Friday Flashback

Good Morning Sunshine.

This week has been full of wonderful little moments that made me smile. Probably the best moments were spent with two of my favorite patients at our hospital. They were here for a clinic appointment and we had made plans for a lunch date. When I came into the lobby to get them, they saw me, screamed  my name and ran to me with open arms to give me a big hug. They kept telling me how much they missed me and loved me and the of course wanted to share all the glorious things going on in their little girl worlds. Hearing their giggles and seeing their smiles gives my heart such happiness. I may not be able to have children of my own, but the patients I become so close to are like my children and I just love them to pieces!

So how was your week? What made you particularly happy?

 

{Hot air balloons floating right outside my apartment. My boyfriend was coming over early one morning and called me to come outside quick. I'm so glad he did or I would have missed this awesome site. I would give anything to go up in one. One day I definitely will!}

 

{I am absolutely addicted to the TV show Resurrection. With only one episode left I am completely on the edge of my seat wondering how these people are coming back. Have you seen this show? If not, I would highly recommend it!}

{A blue Sapphire necklace to accentuate my blue bow sweater.}

{The little sweethearts that bring such joy into my life with their little girl smiles, hugs and giggles. It was a hug fest with them for sure. . .and I loved every second of it!}



When Thinking About Life Remember This

Hello Sweetie. I found this quote today and it really resonated with me.

All of us have to go through our own challenges in this world. We all have to deal with the cards life has dealt us, whether we want to or not, right?

Depending on the situation you are going through, it can be very taxing on not only your emotional health, but your physical health as well.

I can tell you that my divorce was THE HARDEST emotional issue I have gone through in my entire life. This was harder for me than any surgery I have had. . .one of which nearly took my life.

I WAS A MESS!

The strong girl that everyone has looked up to in the past was gone. I couldn't find "Happy Jamie" no matter how hard I tried to find her.

It is amazing what time can do though. Life could rebuild itself and I could build a new future.

I had regret of a failed marriage. I thought I had everything with my hubby. There was guilt that I couldn't make it work. That I couldn't "fix" our marriage (Yes, I'm a fixer of problems.).

I had regret of not trying to seek help for he and I a lot sooner.

Most of all I had regret of not being true to myself and allowing myself to lose who Jamie really was.

What I have learned is that we all must keep our faith, no matter what that means for you.

We must do what is best for ourselves. I'm not giving you an excuse to be selfish and hurt others for your gain, but I'm saying you need to make good decisions that will bring positive outcomes in your life.

Finally I learned that we are so much stronger than we ever give ourselves credit for, and we must NEVER give up.

I was completely broken.

I had my physical form, but I couldn't find ME inside.

I thankfully had a great support system that held me up when I couldn't hold myself up.

One day you find that the clouds do part, the sun starts shining again and your life gets back on track.

Would I change this experience? YES.

Would I have rather not had to go through it? ABSOLUTELY!

Am I proud of the person I have become because of it? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!

Whatever your challenge is, know that you are not alone. No matter how lonely you feel, people DO understand what you are going through.

Remember that things WILL get better, no matter how clouded that future has become in your mind.

Most importantly never look back with regret. Your amazing future is waiting!

Pretty in Pink

Hello Lovely. Today I was feeling particularly Springy with so many flowers in bloom, the birds singing and the weather just absolutely perfect for outdoor activity. It makes me feel like love is truly in the air. . .that could also be because I have the most amazing boyfriend a girl could ask for!

I was very excited this morning to pull out my Everlasting Love Lace Dress from Forever 21. I originally bought this for a romantic Valentine's Day dinner with my boyfriend, and just like I have fallen in love with him, I am head over heals for this dress.

I do not like anything too low cut in the front, so for me personally, this rounded neckline is perfect. What you can't see in the picture is that this dress also has a keyhole button closure and cutout in back to give it just a little something extra.

