Fortunate Fridays! {Highlights of the week}

Hey, hey!

How was everyone's week?! Its been some time since I've wrote a fortunate Friday's post- not bueno. Pretty much the purpose of these post is to show gratitude for the good things that happen to me during the course of a week and simply for life in general. I am a huge believer in gratitude and the idea that the more you appreciate what you get, the more positive things you attract.

So, my apologies for the Fortunate Friday hiatus. Here is what I've felt thankful for this week:

1. The opportunity to attend my first blogger event and the ability to meet so many wonderful bloggers. I feel like the blogging world can be a bit lonely sometimes. These events are such a great opportunity to meet fellow blogueras (bloggers) and simply have a blast. I don't think I've ever felt more comfortable in a so called "networking environment" of sorts. Everything flew naturally. Not a dull moment.

The Colectiva Latina Crew (some of us):

Me, very focused:

A whole lot of note taking:

...a lot of eating was involved (thanks to Dania for organizing a really nice outing for the Latina Bloggers):

2. My sister and dad returning safe and sound back to the U.S: So, my dad left the country on business and my sister was in Panama with her boyfriend (lucky girl!). They all made it back safe and sound and bearing gifts. What more can I possibly ask for?!

3. A one on one meeting with a blogger-mentor. So, one of my networked blogger companies I am part of paired me up with an experienced blogger. Hope she doesn't mind I tag her here :)- Serena from Thrift Diving (Hi Serena!). Ladies, let me tell you- she was phenomenal! We spoke for quite some time and she gave me sooo many amazing tips for my blog, my business, and how to make everything better. She was a God sent. I'll never forget how much value she provided during that conversation. I thanked her like a million time, and meant it! :)

4, Having my dad in my life: so, as we all know, last Sunday was fathers day and I took to Facebook to express my gratitude for this man. My dad has taught me so much and continues to do so every single day. He was rough with my sister and I growing up but it was all worth it. One of the things I love the most about him is that he never panics-- whenever we share something negative with him. Ie: getting in to a car accident, loosing the phone he bough me when I was a teenager, etc. He always keeps calm and collected. "things happen, is okay' is his signature phrase. I also love the fact that, even though he doesn't tell me directly, I know that he believes in me, my dreams, and my passions and shows me that with actions rather than words. \

5. Strengthening and growing my brand: I cant say much about this as things are still in development but I am just grateful that slowing but surely hard work is paying of. As the saying goes, no one said this would be easy- but they did say it would be worth it.

And that's all folks. Thank you for reading and have a phenomenal weekend <3

What do YOU feel fortunate for this week?

Love,
Mabelle

Fortunate Fridays { Pre-memorial day weekend edition}

Hello ladies and gents!

Hope everyone had a great week. We have a long weekend ahead of us! Any exciting plans? Mine include but are not limited to-- catching up on reading, Zumba with my best friend, dinner with another one of my very close friends and hanging out with family.

How about you? If you have any super exciting traveling plans let me know. I'll be living vicariously through you. ha!

Here is the recap of some of my fortunate moments for this past week:

1. Being able to run a 5K with my dad. If you missed that post, check it out here.

2. Spontaneous quality time with my sister on a random weekday- this was awesome. We shared a delicious treat while catching up on life. (post coming up later on today)

3. Two of my favorite magazines came in the mail (plus, my daily Wall Street Journal, always grateful for that).

4. Journaling- I had forgotten how cathartic writing can be and how healing it is to just write away about our fears, emotions, the good, the bad, and everything in between. I took some time this week to get back to some old school writing (journal and pen) and felt a gazillion times better after that "session". Thinking about incorporating more consistent journaling time in to my life going forward.

5. Change your thinking change your life- I've been a fan of Brian Tracy's books for the past 8-9 years, every since I graduated from undergrad. His motivational messages are a true gift. I recently came across one of his books which I haven't read yet and immediately picked it up. I just started reading it but so far I'm really enjoying it. In a nutshell, the book emphasizes the realization that no matter what happens, we always have the choice of training our minds to have a positive outlook on things (also, understanding the power of the mind in completely changing our lives).

