Improve Your Memory

I admit that sometimes I forget things and now that I have a baby I often forget where I put stuffs or things that I have to do. Maybe it's because my mind is loaded with lots of things or maybe because of something else. Is it just me or it's happening to any of you too? I bumped into an article on Woman's Day called How to Improve Your Memory – Tips to Improve Your Memory - Woman's Day. Isn't it amazing how sometimes things can bumped into one another at the right time? =) So, here are what the experts suggest us to do to improve our memory. Simple but useful things...

How to Improve Your Memory

Eat your vitamins B, C, D and E

New research shows that older people who have higher levels of vitamins B, C, D and E in their blood have stronger memory and thinking skills. Make sure you're getting enough vitamin B₁₂ in particular (found in meat, fish, poultry, eggs and milk)—low levels of this vitamin have been linked to memory problems. Whenever possible, try to get these nutrients from food instead of pills. But if you're a vegetarian, over 50 years old and/or taking certain medications for diabetes or heartburn, ask your doctor about B₁₂ supplements, since you may be at a higher risk for a deficiency. On the flip side, avoid foods that contain trans fats (including fried foods and many packaged baked goods). Studies show that people with high levels of this dangerous fat had worse cognitive functioning. (Orly Avitzur, MD, fellow of the American Academy of Neurology)

Play games

Try doing a word scramble, a crossword puzzle or Sudoku against the clock. Giving yourself a time limit challenges your brain's focus, speed and flexibility. Also choose hobbies that keep your mind engaged—painting, writing, playing board games—and do them regularly. Research shows that activities like these help keep your brain function strong throughout your lifetime. (Cynthia Green, PHD, author of 30 Days to Total Brain Health and president of Memory Arts, Montclair, NJ)

Take a brisk walk

Exercise triggers positive changes in your brain, including forging new connections between nerve cells, increasing blood flow and even creating new brain cells—all of which help strengthen your memory and problem-solving skills. A brisk half-hour walk every day can also lower your chances of developing dementia, since it helps keep blood pressure and cholesterol levels in check. Best of all, it's never too late to make a difference. Research shows that even longtime couch potatoes who started a regular exercise program experienced positive changes in brain function almost immediately. (Arthur F. Kramer, PHD, director, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)

(article via Woman's Day - image via: favim)

Amazing Loft Interior

Found this really amazing home interior design from 1Kindesign. It's The Heinz Julen Loft is a spectacular loft in Zermatt, Switzerland. I think it has a mixture of many styles. You can see some rustic style, country style, glamour style, chic style and also minimalist style. Somehow it can be one whole style concept rather than a mess. So beautiful.

(all images via onekindesign.com)

DIY Erase Board

I just found this great idea..a DIY project that is so easy to make. Found it via Papernstitch. It's a"Double Duty Dry Erase Board" tutotial (image below).

Isn't it a clever idea? I never thought about making this one before, but when I saw it I was like "wow, this is so simple yet so useful". It's like a reminder board but instead of sticking or pinning notes, we only need to write it down on the board and when it's done, just erase it. So, here is the tutorial.

 

Materials: 

 1. Picture frame with glass or plexi insert  

 2. Fabric scraps 

 3 . Heavy duty tape 

 4. Dry erase markers 

Step by Step How To:  

1. Remove everything from the frame (paper, mat, backing) except for the glass.  
2. Cut a piece of fabric slightly larger than your frame backing (about an extra 2 inches all the way around). Whether your backing is hardboard or cardboard, this tutorial will work, so don’t worry.  
3. Place cut fabric over frame backing and then flip over.  
4. Fold over excess fabric and then, using heavy duty tape, attach the fabric to your backing. 
5. Place the now fabric-covered frame backing into the frame and you are all done! You are ready to write notes all over your pretty dry erase board.

Karma Cleanse

Nice quote for your Tuesday =) 

Karma cleanse...it's  always good for you to do good to other people.  

Good things will come to those who do good things. Have a great Tuesday...

(image via)

Your Sign at Starbucks...

Hi everyone...I am so sorry for my absence last week. My husband was not feeling well so I have to take care of him and leave my computer behind. But here I am again, with all of you. Feeling great to be back here and also feeling great because my husband is now feeling well. It's raining here in my place, it's been a while since it's raining so hard. When it's rain, I can only think about having a coffee. But I just has my coffee a few hours ago, I think I have to wait for another couple of hours for my second cup of coffee. Speaking about coffee, I found this fun astrological-coffee relationship on Zodiac Solution. So fun that I can read it over and over again. I put some of the images below, to view the complete zodiac, click here. Mine is Gemini...how about yours?

(all images by zodiacsolution.tumblr)

Charming Home..

