Tag Archives: Oprah

I AM BEAUTIFUL Link Up

In case you missed last Tuesday’s post, click here for details on today’s link up.

If you’re like me, you don’t take compliments easily and graciously. I am not gracious when accepting compliments, especially from my husband and that is something that I am working on. I have a hard time believing what the person is saying is true. I question their motives and wonder if it’s sincere. Yes I know that I have a problem. It stems from being a teenager and being incessantly teased. I understand that now I’m an adult and I shouldn’t let it get to me or affect how I see myself, but I do. It’s something that I am working on very hard to change. I wish I could see myself the way my husband and son do.

After reading this article, “When your mother says she’s fat“, I’ve made a conscious effort to always thank my son when he compliments me and to never criticize how I look in front of him. To him, I’m his beautiful Mama and in his eyes, I have no flaws. He just sees me as his Mama.

So ladies, repeat after me:

I AM BEAUTIFUL!

I AM BEAUTIFUL!!

I AM BEAUTIFUL!!!

I AM BEAUTIFUL!!!!

I AM BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

I AM BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

BECAUSE, GUESS WHAT???? YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!

Many of you wrote such sweet, supportive and kind comments. Many of you also wrote “if I’m brave enough!”. If you have children, and even if you don’t, you have to be brave enough to show the world that beauty is found in all shapes, sizes, colours, ages, wrinkles, grey hair, stretch marks, cellulite and all. Our so called “flaws” are what makes us individuals, unique. If we all looked the same, then this world would be a mighty dull place. One of the women in the video, Photoshopping real women into cover models says: “Once you take away your imperfections, there’s not much left of who you really are!!” So true.

So many women are getting plastic surgery to look like what society is telling us you should look like, instead of embracing our true self. This brings me to a discussion that Deepak Chopra and Oprah were having on her show Super Soul Sunday. He discussed that there is a fundamental difference between self-esteem and self-image. We forget ourselves and we start identifying with our self-image. Deepak describes our real self ”as being beneath no one, immune to criticism and is fearless.” What a powerful definition!!!! What empowering words!!!! He says that he teaches this to young children and he is amazed at the twinkle in their eyes, once they make that connection. I only wish someone would have told me this when I was growing up!!!!!

Deepak continues to say “that we shouldn’t confuse self with image. Self-image is what other people think of you. Self is what you think of you.” I, like many others, confuse the way I see myself with how other people see me. I think we all do this to some extent and the sad thing is that we then start believing in what other people are thinking of us. We start to focus on the negatives, instead of believing in ourselves and how we see ourselves; the positives!!!!!

What Deepak Chopra said resounded with me so much and it couldn’t have come at a better time. It is exactly what we need to be teaching our children and we need to start practicing it, so that our children will then do it as well. All we tend to focus on is the negative even though there are positives. For instances when you are getting feedback and they say a bunch of positive things and then they use the word “BUT“, you forget everything they said before it and you only focus on the negative. I love how Deepak describes our self as being “beneath no one, fearless and immune to criticism”. This is something that has hit a strong cord within me and it’s something that I want to start adopting. I no longer want to be held hostage to all the negative thoughts I have. It’s about time we all realized that our self is worth it, that we can do anything, and that we don’t need to listen to the negative chit chat!!!!

This leads me to the purpose of my link up. It’s to show the world how beautiful we really are and that we don’t need to be airbrushed and photoshopped to be beautiful. We are all beautiful just the way we are. We just need to see it and believe it.

So here is my picture without any makeup and my hair not done to motivate and to inspire you to join my link up.

I hope you join me in my “I AM BEAUTIFUL LINK UP”. It will run for 1 week until Tuesday March 11.

An InLinkz Link-up

Celebrity Style: Oprah Winfrey

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You guys are all well aware that I’m a huge fan of Oprahs!!! I’ve written a few posts about seeing her live. Click here to read about our amazing trip to Chicago to see one of her shows and click here to read about when she came to Vancouver last year. So it will come as no surprise that I picked Oprah as this week’s celebrity style.

