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Celebrate More!

5/19/2016

Does this sound familiar? You make large goals and work hard to reach them. You imagine after all the hard work, you'll celebrate. However, if - like me - when you've finally reached that goal you've been on the path for so long, it barely feels like an accomplishment anymore. You may even already be planning your next goal. The fact that you've reached one goal is barely acknowledged; celebrating gets put off to the future when you've reached some other success.

Or maybe you can relate to this. You have a to-do list that's a mile-long. You imagine taking a moment to stop and sip your coffee while admiring your garden when you finish the last thing on the list. But, whenever you check one thing off, you add three more. You never get to that imagined moment of savoring your coffee and admiring your garden. There's always something more to do.

I've decided to stop putting off the celebrating. My new motto is "Celebrate more!"

Happiness and celebration

I recently finished the book The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It was a great read. It's got me thinking about the idea that you can't go searching for happiness. Happiness can only be found within yourself.

How do you find happiness within yourself? Well, you should try to do all those things that are summed up in little life quotes. You know the ones:

Be grateful
Stop and smell the roses
Savor life
Enjoy the little things
Be mindful

Those are great, but you know what? They sometimes make me feel bad about myself. They come across a little preachy. Do this, do that. I think I'd be happier without the stress; trying to be happier should be fun, right?

Then, a couple of days ago, I read a post on the blog Barking Up the Wrong Tree about not celebrating enough. That was the clincher. I think all those little life quotes can be summed up nicely in one idea:

And I don't mean only the big things. I don't mean we should celebrate major goals with a fancy dinner and a glass of champagne (although do that, too! Yum!). But I mean:

Celebrate more things, and celebrate in more ways. Celebrate the little things. Celebrate the daily things.

Did your child try a bite of dinner though he claimed to hate it? Give him a high five! (Though in my family this seriously may merit a glass of champagne! Um, not for the kid; for me!) Celebrating little things at the dinner table certainly makes that crazy time of day more fun.
Did you finally make that phone call you've been putting off too long? Did you go for a run or eat a healthy snack? Smile! Tell yourself good job! Why shouldn't you smile to yourself? You're an awesome person! Enough with the self-criticizing. People are much more likely to get something done with a celebration at the end!
Did your favorite song just come on the radio? Get up and dance! I try to do this on a daily basis. It feels great! Of course I work at home so no one can see me, but who cares if someone does! The boost is worth it.
Did you put aside your to-do list for 10 minutes to savor your coffee and admire your garden? Say YAY! Taking a moment for yourself to enjoy life (and coffee!) definitely warrants a yay! in my book.

Magic

Every time I hear the Cloud Cult song Through the Ages, this line gets to me. Why? It's because there is magic all around us. The magic is the everyday things, those little things that we might let pass by without realizing they're happening.

If we put off the celebrations, the smiles, the good jobs till some distant future, that future all too quickly becomes the past. We will end up living our lives without enough smiles. And without enough dancing. And without enough good jobs. And without enough YAYs!

Celebrate

Today I'm celebrating! This morning I smiled at my garden and how it's growing so nicely from the effort I put into it so far this spring. I'm celebrating that I finished four new Beetle Pouches. I smiled at myself and played the radio loud while I photographed them. And now I'm going for a walk outside in the sunshine. And I'm going to laugh, and smile, and say YAY! when I get back -- both to congratulate myself on getting exercise, but also to congratulate myself for acknowledging that work, though I love it, isn't everything and taking a break to enjoy the warm sun is good.

What are you celebrating today?

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In the Shop: Parallel Cross Body Purse

5/13/2016

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Today I'm going to highlight another handbag from my new Mary Pow collection: the Parallel Cross Body Purse.

When designing this purse, I explored color combinations that I feel reflect the seasons and natural world. At the same time, I used my interest in crisp, clean, straight lines to harness these colors. Each purse's color combinations are framed with beautiful, textural linen fabrics.

The Parallel Cross Body Purse features beautiful details, such as hand-pieced parallel lines on the front and small squares on the back.

This well-appointed cross body purse has several unexpected details to make carrying your essentials simple and accessible.

Perfect for travel, the cross-body strap lets you move about hands-free. And as with all my handbags, this purse is incredibly light-weight.

A roomy main compartment, lined with a soft upholstery fabric, closes with a sturdy magnetic snap. A slip pocket easily stores your phone.

A handy rear zipper pocket, with delightful hand-pieced details, stores your small items.

This purse currently comes in five colors: Sunset, Spring, Autumn, Winter, and Summer.

Shop Cross Body Purses

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In the Shop: View Tote

5/6/2016

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My entire new collection of handbags and wrap belts are now available in my online shop. Today, I'm highlighting the showpiece of the collection: my View Tote, currently available in two colors, Ocean View and City View.

Ocean View

To capture the brilliant look of sunlight reflecting off the ocean, I used four shades of blue in this tote. The hand-pieced detailing is surrounded by a lovely soft gray linen frame. The whole result is a stunning handbag with a look that you won't find anywhere else.

City View

For City View, I used an entire gradient of grays to capture the quality of a city at night. The hand-pieced gray and black squares are surrounded by a dark-gray linen frame. The result is a dramatic, urban and modern look.

Details

I prefer to work with natural-fiber fabrics, such as cotton and linen. That means these totes, and all of my handbags, are incredibly light-weight. It's a real plus for a bag to start out light-weight, when it's bound to be weighed down by all of the items you put inside.

A great addition to a tote is a zipper top. This tote features a recessed zipper top, allowing you to be sure your items stay safely inside.

We all need versatility in our bags, which is why I've included a removable and adjustable cross-body strap; perfect for those times you need to have your hands free.

The interior of a bag is just as important as the exterior. I've lined the View Totes with an incredibly soft upholstery fabric. An interior zipper pocket keeps your valuables safe or your private items hidden.