Amazon affiliate link

...And that's all folks. It was a good week. Although things are not necessarily "perfect" I cannot complain. I have a lot of things to look forward to and looking forward to a fun filled weekend, even if its simply in the company of family, friends, the gym, and books.

Tell me, what is your favorite Brian Tracy book or motivational book in general? (would love to add it to my reading list.)

Love,
Mabelle

Fortunate Fridays {If you believe in something, never give up- Edition}

Hello Loves!

Can you believe is Friday again?! Not only that but April is half way through. Ugh! lets not even think about that.

This week was busy. Super busy. So busy I wasn't even able to post my MWM (Mid Week Motivation) post this past Wednesday so please accept my apologies for that. I will do my best so that it doesn't happen again, at least for next week.

Regardless of how busy we may get, there is always time to express gratitude. So, without further ado, I leave you with some of the many things I felt fortunate for this week:

1. Having access to a Library card and being able to read pretty much any book I can think of, for free. Below are a couple of books i've been meaning to read for quite some time and I finally got a hold of them! 

2. Family time with the kiddos at Chucky Cheese! I may or may not have been hanging out at my local CC's with family this past Friday. I also may or may not have eaten a piece of the chocolate cake that was served which was pretty delicious.

3. Hanging out with the two kids that bring the most joy to my heart

4. Quality time with one of my favorite cousins from the Dominican Republic. I grew up with him and although we haven't lived in the same country for years, our strong bond remains.

5. The feeling, internal confirmation, and manifestation of my dreams being possible. I'll talk more about this in the future. Just know one thing: never, ever, ever give up on your dreams. Ever. 

6. Bonus: The inspiration, energy, and motivation to make myself some pretty delicious dinners a few times this week. Sometimes I impress myself.

Oh! and by the way-- I had the privilege of going to the NYC International auto show this past Saturday. Fun times. Fancy cars. And everything in between. I even randomly signed myself up for a Mercedes Benz test drive. A girl can dream ;)

And that's all folks. Wishing you a phenomenal weekend!

Its supposed to be nice and sunny here in NYC on Saturday. Looking forward to that.

Tell me, have you ever attended the NYC auto show? are cars your thing? 

Love,
Mabelle

Fortunate Fridays: Just Keep Swimming edition

Hello my loves,

Welcome to another edition of Fortunate Fridays! I am exhausted today but working away. The grind wont stop cant stop. I went out last night with some friends and didn't get home until 4 in the morning (the horror!). Thankfully this only happens once in a blue moon and I did have a great time.

So anyways, as I do every Friday-- I am here to share the top five things that happened this week which I feel fortunate for.

1. Zumba with my best friend {and a new found love for the workout}: Last Saturday my friend Christina invited me to join her at her gym for a Zumba class. The dancing started off a little slow at first but then things got "serious" and I absolutely loved every second.

Last (and only) time I attended a Zumba class was a long, long time ago almost close to the time when I first started this blog. Come take a ride with me down memory lane and check out that post here.

Anyways, I enjoyed this last class so much that it even made me consider becoming an instructor. Is that crazy? If there are any Zumba instructors out there, please email me. Would love to learn more about it!

2. A busy week working in what I love: This week I was off from my part time job at the kids center so I worked full time in my consulting business and I loved every single second. I was busy (and still am) the entire week and it really made me realize that a life pursuing our passion is possible and doable. There are some initial rearrangement and 'sacrifices' that must be made but is totally worth it and I know is part of the process. Thanking the one above.

3. Reconnecting with friends and making plans: A friend of mine I haven't seen in a few month reached out to me to catch up on life and we made plans to hang out soon. Cheers to friendships!

4. Family visiting from Dominican Republic: One of my favorite cousins and his family is visiting from my mother land so I've been spending some time with them reminiscing about the old days and just doing the 'tourist' thing in New York City. Lets see what adventures we pursue this evening.