We’ve seen Oprah’s style change over the years. She’s gone from doning suits to sweaters to cardigans to everything in between. I don’t think there is a person on television who’s hair style has changed more than hers. Gotta say my favourite hair style is when she wore her hair short and curly. We’ve all watched her weight go up and down but no matter what her weight is, Oprah always looks amazing.

One of Oprah’s favourite items to wear are sweaters. Since Christmas is just around the corner, I thought it would be nice to feature some great sweaters for the holidays.

Sweaters

In the last few years of her show, Oprah said that she is done with suits and decided to go for a softer looks wearing cardigans and sweaters. I like that although Oprah kept it simple with cardigans and sweaters, she wore luxurious and colourful ones. The holidays are a great time to infuse some colour into your wardrobe by adding a fabulous bright and/or sparkly sweater to your wardrobe.

How to get Oprah’s sweaters for less:

1/2/3

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The great thing is that black Friday is coming up and I’m sure Banana Republic and other stores are going to have great deals on sweaters.

May this post inspire you to purchase a great colourful/sparkly sweater this holiday season.

Please follow me via Facebook, Bloglovin, Pinterest or Twitter.

Don’t forget to link up this Wednesday for my weekly Tres-Chic Fashion Thursday Link Up.

Happy Monday Everyone!!!!!!!

There’s A Little Walter White In All Of Us

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Ok so you guys may be thinking that I’ve lost my mind, but bear with me, because by the end of this post, you may see a little Walt in you too.

In case you don’t know who/what I’m referring to, it’s the tv show Breaking Bad. The main character, Walter White a Chemistry high school teacher, decides to start cooking meth to help support his family during his chemotherapy treatment. They don’t have enough health insurance and Walt wants to ensure that his family is financially taken care of during his treatment and if he dies. If you want to know more about the hit tv show Breaking Bad click here.

Like I said, you guys must think that I’ve lost my mind, but hear me out. This post came to me while I was watching the series finale to Breaking Bad. Walt is having a conversation with his wife, about his reason for starting to cook Meth. Sky tells him to stop with “the helping his family bullshit” and Walt admits “I did it for me. “I liked it. I was good at it…I was alive.” I won’t ruin the ending but I will say that it was poetic.

Like many of us, Walt was a normal father, husband, brother-in-law, teacher going through the motions of life. When he first started to cook Meth it was to help support his family, but shortly afterwards it changed. He realized that by cooking Meth he had power; that when he walked into a room people noticed him. He was no longer this meek, dorky chemistry teacher. He became this powerful, energized, important person. His sex life even improved :). He became the man he always wanted to be but never had the courage to be until the Cancer came along.

Oprah has said many times that all we want is to feel important, to feel validated, to walk into a room and for people to notice us. In this sense Walt and the rest of us are no different. All Walt wanted was to provide for his family, to feel like he was something and cooking Meth gave him that feeling. I’m not saying that we should now all go out and cook Meth, but my point is that we all want to be seen, heard and validated. Meth gave Walt that validation and also turned him into a vicious, psychopathic monster.

When he said to Sky “I did it for me. “I liked it. I was good at it…I was alive.”, I was so happy that he was finally truthful with himself and with his wife. We all want to feel important, to feel alive, to do something that we are good at and cooking Meth gave Walt that sense of validation. At the end of the day all we want is for our existence to matter and that’s all Walt ever wanted. I totally understood what he was saying. I got it.

If you’ve never seen the show then this may be a bit lost on you, but I would definitely recommend watching the series. It’s nothing like anything I’ve ever seen.

I dedicate this post to you Walter White and to everyone who was apart of Breaking Bad. I am sad to see the show end, but I loved the way the show ended.

May this blog inspire you to validate the people in your life, to make them feel important, to make them feel like they are seen and heard.

Happy Friday and Weekend Everyone!!!!!!

Thank You Sheryl Sandberg!!!!!!!!

