The 7 Steps to a Successful Life: Starting now!

Get what you want, from now. I learned the hard way, so passing on my life lessons to you!

1. Believe in yourself and your abilities.

Everyone has advice and can support you and push you, but you need to stop relying on everyone and look into yourself. Create and support your own unwavering belief in yourself and confidence in your abilities, and make your mind a force to be reckoned with.

2. Define your dreams and goals.

Having vague goals is just selling yourself short and making room for excuses. Set them in stone in your mind. Instead of saying, "I'm going to lose weight for this summer". Tell yourself, out loud "I'm going to lose 15lbs by June so that I can wear that fabulous bikini to the pool". Visualize yourself basking in the glory of the flat stomach and all the jealous glances (and the admiring ones too!)

3. Don't fear failure or change

Sh*t happens my dears and sometimes it feels like the world is against you, but don't let that stop you from achieving what you want in life. One of my strongest beliefs is that we all gotta fall to get back up. Use your 'failures' as learning experiences and get yourself back up on that horse and learn from the past and try to avoid past mistakes. Don't give up. Change will happen, sometimes not all for the best, so you may think. But if you stick to your guns, and move forward with confidence, you can make things go your way...don't just hope it to!

Always remember that those success stories you hear are only about one in a hundered thousand or so. To be successful, in reality, it takes hard work and perseverance...and you must believe that you will prevail.

4. Get feedback

Healthy constructive criticism should be encouraged, not dismissed. Sometimes, we are unable to look from an objective stance and see other avenues to succeed in our goals.

Discuss your goals, and internalize the feedback people give you and reasearch it...do something about it. If your goal is your weight, maybe you are not doing it in the healthiest way. If the goal is succeeding in your business, maybe you are not aware of the real world clientele issues.

Sometimes people can be jealous and negative, spot those kinds of negativity they're projecting...but with all others, try to keep an open mind.

5. Get educated, but don't be afraid to move forward.

Research and think about and plan it all out. But if your research and prep is taking years and years, its likely that you're gonna miss the boat!

For your personal life and fitness goals, you can wait to act, but life isn't gonna wait for you.

For business, everyones got an idea, it's he who moves fastest garners first interest in their 'original' idea.

6. Reward yourself.

You lost the weight, you get that BCBG dress that hugs you in all the right places! Keep off from buying anything else and reward yourself according to steps towards your goal! A friend of mines goal is to lose like 40 lbs, and he doesn't allow himself cheat days, he rewards himself with a cheat meal as he hits every 10-15 lbs to his goal. And we'll all be there to celebrate with him :)

7. Keep on trucking

Move onwards and upwards. Keep your perspective and know when to back off and take a different approach, but always forward.

You're only as amazing as you think you are. Keep the faith.

xox

-A-

Oh, Mais Oui!

Today was Carbaholic day. After watching Julie and Julia, it sent my domesticated, cooking side into a frenzy! One line that stuck out was when Julia Child (pl

ayed by the ever fabulous Meryl Streep *what a woman!* ) said that everything tastes better with Butter! Eat all you can but go for a walk or something! Then after watching her and her husband gorge themselves on yummy French food and bread absolutely dripping with butter, the end concluded by saying that they lived to 92 and 91 respectively.

How is that even possible? Health nuts have been driving me nuts telling me that I’m going to die from eating fried, buttery food and these people lived until almost 100 eating French food and butter.

Yes, yes…something about things within reason or other.

Anyways, last night hubster craved Shrimp linguine, and linguine he got! It was scrumptious and as good as anything you would find dining out….okay fine, it was BETTER!

Takes no time at all and everyone will love it guaranteed! I tripled the recipe and added uncooked Calamari rings as I like my linguine with lots of sauce (and enough to dip garlic bread in).

NOTE: Want to try the recipes but don't know what to sub for alcohol? See here for a chart below to see a list of alcohol substitutes in recipes.

Shrimp and Spinach Linguine

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 large onion chopped
• 6 garlic cloves minced
• rosemary & oregano
• 28 oz. can tomatoes chopped
• salt & pepper
• 1 cup dry white wine (Non-alcoholic wine, chicken broth or stock, diluted white wine vinegar or cider vinegar, white grape juice diluted with white wine vinegar, ginger ale, canned mushroom liquid, water.)
• 1/2 cup parsley
• 1 cup baby spinach
• cooked or raw shrimp, crab, lobster, scallops (whatever combination or just one - sometimes I buy the imitation crab)

Preparation:

In a skillet, heat butter and oil - sauté onion and garlic until golden.

Add wine or substitute; cook until liquid has evaporated and vegetables are golden.

Reduce heat; add tomatoes, spices, spinach, salt and pepper.

Add the seafood of your choice (scallops and raw shrimp take about 5 minutes to cook in sauce).

Side of Garlic Bread- Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1 stick salted butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped finely
• 1/2 sourdough baguette, sliced on the bias (on an angle)

Preparation:

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.
2. Add garlic and parsley and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Use a panini maker or a toaster to toast bread. Brush garlic butter generously on toasted bread

Enjoy! xox

-A-

New Carpet? What new carpet?

Black Coffee spilled on white carpet. Right after I sent out an email inviting my friends to dinner this Friday!

Tried everything to get it out, got me thinking “There goes my beautiful Saturday morning!”

Honestly its not like I care since the hubby spilled it....sooooo= HARDWOOD! gorgeous, fabulous, shiny hardwood! I'll spend Saturday shopping for it, I'm over the standard styles everyone else gets so will keep you in suspense for what I'm thinking!

BUT for the sake of pretending I care, and 'trying' How to get it out? Any ideas? See below if you're in the same 'predicament' as I am.

Well, coffee stains are common and although it may seem that your carpet is ruined, coffee stains can be removed from carpet with a little persistence.

1. Try and remove immediately: Carpet fibers will suction it right up and if it bleeds through to the underpadding, you run the risk of it spreading.

2. Clean excess liquid out with with a clean, white cloth. Always use a white cloth when cleaning a stain, as the dye in colored fabrics can bleed and cause more staining.

3. Next, use clean water with a clean cloth to blot away as much of the stain as possible. Remember to always blot a stain from the outside inward to ensure that you do not cause the stain to spread further. Never use a rubbing motion when cleaning a stain. Rubbing can cause the stain to spread and be pushed deeper into the carpet and padding. Rubbing can also cause excess wear to your carpet. For this reason, gentle blotting is the best way to safely remove a stain from your carpet.

4. If none of the above worked, try these:

a) Cover the stain with baking soda or salt and let it sit for at least half an hour. Then remove with a vacuum or with a clean cloth. The baking soda or salt can help absorb some of the coffee from the carpet.

b) Use club soda or ginger ale to help remove a coffee stain. Sprinkle evenly over the stain and let sit for a few seconds. Then use a clean cloth to blot the stain from the carpet. Use a clean cloth and water to rinse, and then blot dry.

c) Vinegar can also be used to remove coffee stains from carpet. Mix together 1/3 cup of white vinegar and 2/3 cup lukewarm water. With a clean cloth, blot the coffee stain with this solution until the stain has been fully lifted from the carpet. At this point, blot with clean water to remove the vinegar. Blot dry with a clean, dry cloth.

d) Bleach-free dish detergent can also be useful for removing coffee stains in carpet. Use a solution of one teaspoon dish detergent and one cup of lukewarm water. Use a clean cloth to blot the stain with this mixture until you have removed the stain from the carpet. Rinse by blotting with a clean cloth and water, and then blot with a clean cloth to dry the area