Thursday, November 24, 2011

Floating on Thanksgiving

At first it felt so strange.... I've never taken a vacation in the winter time so to swim around in a warm ocean on Turkey day certainly felt a little different, but in a way I could certainly get used to ;-) I just got in from Miami, Florida and I wanted to share with you some of the really fun things that I saw there. So come along and see Miami with me!


South Beach is magnificently beautiful. The sand looks like cream and white pearls and the the ocean water is so clear that you can see your toes even when the water is almost up to your neck.

Even though I don't drink, I had to get a picture with the sign of the coolest-named beach bar in the universe! Haha

Palm trees line ever street & it looks like a Hollywood movie set. This block was right before we entered to Art Deco district. There were so many unique archetectual designs running up and down the streets, it was really awesome.

This was not abnormal to see a Lamborghini parked on the side of the street. My sister and I counted about 10 Maserati's, 5 Lambo's, 2 Aston Martin's, too many Porsches, the car scene was certainly most intriguing. But none of those were my favorite....

The Pink Cadillac won my heart!


My dear friend Josh that I haven't seen in too many years met up with me and we had such a fun time. He had me laughing until 3am! Josh is a phenomenal body builder and recently created his own supplement that is taking off. He personally trains clients and they've all been really pleased with his product, RHINO. Give it a like on facebook and tell him that "Tooie" sent ya =)

This is my favorite picture of the whole trip, watching the sun rise on the beach. I sat out there for about an hour just thinking & listening. I love South Beach. Everything was amazing, the people, the environment. The plane ride back certainly was a tough one, but there really is no place like home. I hope you all had a warm and loving Turkey Day and whether you chose to eat turkey or not, I hope that all of your bellies were satisfied! Thank you for checking out my little jet-set get away of pictures and now for your viewing pleasure…..



Waves of love,
Nikki

Monday, November 14, 2011

How to be happy when everything else isn't working.


In interviews, Jason Segel said that he cried when he first met Kermit while filming the upcoming Muppets movie. When they asked him why, he responded with "He was so beautiful!" He then went on to describe the magical spell puppets seem to cast on children, as they did on him as a child. "That's why I'm doing this movie." Love him.



Common emotions are often times overlooked on how perplexing they can be to achieve. Doctors swear on synthetic medicine to cure all illness but many people, like myself, prefer to seek out all other alternatives before taking any kind of pill. Drugs scare the bo-jangles out of me!! Even my headache medicine is homeopathic haha.

But one of the most common illnesses that so many people deal with on a daily basis is depression. Some have it worse than others but I feel like everyone goes through some form of depression at some point in their lives. For a lot of people it's a constant battle. I USED TO BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE. For a long time, I would wake up just wanting to go back to sleep. I would cry for no reason, be in a constant fog, but the most troubling thing for me was understanding why I felt this way when I had no reason to be so down. I have a family that loves me, wonderful friends, two legs to walk, two eyes to see, two ears... completely healthy! It would make me feel even more depressed when I would say to myself, "Nikki -- quit whining and get happy!" because I didn't understand why my brain wasn't on track with my heart.

A few years back I had a very traumatic episode that made me change my life completely. I had to deal with my problems head on because I knew that would be the only way I would successfully be able to get to the other side of my unhappiness. While I won't go into this whole big debacle (best word ever!), I will tell you one of my not-so-secret tricks into getting over depression naturally. If you would like me to make a post about how I went from the ultimate low to the most amazingly (natural!) high, just leave me a comment.

SATISFYING THE DESIRES OF YOUR INNER CHILD.


I'm a huge fan of author Louise Hay. In one of her books, she goes through a whole chapter dedicated to making your inner child happy. Until you've tried this, you have no idea how satisfying it truly is! I first read this chapter a couple years and I didn't fully understand why it wasn't quite clicking for me. Satisfying my inner child... got it, I thought. I tried everything I liked when I was a child...eating cotton candy (which I quickly learned makes me tummy hurt now) and wearing purple eyeshadow (this was the only eyeshadow I owned from 5th grade into 8th!). But I was still depressed. So I just figured it didn't work and kept on truckin' on. But what I didn't realize is that I wasn't satisfying my inner child's wants at all, I was just appeasing the simple pleasures like a child which wasn't any sort of progression at all. I needed to satisfy what I DIDN'T get as a kid but always WANTED! I realized this about a month ago....when I went to see Hanson in concert.



This is one non-depressed Nikki!


During their first song, this overwhelming sense of happiness filled my entire body. And then, as embarrassing as it is to admit, I started developing tears in my eyes! I looked over to my friend Lisa because I didn't understand why this was happening. These weren't sad tears, but happy tears! That's when it all clicked to me, all the things that I had read about making my inner kid happy. And I realized that it wasn't 23 year old Nikki crying these happy drops of love, it was 12 year old Nikki saying, "I'm finally seeing my all time favorite band!" And that's when it finally clicked to me that satisfying the dreams of when I was a kid can be just as rewarding when you do it when your an adult!

So go out and buy that toy, pet, cd, whatever it is that you always wanted but never got. You'll be amazed at just how happy it will make you feel inside. And if you want a good read, Louise Hay's Book, "You Can Heal Your Life" will teach you exactly how, with the power of the mind, you can take any situation and turn it into a positive.

Love your big kid,
Nikki