New Years Resolution 2012

I have been up half the night working on my dream/goals board, which I finished...pics I will post tomorrow. But then I got on my computer and wanted to create a set on Polyvore. (If you want to follow me there, click here) There was a contest too, so I entered it using this set I made. It looks a lil cray cray but I swear there's a method to my madness.

One thing I love about Polyvore is that it lists all the products and prices and location of items you post on there.

So, here is part of my resolutions and a lil bit of things I want that I want to get myself and not as gifts. ANd its not because I don't appreciate gifts when they are given, its just I can be very independent and want to be able to provide for myself and my family and to get the things I want for myself. Does that make sense?

This board kind of expresses my desire to take my artistic and creative side and do something with it. Since I was younger, I've always wanted my own clothing store and clothing line. But I was interested in so much more than that. I loved interior design as well. I mean, when I was a kid, I drew my whole house and every detail down to the hinges in the doors, to the shingles in the roof and the blades of grass in the front yard. I drew up blue prints of my room before rearranging it (which I still do) hahaha I cant wait to show you my dream boards. I am charging up my Sony Bloggie so I can take better pics of them in the day light. And yes, I had so much to put on my boards, I have Two.

Here's a pic from last year's New Years Eve celebrating the new 2012 year.


And here is the year before that, celebrating the new 2011 year! Hahaha Its funny to see old pics of yourself as the years go by.


This year, I have a few resolutions, although they're not really resolutions, because these are goals of mine I push myself towards everyday...at least when I am not procrastinating.  hahahaha

So, here are my Goals:

1. STOP Procrastinating: I am normally pretty motivated, but its easy for me to want to lay on the couch or bed and watch Grey's Anatomy.  I can easily multitask, or have a movie or music playing in the background while I sketch, or sew or paint, but I have my lazy days. A lot of lazy days.

2.  Eat Healthy and Exercise:  I know this is on the top of everyone's list. I used to be so fit. I mean, I did 4 years in the army. Even 5 years ago I was working out religiously. But I am getting older and theres nothing wrong with me gaining a lil weight...but I am soooo out of shape. So, I have cut back on the fatty foods and have been building myself up slowly with working out.


 This is me right before I moved back to Virginia from Colorado in 2010 with some fresh ink!
 
This is when I moved back from Colorado and I miss this weight. This is when my clothes fit me! My goal is to lose 35 pounds.
 

 
3.  EAT>SLEEP> CREATE> REPEAT. This is my personal mantra I have started to repeat to myself. I need to push myself harder. I feel like I am not where I want to be and I am wasting my energy and talent.  This includes creating more, blogging more and doing more.
 
 
4.  Staying Positive: I struggle with PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder) and depression. I am extremely emotional. SO emotional that I cry at hallmark commercials. I am not too bad as long as I stay on my prescriptions. I get my healthcare from the VA hospital and I often forget to renew my prescriptions, so I want to stay on top of my health as well. As long as I do that, I can stay positive.
 
 
5. Searching for Enlightenment:  I want to broaden my horizons. I want to expand how I think and feel. I am a true believer that what you say, you speak into existence. I also believe in Karma, reincarnation, destiny and fate. I am very spiritual and believe everything happens for a reason. And that we go through life searching for a meaning of why we are here, so I'm on a search and will do what I can to further my spiritual path.
 
 
 
I think that is it for me. I am sure my list will go up and down. So, Im curious to see what your resolutions are or your goals. Please comment! Thanks for stopping by! Happy New Year!
 
 
 

Thrift Store Finds

I used to hate going into thrift stores when I was younger. Or I went through phases when I loved them, then hated them. I don't know why. Just a weirdo I guess. But lately, I've been on a thrift store kick, wanting to go to every single one I pass on the street. This month, I have found some pretty cool things. 


I found this reprint of a Vincent Van Gogh painting stacked behind 20 other frames. The price tag on the back said it was originally $299.00  and I only paid $7! It goes perfect with my living room colors.


I found these vintage glasses (the pic is not very good...the lighting in my kitchen SUCKS!) in a light green for $4.  There are 2 coffee mugs that have sheet music on them that I had to snatch up. Then, on the far right are three vintage canisters in a bright green..that now hold pasta, sugar and rice. I love these and they brighten up the kitchen!


This electric vaporizer is actually something my hubby picked up from the antique store. We were there for an hour and he found this stuffed somewhere. He loves finding cool, retro stuff too.




Last week, we found a new secondhand store and in the front was this awesome HUMUNGO gumball machine. I was drooling all over this..this would be cool to have in my future store. This was priced for $400. How amazing would this be to have??? Or convert it into a fishtank...hahahahah


At another place, we found some good finds. Jermie found some house speakers in good condition that he has been on the hunt for lately.  Jermie found this projector on the floor next to the speakers.  I know what youre thinking...like what the hell am I gonna do with a projector? Well, I was planning on making my own lightbox so I can trace designs and teach the kids how to trace. Projectors are also good for making murals on walls or making sure a big design can transfer onto a bigger canvas.

I'm planning on sprucing this up by painting it...Ill try to blog about it. Better yet, Im planning on starting up my  videos again on youtube. My mom surprised me with a new laptop, so I will be back to blogging. Also, I keep getting asked how to start a blog up, so I'm planning on making a post and a video on it. :) What do you think? Any thoughts?

 

Christmas Morning



It's funny to sit back and think no matter what you get for Christmas or how old you are, staying up playing with your new toys is the best thing about the holidays. My brother and I got new laptops and we stayed up until 6am just exploring how to use the new Windows 8 software and downloading all sorts of apps and games. The hubby, bro and cuzzo all stayed up playing Black Ops 2.



