con-tain-it

Typical Tuesday: 3 Steps to Organizing Your Closets

Andrew Mellen (a.k.a. Virgoman;) is one of my favorite professional organizers and I was thrilled to see him as a recent guest on the Nate Berkus Show where he was helping one guest organize her closet:

 Andrew sums up the process of organizing your closets in three easy steps ;)

1. Empty: take everything out of the closet.
2. Sort: into like components and make decisions (ruthless editing)
3. Reload: location, location, location...most frequently used/worn items in the front (or the easiest places to find/get them). 

The Gifts of Imperfection: Brene Brown

Brene Brown is such an awesome speaker and you all know how much I appreciate her messages...especially for us women and our in-ability to accept ourselves as we are!  Her shows on TED TV are wonderful and I was so excited last week when she announced on her blog that her hour-long show, The Gifts of Imperfection, started airing, March 5th on most of the PBS stations nationwide.

According to the list on Brene's blog, my station was suppose to have aired it on Friday, March 5th...however it did not air :[   SO...I quickly sent off an email to PBS and they responded by telling me that I needed to contact my local station to request that it be added.  I then forwarded the PBS emailed response to my local station...so we'll see if they get it on for me ;)

Boy do I need to watch this show right now...but in the meantime I'll just have to be happy with this teaser trailer that PBS has posted:

Watch the full episode. See more PBS Specials.

 

Today has been one week since I began the 6 week shape up challenge and I'm happy to report that I've lost a whole pound and a half...NOT the biggest loser by any standards.  However, I'm trying to remember that it's a something and to appreciate the fact that I didn't gain ;)  SO WHY am I not jumping for joy over this?   For me I think it's because I find eating...let alone dieting...a big pain in the butt!   Especially when I'd rather take the time to blog, or work in my art journals, or sew anything, or at least be able to hang out in my kitchen cooking things for my family.   I'm the type that tends to get so busy that I have to remind myself to take time to eat.  I'd rather grab a protein bar or a raw smoothie and go back to playing/working ;)  AND now I have to remember to write it all down in my food journal...yuk...yuk! 

SO...I'm trying to enjoy the process of art journaling with my food journal...but this is adding pressure to my art process and that makes me kinda grumpy!  AND we won't even get started on the exercise part!!!  Days/weeks like this just make me HATE getting older because it's so much more work to keep the weight off.  Boy do I need an attitude adjustment or what?

Or perhaps I just need some brain food...lol  Hope you all have a wonderful evening.

Fondly, Roberta

Art Journal: 6 week shape up challenge

Since this is Week 1 of Rhonna's 6 week shape up challenge {for moi ;}...I'm getting all my ducks in a row...as they say.  Which means that I'm taking my before photo, as well as my measurements, and putting them all together in my art journal, a.k.a. my food journal.  Keeping an art journal will help keep me motivated during this entire challenge because it is will show me where I BEGAN and where I want to BE (goals are good).  It will also make this challenge interesting for me because I'll be collaging photos and journaling and will have a creative outlet (so necessary when the going gets tough ;)

 So the first thing I did today was pull out my supplies and spread them out all over my desk.

Anything but a face...

This weeks Photo Challenge on iheartfaces is for Anything But Faces!  So I decided to be very, very brave and take a photo and post it here on my blog {let alone on the photo challenge ;}  because I'm also participating in RHONNA DESIGNS 6 week shape up challenge.  Rhonna started her challenge last week and the first assignment was to take a before photo.

SO...I choose to take a before shot of the SCALE...because as we all know...NUMBERS do not lie ;)  Next I will be taking my measurements and I will be using the sweet card that Rhonna has provided for us all who are participating in the shape up challenge.  So, print this card out & add your starting weight on the card, too, if you want!

This photo, as well as my measurements, will be going into a food journal that I will be keeping.  This journal is also going to be a creative journal where I will be writing about my weight loss goals, where I'll collage photos of dream outfits that I want to fit into by this summer, AND where I will write about my struggles and successes.  The hardest part for me on this shape up challenge is going to be finding an exercise/fitness solution...yuk...yuk!  BUT I'm not going to think about that right now, because after, tomorrow is another day {spoken in my true Tara voice ;}

So, if you would like to participate in Rhonna's 6 week shape up challenge then go here and leave a comment and be sure to grab all of Rhonna's fun motivational print-ables.  AND then take your before photo and join me in this weeks Photo Challenge on iheartfaces is for Anything But Faces (but be quick...cause the photo challenges are open for entries until Tuesday, 9:00 pm CST).

Be brave...be very, very brave...won't you join me?

Fondly, Roberta

If you are just starting a blog, or you want to take your blog to the next level, check out The Art of Blog Seduction: How to Draw Subscribers to Your Awesome Blog.  It is the next A-List blogging bootcamp starting March 6th.  Last year I joined the A-List Blogger Club when I first heard about it through Leo Babauta, Zen Habits (especially when I learned that Leo was one of the founders of the A-List Blogger Club).  Since then I have participated in some of their previous Bootcamps and I've learned how to improve my About Page, how to write better blog posts and headlines and much, much more.  Check out The Art of Blog Seduction here.