5. Dinner and frozen yogurt with co-workers: My co-workers and I decided to plan a sushi outing for yesterday and it went great. We met up at The Jintan in the city and had a good time enjoying some sushi and just talking away. The place was super crowded so our waiter was a little slow with bringing us the check at the end of dinner and with serving us water, etc. But it was totally understandable and he was really nice. Oh! one thing I didn't like was that, although delicious, my shrimp tempura rolls were huge! Please serve me something I can fit in to my mouth. No one wants to sit there cutting sushi in half. Thank you.

After dinner we all went and had some frozen yogurt at Sixteen Candles:

6. Bonus: free access to Dropbox This is a bonus because it was a life saver for me this week. After spending wasting about 1 hour at a Kodak picture kiosk, I was unable to upload any of the pictures from my DR trip because after I finished sorting my pictures the store manager and I realized the Kodak kiosk was broken. Anyways, I came home upset but one of my friends recommended I use dropbox and it worked out perfectly! I was then able to upload all the photos on Shutterfly with ease and shared the album with all the attendees of the wedding. So glad that's finally done!

***

And that's all for today. One last thing I want to share- you may be wondering why is the theme for this post "keep swimming"? Well, there is something in the back of my mind, a situation with a certain person that has threatened (and succeeded) to make me miserable and upset in the past. However, I have grown up and learned enough to know that I control where my mind goes and where my mind wonders and I am no longer allowing negative thoughts to take over my life.

I have come to the realization that "whatever will be will be". So, I have made the choice to indulge fully in the things that I love, that make me happy, that keep me going and active and Ive decided to leave everything else to God's will. Sometimes in life we need to stop trying to control every aspect of a situation and just let the situation fly and take the course it is suppose to take. would you agree?

Anyways, that's all folks. thank you for reading and have a great weekend!

Tell me, have you ever used DropBox before? has it made your life easier?

Love,
Mabelle

Fortunate Fridays {enjoying the present, edition}

Hello ladies and gents,

Welcome to another edition of Fortunate Fridays. Today is a special day as it is Good Friday, something I do observe. I take it as a time to reflect, and to thank my higher power for always protecting me and guiding me even in times when I feel I may not deserve it. True definition of unconditional love. If you don't observe good Friday, hope you enjoy a fun and exciting Easter weekend nonetheless.

I have a few things to do today (including some work) but wanted to pass by and share a recap of some of this week's fortunate "moments". And here we go:

1. New clients: If you are a business owner, you know building a business is not easy feat, however, you may also be familiar with the exhilarating feeling of signing on new clients. This week was a good week. I am so incredibly thankful.

2. Dinner and a movie: Last weekend Felix and I went out and watched "Get Hard" (with Kevin Hart), we also enjoyed a Japanese dinner. He opted for a chicken dish and I had my usual sushi. Everything was also delicious. As crazy as he can be, outings with this man are always mostly so fun.\ :)

3. Barnes and Noble + Starbucks: I have been taking some time to work outside of home some days during this past week and is something I plan to continue doing going forward (it just feels a whole lot better to be out of the house!). I absolutely love the Barnes & nobles Starbucks combination. Whomever came up with the idea for said partnership should be declared a genius. I get so much work done there!

4. My friend organized a fitness challenge: So, a couple of years ago, a group of friends and I had a virtual running team going. We'd wake each other up each morning prior to beginning the workday and we'd each go complete our perspective workouts. We'd then report back via group chat to confirm our workout was done (and we'd send photos of the app tracking our walks/runs as proof). The peer motivation was such a huge success and I am very happy that we started this again. It just started this past Tuesday and I must admit I've been slacking but I cant wait to start full on this coming week.

5. Promising opportunities, learning to enjoy my present: As the saying goes- "I may not yet be where I want to be, but I am nowhere near where I used to be" and I am so excited for the progress in my life and career. Every little thing about entrepreneurship makes me excited. As someone used to working 9-5s for nearly a decade, sometimes I find myself in a "weird" place and a little disoriented with life in general. However, I remind myself that I am living my dream and as I continue making progress it will only get better. Need to remember that.

