Procrastination

Hi, my name is Carly, and I am a Procrastinator. (Insert chorus of "Hi Carly" here).

Procrastination is one of my biggest weaknesses. My best/worst example of my amazing ability to put things off is taken from my Junior Year of College. I was studying Psychology and I was in a pretty demanding Research Methods class. I was required to write a ten page paper (then it seemed so long, but now my thesis laughs in the face of ten page papers and some day my dissertation will laugh in the face of my thesis, but still... 10 pages was a lot to me back then). Of course, I put it off until the night before. I was about 6 pages into the paper (it was around 12:30 a.m.) and I decided to take a break and get a snack. I stepped away from my computer for a few minutes and when I came back, my entire computer had crashed. I hadn't saved my paper on any external device, hadn't emailed it to myself, nothing. My roommates computer genius boyfriend and the place I bought the computer from tried, but couldn't save my fried hard drive. So, at about 2'o'clock in the morning, I had to start all over.

Lesson learned... sort of.

I still put things off until the last minute, and sometimes it's really necessary. When I have a lot of things to do, I sometimes only think a day ahead, but that can get me into trouble.

What about you?

Do you tend to procrastinate?

How do you combat your procrastination?

What is YOUR best/worst procrastination story?

Sweet Tooth Fairy Date Night

This Saturday, November 14th, 2009, The Sweet Tooth Fairy will be open late for DATE NIGHT!! Bring a DATE anytime between 7:00pm and 9:00pm and receive a buy one get one 50% off on all cookies, cupcakes, and brownies.
They are located at 1227 S University Ave Provo, UT 84601

They have great seasonal flavors such as caramel apple cupcakes, pumpkin cake bites, and pumpkin chocolate cupcakes as well as the orange cupcake. They also have ding dongs, fudge cake, pumpkin chocolate bars, and honey buns along with their normal assortment.

Soup to Warm You Up

Mm Mm Mmm good. With the fall weather taking over it causes me confusion. One day I'll wake up and look outside thinking it's going to snow, because it's cold outside, so I'll put on the layers; turtle neck, cardigan, sweater vest, mittens, parka, and scarf. Then I will walk outside after my block of classes and it will be a bright sunny day with people walking around in their swim suits a.k.a t-shirts, shorts, and flip flops (swimsuits aren't part of the honor code). Then the next day I look outside and it looks the same as yesterday so I ditch the turtle neck for a short sleeve shirt and the parka for a jacket. Next thing I know there's a cold wind and people are dressed in their parkas. I don't know what to predict from Mother Nature.

So I keep waiting for the snow. I know it's coming soon even though I don't want it to come yet. I would love unconfused fall weather to stay for a longer period and push back the snow season by 3 months. But in case it decides to come today I've prepared you with a delicious soup recipe perfect with or out the snow. I've made it twice and it was excellent both times. Hope you enjoy!

Creamy Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 cup sweet yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup carrots, diced
• 1/2 cup celery, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• Oregano, to taste
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups of baking potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 cups of roasted chicken, shredded
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup evaporated fat free milk
• 2 cups of uncooked whole wheat egg noodles

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat.
   
2. Add the onion, carrots, and celery; sauté for 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for an additional 60 seconds, stirring constantly.
3. Season the cooked vegetables with oregano, chicken, salt and pepper, to taste.
   
4. Add 5 1/2 cups of chicken broth and potatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer partially covered, 25 minutes or until the potato is tender.
   
5. Combine the cornstarch with the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken broth and mix thoroughly.
   
6. Add cornstarch mixture, chicken, milk and egg noodles to the broth, and cook for 10 minutes or until the noodles are tender.
   

I'm Famous!!!!!!!

Happy November 11th! I just wanted to blog today to make sure everyone knew that I'M FAMOUS!!!! Look for me in the Daily Universe page 6! Yep! That's me in my Pea Coat!!! Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Noodles and Company Breast Cancer Benefit

Noodles and Company is sponsoring the Susan G. Komen Foundation with a benefit tonight—Tuesday, November 10th, from 5-9 pm. 25% of all sales will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Proceeds will help with screening, education, treatment, and support of those with breast cancer.

Enjoy a night out for a good cause!

