Twitterverse!!

Hi everyone, I hope you are all having a fantastic day!

No doubt, most of you tuned into the debate last night and have your opinions, I am in no way going to get political, for some reason I never win a political debate even though I know who I stand by! hint: he is African-American and has been around for four years doing a great job! It doesn’t really make a difference anyway since I cannot vote, being British!

So as the two debaters were going on at each other, I decided to check out the Twitterverse and boy was that place busy! From celebs to ‘nobodies’ having their say about each and every line that came out of Obama and Mitt’s mouth, but one quote got me laughing, and that was the one on if there was an attack on Israel… someone wrote ‘an attack on Israel would be like an attack on Zabars’. So I decided to check out who this person was… why? I loved his humour!

Not to be a stalker, I found him on LinkedIn, and sent him a request to add him. Surprisingly he accepted rather quickly! This morning, I sent him a note, after realising he is a big executive for a Media company we all know, but I will keep him anonymous out of respect. I told him that I found his comment last night rather humourous and went on to tell him about myself! I told him I had been working as a PA for the past ten years and am looking to get into something different… he wrote back immediately and said he would love to meet to see what he could do!

I am so excited to hear back for an exact date from his pa…but wish me luck, you never know who you can meet on Twitter!!! As someone once told me, always think out of the box! :))

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Looking for a challenge in NYC?!!

It is a beautiful sunny autumn day here in NYC,  this week I am back and have my ‘fighting gear on’! I am drinking a large Luke warm glass of lemon water which is part of my daily ‘ritual’. I try and have several a day. It is excellent for the skin and body (see my blog on lemons). As for water, it is the only liquid I drink and has probably been one of the most useful aids in helping me lose weight. I even added an app on my Iphone called ‘water’ to make sure I drink enough, it can be annoying but it definitely helps. I am so proud of myself for losing the 24lbs that I have. I worked hard to lose that and now I am looking for a challenge, I am not sure what exactly I am looking for.. a hike, a bike ride, but something. Does anyone have any ideas for a challenge here in NYC? I am open for ideas, perhaps you would like to join me? Perhaps you too are looking for a challenge? Throw your ideas at me :))

Living With Epilepsy / Seizures

I woke up at about 5am Saturday morning and did not feel myself, I felt rather nauseous. This feeling was familiar but not too recently, not since last December. It was the feeling after a Seizure. Not again, I thought. I can’t deal with this now, not that there is ever a good time, why can’t this just ever go away! It gets me so frustrated sometimes but there is nothing one can do about it. I just have to deal with it. I got Epilepsy when I was an early teenager when in London at just 13 years old. In the very early stages, I was not getting seizures at first, just little ‘shakes’. My parents and brothers thought I was doing it for attention! It was awful… the doctors too.

Weeks after I finally had a ‘Grand Mal’ Seizure, I was almost relieved that I proved them wrong. One Saturday morning, my brother called the ambulance and explained to the paramedics what they had seen. My entire body had been convulsing, shaking, they were terrified. I was unconscious. The doctors said to always leave someone with Epilepsy to have their seizure…always make sure they are safe, turn them on their side but NEVER PUT ANYTHING IN THEIR MOUTH. I recovered quickly and was put on anti seizure medication. The side effect was weight gain, but it kept the seizures at bay.

Unfortunately, here and there I still get some seizures and over the years the medications have changed. The types of seizures have also changed with age and amazingly I was able to still have a baby! She is my miracle baby! She is completely healthy thank Gd!

What was unusual for the seizure I had last Friday night was that it was in the middle of the night and I was not sure I had one, but my husband had confirmed that I did. I still feel a little exhausted from it, and it is Wednesday today. It is very hard for other people to understand what I go through, I don’t really try and explain to anyone else. This is the first time I have actually written about it.

I don’t find many people around me are understanding about it, especially my husband. He does what he needs to do to be helpful. The fact that we are getting divorced does not help…he tells me it is stressful for him and I am sure it is. I guess the fact that he keeps telling me how stressful it is doesn’t make me feel any better!

Do you know anyone who has a seizure disorder?

My Day Of Sin – Magnolia Bakery

After a very strict (I would say) regimen I went to Manhattan last Friday for a Doctor’s appointment and walked around the city. I decided to to treat myself to a chocolate vanilla cupcake from the one and only Magnolia’s Bakery and it was heavenly! Don’t worry I did not eat the second one, I got it for my husband. I love that I have so much self control and I am able to get so easily back into my healthily way of eating without feeling guilty that I had a delicious cupcake. While I did walk a little more the next day and when I weighed myself on Monday, I was down to 141lbs down another 2lbs. It is all about counting the calories, not obsessively but knowing approximately how many you should eat a day for your healthy weight as well as allowing yourself to have a treat here and there. Lots of fruit and vegetables is a MUST as well as water water water!!! I cannot say this enough.

