Enjoy the Moment!

The secret to a happy life is to stop fretting and actually enjoy the moment during the moment! Easier said than done? No, not really. Just follow some of the suggestions on the list below for making your workday more enjoyable:

• On those walks to and from the office - clear your head and take in your surroundings. The sun shining, the birds singing, the flowers blooming, etc. It's just as easy to look at the little wonders surrounding you as it is to become absorbed in the not-so-nice distractions, such as horn honking, littered sidewalks, and grumpy faces.

• Smile when you say hello - while smiling will improve your mood, it will also improve the moods of others.

• Enjoy your food - instead of eating at your desk, eat outside or in front of a window. Take the time to enjoy the scenery while enjoying your food.

• Find the little pleasures in your work - have an enjoyable workplace? Great, take a moment to sit back, look around and cherish it. Have personable peers? Fantastic, appreciate these relationships, workplace friends make the day more enjoyable.

• Merge your favorite past time with your workday - enjoy sailing? Change your desktop wallpaper to a beautifully photographed sailboat in a tropical setting. Love flowers? Add a beautifully framed garden photo to your desk.

Hi-Ho Spring!

Spring has finally sprung and we can finally shed the winter overcoats along with the layers of additional clothing we needed to keep our bodies warm during those cold harsh winter days and nights! The fashion gurus have wisely decided to celebrate spring this season by including all of those lovely flowers we have been waiting for all season long. Flowers are everywhere! The designers have created beautifully vibrant and floral dresses, hats, beaded jewelery, shorts, shoes, cardigans, headbands, button-down shirts, and my personal favorite, the floral sun dress!

I was so excited to see all of the floral fashions I went out a bought a great big bouquet of flowers for my desk!

Living the Dream: Careers that Rock - Part One

At Ciao Bella, we often take a look at fascinating careers and do a feature article about it. This month we are taking a look at...drum roll please....Chefs. I'm not talking about your everyday run of the mill chefs, either...I'm talking about super star chefs. Thanks to stations like the food network, the average t.v. viewer gets to have an insider's look into the culinary arts.

Jacques Torres is a legendary pastry chef, chocolatier, author, and television personality who can add business owner to his resume. He has opened not one but three Chocolate Shoppes; or what I like to call little slices of heaven! Yum..chocolate. They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach - well I say the way to a woman's heart is through chocolate. Please note, that the chocolate I am referring to is not the ordinary run of the mill chocolate, but hand crafted gourmet chocolate - Belgium chocolate and Swiss chocolate come to mind immediately.... mmmm....I can taste those delicious little treats right now.

So what does it take to enter into the world of chefs? Education, determination, and an ability to spend hours on your feet. Anyone interested in pursuing a career in the culinary arts needs to carefully select a program and a school with a reputation which will open doors for you upon your successful completion of the program. I also suggest that you select an accredited program which offers you a degree upon graduation. The better schools will also have a career placement service.

It is important to realize that you will not become a super star chef overnight - not unless your family owns a food station and is willing to put you in front of the cameras. You will have to devote your time to honing your craft and skill; you will also need to continue furthering your education. Having said that, if cooking is your passion you might want to pursue a career as a chef.

Advice Column

Can you keep a secret? Well, of course you can! Even though I'm the fashion editor at Ciao Bella, I'm also the advice columnist. I write the column under a pen name; very few people know this - even at the magazine it's a big secret. At first, I was just filling in as a temporary replacement for the last advice columnist, but I did so well, that the publisher asked me to continue doing the column.

Here's a sample from the upcoming issue:

Dear Bella,

I'm about to be married next month, but I can't stop thinking about my ex-boyfriend, Mark. Even though the man I'm marrying is wonderful and I love him dearly, I beginning to think that I should call Mark just to see if I still love him or if it's just cold feet. We originally broke up because I caught him cheating on me with someone from my office. He tried to get back with me for months, kept saying it was a mistake, that it was a one-time thing. I ran into Mark two weeks ago and he told me that he still loves me. What should I do? I'm so confused.

Signed,
In a Spot

Dear In a Spot,

Hello? Are you kidding me? He already cheated on you once; he'll cheat on you again. What's more he did it with someone you worked with! How low - he's such a creep! Speaking of cheating - don't you think calling Mark would be devastatingly painful to your fiance? You need to decide if you are ready to get married; chances are you are not! Sometimes we get so caught up in planning a wedding that we lose sight of the meaning. Marriage is a life-long commitment - make sure you are ready to make this step. I suspect that you're not and you are using Mark as an excuse to get of a marriage.

Puddins - The Great Houdini

Well, Puddins the Great Houdini struck again! Once again, she escaped from the bathroom without being seen - I swear she is just too funny. I left for work this morning, after I put Puddins back into the bathroom. I got about four blocks when I realized I forgot my day timer; so I turned back around and headed home. I couldn't have been gone more than six minutes, ten at the most!

I walked into my apartment and who is waiting for me at the door, but Puddins! She must be Houdini reincarnated. How is she doing this? She's too tiny to climb over the gate - she only stands about seven inches off the ground (at her shoulders). If this keeps up, I'm going to set-up a camcorder!

I know it was a waste of time, but I put the little precious back into the bathroom before I left! LOL It's a good thing she's so cute!

Oh, What a Night!

Gabriella and I decided to go out for a few drinks after work today - we really needed to have a few laughs. Gabriella suggested Shutters, knowing full well that I don't really like hanging out in those trendy places, but I figured what the hell her day was more stressful than mine. After all she is the one who had to re-do the photo shoot. In case you haven't figured it out yet, Shutters is one of those trendy places that caters to models and photographers. Anyone who is anyone lives to be seen in places like these.

It really frustrates Gabriella that I don't like to hang out in these places - I'm more into the cozy comfy sort of places; I like big over-sized lounge chairs, quiet sitting areas, laid back staff who isn't constantly interrupting your conversations trying to push refills on you. I guess I like these places because I tend to bring my work with me while Gabriella gets more out of the trendy places haunted by models and photographers. Even though we're both in the fashion magazine biz - our work environments are usually pretty different from each other.

Oops! I got side tracked...back to tonight's events. We had such a blast tonight..we ate, we drank, and we danced! I haven't danced that much since college; I've got to get out more often.

OMG, I just got home and what did my little precious Puddins do? No...not that - she is paper trained plus I have a neighbor who walks her for me. I keep her in my bathroom while I'm out. Don't panic,my bathroom is humungus! Anyway, I keep the door open so she doesn't feel confined, but I have a baby gate blocking the doorway - you can imagine my surprise when I walk in the door and there's my little Puddins wagging her precious little tail! I picked her up, said hello, and walked to my bathroom to see how she got out. Hmmm...oddly enough the gate was up in the doorway. I asked her how she escaped, but she just looked at me with those big brown eyes and kissed my nose. I'll figure this one out yet!

What a Day!

Sometimes you wake up and before your feet hit the floor, you just know its going to be a bad day; other times you get up feeling great and think to yourself, "Wow, what a great day!" Personally, I prefer the former to the latter, at least you know it's gonna suck today. In case you're wondering, today was one of those "Wow, what a great day!" moods...at least it was until I got into the office.

I didn't even have my computer booted up when the sh*t hit the fan. Gabriella came flying into my office like a banshee; she was fit to be tied. The model we had used for this month's cover was just arrested at JFK airport for drug trafficking! The magazine is going to press in exactly 36 hours and we need to shoot a new cover and find a new model to feature. If that's not bad enough, we also need to pull the feature article on our little "drug mule!"

An emergency meeting with all of the department heads was called; after about six hours we were finally able to find another fresh face model and get her on location before sunset.

Oh, and by the way, in case you are wondering...yes, the drug mule model was originally booked by Annie. Perhaps they'll get to share a cell together. For those of you in the know, Annie is still being held without bail. For those of you not in the know, I guess you'll just have to read Life Sucks - Get Used To It!

Blog Topics!

Here's a list of topics covered here on this blog:

• boyfriends a.k.a. relationships
• fashion
• shoes
• work
• family
• opinions

If you have suggestions for other topics, just drop me a line. One of three things will happen; I'll add it to the list, I'll add a poll and allow the readers to decide, or I'll ignore it. Even if I ignore it, I'll drop you a line and let you know why.

Ciao

How Precious!!

I was walking through the mall on my way to the food court to meet Gabriella when I passed a little pet shop I had never noticed before. I decided to pop in for just a few minutes; after all Gabriella is always late, so what's the harm. Right? I should have known better!

There I am walking around this little pet shop checking out the puppies. It was so cute in there...all of the puppies were living in little dog houses instead of cages. You could actually touch them, pick them up, and play with them. Now before I go any further, I have to tell you I LOVE PUPPIES! I'm not a big fan of dogs BUT I LOVE PUPPIES! They are so cute. Plus I have a little allergy to dogs; it's not bad, but it does exist. My throat gets itchy and nose starts t drip. (How's that for a pretty picture?) That's when disaster happens! I came across the cutest little back poodle...OMG she was precious! She fit in the palm of hand! So there I am, holding this adorable little puppy and what happens? She wraps her little paws around me and just sighs. Oh, it was over - I was a goner. I held her close to me and she just snuggled up into my neck gave a little sigh and nuzzled her way right into my heart.

Now you had to see this little black poodle - she has the blackest hair (poodles have hair and not fur) you have ever seen, with the exception of this little white chin. Her deep dark brown puppy eyes are almond shaped; they just draw you in. Well, I must have had sucker written right across my forehead, because the next thing I know the sales girl is next to me giving me all of the information and particulars she had about this dog. She's pulling out her lineage papers, family photos, medical history, you name it, it was in the folder.

Now before I go any further, I am a firm believer in getting animals from the pound, not the pet shop. I know all about pet shop puppy mills. I was also aware that this little precious was the runt of the litter. But, OMG, there was something about this little creature that I couldn't resist. I even walked out of the store, but with each passing step, I could feel my heart breaking. A lump welled up in my throat, and I could feel tears beginning to form and burn in my eyes. What's a girl to do!

I turned right back around, walked into the pet shop, whipped out my credit card and the rest is history. By the time I met Gabriella in the food court I had become a family of two - it was my precious and me from here on out! I was certain Gabriella would crucify me for buying a dog, but my little precious has a magical power over everyone she meets. I had the hardest time getting my baby back from Gabriella! She wouldn't let go! LOL.

A dog that precious and special deserves a very special name - allow me to introduce my darling little baby: Puddins!

Oh, by the way, since poodles have hair instead of fur, they are good pets for people with dog allergies. Plus, they don't shed!

The Day After

Well it's the day after Kate submitted her book to the publisher and my phone hasn't stopped ringing all day! Her publicist has been nagging at me to join Kate for a few promotional gigs - like it's my responsibility to help her sell her book, Life Sucks - Get Used To It! Last time I checked, I had my own life to live - even if it only exists within the pages of Kate's book and here on this blog. I mean really, get a life already. LOL

Anyway, I called Gabriella and she thinks I should just forget about it, go shopping, hang out with my girls and have a few drinks! I'm inclined to agree with her. What do you think?

Should I help Kate or should I listen to Gabriella?

Welcome

Kate O'Donnell, author of Life Sucks - Get Used To It has created this blog for you, the readers to share your stories, frustrations (mixed with humor!) and perspectives.

Kate's main character, Sabrina will moderate this blog; she will respond to your postings, questions, and comments.

Sabrina will add to her journal on this blog - you can pick up where the book Life Sucks - Get Used To It leaves off.

Enjoy!