Intuitive Eating

1. Reject the Diet Mentality Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer you false hope of losing weight quickly, easily, and permanently. Get angry at the lies that have led you to feel as if you were a failure every time a new diet stopped working and you gained back all of the weight. If you allow even one small hope to linger that a new and better diet might be lurking around the corner, it will prevent you from being free to rediscover Intuitive Eating.

2. Honor Your Hunger Keep your body biologically fed with adequate energy and carbohydrates. Otherwise you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage for re-building trust with yourself and food.

3. Make Peace with Food Call a truce, stop the food fight! Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. If you tell yourself that you can't or shouldn't have a particular food, it can lead to intense feelings of deprivation that build into uncontrollable cravings and, often, bingeing When you finally “give-in” to your forbidden food, eating will be experienced with such intensity, it usually results in Last Supper overeating, and overwhelming guilt.

4. Challenge the Food Police .Scream a loud "NO" to thoughts in your head that declare you're "good" for eating under 1000 calories or "bad" because you ate a piece of chocolate cake. The Food Police monitor the unreasonable rules that dieting has created . The police station is housed deep in your psyche, and its loud speaker shouts negative barbs, hopeless phrases, and guilt-provoking indictments. Chasing the Food Police away is a critical step in returning to Intuitive Eating.

5. Respect Your Fullness Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry. Observe the signs that show that you're comfortably full. Pause in the middle of a meal or food and ask yourself how the food tastes, and what is your current fullness level?

6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor The Japanese have the wisdom to promote pleasure as one of their goals of healthy living In our fury to be thin and healthy, we often overlook one of the most basic gifts of existence--the pleasure and satisfaction that can be found in the eating experience. When you eat what you really want, in an environment that is inviting and conducive, the pleasure you derive will be a powerful force in helping you feel satisfied and content. By providing this experience for yourself, you will find that it takes much less food to decide you've had "enough".

7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food Find ways to comfort , nurture, distract, and resolve your issues without using food. Anxiety, loneliness, boredom, anger are emotions we all experience throughout life. Each has its own trigger, and each has its own appeasement. Food won't fix any of these feelings. It may comfort for the short term, distract from the pain, or even numb you into a food hangover. But food won't solve the problem. If anything, eating for an emotional hunger will only make you feel worse in the long run. You'll ultimately have to deal with the source of the emotion, as well as the discomfort of overeating.

8. Respect Your Body Accept your genetic blueprint. Just as a person with a shoe size of eight would not expect to realistically squeeze into a size six, it is equally as futile (and uncomfortable) to have the same expectation with body size. But mostly, respect your body, so you can feel better about who you are. It's hard to reject the diet mentality if you are unrealistic and overly critical about your body shape.

9. Exercise--Feel the Difference Forget militant exercise. Just get active and feel the difference. Shift your focus to how it feels to move your body, rather than the calorie burning effect of exercise. If you focus on how you feel from working out, such as energized, it can make the difference between rolling out of bed for a brisk morning walk or hitting the snooze alarm. If when you wake up, your only goal is to lose weight, it's usually not a motivating factor in that moment of time.

10 Honor Your Health--Gentle Nutrition Make food choices that honor your health and taste buds while making you feel well. Remember that you don't have to eat a perfect diet to be healthy. You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or gain weight from one snack, one meal, or one day of eating. It's what you eat consistently over time that matters, progress not perfection is what counts.

From intuitiveeating.com

What's Realistic?

Jennifer Loch used these pictures in her presentation at the Dating Conference. I thought these pictures were stunning and awesome and thought I'd share.

Sometimes, I catch myself wondering why I don't look like models. But this made me realize that even models don't look like models. See if you can tell the difference. She had them in powerpoint and it was awesome to flip back and forth and watch the waistline, hips, shoulders, face etc all change.

solving social conundrums

Have you ever wondered that that tiny spoon is for that sits above your plate at fancy dinners? Do you struggle to know how to respond when someone asks your opinion on a controversial subject? Are you one of those patrons at restaurants who struggles with how much you should tip? Perhaps I'm the only one who has difficulties in the above areas (and in all aspects of social interaction), but I doubt it. I'm sure all of us have random questions about how to act in certain social situations.

Candilyn Newell can teach you everything you need to know. I'm not kidding. She is the wife of the former U.S. ambassador of Sweden, a Counseling Psychology grad student, a mother of many children, and a career counselor in the advisement center in the Wilk. While living in Sweden she hosted dinners and receptions, often with famous people such as the queen of Sweden and the U.S. First Lady in attendance. She has dined and conversed with all different kinds of people from around the world. And to top off all of her many accomplishments she is one of the most gracious, kind people you will ever meet.

