fave tips.

So all of you ahve been leaving some really awesome comments on Move it Monday. I love so many of them. So I'm going to post some of my faves...there are more (but it's really late...)

1. Wear red lipstick. Do 15 pushups a day. Wear skirts more. -Laura

2. Go to be early. -Deb

3. Brush your teeth when you are hungry. -Laura

4. Do a dance workout. -Gwendolyn

5. Have healthy things to eat in your fridge. -Kim L.

6. Have a friend who helps you. Kayleen T.

7. Have a walking buddy. Laura

8. Put a Victoria's Secret catalog over the screen of your tv on you treadmill to motivate you. -Nichole Mc

9. Remember to breathe while exercising and during the day. -Deb

10. Info on how to hold your body when you walk. -Kayleen T.

Thanks, Everyone!

***Some help for you this month...recipes that keep it healthy. Below are some links for recipes that will be healthy for you:

www.eatingwell.com

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/over-100-quick-and-easy-healthy-foods.html

http://www.healthy-quick-meals.com/

CONTEST WINNER:  Kayleen T.

February Contest:

Post help, advice, recipes, exercises...anything that helps you to stay motivated to make the changes that you need to make to have a more healthy lifestyle...put them in the comments each week.  I'll pick the top ten comments/help and you will all get to vote on your fave.  If you haven't particpated yet, it's not too late.  Decide to make a change for yourself and give into a healthier lifestyle.  Click here to see details about the contest for the whole year.

The winner will get:

Your favorite magazine subscription and $75 to your favorite shop.  You want to have things around you that give you positive feelings and reminders about the awesome choices that you are making...so I want to help!

healthy. LIFE.

fave books.

As you'll see on my inspiration list Lovemarks is at the top of my list.  I adore this book.  It's not a normal book so if you're looking for a book that's a straight through read this is not the book for you.  It's set up for an artist with hodgepodge pictures everywhere, random thoughts, art and graphics everywhere, sticky notes with ideas on them...

It is just up my alley.  When I picked it up over 4 years ago it changed my business life.  I consumed in while I sat in the bookstore and then refused to leave with out.  I've gone back and bought one for each of the people on my team.  It is a core to the way I run my business.  I can't say enough abou it.

So many books talk about branding and marketing and this book tells how to take all of that to a completely different place and make your business become a lovemark.  A lovemark creates loyalty with out reason, passion, and so much more.  Apple computers has become a lovemark. 

This book is a must read for anyone starting out a company...especially an artist.

So...I'm always posting business books when in reality I ADORE reading in general and I especially love a great novel.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society is exactly that. If you love Jane Austen books you will love this beautiful story of a woman living in the United States who receives an letter from a man living on a small island off of the coast of England. That letter sets in motion a chain of events that changes the way this woman sees everything in her life. I love the descriptions of these characters from crazy eccentricities to endearing things they say, I felt like I knew each of them.

You won't regret picking up this book!

good. LOVE.

winner.

Sajini and Joshua are the winners of the Image of the Year 2008 Contest.  Congratulations!

They will be receiving a 7x7 twenty page album of my favorites from their photo session as will as a $100 gift certificate to their favorite place to shop.

Yay!!

fun. LIFE.

***all images in this post copyright Stephanie Roberts.***

Next Week:  Rebekah Westover

Welcome, Stephanie.  Thank you so much for being part of the Women and Business series.  I've been so inspired by your 366 days project and so many of your other projects.  I'm so happy to have you here to share some of your beautiful insights.

You are incredibly creative. I love your 366 days idea. I've been inspired to do my own version of it. Will you tell me more about it? How did you come up with it?

Thank you so much. I just recently completed Project 366 on January 1 – a yearlong photography project that pushed me to capture at least one image each day. A flickr friend of mine, Danisoul, had started her project and I was so inspired by the concept and her commitment to it. Seeing her images sent me to the Project 365 flickr group where I found thousands of other creative individuals pushing themselves in the same way. I felt that I needed the creative discipline that this project could bring, and I hoped that I would become a better photographer in the process. I committed to the project on January 2, 2008.

