Happy birthday to one of the most important fashion designers of all time. Happy birthday to one of the most influential women ever. Happy birthday to an icon who’s essence remains timeless, who’s name and legacy will endure long after I’m gone.
Happy Birthday Coco Chanel! Born August 19th 1883, I wonder if she knew she would make such an impact on the world of fashion? Did she know we would still be talking about her today?
To celebrate Coco here are 10 of her most famous quotes:
In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.
The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.
Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.
Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity.
Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.
Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.
How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.
Don’t spend time beating on a wall hoping to transform it into a door.
I invented my life by taking for granted that everything I did not like would have an opposite which I would like.
A woman who doesn’t wear perfume has no future.
Several years ago in Los Angeles I was on a shoot with a billionaire client who told me he could always tell if I had been in the room because I would leave behind just a hint of Chanel No. 5, in his mind the most feminine, elegant and timeless fragrance.
I think about that every time I smell No. 5 Maybe it’s time to start wearing Chanel No. 5 again, because honestly I could use a little elegance in my life…
This post comes from our Australia contributor, Bianca Boulden!
I’ve been in some unpleasant situations in my life, to say the least. Who hasn’t though, right? That’s life, you win some and you loose some. Live and learn, it’s the best medicine. Some of the situations were of my own creation and others came straight out of left field and were nearly impossible to prepare for. So I wanted to share with you a list of things I discovered that helped me find some relief during my personal rock bottom episodes.
Be nice to people.
Yes it may be corny but kindness is underrated. When was the last time you asked a friend, a family member or even a perfect stranger if they are OK? You could be standing next to somebody in line for your coffee that is completely broken and you wouldn’t even know it. Just starting a conversation and being kind is all they may need to lift them up for the day. If you can be kind through your dark time and not bite the unsuspected heads off of the innocent bystanders, you’ll find that your personal happiness is uplifted as well. I’m not saying it will pay your bills but it will give you personal satisfaction and gratification. As they say, what goes around comes around – spread good karma.
Accomplish something.
When I have experienced something devastating or feel as though whatever I do is pointless or goes unnoticed, or when I am struggling between groceries and the rent for the week, even small accomplishments are worthy to note. Go for a walk, clean out your wardrobe, clean your house, finish that book that’s been sitting next to your bed for 6 months, even write a book — put the pen to paper and see what happens! I volunteered at an animal shelter because animals make me happy. So do the same, what ever you will feel good about and will make you smile.
Control.
Let it go. The only things you can actually control are what you do, say, and think, you can seriously reduce the crushing stress that comes with challenging life events by allowing yourself to let go of that which you can’t control..
Treat yourself.
I’m not saying go spend a BOMB on designer clothes or those $400 boots you have had your ear on all over Instagram but just a little something, it has always helped me. For me it was a crystal or a new record. The music took me to another world and the crystal empowered me.
Be with Nature.
It’s easy to get stuck in your comfort zone, the couch or your room or bed, but getting stuck in routine often means you actually don’t get to enjoy the little things in life that should make you happy. For me I get high just from looking at a sunset or the perfect line of palm trees. I can’t even describe to you what the ocean does. It gives me goose bumps, like it’s my soul mate and it understands me. Go for a hike up a mountain, lay on the grass and watch the clouds or walk along the sand and let your feet hit the water. Breathe it all in and you will feel a lot better then sitting in your PJ’s for days.
Cry it out.
I’m not the best at crying; it takes me a bit to do it. I will go through stages where I would cry even at movies and then I will be so strong that it scares me. Sometimes you just need to let it out. So when you do… let it out.
Do something new and exciting.
Maybe you’ve been thinking about learning to surf, or perhaps you wanted to start taking dance classes, why not try? You will learn something new and meet new people. Don’t allow yourself to settle into misery. I made myself do things I had never done before and it brought me so much perspective and gratitude, not to mention fun!
Reach out to someone.