5 Things To Do By The Time Your In Your 30’S

As I drink my morning coffee, I put on the Today Show, and they have 5 things you should be able to do by the time your in your 30’s

• The ability to fall in love without losing yourself
• The confidence to quit your job
• The comfort of living alone
• The knowledge your body is beautiful
• The belief you deserve it!

As for the ability to fall in love I learned the very hard way. For those who have been following my journey since day one you will know my hardships. I fell in love with my husband and totally lost myself, I was blind to who he was, and unfortunately only when I was 5 months pregnant did I find out he was being unfaithful. But that is not what I want to focus on. It is moving on with my life, the lessons learned and as one must never do, lose ones self in love as the results can be devastating!

The confidence to quit a job –  if one is unhappy in a job you should be able to to leave in a mature manner rather then storm out, one never wants to burn bridges as you never know when they may be useful to  you.

The comfort of living alone – this is best to learn all about yourself, your strengths, your weaknesses. What you enjoy doing in your down time…do not think about this as a negative, it is not!

The knowledge your body is beautiful – while I am on a journey to be healthy and lose weight, there was one thing my mother always says to me and that is I am always beautiful. I just have to believe it. This is a constant fight I have with myself, there are parts of myself I like / love and other I hate. I hate my tree trunk legs, and do my best to hide them. Then I have a tiny little waste, so how can I complain? Why can’t we just be happy little campers and appreciate what we have!!! We have such nerve to complain about our bodies when others have far worse to complain about!

The belief you deserve it – This is the hardest for me as I have not left my husband just yet. I am still in the stages of trying to figure out HOW to do it. It is really not that easy with a child. If it was just me, I would of been out a year ago! If you knew me personally you would know I am an adventurer, I came to the States when I was just 18 with no money, and travelled around, those are for other posts 🙂 I know I deserve it, I know my daughter deserves better and I am in the midst of preparing a much better life for the both of us, it is just a matter of time. When I figure it out…I’ll post it!

Positivity and faith is what keeps me going,  and watching The Today show really made me think this morning :))

Dissapointed In Myself…

Looking at the date today, April 23rd, I am realising that it is just three months away to my cousins wedding, my goal, and I am not losing the weight as quickly as I wanted to. While on a positive note, I have not put on any weight and I have lost a simple pound in the past week and a half. I am now 144lbs from 145lbs.

While I have been excellent at eating healthy, (lots of raw veggies, fruits, salads, grilled chicken, and salmon). What has been lacking in my life is a great exercise routine! The first common problem that so many people have before trying to lose weight (or any issue / obstacle they want to get over) is getting over the excuses we all come up with. In my case they are as follows: I cannot afford it, I am unemployed, I hate working out alone, all my friends are at work etc etc etc. The last time I had a successful exercise routine was when I went to the gym and had a great trainer, sadly that is not happening because I don’t have the finances at the moment. If you are rich and want to donate feel free, JUST KIDDING!

The first motivation killer is a lack of confidence, I’ll be the first to admit that. One needs to focus on what you have already accomplished and in my case, it is the weight I have already lost. If you focus on the negative, then your mind starts to come up with explanations and excuses. The way to get out of this mess is to think positive and start making realistic lists. Once again, in my case just walking around the neighborhood is just moving and therefore exercise. When you truly believe you deserve success your mind will find a way to achieve it.

What are your goals? Have you accomplished them? Share your story…

Fashion Fwd!!!

After dropping a few lbs I never realised it would impact my wardrobe so quickly, not a negative but definitely a pricey situation! Going into spring / summer and leaving my current marital situation behind me soon enough, there are a lot of new starts. So I decided to really embrace the new with color and positivity. While I still have a good 20 – 30lbs to lose and keeping with eating very healthy as a daily routine, I started to add some new clothing to my closet so I would never allow myself to get back to the larger size clothing. It was positive reinforcement for myself  as well as a boost. I have gone to a size 4 from a size 12…

Weekend shopping consisted of some basics for any closets:

This is from Zara, it is such a light and easy dress to wear and being that I am petite it goes down to my knees so unlike the model who is 8 feet in the above picture, it actually covers up all that I want hidden!

This above sweater is from Express. I don’t normally purchase things from there, but I really thought this was cute with a pair of black jeans I have.

Once Again Zara to the rescue. They are genius and so easy to wear!

Yea right, that’s me ha ha. For any male reader who got to the second line of this post you missed out!! What are any of these outfits with out the perfect Victoria Secrets Dream Angel Bra! I have to say, a little pricey, but definitely worth it…I have sworn by VS for years.

At the end of the day, being unemployed, I really should not be buying clothing, I cannot afford it but I have rewarded myself with color and the feeling that I must go on and perhaps I need to start with something completely fresh in my life, something bright for the future as well as positive and healthy!!

Should I be upset??

Good morning All,

I am feeling a whole lot better this morning and it does not feel like a chore to turn on the computer as it did the past couple of days.