At first, I found it easy to create images. I'd wake up in the morning and start thinking about what I'd like to shoot. I found that shooting in the morning worked well for me. The natural light was great and I'd feel good about checking that box. After a few weeks, shooting every day became a habit and I'd routinely spend time in the Project 365 flickr group to follow the progress of others. I traded by purse for a small backpack and took my camera with me everywhere.

What did you do on days that you didn't feel creative?

It doesn't take much to inspire me. I shot ceilings, new buds, my girl's toes, crumpled leaves, cow tail hair, reflections in a rubber bucket. More often than not, I'd walk outside and just wait for images to present themselves to me. I made it a point to vary the subject matter, my lenses, the lighting, and my perspective as a means of pushing myself throughout the project. Most days were easy. Some days were hard. On a few occasions, I scrambled for an image at 11:45pm.

Completing this project was a great accomplishment for me. It taught me to slow down and practice the art of seeing. And it gave me the confidence I needed to step out and pursue photography in a professional space.

What is life like for you on a daily basis?

Weekdays are crazy, as I'm sure they are for you. I work as a consultant two days each week for Elemental Interactive, a firm I helped start with a business partner twelve years ago. Those days are pretty intense and I spend most of the day managing web projects, brainstorming new ideas for our clients, and writing proposals. On the days I work from home, I pick up my two children from school and my 76-year old nanny, Imogene. She is my right hand. Imogene is the laundry-master, button-sewer, supper-cooker, dishwasher-unloader, and the eyes and ears for my children while I'm tucked away upstairs. She's been a member of our family since my son was born eight years ago, and I'm truly grateful for her. During the other three days of the week, I'm building my own business, LittlePurpleCow Productions and forcing myself to develop an affection for QuickBooks.

Early evening hours are spent at basketball courts, baseball fields, or at gymnastics practice. We hem and haw through homework, study for tests, read, brush teeth and say our prayers. My husband is a great support and we trade tasks to keep life in motion. Thankfully, he knows how to fend for himself in the kitchen, and tolerates things like my messy closet and a cluttered kitchen table.

After we put the kids to bed, I lure myself up on my Stairmaster with a good book or an audio podcast a few nights each week, then I work my way back to my computer to focus on personal creative pursuits such as my photo blog. I let my mind run free, explore online, and catch up on my Shutter Sisters. I crave these late night hours and can often be spotted creeping into bed around 2:00am.

What do you think are the most important things you do as a mom every day?

Share my love. Ask questions. Listen. Encourage kindness and respect for others. Expect a best effort and good manners. Praise creativity, good ideas and hard work. Pray for guidance.

What do you think are the most important things you do as a business woman every day?

Give my best effort. Seek knowledge and new ideas. Ask questions. Listen. Be open. Take chances. Solve problems. Show kindness and respect for others. Praise creativity. Pray for guidance.

You have a wonderful project that you are working on with Imogene. How did that come about? What is the process you are going through to make the project have a heartfelt connection?

Thank you. I'm really excited about my documentary project with Imogene. Imogene is a strong, 76-year old African American woman and the part-time keeper of my home. Many years ago, she took care of my husband each week in a church nursery and developed a friendship with my husband's family. Though she never had children of her own, she's always loved children, animals (especially strays), and caring for families and their homes. Eight years ago, after my son was born, I was uneasy about returning to my career and knew that I needed the right woman to come into our home to care for my son. My mother-in-law suggested I meet Imogene and that's where our story began.

Our working relationship has evolved over the years into a friendship. She's stubborn and strong-willed, but kind and trustworthy. She's known to dish out a little too much ice-cream and syrup on pancakes, but her hymns and streams of laughter flow just as freely. She doesn't drive and she doesn't put clothes away in the proper drawers, but she whips up fried green tomatoes and irons like no other. As time has passed, she's shared stories with me about her life as a child and a young woman. I'm amazed by her strength and often amused by her perspective. We're different in so many ways.

