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 {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 {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 {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

Rekindling My relationship with Myself

Its been a while since I've spent quality time with myself.

This may sound odd but as AMAZING and wonderful as a relationship can be and as much as I look forward to falling in love again and spending time with a significant other; this time on my own is reminding me of how much I also enjoy time with me. With Mabel.

I went shopping earlier and while driving I caught myself smiling when I realized that hey! I am on my own again. I am learning to be on my own again and that's perfectly okay.

 

Being alone is not the same as being lonely. And I am far from lonely.

 

 

I am healthy.

I have a family that loves me, and whom I love.

A God that loves me.

I have a roof over my head (a nice one).

I have clothes to wear.

Food in my fridge.

An education.

A job.

Dreams.

Hopes.

Ambition.

Faith.

An exciting Future.

Experiences.

And the list goes on...

 

My door is open to LOVE. I am not giving up on it because of previous circumstances that will have no effect on my present or my future. However, until it walks in to my life again. I will enjoy this time with myself and make the absolute best of it. <3

Cheers and TGIF!

Fortunate Fridays!

Hey everyone. I almost forgot to post this. Emphasis on almost ;)

Welcome to another edition of Fortunate Fridays. This week I feel fortunate for...

1. My apartment. God knows how much I waited to have a home I could call my own and this upcoming January is going to be my one year anniversary at my place. Yesterday I walked in after almost freezing to death outside (weather is out of control cold) and I felt so blessed to have a WARM and cozy place to come to. I turned on my heat, my candles, made some dinner and all was good with the world again :)

2. Finally slowly but surely understanding that getting older makes you understand so much about life and realize so many things you quite didn't understand before. This may sound out of left field right now but I will elaborate more on this on a future post.One major thing being: You cannot make everyone happy. People will have something to say regardless so always do what makes you happy! As long as you're not hurting anyone, why not? Dr. Seuss said it best:

 Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. -Dr. Seuss

3. Motivating others to lead a healthy lifestyle. Someone I know asked me for advice on what foods to eat and where to shop of affordable healthy food. I am so excited to help her and it makes me feel good that others ask for my advise on things like this. 

4. Leaning how to be honest. 'kay, this is a little personal but I was dating someone whom was obviously playing games. Acting like I was the end all be all for him and then disappearing  without explanation or just acting strange. I gave one too many chances and he blew them ALL. I finally had to be clear and let that go. I want love. Someone that is serious and  committed. Someone that genuinely shows me they care. Anything less than that wont cut it for me and as hard as it may be to admit it. I am finally learning to be honest with myself and others. :)

5. My mom. I call that women for everything! Any little advise from getting certain items while grocery shopping to just hearing her voice because I may need comforting from time to time. So happy to have her in my life. 

WHAT ARE YOU FEELING FORTUNATE FOR??!! Just realized this is the last Friday of 2012! Hope ya'll are making it a great one :)

Thanks for reading!