This is my year of being responsible for having some fun. I’m actually in fun training right now. I’m hunkered down and shutting off outside opinions, good advice and helpful remarks. The only one I’m listening to right now is my inner child, who never really had a childhood. The only promise I make is to my children that I will embarrass them under an assumed name. I will take recommendations for sultry and sassy aliases. I’d also love to hear some recommendations on fun things to do from girls that know how to have fun. I’m even going to try to find a career that’s fun. This weekend I worked on some new girlfriend cards for my DivaXpressions line. That was fun. Let me know what you think.

You always want the best for those in your life, so you go out of your way to make them feel special. When you choose a gift, doesn't it take you a while to pick out just the right thing?

When you make that special dish or dessert that only you can make, isn't it fun to know the joy you will bring to your loved ones?

We are well trained in bringing our Intricate details to others, let's start to practice it a bit on ourselves.

In your Diva Corner of the world, is there evidence of you? We want to make sure the details are covered. I love the toys that come in children's meals from fast food restaurants. I have an assortment of Chicken McNuggets® from Halloween's long since past. They delight me. I can dress them up as a clown or firefighter or even a rock star. It is evidence of the Whimsy that I bring with me wherever I go. An intricate detail of my being. Not planned or manipulated, authentically me.

What is one intricate detail that reminds you of who you are Diva? Put that often unknown piece of yourself on display. It is the richness of who you are.

All the best,
Maureen

P.S. Chicken McNuggets® is the registered trademark of McDonalds® corporation and is used here to give justice and respect to the greatest Happy Meal® toy ever created. Here is part of my McNugget Gang! Have a fun day!!

Do You Like Surprises? She's Back!

The Diva Gift Fairy is back and looking to sprinkle the countryside with Diva Goodies for you!! Tell a new friend to register for the surprise club and double your fun. The more friends you tell, the greater your chances for a goody! It's free to sign up and wonderful to be gifted. Here's what people said last year:

   "Thank you so much for the surprise (go)diva chocolates that showed up in my mail box yesterday morning!

   What a lovely surprise on a Friday!

   I am so enjoying your website and newsletters and uncovering my inner diva! After years of designing costumes for diva actors and actresses, it is time for me to decide that I am as much diva as anyone! (grins). You have inspired me to make a wildly diva doll to keep around to remind me of my divaness!!

   Jackie

Here's how to play: Go to www.distinctivelydiva.com/surprise.html

Sign up and yes, we need your address to surprise you and we will never share it with anyone else!!

Pampering ourselves has gotten a bad rap. Taking care of ourselves with some mindless self indulgences helps us feel like the beauty we are. It also feeds our soul. To treat us to some summer fun I am digging into the Distinctively Diva archives to start playing again. Are you In? All it takes to nurture ourselves is a few minutes a day and some awesome ideas. Who knows, maybe you'll pick up some self-esteem and new confidence along the way.

Over the summer months I'll be sharing some beauty ideas, recipes from chocolate covered strawberries to a homemade face mask. Today's entry is from Take Five: The Diva’s Guide to Pampering. This little e-book is 30 days of beauty tricks, activities that nurture your mind, body and soul and plain old summer fun. Click here to download an excerpt from, The Diva's Guide to Pampering

I'll also be telling you how you can cash in on some f*ree summer fun. But first, you'll have to meet the Diva Surprise fairy. She's getting ready to take off and gift some worthy divas, so make sure you are registered to be surprised. To do that, you'll have to go to our fun page at www.distinctivelydiva.com/fun.html So here's today's food for the soul, enjoy.

PS make sure you read to the end to for another Diva secret.

Day 4 - from Take five: The Diva's Guide to Pampering by Maureen O'Crean

Aren’t you sometimes amazed at the power and beauty of simple things; little things that bring us closer to our heart of hearts. It can be as simple as soaking up a beautiful painting, like a Monet or Matisse. These Masters painted the impressions of the world, not the “reality”. That’s where I choose to live, in my interpretation or impression of the world, not someone else’s reality. Today, we are going to pamper our minds. We are going to overload ourselves with little goodies of things we love. I shall abandon calorie counting for 1 short time as I savor, Starbuck’s Chai Latte Spiced Tea. I shall take the time to read a poem and listen to the music I love, be it Mozart or Reba McEntire. I shall find some flowers to admire and inhale those sweet, exotic and mysterious scents. And most of all, I shall dream today. Dream of all the wonders yet to be, the gifts I have to bring to the world. And what about you, my Diva sister, will you join me in my respite from reality? Will you dream your dream with me? Only you can deliver your gift, pamper that child today, in your mind. And on this special day of all days, I shall give myself a permanent gift and I shall not watch the news before I sleep. I will keep my consciousness filled with all the little things that mean so much.

