Dare to Dream... But Be Careful What You Wish For!

When I was in college, I cut a picture of my dream man out of GQ Magazine and put it on my bulletin board. I still have that picture in a box of college memorabilia. My son saw it once when he was a toddler. (I had the box down because I was trying to find something else.) He took one look at the picture, then said with conviction, “DADDY”. I was fascinated. Without realizing I had done it, I had married a guy who looked so much like the guy I was hot and bothered over in college that our son couldn’t tell the two apart.

Guess this was my first experience with the now well known concept of a vision board. Basically, you cut out pictures of things you want to bring into your life, display them in a prominent place and **POOF** … they appear. Though I’ve gone on record as saying I’m a rather conservative gal and though I know the idea sounds a bit new agey… I think there is something to it.

Maybe frequently looking at the picture of what you desire burns the image onto your brain in the same way that the Microsoft logo would be burned onto your monitor if you never powered down your computer. Maybe the consistent exposure to what you yearn for changes your internal wiring in the same way that a baby chick’s exposure to a red rubber ball can make it think the ball is its mother. (See Mom and Dad... I did learn something in college.) Maybe because of the constant visual reminder of what you want, you stay on top of working towards acquiring it. Maybe it keeps you focused. Maybe your loved ones catch a glimpse of your board, see what you are trying to attain and consciously or subconsciously help you get it. I’m not sure exactly how the whole thing works, but I believe it does. I’ve had a lot of proof of that lately.

Last year in the aftermath of the one two punch of marital meltdown and job loss, I put together a vision board featuring some of the things I hope to see in my life soon! On my board, I have pictures of my beach house. I have a picture of myself next to Janet Evanovich (which was taken at a book signing a year or so back). I have a copy of a $1,000 check I won once for an essay contest. I have pictures of tropical locales that I want to visit. I have a photo of a woman doing yoga on the beach and I have a picture of Big (from Sex and The City) taking Carrie in his arms and giving her the kind of kiss that might just make her Manolos melt right off her feet.

While none of those things exist in my life today in exactly the way they are pictured on my board, things have definitely been happening lately that are bringing me closer to where I want to be. My new condo is just one example. As I mentioned, on my board, I have pictures representing my beach house. There is a picture of a stylishly appointed porch.

There is one of a lovely hibiscus plant and there are some great shots of the surf and sand and of friends gathering.

To have even dreamt of acquiring a beach house in the current economic climate and in my present single and underemployed state seemed borderline delusional. What I should’ve been planning to do was downsize to a smaller place (read a rented room, a homeless shelter or my car). Downsizing is not what I’m doing though.

I’m still considerably west – about 45 minutes “as the seagull flies” - of the closest beach. In fact, I’m not close to any water at all, except when it rains and the grass on the side of the major road I’m overlooking puddles up.

What I am in, however, is my own place (!) ….a place I can paint whatever color strikes my fancy. I am in my own place that is now decorated in a style I call Design on a Dime (Design on a Nickel would be even more appropriate) meets Coastal Living. Basically what that means is that I have a lot of hand me downs and thrift shop finds and that I know how to use a paintbrush and spread a coat of thin set.

I’m in my own place that has more square footage than my old place… especially when you consider that it did not come furnished with two 20 year olds and posters of scary looking band guys covered in piercings and tattoos …and I am in my own place that has a floor plan I adore. Is it a beach house in the truest sense of the word? Nope. Is it coastal in character and decor, comfy, MINE and a step of Neil Armstrong proportion in the right direction, however? It most certainly is and I couldn’t be more delighted.

I’m posting today because I want you to consider creating a vision board of your own. I’m posting because I want to encourage you to get out a favorite magazine and a pair of scissors and create a visual representation of what you really want.

I do have to caution you though. You must be specific when you put images on your vision board. If you’re not, there’s no telling what you might bring into your life. I know that because today I brought a passel of six year olds into mine. Let me explain.