We all pretty much get new pajamas every year- which the older I get, the more and more I look forward to new pjs! Especially from Victoria's Secret. Most comfortable ever!

Later, I'll be cooking Christmas Dinner with a big ol' Ham that my Dad got us. It will be a nice, calm day. The kiddos are with their Dad opening up all their presents. I love sitting back and watching all the kids in the family go crazy and beast all over their presents. hahaha

I did a lil baking, I wish I could've done more because I actually have discovered I like to bake. I made some of these muffins and added mini chocolate chips to it, and they turned out so good. I wanted to make them from scratch, but didn't have all the ingredients. :(



I am off to go get ready for the day and go home to start cooking some more. Thanks for stopping by! I wish you all a Merry Christmas from all of us here in Virginia Beach!

I wouldn’t mind some snow

I have to admit, this Christmas I wasn’t feeling it. Like, at all. But as soon as I got to my mom’s house with kids in tow, I already felt better. Whenever I get a lil down, I have to stop and remember what I have to be thankful for. Last year, my mom wasn’t even here, she was in Korea so we didn’t have a big family gathering. So, I was pretty happy that everyone was coming over. We had appetizers, lumpia, prime rib, mashed potatoes and so much more I cant even remember.  Most of the family was over and those that were in other states, we skyped with.

 

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We had a fire going, music playing and of course the kids running around. I miss times like these. Even though the holidays can be stressful, in the end it’s the memories were creating that mean the most. Its not about the money spent and what presents we received, its about our family and friends. Watching the kids open up presents and watching your family members play Greedy Santa, it’s just fun times.

 

I hope everyone has had an awesome holiday and was able to spend times with loved ones. I just wanted to do a quick post and say hello! I’ll be revamping my blog, I know its been changing lately, but just trying to make it the best it can be. I will be able to be on my blog more because I got a new laptop! I am so stoked because my old one basically just died. Thanks for stopping by! Merry Christmas!

Skulls


My good friend Lah (who is an awesome Nail Artist) stopped by my place a couple days ago to borrow some things and she had a surprise for me. She had stopped by a tattoo shop and asked about any upcoming apprenticeships going on in the shop and she set up an appointment with me with one of the artists.


I stopped by yesterday morning and showed him my portfolio or what I threw together at last second….(ughhhh I know, I know, I need to be more organized) and talked with him a bit. I wasn’t offered an apprenticeship, but he did say that I need to draw everyday. He wants to see a solid year of drawing, which is cool with me because I still need to work. He did give a “homework” assignment.

I took the challenge and have been working on my drawings for the past 2 days. I haven’t been feeling well, so while I have been taking Dayquil and Nightquil nonstop I have been using this down time to really work on my art. Yesterday, I even dragged myself out of bed to the library so I could get some art books for inspiration. I found some good ones too.

My challenge was to draw 3 Skulls. One black and gray realistic skull, one vibrant, bright and colorful Sugar Skull and the last a new school skull drawing.

 

I finished my skull drawing already and wanted to share my progress with you.

 



 

The second drawing, I am gathering reference photos for the Sugar Skull. I am really excited to draw this one. Here are some of my favorite photos I found so far.

 





 

 

Ill show yall my progress as I go because I love sharing my art in hopes it would inspire someone or another artist to get off their butt and create art. I def need a good shoving every now and then to get the fire going.

Another artist and myself are thinking about getting together for an art session soon. So if anyone is in the area and want to collaborate or bounce ideas off each other…let me know by leaving a comment ot send me an email to
Cecilia@sweetsurrenderart.com
Thanks for stopping by and see you again in the next post!
 
Quote of the Day:
 

 

Baby Hipster

This past Sunday, Matthias and I got the rare chance to have mom and son time. We went to Starbucks and ordered our holiday drinks. He gets his white hot chocolate and I get my Pepermint mocha at kids temperature simply because I hate burning my tongue and waiting for my coffee to get cool enough to sip on. I managed to get a pic of us.

He loves his hat! He's had it for about a year now. Its from Target..Harijuku line of course. He snatched my glasses from inside the car and wore them all day. He is soooo stinkin cute. He is alot like me and when I notice lil things that we have in common, it just makes my heart melt.

Later, we went to his football banquet party to celebrate the season and to get his trophy. He was so excited to get his trophy and to also go bowling....oh yea, it was held at a bowling alley on base. Many many kids and their parents. It was actually pretty fun.

Check out my hot neon bowling rental shoes! They match my tights under my ripped jeans! I managed to bowl almost a full game before my hip and wrist started hurting.  Arabella was excited to go bowling too! She bowled more games than us! She bowled 5 games!!!! Lets just say she was fast alseep as soon as we got in the car.


Look how bog his trophy is!!! He was so happy and I couldnt have been more proud of my baby boy. I am glad that he stuck through the whole season and he cant wait for next season!

Now, I need to get off this computer and make breakfast for the fam...even though its lunchtime. Tons of stuff to do. Im making my dining room into my art studio and gotta start christmas shopping. I know, I know, its a lil late, but so much has been happening. well, im off to start the day!

Hairspiration

Everytime I get ready to do something drastic to my hair I search high and low...well, I search through Google and Pinterest for the ultimate hair styles. I found some awesome images. Of course, I want to share with my lovelies!



















I cant wait to update my hair. I am gonna go back to shaving my side again and I'm thinking about getting some extensions. Ive never had them before but I wanna try it. I am getting better at doing extensions myself. I want to do crazy, fun looks and specialize in dramatic, colorful looks! I hope you love all these images! Which one is your favorite? Thanks for stopping by!