PS - Members of Distinctively Diva's Social Club (its free to join) enjoy a 10% discount at www.proflowers.com  Look for the corporate login in and enter the word you see in the beauty of the tulips on this page. Let the summer fun begin!

 8gapimbd5w

Discovering the simple steps to happiness is one of life’s great quests. One of the keys is feeling successful and success comes from a job well done. The best way to accomplish great things is to break the big jobs into little ones.

Working on your happiness or any change is the same. Why is it if we decide to lose 10 lbs, we go on a severe diet and join a gym. Within a week or 2 we’re exhausted and then we quit. We’re also unhappy.

What is one thing you would love to change about your life? Would it make you happy if you quit smoking? What if you reduced the amount you smoked by 1 cigarette a day for a week? If you wanted to increase your exercise, how would you be 3 minutes at a time, or even 1 minute. They all count, so do what you will do, not what you think you should do.

Try it for yourself. Pick something you’ve been putting off doing. That’s always the best. Now examine the project and find the first task to be done. Completing that one task will open such a window for you’ll be amazed at the energy and yes, happiness you can create.

 BellIn the common folklore there are two cool stories about a couple of famous inventors: Thomas Edison and Abraham Graham Bell accomplished things that changed the world. Edison discovered filament in the incandescent light bulb and the telephone.

Edison toiled away day after day on the filament and gas in the glass shell. I’ve heard he made 10,000 attempts and  recently found a statement that he made 3,000 filaments before the one that worked.

When the patent for the telephone was received, there were 2 patents for the modern day phone in the U.S. Patent Office. 

Bell was granted the patent because his invention called for a screw to be turned ¼ of an inch more and that is what allowed the telephone connection to work.

Now don’t hold me to the exact history on the retelling of these stories, but they point to something very important for success in life. Love is in the details of life and it is so critical to how we feel, we really want to make paying attention important.

• How do your friends and families feel when you make a fuss over a special day or event?
• Now how do they feel when you pull something together at the last minute?
• Not quite the same feeling, is it?

With our busy lives, details are the things that fall out. We rush and bustle trying to do too much in too little time. I know there are allot of details but let’s try to just get a few of them right. The good news is you don’t have to do them all alone. Schedule reminders for birthdays online. One way I do it is at www.proflowers.com I’ve recorded the important people in my life and I’m sent a reminder when their birthday is coming up. It keeps me out of trouble and I appreciate the service whether I send flowers or not. By the way, Divas get a 10% discount and the secret code is in The Daily Diva Word, so if you do want to send flowers, your book will be paid for. I have never been disappointed in Proflower.com’s flowers, they are so beautiful and fresh. 

So for purposes of our exercise today, make a list of 3 details you wish you were taking care of better. Then make a plan to support you in your attention to detail plan.

We can all learn from Thomas Edison who said, "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." Whatever you do, never give up on your dreams, just pay more attention to the details.

How many times have you heard this phrase, Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Usually we shrug it off, or chuckle, but I think it is one of the most powerful statements we can make to ourselves.

This is how I think of it. Today is new and bright and shiny and full of possibility. We don’t have to do 1 thing today that we have ever done before. We can choose who we want to be in the moment. We can be loving and sweet or sexy and sassy. How we wore our hair yesterday has nothing to do with how we look today. Mix it up and find a new way to express yourself.

I love the movie Catch Me If You Can with Leonardo Dicaprio and Tom Hanks. In real life, Frank Abagnale Jr., the role played by Leonardo, takes on 3 different personas, as a doctor, lawyer and Pan Am pilot. He did it effortlessly as if it was second nature. Now I’m not advocating that you go and con people or companies out of any money, I just saying playing who can I be today is a delightful way to spend your time. A new day, a new you.

One of the ways that I remind myself that all bets are off this day is right before I get out of bed. During my last 5 minutes snuggling under the down comforter, I say this prayer 3 times: “This is the day the Lord has made, let me rejoice and be glad in it.” I’m not sure if it's from the bible or who the author is. What I know is that it reminds me I’m not in charge of the day. I can make the most of the precious time I have been given today. Why would I want to spend it as a frustrated mom or jilted woman. No, if this is my day I will spend it as a femme fatale, on a secret mission to find the purpose of this crazy life we have.

I have a new (old) slogan I’m living up to these days. Too much of a good thing is wonderful. Words of wisdom spoken by Mae West. Take heed Diva and fill up your days with way too much of all good things.

