Tag Archives: Diary

Oct 10 2012
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You Are So Beautiful…To Me

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The Best Giveaways On The interwebs!Good Morning Loves. Today is very exciting for me because I have a big announcement that I want to share with you.  Remember when I said that changes are coming? Well I got a new employer to add to my list of freelance employers. I am very excited to say that I am the newest member of the Beautiful Giveaways team.

Beautiful Giveaways is a website that features weekly reviews and giveaways of some very popular and wonderful products.  They are currently hosting a giveaway with $240 worth of free cosmetics from Nars, Stilla, and Urban Decay.  Visit Beautiful Giveaways for your chance to win.

Each of the six lovely ladies (including myself) from Beautiful Giveaways works with companies to host reviews; we contact companies that we want to work with, we send them an email with ideas about how to promote their products and then we wait to hear which products they are going to send us to review.

What’s the good news for you? 

Every company that sends us products to review also sends us products for a giveaway. That means that you have a chance to win free products up to five times each month. That’s definitely good news.

Now for some even more good news, as if it could get any better. I contacted Revlon about hosting a giveaway and they want to work with My Diary Entry and Beautiful Giveaways.  How exciting is that? Sign up for the My Diary Entry Newsletter to be the first to know about new giveaways and great product reviews.

If you are looking for a new nail polish, a new hairdryer, or new running gear you may just find it on My Diary Entry and Beautiful Giveaways, actually you may also be able to win it. So keep reading daily and be sure to sign up for the My Diary Entry Monthy Newsletter to make sure that you are the first to know about new giveaways.

Allow me to introduce you to the ladies of Beautiful Giveaways:

Shannyn is the founder of Beautiful Giveaways and she is a blogger at Frugal Beautiful.

Andrea  is the owner of Nuts and Bolts Media and she also blogs at So Over This.

Kathleen is an adventurous blogger at Frugal Portland.

Kate is a healthy living blogger at Kate Moving Forward.

Tammy  is a beauty blogger at Make Up Wishes.

Love Always,

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Oct 4 2012
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15 Time Management Tips to Get It Done!

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Good Morning Everyone. Last Tuesday I shared a post with my top time management tips and the response by My Diary Entry readers has been both amazing and encouraging.  I am not going to lie, sometimes I get so discouraged by everything that I have to do in one day because I just don’t feel like there are enough hours in one day to get everything done.  However, I am trying to do my best.  I can’t be too discouraged because a lot of my workload is self inflicted, sometimes I take on too many tasks.  I am trying to finish my first book while still trying to produce great content for my freelance employers and still be a somewhat productive employee at my 9 to 5 job.

The response on Twitter and Facebook by My Diary Entry readers has been wonderful. It’s comforting to know that other young professionals who have aspirations to get more out of life are experiencing the same struggles.  It’s comforting to know that I am not crazy and that being extremely busy is just a part of working towards my personal goals.

One of the readers who reached out to me is Jones Loflin.  Jones Loflin is a speaker, trainer and author who helps others get the right things done at work and in life.  You can follow him on Twitter @jonesloflin.

Here are 15 Proven Time Management Strategies from Jones Loflin

1. Identify The Pain (i.e. the source of the problem).

2. Change Your Daily Routine.

3. Live In A State of Perpetual Prioritization.

4. Develop Periods of Focused Intensity.

5. Single Task When Possible.

6. Get The Tasks and Stress Off Your Mind.

7. Make Quick Decisions About How to Best Use A Short Period Of Time.

8. Use The Four D’s to Handle Any Incoming Possibility (delete, delegate, delay, and do).

9. Map It Out in Your Mind.

10. Be Clear About What Constitutes “Done”.

11. Minimize Procrastination.

12. Survive the E-Mail Tsunami (i.e. Manage Your Emails).

13. Stop With the “Victim Mentality”.

14. Insulate Your Schedule (i.e. Give Yourself Some Extra Time).

15. Plan For All 3 Areas of Your Life (Work, Relationships, Yourself).

Love Always.

Photo by kim carpenter

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Sep 13 2012
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Waking Up From a Bad Dream

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Me with my younger sister Tara Marie

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night in a panicked sweat. I had a very bad dream about my younger sister Tara Marie and afterwards I couldn’t fall back asleep.  My sister Tara Marie and I haven’t been close since my family’s breakup almost two years ago. Actually that is not even true, Tara Marie and I have never really been very close, but over the last two years we have definitely drifted even further apart.

There are probably a number of reasons why my sister Tara Marie and I are not close which include my jealously towards her, the fact that I was a really awful older sister when we were growing up (I’m actually still not a great older sister) as well as the fact that we lived in separate households when my parents got divorced.  However just because we aren’t close doesn’t mean that I don’t care about her, it also doesn’t mean that I want anything bad to happen to her; it just means that sometimes it’s easier for two people to be apart than it is for them to be together.

When I woke up from my bad dream I immediately wanted to call my sister and then I realized that I don’t even have her phone number. I am sure that this is not normal, but unfortunately this is just how it is. Since I don’t have Tara Marie’s phone number I decided to write her an email to check in with her, make sure that everything was ok, and be assured that my bad dream was really just a dream.