Hi there Monday =) How are you all doing? Hopefully you had a great weekend so you can always have a fresh start for a new week. So, picture this..seaside, cozy place, relaxing ambiance, fresh air. What image can you capture having seen all the words I've mentioned earlier? I can easily picture the images below having seen all the word I've described above. Below is the images of a charming holiday house by the seaside I found on onekindesign.com. The decor really can make us feel so relax. My fave spot is the nook by the window. Oh my god...really in love with it. I can imagine myself reading there all day long =)

(all images via onekindesign.com)

10 Emotions...

It's been a shile since the last time I post something about emotion. Emotion changes often, don't you think so? One minute you can be happy and the next minute you can be sad. Although it all depends on the situation you're facing. I came acrross this website, Self Improvement Mentor, and found an article about the list of emotions we should be able to raise everyday. I never thought about those emotions before, I thought emotions are there as the result of our feelings but the more I thought about it, maybe it is right about those emotion list below. I think that it's important for us to be able to find those emotions and to really feel the emotions below to develop ourselves better. The list was created by Tony Robbins, an American self-help author. So, what are those emotions? Here is the list. Have a great weekend =) 

Top success coach Tony Robbins identified 10 power emotions that we should cultivate daily in his wonderful book Awaken the Giant Within. The 10 power emotions are ; 

1. Love & Warmth 
2. Appreciation & gratitude 
3. Curiosity – then you can grow and learn through life 
4. Excitement & passion 
5. Determination 
6. Flexibility 
7. Confidence – through the power of faith 
8. Cheerfulness – there is a big difference in being happy inside, and showing it outside. It enhances self esteem, makes life more fun, make others happier 
9. Vitality – if you don’t take care of your body, it’s hard to take care of your emotions 
10. Contribution

(article source: self-improvement-mentor.com - image source: favim)

Self Development

A friend of mine requested me to make a post about self development. I have to keep my promise that I'd post something about it. So, here it is...self development tips. 

First of all I'm going to ask myself about self development. What is self development anyway? For me, self development is somekind of thoughts and activites that we undertake to make ourself become a better person. It's the things we do to make improvements in many aspects.

I found these tips below from Liraz.com. Below are some of my favorite tips, click here to read the complete tips.

Self Development Tips

• Accept personal responsibility for your own growth; no one can do it for you. What you do today will determine your readiness for tomorrow.
• Take time every day to do something for yourself.
• Never look back to the past-you only can control your actions in this instant, so what should you be doing right now?
• Never say something can't or won't be done. Keep looking for ways to do it.
• After attending a seminar, report to your boss or other people in your organization, what the most important things are that you learned from the program.
• Read a minimum of one book a month.
• Be hungry for what life has to offer and go for it.
• Decide what you really desire to do-then do it.
• When you have the option of reading a book or listening to the cassette tape version of the program, listen to the tape. It will be more to the point and can be done while you are driving, jogging/walking, or getting other routine things done.
• Develop a "master mind" group of four or five people with whom you can openly discuss ideas in a nonjudgmental way.
• Do not be afraid of failing at something. You can learn and change as a result of it.
• We all have the same 24 hours in a day. Learn from those people who get more done than you do. Perhaps you can find a way to improve what you are doing.
• Find a nonjudgmental mentor who will help you by providing feedback, suggestions, challenges and support.
• Fill your mind with positive ideas, thoughts and inspirations and you will have no room left for the negative.
• Do more than your "self doubts" say you can.
• Have confidence that you can get through and learn from anything and everything you experience.
• Keep a daily journal, recording your thoughts, ideas, feelings and personal growth progress.
• Ask questions, listen, then ask more questions. You will learn as well as help others learn.
• Ask yourself, "How can I manipulate my fate?"
• Do things with someone you respect. They will be supportive of you and you will learn from interacting with them.
• Challenge yourself to learn something new every day.
• Remain flexible and constantly adaptable.
• Mentally rehearse a new skill. Your subconscious does not know the difference between actual practice and mental rehearsal.
• Make notes of the questions you want answered. Then as the answers come to you, jot them down next to the question.

(article source: http://www.liraz.com/tdevelop.htm - image source: favim)

Courage..

