For 2010, instead of more New Years Resolutions to post, I’ve decided to write about a few things that have helped me better my life and resolve my old resolutions. So, without further ado, here are 10 things I’ve learned over the years and thought I’d share and perhaps “enlighten” some girls who need a minor “pick-me up”! (Boys, feel free to use this advice, as well. haha)

1. Clean up your life by getting rid of: Bad friends who put you down and neglectful boyfriends (princess complex is OKAY to a certain extent if you know you’re a great gal and have a lot to offer..just don’t let it get to your head!)  And by organizing:  your room, car, and any space you spend a great deal of time in. When you de-clutter your spaces, life all of a sudden feels much more peaceful. You’ll be at peace with yourself and have a lot more positive energy!!

2. Invest in a bed with a comfortable mattress, a bed frame that best represents you and a comfortable goose feather comforter. You spend 1/4 of your life in a bed, so make it count for something! A bad night of sleep can make all the difference in the world for your next morning and day. Oh, and I wrote a previous entry on how I found my bed at a thrift store. For $35, I got a shabby chic bed that I re-sanded and repainted….HAPPY BED = HAPPY GIRL (in FACT–my mom just got me a new mattress and sleep is 10,000X more beautiful now—seriously!) 
 

3. Organize your schedule with a daily planner. Not only that, but keep it neat. Even if you can write things in it that aren’t relevant to work (a date with your girlfriends, lunch with your sister, etc) you’ll feel at ease since you’ll know exactly what you need to do in a day and how to have time to accomplish those things!

4. Take an extra few minutes to “un-frumpify” yourself whether it be with something as simple as lip gloss (nivea+mac lipglass in my case). Also, DO your hair, use a shampoo and conditioner that you love the smell of, and if you’re going to use makeup—use better products—your face, after all, is something you have to live with the rest of your life so you’d better be using the best of the best on it. It’s not so much a matter of vanity—but I realize one of the worst feelings for me is when you go somewhere and don’t feel confident because you don’t feel you look your best.

Everyone’s “best” is different—for some, it might just be something as simple as letting their hair down which leads me to my last “un-frumpify” point. Spend the extra money for a good haircut. That extra $50 goes a long way!!! (A haircut every four months only comes out to an extra $10-12 a month! That’s basically one or two meals of eating out per month).  If you need a great hairstylist—please let me know if you live in the OC area—my hairstylist is the BEST!!!!

 

5. Flowers and Candles. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE candles!! I go around to a lot of boutiques/home good stores and smell a lot of them. My favorite scents are vanilla, white tea and ginger, and gardenia. There’s something about candles that make you feel awesome even if you’re in a pair of sweatpants and a tee at home by yourself! (Oh, but make sure your room is clean before you go lighting things in your room!) Oh, and make sure you blow it out before you leave the house! Also, flowers are a cheap way to feel beautiful as well. Trader Joes has “Stargazers” (my favorite) that blossom into HUGE flowers and can last about a week and a half if you clean the water every other day! They look pretty and make you feel pretty for a few bucks. Why not??

  

6. Have alone time to veg out at home in your room, paint your nails, read a book, drink some hot tea—all while blasting your favorite tunes on Pandora. (Rejuvenation at its best!)

7. Read! Don’t ever stop learning…educate yourself, achieve higher education! There are plenty of great books at the local bookstore. OR, if you want to save some big bucks, go to your nearest library. Sometimes they have a library bookstore where the books are a couple bucks each!

8. Learn to do everything in moderation—for me, it’s eating. When I love the way something tastes—I want to horde it!!! That’s hard for me to do because of my love for food, but one day at a time….. 

9. Dress to impress yourself. It doesn’t have to cost a lot to dress nice. I snubbed great deals and for me, personally, the key to the way I dress is choosing very solid colored pieces to mix and match over and over again. I don’t buy things with a ton of patterns. Instead, I’ll dress up my outfits with accessories—big earrings help, a fancy bracelet, long necklace. (Not all at once—though! You don’t want to OVER accessorize) The worst is when you go out and feel frumpy, [see #4] so do yourself a favor and wear something that you’ll feel great in! (take, for example, Reese Witherspoon!)

10. Make time for girls night out! I do this weekly (sometimes 2-3 times a week!) with my girlfriends and it’s really paid off to invest in friendships with a few great girlfriends. They’re the ones that will be there for me when relationships fail and have had my heart broken, the ones that you can laugh with endlessly, they’re the ones that will give you REAL advice and most importantly, constructive criticism when you don’t want to hear it. (Albeit, this takes time to develop. Fortunately for me, I’ve had the same group of close-knit girlfriends for the past 12 years!)

 

How will you make yourself feel great in 2010?