I wanted to send Tara Marie an email and write all of the things that I cannot say, I wanted to tell my sister that I miss her every single day, I wanted to tell her that I wish we had a different childhood, I also wanted to tell her that I wish that we had a different relationship now that we are both adults, but I didn’t.  Too much time has gone by and so many things have not been said over the years that I am not even sure if our relationship can be repaired.

I don’t want to live with regrets, but how can I fix a relationship with my sister that has practically taken a lifetime to ruin?

Love Always,

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Sep 12 2012
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26 Days Later…I Ate Pizza

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It was absolutely worth the wait.

Last month I decided to give up eating pizza for one year in honour of next year’s BlogHer conference being held in Chicago.  I have always wanted to visit Chicago and I also have a nasty little habit of eating pizza a couple of (sometimes even several) times throughout any given week.  Therefore in anticipation of eating some of the best pizza in the continental U.S. next summer I decided to give up eating pizza until I visit Chicago for the BlogHer conference. The first two weeks of my no pizza mission was definitely difficult because pizza is an easy meal to eat on the go; between work and school I am always on the go.

By some miraculous event brought on by the pizza gods themselves, this past weekend I found myself in Chicago and I couldn’t resist the temptation to finally eat a Chicago deep dish pizza.  On Sunday night my return flight from Denver, Colorado to Montreal was overbooked, and I was in turn booked on a connecting flight through the city of Chicago.  I had one and a half hours at the Chicago airport; in this short period of time I managed to eat a Chicago hot (veggie) dog from America’s Dog and a deep dish pizza from Reggio’s Pizza.  Let me tell you that food never tasted so good.

Now that I know how great Chicago deep dish pizza actually tastes, I have something else to look forward to when I visit Chicago next summer for BlogHer.  I don’t feel bad about breaking my “no pizza mission” because my goal was to give up pizza for one year until next summer when I visit Chicago.  Since I was able to visit Chicago 11 months early I decided not to wait.

Due to the fact that I am really excited about visiting Chicago next summer and thanks to the wonders of Social Media, I found a Chicago restaurant owner named Billy Dec on Twitter and I asked him where to find the best deep dish pizza in Chicago. He re-tweeted my question to his 28,000+ Tweeps and it seems like there are two must-eat restaurants for deep dish pizza in Chicago;  Gino’s East and Lou Malnati’s I will see you both next summer.

In an effort to make healthier food choices and in an effort to actually finish something that I started, I have decided to continue with my “no pizza mission” until next summer.  I also added a few things to my list; in addition to not eating pizza for a year I have also given up eating French fries and ice cream.

Keep reading My Diary Entry for updates on my “no pizza, no French fries, and no ice cream mission.” A little side note – I am already having cravings for ice cream and it’s only been three days.

If you want to see more pics from my Denver/Chicago trip check out my album on Facebook (Tahnya Kristina).  I promise to accept your friend request.

Love Always,

 

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Aug 29 2012
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My Two Weeks of No Negativity

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Earlier this month I decided to try and make some positive changes in my life by trying to have two weeks of no negativity. My It’s Only Two Weeks plan is a way for me to start making changes for the better in my life.  In the past I have tried new experiences, cut out sugar for two weeks, did some good deeds for other people, stopped spending money for two weeks, and I even tried cooking regular meals for two weeks.

The reasoning behind my It’s Only Two Weeks plan is that two weeks is long enough to try and make positive changes become a permanent habit.  Over the past two weeks I tried to eliminate all negativity from my life, this includes everything from people who make me mad to clothes that make me feel bad about myself.

It is so easy to get angry at someone and express our negativity; but it’s not healthy and it doesn’t solve any of our problems.  Other people may make us angry but only we can bring negativity upon ourselves. I don’t like feeling sad or angry but unfortunately the easiest way to express my emotions is through negativity.  I am happy to say that I am working towards making positive changes.

Three steps to get the negativity out of your life:

1. Go Through Your Closet.  I would be lying if I said that my body image didn’t affect my mood on a daily basis.  If I don’t feel pretty, if I am having a bad hair day, or if I am not comfortable in my clothes I will most likely be in a bad mood.  It is so crazy that I let my appearance affect my emotions, but unfortunately it’s true.  Over the past two weeks I went through my closet and I got rid of any clothes that I haven’t worn in 6 months.  I also got rid of all clothes that don’t make me feel like a movie star when I wear them. In total I bagged up and donated 2 pairs of pants, 3 skirts, 6 shirts, and 2 business suits…and that is a positive change.

2. Be Anti Social.  This may seem a little bit weird because usually when we have a bad day the first person that we call to make us feel better is our best friend. Don’t be anti social with your friends; be anti social with the people who bring out your negativity. In any given day I come across at least a handful of people who I really don’t care for, and this is making me a very negative person. Most of the people who I really don’t care for work in my office so I can’t totally eliminate them from my life; but I can try to avoid them at all costs.  It’s better to be alone than to be negative.

3. Think Twice and Eat Less. Food plays a major role in my life, I could eat a piece of chocolate cake when I am celebrating something good that happened in my life, or I could eat a piece of chocolate cake to try and cheer myself up when something bad happened.  Although eating a piece of chocolate cake makes me feel better while I am eating it, I definitely feel awful afterwards.  I am trying to eat foods that give me energy and contribute to my overall good health, and I am trying to stop eating foods based on my emotions.

Are you trying to make positive changes in your life?

Love Always,

Photo by orsocurioso

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