A couple of years back, my friend Bonny Russell gave me a framed picture of some artwork created by her talented first grade class for a school fund raiser. The picture is a series of brightly colored concentric circles. It’s vibrant. It’s fun and it makes me smile. Because I just broke the frame, I decided to move the picture to my vision board. It occurred to me that having it there might bring a little more beauty and creativity into my life. I moved the picture last night. This morning, I got a call to cover Ms Russell’s first grade class at Wekiva Elementary.

This made me look at my entire vision board with a more critical eye. What do I want the woman doing yoga on the beach to bring into my life? Serenity? A great figure? Danskin workout wear? What about Mr. Big? He’s on the board to send the message out into the universe that I want real romance in my life again. What if the message that gets communicated instead is that I want to be passionately kissed by "Good Looking Indecisive Man"? I can hear the collective grown from my friends and family already. Nobody in my world is ready to deal with the repercussions of my being passionately kissed by "Good Looking Indecisive Man"….especially after everything they’ve already dealt with in regards to my past relationships. It also made me think that perhaps I should've posted one of the GQ guys who was wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase on my bulletin board in college and not one who was sitting idly by the pool giving a come hither stare to a model in an adjacent shoot or even more likely to his own reflection in the camera lens.

So…. Snip away, paste away and make those dreams happen… just be careful what you wish for. Also, if what you’re hoping to bring into your life is a fun, trendy new look for Spring… don’t just post that picture of a haircut you love or a color that you know will look great on you on your vision board. Take it with you to Hot Heads. Happy Dreaming! The HHG :)

Spring Sprucing

I can’t recall what Punxsutawney Phil had to say about the matter, but I do know where the calendar stands… it’s finally Spring! Has been for just over a week. Is that not the most fabulous news? SPRING... I can’t think of a year when I was ever so eager to see that beautiful six letter word in print.

The ice caps have melted. (OK… not really.)

Disney’s Blizzard Beach

The polar bears have gone off to hibernate. (OK, that hasn’t happened either.)

One of Sea World’s more popular residents.

The ice skating venues have packed up and left town. (Yes, that did actually happen!)

The Park Ave ice skating peacock heading back to the locker room to put on his Speedo.

After the worst Central Florida Winter in over three decades, the temperature is finally, consistently hitting 70+ degrees. It’s Chamber of Commerce weather, I tell you, and I couldn’t be happier.

I spent quite a bit of time this weekend over at Crane’s Roost Park.

On Friday, my friend, Lisa, and I walked around the lake, listened to some great live music and discussed the inner workings of the male brain. (Actually, we tried to ascertain what might …or might not… be going in the brains of a few specific males. As you might imagine, we were not successful.)

Saturday afternoon, my friend Nancy treated me to lunch at Café Murano (the old Gina's). The weather was so perfect! It was warm. There was a slight breeze. There wasn’t a rain cloud in sight. We loved it! In fact, we both contemplated jumping into her convertible and heading for the beach. Had it not already been so late in the day, I’m sure we would’ve done it!

The other thing I did this weekend, besides bask in the warmth, was work on my new condo. As much as I hated moving, I am loving getting settled into my new place. I emptied all kinds of boxes. I hung pictures and I made an Ikea run. Things are starting to come together and I’m pretty excited about it!

While I was doing all of those things, I had an epiphany. Spring has long been known as a time of year when people, even those who have been in the same place forever, make an effort to improve their living environments. It occurred to me this weekend, that we need to apply the same rigor to our bods. This is the time of year when we need pedicures, so we’re ready for those cute sundresses and flip flops. This is swimsuit season, so we need to step up the intensity of our exercise routines and change our menus to healthier fare. We also need cute new dos to frame our newly sunkissed faces.

It wouldn’t really be appropriate to call this added attention to our external selves Spring cleaning, as I am making the assumption that we were already quite clean under all those layers of Winter clothing. I think a better name would be Spring sprucing.