I've felt a push to capture images of Imogene because she is a rare gift in my life. Having lost my mother to cancer, I know that life is precious and fleeting. So, I asked Imogene if I could create a series of images of her over the course of six months to a year, and she agreed. I've recently decided to expand this project beyond photographic images, and intend to capture audio and potentially video to give the viewer a deeper appreciation for this woman and her past. I think she enjoys having her picture made, and I have to say… she is quite photogenic.

What 5 tips do you have for women to help them maintain a balance in their lives between everything they have to do?

I am a work in progress on this front (evidenced by my lack of sleep), but here are five tips that help keep me balanced.

1. Let some things go. Who says you have to make the bed? Just close the door.
2. Find a kind person who can help you in your home. You have special talents. It's okay to spend your time using these talents and to share your responsibilities with someone who was blessed with other special talents.
3. Buy the cupcakes. I lack the baking chromosome and I've struggled with burnt muffins and cookies at 12:00am too many times to count. Just because you're a mom doesn't mean you have to make the cupcakes (and sew buttons for that matter).
4. Commit to a personal project. Find something that fulfills you personally – kick off an art project, attend a creative writing class, start a study group, write a really bad first draft, read the classics you skipped in high school, etc. Assign a start and end date to the project or add it to your calendar as a recurring event. If you give 50% of your time to your career and 50% of your time to your family, there is nothing left for you.
5. Sit down and enjoy the sound of silence. Turn the radio off while you're driving in the car. Go to the library. Use this time to dream, to seek guidance, to unravel, to be thankful for all you have, to create, to think good thoughts for someone else... to find yourself.

***all images in this post are copyright Stephanie Roberts***

glasses for Miss E.

So a few weeks ago the kids and I were all in the kitchen getting dinner ready.  It was getting late and dinner still wasn't on the table.  So I said, "Kids it's getting late.  We need to get this dinner on the table." :)

Emma says to me after squinting for too long at the microwave clock across the kitchen, "It's not that late.  It's only 5:30." 

Ummmmm...It's 7:30.  I think to myself.  Okay.  So Mike and I both have bad eye genes.  We figured we would pass this sweet gift on to our children so we've been on the look out for it.  Emmett needed glasses when he was in the 1st grade.  Mike needed glasses when he was in the 4th grade and I needed glasses when I was in the 5th grade.

SIDE NOTE:  I think I actually needed them before that but my sister, Danita, ended up getting glasses.  And I so didn't want to tell my parents that I needed glasses and have them think I was copying her just so I could get some.  (Uh...yes, I've done crazy, ridiculous things just so that I wouldn't be like someone else since before 5th grade.)  So I squinted at the board for a while.  The day I got glasses and was driving home from the doctor's office with my mom I was so excited.  I said, "Mom, I can see that the trees have leaves!"  I have no idea how long I'd been seeing them as just a glob of green.  I also loved to take off my glasses every 5 seconds when I was at school and clean them with my cute little white cloth and bottle of spritz cleaner.  Yes, the boy next to my desk DID tease me about that.

Back to the story of Miss Emma.  This test is just up Emmett's alley (he loves tests...he and Mike like to sit around and quiz each other about things).  So...Emmett immediately springs into action with a series of vision tests that he creates to see what Emma can and cannot see.  We discover that she clearly can NOT see past about 10 feet.  The next day I called to set up an appointment for her.

The following day at school she told her teacher that she was going to the eye doctor and that she was going to get purple glasses.  There's no changing her mind once she makes it up.  So, no matter how much I tried to convince her that this pair of glasses was cute or that pair of glasses was a great color, she picked the purple pair.  And really, they are the cutest pair of glasses on her because of the way her eyes light up about them when she wears them. 

changing. LIFE.

I have to say that this image just cracks me up.  What the heck is Miss Miriam doing?  And Emma..."What glasses?  I have a lose tooth..."