Yes, I am that person who loves to walk around in Staples or Office Max and drool.  

I buy stationery, even though I never mail anything. 

I dream of an office like the one Daniel had on Ugly Betty.

Although, to be fair, I would rather just sit in a big comfy chair with my feet up.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite off the beaten path office supply sites.

1.  See Jane Work.  This was recently sent to me by The Asian Pear.  And now I am salivating over all of the pretties.  I would like one of everything, please.

2.   Erin Condren.  Found her through a shopping website.  Love her designs.

3.  Uncommon Goods.  I have loved this website for a long time and they never cease to amaze me.

How about you?  What office supplies do you love?

1.  Flora and Fauna Press

Letterpress stationery and design.

2.  Eva Ricci.

Fine art photography.

3.  Neapolitan.

Small luxuries.

4.  Pistachio Press.

Letterpress stationery.

5.  Stephanie Levy

Original collage artwork and fine prints.

Yes, I love me some beauty blogs.  I love to read about the latest products that will make years  disappear from my face (even though I am lucky enough to look 10 years younger as it is), that will give me the glow I had in my youth, that will make my eyes pop (yet hopefully not the veins in Bob’s forehead when he sees how much I’ve spent.

Here are some of my favorite blogs about beauty:

1.  Beauty and the Blog.  This is Sephora’s blog.  Now, before you think they’re biased, keep in mind that Sephora has TONS of products via lots of brands, so they are not just hawking or reviewing Sephora’s own line.  They talk about all of the brands that they carry.  And have I ever mentioned that I call Sephora Girl Heaven?

2.  Beauty Blogging Junkie.  Just a gorgeous blog, filled with great information.  This past week, Amber has been showing you how to get the makeup look that your favorite star had for the Golden Globes.

3. Product Girl.  Carla and Laurie have you covered with this blog.  They make the sacrifice for YOU by buying all sorts of great beauty stuff and trying it out. 

4.  Hello Beauty! Sonja has connections to lots of professional in the makeup biz and always has great info for you.

Enjoy!

1. My Lavendar Cottage

Semi-customizable day planners, address books, list keepers, etc.

2.  Jewels Vine

Steampunk robot lockets.

3.  Made with Molecules

Science art inspired by a molecular muse.

4.  Oh Dier

Photography, Prints, Wooden Toys

5.  Le Papier Studio

Elegant silhouette creations.

I came home from work today…and there was a beautiful laptop waiting for me.

  And let me just say that I’m so glad that I decided against coughing up the extra $40 for two day delivery, as I basically received that anyway!

I love her already.  I’ve decided to name her Lucy.

  This is the background that was installed when I opened her up.

I switched it to this. 

The keyboard will take some getting used to.  I have never had a laptop that had a 10 key available as well.  And the keys are separated out a bit.  But I think I will adjust quickly and really love it.

Over all I’m very pleased.  I’ve been working on making it look how I want and installing things like Firefox, Tweetdeck, etc. 

I hope you’re all having a great day!

Well, of course *I* do.  Except when it’s a choice between a diamond necklace and a new laptop.  And then, even though diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, technology is what helps her stay ahead of the game.

Bob wanted to buy me a diamond necklace for Christmas.  I appreciated the thought but shot him down, asking for help with a new laptop instead.  You see, I have a Commodore 64 McIntosh Dell (un)Inspiron Something or Other that is dying a terrible death.  It’s 6 years old and I’ve promised myself that I can take it out to the driveway and drive over it a few times.   That will make me happy.

We waited to order it until January 3ish, to make sure we caught after-Christmas pricing and such.  And my new baby obsession lover laptop is coming this week!

So what did I get?

It’s an HP Pavilion dv7t Select Edition customizable Notebook PC.  And is it obsolete already? Of course it is!! Yes, they’ve already replaced it with a newer, cheaper model.  But hey, it’s what was available when I was shopping and we’ll go with it.  The software will be the same, just will have paid a bit more for the system in general. 

So what does my new laptop have?

1. Valentina Ramos

Original and inspirational art.

2. Simple Shapes

Wall decals, picture frames, calendars, etc.

3.  My Handbound Books

Handbound journals and notebooks.

4. Neat Things

Humorous greeting cards, little notes, and paper goods.

5.  Pillow Throw Decor

Handmade, traditional, pillows and throws.

6. The Little Room

Custom necklaces and earrings

Andrea had asked me to do some checking around for her for Steampunk stuff on Etsy.  To be honest, I didn’t know much about Steampunk before a couple of months ago.  And I wasn’t sure that I liked it.  But after doing this research, I think I might love it.

1.  The Steampunk Trunk.

Handmade steampunk jewelry and accessories.

2.  A Second Time

Steampunk and hand forged silver jewelry.

3.  birdzNbeez

Handmade lockets and steampunk jewelry.

4. Megan Lee Katauskas

Fine art

5.  Dreadful Things

Gothic Victorian Jewelry

6.  Ta Da Boutique

Embroidered steampunk.

This is a repost from last year, to help you get ready for 2011!

What is a focus word?

A focus word helps you zero-in on your commitments, goals, or resolutions.  You can choose one word for the year or a few words or you can change it up as your year goes along.   It’s all up to you.

Last year, I chose ENHANCE.   Why ENHANCE?

1.  I wanted to ENHANCE my health.

2.  I wanted to ENHANCE my friendships through Crackbook.

3.  I wanted to ENHANCE my career.

4.  I wanted to ENHANCE my blogs.

Having that word meant that I didn’t have to remember every single goal word for word – it meant that I could focus on that one word, which represented those goals.

