Laina Turner's Blog, page 56

Mother/Daughter Time is Priceless

How was everyone’s weekend and Easter? Mine was good. The highlight was girl’s day with my 9-year-old on Saturday.

We had it all planned….shopping, lunch at her favorite place, hair cuts and mani/pedi’s. Her hair was long and very thick and hard to manage so her father and I had been trying to convince her to cut it. A couple weeks ago when I made the hair appointment I told her and said if she cut her hair short I would too. At the time, she said no way and I thought I was pretty safe.

Until Saturday rolled around.

Then that morning she shocked me by telling me out of the blue she had decided to cut her hair. I freaked out for a minor second because I had no time to wrap my brain around cutting my hair. Then I figured what the hell. It’s only hair.

She went first and I was so excited when I saw how cute her hair was that by the time it was my turn to sit in the chair I wasn’t nervous. I was ready for a new hairstyle. And I had to be honest that my hair had gotten to the point where I never did anything with it, just pulled it back because it took too long to do. I was in need of a change.

Once it was done, I was SO HAPPY!

We both loved our new hairdo’s!

What I loved even more was spending quality time with my awesome daughter all day. I wouldn’t trade that for the world.

The wonderful stylist has a younger daughter and told me she hoped her and her daughter were as close when she got older. It was humbling and something I can’t take for granted.

I am incredibly lucky I am to have such an amazing family.

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What’s Your Inspiration?

I’ve written a couple posts on what to write about, but a recent conversation with the awesome chick who did my hair gave me another idea of what to write about on what to write about.

How’s that for a convoluted sentence?

I hadn’t been to her before so of course she starts with the normal questions one asks a stranger which as you know always includes:

What do you do for a living?

I dislike that question. First, because I don’t just DO 1 thing.

I’m not a one-trick pony.

Second, because when you say you’re a writer, and a blogger people usually look at you funny and either ask:

Can you really make money at that? (I hate that question. I mean really, if I said I worked at a bank you wouldn’t ask me if I could make money at that).

Or

What do you blog about?

Luckily, she asked what I blogged about. I like that question because it gives me a chance to talk about what I love.

Since the phrase lifestyle blogger would just conjure up more questions, I said my blog was like a magazine or something you would chat with your girlfriends about. I posted about random things: new recipe I tried, a new outfit I bought, how I needed to lose 10 lbs, a business idea, or something cool my kids did.

Then I realized I wasn’t just giving her some easy to understand answer. That IS what I blog about. With all the time and effort, I put into blogging and trying to think of just the right post topic that people will want to read it really comes down to being conversational. I know not everything I write about is something people want to read just like my friends don’t care about everything I talk about, but that doesn’t mean they stop being my friends over those few things.

You don’t stop buying a certain magazine you like just because there is an article in it you don’t like.

You can’t please everyone all of the time.

I then got to thinking about magazines. I know much like the newspaper or paperback books, sales aren’t what they used to be but I still love magazines as you can see by the stack in the picture above. The glossy covers and pretty pictures inside add interest to the articles. Much like photography and images included in a blog post add something extra.

I saw the vibrant spring-colored cover of O, The Oprah Magazine http://www.oprah.com/app/o-magazine.html at the grocery store and even though it’s not one I often buy I felt I had to pick it up. The colors just made me feel good, and I wanted to see what was inside.

Which is the whole point, right?

As I read through it, it excited me and gave me inspiration (that I’ve been sorely needing) because the content reflected how I want my blog to be, what I strive for. The magazine gave me the ideas for content and organization going forward.

Where do you look for inspiration?

 

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Do or do not. There is no try

Yesterday my post was a depressing woe is me post. Guaranteed to scare away readers but sometimes you just have to get it out to make yourself feel better.

Know what I mean?

And it worked. Well that and my frenzied reading of my regular self help books which are my immediate go to’s when I’m feeling woe is me.

They all pretty much say the same thing such as: 

Quit feeling sorry for yourself.

You’re awesome.

Create a plan for your dream and believe it can happen.

Take action and have faith.

Things of that nature that I just need to remind myself of at times. Sometimes your moving so fast you just get off track.

That’s why what I posted yesterday about deciding what you want, creating a plan, and then working the plan was so meaningful to me. The plan I’ve had has somehow gone off track and I lost focus. So now it’s time to regroup, make sure what I want is what I want, and create a new plan to work.

Along with re-skimming my go to books I read a new one called You Are A Bad Ass by Jen Sincero and LOVED it. Her writing style is very refreshing and funny.

 One of the things her book reminded me of is just because you weren’t successful once doesn’t mean you won’t be this time. I’ve been down on myself for not meeting my personal goals and this year I have had thoughts of maybe this just isn’t something I can do.

SCREW THAT!