After studying at the Gemological Institute Of America, and working in the diamond industry for ten years, a friend approached me and told me he was getting engaged to his girlfriend, a common practice among my friends (not to mention word of mouth) who have good faith in me even now I no longer work in the industry as I still have all my contacts. He called me over the past month for lengthy conversations to ask me all sorts of questions, to get advice which of course I was thrilled to give and help with the good faith that he would be coming to purchase a diamond. I did have in the back of my mind that it was always a possibility he could always go elsewhere,  what was different was the amount of information he was taking from me and then going elsewhere and being such a close friend was now just being a bit rude. Or was it? He has every right to go anywhere he wants… so I let it go and told myself not to take it so seriously.

A few weeks past, I received a call. My friend had purchased a diamond from some ‘people he knew’ and he wanted me to give him my opinion. I breathed. I had already given him basic warnings which he had thought were silly such as make sure the  – lighting is correct if you purchase your diamond somewhere else (no spotlights as this alters what the real diamond looks like, and believe me every jewelry store you walk into has them!) – try and see the diamond out of the setting and look with a 10x magnified loop and the list goes on. I gave him a quick education about the four c’s color, cut clarity and carat. He sent me a scanned copy of his GIA certificate of the diamond he had gotten, (which is a detailed legitimate certificate of the diamond). He told me the price he had been charged, and he wanted to know what is the price I would of charged him. Ouch. Why would someone put me in a corner like that?

I called my ‘contact’ in the famed NYC diamond district who checked the weekly Rappaport diamond prices, which is an industry standard for pricing diamonds, it is published weekly and only available to those in the industry. I then called my friend and told him directly what his diamond was worth and what he might have been charged by the ‘people he knew’. He had been screwed over. He had paid $5000 for his diamond and it was worth only $3600. I would rather have not had told him so as not to make him feel bad, but he insisted in knowing, then came all the apologies, I kept silent, what was I to say? I told you so?

As frustrated as I was, I still feel so terrible about what happened in the end to him, it is not like I was going to make a fortune out of my friend, my commission would of been $300. He knew that, I was upfront about it. I never wanted him to get hurt by anyone and he did. However, everything does happen for a reason. Diamond retailers are the worst and known for their highway robbery, but like a lot of mechanics ‘wholesale diamond sellers’ can really rob you if you are not educated about the diamonds, read up on line about the basics, you can go to GIA.ORG for some tips about diamonds and if you know what you are talking about, it will make all the difference, I promise!

The Interview – why is it NOT working??

Good morning Everyone!

If you are unemployed like myself and a ‘regular interviewer’ you will be familiar with the questions such as “tell me about yourself?” or “how do you deal with stress?”. These are common and basic questions which we all have prepared, I try to update my answer with every interview as a ‘lessoned learned” and of course personalise each question with an example. With the first twenty seconds of the interview being so crucial, you would think I had it figured out!

However, I am obviously still missing something. I know I am doing something right as the companies that I am aiming for are calling me in. One of the largest diamond companies called me in several months ago for a first interview, one that we all see walk down the Oscar / Emmy red carpet – I’ll keep away from names! I sailed through the first interview, they even made me write an essay about ‘why I wanted to join the company!” They didn’t know I love to write, so bingo for me! I had to then take some computer exams, and after passing all, they called me in a week later for interview number two. What a disaster. The first interview, was a complete success, I had met about three people  I would have been working with directly, they were crucial. The second interview flopped because the person interviewing me was such a stern person, I completely froze!! Why? Why? Why?? I couldn’t even answer the most basic questions that I knew. It was not fair. If this women asked me how old I was, I probably would not have known the answer. I never heard back again from them!

Recently I had another interview with an even better opportunity which made me realise getting over the above situation was totally fine as there is something for me out there. Just someone has to believe in me, at some point. This time it was a massive media company, how exciting! They had everything I wanted, fashion, celebrities, and the best writing! Everything I could dream about, I just needed to ace the interview, my hurdle. I had the nicest sweetest lady who interviewed me. She asked the  questions, I answered as much as I prepared but for some reason again I was all nerves, perhaps because I wanted this position so badly, because I needed this position so badly.  While I did not freeze at this interview, she did notice how nervous I was and offered me water and told me not to be nervous. Not a good thing! I did apologise. Confidence sells, not nerves! I couldn’t believe I was messing this up. She said she would be in touch with me, and while I have never heard back from her, not even an apology “someone else better fits this position” letter, I am still hoping I will hear from her as it was only a couple of weeks ago. I of course followed up with a thank you letter. Maybe a miracle can happen.

Yesterday, I had yet my final straw, although this was slightly different. It was an interview with a massive fashion house. It actually went well, but I didn’t really want it, surprisingly, while I would love to work at a massive fashion house, I just did not like the attitude at this particular one! So different to all my other interviews, I was a little more confident!! Of course they said they would get back to me…

I am still searching for the right position, I avoid the scamming recruitment agencies who will just waste your time (that is another post and a book / movie! They make me so angry!!) I have every confidence that someone will have faith in me.