Brush Strokes

Guest lists are a great exercise.

 

Yes, it can be overwhelming to see the number grow,

but it also quite humbling.

 

Each number represents a person

that changed your life in an irreplaceable way.

 

Each one of them is a stroke of the brush that paints the picture of your life

and without them the picture of such an important day in your life is not be complete.

 

Thank goodness for ballrooms.

 

Joy-gust Inspiration

 

 

Be Joy-filled:

Do you have a picture on your phone or computer that you just adore?

Print it off and display it in your home.

You'll enjoy it so much more.

 

Spread Joy:

Write a note to the people that you are with on a daily basis,

thanking them for the qualities that they share with you

and the role they play in your life.

 

Happy Monday!

 

Hugs,

Christina

 

 

Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 
something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.

 

 



Choose Joy

Happy Monday and day four of Joy-gust!

 

The start of a new week usually manifests itself with two polar and yet simultaneous reactions:

 a hint of regret for all the weekend did not accomplish

and excitement for a fresh beginning and all that the new week will hold.

 

Unfortunately, the negative feelings often overcome the positive ones,

mostly because those first moments of getting out of my warm bed are so hard,

and the temptation to be defeated by the what-ifs and maybes is strong.

 

Getting through the Mondays is the goal for today's inspiration for Joy-gust.

 

Take this to Heart:

 

 

 

Spread Joy:

 

Do you find comfort in a warm cup between your hands?

Do you get the same warm feeling in your heart when someone thinks about you for no reason except that they care?

 

Let's put the two together and share our afternoon pick me up.

 

Fill up with Joy:

 

Relax and celebrate getting through Monday with your favorite lotion tonight.

Try remembering all the good things about today and your hopes for tomorrow.

 

With Joy,

Christina

 

 

 

Monday Smiles Volume 29

A friend posted this video and I am smitten with Christina Bianco.

 

I am now convinced that Celine needs to do her own cover of Let It Go now.

Pretty please, Celine?

 

 

And then you have to check out this Part of Your World parody.

 

 

Happy Monday!

Becoming My Mother

Last week, Kendra posed the question in her Answer Me This link - up:

 

Are you becoming your mother?

 

This got me thinking - how would I answer this question?

 

Yes.
No.
Hopefully so.
 

The older I get and the closer the possibility of having my own family becomes,
the more I find myself saying things
or viewing things the same way as my mother.

She shows up everywhere -

I cannot imagine a house without a room painted pale blue.
My favorite clothes she either picked out or it's a style she recommended.
Silverware goes in the dishwasher pointing up.
I cannot change my hairstyle without her input.
And when things get rough,
I go back to the truths she taught me to hold onto.
 

This is not a bad thing.
In fact, it is a good thing.
My mother has such great insight and love
that to mirror her in any way is a wonderful compliment.
 
Yesterday was a good reminder of this blessing.
Watching some old classic films highlighting mothers
(although several of the films made me think it was a marathon on horrible daughters)
I realized even more how blessed I am to have a good relationship with my mom
and to have her example to help guide me to virtue.

Today I can count my lucky stars
to have so many great examples of motherhood in my family,



Fortunately, the women in my family also have some physical resemblances.


but most especially my marvelous mom.

What makes you smile today?

Hugs,
Christina
 
Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 
something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.




Monday Smiles Volume 28

Hello from my new office!

 

Friday started off the big move with this little gem:

 



The fake vines no one else wanted must be part of the office initiation process. ;)

 

I know this option is not available for everyone at their place of work or at home, but starting off the week in a brand new space with four walls and a door...

 

All my cube dwellers, you understand how exciting this is.

I am sorry for bragging, but I have walls and a door!

 

 ...is a great way motivator.

 

Here's to a productive week!

 

Happy Monday!

 

What makes you smile today?

 

Hugs,

Christina

 Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 
something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.

 

 

 

Monday Smiles Volume 27

A Monday moment:

 

On the treadmill reading this month's book club selection

while walking between intervals of running*

and feeling so proud of myself for:

 

1) working out,

 2) finishing a book in a week,

 and 3) finishing a book for book club prior to our meeting!

 

and then I look up at the clock and realize...

 

I totally just missed book club.

 

And now I want to laugh and cry at the same time.

 

Happy Monday :)

 

*I should note that it was a slow run, probably more like a jog.

Don't want the www to think I am more on top of it than this post already suggests. ;)

Monday Smiles Volume 26

Last week's Monday Smiles never made it to publish, thanks to my illness, but it was a smile that could last a whole week through, and will keep me smiling for a good while.

 

What could put me in such a good mood?

None other than the most famous pair of shiny red shoes.

 

As soon as my friend pointed out the large building to the left as the home to Dorothy's coveted ruby slippers, my sole mission for our D.C. trip was defined. Even if I had to run in and snap a picture on our way to the airport, I was going to see those glorious shoes,

and see those shoes I did. 

 

Oh, dear reader, I could have clapped my hands three times, held them over my heart, and cried out in joy for their loveliness that is how exciting it was for me!

 

Childhood Lifelong dreams do come true!

 



 

Sorry for the graininess.

We took this before we knew flash photography was allowed and did not get a chance to go back to snap a clear shot.

 

 

Hugs,
Christina

 Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 
something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.

 

Monday Smiles Volume 25



Anyone that knows me well, knows that I have a deep love for Winnie the Pooh. My mother read them to us as children and the bear shaped hole in my heart has remained. One of my favorite things, do not ask me to pick just one, is the bits of wisdom pertinent for all ages filling the pages.

This passage was on my mind this morning reminding me, as I struggled with the time change, to greet my day in an optimistic and cheerful mood.



original source unknown


There is a little bit of good in every day, sometimes we just have to find it.

Hugs,
Christina

 Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 

something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.

 





Monday Smiles Volume 24

Today was a day. 

And on a day, such as today, I just want to curl up in my pj's, relax, and enjoy things that make me smile.

Witty humor and penguins...you can't get much better than this:

I just got darn well fed up with being formal all the time.

Happy Tuesday Eve! 

Christina

Monday Smiles Volume 23

Do what you can, 

with what you have,

where you are.

~ Theodore Roosevelt

 

 Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 

something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.

Monday Smiles Voume 22



A special delivery on an ordinary day.

 

What makes you smile today?

 

Hugs,

Christina

 

Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 

something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.

Monday Smiles Volume 21



via Tumblr

 

What makes you smile today?

 

Happy Monday!

 

Hugs,

Christina

 

Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 

something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.

 

Monday Smiles Volume 20

One car

 

on a 5 degree snowy windy night

 

stuck in a snow bank 

 

a block from home

equals

one frozen girl

in a dress and heels.

- - -

 

 One car

on a -15 degree windchill day

pushed, prodded, and pulled

no longer stuck in the snow

equals

one happy girl.

 

 

What makes you smile today?

 

Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 

something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.

 

P.S. Listen to your mother and pack that winter survival kit!

 

 

Monday Smiles Volume 19

 

 

These words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have always struck me. Darkness being a complete lack of light is a fact few would deny. This idea of something being the complete lack of another, however, is not daily fare (unless, of course, you are philosophically inclined). The juxtaposition of darkness and light with hate and love sends the deep message that hate is a complete lack of love.

 

I have noticed the saying, "Comparison is the thief of joy" circling social media lately. It is such a valid point that when you are too busy comparing yourself to others you are robbed of the joy in yourself.

 

These two thoughts hit a deep chord in me today. This is my one hundred and first post on this dear old blog. When I first realized this I was excited to have come so far. Then I did the math; 101 posts in almost a year, that means I only post less than 30% of the time, so many other bloggers do so much more, bloggers that started after me do so much more... My milestone did not seem so special anymore, until I reminded myself of why I started blogging to begin with and combined these two thoughts:

 

 Comparison cannot drive out dissatisfaction or insecurities, only joy can do that.

 

So today, I am choosing joy and celebrating my little personal victory.

And that is something to be smiling about, even on a dreary winter Monday.

 

 

Snow Days (Monday Smiles Volume 18)

The feet of snow and bitter cold may not be the most enjoyable, 

but the moments you can capture are one of the reasons I love this time of year.

 

Stay warm and safe!

Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 

something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.

 

What makes you smile today?

Monday Smiles Volume17

A warm bed.

No alarm.
 

The sun peering through the window and creeping over you.

Toes curled up in the hem of a long nightgown.

Eyes slowly open to the sight of a cozy room all your own.

No where to be.

No rush to awake.

Just enjoy the moment.

Waking up on a day off during the holidays and knowing the day is all yours to enjoy however you would like is one of the best feelings.

Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 

something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.

 

What makes you smile today?

Monday Smiles Volume 16

The more it snows (Tiddely pom),
The more it goes (Tiddely pom),
The more it goes (Tiddely pom),
On snowing. And nobody knows (Tiddely pom),
How cold my toes (Tiddely pom),
How cold my toes (Tiddely pom),
Are growing.

~ Winnie the Pooh

Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 

something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.

 

What makes you smile today?

Monday Smiles Volume 15

Have you had your Dali cup of coffee?

 



 

 

I cannot find the original source of this photo; if you know please share.

 

 

Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 

something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.

 

What makes you smile today?

 

 

Monday Smiles Volume 14

It has been a good while since I have posted one of these.

I am happy to report, however, that overall Mondays have not been as much as a challenge (of course there are Mondays that are, well, Mondays). 
What has been the challenge is finding something that seemed substantial enough to post; I was creating more work than necessary, striving for perfection. This series was intended to be the exact opposite:
something simple that made me smile.

Let us get back to that idea, shall we?

Sometimes we overlook how much we have to be grateful for and how our grass is just as green as the other side. We can get so busy that we do not see what is right in front of us and when we do have a moment to pause and take a step back we can see the simple joys of every day life. 

Nature is one of those joys that I relish in, 
when I give myself the time to take it all in. 
Today, nature came to me instead.

At first it is hard to see...

 

Get a little closer and it is clearer...

 

Then you just stand in awe.

It is like a beautiful painting, made just for me.

Have a wonderful Monday, friends!

 

Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 

something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.

What makes you smile today?

 

Hugs, 

Christina

Monday Smiles Volume 13

Lately, I have been...

 

Wearing: flats rather than heels and unfortunately my feet and back thank me

Reading: is on the back-burner right now

Watching: Battlestar Galactica and Frasier re-runs

 

Singing: In My Dreams by Josh Turner

 

Tasting: chai tea lattes

 

Needing: to organize my desk

Wanting:  to do this DIY from Anna

via

 

Trying: to become a morning person

Learning: I'm much better at living a college schedule

 

Anticipating: for the leaves to start turning

 

Writing: Blogtember posts ;)

Planning: too many things to do in one Fall

Hoping: to finish painting my room soon

 

Dreaming: of a nice long Autumn day walk 

Loving: this quote from Little Women

via

 

Smiling: because little is more wonderful than holding a loved one's day old child in your arms.

What have you been up to lately? 

What makes you smile?

Because the ultimate cure for the Monday blues is 

something that will make you smile and grateful for what you have.  

These things make me smile and hopefully they will make you smile too.

What makes you smile today?