We all want to be Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet…

…or in the case of my two male readers, maybe Mark Darcy.

Lizzy is just so appealing. She is well read and quick witted. She says what she means. She stands up for herself. She keeps a cool head despite her chaotic family, well most of the time… Oh, and of course she gets THE guy! But really people, we can all be just like her. Most of my friends and female family members are. Right now stop and think about how you have most of the qualities that attract you to this vivacious Victorian. See what I mean?

If that one minute of introspection didn’t look too good to you, set some time aside on your commute home or when you’re doing the dishes later to pick a quality to work on. We’re 14 days into a new year and it is time to highlight the personal good. Translate the bad that weighs you down or holds you back. Make it slide over in to the positive side of a more comfortable light hearted you. No I don’t have a new psycho-babble degree nor have I converted into a self help guru. I can just tell you that when you feel better you are putting the good out there and it will come back to you two-fold! Sign up for that class or trip or volunteer committee and get out there. It’s January folks and the cold air is crisp and full of possibilities.

We’re all human and living in 2010. Lizzy never had it so good.

self sufficient in one aspect thanks to Winter

One of the great things about living in a rural area is deciding if it is worth your time to drive to town to buy something or take advantage of a service OR if you can do it yourself--or do without.

Over a year ago I started looking for a new place to get my hair did. In DC there was Lucy at Salon Cielo in Dupont. In Florida there was Anita in Boca Raton. At home here in rural land there are three places I could go locally. I've tried one place a couple of times and the cut was nothing to write home about. The service was good, the price was fine, and the cut did not grow out well at all.

So I did the usual and asked my girlfriends who their go-to hair person was. Two out of the three people I remember asking somewhat shamefully admitted to cutting their own hair. My immediate reaction was to try my best to not verbalize the thought going through my head at the time "you are insane". I let some time pass. As my hair kept growing, and I wasn't up for the hour plus (round trip) drive into town where there are several more options for hair cuttery...the idea seemed less insane.

So would you rather pay around $30 for a so-so cut OR cut your own hair and have a self sufficient pride about your work? Well, I'd rather pay Anita $60 and have a great cut--but as that isn't an option self cuttery is my new skill. Worst case scenario: I pay someone else to fix my mistakes--which hasn't happened yet and I'm on cut #5.

Are my standards lower? Yes.
Did I save some cash-ola? Yes.
Would I seek professional assistance if going to a formal event where there would be tons of pictures taken? Yes.
Is there oodles of snow on the ground and folks around these parts wear their Winter hats all the time-even when indoors at the bar? YES!

Ahh Winter...your blanket of snow lets me showcase all of my fun Winter hats AND not care how my hair looks. Although thanks to the new layering technique I tried today (thank you youtube) my hair rocks!

Happy New Year!

New Year, New blog? I've actually never had a blog, nor am I sure that I'll be able to keep this one up...but it is time to start something new and what better day to get started than the first day of a new year?

I've been thinking about New Year resolutions a lot lately and instead of setting very specific goals that I forget about in two weeks I've decided on one thing. I will be more present in my life this year. The one thing I can control is myself. So this 'self' is going to make sure that too much time doesn't pass without my being in the driver's seat. So here's to taking occasional balcony views and enjoying life!