​Do you like to have fancy nails? My girls love to have their nails done, but with my goal to lead a healthier lifestyle I didn’t like the thought of them breathing all the chemicals in at the salon. They loved getting the gel paint and acrylic nails but that took a toll on their actual nails. And while they loved all the fun designs of the fancy press-on nails, they didn’t last long with my girls’ active lifestyle.
That is why I love getting them color street nails. They have so many styles to choose from and you can mix and match them to make even more combinations. They are easy to put on, they last a while, and they come off just like regular nail polish.
These also make fun gifts. They are small, easy to wrap and perfect to mail in a card.  The first time I gave these to my girls, they were going to be apart for my older daughter’s birthday. I wanted to do something special to include both of them so I wrapped up a pack of color street nails for each of them. While they were still apart, they got to have a girl’s night together doing nails over facetime! 

Have you ever tried Guided Imagery? At my old job, one of the presenters did a talk on guided imagery and how it can help reduce stress. I have to admit, I thought this was the hokiest thing ever. You listen to this person guiding you through things to imagine and it is supposed to relax you… OK???

The first several times that I listened to her talk, I closed my eyes like she said to do and I used that time to think of all the things that I wanted to get done after work. I wasn’t giving the guided imagery a fair chance to work, I just played along because it was my job.

After listening to this so many times I noticed myself starting to imagine being at the beach and I noticed when she had us open our eyes… I felt a little different. The next time I thought I would really give this a chance to see what it really is about. When she turned out the lights, I closed my eyes and this time I really listened and I actually tried to follow along.

Now when I imagined being at the beach it was like I could hear the waves crashing and I could feel the sun beating down on my skin…It was like I was really there! When it was over and I opened my eyes, I felt completely relaxed. Maybe there really was something to this? The more I did it the faster I could get my mind to imagine all these relaxing things and the better I felt.
​
The key for me, was finding a guided imagery with a relaxing voice that guided me to what I wanted to experience. If you find the right voice, it makes all the difference.  

​Everyone associates candy and flowers with Valentine’s Day but I like to make people feel special in a different way. This started for me because when my daughter was sick she couldn’t have candy so I had to get creative and now it’s my favorite thing to do!

All you do is cut out 14 Hearts. They can be out of fancy paper, plain paper, colored paper or you can buy hearts already cut out. You can decorate them or leave them plain. They can be different colors or all the same. See where I’m going with this… get as creative as you want.

Next write a saying on each heart. I like to write something I love about the person or a special memory that I enjoyed doing with them on each heart. Other ideas can be to write inspirational quotes, things you want to do together, include photos of special memories or draw pictures on the hearts.

​You can give the hearts all at once or do one a day as a count down to Valentine’s Day!