Showing posts with label Motivation Monday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Motivation Monday. Show all posts

Monday, March 13, 2023

Does #DaylightSavingsTime Already Have You Singing The Blues? #MondayMeme #Coffee #NationalNappingDay

Does Daylight Savings Time Already Have You Singing The Blues?

If you are already singing the blues about Daylight Savings Time, there are two things that can help you get through it:

馃 Coffee

馃 National Napping Day is today which aligns nicely with our Spring Forward Daylight Savings Time Shenanigans. If you can sneak in a 20 minute nap today it may very well help!

There are healthier energy drink alternatives if you are not a coffee person, and remember to add some collagen proteins to your favorite drink today (for coffee drinkers there are collagen peptide creamers on the market!)

Readers Sound Off: How do you get through the first day of "Spring Forward"/Daylight Savings Time? Also, how about a Monday Morning Coffee Me Thread? If you would like someone to treat you to a coffee you post your Venmo/Cashapp/Paypal if you would like to treat someone then you can send someone who has posted theirs in this comment thread! Mine are listed below! 馃

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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% my own! I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR, Part 255 - Guides Concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, you may check our Giveaway and Disclosure Page for additional information regarding Ascending Butterfly Disclosure. 

If you like this article treat me to a coffee, a caffeinated writer is a happy writer! 

paypal.me/TracyIglesias or https://cash.app/$ascendingbutterfly or Venmo: Ascending1


Monday, April 4, 2016

Today is my 'Personal New Year' otherwise known as my 'birthday' - here are some gifts for YOU! #MondayMotivation


I am fascinated by astrology. Years ago I read that our Birthday's are really the start of our year - yes, our astrological year, but our personal year as well.

It resonated.

New Year's Eve never really resonated as a beginning to me, and in 2011 the night lost it's 'joy' for me, some of you will know what I mean by that, others won't. It's a long story and my archives are certainly searchable if you are curious.

Today is my birthday, making 4/4 the start of my year - astrologically and personally.

Here is what I've learned so far:

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - I can't make everyone happy. - I am not telling you not to try, but I can tell you to work on making YOURSELF happy - and not just once and awhile. Do one thing each and every single day that brings you joy. For me, it's music, photography and travel. I can't travel everyday (although that would make me super happy) but I can listen to music. So I do.


聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - I can't keep every ball in the air. - I am not a juggler. I am a multi-tasker, but I am not a juggler, some days a ball or two will fall. It's OK.


聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Clothes and Shoes aren't the only things you will outgrow. - We outgrow people, relationships, situations, jobs, as we ascend different things will suit us, others won't. It's OK to Spring Clean your life. Sweep out the relationships that fill you with dread, the people who make you cringe, the ones you send to voicemail when they call you, the ones on Facebook that annoy the hell out of you - use the unfriend button. It's OK. The world and your world won't crumble. Just remember, disagreements are not cause to automatically let go, you aren't always going to see eye to eye with someone no matter how much you love them and how much they mean to you, it's not about seeing eye to eye all the time, it's just knowing when to agree to disagree!


聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Love the person - Remember what I just wrote above - don't sweep someone out of your life because you don't see eye to eye on sex or politics. Love the person not their politics. Love the person, not who they worship. Love the person, don't worry about what goes on in their bedroom. (unless it's the person you are actually in a relationship with, then you should totally know what's going on in the bedroom).


聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - You know nothing about yourself - Ever. You are a constantly changing, ever transforming work in progress. What you feel about politics, sex and religion will change throughout the years. oh, did I say that's OK yet? Because it is. If you can admit you don't always have it all together: (a) you are doing great and (b) be more compassionate of the person across from you (they are juggling shit too).


聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Loss - Loss will hit us all eventually. - There is no right way to handle it. There is no wrong way to handle it. And even in cases where you know it's coming, trust me when I tell you that you still won't expect it.

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Turn your mess into your miracle - You know that annoying saying 'You can't get rainbows without the rain'? - Sorry to tell you but it's true. Diamonds are formed via High Pressure (um, not from a lump of coal), and that is exactly what life does to you, puts you through high pressure, if you ride through the waves of pressure you come out polished not demolished! My biggest mess: I'm an insomniac - it's hard to turn my brain off - but I realize I've made really good use of the extra time and that my insomnia is probably why I love to read, research, and write.


聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - And if you can only remember one golden nugget? - JUST SAY NO! - The more you learn to say it, the happier you will be!

I'm off to make a New Year's Wish List just in time for the New Moon on the 7th! Happy Birthday to my fellow Aries peeps!

Readers Sound Off/Your Take: What Day is your personal new year? What is the most important thing you have learned so far?

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FTC Disclosure:  This is NOT a Sponsored Post, All opinions are 100% my own! I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR, Part 255 - Guides Concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, you may check our Giveaway and Disclosure Page for additional information regarding Ascending Butterfly Disclosure.

Monday, January 11, 2016

Is 'Cause Marketing' becoming the 'Stray Dog of the Internet' - something you have to stop feeding for free? #MotivationMonday

This is NOT a Sponsored Post.

Photo Credit: Steam Driven Media
Blogging seems to be the only industry I have ever worked in where people assume it's OK NOT to pay at all for the services they require or suggest that a barter of product suffices as payment. Social Good and 'Cause Marketing' are beginning to feel like that stray dog that you are warned never to feed under any circumstances.

And this is coming from someone with a Print (remember Newspapers? 'The Blogs on paper" that melted on your fingers when you read them) background as - get this - a 'Human Interest Reporter'. I went on to Television News writing and then did a brief stint for several Magazines before joining the 'Digital Influencer' side of the journalistic house.

My blog began in 2009 (I was actually Ghost Writing for a few brand blogs before then), and the first week we launched a simple empowerment post with an affirmation it got on the radar of a well known celeb - one whose roots began in Music and has become pretty much an empire - he re-tweeted that post. Simple enough right?

That simple 're-tweet' got picked up by his fellow celebs and was re-tweeted so often they temporarily broke our server.

Very much a blessing. One I was NOT prepared for. I got bombarded with un-solicited press releases and requests to 'run giveaways' and post what amounted to 'advertorials', with no compensation for me because the info was just so 'valuable' and 'informative' that my readers would LOVE it they assured. I scoffed. I have a strong communications background, a degree in mass media communications and these emails were nothing similar to the ones I received when I was in print or television. Not at all similar. I hid and was 'PR Free' for the first year of our launch. Those were the most blissful 365 days of my blogging career.

Then along came a household brand who had pitched me the whole time, invited me to events and really wanted a way to be presented to the community I worked very hard to build. I knew full well I needed to be careful in how I partnered with brands. It's why I avoided it for so very long.

This brand was persistent, they make products I actually use in my home daily and spent a year really reading my posts - most likely because I refused to snatch the dangling carrots.

They finally presented a charitable initiative. A very worthy one.and asked directly how we could partner.

Alas, my 'Good Heart' became both a blessing - and to an extent - a downfall. I enjoyed partnering with the brand. I certainly enjoyed helping them help a worthy cause. Doing good fits well with an Empowerment Blog that is run by a Life/Career Coach.

But don't cue the music and don't ride off into the sunset. Yet.

It opened up a flood gate of  'do me a favor' emails. A ton of 'why did you it for them and now won't do it for me?' questions that I face to this day.

I now have to tell them what I tell brands that pitch me other things:

When underwear brands pitch me about creating content or running a free giveaway in exchange for their underwear, I ask their reps pointedly 'Do YOU get paid in UNDERWEAR'? and when they reply 'No, of course not' I reply 'Why should I?' - Most have no answer. One agency rep forwarded my email to his entire agency with the subject - 'Who does this little bitch think she is?' I was 'accidentally' copied. Within minutes I tweeted the agency's owner and let them know I could post our email exchange and show their reps exactly who 'this little bitch' is. Needless to say they didn't want that to happen and I will never partner with their atrocious agency.

Sadly I now have to tell folks who pitch me 'Cause Marketing' something similar - I can't quite pay my bills with my 'good heart'. I can't give every cause free advertising just because it's a good cause. And the hard part is I have a background in Human Interest and Empowerment. That will always be 'my beat/my thing' but that does NOT mean I am REQUIRED to do anything for free.

