Breathe in and out — you own your life. Explanations are not required.

1. Wake up inspired.
2. Under no circumstances should you put your dreams on the back burner.
3. Know your strengths and play up to them.
4. Know your weaknesses and work on them.
5. E-mail someone to tell them how much they’ve inspired you.
6. Hand make your gifts, and give them to those you love whether it’s their birthday or not.
7. Spread the word about things you love/have helped you so that they may do the same for others.
8. Treasure relationships above all else. Everything would be pointless without those that make up our world!
9. If you’re thinking of doing something, do it NOW.
10. Learn to accept constructive criticism, for easy/pleasant it is not!
11. Say hello/good morning/good afternoon to the store clerk before you ask, to the bus driver as you pay the fare, to your waiter before you order…
12. That said, be kind to waiters! Just because that’s their job doesn’t mean it’s their only aspiration in life. It may not require a 4.0 GPA, but you try running around with trays full of drinks and remembering everyone’s order. I know I’d be a mess!
13. Regard yourself highly but don’t boast. Just don’t do it.
14. If someone is disrespectful, there’s no need to be nasty and start shooting them with every insult you know, but there’s nothing wrong with putting someone in their place. Don’t let anyone trample on you, but be classy about it!
15. Let everyone you love know it, every day, any way you want.
16. Think less “I want [object]” and more “I want to do [activity/goal/project]“.
17. Own your mind.
18. Allow yourself to be unreasonable every once in a while.
19. Always be curious.
20. ‘Be the best version of yourself you can be’.

What do you lovelies do to be so amazing?

In the first chapter, Jonathan Brings up a defining issue that may very well be the beginning to this mess we’ve got ourselves into. And that problem lies in the fact that we don’t own our minds; they are always “brooding about something” and tossing thoughts around. Thoughts rich in conflicting messages about who we should be and who we can be (according to societies, fellow human beings and our own selves). Funny enough it has had me thinking all day.

My thoughts are an ‘original’ mix of everything I’ve ever heard, everyone I’ve ever met and everything I’ve ever seen. They didn’t just spring to life in my head, of course. But what about my fears and self-doubt? That’s also got to be a mix of external influences, as well as all that internal brooding. What if I could control that? What if I could choose when to listen to myself? As Jonathan puts it, we walk away or zone out when someone says something we don’t want to hear, so why can’t we do that with our selves? Chapter 1 ends with a neat little exercise to take this first step, and I can’t wait to try it!

So sugardrop, what do you think “owning your mind” means? Do you sometimes pay too much attention to what your mind has to say, even if you don’t like it?

Dear sugardrop,

Are you stuck in a rut? Have a lot of ideas, many goals, but lack follow through? Troubles with confidence, self esteem? We’ve all been there, and lately I’ve answered yes to at least one of these. You too? Let’s do something about it! These 40 steps will be a guide to transform bad habits and gain good ones; it will be like working from a clean slate, a fresh start in a tired and worn out routine! Here’s how it works:

Every Saturday for 16 weeks (that’s 4 months!) I will post a new resolution/challenge, which will be merged into daily life that week and added onto the next resolution. Everything will be filed under 4 main categories: Body, Self, Life & Living Space. I will post how I’m doing, what worked for me and what didn’t. It’ll be fun — the comments section will be like our own backyard where we discuss and share ideas & inspiration over Margaritas. Who’s in?

Here’s to a new us! Love,

Luana.

Do it for yourself! Happy weekend everyone :)

It is no secret that Monday is my least favorite day of the week, and today it is especially strange as that time of the year has come again for me. The time where I am one day away from turning a year older, closer to supposed adulthood and the tiniest bit further from youth (which I don’t like). The time where I sit and ponder about what my life has been to date, the many people that have walked by and those who remain, past fashion choices that now make me cringe…

The best is looking at old photographs — the change is monumental, as you would expect. But it seems less so when you remember things in your mind, as you see yourself in the mirror every day so change seems absent. Then I begin to think of all the times I  wished I had this and that, wished I could be here or there, wished I looked like so and so…

In my Letter to My Body article I write a bit about the things I was not too happy about before, but now have come to solidly accept; all of it (me). My unruly hair (otherwise known as baby hair), strange thoughts, bad singing, drunken mistakes, and the list could go on…haven’t stopped me from meeting the most amazing human beings, loving them and being loved in return.

