Unique Gift Ideas for Bffs: Personalized Perfumes

My girl best friends are very special to me and this holiday, I find myself at lost on what I could give them to show my love and appreciation for them. I think my girls are very happy and content with what they have in their lives and maybe if there is still something missing, it's not me who can fill that gap anymore.

My worries were answered when our chemists at the office walked into my spot and offered their personally mixed perfumes and fragrances. I picked out one bottle and it's scent is similar to Lacoste's Touch of Pink. I like this scent a lot and I kinda fell for the cute bottles of the perfume she was offering so my creative mind started tinkling. So here's the ideal gift I came up with.

I ordered 4 bottles of perfume from our chemist and immediately worked at my computer to design a label for my girls. And here are my finished product! Do you think my bffs will like this? 

Finding Inspiration for Writing

Writing wonderful articles for me is not something that can be easily pushed or pulled. It takes a lot inspiration and motivation to come up with articles that I can proudly claim to be my own - even if it's only a ghostwriting task that I can't even claim. 

Some writers find great art inspiring so they take a look at pictures - nature photos, landscapes and seascapes. Others find inspiration from soulful music or instrumentals from their music player. Bloggers and online web managers constantly create content for their readers. I often wonder where they find inspiration and how they motivate themselves to write great posts every now and then. 

After several months of keeping house, being a hands-on mom to my son, an office girl, I continuously search for what will make me move and inspire me every time I feel like my creative juices has run dry. Here are some tips that have helped me get through this quell. 

Visualizing

Picture what you have to do or write about - find a photo or a journal in an outline form and start describing what you want to say or do. 

Find Some Quiet Time

Sometimes, disconnecting yourself from all the social media and gadgets helps in refreshing your mind. Enjoy the silence and simply breathe. Pray or meditate, relax and calm you senses. Listen to that inner voice then start writing.

Read

Most writers are also readers but because they become very busy with all their assignments, they forgot all the other things that they are passionate about. Have a break and read books about people who are movers and shakers. If you want, you can also watch movies. Many people also are encouraged by victorious and happy endings. 

Go Out and Explore

I'd like to consider myself as a travel writer so of course, nothing would inspire me more than going to a new place or destination. I'd suggest taking long walks along nature trails can stimulate the mind and see things in a new perspective. Exercise also rewards the body, produces endorphin to make you feel happy and clears your senses so that you can write more.

Talk to Friends

Remember that no one is perfect and every one is entitled to some down "moments" in their life. Listen to others. Ask for help and other's opinion then move on with your writing.  

Wherever you are, you can find inspiration and motivation for you to start writing again. You can also be one of the reasons for others to be motivated and inspired - open up and share what's in your heart and see the positive impact you have for others. 

A Change of Scene and the Usual Coffee Fix

Being buried in a truckload of assignments can sometimes burn me out. I've been back here in my home province for more than a month now and I haven't made my exploration yet. I've actually been spending my time updating blogs - mine and others in between learning the ropes of my new career where I need to write a lot.

The office-home set up definitely gets boring so I've starting searching for cafes and food joints that are not so crowded so I relax and untangle those words that sometimes get stuck. There are now a few cafes in this city that can accommodate me and my Sam for our much needed quiet nook. I also love the fact that the menu here are so affordable. Have a taste of their yummy cake creations for only P65 per slice, open-faced sandwiches for only P100 and frappe for P110 only.

Cie's Pastry Cafe is located at Legazpi City's Lanco Business Park.

Freelancing Tips: Ways to Deal with Freelance Funk

Having a regular job, a home to attend, a little boy to miss all the time, a long-distance love affair and topped with an online writing job that's  that  is a little overwhelming to  juggle. Yes juggle. A recent movie I've watched starring Sarah Jessica Parker shows a busy woman juggling her different roles and how she managed to do everything with grace is just amazing. She's right in one point, we women always have a list - a mental list, grocery lists, to-do lists, and a lot more. This can be quite helpful in helping us deal with out busy schedules and lessen our changes of developing stressful scenarios. Here is a list of ways to help you deal with the stress that comes with freelancing. 

Acknowledge Your Stressors

To help you balance your many roles out, specify them one by one. I am a mom, a partner, a loving daughter, a public servant, a writer, a friend and others. You must learn to set your priorities from here and when stressed out, recognize the source of it. Knowing your priorities and the source of the problems will help you find the best ways to deal with it. 

Have a Plan

This is where those "lists" come in really handy. Having a to-do list can help you make schedule and allot time for each of your roles and responsibilities. As a daughter you can do you errands for your mom and dad on lunchtime of Monday. As a mom, you can schedule a movie date with your kids on Friday as a reward for their good performance in school. As a long distance wife/gf/partner, you can also schedule movie dates once a week via skype or advance book for a vacation to visit one another. In between work, these fun stuff is really something that you and your loved ones can always look forward to.

Manage your Time

Assess your role and ask yourself if you've accomplished and how you've managed your time for the week. See where you've run short and follow up or tweak things a little bit. 

Learn to Prioritize Things

Determine the importance and urgency of your tasks and assignments. Act according to their importance and urgency. Urgent matters are those with deadlines and demand your attention. These things needs to be addressed immediately, while those not-so-urgent but important schedules such as dinner with the kid or are often neglected. Be sure to finish those urgent tasks over specific periods so that you can have more time with your loved ones. 

Take Care of Yourself

You can only balance everything you juggle when your mind, body and soul is also in top shape. Rest and sleep when you need to. Have some sort of an outlet and getaway once in awhile. Arrange vacation and fun activities with your loved ones to loosen up every now and then. 

Will Write For Chocolates: Consoling a Desolate Writer

Over the past couple of weeks, I was caught in a roller coaster ride of celebrating the holidays, vacationing, travelling and preparing to move out to settle in my home province. I also needed to juggle a couple of client's tasks that we're needed in time for the holidays.

All these took on an overwhelming feeling of mixed fear, apprehension as well as a bubbly excitement for the unknown. I will be having a new career, this one is bound to be more in-line with my writing. Yet I still couldn't let go of the job I learned to love for the past two years. I am also feeling really down especially when I think about leaving all the people that I've and also have treated me like family. I always wonder now what will my new working environment would be like.

But despite all these, my days would go on whether I like it or not. The only consolation I have right now is this pouch of my favorite Reese's peanut butter cups that Baba bought before I fly back from Sabah.

I'm not liking the way my thoughts and my words are going at the moment but I know things would turn out just fine. If I consume a little too much of these chocolates, then I doubt if I would be fine! (Hello Tonsillitis!!)