It's an even bigger pet peeve of mine, when the rep will look at my site and tell me since you haven't posted for a day I thought you were in need of 'content'. I live in New York City where there are thousands of trade shows, theatres, art, and multiple events DAILY - I also Life Coach, run a Social Media Consultancy and mostly blog during 'Graveyard Hours', I will never lack content and at any given time - I average 14K in un-read emails on a 'good day'.

These lessons in Blogging and Cause Marketing have prompted me to take on ONE major pro bono cause per year and devote myself specifically and entirely to that cause, which I can opt to change the following year so that more Not-For-Profits can have a voice that are scrambling to get heard over the Social Media noise out there. I was raised by a very philanthropy driven family, and was taught that giving of time is as valuable if not more so than giving money, but the problem is - there is only finite amounts of time that one can afford to give away.

That means I have to turn others down and I refuse to allow myself to feel guilty for doing so. This is a business, I have always treated it that way. If you approach me like I am a 'hobbyist' - you are doing us BOTH a huge dis-service.

Call To Action/Soundoff:

Bloggers how do YOU approach Cause Marketing on YOUR Blogs? Readers, how do you feel about Bloggers 'feeding the stray dog'? Is it like any other 'advertorial' to you or does it make you truly explore the cause a bit more?

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FTC Disclosure:  This is NOT a compensated/sponsored Post, All opinions are 100% my own! I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR, Part 255 - Guides Concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, you may check our Giveaway and Disclosure Page for additional information regarding Ascending Butterfly Disclosure.

Monday, May 19, 2014

The Three Places You May Be Forgetting to Add 'Intention'



We tend to approach 'big' things with intention, but we sometimes forget to speak intention on things we do almost on 'auto-pilot' when we do them like:

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Lighting a Candle
聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Lighting Incense
聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Go To Sleep At Night/Our Dreams

@buddhaonabicycle.com


You can add intention to all three of these.

Light a Candle or Incense with Intention - We tend to have a reason when we light a candle, but open the door to only positive energy by lighting it with intention. Whatever your belief system is should be what guides you. I have observed some who are Christian open the lighting of a candle by stating they are lighting the candle in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as they believe that lighting a candle symbolizes the light of Christ. Others feel that lighting a candle brings light to our wishes and desires, used by some as a request for healing or peace.

Taking a moment of silence before lighting a candle or incense for that matter to clear your head of negative thoughts and energy is important. Try sitting for a moment with your eyes closed, if you are a good 'visualizer', visualize white light all around you, if you are more of a voice person, affirm either silently or out loud postive words of affirmation to put yourself in the right place (mentally and spiritually)  to light your candle or incense.

When you feel ready, open your eyes, light your candle or incense (or both) bow your head and direct your intentions and/or prayers to the Universe, God, Allah, Buddha, the Angels or your higher self for that matter and ask that the energy created by your candle or incense serves your highest good and the highest good of your environment and those around you.

The hardest part will be the letting go, release any need to have the prayers answered in a specific way, allow spirit and the universe to help you find the best path to your answer.

Put intention to your sleep and dreams -  Yes you can do the same for your sleep, and while this might feel the most strange to you at first, doing this with consistency may just change your sleep forever. Take some time without noise, turn off electronic devices, tv and music too. Sit for some time in silence, whether you keep a gratitude journal or not, focus on 3 good things that happened to you in this day. Express gratitude (silently, or out loud your choice) - then focus on your top three goals for yourself, personal would be better, but professional are OK too, Affirm to yourself be it out loud or silently that you charge your dreams to help you see clearly those goals you wish to manifest, ask your subconscious mind to be vibrationally aligned to those goals so you may see clearly how to reach them.

When you master these, try adding intention to other simple daily tasks, add intention to your eating patterns, television viewing, and one of my personal favorites your shower, I really do believe we can change our lives by changing our thoughts and our own responses to the mundane/routine and to those things that may not be so routine.

What have you put intention to today butterfly?


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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a Sponsored Post. But if you would like to sponsor a Motivation Monday, feel free to contact me! :)

Monday, March 24, 2014

{#MotivationMonday} Dalai Lama or Dalai Homer, You Decide!



While I continue to battle this annoying Flu which doesn't seem to want to go away, I thought I'd inject a little humor into today's Motivation Monday to start the week with a little laugh!

It really is a good message:

Do Not Let The Behavior of Others Destroy Your Inner Peace.

