus, is FREEZING in California, whoever said it's warm in here, invented one of the biggest lies in the history of time. But like I said, I toned it down with the miniskirts a little bit. Positive reward: I still love them and now it makes me feel ultra special when I put them on. Regarding my style, well I barely put on makeup. Hello!!! nobody knows me here remember? Positive reward: My skin is actually behaving like it should (it's being nice to me and all, but don't tell anyone). I look more natural, which I really like and it saves me a couple of minutes in the bathroom at night trying to remove the makeup. Did I mention the money I get to save too??? Amazing.

Professional Life

This is something nobody should EVER sacrifice for anybody. Something I learned the hard way. But let's just say I made my career an even bigger challenge. Now I have to manage school, work and my personal life all at once. Positive reward: It DEFINITELY prepares you for the real world. I should just be glad that I started doing all this at the age of 20. But to all of you out there who can still put your studies first, KEEP it that way. You'll thank me and yourself later. It is hard, really hard to do all at once. It takes time to learn how to prioritize and hopefully we will all get it right, and I include myself because I am still learning from these tiny little mistakes. Oops

Free time

You must be going like "Finally!! this poor girl has some free time to relax, watch TV, listen to some music, watch movies, etc..." It would be a perfect ending to this post execept that I absolutely hate (OK, I'm trying not to say this word as much, but there's no other option) TV. Which brings us to a very interesting point in couples' lives: sharing, listening, being one, instead of two, and SACRIFICING. This means having to ponder what we are going to do with our free time, not an easy task when we have absolutely opposite tastes in pretty much everything. I will not bore you with the details of what we like and dislike, but I will tell you this: if we can sacrifice more obviously important things *cough* school *cough* for the one we love, what does it hurt to listen to his favorite music for a little while? Or to watch a movie he really wants to see, even though you would rather go sit on a cactus? I am pretty sure I don't have to tell you what the positive reward is anymore. Because is just having each other, no matter what; being together and learning from each other how little sacrifices bring you GREAT happiness.