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I recently saw an interview that Oprah did with Sheryl Sandberg. Before the interview all I knew about Sheryl was that she had written a very controversial book and that she was getting lots of flack for it. After watching the interview, I was intrigued and inspired to read her book “Lean In”.

During the interview Sheryl addresses her critics and discusses many salient points. She talks about being called a “feminist” in college and how she shied away from being defined as one. When we think of feminists, many of us think of bra burning, granola eating, breastfeeding hippies. But the reality is that a feminist is just someone who wants a better world for women. In that case I am a feminist and so is almost every other woman out there. There’s nothing wrong with being a feminist.

I want to thank Sheryl for addressing many key issues that plague modern day women:

1. Can you have it all?

2. What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

3. Working together to create equality.

4. Leaning in. Sitting at the table with the big boys!!!!

5. Can a woman be successful and likeable?

6. Careers are no longer a ladder, but a jungle gym!!!

7. Importance of mentoring.

8. Being honest with yourself and others.

9. Focus on your career; don’t leave before you leave!!!

10. Make your husband a real partner: 50/50!!!

11. You can’t have it all (not at once, anyways!!!!!)

12. Working together for equality.

This book really resonated with me because we as women struggle every day to try and juggle a work life balance. I’m so glad that she was honest in acknowledging that a work-life balance doesn’t exist; that you can’t have it all, at one time. Something does have to give and that we can’t do it all at once. She explains that at different times in our lives, different things are important. When our kids are little for some women that means cutting back their work hours and taking care of them, for others their careers are what takes front seat. She explains that we need to stop focusing on trying to have it all and to realize that we can only do what we can do and that some things will have take the back burner. That doesn’t mean, though, that in our entire life time we can’t have it all, it means that at one point in time we physically can’t do it all and that we shouldn’t be expected to.

Sheryl discusses her own struggles with doing it all. She says she tries to be home at 5 pm for dinner every night and then she works after she puts her kids to bed. She acknowledges that it’s challenging and that at times she does miss recitals, bed times and soccer games but then there are times when she isn’t working and doesn’t check her phone. She says it’s a work in progress. Sheryl is honest and admits that she is not perfect and that she too is a work in progress; that at times it’s hard for her to take her own advice. I appreciate that candor because many people write books, stating that you should do things this way and that way and they aren’t able to do it. It’s nice to have someone be honest for a change and admit that it’s not easy and it takes a lot of effort.

Another point of hers I really liked was “what would you do if you weren’t afraid?” I thought about that and I still don’t have an answer. It’s a very important question and she talked about how different our lives would be if only we lived like we weren’t afraid. It’s easier said than done when we have bills to pay and need to support a family and she does acknowledge that point. What would you do if you weren’t afraid??? I wish I had an answer for that.

The one that really hit home was the point about 50/50: women working more and men helping out more at home. Sheryl explains that studies have shown that women who work are happier, in turn their marriages are better. Husbands who help out more at home equals a happier marriage and happier kids. I know from personal experience I am a much happier person, woman, mom and wife now that I’m back to working part time. Don’t get me wrong juggling everything is hard, but I feel like I got a bit of myself back. I also see that my son is happier when my husband is home taking care of him. Sheryl explains that everyone benefits when the roles are more equal. I couldn’t agree more, but the problem is achieving this. She completely acknowledges that it’s not easy and that it requires lots of hard work and communication.

This is something that my husband and I have struggled with for years, establishing more equal roles. I know that my friends and I complain a lot about juggling everything and feeling like it’s one sided. I agree with Sheryl that it’s a discussion that must be had between you and your husband. The biggest problem is that we, men and women, see things differently and have different expectations, which is why it’s so important to communicate with one another. For my husband and I it’s a work in progress. I think it’s helped that I’ve gone back to work and my husband works from home.

I could go on and on about this book. I definitely think that it’s a book that everyone should read. Our world would be a better place if there was more equality, more acceptance and support for women. It is definitely a work in progress but the only way things will change is if we women and men take the bull by the horns and make it change.