Candilyn has been teaching etiquette classes for many years. She's done mini workshops for church youth groups, events for BYU, and is now teaching a one credit student development class for the first time to cover this touchy subject. Candilyn doesn't pretend to know all of the rules of etiquette and is always eager to learn knew things. Her philosophy is that you should always create an environment where those in attendance will be comfortable--never draw undue attention toward yourself or make others feel like they are "less than" you. Remember to always be your best self.

Sister Newell covers the following topics (and many others) in her STDEV214 class: thank you notes, wedding announcements, table etiquette, gift giving, what to do at business receptions, and the art of tipping. As far as I know she'll be teaching it again during Winter semester 2010 and I would recommend that you all take it if you have time. I've already learned so many life skills that will help me and those around me feel more comfortable in social situations. I believe if women in the church are perceived to be educated, polite, gracious people we can attract more acquaintances and friends who will want to get to know us. Lets become the kind of people we want to get to know!

Understanding.

  I’m joining the coalition of “thankful” blog posts this month.

I feel only slightly lame doing it in the month of November—like I should be publicly expressing thanks all year round and not just in the month where I’m assigned to do it—but any gratitude is better than none, even if it starts out assigned, right.

My lists of “I’m thankful for…” start with standard things, like family and friends and food and sleep and water. Somewhere in the middle come things like good-smelling conditioner and toilet paper, and by the end I’m grateful for the things I don’t have—dysentery, malaria, a clay house, things of that nature. 

I remember being ten or eleven and flipping through my seventeen page scroll of thankfulness, exhaustive and including everything from books to bugs to bubble baths—and I was satisfied. Satisfied that yes, here was proof that I was someone with a grateful heart, and wasn’t I just on my way to heaven in a hand basket! Every year I’d plop down with my journal and make a new exhaustive list of every blessing I could think of—that some saintly soul invented chocolate chip cookies, that some other saintly soul invented mothers who bake them, ovens, and chickens who lay eggs, and so on, and so forth…you see what I mean by exhaustive.

These lists taught me a good ten-year-old lesson to learn: I got outside of my day-to-day luxurious life and recognized the intricacies of my incredibly abundant blessings.

But twenty year old me needed to learn a different lesson, I think.

I feel like I finally understand.

What gratitude is. How it transforms me. This year in my life has been one of incredible joy—and linked closely, one filled with this sense of abiding, deep gratitude.

I really believe this is a blessing I have been given—the vision to see the Master’s hand in my life and in the world. He has opened my eyes in a way I’ve never seen before, to the colors of the sky and the beauty of summer in Provo and the ringing happiness when my kid brother laughs. He has shown me the magnificence of the human body, that I can run and jump and sing and walk to classes at an amazing university and back home to wonderful roommates. He has opened up my heart to love, real love of seventy different kinds, with strangers and family members and one angelically patient man. He has unlocked the treasures of His words to me, in the scriptures and through the inspired counsel of parents and priesthood leaders and dear friends. The richness of life has been manifest to me this year in a way I’ve never experienced it before—and I can’t explain precisely why this has come to me other than through my own small efforts to be aware of it and Heavenly Father’s mercy in unfolding it.

This is the real meaning of a grateful heart, twenty-year-old me has learned. Not a once-a-year list on flat paper. Not going around the circle and saying one thing you’re thankful for. Not making thank-you cards for Young Women’s on Tuesday night. These are all valuable, wonderful things—but things that have not expressly given me a grateful heart. It has been consistent thinking around this desire to be more grateful, consistent prayer, effort in relationships and interactions with people and ideas, and consistent recommitting when I find myself inevitably falling short.

Please do not think I am telling you I have reached the summit of gratitude and these words are sliding down some mountain of self-righteousness. I, like every other mortal, will always be climbing to that point of perfect understanding that yields perfect gratitude. But I have learned more about life’s abundance this year than any other, and it has been through the consistent effort to be more grateful and aware.

I’m still grateful for bubble baths and my lack of dysentery—but I am grateful in a new way. This way is every day, in small and big things. This way is a gift from God. This way is through the eyes of the Giver of all good things—this vision imparts wisdom so big I can only hope to grow into it, through an entire lifetime.