I am planning to make a particularly valiant effort to spruce myself up this year. That’s because this is a big year for me. Six months from this coming Friday I plan to be in the company of a large number of my former high school classmates over at the Winter Park Farmer’s Market. This is a reunion year for me. That same month, I hope to be sipping umbrella drinks with some of my favorite people on the planet, my best college pals. It’s our relatively new tradition to try and gather somewhere every other year for a much needed Girls’ Weekend full of fun and relaxation. 2010 is one of our years to gather. The biggie is that I will be OFFICIALLY single again for the first time since The Bangles were advising us all to walk like Egyptians. YIKES!

Anyway, since you are probably interested in Spring sprucing too, I wanted to remind you about the Hot Heads promotion. If you go to Hot Heads this Wed and mention this blog, you will receive a 25% discount on one of the services. (See details on the top left side of the page.)

Well, that’s it. My fingers have thawed and my crises have largely been resolved, so I’m back to blogging on a regular basis again. Looking forward to catching up. Happy Spring!

Been Pullin' My Hair Out

Thought I should probably check in so you wouldn't send the cavalry out after me. It has been way too long since my last post. There are some good reasons for that. Some (actually a lot) of what's happened in my life these last couple of weeks has been positive. Some has been negative and all has involved a lot of my time and emotional energy.

Since I last posted, I had a blow out while driving down the road. My son was in the hospital in another state. I had to take my son to ORMC on three separate occasions when he returned to Florida. (He's OK now.) A foreclosed condo fell into my lap. There was drama that kept the condo from closing on the first attempt. The condo closed on the second attempt and I've moved.

For much of the last couple of weeks, my hair has been pulled back in a ponytail. Saturday night it wasn't. Saturday night, I took a few hour break from the madness and glammed it up for a friend's Oscar-inspired milestone birthday bash. Given the fact that I had been schlepping boxes across town all day long, I think I looked pretty darn incredible. Once again, I give the credit for this to the amazing team at Hot Heads. I can't tell you how many compliments I got on my hair that night.

Anyway, in honor of the chaos that has defined in my life these last couple of weeks and as a tribute to the Academy Awards which took place this past Sunday, I would like to offer up this brief recap of my March to date:

Two weeks ago, I was driving down the road when one of my tires blew. I struggled to keep control of the car and to get it safely to the side of the road. When I finally came to a stop, I offered Up a silent word of thanks that I hadn’t been Blind Sided by another car while my own was careening out of control.

Later that afternoon, a kind neighbor came to my rescue and put on my spare. Immediately afterwards, I went to Tire Kingdom to purchase a replacement. When I got the replacement, I beamed at the guy behind the counter and said in an accent learned during my years in Kentucky, “Yay! I Avatar!”

Soon after this, I got word that my only child was in a hospital up in Connecticut. One of his friends told me that things looked, “Serious, Man” and that he was Hurt.

“Locker up”, I instructed a concerned friend shortly afterwards while pointing to my dog’s crate. I can’t deal with both a child in the ER and a hyper dog jumping on my lap every five seconds.

Shortly after my son’s diagnosis (or perhaps it was before…this is all running together now), I found out about a foreclosed condo and about an auction where it would be sold. I looked at the condo, fell in love with it and consulted with my Dad about what would be an appropriate bid.

We put a bid in, I went online, so as to get a quick Education in real estate and I sat back and waited. For a while, the deal was Up in the Air. When I found out that we won the auction and that the condo would be mine, I first said, “I’m In! Glorious!”

Basterds” is what I said next. That’s because the powers that be in the Home Owners Association were looking for two years worth of back Home Owner’s Association fees. Thankfully, we got all that worked out in a satisfactory manner, we closed the deal and I’ve been packing and unpacking boxes and moving possessions ever since.

I only took a break once to get dressed to the Nines and go eat birthday cake. If I do say so myself, I looked quite Precious. Anyway, it’s been a whirlwind, but as of today, I am pleased to announce that my tires are doing their job, my son is fine, the condo is mine and my hair looks fabulous. Ain't life grand? Be still my Crazy Heart!

Anyway, that's about it on my end. Hope things are going well with you! :) The HHG

PS, Look up at the top left side of the page. This deal will be in effect for about three more weeks. If you're smart - and I know you are :), you'll take advantage of it!

Have a great, warm, wonderful, productive week!