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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a Sponsored Post. But if you would like to sponsor a Motivation Monday, feel free to contact me! :)

Monday, March 3, 2014

The 10 things your Life/Career Coach is too afraid to tell you! #MotivationMonday



A Bra Specialist can look at you and tell your bra size quite accurately BEFORE she even measures you. A shoe store associate can usually look at a foot and also pretty much accurately guess your size and foot width. And while we hate to hear this, an HR professional makes their final assessment within the first 10 minutes of the job interview.

A Life or Career Coach come into play when you want to manifest change in your life or career. It's hard for the Coach to do their job when they quickly realize that it's only YOU and your attitude standing in your way. The quote "Attitude Determines Altitude" has lasted this long for good reason!



The Top 10 Things Your Life/Career Coach is too Afraid to tell you:

(1) It's not your boss, it's YOU - How you react to your boss and his/her demands are going to determine how far you will go. I am not telling you to brown nose your way to the top, however I am telling you as a Career Coach, that this is the most vital relationship you have in your career arsenal. Remember, even leaving a job of your own accord will require a job reference. And in Life Coaching this applies to the relationship you feel most stuck in, the one you feel that is not moving forward but backwards. Be it your in-laws or that BFF you think you may be 'outgrowing'...

(2) You Must Pay Your Dues - You are not going to become CEO in a year. Don't be afraid to pay your dues.

(3) Procure a Mentor - You want to touch base with someone doing the job you want to have eventually. It's OK to go outside your organization to find that person. In fact, that is the better way to go, you want someone who you can be frank with and who can also feel free to be frank with you about their path to success.

(4) Relationships are a two way street - If your theme is constantly about how every relationship has wronged you, your coach may be too afraid to tell you that you are sabotaging your relationships by the way you react to things that are not to your liking.

(5) Presentation is half the battle won - It's not just the job interview where you should whip out your best suit, dress for the job you want, not the job you have. If the top salesperson calls in sick and a major account needs attention, who do you think the boss will ask to pinch hit? The person in jeans or the suit?

(6) Yes, Peer Socialization is necessary - Those myriad of after-work team-building events, do you really have to go? YES, you have to go. Your peers are in the trenches with you, and if you can all support each other, you all win.

(7) You get what you give - Selfishness will hold you back from the life you really want. Be it the green-eyed monster, or pushing your agenda to hold someone else back, you get in life exactly what you give. If you spend countless hours telling your life/career coach how selfish everyone is around you, they are going to easily spot that the selfish Sally in those relationships is really YOU.

(8) Stop making cross-lateral job transfers - Your job trajectory needs to go up, if you spend years just moving sideways it's going to be harder to go up the next time you make a job move. Aim to build a career with an upward trajectory. (Because dearies, only crabs walk sideways!)

(9) Don't let moss grow under your feet - If you can't find the job you want, keep searching and portion out a part of your week to volunteer. Volunteer work is just that WORK. It allows you to give back to your community in a relevant way and still build necessary job skills. The busier you are, the more attractive you are to a potential employer.

(10) Define Success Clearly - How do YOU Define Success? Don't tell your coach how your mother and father define success. Or how your spouse defines it. Or your siblings for that matter. Yes you need to make enough to cover your bills, but at the end of the day, amassing money and then having no time to enjoy it, is something I am sure we can both agree is fruitless.  No Life/Career Coach can take your career or life to the next level until you know exactly what success looks like for you. Visualize it. Do you picture yourself in a garden with blooming flowers? With a smiling family? In an office at the top floor? Bring your Life or Career Coach a picture of how you define success, then and only then can they help you get there!

My Take:

The only thing that tends to stand in the way of our own success, is US! We tend to be our own harshest crtics, we tend to think status quo is better than change and we get stuck in ruts that for the most part we create for ourselves.

Before reaching out to a Life or Career Coach, start by tapping into what success looks like for you, what position you want to be in and be sure you are ready to knock your life and career status quo on it's head. Change sometimes comes with sacrifice. A life/career coach is not your fairy godmother, they can't wave a wand over your head and put you straight into your dream life. Define Success for yourself and then once you have that vision, there is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking the help of an expert to guide you on how to achieve it.