Newsletter Archive and Call for Guest Writers!

Easy access to the newsletter is now on the website! We will be posting each issue to our site as well as to the blog from now on.

The WSR Newsletter, Sofia, is a bi-monthly update featuring articles about women’s issues, WSR events, nutrition, and more! You can access each issue here, or receive them by email. Subscribe to the email list here.

We are very interested in guest writers for the newsletter. This is a great chance to get published and a wonderful way to let your voice be heard! If you would like to write an article for the newsletter, submit your idea to wsr@byu.edu.

Volume One.

--Issue One

--Issue Two

Dating Conference Video is UP!

Attention all readers: We were finally able to get one of the Dating Conference videos up on our website. Check it out here. The video features Brad Wilcox who discussed, "Taking the Pits out of your Dates."
The Powerpoint presentations from the speakers are also up.
More videos to come soon!

Anger is not the answer!

I love to read the Priesthood session talks from General Conference.  what can I say-I find it fun to read things I am not officially invited to read…One of the best talk is the one from President Monson entitled “School Thy Feelings, O My Brother.” 

Two favorite phrases that President Monson quoted are: 

“Anger doesn’t solve anything. It builds nothing, but it can destroy everything.”

“A man’s a fool who takes an insult that isn’t intended.”

Both of these are so true-anger does not really accomplish anything but it can really ruin friendships and hurt people’s feelings.  I love the second quote because sometimes I feel I take offense to things that weren’t intended to be offensive, which never results in happiness.  I am going to keep these quotes in mind the next time I am tempted to get angry…

Protecting Yourself

Lately there have been a lot of stories in the media about violence against women. (1) Recently I saw a story on the news about the discovery of a man in Ohio who has been killing women and hiding their bodies in and around his home. To date, they have found the remains of 10 different women. (2) Last night I was watching a news special about 15 cases of young women going missing, including the story of Brooke Wilberger, who disappeared from her hometown in Oregon after her Freshman Year here at BYU and the story of Elizabeth Smart, who was abducted from her own home in Salt Lake. (3) And even closer to home, I read in the Daily Universe today about a woman who was jogging by the Provo River trail and was assaulted by a man from behind!

It makes me really sad for these women and their families, and the millions of women around the world who are victims of these horrible crimes. It also just plain gives me the shivers and genuinely scares the garbage out of me! So today I wanted to blog about keeping yourself safe. We live in a pretty scary world these days. Even here in Provo, a place we would like to think is safe, scary things happen. It's just not ok for women to go walking around without a game plan anymore, so use these tips to keep yourself safe.

TIPS ON STAYING SAFE:

1. Darkness + Aloneness= Scary Situations
They talked about this one in the Daily Universe article. Perpetrators like the dark because it is harder for you to see them and they can take you by surprise. With your guards down, it is easier to subdue you or harm you. So make sure that you aren't putting yourself in "dark" situations without being aware of your surroundings. If you have to go out in the dark, see if a friend, neighbor, home teacher, classmate, boyfriend, etc. can/will go with you. And it doesn't necessarily have to be a male escort, even taking along a female friend/classmate/neighbor with you (or several, in fact) can add an extra element of safety. Remember, one more person means another set of eyes, ears, legs, and lungs (for screaming).

2. Distractions can be dangerous
I have a lot of friends that think if they are talking on their cell phone that no one will attack them ("They will know that I already have it in my hand to call the cops"). This is simply not true. If you are distracted, you have a decreased ability to pay attention to your surroundings. All it takes is one bump, push, or grab, and your cell phone is no longer a safety net. Wearing headphones can be distracting, too. Now, I'm not telling you to never listen to your iPod, but know if you are walking or running at night or in sketchy areas that the music in your ears isn't allowing you to hear the potential noises of an approaching attacker.

3. Be aware of your surroundings
This one is crucial for keeping yourself safe! Knowing where you are, where potential escape routes are, who is walking around you, where people are for you to call out for help, etc., can be your literal saving grace. In the daily universe article, one female student reported that she looks around to see which houses close to her have lights on so she knows which ones would be best to run to should she be in danger. It's important to note here that you can't always predict where "safe" places are. By assuming that no one if going to hurt you if you are in a "nice" neighborhood, you are putting yourself at risk. Bad things happen everywhere, not just in "bad" neighborhoods.