6. Bonus: Impromptu outings with my best friend and meeting new people: So, last night I met my friend in downtown Manhattan for some drinks. I had a blast and also got to meet some of her co-workers. I also ate a grilled chicken sandwich with a salad on the side that was pretty dang amazing (not pictured). We drank wine, cosmos, chatted, and danced a bit. I came back home feeling good about the random outing (not so much about drinking the cosmos but filling up on water today). Sometimes you just need to loosen up and remember that we only live once!

And thats all folks! Hope you all have a phenomenal weekend ahead of you. Is a little cloudy here in New York City but that's okay. Looking forward to the weekend.

Tell me, What excites you the most about your life as it is right now?

Love,
Mabel

Fortunate Fridays {Short and Sweet Recap edition}

Hello my loves,

I am back from the Dominican Republic! My flight got in at around 7:00 pm last night. I had the most phenomenal vacation I've had in such a long time. I forgot how amazing all inclusive resorts are. Specially when you are surrounded with good friends and people that enjoy having a good time. The hotel was truly beautiful and I cannot wait to give you all a recap of everything.

I wanted to submit this short and sweet post since I am back but I'll provide you guys with a more elaborate post regarding my vacation and my friend's wedding probably by this weekend. So, please stay tuned for that.

Without further 'ado, here is what I feel fortunate for this week:

1. The amazing Delta employee in the re-booking kiosk whom helped me out and was able to get me in to the plane I almost missed: lets just say that thanks to a crazy accident on my way to JFK I almost missed my flight on my way to DR. Thankfully, things worked out and so thankful for my dad whom took the time out of his day to drive me to the airport.

2. A smooth flight going to DR and back: As much as I love traveling, I am always scared of planes but all I do is pray and let go of any fears. Thank God the flights were great aside from very minimal turbelance.

3. Meeting new people and hitting it off right away: For the wedding I stayed with two ladies I didn't know very well (friends with the girl whom was getting married). However, we hung out like we've known each other for years and got along incredibly well. I can honestly say I made some cool new friends.

4. Being able to enjoy delicious foods and drinks for 4 full days: not one dollar came out of my pocket.

5. Seeing one of my best friends get married to the love of her life: that was truly priceless and a blessing to be there to witness it all.

This past week was so great that I could probably go on and on with this list but I'll stop right here. Also, I don't want to give everything away just yet :). Anyways, now I am back to reality but truly refreshed and energized. I have tons of work to do but I am not complaining one bit. Looking forward to it. That's what happens when you have a nice break.

How was your week? What is one thing that happened you feel grateful for?

Love,
Mabelle

Fortunate Fridays {friends, wine, gym and natural beauty, edition}

Good Morning! 

{or afternoon/evening, depending on where you are ;)}

Random though of the day: How awesome would it be wake up in Paris :). One day for sure we will meet again. source

Yet another Friday has arrived. I hope you all had a phenomenal week. As it is the norm each Friday on the blog, I am here to share the top five things that happened this past week which I feel fortunate for.

1. Friday night girl talk {and back to back gym date} with one of my best friends last weekend: 
I've been hanging out with my friend Christina more often the past few months (we went to high school together and pretty much have known each other for over 15 years). Last Friday after work she came over to my apartment and we hung out drinking wine, having some grapes and dark chocolate,  while watching shows off my Roku. We caught up on the week and life events. Always nice to have good friends visiting me.

She ended up sleeping over and the next morning we hit the gym for some cardio (we wanted to make it to a Zumba class but got there too late). On Sunday morning we texted each other and agreed to go work out again. It was pretty awesome. I've been going to the gym by myself for so long that I forgot how truly great it can be to have a gym buddy to keep us accountable and even more motivated than going solo.

2. A spare of the moment 3 mile walk on Monday night (minus getting sick the next day):
I like being open and honest on the blog so I wont lie that on Monday night I was feeling pretty down on myself. As I've mentioned in past posts, I've been going through a phase involving some roller-coaster of emotions. I am well aware that this too shall pass. However, Monday was one of those not so great down evenings (I was okay during the day).