And lastly as someone who has been coaching for awhile now, my biggest tip is that a life/career coach is NOT your therapist, while it's super easy to get that confused, your therapist digs into your past, your life coach looks forward (not backward) into how the immediate can be re-shaped to look more like YOUR vision of true success.

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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a Sponsored Post.

Monday, January 27, 2014

{Todays #Inspiration} Each Person! #MotivationMonday



































I can relate to the last sentence of this quote! My best creative writing has always felt like I was just a temporary vessel for the words and that the writing 'came through' me. Those writing moments are effortless, almost easy. I am engrossed and engaged and the words flow through me as hours fly by on the clock. Those days feel amazing!

But the key is to remember that every single day can be like that if we are open to the many blessings that the Universe sends us each day. Today practice letting something come through you, stay in the moment, and say an affirmation to both start and end your day. Don't let 2014 be 2013, you can shape it into anything you want it to be!

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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a Sponsored Post!

Monday, January 6, 2014

Weekly Moment of Gratitude: First #MotivationMonday of 2014 Edition! + Winner Announcement!

Butterfly Monday Animated Gif


Butterflies it is the first Monday of the New Year!

What I am Grateful For:

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - 2014! - It's a new year and this is the first Monday of 2014! Let's set the tone for how we greet the rest of the year by greeting today with enthusiasm and gratitude. Each new year I get to ring in I now realize is such a huge blessing. It's kind of cool that we are actually 6 days into this new year already and this is the first Monday we have to confront. Even with it starting with a snowstorm, I see this year as a blank canvas just waiting for me to fill it. I'm actually late starting on my Vision Board this year, so if anyone has theirs up I'd love to see it! (Especially if it includes butterflies!)

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - RAOK! - I took some much-needed, long-overdue and well-deserved time off during the holidays and was on the receiving end of two random acts of kindness during my travels that really touched me. They were just simple kind gestures, but since sadly kindness is sometimes hard to find, gestures like these take me by surprise. I am way more comfortable being on the giving end of an act of kindness. Something I want to work on for 2014. I may not be able to repay them directly, but I can always pay it forward and that's exactly what I intend to do. Start this new week with the goal of doing one surprise thing for a perfect stranger. You don't have to report them here if you don't want to, but keep track of it in your 2014 journal. When you end this year and go back to read all of your posts, it will give you a super warm feeling inside! And keep track of all the RAOK's you are on the receiving end of too! (You don't have to search so hard to find them, it can be simple things like someone holding a door for you when your arms where full, you adding to the take a penny/give a penny jar in the supermarket etc)

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Wins! - With 2013 being such a busy year I didn't enter many contests. It's one of my favorite hobbies that sadly went neglected last year, but I did get some win notifications and prizes from seeds of entering that I had sown last year and few small instant wins to start my 2014, nothing life changing, just small simple stuff but it gave me a happy and lucky feeling which is always a fun way to start a New Year!

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Changes! - Plotting my year of 'change' one step at a time, first up hair! Time for a chop! chop! and I may go bold and do a color change too! What about you butterfly? What is your first change going to be this year?



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WINNER ALERT:



 New Year, New Jacket!

Congrats to Elsie Rivera, Entrant #1937 in our Holidays Wilson's Leather $100 Gift Card Giveaway! Didn't win? No worries, we will have Wilson's back soon so stay tuned! Join me in congratulating Elsie by posting a comment on this thread!

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What are you GRATEFUL for today Butterfly?

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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Motivation Monday: My Favorite Nelson Mandela Quote!



This has always been my favorite Nelson Mandela Quote:

"Our Deepest Fear is Not that we are inadequate. Our Deepest Fear is That we are Powerful Beyond Measure." ~ Nelson Mandela

We lost a leader who truly led by example, but he wouldn't want the world to be darker in his absence, he would want us to shine our lights even brighter and apply our collective individual light to making this world shine brighter.

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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a Sponsored Post.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Motivation Monday: Weekly Moment of Gratitude + Newest Ambassadorships + Twitter Takeover Edition

Best Buy Logo


聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 My Newest Blogger Brand Ambassadorship! - I am already part of the Best Buy WOLF Blogger program and recently I was invited to take my work up a notch and become an official Best Buy Ambassador and I couldn't possibly be happier! Technology and Consumer Electronics are two major loves of mine and I can't wait to get started! I am in great company as you can see in the video below!

video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player


Bloggers run on technology, we need both an at home and mobile on the go office that can keep us connected and help us keep pace with our incredibly busy lives. We are entrepreneurs who are always on the go, and I love that Best Buy GETS that!