So why not turn the tables around, darlings? Instead of getting into the self-destructive habit of comparing, just think about how amazing you truly are. There’s nothing wrong with believing that; if your favorite people in the world can believe that about you, why can’t you? Wear your best clothes, sing (badly) if it’ll make you happy, sit alone in the park if you so wish, smile at yourself in the mirror before going out, enjoy every last ounce of ‘you’ — whether or not it’s the current mainstream way to go is a problem to those who only know to follow the norm, not to you!

I celebrate myself, and sing myself. — Walt Whitman

Head over to Loving Yourself More, read it, print it out, let it sink in. The first step to being amazing, is recognizing that you are amazing yourself.

So happy Monday sugardrop, let your hair down and have an amazing week!

Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts — Sign hanging in Albert Einstein’s office at Princeton.

Even after all this time,
the sun never says to the earth,
“You owe me.”
Look what happens with a love like that.
It lights the whole sky.

— Hafiz

I found this beautiful quote scribbled in one of my notebooks. Go on, add it to your own collection. Starting tomorrow it will be up on my wall.

Le Love has been around for quite a while now, and when I first stumbled upon it a year ago, I thought it was the cutest thing ever. I also wondered why I (or anyone, for that matter) hadn’t come up with something like that sooner — a blog dedicated to love images and stories. Boyfriends, girlfriends, friends, long distance, unrequited love, self love. It’s all in there, and I…love it!

It might seem mushy and cliched, but Le Love is more a weekend visit; a surge of lovely inspiration that may make you want to get the courage to talk to someone, or to tell them how much they mean to you, or drag them outside to take your own photo. It can’t not produce happiness, or a little fuzzy feeling, in my eyes at least!

What do you think of Le Love? Cute? …Sickeningly cute?

Hi beauties! The only thing that can keep me from blogging is class and work, and lately it’s just been piling on so I have had to skip some posting dates. I hate missing everyone’s posts and just keeping up with the online world, but sometimes it’s good to take little breaks I suppose! Tom arrived in Madrid on Friday, and on Saturday we were off to Avila on a little escapade. It was beautiful; a small city surrounded by a medieval wall behind which stood little churches and houses that might belong in MacBeth or Ever After. Easter parades and desserts, overpriced Cokes and cheesy photo ops were all part of the fun.

I’ve come back with more reasons why I know Tom is my person in the world:

• He always listens to what I have to say, no matter how random, weird, creepy or boring it is
• He makes me feel appreciated and important
• Food is high on his priority list, especially cake
• He doesn’t mind walking across half the city as I continue on my search for the perfect dress
• How easy it is to wind him up, and how fun it is to just be playful and joke about his Britishness that I secretly love
• He also doesn’t mind me spending about an hour at Sephora playing with makeup goodies and having my own makeup done at the counter
• The way he laughs
• He is a big cheeseball and writes songs for me (and plays them whenever a guitar is at hand)
• Lying is definitely not his forte, so he doesn’t even try it
• He makes me smile/laugh even when I am so incredibly pissed off (which I love/hate!!)
• He loves anything art or design related, so museums and galleries are always a fun option. So are design sites.
• Studio Ghibli films are all time favs for both of us
• He manages to make me feel beautiful even on ‘fat’ or ‘blah’ days
• His hotness
• His Britishness
• His everything

How do you think you know when you’ve found your person in the world? A friend or lover who just fits?

Hope everyone has been having an amazing time! I will be making my rounds soon enough to make sure I can catch up with everyone :)