And I don’t mean reach out to someone and unload all your misery on them, everyone has their issues, they don’t need yours too. I mean reach out to someone in friendship, rekindle a relationship with someone that might have grown stagnate, force yourself to be around other people and feign happiness. Fake the happiness until you feel it. Fake it until you make it, lovers.
Do something for someone else.
Go out of your way to do good for others, realize that you are not the only person on the planet who is struggling, that there tons of people in your town and city who are having a tougher time than you are.
Laugh.
Do whatever it takes to make yourself laugh. Get on YouTube, call that friend that always has a funny awkward story, put on a movie that gets you every time… Step Brothers is good one.
Happiness is fleeting. It’s rarely, if ever, a constant state of being for anyone, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pursue it even when there seems to be nothing worthy of that happiness. You can either let life and its struggles swallow you whole or fight your way to a silver lining. Remember, your happiness is your responsibility. I say FIGHT!
“The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.”
Have you ever noticed that if you wake up late, race to get out the door on time, start your day frazzled and frantic, the whole day seems to go downhill at the speed of light?
I’m borderline phobic about being late for anything, so to avoid starting my day out with an I’m-running-late stress-bomb I started working out ways to make my morning flow nicely. The more steps I added in, the better my entire day became. I found myself happier, more productive and more relaxed all day.
10 Steps To Make Sure You Have A Happy And Productive Day.
1. Go To Bed Early. Well, I would love to get to bed early, but that pretty much never happens, so I focus on getting to bed a half hour earlier than usual. Sometimes its only 15 minutes earlier, but every little bit counts.
2. Plan Tomorrow’s Outfit Tonight. Lay out tomorrow’s clothes before you go to bed, or at least think them out. Mornings move more smoothly when your wardrobe is at least mentally sorted ahead of time.
3. Wake With Gratitude. Get into the habit of starting your day by acknowledging 10 things you are grateful for. Think them out before you get out of bed. If you start your day with gratitude you will automatically be happy. There’s magic in this madness too – the more you tell the Universe you are grateful for, the more things it will give you to be grateful for.
4. Stretch. Whether you do sun salutations or just simple stretches, your body, your mind and your soul will love you for it.
5. No Screens For 30 Minutes. There was a time when I would automatically click on CNN and start scrolling through emails as soon as I woke up. Now I have a no screens policy. When you don’t have news hysteria hijacking your brain, and you wait 30 minutes before even considering opening email, your mind can ease into your day. I used to think that I needed to be informed and know what was happening in the world, but then I realized that CNN doesn’t give you world news anyway, and they just regurgitate the same stories over and over for the first few hours of the morning, so you won’t be missing anything if you wait 30 minutes.
6. Play Music. With news television out of the way, start your day with beautiful music. Or invigorating music. Something happy and inspiring to lift you up.
7. Drink Water Before Coffee. Start your day with a large glass of cold water infused with lemons. Lemon water is good for your skin, good for your immune system, detoxes your liver, relieves stress and much more.
start your day with lemon water
8. Exercise. (if you can) Anytime that I can exercise in the early morning I feel fantastic all day. As a makeup artist I have so many super early starts to the day that I hardly ever get to work out as early as I would like. Even doing just 10 minutes of yoga will lift your spirits, but if you can get outside and run or bike or power walk, mother nature will lift you even more.
9. Live With Intention. While you are getting ready visualize the day ahead, seeing everything going the way you want it to. Over time you will find that instead of worrying about deadlines and meetings, reviews and potential problems, your brain will automatically plug into the most positive potential outcome. Not only will you walk taller and with more confidence, but instead of worrying about what might go wrong your mind will move to problem solving mode, priming you for success.
10. Make Today Count. I love this quote from Steve Jobs’ famous commencement speech at Stanford in 2005. If it was my last day in the world I would spend it traveling somewhere fabulous with those I love most…
For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Have yourself a happy and productive day my friends. xo
