Style & Serenity

Doll Face

April 19th, 2015

Sonia Singh is an artist, illustrator and scientist in Tasmania. She’s also a woman who is doing something that may change the way little girls see themselves. When Singh was a child she says her mother didn’t let her play with Barbie dolls because of their curvy shapes and overt makeup. She says now she can understand that those are some things that can affect the way young girls perceive themselves.

Our daughters are influenced by celebrities, models and dolls like Barbie. With these unrealistic expectations projected onto them, how are they supposed to feel when they look in the mirror? Looking at Barbie with her unrealistic body and the Bratz dolls with all their overly done made-up faces and inappropriate clothing, you have to wonder if the girls who play with them, believe that is what they are SUPPOSED to look like.

I love that Singh navigated the world of hyper-sexualized dolls and decided to turn them into something that resembles what a little girl really looks like. She recycled, then repaired old dolls to resemble a child.

She uses nail polish remover and erases away their overly done made-up faces. She then uses her artistic skills to make them under with new age appropriate styles.

It gives the dolls a new lease on life and gives young girls something that they can identify with.

I love her idea and her dolls! The recycled dolls are beautiful and ready for little imaginations to take them for an adventure. They are gorgeous dolls that I hope will take flight with mainstream doll manufacturers.

My daughter Sophia thinks the new look is pretty and natural….”just like all my friends” she says. The overly made-up dolls looked scary to her. That’s my girl! See what your daughters say about the make-under look.

You can support Sonia Singh and her work by going to the Tree Change Dolls etsy shop and ordering a set of greeting cards or limited edition prints that features her original photos of some of first Tree Change Dolls. Every month she lists a Tree Change Doll on Ebay with most of the proceeds going to charity.

Want to give your child’s dolls a make-under? If you’re interested Singh has created some DIY videos to show you how. I know I’m going to give it a try.

– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqiNDsTcknk – – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bduNyTTIvF4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqYp7XTQNu4

Birthday Girl

April 9th, 2015

Birthday Girl.

Birthday Girl

April 7th, 2015

On April 4^th my little girl turned 9. I can’t believe just how fast time went. It feels like she was just born yesterday. I remember the exact moment I laid eyes on her beautiful face. The feeling that came over me was one that is indescribable, but I’ll try. I felt as if my heart was going to come out of my body. I couldn’t believe she was ours. A symbol of the love I shared with my husband. She was now our entire world. All I was focused on were her big dark eyes and pouty pink lips…and just how little and delicate she was. She was like a perfect little doll.

It amazed me how her birth had changed our lives forever. I remember my best friend had sent me a card before I had her. In the card she had written something like get ready for your life to turn upside down and for your heart to burst open with love. Her description of how it was going to be from now on was perfect. It’s exactly what had happened. Her birth changed us from being a couple, to being parents. We would never sleep soundly again!

I wondered how we were going to take care of her and keep her safe. I’ve continued to wonder about that every day since I’ve had her. I’ve focused on keeping her healthy, only giving her foods that are organic and fresh. I had played classical music the entire time I was pregnant and I continued that tradition during her infancy. I sang to her all the time, still do but now she asks me to PLEASE STOP! I tried to teach her everything I can since the very beginning. I took her to “Mommy and Me” music classes beginning at 3 months of age. Thank Goodness for those classes and “Not Just Art” a place in Oyster Bay that provides the class. It helped keep me sane for the first few years of being a parent. I met some of my dearest mommy friends there. Liz, Lisa, Maria, Christine, Dina, so many great women that have traveled the crazy road of motherhood with me. I cherish them and their friendship. In fact, I’ve met a lot of amazing women because of my daughter, Jaime, Amy, Kerri, Tatiana, Francesca, Sine, Sue, there are so many more I’ve not mentioned but they all help me in my journey as a mother. We learn from one another, we give support to each other but most importantly we try to be the best parents we can be for our children. I hope I always have these amazing women in my life.

Since Sophia’s birth, I’ve tried my best to be a good parent. I’ve worried about giving her too much, or too little. I worry about her being an only child, I try to surround her with positive friends so she is not too lonely. Her friends are little girls that are kind, considerate, inclusive people. I’ve done my best to help her bond with her cousins by spending ample time together. I’ve tried to instill in her the importance of family and being there for each other, always having one another’s best interest in heart.

She has great relationships with her grandparents, aunts, uncles a plenty. So much love. We are very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. In the end, that is the most important thing to give our children, our love.

I hope be a good influence to my daughter and lead her into the path meant for her and share all that I learn to help others raising children. After all, we all want the best for our little ones.