4. Be prepared to defend yourself
If someone is attacking you, you are no longer obligated to "be nice." Your safety, and even your life, is in danger in this situation, so do whatever you need to do to get out and get safe. My favorite trick when I am walking alone or in the dark is to have my keys in my hands while I walk. This way, if I need to run for my car, I won't have to waste time fumbling in my purse to find them. Also, I usually lace a key between each finger (my hand in a fist with keys sticking outward), so if I get attacked, I have some form of weapon to fight back with. Also, knowing some basic self defense can be helpful. And if all else fails, SCREAM! Try to get someone's attention. That's what saved the young lady who was attacked by the Provo River trail; she screamed and her attacker got nervous and backed down.

5. Let people know where you are and when you plan to be back
I have been thinking about this one for a while. I have a roommate that I rarely see. She leaves before I wake up in the morning and she gets home after I go to bed. She doesn't tell me, or our other roommates, when she is going on a trip or when she won't be coming home at all. It scares me to think how long it would take us to realize if something bad had happened to her. Make sure that you communicate with the people in your daily life. Let your roommates know your plans, tell a friend when you are going to the store and when you plan to be back, tell your parents/family what is going on in your life. The more people that know your plans, the more people will know when something is wrong.

6.Follow the promptings of the Spirit.
The Spirit is your best ally when it comes to keeping you safe. If you get the feeling that you shouldn't go to that party, walk down that street, or leave at exactly that moment, LISTEN!!! Brooke talked about woman's intuition a few posts ago and I think it ties in exactly. We are given these gifts to protect us, so pay attention to them.

These are just a few things that you can implement in your life in attempts to stay safe. However, sometimes, no matter how safe you are being, bad things happen. If something happens to you, know that it's not your fault. And if you need someone to talk to, please come see us at Women's Services, tell a friend, call the police, whatever you need to do to feel safe again.

The Final Winner…and a look at where the magic jumpsuit has taken us

And the final winner of the final SOTTMJ is…

KATIE!

Come claim your prize. This also goes for those who have won totes in the past but have not claimed them! Come on! Come on!

 

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Magic Jumpsuit has taken us places we never thought we could go…here’s a look at the wonderful journey. If you’d like to play some sappy music while looking at these photos I think it would be appropriate.    

Congratulations to all the winners and thank you for your support, your love and adoration.

Look forward to a new blog giveaway coming soon!!

Newsletter Volume 1 No. 2

If you would like to receive the newsletter send your e-mail to wsr@byu.edu and we'll add you to the list.

Free is Good

As part of his doctoral studies, John Hilton III is "studying what happens when books are made available for free." He worked with Deseret Book and they have made 8 of their books available for free. They can all be downloaded at http://deseretbook.com/free. Several of the books are ones you might be interested in. The books are:

1. Please Pass the Scripture (by John Hilton).
2. What I Wish I Would Have Known When I Was Single (by John Bytheway).
3. Women at the Well (by Richard and Jeni Holzapfel).
4. Digging Deeper (by Robert Eaton).
5. 10 Secrets Wise Parents Know (by Brent Top and Bruce Chadwick).
6. Growing Up: Gospel Answers About Maturation and Sex (by Brad Wilcox).
7. Saving Kristen (by Jack Weyland). (fiction)
8. The Hidden Path (by C.B. Andersen). (fiction)

If nothing else, I recommend that you go download them all and save them for future reference as they will only be available online for free for a short time.

My Favorite Things

Here is a non-comprehensive list of a few of my favorite things on BYU campus.

- FREE IT training for employees and students. Just in the past 2 years I have taken classes on Photoshop, Illustrator, and now I am taking one for InDesign. I have learned so many awesome skills! You should check it out.

- The Creamery. Oh, how I love Graham Canyon ice cream. I went through withdrawals when the creamery was being rebuilt/remodeled/whatev. I'm so glad to have that delicious treat back in my life. If you go to their link above you should play the ice cream scoop game--it's just like tetris!

- International Cinema. Boy, have I seen some insane gems there. Just last week I saw Let the Right One In, a movie about a 12-year old vampire girl who has a crush on a human boy. Very bizarre. I think it was Swedish. You should check out the movies they're playing during the rest of the semester and go to one, especially if you know/are learning a foreign language.