After a good cry I somehow had the motivation to take myself for a nice walk. I made sure a few of my favorite podcast were on my phone and off I went. I have to tell you my mood changed drastically after that walk! I felt so much better and so much more optimistic. I was so incredibly proud of myself that instead of eating everything in sight inside my apartment and going deeper in to the deeps of sadness; I turned it around and did something positive for myself. So incredibly grateful for this. (oh yeah, I ended up catching a bit of a cold, or allergies?, the next day. thankfully I have a kick ass immune system and Im almost back to normal. Definitely learned my lesson.)

3. Getting 90% of my packing completed a week before my trip:
I have news regarding next week which I plan to share with you guys on Sunday. However, something I feel so relieved about is taking the initiative to sort my stuff, find my luggage, purchase things I needed, and run a few related errands way before my trip. Leaving things for the last minute always makes me so anxious and upset. I am so incredibly glad I took it upon myself to do things differently this time around!

4. Finally getting my eyebrows done!
Nothing much to say about this other than the fact that it was wayyyyy over-due! I barely ever wear makeup. I love the natural look. However, I was feeling really unattractive lately with my [overly-overdue for a threading-eyebrows] so glad I finally took care of that. I feel and look so much better! Thank god for low-maintenance beauty :)

5. Being able to keep up my healthy living habits and reaching new 'personally-set' milestones
Sometimes when I am not feeling so great about certain thing(s) in my life I use food to numb my emotions and right after that working out also takes a backseat. However, I am not sure why but for some reason my habits are changing drastically (for the better).

Instead of wanting to eat my life away as a recovering emotional eater, I find joy and solace in physical activity and healthy eating. To be fair, I think it also has to do with the fact that for the past several months I have been able to keep up a healthier lifestyle and I have been able to keep those habits going in good and not so good times. I've come a long way.

...I'll leave you with an awesome quote I came across while reading my digital edition of Oprah Magazine as I worked out at the gym this week:

I take my Ipad to the gym and its such a great motivator! I usually do mostly cardio at the gym-- a combination of speed walking and running on the treadmill plus the elliptical. I like to read stuff off my ipad during my speed walks. Makes me want to keep going and going. I like to do my strength training work at home. 

..And that's all folks. Thank you for reading. 

Any plans for this Friday evening or the weekend?

Love,

Mabelle

Fortunate Fridays {'Red Velvet cake and so much more' edition.}

Bkfst this morning: PB&J on sprouted wheat cinnamon-raisin bread, cafe w/ soy milk. 

This week was pretty normal, which is a good thing. Nothing out of the ordinary really happened other than the fact that I worked a whole lot but also had time to hit the gym, read, and do other things I am passionate about. I discovered some new podcast (well, one in particular) which I think is incredible (specially for entrepreneurs) and which I've been listening to any chance I get. I'll share more on that soon.

So, as it is the norm each Friday of the week; here is a recapitulation of FIVE things I've felt grateful and fortunate for. Enjoy!

1. Spending quality time with my little cousin: I love living on my own but I'm not going to lie that it does get lonely sometimes. My little cousin was on vacation from school this entire week so I invited him over for a sleep over on Monday night. I allowed him to stay up until midnight which is probably not good at all (can you tell I don't have kids yet?) but I enjoyed his company nonetheless.

2. Coming across awesome Ted-Talks: One of them came up randomly on my Facebook news feed the other day. It has to be one of the best talks I've ever heard. Check it out: Why We All Need To Practice Emotional First Aid.

3. My cousin is now a U.S citizen: So proud of him for passing his exam!

4. My mother's Valentine's day card: It did arrive a few dates late (thank you US Mail). But I loved receiving in and loved the message. It definitely put a huge smile on my face.

5. Coming home to a warm and cozy apartment: The temperature in New York City has been beyond cold lately. Specially at night time. Last night one of those specially cold nights and I was so incredibly grateful when I stepped inside my apartment and immediately felt the welcoming warmth of the heater. They say is the little things in life but at that very moment-- that was huge! I am conscious that a lot of people don't have shelter or a place to go home to when is freezing outside. I don't take these things for granted!