When we start our journey into our new  happy future, you may be surprised to find that old sneaky devil called your past following you around. Your past can delight you or haunt you, but no matter what you can never go home again. To ensure a happy future you have to say good-bye to your past for good.

The good past we're going to call memories and for today, they're safe. The bad stuff in your past, old lovers, ex-anything, failed aspirations and thwarted dreams are like chains attached to giant lead balls around your ankles.

One of the tricks to help ensure your happiness is to realize that every day you wake up, a new dose of the past from yesterday is still lying on the bedroom floor. The check you forgot to mail, the cookies you didn't bake, the  prescription you needed but didn't get, everything on your to do list that didn't get done. That is your past.

So one important step to take is to finish each day off before you go to bed. Any leftovers from the day become the  starters for tomorrow. They no longer linger, they move to the head of the class. So you end the concept of being behind and replace it with being ahead.

The next important step is to remove the past from your present. We all have triggers that pull us back to the past, for good or bad. It's just the way it is, so don't judge it, you'll use up way too much energy. Look around and see  if you can spot the past. If you can date when you received something, see where it takes you. If it doesn't make  you happy, it needs to move on to a new life some where else. Be brutual. Be quick. Most of all be thorough.

If you have some past you need to deal with, just not today, then schedule it in your calendar, just like you would a doctor's appointment. On that day, clean up what you can and schedule the rest.  Anything that pulls you back to another time has to go. I remember I had a beautiful sterling silver jewelry box
that was given to me by a young man I was hoping would be the one when I was 19 years old. He gave it to me at the  train station in Philadelphia where he told me between trains, mine coming to him, his going away, that I was not the one. It broke my heart and I brought that stupid jewelry box with me every where I lived for the next 30 years.

A daily reminder that I was not enough, or good enough. A reminder I didn't recognize of course, but still there none-the-less. Until I realized, as I threw that silver box away, that I was more than enough, I was a Diva. The  Light of the Divine, good enough for anyone, but most of all, good enough for me. And that my dear Diva, is the only  one who counts. Same goes for you. Now, get going.

If you are familiar with DistinctivelyDiva.com, you've probably heard me tell the story of the Pink Flamingo. so thank you for your smile while I share the tale with those new to us. The Pink Flamingo is a community oriented bird, they travel in flocks and get their beautiful, pink color from their food. During hard times when they aren't being nourished, their color becomes muted and even loses it color.


I think women are just like the Pink Flamingo, which is why our mascot is the beautiful flamingo drawn by illustrator Caroline De Vita. As you can see, as we start to feed our spirits nourishing ideas, words, music and thoughts we feel better. Maybe that's the reason for the phrase, 'Staying In the Pink' for when we are happy, everyone is  happy.

One of the keys in switching the diet of our internal dialogue, is watching what goes in. Without censoring yourself, see if you can remember what you read, watched or listened to yesterday. If you can't remember, just make a note of today's fare.

Some of my favorite shows involve murder and a murder mystery is my favorite book. I'm a slueth and love the   figuring out crime part. If I get too focused on it, I have nightmares, which are a sure sign I need more good in my life.

I have an emergency basket of uplifting material that helps me shift my space. Of course, at the top of my list is Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. (Sarah's coming to the states in October, so if you want a once in a  lifetime experience of comfort and joy, check out her workshop)

Next in my basket is Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking, any tape of Marianne Williamson's lectures on a Course in Miracles, Abraham-Hicks tapes on the Law of Attraction, The Daily Diva Word and the Bible. Reading any one of these works always makes me feel better.

With a steady diet of good news, you will find that you feel happier on a regular basis. So if you are feeling blue  or out of sorts, turn down the bad news and turn up the good. It's a simple shift that has long range impact.

In our own pursuit of happiness, we need to remember those wonderful things that make us happy. It really isn't a hard thing to do. Here are some of my all time favorite things:

1. Valet Parking
2. Iced Chai Latte Tea
3. Smooth heels and girls nothing beats the Pedegg for smooth heels
4. Bach's Rescue Remedy. I'm not sure what it does, but I always feel better after I take it.
5. Perry Mason , the old ones from the 1950's are my favorites. I take lunch whenever it is on.

6. Watching a movie with my son.
7. Having a wonderful massage with Dana.
8. Laughing with my brothers and sister.
9. Chocolate Birthday Cake 10/8 Divas!
10. Writing and sharing my life with you.

See how easy it as. Rattle off your 10 right now. Share in the comments if you're brave.

All the best,
Maureen