May this blog inspire you to read Sheryl’s book “Lean In”. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Please follow me via Facebook, Bloglovin, Pinterest or Twitter.

Happy Friday Everyone!!!!

Oprah’s Wisdom

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Since Oprah is all about passing along knowledge and wisdom, I thought I would pass along to you notes from her talk when she was here in Vancouver. Click on this link to read it. Her talk was inspirational, motivational, honest, funny and most importantly sincere. You can tell that Oprah means what she says. She truly wants everyone to be the best they can be.

You can also read my synopsis of her talk here.

Happy Saturday Everyone!!!!

Oprah’s Wisdom

1 Reply

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You can also read my synopsis of her talk here.

Happy Saturday Everyone!!!!

Oprah’s Wisdom

1 Reply

download

You can also read my synopsis of her talk here.

Happy Saturday Everyone!!!!

Polka Dot, Stripes & Oprah

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Before I get to Oprah I wanted to congratulate Karen C. and Michelle York for winning my wardrobe remix giveaway. Please send me an e-mail at vodkainfusedlemonade@gmail.com and we can discuss the details. Congrats ladies.

Yesterday I wore Lululemons all day, therefore no outfit pictures. Today I’m wearing my green cardigan over a white tunic style top and my favorite black skinny pants.

Outfit #22

Cardigan & Top (H&M). Pants (Gap). Necklace (Stella & Dot). Bracelets (Poshlocket). Watch (Michael Kors). Boots (Browns).

Oprah

This past Thursday I had the chance to see Oprah again!!! What an amazing experience and opportunity.

It took me a few weeks to decide what to wear and then it came to me: my polka dot sequin top over a white button shirt and my striped skirt. I’ve been wanting to mix patterns for a while now so I thought Oprah would be the perfect opportunity. Here is my outfit.

Top (J Crew). Skirt (Gap). White Button Shirt (Jacob). Boots (Nine West). Bracelets (Jacob). Watch (Michael Kors).

Waiting for Oprah to start

I was so excited to be there and to hear Oprah speak again. What an honor. The show started at 7:30 with Oprah’s boyfriend, Stedman Graham introducing Oprah. The minute he came on the stage the crowd was all eyes and ears. Except for the claps, cheers and occasional holler from the crowd, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. We were all waiting with baited breath to hear and absorb Oprah and her wisdom. As you can see from my pictures we didn’t have the best seats in the house. In fact we couldn’t have sat any higher, but it didn’t matter, because just being there in the same building as Oprah was enough.

She started her almost 2 hour long talk asking us “Why are we here?“, “Who are we?” and “What is our purpose?” I am an Oprah baby who grew up watching Oprah and who now has her own child. Those three questions that she asked us were profound. She spoke about her purpose and how she realized at the age of 4 that she was not going to follow in her grandmother’s foot steps; that she was destined for something greater.

She talked about how we are all the same, how we all feel pain, sadness, happiness the same. How we all just want to feel validated and listened to, like we matter. I totally get that. I have had to distance myself from a few family members for this very reason. I never felt like I was listened to, validated. I always felt like it was about the other person. It never seemed to be about me. I was always told that I had to do a certain thing, or dress a certain way because that person had asked me to and to make that person happy. Oprah discussed intention and doing things to please others. She said it was one of the hardest things to learn to do but that she stopped doing things just to make other people happy. If the intention wasn’t to do it for herself then she doesn’t do it. I feel the same way. Why should I have to do things to make the other person happy if I’m not? What about my happiness?

Listening to Oprah speak was very cathartic and empowering. Like I wrote above I’ve been dealing with some family issues for many years now and she reinforced for me that letting go of toxic “things” is ok. That I need to start living my life for me, not for anyone else. This is my journey!!!

