Overcoming the "Pressure to Perform"

January 3, 2019 Kimberly Mcdowell

Happy New Year! I can’t believe its already 2019! The Holidays were lovely, I made gifts, meals, and had a few family activities to celebrate with cheer! My 10 days off to welcome the new year were wonderful!

All of a sudden I realize its January 1st. What are your goals for this year? Where do you think you can use the most work? How can you make your home a sanctuary for your family? How can you make them happy? How do you plan to make your children better people? What do you plan to do to save money? What’s your New Year’s Resolution??? Ughhhh! And just like that, on January 1st, I already felt like a failure for 2019.

This overwhelming feeling of inadequacy and the sneaky feeling of unhappiness flooded my brain. What’s really sad? All those questions came from my own head! I will be the first to admit, I’m really tough on me. Nothing is without criticism or question. I’m such an all or nothing person that my good is often great and my bad is usually a hell of a royal screw up. So today I dedicate this post to the four ways I plan to dig myself out of this dreadful hole.

1-Shut Up!

Stop setting yourself up for failure by sharing every single thing! Once you share a plan, idea, goal you immediately feel some form of accountability if your plans don’t go as planned. The moment someone checks in on those Big Plans you had, you have to give the speech of shame on how you didn’t accomplish what you set out to do. Of course, in our head this is awful, you feel judged, ashamed. To others, they couldn't care less. It’s all in our own head. My husband always says “You know how the fish end up in the fish market? They couldn’t keep their mouth shut!” Who needs that PRESSURE! Quietly take over the world and once you succeed you have a killer “How I did It” story to tell!

2-Write Down your Plans and Revisit Often

For an over sharer like me, this is golden advice. This is where I get to dream! As wild as they may be, I write them down with as much detail as possible then I revisit them often to begin making a step by step action plan, again, using as much detail as possible. This is where I begin to weed out the ridiculously lofty ideas and get back to what is realistically achievable given my timeline, personality, discipline, and effort.

3-Make Realistic Edits

Now that you’ve began your action plans, its perfectly ok to edit as often as necessary. Remember you set the goals so you have the power to change them. Life ebbs and flows so you have got to be flexible with yourself. If something no longer works for you, remove it. If you realized it may take longer to achieve, adjust your timeline! Not willing to sacrifice to the necessary extent? Modify your goal! Its all up to you. If you listened to Step 1, the only person you will have to consult with is you.

4-No Matter What, Keep Going

Regardless of how long a pause you take, pick back up and keep going. Dust off your dreams and get back to work. I have definitely learned that as long as you live, you will NEVER BE Completely SATISFIED! There will always be something you want to fix, do, change, accomplish. I ask that you remember to enjoy the journey and all those wonderful people standing on the sidelines waving as you continue your travels on the road to greatness!

Until Next Time,

-K

The Art of Curvyscaping: Holiday Edition

December 16, 2018 Kimberly Mcdowell

Greetings All,

This is officially my first fashion post and I’m excited and nervous all at the same time! I once read that dressing well is a sign of good manners, I think of it as my “Visual Handshake". As I begin to talk about fashion as it relates to the curves of my peaks and valleys, I hope this information is useful to women of all sizes.

We’re in the midst of the Holidays so I thought it would be fitting to share with you my curvyscaping tips for navigating the season.

Body Confidence

Body confidence is a mouthful for me because even at 42, I still have to do a little pep rally to feel moderately confident. When the criticism begins to seep in through the cracks of doubt, I remind myself that people pay lots of money for the breast I’ve been blessed to have naturally, my stomach was shelter for two amazing little humans, my thunder thighs get me everywhere I need to go and there are people who would kill for legs of any kind. I just take a moment to appreciate what I do have instead of focusing on what I don’t. I’m in no way glorifying obesity because let me tell you, I’ve been working on my bikini body since birth and I don’t have it yet but I do believe beauty can be found at any size.

Buy What You Want!

Speaking of size, I’m so pumped about the flourish of plus size fashion! All those companies I used to admire from afar are now accessible and the clothes are gorgeous. There is no excuse for frumpy fashion anymore so go buy what you love! I must warn you, comfort zones will be abandoned! I personally encourage you to try different things on and get a feel for what looks good on you. You will be surprised at how much you will begin to explore other trends. I used to cringe at those festive pieces that were shoulder baring, backless or strapless. I could never imagine myself in them with the abundance of peaks and valleys I have. Well stop limiting yourself. You can. There are tons of options to satisfy your level of daring.

Does This Make You Feel Good? Pretty? Confident?

Now that you’ve taken a risk and picked something out of your comfort zone, how does it make you feel? This is extremely important because if you feel uncomfortable or self conscious of what you’re wearing it will ruin your day. If the trend is too extreme for you, find a modified version that compliments you and your taste. The goal is to bring out your best self.

The Foundation to Fabulous!

Last but not least, I could not speak of great fit without great foundation pieces. Ladies, Ladies, Ladies!! The quickest way to cheapen your look is to have the bumpy canvas of our body parts showing through the garment. Please take the time to find and wear appropriate under wear, shapewear, and bras to compliment your look.

For years my Grandma Ella would say “Plumpness, I have a nice girdle for you” I would pretend to ignore her teachings but the woman was right. Now I don’t feel complete without it. I slide by occasionally depending on the type of outfit but I have to admit, its super important. Thanks Grandma.

There you have it! Please remember, you’re beautiful and take the time to improve your Visual Handshake!

Until next time,

-K

Self-Care Sunday: DIY Sugar Scrub

December 2, 2018 Kimberly Mcdowell

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season what better way to restore your sanity than to practice self-care. I want to share with you a quick and easy way to make a luscious Sugar Scrub to help you pamper yourself.

You will be surprised at how easy this DIY project is and you may already have the necessary ingredients around the house. Let’s get started!

You will need:

An air tight container {I’m using a 3 oz. jar}
1/3 Cup of Sugar {Regular granulated sugar}
1/4 Cup of Oil {Vegetable, Olive, Coconut, Grapeseed are some examples}
Essential Oil for Fragrance {I’m using Grapefruit oil}

Step 1: Add your Sugar into the container

Step 2: Add your oil in with the sugar

Step 3: Add several drops of the essential oil to your mixture for the level of fragrance you want

Step 4: Stir and Seal!

That’s it! I told you it would be easy. This small jar will live on my kitchen sink for hand scrubbing. Grapefruit and lemon are great scents for removing any unwanted food odors from your hands. This size is also perfect for gifting. It would be such a thoughtful gift to support self-care along with the soap we made several weeks ago. If you’re wanting to make a larger amount just double or triple your ingredients.

I hope you enjoy this self-care project as much as I do!

Until next time,

-K

What Do You Think You’re Doing?

November 18, 2018 Kimberly Mcdowell

It’s quite possible that this should have been my first Blog Post. This post is inspired by some of the positive and not so positive feedback I’ve gotten about my blogging transition. So here is my story.

My name is Kimberly Scott McDowell, I have a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Finance from Georgia Southern University. Along the way in my work experiences, I became extremely interested in making things beautiful and I was blessed with a natural creative talent to follow-through on those interests.

A Budding Creative

I’ve been blessed with a knack for cutting short hair. I used to love it and had tons of people waiting for me to get my hands on them. Once I had my first child, I had to break up with all my beloved clients because my son and new husband took up all my extra time. The only hair I cut now is my own. I still get in the mood occasionally and still love to help someone with their confidence by giving a freebee. I live to see happiness on their faces when they love it.

I used to work for the Savannah Riverfront Marriott hotel. This is where I fell in love with parties, weddings, and that whole creative process. I took the certification test and passed it for Marriott Event Planning and eventually moved on.

I still had a thirst for event planning and wanted to be sure I was taken seriously so I completed the QC School of Event Planning courses and became a certified Wedding and Event Planner. Finally, I can put those sweet IEWP letters behind my name. Well those letters do not guarantee that you will be a successful Event Planner but I’m sure I explained that enough in my last blog post. I still love the thrill of planning a good party and will continue to hustle on that end.

The Blog was Born

I have found that the more I learn the more I want to learn. The more I want to touch and do all the things I’m interested in. There were so many things I did behind the scenes and wanted to share just a bit of my personality with whoever decided to visit my little website. So, the Blog was born!

I have to giggle because I told one of my co-workers that I didn’t know how she did it, blogging every day, my attention span is so short. We joke and say I have commitment issues. I must admit that this has been soooo therapeutic and is so much fun because It’s on my terms. Then along came to questions and comments…...

Why are you doing this? Are you looking for attention? Do you have a modeling contract or something? Do you take pictures of yourself every day?

Thus far those questions were as negative as they got, and I don’t think they are quite that negative. I welcomed those questions because it forced me to take a closer look at what I’m doing and why. Truth is, I think I’m Hella cute. Round and all, I love me. The full body shots are taken because I love my clothes and I need to begin looking at myself completely and not just my face. This is the whole me and I really like her. I wanted to give real women a true picture of a real woman.

My sister has gotten me addicted to YouTube videos and while browsing them, I told George {my husband} that I was tired of seeing the extremely tight clothes on full figured woman. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good bodycon dress but not everyday of the week. So, my new goal was to figure out how I would incorporate fashion into a website that’s based on Event Planning. I think I may have succeeded so please visit and tell me what you think.

www.kimberly-mcdowell.squarespace.com

Do It Already!

The other comments were so positive and inspiring and help speak life into what I’m doing especially when I ask MYSELF, what do you think you’re doing? The moral of this post is DO YOU! Who cares what others think as long as you’re not hurting them. God never put limits on us, man did that. Get out of your own way and be exactly who you want to be, even if that is 20 different people!

Until next time,

-K