Learning to Meditate

March 28th, 2015

I’ve been on a journey of spirituality for quite some time. It’s slowly helping me learn to be calmer, happier and feel more in control of my life. Things that would normally push me over the edge I can now manage to overcome. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not there yet, I have my really bad days but I’m getting there. Whenever things don’t go right in life my initial reaction has been to lose it. I get sick to my stomach and feel helpless and out of control. Now when things go wrong as is the case with life I just don’t focus on the negative. Instead, I’ve made it a habit to count my blessings. I try to look at the glass half full instead of half empty and it makes me feel better every time. I’m determined to keep adding positive tools into my life. I need to be OK in order to raise a healthy and happy child. I am the person she is mirroring. That is just one of the reasons why I’m trying to make meditation a habit.

I have a lot of trouble keeping my mind clear of worries and thoughts during meditation. My goal is to conquer it because I know that it’s a great way to reduce stress, improve focus and help balance my life. God knows I can use all the help I can get!

I know a lot of people who would like to meditate, but like me, they have a difficult time doing it. Over the years, I’ve tried meditating many times. I always find my mind wandering, my body becomes uncomfortable and achy. I get fidgety and even claustrophobic!

This month I’ve made the decision to conquer meditation once and for all! I need to stop focusing on all things digital! I look at my cell phone way too many times. I’m always texting, tweeting or on Facebook communicating and connecting with friends. Too many digital interactions makes me a very jittery person! I much prefer seeing friends and family in person and speaking on the phone instead of texting. For me, I think connecting with people I care about is crucial to my happiness. I need to have people I trust and love in my circle. I need to spend time face to face with them. That takes time and sometimes our busy lives prevent us from doing that. So I plan on making the time because it’s important to me. I also spend very little time sitting still and just living in the present. It’s something I really want to do.

Like most of you, I have so much going on with my life. Achieving “inner peace” is something that takes effort. So every day I force myself to sit and meditate, even if it’s only for a few minutes. I find that visualization really helps me get in the zone and it’s also important for me to be in the right space during my meditation. I have to have an organized clutter free space and the right scents, which is why I always use essential oils. Lavender is my scent of choice.

At first I began meditating 5 minutes a day. You would think it would be easy to sit still for 5 minutes well, think again! It was such a difficult thing for me to do. Once I was able to sit for 5 minutes for a few days I realized I was becoming more calm so I extended it to 10 minutes. Now I can go as long as 15 minutes comfortably and 30 minutes not so comfortably. It’s still difficult for me to keep my thoughts at bay. Every time I have a thought come into my head during meditation I just push it aside. I acknowledge it but then I move it aside and try to stay focused on how peaceful I feel. I’m hoping the more I practice, the more comfortable I will become with my practice.

Last week, I recruited a wonderful friend of mine to join me. We meet once a week, every week to meditate together. It’s a great way to get together for a positive step into our lives. We chat and drink tea for a bit then we sit together in silence and help one another achieve our goal of finding peace. It’s time well spent.

Here are some great tips to help you Meditate-

1.Find a quiet place, either lie down on your back with your feet on the floor or sit comfortably.

2. Set a timer for 2 minutes at first, then increasing as you become more comfortable and your ability to focus grows. Take your time, and just do what you can.

3. Relax your body and listen to your breath. Don’t do anything to try to control your breath, simply observe.

4. Now, bring in some visualization. As you exhale, picture being on the beach. As you inhale, see the waves rolling out of the sea. With every inhale and exhale, watch the waves go in and out– the sound of your breath is the soundtrack to these waves going in and out, and will set the pace.

5. If your mind wanders, bring yourself back to the sound of your breathing and the images of the waves. Again, do not try to change your breathing in any way– simply match the motion of the waves to the sound of your breath.

I hope you find your way to a peaceful life.

Namaste

What are you thinking?

March 19th, 2015

What is your mind on, do you know? How many times have you caught yourself just thinking about the things that are going wrong with your life? Did you ever stop and really focus on what it is you are preoccupied with? It can be a conversation you had with your spouse or your friend. You may be going over what you said and what you should have said instead. You maybe thinking about everything that is wrong with your body or just criticizing your parenting skills. What would happen if you just stop the negative thinking?

Believe it or not, the things you think about shape your life. Philosopher Marcus Aurelius said, “The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts. Color it with a run of thoughts like these:

1)Anywhere you can lead your life, you can lead a good one.

2) Things gravitate toward what they were intended for. What things gravitate toward is their goal.

Basically, it means that the more you concentrate on the positive things in your life the more you attract them. It may seem frivolous but it’s something that has been taught by so many of the worlds spiritual gurus and philosophers. In every religious book it says that we should count our blessings. So even when things go wrong in life, we have to focus on all that is going right. That is the key to happiness.

I hope you keep your minds on all that is good in your life.

Doll Face

Like this:

Birthday Girl

Like this:

Birthday Girl

Like this:

Learning to Meditate

Like this:

What are you thinking?

Like this: