My friends have always critiqued me- or maybe they were complimenting me?- when it came to my choice of outfits. I mean saying “What the hell are you wearing?!Only you could pull that off!” – is a compliment, right? I’d like to think so.
Whether it was wearing a party dress with ankle booties, wearing a white crew t-shirt tucked into my black leggings with a navy blazer or mixing patterns like floral with stripes, or my favorite- wearing cute socks with closed toe heels! (oh my, a horror to my friends), I ALWAYS strive to make Fashion fun- to make it ME- to make it different- and the best part is — I actually don’t care what people say- because as long as I feel confident and I feel good- I have a great time and I get things done! “Look good, Do good” mentality.
I know there are a lot of people out there who may not feel as confident or as comfortable stepping out of the norm. I guess what I mean is people who don’t live and breathe fashion. You know the people who find items that “go” together…. making sure the jacket matches the shirt or the top matches the pants.
All that going and matching and fitting might make for a perfectly good outfit, but it’ll never really get you to a great one. For greatness, you’ve got to go in the opposite direction.
I make it a point to find items based on differences, rather than similarities. You know this actually helps you get more use out of your clothes than if you were persistent on always matching.
I will share with you the common ways to not follow the “My shirt must match my pants” mentality and thus get that Great outfit!
1) Wear ankle boots with a party dress. You will look fierce, yet not too prim and proper.
2)Vintage tees with classic blazers
3) Jeans and Heels
4) Stripes and Florals – okay, do pick a color that is in both prints – like blue stripes — blue florals 🙂
5) Brown and Black and Black and Navy – I remember when people would cringe (and still do) when I tell them to wear their brown shoes with black pants. Same for Navy/Black. Think LBD with a navy gold chain clutch.
6.) Leather Pants and Chunky Comfy Knit Sweater – something cozy and sexy about some leather and a gramma knitted warm sweater.
7). Leather “work men” belt and polished dress or coat or high waist long skirts – In college, I would wear a belt with almost every outfit. I have my mothers Camel color leather braided belt that she wore in Poland when she was in her 20s =)
I’m back from Mexico and have a million things to catch up on with work, emails, getting Freddy back!!(he’s still at his grandparents house), unpacking, picture uploading, etc etc…..but I just wanted to write a quick post because I’m super excited about some of my upcoming posts! For one, the KISS InstaWave Hair curler (which I took with me to Mexico) helped me to do my hair in 10 minutes from getting out of the shower- amazing – Ill be posting a video to show you how easy it is!
Also, I have the 3D mascara coming to me soon so I can’t wait to show you how that works- hey, I cant wait to try it out for myself first! – because I’m pretty close to treating myself to lash extensions, but if this can achieve that in a fraction of the cost- I’m all for it.
I have some amazing candles from Old Factory Candles coming my way too!- perfect for holiday gifts! There is something magical, yet simple about coming home and having the rooms lit up with candles.
Oh, and I’ll be sharing the most amazing pictures from the wedding- I swear the background looks photo-shopped- its that breathtaking. Here is a sneak peak:
I’ve been having a stressful couple of days, or maybe its been weeks, or maybe the past year?
Have you ever felt like you were stuck in a funk, just going about your daily hectic routine, whether your happy or not.. but you’re just trying to get all your errands, work, commitments, responsibilities…. done so you can go to bed and wake up to do the same damn thing! Well, that’s been me for the past 2 or 3 months, until I had a mini breakdown out to lunch with my girlfriends the other day! People, its not good to keep it all in – you will explode.
Snapshot of a typical week: Monday-Friday get up to the pup trying to jump up on the bed (5:45 AM), try to snooze a little longer with Freddy licking your face, dog walk & clean up (6:15 AM) (The paws get so muddy with the morning dew!) (6:45 AM),breakfast, put the coffee on, jump in the shower (7 AM), find an outfit QUICK (7:15 AM), dry my hair, brush my teeth, make the coffees, fill Freddy’s Kong, leave the house (7:30 AM), sit in traffic to work (chance to do my makeup), get to work 8:00 AM-8:15 AM depending on the horrors of traffic that day.
I wont even get into my days AT work right now – that’s a whole other post worthy.
Lunch time: drive home to take the pup for a walk. leave at 12:00, home 12:20, walk till 12:40, Fill the Kong, back to work for 1 PM. Did I forget to eat?
Work.
Drive home: 5 PM. Sit in traffic, a lot of traffic. Get home around 6 PM, get the mail, dog walk, (Wednesdays: drive 30 mins in traffic for play time, Thursdays: drive to Cambridge for Puppy Kindergarten),clean the dishes, make dinner, 8 PM, eat dinner 8:45 PM, put laundry away, pack lunches, Relax, play with Freddy, get ready for bed, read Dental school books, Sleeep!!
Weekend: commitments on top of commitments. Nico and I have a shared calender on our Iphone to help us with this! Unfortunately with Nico’s busy work load and going through his MBA, we don’t get to spend much time together – so the calender is our genius idea of keeping track of any important commitments we have going on (i.e weddings, engagement parties, surprise parties, baby showers, family dinners, homework, housework and yes sometimes if we’re lucky blocked off time to spend just “us time” together!)
I’m not really liking this routine. It is starting to take a toll on me, physically, mentally and emotionally.
I know I shouldn’t look in the past, but a part of me keeps holding on and looking back to that moment Poznan University told me they had a seat for me in their DDS program for 2011 *30 students out of 2100 applicants* The range of emotions that came over me that hot summer day in NYC went from absolute shock to happiness to excitement to sadness. My friends, family and myself convinced me that getting in to a prestigious school in Europe meant that I had an amazing shot of getting into dental school here. Problem was, Poznan excepted me for the September admission (which was 4 weeks away!) and I was still waiting to hear back from the USA schools I applied for (which you get an answer anywhere from December to the following year in late Spring)
So, after weighing out all the factors slash talking to established dentists I had met during my service trip to Honduras, I decided to wait and see if I would be excepted here. RISKYYY
Well, as you can gather, I got wait-listed 3/5 schools and denied 2/5 schools. Wait-listed is a whole other ballpark. You still have the chance, the hope that you will be chosen!! I did my math and the chance of anyone getting into dental school compares equivalently with medical school to a 3%-7% chance…
Anyways, time to move on? As we approach the end of Fall 2014 , I can’t help but realize that I would of been a EU Dentist right now!! But would I get accepted into the extremely competitive international program in the US? Would I want to practice solely in Europe?, would I be single? Would I be happy? The thing is, I’m what you call Polish Stubborn, in that because I spent so much of my time, dedication, research, philanthropy work, internships, dental assisting hours, stress, tears, money, relationships, social life, physical and mental states to get in and didn’t…I lost hope. I know that sounds HORRIBLE!! But life choices and life decisions are different for everyone out there. No 2 people are exactly the same. For me, I am extremely hard on myself & stubborn with myself – I hate to say it, but I consider this a failure. At least I did at the time, maybe the subconscious of me still does. I know I’m only 26 ….or I’m already 26!!!… however you want to look at it, but I think there comes a time in your life, when you realize you need to make sure you are HAPPY! Of course, we need to make money. But I want to do that by waking up HAPPY every day or at least going through my day not like a robot but as a human being enjoying and taking in all that life has to offer.
Is dentistry my passion? yes (maybe). Do I love teeth and helping people with dental problems. YES! Will I always continue to take any chance I get to volunteer for a service trip to help with dental care? Of course! Will I move on and believe everything happens for a reason. YES, I have to. I don’t want to force my way getting into school. I honestly believe, if it was meant to be for me. I would of went to Europe or better yet, I would of been accepted here.
I will always think of it and always light up when people ask me dental questions and I will still attend dental conferences, (as long as the dental office I work at part-part-part time still lets me go with them 😉 ) but I will not let it affect me anymore.
Time to move on from it. I sulked too long and it’s embarrassing but I write this post because it’s a normal feeling- especially in your mid 20s- I have given advice to many friends, family members, coworkers who may have asked the “what if” questions or might take a week or so to reflect on their life, of the meaning of their life, of what is it that makes them truly happy in today’s world.
I came to realize that you can have many passions, not just one. Do you have more than one like, more than one goal? of course. The point is to keep moving ahead and doing your best =)You will accomplish your passions. Maybe not to the extent that you imagined – but you will touch upon all of them in your life; some way or the other. For me, maybe dental school wasn’t meant to be- maybe I was just supposed to travel the world and help 3rd world civilians with dental care – in that case… I accomplished my goal =)
Speaking in Spanish to teach the kids the importance of brushing!Pulling out my first tooth.. I was freaked.
My best advice to people having a mini mid 20’s life crisis. IT’s OKAY! First: breathe, 2nd: things could be worse (turn on the news), 3rd :reflect on what makes you happy and go for it!! If your initial dream doesn’t work out the way you planned, re-focus your plans, concentrate on what you really really want! What makes you the happiest. Everyone does or should do some soul searching – whether your 22 or 62!
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it a million more times… You only have one life to live, Live it well! YOLO. I should take my own advice and… I finally am!
And to finish up with the mid week… we are officially over the hump today…Try one of these!!
The Cronut (300 cals!)
This doughnut, not only comes in it’s own little box – but its warm and tastes just like the Krispy Kreme amazingnes that we used to have in MA.
How did I become one of those people I used to roll my eyes at!? The ones who buy their dogs clothes, shoes, socks, ice cream… things for humans! (maybe its because I got a puppy and it’s pretty hard to resist when you go into a store and the dog section is out of control- yes getting Freddy has opened up a whole new world to me -dog world)
But just like with everything in this world, there are extremes, there are levels of insanity- okay that’s harsh! I mean there are levels/degrees of practicality vs obsession? Not sure if I am using the right words here – but I’m sure you get what I’m saying, but in case you have no idea what I’m talking about….
Let me present you with:
Exhibit A: dog houses, I mean mansions, no I’m talking palaces!
I mean the dogs seems to really enjoy this… not sure how that’s even possible.
I guess if you cant have kids and for some reason cant adopt? this is the alternative…yes? no?
Exhibit B: spa days,( wait- cucumbers on their eyes!?) What happened to simple belly rubs? Exhibit C: walk in closets! This is more organized than my closet!
You be the judge tho…
If you can get your dog as trained as Martha so that they can dine with the elite- all the power to you!
Lesser degree of spoiled-ness:
Ok.. this is too adorable^^ and you know what it can make sense/be a very practical solution for a number of reasons: 1) cuteness factor of 100. 2) maybe the dog is older, has a broken leg, afraid of the snow… 3) the owners are older and can’t handle carrying a dog…This is organized and concealed and I get it! I like it!
Practical:
I mean, especially for Freddy and all his hair – It’s a pain to have to wipe his paws EVERY time he goes outside in the rain or soon to be snow. He runs around and gets everything wet and muddy in the house, so I’d rather just take off his shoes and not deal with it
For hiking and especially for puppies in the winter time with the ice-melter (salt) poured all over the city streets. It can burn their paws, so actually the Vet recommended getting some type of shoe for them to wear.
Adorable- I just cant! ^
Great alternative to having a bulky crate in the house- its concealed, its the dogs “den”, It’s not obnoxious.Loving these dog dens!
At the end of the day, whatever makes you and your pooch happy is ALL that matters. Let the haters hate. Enjoy your life however you want and don’t let anyone judge or tell you you cant live your life the way you want even if it involves building a mansion with a bone shaped Jacuzzi and a walk in closet for your dog? Hey, If that makes you light up every day- so be it!
Just DO remember the pups in shelters – be sure to spread the love to them!! here are some links to shelters and rescue leagues where you can donate – whether its your time, money, food, or some of those clothes! I’m sure it would all be appreciated. (They have a wish list on their site)
* *Great idea for all you out there getting married, or having a baby aka setting up a registry. ADD a section that people can donate to shelters on your behalf! (ask the shelter of choice to create a registry page for you) – you don’t really NEED those china plates- but one of these animals does need love.**
Have a Pawesome weekend! Go Patriots!
In my defense- those toys were given to Freddy as gifts. And his dad is a big football fan, sooooo that’s my level of extreme-like I said everyone has a level from -0 to +10 and hey! at least he doesn’t have a walk in closet!….. (yet)
On behalf of Freddy, the money spent for his puppy school goes directly to local shelters in Boston. I also have 2 dog walking apps (Walk for a Dog and Wooftrax), which donate money to the shelter of my choice for every walk we go on ( which of course is at least 2x daily) AND during the holidays, we will be donating some of Freddy’s favorite treats and some favorite toys to a few local shelters.
Another month, another reason to highlight the National Holidays. In honor  of holiday season approaching, I’d like to focus this months national days on FOOD.
The month as a whole is known for:  Georgia Pecan Month,  Good Nutrition Month,  National Peanut Butter Lover’s Month,  National Pepper Month,  National Pomegranate Month, Raisin Bread Month, Vegan Month
National Fig Week is the first week in November. My family in Poland LOVES figs for some reason. We would always bring them boxes of Fig Newtons 🙂
Isa Does it Vegan “tuna” sandwich
Each day of the month has something to celebrate too:
November 1: National Bison Day November 1: National Deep Fried Clams Day
November 1: National Vinegar Day November 2: National Deviled Egg Day
November 3: National Sandwich Day November 4: National Candy Day
November 5: National Doughnut Day November 6: National Nachos Day
November 7: Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day November 8: National Cappuccino Day
November 8: National Harvey Wallbanger Day – a vodka cocktail! November 9: National Scrapple Day –Â Â this is a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal, wheat flour, and spices (interesting)…
November 9: Cook Something Bold & Pungent Day November 10: National Vanilla Cupcake Day
November 11: National Sundae Day November 12: National Pizza With Everything Day (Except Anchovies)
November 13: National Indian Pudding Day November 14: National Guacamole Day
November 14: National Pickle Day November 15: National Raisin Bran Cereal Day
November 16: National Fast Food Day November 17: National Baklava Day
November 17: Homemade Bread Day November 18: National Vichyssoise Day – this is a creamy Leek soup often eaten cold! eeek, I would eat it warm
November 19: Carbonated Beverage with Caffeine Day November 20: National Peanut Butter Fudge Day
November 20: Beaujolais Nouveau Day – red wine made from Gamay grapes in France November 21: Gingerbread Day
November 22: National Cashew Day November 23: National Espresso Day
November 23: Eat a Cranberry Day November 24: National Sardines Day
November 25: National Parfait Day November 26: National Cake Day
November 27: National Bavarian Cream Pie Day – they mean Turkey Day!? November 28: National French Toast Day
November 29: Chocolates Day – pretty sure this is every day for me! November 29: National Lemon Creme Pie Day
November 30: National Mousse Day
Hope everyone can try something new this month – perhaps Scrapple or go on the other end of the spectrum and make yourself a Vegan “tuna” sandwich from chickpeas. Check out the recipe in myDineSection!