Lots of people failed a million times before they became successful. So why should I be any different? I can have what I want and live the life that I want.

Her book also reminded me about gratitude. It can be hard to feel grateful for the things you have when they aren’t necessarily the things you want. But the more grateful we are the happier we are and the more likely we are to achieve the things we desire. And I have a good life I need to be grateful for. Not be a spoiled brat because it isn’t exactly what I want. Right now. As long as I don’t lose faith I can have all that I want.

In the great words of Yoda…Do or do not. There is no try.

I can do anything I put my mind too!

Thanks for listening!

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What Do You Want?

You may have noticed I haven’t blogged in a little over a week. At first I was on vacation as you might have seen by last Mondays post, as they don’t have cliffs where I live in central Indiana.

I had this great plan of blogging every day about my vacation and then just didn’t feel it. To be fair this wasn’t a vacation I wanted to go on or was looking forward too (long story) so I wasn’t super pumped about the week but I thought I could push through.

I couldn’t.

I didn’t want to fake it. Not for me, not for you.

I didn’t want to write about this great time I was having in Ireland when that just wasn’t the case. I pride myself on being authentic on this blog and pretending to have a good time when I wasn’t wouldn’t hold true.

So I took a break and just didn’t post.

In many ways that made me feel worse. I was upset I didn’t want to post and I felt very disconnected – the horrible Internet in the country (not the country of Ireland but the country, country part of Ireland) didn’t help because I wasn’t able to stay connected to my social network of friends. Which of course has me wondering if I’m too tied to the Internet (as if there is such a thing).

It wasn’t a fun feeling.

Then I got back and while I should have been excited to be back from a place I didn’t want to go, I just couldn’t motivate myself to jump back in to my blogging routine.

This vacation was depressing in a way. Not because the vacation itself was that bad but because of the realizations it gave me. Being away from everything and out of my comfort zone gave me time to think. Really think (which can be scary – at least in my head). I thought about what I’m doing and where I’m at in my life and if I’m really happy.

Because life is way too short to not be living it the way that makes you happy.

And I realized on my break that I’m not living life exactly the way I want to. I’m living the way I think I need to and making justifications on why I’m doing that.

And there is a big difference.

I do realize that we all can’t live perfect lives and there are things such as bills and my kids college education that is dependent on financial means. We all have those kinds of things to take care of in life and they are what helps to shape some of our choices.

At least mine anyway.

But at what point does fear start to dictate our choices instead of what we really want and need?

I need to decide what it is I really want.

Then write that shit down.

Then make a f*%$@#* plan.

And…

Work on it.

Every.

Single.

Day.

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Cliffs of Moher

This week I am in Doolin, Ireland so I plan to wow you more with my photos than with my words. Though the internet where I’m staying is less than be desired so if I stop posting this week it’s not because I didn’t want too but because I got so frustrated with the internet I threw my laptop out the window.

Today we went to the Cliffs of Moher.

 Absolutely gorgeous.

Have a great day!

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Blogging Business Plan Part 3: Actions

Today is the 3rd post in my 3 part blogging business plan series. #1 was the goal, #2 the roadmap, and #3 the actions.

After you create a plan you need to be ready to act on it. I could come up with plans all day long, but I tend to get bogged down by details and confused about how to begin when it comes to executing the plan. Which pretty much renders the whole thing pointless. So how do you create a workable strategy from your business plan? You will want to take your high-level goals and create:

* Short term goals – What do I want to accomplish

* Strategies – How will I accomplish it

* Tactics – Daily tasks to execute

For example, my big overall goal is to make a living as a blogger. My short-term goal for the year is to consistently publish posts 5 days a week, promoting via social media, and interacting with other bloggers. The tactics would be the creating my editorial calendar, creating compelling images and posts for social media, and networking every day for 1 hour a day.

Of course, that example is just a simplistic form but you get my point.

Personally, I’ve tried it both ways. I’ve crafted a plan and flown by the seat of my pants, and I can tell you with certainty that having a plan is the better way to go. On those days where you’re not motivated and want to give up, you can always pull out your plan and recommit to your vision.

I challenge you this week to write down a list of daily activities you need to accomplish to reach your goals.

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Washington DC

I spent the last few days in Washington DC for a conference which was actually really good. You know conferences can be hit or miss on whether or not they are valuable. I was excited to go, I love DC, but my trip got off to a rocky start Saturday.

Plane delay because the United terminal at Dulles lost power.

How DOES that happen anyway? I feel bad for the guy – of gal – whose job that was to fix.

Finally, 2 hours later I was on my way. Normally when I am in DC, I don’t stay downtown cause it’s crazy EXPENSIVE down here. But since the conference was downtown it didn’t make sense to try and cab it from a few miles away because not only is that expensive but the traffic could take 2 hours to cover 2 miles.