...and by the way, as I mentioned last week- Saturday was my sister's bday. My mom went all out baking ton of delicious goodies. Ive been so good with my healthy eating lately but was unable to resist eating a slice of Red Velvet cake (my favorite and second only to carrot cake). I have to say i enjoyed every bite. YOLO, indeed. 

Thankfully I was able to keep it at that and the rest of the week was fully back on track in terms of my healthy lifestyle (yeyy).

And thats all folks. Thank you for reading! Hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

Tell me, what was the best thing that happened to you this week?

Fortunate Fridays {Pre V-day edition}

Hello my dear readers,

Another Friday is upon us. If you missed my post last week, the purpose of FF is to share the top five things I am thankful for throughout the week. It is a way for me to remain grateful for what I have in life while working towards the things I want. Also, a way to encourage you to do the same.

Without further 'ado, here's the run down:

1. The ability to run: I started a new fitness program about 30 days ago (more on that to come). I decided to start from scratch taking it one day at the time and one step at the time. After a slow and steady beginning; I have reached the "running" stage of the program. I am grateful for my strong legs, which have carried me through so much and continue to do so with no complaints. I hadn't run in a while and this week I was reminded of how great it feels.

2. My sister's boyfriend digging my car out of the snow: Ok this was major! Thanks to a ridiculous amount of snow and ice taking over New York City about 2 weeks ago, my poor car had been under tons of ice and I had been unable to move it. Thankfully my sister's boyfriend is an angel. Such an awesome guy who actually took the time last Saturday to get my car out of the ice. I couldn't be more grateful. I am so happy my sister found such a wonderful guy. That gesture made my entire week.

3. Sushi and quality time with special people: I love sushi and thankfully a good friend of mine shares the same passion. Whenever we meet up to eat we go to a sushi spot in Downtown Manhattan and always have an amazing time. Last weekend we did it again and it was as awesome as always.

4. Spontaneous night out with old and new friends: I am such a homebody that this was pretty crazy but this past Tuesday night I got a random text from another good friend of mine asking me to meet him and another buddy for drinks someplace near my neighborhood. After tons of hesitation (because is what I do). I finally said 'what the heck!', got dressed and met up with them. Sooo much fun. So glad I did it and I was up and energized the next morning for work. Who would have thought?! And a met a new friend in the process. Win. Win.

5. Growing my blogging reach: Ok so blogging is something I absolutely LOVE to do and the fact that it is getting attention and im being asked to participate in different fun things makes me super excited. This week I was invited to join a bloggers network with tons of cool aspects to it. It was so great to receive a personal invitation through email and I am looking forward to getting started. Always good when the blog gets recognized one way or another.

And by the way, this was breakfast early this morning (as always, I am grateful for food but that's a given ;)...)

{Trader Joe's Cinnamon-raisin English muffin with PB&J + Coffee w/ soy milk}

So, valentines day is this weekend and I have to be honest that I am one of those people that's not a big fan of the day and enjoys keeping it low key. I think it sucks how businesses take advantage of regular folks and over-price every single thing on that day or the days approaching V-day. It irks me.

If you have a wonderful relationship, you shouldn't need one single day to show your love. Love should be expressed year-round. But, aside from the commercial aspect of the day, the "idea" of having an excuse to show how much you love and care about someone makes up for all the downside. It is my sister's birthday and my mom is having a little something for her. After that, the night is young! :) So, we'll see what happens.

And that's all folks. Thanks for reading. I wish you an incredibly fun weekend!

Tell me, what is the one thing you are most grateful for this week?

{The Return of} Fortunate Fridays

Hello my dear readers!

I had whole-wheat blueberry pancakes this morning with eggs and sausage plus my cup of Joe with soy milk. I enjoyed my meal while doing work and reading the paper (new obsession: Wall Street Journal). I forgot to take a picture. So, thank you Pinterest for lending a helping hand:

Source

I haven't followed up with this series since last summer! I apologize. This is a part of my life that I love to share-- not with the purpose of bragging about my life by any means. But, more than anything, as a personal reminder that regardless of any challenging times we may face, there is always something to be thankful {and feel fortunate} for.