NetZero Logo


聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Another Blogger Brand Ambassadorship that I'm very excited about! - I am a NetZero Brand Ambassador and much like Best Buy they understand that Bloggers need to stay connected to their businesses on the go and they offer the tools to do just that! I have been road testing their NetZero 4G HotSpot and I will have a full review for you very soon! As you can tell communications and technology are big with me and I'm excited about what 2014 will bring!

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Twitter Takeover! - I hosted a 'Twitter Takeover' this weekend on Oprah Winfrey's OWN Television Network! I took over the @OWNers account and tweeted with the #OWNers community and viewing public at large for a live viewing party of shows on their weekend prime time lineup which included #SweetiePies, #SixLittleMcGhees, & #OprahsNextChapter during #SuperSoulSunday where she interviewed Singer/Songwriter Robin Thicke post his Miley Cyrus Twerk Controversy.

And as #TheOfficialTwitterPartyDJ it was my job to get viewers talking, and talk they did, here are the links to the screen captures of the hashtags that trended during the viewer watching party:

https://twitter.com/GrowingOWN/status/389201436841492480/photo/1

https://twitter.com/trendinaliaUS/status/389213160441278464/photo/1

Big thanks to all the butterflies who tweeted with me this weekend and showed me their support, it certainly didn't go unnoticed, and is very much appreciated! It was definitely a challenge to keep up the pace with such a wide scale community but it was super fun!

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Events! - A very mixed bag of non-stop events that I will recap as soon as possible. and some fun ones coming up for me this week too!

This month is moving super fast and somehow November is almost here!


Stay tuned more great giveaways coming soon! + Happy Columbus Day!

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What are you GRATEFUL for this week Butterfly?  Is it a lesson learned, or a random act of kindness that you gave or received?

  ˙·贍•● 聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 ●•●•贍·˙˙·贍•● 聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 ●•●•贍·˙˙·贍•● 聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 ●•●•贍·˙

FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post. All campaign work for my Ambassadorships themselves will be clearly marked as such this is just an announcement post and has not been compensated in any way.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Motivation Monday: Are you willing to give up being a caterpillar Edition + We have a winner!

Trina Paulus, Butterfly, Caterpillar, Inspiration, Motivation, Empowerment, Quotes
How does one become a butterly? You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar. ~ Trina Paulus

Motivation Monday:

Sometimes we really do have to shed the skin that is comfortable and venture straight into the unknown to make the significant changes we seek in our lives to feel fulfilled.

It's hard to give up what we know, why?

(1) It's comfortable

(2) We went through a lot just to get here, so we don't always want to embrace change

(3) The Unknown can be big and scary

But Ascending to a new level is a part of our journey, one we are not always pysched about, but often times it's just plain necessary. We learn how strong we are only at times we are challenged, only during the moments of growth that aren't always so willing to embrace. So instead of change forcing itself upon you, embrace it yourself and make small changes each day so that when your moment comes to give up being a caterpillar, you will be ready! Being an Ascending Butterfly means always being on a journey to rise higher than you were before.

We have a winner! 

Congratulations to Milena B. (entry #27) winner of the Smooth Jazz Cruise Rafflcopter Giveaway for this Wednesday's Phil Perry sail! If you didn't win this time, no worries, our friends at Smooth Jazz will be back very soon for the rewind sail in October which has a really great lineup, you won't want to miss it! (And by the way the winning entry was a twitter entry, so always make sure you rack up as much extra credit as you can per giveaway because you never know which of your entries is the one that will win! Extra Credit really pays off!)

Active Giveaway:

Don't forget to get in your entry for a $100 shopping spree to In Bloom, this giveaway closes soon and you've got to be in it to win it!


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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a Sponsored Post!