I will never forget the reaction I got when my boyfriend first saw me in this dress. I was coming out of my bedroom and he was waiting in the living room for me to head to our Valentine's Day dinner. When he saw me he paused for a second, got a huge smile on his face and let out this amazing, "WOW!" I was hoping he would like it, and was thrilled to receive such a response from him!

We all need that one dress that makes us feel great. It fits right in all the wrong places, it accentuates our femininity and it gives us that confidence booster that yes "I Look Good Today!"

This is MY I Look Good Today dress. What does yours look like? If you can, post a picture in the comments or tell me all about it below!

Friday Flashback

Happy Friday Beautiful!

This week I returned from a week long vacation to visit family in PA (My home state) for my cousin Kyle's wedding. It was a beautiful day and one that brought so many family members together that I hadn't seen in over 20 years! I always love seeing what everyone is wearing and the decorations at receptions. I absolutely LOVED the centerpieces at their wedding. So elegant, yet very simple.

While I was up in PA, the weather took a drastic change. When I arrived it was gorgeous. . .mid 70s, no humidity; definitely a nice change from the balmy weather this Florida girl is used to. This weather is what I was expecting for mid April and that is how I packed. To my surprise, the weather on Tues of last week dropped to in the 30s and snow. . .SNOW! Yes I have seen snow many times, but is has been nine years since I had seen it. I know for my northern readers you probably think I am crazy being so excited to see snow after you have endured a very brutally cold winter, but I was like a little kid seeing it for the first time.

Fast forwarding to this week, it was full force getting back into the swing of work and of course celebrating my birthday! I cannot express the gratitude I have to everyone for their birthday well wishes. I thought I'd share a few highlights of my special day with you. . .



{A special bday photo sent to me from two of the sweetest girls I know.}

 

{A birthday dinner with my bff. We started with a cheese board: goat cheese, fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola and buffalo}



{To finish off this AMAZING meal was a special brithday cannoli from Ciao Italian Bistro.}

This morning my boyfriend surprised me with many gifts that were meant to bring back memories we have shared together. I loved everything, however I am still in AWE of this this gorgeous hand blown glass bowl!

I would love to hear about your week. What you have been up to? Did anything inparticular make you smile?

A New Year, A New Me

Hello Gorgeous! Remember me?

I know it has been a very long time since my last blog post - last July to be exact. However today, on my 36th birthday, I wanted to hopefully get back in to the blog that brought so many amazing people into my life.

Since we last talked, my life has been a whirlwind of change! As you know I had been married and I shared wiith you many stories of our life together. Well, part of my absence here is due to the fact I was dealing with my divorce. I have to tell you this took me through the darkest time emotionally I have EVER faced in my entire life. I'm sure a lot of you might think that is interesting knowing I live life from a wheelchair and things might not always be "easy" for me. However, no challenge I have ever faced with my disability compared to the heartache I felt making the decision to leave my husband - a man I had been with for 12 years.

As time has moved on, the clowds have parted, the sun has shined through and I swear I am stronger, happier and more couragous now than I have ever been in my entire life. I look back in amazement of how strong the human spirit truly is!

I am of course LOVING my job and the little lives I get to be a part of each and every day. I mean, how could you NOT love these little cuties?

My social life is amazing. I have a wonderful group of friends and the most amazing boyfriend a girl could ask for. I'm excited to tell you all more about him later.

So being that it is my birthday, I have one wish. I hope you will join me once again here at I Look Good Today so we can continue to touch people's lives and bring some sunshine to each other's day!

It Isn't Over

Hello Beautiful. I know that my posts have been few and far between as of late. I know that I have alluded to "things" going on in my life that have kept me away, but haven't truly given explanation of what those things were. I think enough time has passed that I feel I can share what has been going on in my world with you.

Are you ready for this? I'm not sure if I am, but I'm going to take a deep breath and pray that writing this will actually be therapeutic for me.

Since the beginning of I Look Good Today in 2011, I have shared personal stories with you that revolved around my hubby and I. Stories of how we met, dating, marriage, sex and everything in between. We have been together since 2001 and he was everything to me. I had my prince charming. My fairytale was complete.

