Balance...

Hi guys! I know that I keep playing the disappearing act. But I promise it is not on purpose. I just need to learn how to balance life. I seem to be having a very difficult time with that this year.

As I look back over this past year, it has been a very long and rough year for me. But with less then two months to go It is looking like it is setting up to end on a positive note. I have made new friends, I have an awesome new job and I am feeling much happier over all.

Now all I need to do is learn how to bring balance to my life. There is so much that I want to do and so much that I want to blog about but I keep running out of time. I always thought that with the older you get, the better you get at life, but I feel like I am going backwards. I think about the things that I did in my twenties and I wonder where I found the time? or how I did it?

Maybe I am looking at things all wrong. The problem may be that I am trying to run my life like I did when I was in my twenties and I need to get off that bandwagon since I have been out of my twenties for a while now. I have a wonderful life and I am letting it slip by because I am too busy trying to figure out how to capture a point in time that has past instead of adjusting to what I have, making my thirties the best time of my life. Right?

Anyway, I will get off my soap box. I think that for the rest of this year I will take it easy and work on finding that balance because it is there. I am not saying that I am abandoning my blog, that I will never do. I am just asking for you guys not to give up on me as I try to figure this out.

In the mean time feel free to follow me on Tumblr here. I end up posting there almost daily since I can post on the go using Instagram on my iPhone, or you can follow me on Instagram, my user name is devilishgurl. I have a Twitter account but I do not use it. For some odd reason I just cannot get used to it.

Hope you are all well. I will see you soon!

Ciao! xoxo

~Dissolved Girl

Blogs around the way

Joining Swab-bot has made my already long google reader list even longer. So many talented people with great blogs. So for you creative folk I am going to list some awesome blogs that I discovered after doing a swap.

1. Creative Indulgences: She has some very pretty computer generated art work on her blog. She has not blogged in a while but I do hope she posts more soon.
2. OA: This blogger has some great artwork on her blog. Her ATC's (for those that do not know what an ATC is, I will have a separate blog about them soon) are awesome and I only wish I had half the talent for them.
3. Mad About Pink: You all know my love for interior design, well this blog feeds into it even more.
4. Lil' Miss Polkadot: This blogger makes the cutest Sewn things. She makes these cute Owl pillows that I want and I am now stalking her Etsy shop for when she has more for sale, I can snap one up.
5. Just add Water, Silly: So you guys saw those bookmarks I made here and here, right? Well, my little silly bookmarks got nothing at what the very talented Jenn makes over at her blog. Just check it out here and while you are at it, check out all her other art work.
6. I don't care if Monday's blue: Not a craft blog per say, but she is on swab-bot, she is a cutie and her blog is really cute. I just love this post about a trick she played on her little brother.
7. I Could Make That: This blogger makes pretty awesome things on her blog that can get anyone's creative juices going. I especially love her cat ears tutorial.
8. Our Simply Crazy Life: Not a craft blog, this blogger chats about her family life and her super adorable kids.
9. Cricut Cutter: So there is this thing called a Cricut that I really, really want and may be putting it on my X-Mas wish list this year. Well, that wanting has really been elevated after I was introduced to the Cricut Critter blog. This blogger makes some really cool things that only makes me green with envy.
10. Sugar Crawler: I will warn you, that when you go to this blog you will get hungry. I follow a few baking blogs and this one has been added to my list. She makes some yummy looking backed goods and the pictures that she takes of her creations are awesome.

Hope you all enjoy these blogs. These is going to be a part two of blogs that I like, but t=since this post is super long. I will stop here today.

Ciao! xoxo

~Dissolved Girl

Upcoming Posts

I have a lot to blog about. I was going to do several posts on Sunday but the power went out and by the time the power came back on I was ready for bed. Here are some of the topics I have up and coming:

1) Weekend Crafts: I did not make a whole lot this weekend due to the power outage. But I did manage to make a few things

2) Jewelry: I made a few new pieces

3) A few new blogs: On Swap-bot I did this awesome swap where I discovered some new blogs. We were suppose to check out 10 but along the way I saw others that I liked, I will be blogging about them in the next day or so.