I posted about my focus word on Crackbook yesterday and received great response about it.  Here are some words that my friends have chosen:

• Excitement
• Revenge
• Focus
• Think Positive
• Create
• Improvement
• Balance

And, one of my friends even took the idea to her family, who each picked out a word.  They are making a piece of art out of it and hanging it on their wall so that they can be reminded of it.  How cool is that?!?!?

Which brings me to the subject of Inspiration Boards, also known as Vision Boards. Have any of you tried this technique?

An inspiration or vision board is a collage (remember those from childhood?  I remember my mom yelling at me for destroying her magazines before she had read them…and maybe a book or two) of images or sayings that represent your goal.

Inspiration boards started in the design world, as interior designers and clothing designers map out what they want to do in a project and add samples of the materials that will be part of the finished product.

It can be as simple or as fancy as you want to make it.  Here are some ideas:

For a vintage-style wedding

Things that make the creator of this one happy

Using focus words and phrases

You don’t have to use a board – you can also use a clothesline:

I actually really like the idea of the clothesline one, as you can change things out as you change your vision or find new items.

It’s also a great activity to do with your kids.

Back to your focus words.  If you are having trouble coming up with a word, might I suggest a thesaurus? If I have a concept in mind, but I can’t come up with the exact word I want, I often go to a thesaurus.

And that is how I arrived at my word for the year last year:  ENHANCE.  You see, I knew that I wanted to strengthen my physical body with workouts and bolster my career options with learning.  But neither of those words really captured what I was going for.  So, I went the thesaurus and there was my word:  ENHANCE.

This year I have two words.  One that I will reveal to you now is ENERGY.  As in I want some.  I feel so tired and run-down most of the time.  I need to find ways to bring ENERGY to my life.  My other word is a secret until later on this week, when I reveal some exciting news for the blog!

What will your focus word or words be?

This is a repost from last year.  It’s here to help you get ready to set some goals for 2011.

I had a lot of folks here and on Crackbook compliment my ability to make resolutions or goals and stick to them. I wanted to share with you my method of doing so.

Want to know the reason that most people cannot stick to goals or resolutions?  It’s because the goals/resolutions are not specific enough.

For example:

I resolve to lose weight.

That’s pretty open-ended, right?  I mean, what is making you overweight now?  What will you change to help you lose weight?

Or:

I am going to be more organized.

Really?  That’s great, but you forgot to say HOW you were going to do that.

Any time you tackle a project, it’s best to break it down into smaller, bite-sized tasks.  This will allow you to feel accomplished along the way, with even minimal effort.

One way to do this is to make sure that you are setting SMART goals:

S – Specific (could also be significant, stretching)

M – Measurable (could also be meaningful, memorable, motivating)

A – Attainable (could also be achievable, action plans, accountability)

R – Relevant (could also be realistic, reasonable, rewarding)

T – Time-bound (could also be timely, tangible, thoughtful)

So let’s put those concepts into play:

Again, you don’t want to just make a general statement. If you want to lose weight, that’s great, but how about instead:

• I resolve to cut out dessert during the week.
• This year I am going to walk a mile three times per week.
• This year I am going to add one green veggie to each meal.

Those things will definitely help you lose inches and pounds and they are SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, RELEVANT and TIME-BOUND.

We all want to lose 10 lbs by tomorrow, but it’s not realistic, nor ATTAINABLE in that time period.  Be realistic about what you can accomplish in a specific amount of time.

If you want  to take it down even further, commit to doing it just for a week or a month.  For example:

• During January, I resolve to walk a mile three times per week.
• During February, I resolve to walk a mile 4 times per week.

It’s easy to “fool” yourself into a habit if you think you only have to do it for so long.

When I first tried to give up ice cream, I set a goal of only eating it every other day, rather than being able to have it every day.  Then I dropped it back to only once during the week and once on the weekends.

Most of us did not go straight from being born to walking.  There are some folks out there who skipped crawling altogether, but the majority of us had to crawl before we could walk, and walk before we could run. We didn’t learn how to ride a bike without training wheels.

Be patient with yourself.  While some folks have said it takes 21 days to make or break a habit, I have found that it takes a good 5-6 weeks for me to do so.  It could be because I’m stubborn or maybe those folks were not quite right about the 21 days.  Either way, I have learned to give myself the time to make the changes.

Some folks have added an E and an R to the end of SMART, for SMARTER

S – Specific (could also be significant, stretching)

M – Measurable (could also be meaningful, memorable, motivating)

A – Attainable (could also be achievable, action plans, accountability)

R – Relevant (could also be realistic, reasonable, rewarding)

T – Time-bound (could also be timely, tangible, thoughtful)

E – Evaluate

R – Re-evaluate (could also be reassess, revisit)

I’m a firm believer EVALUATING and REVISITING my goals.  I try to do it at least once per quarter, if not more often.  That shows me where I need to adjust a behavior in order to meet the goal – or it might be that I’ve finished that goal and I need to set more.  Just because January 1 only comes once a year, it doesn’t mean you can only set goals or resolutions then. You could try doing it every three months or every six months as well.

I recommend writing out your goals, whether it’s in a notebook that only you see or on a blog for the world to see. Any time you write out a goal, it makes it REAL.  It becomes a promise to yourself. Otherwise, it’s just a “someday” idea floating around in your head that only shows up in your daydreams.

When you write out your goals, make sure that you write out the steps that will get you there.  For example:

I want to write a book.

That’s overwhelming to anyone.  That may be your ultimate goal, but how will you get there?

• I will write an outline of the first three chapters of my book by March 31, 2011.
• I will complete the writing of the first chapter by April 30, 2011.

Please feel free to use this simple document to help you set up your goals.

Goal Worksheet