Last year Oprah did a Masterclass featuring Toni Morrison. I will never forget the story Toni told about validating her children. She spoke of when her kids were little and whenever she would see them, like most mothers, would ask them to pull up their socks, pants, etc and that her eyes didn’t light up when her kids would come into the room. She said how she learned from a comment her child made that what her children saw wasn’t a welcoming mother but someone who was disappointed in them. She said from that moment on that her eyes always lite up when her kids walked into a room. I took that story to heart because as any new mother, getting up countless times in the night, my face wouldn’t always show what my heart did. After hearing this story I always greet my son with a smile and my eyes twinkle. I want him to see the love that I have for him. I want to validate him, for him to know that I see him, that I hear him and that I love him unconditionally.

Oprah ended her talk by telling us that we need to live our life to the fullest potential. She spoke of this when we saw her in Chicago in April 2011. Click here for that post. An audience member had asked her “what advice would Oprah give to her regarding raising daughters?”. Oprah spoke that our job as parents is to ensure that our children grow up to be the best they can be; to achieve their fullest potential, not ours, but theirs. During her visit on Thursday she discussed that as parents we initially are our children’s managers but that slowly we need to become their consultants and how hard that is to do. I also took what she said in Chicago and on Thursday to heart in that I want for my son the best life he can have. To live out his dreams, not mine. This is his life and I want to help guide him and give him the tools he needs to help him get there.

I could write pages and pages with all of Oprah’s wisdom, but this post is already long enough. Here are some other pictures I took.

She ended “An Evening With Oprah” by answering some questions from George Stroumboulopoulos.

Thank you Oprah for your candid, honest, funny, insightful views about our journey here on Earth; how we each have our own purpose, our own lives to live and that we need to discover why we are here.

May this blog inspire you to discover your purpose, to live your life for yourself and to validate the people in your life.

Happy Monday Everyone!!!!

What I Wore To Work And Book Review Of Secret Daughter

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I wanted to thank all of you for voting for my blog the past few weeks. You guys are fabulous. I know that I begged and pleaded but I really appreciate it. I finished in 10th place!!!! Thank you guys so much!!!!!

Also a complete aside I’M GOING TO OPRAH TODAY!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait!!!! I’ve had my outfit picked out for 4 days now and I’m so excited. I’ll do a post on it next week. I had a chance to see one of her last shows taped in Chicago and here is the post.

For today’s post I’ll be linking up with Tara from Mix and Match Fashion for What I Wore To Work. Since I am a nurse and wear scrubs all day, I figured I would spare you all a picture of me in over sized scrubs (wish we looked as good as they do on Grey’s Anatomy!!! :)) and show you a picture of what I typically wear to work. I usually wear a t-shirt with a cardigan, jeans and boots, or a sweater and a blazer, something that I can wear underneath my scrubs and keep me warm. So today’s look is part of my 30 in 30 challenge. I have worn this sweater before to work and it’s perfect because it’s 3/4 length sleeve works well under scrubs. Long enough to keep my arms warm yet short enough to stay out of goobly goop (hazards of working in Labor & Delivery, believe me there is a lot of goobly goop!!!).

Outfit #18

Sweater, T-Shirt & Jeans (Gap). Boots (Fergalicious). Watch (Coach). Bracelets (Stella & Dot, Poshlocket). Necklace (My Name Necklace).

Secret Daughter by Shilpi Gowda

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Tuesday night I met up with my moms bookclub meetup. This month’s selection was Secret Daughter by Shilpi Gowda. We all agreed that this book was amazing. It was well written, descriptive (made us all want to travel to India), emotional, funny, enlightening and empowering.

This is a book that any mother can relate to. There are two mothers in this story, Somer who adopts a baby (Asha) and Kavita that gives up Asha for adoption. I found that I could relate and empathize with both mothers. Being a mother myself and reading the part where she gives her child up for adoption broke my heart. Thankfully I was in a public place when I read that part, otherwise I would have gone into the ugly cry. My heart ached for Kavita, who selflessly gave up her daughter in order for her to have a chance at a better life, at better opportunities. My heart also ached for Somer who couldn’t conceive and made the decision to adopt a baby. Motherhood is one of the most fulfilling, yet emotionally exhausting journey you will ever take.