4) Postcards: I am becoming addicted to postcards. I will share with you a few very awesome ones I received in the mail recently.

Alright, those are the main things I have planned for the week. Also in between I will have my normal Hump Day Video and Shoe post. This week I will not have a nail of the week due to the fact that I am giving my nails another break.

What are you guys up to? How was your weekend?

Ciao!! xoxo
~Dissolved Girl

Silence......

It has been pretty quite around here lately. I am sorry about that, you all have been on my mind. I have been writing all my thoughts down on my trusty journals and they will manifest itself here on my blog very soon. But real life has it's clutches on me. I am getting used to my new job and blogger is now blocked at work.

I really need to hurry up and win the lottery so I can blog all day. :-)

I need to also catch up on all your blogs. Google reader says that I currently have over 700 posts to read. I better get to reading them very soon.

How are all you doing? Anything going on this weekend?

Ciao! xoxo

~ Dissolved Girl

Testing 1, 2, 3

I am having technical difficulties. Blogger is being stupid, the internet is being stupid, and I am pretty sure I am being stupid. So while I am out dealing with my stupidicy, Go to Margaret and Helen's blog. I know I have mentioned them before. I just cannot help it, I really love their blog. They do not blog often but when they do they never disappoint.

Maybe I like them so much because they remind me of my grandmothers. Who knows, but who cares. They are awesome so go read, Helen posted today.

Ciao! xoxo

~Dissolved Girl

And the winner is?

Thank you ladies for entering my giveaway. I loved reading what inspires you.

Andrea you should be getting an email shortly with your gift certificate.

Ciao! xoxo

~Dissolved Girl

Last Day for the Giveaway!

Do not forget today is the last day for my three year blogging anniversary giveaway. You all have until 11:59 PM to enter.

So far two people have entered and there are over 30 more of you out there. So get to it before it is over!

Go here to get the rules to the giveaway.

Ciao!!
~Dissolved Girl

Welcome to my third year blogging anniversary giveaway!

As a thank you for being here indulging me on my ramblings, I am hosting a giveaway.

The prize will be a 25 dollar gift certificate to ONE of the retailers listed below:

The rules are:

1) You must be a follower of my blog

2) Post on your blog a picture of something or someone that inspires you and why.

3) Come back to this post, comment here with a link to your blog post, along with your email address and which of the retailers you would like the certificate from if you win.

This giveaway is open to everyone. If you are an international follower please go to the retailers website and make sure they ship to you (from my understanding Fabric.com is the only site that does not deliver overseas.).

This giveaway is open till March 15, 2010. The winner will be announced on a separate post on the 16th. This will be an online Gift Certificate, so once the winner is announced they will be receiving an email with their prize.

Ciao! xoxo

~ Dissolved Girl

PS: Also, if you are one of those that follow me on google reader, please also follow me using the box on the top right of this blog. I know I have more followers on google reader then what is listed here and I have no idea on how to see who follows me on google reader. Thanks!

Looking forward…

On the 14th of February my blog became two years old. It has been a fun ride. But while I have always blogged about everything that I enjoy, there has never been a real structure to my blog. I always thought that the day I put too many rules on myself is the day that this starts to feel like “work” and not something I do for fun.

I decided not to post anything over the weekend. I wanted to spend a little bit of time reading my posts from the past two years and do some thinking about what to do about this little space. While a lot of things have stayed the same, there are some things that have fallen off the map. Not on purpose, it just happened. So I started to think that a little bit of structure here would be a good thing. It would keep me on task; things would not fall of the grid, it would make things a little bit more cohesive and not be all over the place.

So I am going to make some changes, which I will share with you as I execute them on my end. But in the mean time I want to hear from you guys. While I primarily ramble about the things I enjoy/like (of course that will not change), I do not want to bore you guys to death. I would like to get some feedback from you guys. What would you like to see here? What do you want me to blog more about? What would you like me to not blog about? Or are you fine with my ramblings?

Good or bad, bring it on. I would love to know what you think. Just remember to be respectful about it (not that I have to worry about that with you guys. But I still need to say it.).
I am also working on my second giveaway. I will have a post about it this week. So look out for it.