Sometimes is hard for us to remember our blessings, I include myself in that bunch, the FF posts is a way in which I help myself do just that. I encourage you to do the same. Doesn't have to be on a Friday but whenever you feel it would be beneficial to you.

These are the top five items I feel fortunate for this week:

1. My sister giving me a ride to the gym: My car is stranded behind a pile of ice and I have been unable to get it out this entire week. I called AAA and the customer service department was of no help. Whatever. My loving boyfriend and future husband {the one whom would help me with this} is somewhere in the future.  As I wait for him to get here, I am hoping my friend or dad can come help me get it out this weekend. In the meantime, my awesome sister drove me to the gym and that was pretty awesome of her.

2. Being able to help a friend in need: Although my career is still a work in progress and I am not making the income I want to make just yet, I was still able to lend  a helping hand to a friend in need this week. If you know me, you know I am super frugal and meticulous about my money. However, there are times where exceptions need to be made and this was one of them.

3. Doing what I love for a living (a work in progress): I don't even know where to begin with this. Since quitting my insurance job last May, my career has been an emotional roller coaster with incredible amazing times as well as times where I am scared about whats to come. However, one thing is for sure, I am doing what I love and I wake up each morning (and go to bed  each night) with so much motivation and excitement. That is completely and utterly priceless. I know with hard work and dedication the financials will take care of themselves. Patience is virtue. More on this topic coming soon.

4. Having a place to live that is cozy, comfortable, and mine: So, one of the days in which my sis drove me to the gym I had to walk myself back home because she had some errands to run. The walk is about 15 minutes on a regular nice day but it took me 30 minutes thanks to the ridiculous amount of snow and ice on the streets. I felt like I was walking through a spartan race obstacle course. Anyways, despite the struggles of that walk; I kept reminding myself that I am not homeless nor was I just walking aimlessly, which sadly, is something that many people do daily. I was walking myself home. My warm, cozy, home. If this is not something to be utterly and completely thankful for, I don't know what is.

Source

5. Remembering that I am not alone-- Despite my relationships ups and downs in the past year I have to remind myself that I have tons of people that love me and care for me. I also have a strong sense of faith that everything that happens in my life is working towards my benefit. So, regardless of the tough times I remind myself that happiness always returns. As you may have notice--- this is one of my favorite sayings :)

What are YOU thankful for this week? I hope you all have plans for a phenomenal weekend whether you spend it doing fun stuff or simply cozied-up at home.

Thank you for reading <3

Mabelle

Fortunate Fridays {Friendships are golden & Self Improvement edition}

Hey My loves!

This week FLEW! I almost forgot to post this but here I am-- as it is my Friday tradition. I wont waste much time on random stuff and just get to the point.

 This week I feel fortunate for:

1. Spending time with some amazing friends this weekend! -- My amazing friends from NYC came to DC and it was like a college reunion all over again. Great times!

Warning: pictures of delicious food and lots of fun ahead

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First time at Peri-Peri--- absolutely delicious. 

 

2. I am getting better at not caring what others do but controlling my own emotions and being at peace instead!- I used too much power on things that were out of my control until one day I decided that's no way to live. Still a work in progress but I am so much happier.

3. My mom taking the time to "deep clean" my apartment

4. The realization that following a passion can take us farther than actual skills or aptitude can! (will be writing a post on this).

5. Finding the time to update my investing blog!

 

6. Not letting others intimidate me-- no matter what. I know what I am and what I am capable of. I know I have a bright future ahead regardless of anything.

7. The opportunity to attend an amazing work event last night. I am telling you--- the company where I am doing the internship is beyond amazing. Open bar, free food, free entertainment. They even sent me to the train station on a limo...yes. a limo.

 The Gold Magnolias-- Awesome band!

 

 

 

8. My incredible faith and the certainty of knowing deep inside that amazing things are ahead.

 

Me today after a nice run (although I was so exhausted I didn't feel like doing nada. But I did it!!).

 

 

Meme award of the week goes to:



 

 

 

TELL ME-- What blessings did you enjoy this week?