The American mother, Somer, stopped doing things for herself once she adopted Asha. She gave up her career, her interests, she let herself go all in the name of her daughter. Does that sound familiar? We discussed Tuesday night how common that is for mothers to give up who they are for their children. In Somer’s case she became resentful and took that out on her daughter. It wasn’t until later in the story that Somer regained who she is. By taking care of herself, Somer not only regained her “old self”but taught her daughter that you can’t give up on who you are. You need to do things for yourself.

As a mother of an almost 4 yr old boy (God I can’t believe I’m saying “an almost 4 yr old”!!! :)), I can relate and understand how Somer could do that. It took me almost 1.5 years before I gave myself permission to take care of myself and not feel guilty. Now when I take time for myself, everyone benefits; myself, my husband and my son. I am a better mother, wife, woman, and person. I realized that there is nothing wrong with taking time out for me. I don’t have to feel guilty. And for those moms out there, you too shouldn’t feel guilty. If taking time for yourself makes you feel better, then that’s what you need to do. Give yourself permission to take care of yourself. How can you be expected to take care of someone else when you don’t even take care of yourself?

Somer and her husband had a strained relationship after they adopted and brought Asha back to the US. They should have shared with each other their fears, thoughts, hopes, dreams, instead they just went on with their lives as if everything was normal. There was a complete lack of communication and they stopped working at their relationship. Relationships are hard and in order to stay together you have to foster it and nourish it.

This book is a very quick and easy read. As you can see by my summary and thoughts it’s also very relatable. There is only one character that I couldn’t relate to or sympathize with. Shilpi Gowda wrote a beautiful tale of finding yourself and discovering who you are. That is something that we are all working towards. Our journey on Earth is to find ourselves and discover who we are.

Do you know who you are? Next time you’re at the book store definitely pick up this book.

If you live in the Vancouver Area please don’t forget to enter my remix your wardrobe contest here .

May this blog inspire you to take sometime out for yourself.

Happy Thursday Everyone!!!

What I Wore To Work And Book Review Of Secret Daughter

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Outfit #18

Sweater, T-Shirt & Jeans (Gap). Boots (Fergalicious). Watch (Coach). Bracelets (Stella & Dot, Poshlocket). Necklace (My Name Necklace).

Secret Daughter by Shilpi Gowda

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Do you know who you are? Next time you’re at the book store definitely pick up this book.

If you live in the Vancouver Area please don’t forget to enter my remix your wardrobe contest here .

May this blog inspire you to take sometime out for yourself.

Happy Thursday Everyone!!!

Vodka Infused Lemonade

I blog about life, motherhood, fashion, recipes and anything and everything that inspires me.

Tag Archives: Oprah

I AM BEAUTIFUL Link Up

I AM BEAUTIFUL!

I AM BEAUTIFUL!!

I AM BEAUTIFUL!!!

I AM BEAUTIFUL!!!!

I AM BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

I AM BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

BECAUSE, GUESS WHAT???? YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!

Celebrity Style: Oprah Winfrey

Sweaters

Please follow me via Facebook, Bloglovin, Pinterest or Twitter.

Don’t forget to link up this Wednesday for my weekly Tres-Chic Fashion Thursday Link Up.

There’s A Little Walter White In All Of Us

Thank You Sheryl Sandberg!!!!!!!!

Please follow me via Facebook, Bloglovin, Pinterest or Twitter.

Oprah’s Wisdom

Oprah’s Wisdom

Oprah’s Wisdom

Polka Dot, Stripes & Oprah

Outfit #22

Oprah

What I Wore To Work And Book Review Of Secret Daughter

Outfit #18

Secret Daughter by Shilpi Gowda

What I Wore To Work And Book Review Of Secret Daughter

Outfit #18

Secret Daughter by Shilpi Gowda

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