The conference hotel was just under a mile away from my hotel and it was nice enough each day to walk there and back. I loved being able to meet my FitBit step goal and take in the beautiful surroundings. I really do love the city and DC is a gorgeous one.

It was a bit confusing walking around though. It reminded me of Boston. Lots of 5 pronged roundabout’s that seemed to change street names just when I wasn’t expecting it. I only got lost a few times and since it meant extra steps I didn’t mind.

The buildings I passed along the way were amazing. Absolutely gorgeous.

I head down to the White House and then went to a cool looking dive bar where I got nachos and hard cider. I wanted to wait until it was dark so I could take pictures.

There was some kind of Mexican band playing down by the fence in front of the White House. Since it was dark, I couldn’t see much but the sure sounded cool!

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Corned Beef and Cupcakes

I admit I’m not one of those all gung ho St. Patrick’s day people but I do appreciate the chance to make food in honor of this holiday. We always have the traditional corned beef, slow cooked in Guinness and brown sugar.

I love me some corned beef.

 This year I found an absolutely to die for cupcake recipe that I tweaked just a little and O. M. G. it was probably the best thing I’ve ever made. I’m not the only one who thought that either. Last years wasn’t too shabby either.

They were chocolaty goodness with a too die for chocolate ganache, which I’d never made before.

It looked amazing.

See it glisten.



And was probably the best thing I’ve ever tasted. It was so unbelievably rich and creamy.

The most challenging part of this whole process was getting the ganache in the cupcake. I’ve never done anything that fancy before. I’m sure there are gadgets out there that make it easy, but I just took a knife and cut a small square in the middle and dug out some of the cupcakes to form a hole. Those centerpieces of cupcake were super moist to eat.

Guinness Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache 2015-03-15 20:28:09 Yields 24






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Save Recipe Print Ingredients Cupcakes 1 c. butter 1 c. Guinness 1 c. brown sugar 1 tsp salt 2 c. flour 1 c. white sugar 1 1/4 tsp baked soda 2 eggs 1/2 c. greek yogurt Ganache 8 oz bitter chocolate chips 4 oz heavy cream Frosting 1/2 c. butter 4 c. powdered sugar 1 pinch salt 3 tbsp Godiva white chocolate liquer (or any flavor liquer you like)
Instructions Cupcakes Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcakes tins with liners. In a medium saucepan heat to simmer: Guinness, cocoa, butter, and brown sugar. In a large bowl, sift together salt, flour, white sugar and baking soda. Add the cooled Guinness mixture and beat on medium for 1 minute. Add eggs and sour cream and beat on medium for 2 minutes or until smooth. Pour batter evenly into cups and bake 20-25 minutes. Let cool and then cut small squares in the tops and clear out a small hole for the ganache. Ganache Heat the cream to boil in a small saucepan. Take off heat and add the chocolate chips. Stir until chips are melted. Cool for a few minutes and then spoon into the cupcake holes. Hope there is enough left for you to eat by the spoonful. Frosting Cream butter until very light and fluffy. Add salt, and slowly add confectioners sugar keeping mixer on the lowest speed. Add the liqueur until it becomes the consistency of frosting.
Laina Turner http://www.lainaturner.com/
 Enjoy!

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Q is for quipu

Meaning knotted cords used as Inca mnemonic device.

Really?? $5 bucks for anyone who knew that***

 

 

***the author of this blog was drinking wine at the time of writing this and can’t be held responsible for BWD (blogging while drinking)

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Does history have to repeat itself?

It’s interesting to look at how things tend to have a consistent life cycle. Although they may go dormant at times, chances are if you wait long enough they will cycle around again. It happens in fashion all time much to my dismay sometimes. But what about when you don’t want history to repeat itself but yet it does.

Is it just destiny or do we subconsciously set ourselves up to rinse and repeat? Even when you are determined to not repeat past mistakes and yet it happens is that your fault or is it just meant to be? I have been thinking a lot about this topic lately as I have been finding myself allowing history to repeat itself even when it’s not the path I want to take.

But I didn’t realize this until just recently and yet looking back it is so clear that I was headed down the same path. What was I thinking? Why did it take so long to figure out when it’s the second time around making this mistake? Shouldn’t I have noticed the signals? I am afraid my behaviors and patterns are so ingrained that I will continue to do this over and over.

How do you pay close attention to what you are doing to make sure you aren’t making those same mistakes without getting paranoid and not trusting yourself and looking for problems around every corner? But I’m not sure if I can change course at this stage in the game but not sure if I want to start over either. Ahhhhh…what to do?

I am not complaining I am just trying to reflect and figure things out. I don’t want to keep making the same mistakes and I want the life I have envisioned for myself with compromising that too much (I know there is always compromise at some levels). How can you break the cycle of doubt? 

 

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