Quotation Sunday

I keep a little quotation book and every time I find a quote that inspires me, I add it in.  Here are some of my favourites:


"Before you wish for any one thing, first examine how happy are those who already have it." - unknown

"It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not." - Denis Waitley

"Your beliefs don't make you a better person, your behaviour does." - unknown

"People who cannot find time for recreation are obliged sooner or later to find time for illness." - John Wanamaker

"If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." - unknown

"Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better." - Jim Rohn

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."  - Henry David Thoreau

"A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions."  - Confucius

"Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present.  Only you give it power."  - Oprah

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength."  - Corrie Ten Boom

"Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing it is stupid."  - Albert Einstein

"Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday."  - Dale Carnegie

"Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors." - unknown

"Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you." - Aldous Huxley

"Failure is a sign post to turn you in another direction."  - Oprah

"Decide that you want it more than you're afraid of it."  - Bill Cosby

"Keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final."  - Roger W. Babson

"All that glitters is not gold." - Shakespeare

"Too many people buy things they don't need with money they don't have to impress people they don't know." - unknown

"Don't cry over the past; it's gone.  Don't stress about the future; it hasn't arrived.  Live in the present and make it beautiful."  - unknown

"If everyone in the world brought their problems and placed them on a table, you'd be happy to leave with your own." - unknown

"Life is not always a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, in playing a tough hand well."  - Robert Louis stevenson

"Worrying is wasted time.  Use the same energy for doing something about whatever worries you."  - Oprah

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" - John Wooden

"It's amazing how effective it is to ask 'is this the best use of my time right now?' throughout the day."  - Hellen Buttigieg

"Never let your memories be greater than your dreams." - Doug Ivester

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." - Abraham Lincoln

"The secret of success is to be ready when your opportunity comes."  - Benjamin Disraeli

"When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps."
 - Confucious

"The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions." - Oliver Wendell

"Your attitude is always your choice, so you might as well choose the attitude that will serve you the very best." - unknown

"Too many people buy things they don't need with money they don't have to impress people they don't know."





What are your favourite quotations?  I'd love to have more to add to my book!

I love Kohl's

Kohl's is a very dangerous place for me.  Here are some of my favourite new purchases:

Book Review: "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

I know that this book came out a few years ago, but I never got around to reading it until now.  I loved it so much that I just had to share it.  It's been added to my short list of all time favourite books.  If you loved "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett, then you'll enjoy this one too...and if you've read this but haven't tried "The Help" yet, I highly recommend it as well.  This book, like The Help, is set in the 1960's old south and though it deals with racial segregation and civil rights, there are just so many other layers, including a young girl's coming of age, and the power of the female bond.  It's powerful, inspiring, and very touching, and you really won't regret reading it.  I'm looking forward to watching the movie version.  I love reading books first, and then seeing their film adaptations and comparing my vision with their creation.  The movies never compare to the books, but there is something cool about seeing the story come to life.

Colour Goddess - Rachel McAdams

Not many people in this world can look gorgeous with any shade or style of hair.  Rachel McAdams is one of the blessed few.  It's really not fair!  I think my personal favourite is her long blonde hair (in the black and white dress), though she is beautiful as a brunette too.  I'm not a fan of the pink hair, but she's still beautiful regardless.  Must be tough to be so good looking! ;-) 

Kohl's Sale!

If you're a fan of Kohl's, you'll definitely want to take advantage of the 15% off promo they have going on until Wednesday, August 15th (in store or online)!  http://www.kohls.com

Book Review: "The EveryGirl's Guide to Life" by Maria Menounos

I discovered this book randomly.  I was browsing for books on organization when the title jumped out at me: The EveryGirl's Guide to Life.  It sounded intriguing so I pulled it off the shelf.  I saw it was written by Maria Menounos and my first thought was, 'oh great, another one of these spoiled Hollywood women bragging about her wonderful life.'  I knew who Maria was, but I didn't really know anything about her.  As I started flipping through the pages I realized it really wasn't that type of book at all.  It really is a detailed and helpful 'how-to' guide that all women can benefit from.  She feels that the key to happiness is organization and documents all of the ways that she manages the various areas of her life.  Her book is divided into five parts:

1. The EveryGirl Foundation (organizing, decorating, cleaning)
2. EveryGirl Has Style (skin care, makeup, fashion, hair/nails)
3. EveryGirl Emotional Foundation (friends/family, love)
4. Health and the EveryGirl (losing weight -- she wasn't always so trim, staying fit, recipes, health/well-being)
5. EveryGirl Business (work, travel, you are the CEO of your own life)

Maria is very relatable in this guide.  She comes from very humble beginnings and knows the value of hard earned money.  She opts to do a lot of her home repairs and installations herself to save money.  She designed her closet on her own using pieces from Ikea, rather than spending the quoted $15,000 to have it custom built.  She's a very busy woman and manages to juggle it all. There really is a lot of valuable information in this book.  Some ideas are common sense ones that we've all heard before but serve as great reminders, while others are new or have her own spin on them. It's great for yourself or makes a really nice gift for a friend.  I love it and am constantly going back to it.

The next time you're at the bookstore, have a look at it and see what you think!


Maria also has some really helpful videos up that are like little snippets from the book.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkWxf6_H1aU  

There are quite a few others that you'll see links to that were uploaded by Bing.

STYLE ICON - Blake Lively

 I love Blake Lively's style.  She looks pulled together and sophisticated, but in a fun and fresh way.  Being in NY, and on a cutting edge fashion focused show, sometimes she'll wear things that are little out there for my taste.  That being said, I think she's gorgeous and more often than not, I'm obsessed with her look.  Here are some of my favourites:

Pretty In Pink

Oh how I adore this movie....

Some of my favourite beauty products

I'm definitely not a slave to high end brands.  My goal is always to find the products that works best for me.  Sometimes, nothing beats a high end product.  Other times, you really are paying for the name.  I love it when I can find cheaper options that work just as well as their high end equivalents.  

Here are a few of my favourite must have items:

    My daily shampoo (Bumble and Bumble's Gentle Shampoo).  It's amazing for colour-treated hair.  I've yet to find a cheaper product that works as well for my hair.

An amazing cheap dry shampoo.  I've tried Bumble and Bumble's dry shampoo and this is just as good (and WAY cheaper....why pay $40+ when Batiste is under $10?!)

                                                         My daily face wash by Marcelle.

I love my BodyShop makeup brushes.  Added bonus - the flat bottoms allow them to stand up on their own!

Rimmel's Shock Gloss is awesome and such a bargain.

                                                            This is my summer sunscreen.

                                               I love this colour on my toes.  So vibrant!

This invisible roll on is a life-saver in the summer when I live in sleeveless shirts and dresses.  Nothing worse than getting deodorant all over your clothes.

My daily moisturizer.

                            This body wash helps control breakouts while still smelling great (pink grapefruit).

                                                           My current favourite mascara.