Ciao!! xoxo
~Dissolved Girl

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner*

Remember the package I showed you here?

Look at what was inside:

These very pretty earrings are my winnings from Meandering Mel's blog anniversary giveaway.

My sixth sense must have known when they were arriving, because the day they arrived I had ran out of the apartment without earrings. When I got the package and looked inside, I saw that the second pair above went very well with what I was wearing. That instantly solved my no earring problem (I was getting really tired of touching my ears because I was self conscious that I did not have earrings on).

You need to go check out her jewelry creations. She makes these awesome Tree of Life Pendants, that I have been eyeing for a while and I am sure you all will love too.

Go here to see her jewelry blog and here to see her Etsy store.

Thanks for the earrings Mel!

Ciao! xoxo

~Dissolved Girl

* I was drawing a blank on coming up with a witty blog title. That is the best I could do. Do not judge. hahahaha.....

For Mel.....

Sponge Bob and Patrick went off to see you on Friday. So keep a look out for them! :-)

~ Dissolved Girl

Busy Bee

The only good thing about being snowed in is that I get a lot of work done that I otherwise would not have time to do.

While being snowed in I:

- Made a bunch of jewelry (I will have pictures tomorrow)

- Played WoW with Mr. P

- Gave myself another manicure (Did not last very long, since shortly after I started cleaning)

- Scrubbed my kitchen floor (Boy, did it need it!)

- Caught up on all the shows recorded on the DVR

- Started remaking the skirt I messed up last weekend. I just need to go out and buy a new zipper to match the fabric.

- Played Just Dance (that thing works you to death. But it is insanely fun.)

- Ate lots of Pancakes, made by the breakfast King Mr. P. (I just love Brinner)

Tomorrow is back to reality. I will be heading back into the office to catch up on all the work that I neglected this week. Is all good because it is only fun to stay home when Mr. P is here and he is heading back to work too.

How was your week?

Ciao! xoxo

~ Dissolved Girl

Not a good Morning

Have you ever felt like there is something not right going on with your head? I do not mean in the "I am going to go crazy and kill a bunch of people way", but like, you spend your whole day just fucking up. Simple stuff, things that you normally would not?

Well, that is how today has been for me. It started out when I got to work. I banged Mr. P's car. That gave me an instant headache and made me feel like crap. Then I had a meeting and I kept having to step out of the meeting cause I kept forgetting things that I needed for the meeting. I mean I can understand forgetting one thing, but I ended up disrupting the meeting 5 times! Then I leaned up against a wall with wet paint. Mind you there were signs every where but I still managed to not see them and lean up against it.

Then I was supposed to meet with a contractor and he had to call me three times to meet up with him before I finally did. Each time he called I would get side track and forget he was waiting for me.

What in the world is wrong with me today? It is only noon and I feel like I should just hide in a corner some where so I wont mess up anymore.

Have any of you had days like this? What do you do to get yourself back to normal?

Ciao! xoxo
~Dissolved Girl

Blog Love

Last night while watching Iron Chef America I was snooping around some of the blogs I follow and I found this post by Liberty London Girl. I must say I am glad I click on it because it introduced me to the wonderful blog Margaret and Helen.

Margaret and Helen is a blog written by two ladies that have been best friends for 60 years. Helen's grandson taught her how to blog in order to keep in touch with her best friend Margaret moved to Maine.

Their blog is such a witty and highly entertaining. I love it and recommend it to you all.

Ciao! xoxo
~Dissolved Girl

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year my dears!

~ Dissolved Girl

2010 Resolutions....

I like most people try to do a resolution lis every year. I am not always successful on completing the things on my list but I am on a mission to get as most of the things on my list accomplished by the end of 2010. So here is my list:

1) Get Healthy - I have already started on this mission. But I know I have to get more serious. I need to get my butt to the gym at least 3 times a week.

2) Get a new job - I have also started on this. Mr. P helped me out with my resume. I have sent it to a few places. But with the new year I am going to ramp up the search.

