Inspiration for today...

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Lifestyle Tips For The Busy Moms

Enough cannot be said about the life of a busy mom. She can maintain the balance of her family with work, play, pets and love. Most moms glide easily through the day with the routine coming like clockwork. Others, like myself, need a bit of inspiratiom to get the day going. Meditation,  journaling, a good run and quiet time are just some of the ways we can take care of ourselves. As a member of the Busy Moms Elite, a spontaneous group I just conjured up to boost the morale of all busy mothers, I look for advice and ways to make my days better and my life more enjoyable. Vogue Australia has provided us with some great luxury lifestyle tips that are usable for all of us. It's like maintaining balance in style. Click here for the full story!

Inspirations & Transformations

Photo: Ruven Afanador

In the August issue of O Magazine, Oprah Winfrey dons an all natural hair do that is a sight unseen to most. She always has her hair perfectly coiffed and why shouldn't she? She is the mega-mind behind an entire network at this point and Forbes has listed her at being worth a boggling $2.7 billion dollars. She definitely has the ability to keep up appearances but confesses that her natural do is her choice for weekends or when she is off duty. Even as a billionaire she still has to let her hair down. More importantly, Oprah is showing her awareness of the amazing impact of transformations on herself and in the lives of the people she touches. She is so great. She really has transformed lives and that is amazing. She does this by being real with people no matter what situation and that enlightens some people. Take a gander at her beautiful real hair (above).

Au natural, everyday me

 So in my own effort to be real, I will share a little transformation that I like to make sometimes. If you cannot tell by all my EcoLuxury stances and earth awareness rants, I enjoy most natural things in life. My hair is no stranger to nature. This is how I wear my hair most of the time (right). 

Straight straight.

However, sometimes I look like this (left). I love doing this. This is just for me and allows me to be fresh and new every once in a while. I am still me with just a new head o' hair.

After a hair cut, how do you feel? Amazing if you love it and perhaps upset if you hate it. But there is no big statement that I am making here. I love both of my looks neither being better than the other. I just enjoy change. (Obviously not too much change because if you will notice, the same nasty scarf I wear everyday is in both photos.) I feel free enough to transform myself every now and then and O has *inspired me to share my Dual Do's with you.  I speak with so many people who say they want a makeover. I say start at the top. It's such brave self-expression. I was told many years ago by my hair dresser, "Don't be afraid to play with it. It's hair. It'll always grow back". Sage advice.

Why am I not afraid to go from super curly to super straight at the blink of an eye? I credit an amazing line of women in my family who dared to play with their hair, my (precious!) flat iron, and loads of extensions. The latter seems to have taken over the style world as of late, but they are nothing new. Extensions have just been hiding out in the bags of just about every hair stylist in the industry all over the world for ages.

Mum with extensions.

I do have quite the hair obesession and even for Father's Day, my son drew a picture of me with long hair on his dad's gift. He proceeded to whisper to us, "Oh, that is Mommy with her extensions." Hilarious. Such a gentleman to keep it private.

*I am not Oprah, not in the public eye like she is and I don't think she wears extensions. Her hair revelations have just inspired me.

An Inside Joke for the Outside World

It was a random (last) Tuesday morning at 5:45 am. I was readying myself for a simple day ahead. You know, my morning walk, the school drop off, dry cleaning pick up, lunch with friends, the school pick up, swim practice, library returns and a late night deli run for tomorrow morning's organic milk. Yes, this is a typical day not only for me, but for most moms and mums who are ruled by family. My children seriously have a crazier social calendar then my husband and I do, which is sad. But at least I am never bored, right?

So this particular Tuesday morning was really no different than the rest. I was ready for my early walk, stepped outside to see a shining orb lighting up the mostly dark morning. Unfortunately it was the glowing orb of the interior light in my Rover. Are you kidding me (Is what I thought to myself)? Nope. The light had stayed on all night after the previous day's hectic schedule but in place of swimming put drama and the late night run the day before had been for free range eggs instead of milk. This must have been when I left the light on. I was hoping upon hope that that light was an indicator that my vehicle would start right up. I was quickly disappointed. Despite my move across the world, I am still pretty reliant on mobile transportation. Sad but true. I drive way less than in the states, but in all honesty, despite my efforts to green-up my family's lifestyle, my car is still a big part of normal daily life.

So by now it is 5:55am and I have to send that loser text to my fellow walker that obviously, my plans for the day have changed. I walk with the Dr.'s Wife. My friend does have a name but this is an inside joke and what I refer to her as with unfamiliar company. She is the epitome of a Dr.'s wife as well. Attractive, funny, brilliant and willing to maintain the uber crazy schedule that comes as part of being the wife of a doctor. Being a wife is not easy but being the wife of a preacher, professor, corporate-type or doctor is not easy. The same goes with being the wife of a musician, artist, or entrepreneuer. There is a lot that comes with the job on a daily, yearly and lifelong basis that is particular to being married to one of these individuals. The Dr.'s Wife's days are consumed with children, appointments, activities, fundraising, entertaining and the whole lot. Let's just say she has heaps on her plate. However, upon receiving my distress text, she immediately replied with: " I will be there in 10 min". I was shocked and relieved all at the same time. Here was a woman who I was well aware had her own day and life to deal with, yet she was hurrying over to save me. Well, actually, we saved ourselves. We jumped the Rover with her Wagon and this very markedly was the first time I had done this myself. I married a southern gentleman who rarely let's me do much in the vehicle department which means my experience was limited. The Dr.'s Wife, in true Dr.'s Wife form, was fully capable and I let her take the lead. We did our business and I was set for my own very busy day. Put two cups of tea in place of our ritualistic walk for Tuesday morning.

Yes, the Dr.'s Wife is an inside joke but this is what I want to share with the rest of you. Surround yourself with good people & allow yourself to be helped when you can. I was set for a day of self-loathing over leaving the car light on but let myself be helped by a good person. The outside world is tough and just so happens to be full of a bunch of people who aren't worth the time to say their name. You know the type. The "Let's get together" or "I'll contact you" exchanges that occur with acquaintances that you have no business in building a relationship with. Call me cynical but years of all-girls preparatory school and sorority life after that have made me a well aware of female friendships. Again, sad but true. I have previously written about the importance of true friendships in this life and my dead battery experience is another prime example that there is a lot to life out there. You have to be willing to look for it and find it in genuinely good people. She was there for me at 6am. How many of you have a Dr.'s Wife in your life? I know that I am blessed to have this particular one.