Well, as any couple does, we had our issues, and to make a long story short, those issues became overwhelming, and in Oct of last year I moved out of our fairytale "castle" and separated from my prince.

This decision did not come lightly, it didn't come with first exhausting every opportunity to change the situation and it didn't come without extreme heartache. I found myself a shell of the person that I was leading up to this decision. It was the hardest decision of my life (in our life) to make. I felt my world was ending. We aren't talking a casual relationship that was ending here friends. We were talking twelve years of sharing your life with someone you loved deeply. Twelve years of memories. We met when I was 22! I'm now 35!

So, hopefully you can understand a bit more of why I went off the radar for a while and why I am still, almost a year later, pulling myself back into the routine of writing a daily blog and sometimes it is just easier than others.

This all being said, I look at the calendar and think. . .wow, a year has almost gone by. I look at the person that I had become and who I am now and think. . .oh hello Jamie - there you are, I've missed you.

We all go through really hard times in our lives and no one can tell you the extent to how hard you will be hit by your circumstance! Sadly, there was nothing - and I mean nothing - anyone could say to me in my darkest moments that truly consoled me. I felt loved by friends and family, I felt supported, yet I still felt EXTREMELY alone! I was a prisoner in my own head. I cried daily. I was in literal hell! I could not believe that a marriage, a partnership, that had been so strong was crumbling before me and there were too many broken pieces for us to pick up without getting hurt some more.

I literally thought my story was ended. He was the love of my life. Was anyone going to love me like that again? Was I ever going to feel whole again?

It is amazing to me how we go through circumstances in our lives and honestly experience a flood of emotions. I was sad, I was angry, depressed, fearful, faithful, anxious with anticipation, excited for what could be, devastated of what was, guilty for not being able to make things work. . .

Can you understand where I am coming from? You may not have experienced saperating from your spouse, but I am sure you have faced challenges in your life that have been overwhelming.

What I have learned is this. Life does go on. The sun will continue to shine. You will find happiness again.

My mother gave me very good advice, probably the best I have heard, when I was at my worst. She told me to focus. Focus on one, just ONE thing each day that made me happy - that was a positive in my life and hold on to it to carry me through the day. Do you know how hard even that was for me? I was lucky to be functional, and now I was supposed to find something positive? I was going down a very dark and scary path and I knew that if I was going to make it, I needed help.

Luckily I didn't fall in to any of the substance abuse techniques of coping - believe me, it would have been easy to do so. I just focused on the positive as my mother said, I surrounded myself with family and friends,  I prayed and found comfort in my faith and just took one day at a time.

Looking back, a new person, a stronger person, I can tell you with resounding confidence that YES someone will love me and YES I will feel whole again and YES my story isn't over - in fact, it is just beginning.

I Wish They All Could Be California Curls

What It Is: Julep bottled the beach! This paraben-free spray uses sea salt water infused with a combination of marine botanicals that provide intense moisture and essential nourishment. The two-punch combo protects hair from sun damage while creating ocean-kissed, tousled waves.

What It Does: Adds texture, boosts volume, and creates gorgeous, ocean-kissed waves allowing for weightless volume and a carefree look, with little work. Great for fine hair to add volume and texture and curly or wavy hair to add piecy texture.

How To Use: Spray on damp or dry hair, finger dry or let air dry. For maximum body, diffuse with heat. Works on wet hair to create volume, on dry hair for piecy texture.
  Features & Benefits:

• Creates soft, natural looking texture without getting crunchy or greasy.
• Natural sea salt adds texture and volume with a slight matte finish.
• Marine botanicals provide moisture and protect hair from sun damage.

I have natuarlly really wavey hair, but you would never know that because I get my hair Japanese straightened once a year for a sleek look.

I do love that loose curl look. I was always so envious of girls who had it. . .aren't we always wanting what we don't have with our hair?

When my July Julep box came and this was included I was THRILLED! I couldn't wait to try it! This smells amazing and gave my straight locks a beachy, sea salt kissed bounce.