Monday, June 3, 2013

Motivation Monday: Find out why I'm urging you to get BLUE! @bluemangroup is headed YOUR way! #BlueManGroup #theatre #review

Blue Man Group Logo


Yes, I know it sounds super odd that I'm urging you to get Blue on Motivation Monday! You ask, 'but butterfly isn't today the day you share some fun graphic or motivational quote to put some pep in our step for the new week?'.

Have no fear butterflies, I'm still going to put the fun in your Monday! Last week I had the chance to check out Blue Man Group's show in New York City. And at first when I got the invitation I thought, I remember them! I applied for a job as their Social Media Manager many moons ago, and never heard back, so NO WAY! But thankfully my love of the theatre out-weighed my sour grapes for never hearing back from them...

But I digress...don't I always? I'd like to think that's why you all love me so, but it's probably more for my amazing ability to empower everyone I meet in some way! :-)

OK, truth be told another reason I never immediatlely jumped on the bandwagon to see the show is because they don't talk. I'd seen television 'talk show' interviews where they didn't talk, which kinda weirded me out! And while that works so well for one half of Penn and Teller, I wasn't sure sitting around watching people that don't talk at all would be any fun.

And because I'm a big girl, I will be the first to admit I was so wrong in that pre-conceived notion! Not only was there NOT a dull moment, I left the show smiling and feeling super up-lifted. It was exactly what I needed at the right time. Lately I hadn't been feeling like my normally happy self and couldn't put my finger exactly on why. The show helped me realize I needed a little more time living, some time away from electronic devices/work and just a moment to cut loose and immerse myself in fun and absolute frivolity!

The show is active, inter-active and in all ways AMAZE-BALLS (and you know I try not to use that word often!). I didn't think another show this year could come close to being as uplifting as Kinky Boots (if you missed my coverage of it, you can check it out HERE).

Blue Man Group Playbill for Astor Theatre Performance in New York City
Blue Man Group Playbill + Ticket for Astor Theatre Performance in New York City!

You can catch Blue Man Group in Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York, Orlando, and you can catch their upcoming US Tour Dates Below:

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Houston, TX - June 4-9

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Honolulu, HI - June 18 - July 23

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Atlantic City, NJ - August 22-30 (You all know Atlantic City is MY Happy Place, I may just have to catch the show again this summer!)

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Durham, NC - September 6-8

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Tulsa, OK - September 10 - 15

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Lawrence, KS - September 16-17

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Bloomington, IN - September 21 - 22

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Lincoln, NE - September 27 - 29

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Clinton Township, MI - October 15 - 16

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Hershey, PA - November 22 - 24

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Baltimore, MD - January 10 - 12, 2014 (all the above dates are 2013 by the way)

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Corpus Christi, TX - February 15 -16, 2014

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Des Moines, IA - February 18 - 23, 2014

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Sacramento, CA - March 11 -16, 2014

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Charlotte, NC - April 15 - 20, 2014

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Miami, FL - May 13 - 18, 2014

Blue Man Group Photo by Darbe Rotach
Blue Men Photo by Darbe Rotach


Get Social:

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - 'Like' Blue Man Group on Facebook

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Follow on Twitter

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Get Tumblr with it

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - Become Pinterest besties with Blue Man Group

聘̵̡訙̵̨̄品 - You can also check out their latest updates on instagram

Blue Man Group Paint Drumming Photo by Ken Howard
Paint Drumming Photo by Ken Howard


My Take:

I loved the show! I do have some warnings to the wise though, it's a messy show, so all those in the lower level will find a plastic bag on your seats, please put them on! Don't say I didn't warn you! I was upstairs in the Mezzanine, and don't think that being up there will save you, while you won't need the plastic bags up there, the show will definitely still be very interactive from up there, no spoilers, just a friendly warning to the wise! The seats are a bit narrow/small in the Astor Theatre in New York City so be prepared to not only get really close to your neighbor, but if someone with super long legs is behind you will feel them if they are squirmy and move around a lot. I can tell you the show is fun and since it's part of every show, if you are bringing your children be prepared for the 'Shake Your Euphimism' portion of the show where every word/words for the 'behind' is literally put on display!

This show is a definite don't miss, and a total 'TICKET' in my rating system. (I tell it like it is, it's either ticket or skip it with me.).


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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a compensated post. Press/Media Access to the show was granted to us for Editorial Consideration, this did not influence our review and all opinions expressed herein are 100% my own.