3) Paintball - I used to play almost every weekend. I have stopped playing the last couple of years and I really want to get back into it. It is a great workout and lots of fun.

4) My Jewelry - I have done well selling my jewelry to people that work in my building. But I need to really ramp things up. After the month that I have had I think the best thing to do is work for myself.

5) Vacation - Mr. P and I are in real need of a vacation. I mean a get out of town and maybe even the country. By this time next year I want us to be doing that. So starting now I will start saving money towards that goal.

6) Be Happier - I am not saying that I am not happy now. But I now I am hard on myself and I am my own worst enemy. I really want to be happier and a better person. I have kicked the negative people in my life, now is time to improve me.

That is it. That is my resolution list. What is yours?

Ciao!! xoxo
~Dissolved Girl

I am Sorry

I have been a bad blogger this month and for this I apologize. This month has been really rough for me. My job has given me a beating emotionally that has been very hard to get out off.

I am so glad that I have positive people in my life and that I have managed to get all the negative people out of it. I am also glad that I have Mr. P around. Not only is he a great boyfriend, he is a great friend and he makes life so much more fun.

My main goal for 2010 is to make my professional life as pleasant as my personal life. I am not looking for perfection because nothing is ever 100% perfect. But I would like to be able to go to work and not feel like I am going in for my death sentence.

I have a few days off from work so I will take advantage and update this poor neglected blog. :-)

Ciao! xoxo
~ Dissolved Girl

PS: How was your Christmas?

FTC Blogger Regulations

On 10/5/09 the FTC released regulations that affect bloggers when it comes to advertisements, endorsements, and reviews.

I know there are a lot of bloggers that get paid to advertise or review products. If any of you do any of the above please familiarize yourself with the new regulations as to avoid any problems in the future.

For those interested here is the link.

Hope this helps those that do sponsored reviews or advertisements.


Ciao! xoxo
~ Dissolved Girl

My 200+ Post and Giveaway

It all started 21 months ago with a rant. I did not know then what I was going to turn my blog into. I have so many interests, I was not sure if I wanted to talk about just one thing or talk about everything.

I knew that if I just kept it about one topic I would lose interest. There is only so much beauty/fashion you can talk about before you start to sound like every other beauty/fashion blog. Do not get me wrong, I love all those beauty/fashion blogs and it is safe to say I follow almost all of them. But I know me, I have different voices, the louder one being about shoes. So I ended up deciding I would blog about whatever came to mind.

I did not do the one year anniversary because quite frankly I think I only had one or two readers tops. Who was I going to celebrate with? I did not do a 100 post because eh, I did not feel like it. But this is my 223th post. It is a milestone of sorts for me. I have 25 followers that may or may not read my posts but thank you for being there.

I have insane amount of fun doing this and sharing with whoever may be reading what interests me and what is going on in my corner of the world. This is my diary, my baby and I hope to continue for a long time even if all I have is 25 readers.

Now with all that said, what would you like to see more of? or what would you not like to see? I love feedback, negative or positive, bring it on. Just do not be rude about it.

Lastly, I want to thank you all for following me during my rants, raves, and everything in between. It has been fun and I look forward to continuing on this adventure.

Now on to the fun stuff. I am doing my first giveaway and it is open to everyone. The rules are:

1) You have to be a follower of my blog
2) You must comment on this post with your email address

That is it!

The winner will get:

1) Body Nature: Shower Gel
2) Body Nature: Bath Soak
3) Body Nature: Body Souffle
4) China Glaze: Blue Sparrow
5) OPI Matte: You Don't Know Jacques
6) Black Box: Mystery Gift

The giveaway closes on Saturday, October 17th and I will announce the winner using one of those random number generators on Sunday, October 18th.

Ciao! xoxo
~Dissolved Girl

Fall

Today is the first day of Fall and I am in heaven. This is by far my favorite time of year. I love the changing of the leaves, the cooler weather, the layering of clothes and lastly but certainly not least drinking hot chocolate while wrapped up in one of my warm quilts.

Are you as excited for Fall as I am?

Ciao! xoxo
~Dissolved Girl