- FREE pens/bags/other random stuff at all of the great fairs in the Wilk (e.g. Housing, Career, Job, Major Fair, etc.). Seriously. You can get so much free stuff at those things.

- FREE food in Brigham Square. BYUSA has a lot of money for this kind of stuff, aparently, because they're always doing it. I wish we had those kinds of funds. Free food is the best, especially if you forget to bring you wallet to school and feel like you're going to starve.

- The duck pond on 800 N. Cars will stop for the ducks that are crossing. And the ducks almost always use the crosswalk. This makes me happy. Also, I love the brick walking paths above the pond. So picturesque. I might also love that place because it was where my husband proposed to me (the second time).

- The Women's Services office. It smells so good. And the women who work there are amazing. So many great ideas have been born in that office. We love serving the women on campus. Can you think of a better job? I can't. Also, we give away free keychains, magnets, and tote bags (if you participate on our blog).

What are your favorite things on campus? Is it mostly free stuff? Because the word "free" was including in about half of the things listed above. Let us know what you love about BYU (and lets not bring up the things we don't like).

The Power of a Woman’s Intuition

Sitting on my brown couch, exhausted from a long day and ready to just be with my current favorite person in the world. He’s acting normal, asking me about my day and letting me flop my head on his shoulder. But then, that slightly sick feeling like I’ve been getting for the past few days. Just a pricking in the back of my head like something is a little wrong, turned a degree the wrong way—something minor, but something off.

“What’s the deal with you, lately?” I ask Boyfriend.

“What do you mean?” He asks.

I hesitate. What if I’m just making something out of nothing, and he’s just tired, or whatever? “I don’t know what it is, but you feel…odd to me these past few days.” We have seen less than two minutes of each other every day, me drowning in papers and midterms and birthdays of little brothers.  He’s acted like usual when we have been together, sweet and wonderful and Boyfriend-esque. But something…something. I know I need to ask, even if it is nothing. Deep breath.

“Something’s…mEHHh.” (This means a garbled groan that translates into not knowing the word to say.) “So…what’s up?”

He caves and tells me what’s been bothering him, then turns to look me full in the face, a little exasperated. “Do you just read me like an open book or what?” He asks. “How did you know?”

I laugh and just say, “Intuition.”

Whether it’s in relationships, answering questions on a test, or making decisions, we as women make snap judgments about the way we feel about situations and our reactions to them. In this interesting article, Laura Day, author of "How To Rule the World from Your Couch”, discusses feminine intuition and its capacity to improve our health, relationships, and realization of our goals. If we simply trust our gut feelings, we’ll be more able to make the decisions and changes we see necessary in our lives.

While I believe this is certainly a part of intuition, there is something much more fundamental about trusting yourself. Your whole self. Believing in the validity of your feelings even if or when they seem far-fetched. Accepting your instincts as your truth; acting on them, to question something amiss in a relationship or why you feel weird about going on that road trip you’ve been planning. Intuitive feelings, I believe, are given to us as women to help us when we need to act quickly to escape danger or seize an opportunity.

These gut feelings are closely related to promptings of the Spirit. Of course the gift is given to all who are worthy of Its companionship, but I believe this gift is given to women in a different way, to help others—to snatch a child from peril, to reach out to someone with a visit, to know what your baby needs while pregnant, to feel that you should call your best friend from high school, or to know what to say in a difficult situation at work.

When these actions come from a place of sensitive feeling, from not our logic or our obligation but our hearts, we become more in touch with ourselves and others. 

But, to utilize this gift to its full capacity, we must trust ourselves and our ability to feel these feelings, to have these impressions, to inexplicably know things. We must believe that these feelings are real, valuable, and driving—and we must give them full reign to guide our decisions when necessary.

What is the role of intuition in your life? Do you buy into the idea that we should trust our gut feelings? Are there times when we shouldn’t obey those feelings?

SOTTMJ—the FINALE!

That’s right, faithful readers. We know you have loved and adored and stewed over the Sisterhood of the Traveling Magic Jumpsuit, and today it will have its grand finale.

Do not shed a tear, little loves.  We’re making room for a different wonderful blog giveaway coming soon!

Make the most of your final chance to guess the final location of the infamous magic jumpsuit to win the final tote!

Do you see those boots? Ohhh mama.

Happy Halloween from WSR

We wish you a happy Halloween! Look at our pretty decorations. please note and appreciate the hip sweater vest.