Below is a short quote from Denise Hunter, a writer, about facing our fear. There are moments that I have to face my fears. Sometimes I think it's better for me to avoid those fears rather than facing the fears. But often I think that it's even better for me to be able to face the fears in order to make me stronger..and it works. When I decided to face the fears, I suddenly become stronger because when I'm facing those fears, there are no turning back...I have to continue to what I'm doing which is living and try to be strong facing those fears. I know that by facing those fears, my courage will appear and as a result I will become stronger and eliminate those fears little by little. I always believe that things always happen for certain reasons. You have to be able to force yourself to beat those fears. Those fears you are facing are not there without certain reasons. Even if you can't find reasons behind those fears, at least you'll find yourself stronger =)

“It's fear that makes an act courageous.”
― Denise Hunter, The Convenient Groom

Weekend Meal

I stumbled upon this website, Kitchen Sisters, when I was looking on some easy pasta recipe. I am craving a homemade pasta for the last couple of days but haven't decided yet what pasta I really want to cook. And then, this recipe has given me such an inspiration to cook my kind of pasta. This one is "Pasta salad with olives and sundried tomatoes". Perfect for the weekend meal =) Have a great weekend. 

Pasta salad with olives and sundried tomatoes.

Yield: 20 persons (as a side dish)

Ingredients:

750 gr pasta

300 gr sundried tomatoes (with oil)

120 gr black olives

5 eggs

250 gr grated cheese

3 little red onions

Directions:

1. Bring your water for the pasta and your water for the eggs to a boil. When the water boils, cook your pasta al dente and boil the eggs for about 6 minutes. You want them to be a bit undercooked so that your eggyolks will combine everything.
2. In the meantime, cut your onions into very small pieces, pitted your olives and cut these into small rings and slice up your sundried tomatoes into small strips.
3. Now combine into a big bowl your onions, olives, sundried tomatoes and the oil from your sundried tomatoes. Add to this your grated cheese and mix well. When your pasta is done, add those straight from the pan (when they are still very warm) into your bowl. Mix well so that everything combines and your cheese can melt. 
4. The last step is to slice your eggs and add these. By doing this as a last step, the eggyolks can still combine everything and give it a glaze but stay intact as well.

(recipe and image by Kitchen Sisters)

Way Of Living

It always interest me reading something about life. The reason is because there are so many aspects of life that we can describe and aspects that we can dig deeper to truly know the real meaning of those aspects. It is been said that life is a continuous lessons. That is why there are always more and more things we can learn in life while we're living. I just found the quote below from GoodReads. It's a good one =)

“believe that this way of living, this focus on the present, the daily, the tangible, this intense concentration not on the news headlines but on the flowers growing in your own garden, the children growing in your own home, this way of living has the potential to open up the heavens, to yield a glittering handful of diamonds where a second ago there was coal. This way of living and noticing and building and crafting can crack through the movie sets and soundtracks that keep us waiting for our own life stories to begin, and set us free to observe the lives we have been creating all along without ever realizing it.

I don’t want to wait anymore. I choose to believe that there is nothing more sacred or profound than this day. I choose to believe that there may be a thousand big moments embedded in this day, waiting to be discovered like tiny shards of gold. The big moments are the daily, tiny moments of courage and forgiveness and hope that we grab on to and extend to one another. That’s the drama of life, swirling all around us, and generally I don’t even see it, because I’m too busy waiting to become whatever it is I think I am about to become. The big moments are in every hour, every conversation, every meal, every meeting.

The Heisman Trophy winner knows this. He knows that his big moment was not when they gave him the trophy. It was the thousand times he went to practice instead of going back to bed. It was the miles run on rainy days, the healthy meals when a burger sounded like heaven. That big moment represented and rested on a foundation of moments that had come before it.

I believe that if we cultivate a true attention, a deep ability to see what has been there all along, we will find worlds within us and between us, dreams and stories and memories spilling over. The nuances and shades and secrets and intimations of love and friendship and marriage an parenting are action-packed and multicolored, if you know where to look.

Today is your big moment. Moments, really. The life you’ve been waiting for is happening all around you. The scene unfolding right outside your window is worth more than the most beautiful painting, and the crackers and peanut butter that you’re having for lunch on the coffee table are as profound, in their own way, as the Last Supper. This is it. This is life in all its glory, swirling and unfolding around us, disguised as pedantic, pedestrian non-events. But pull of the mask and you will find your life, waiting to be made, chosen, woven, crafted.

Your life, right now, today, is exploding with energy and power and detail and dimension, better than the best movie you have ever seen. You and your family and your friends and your house and your dinner table and your garage have all the makings of a life of epic proportions, a story for the ages. Because they all are. Every life is.

You have stories worth telling, memories worth remembering, dreams worth working toward, a body worth feeding, a soul worth tending, and beyond that, the God of the universe dwells within you, the true culmination of super and natural. 

You are more than dust and bones.

You are spirit and power and image of God.

And you have been given Today.” 

― Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life

(image source: weheartit.com)

Artist's Home

 The interior of the house below is really awesome. Especially the decor of the hallway. I love seeing mixture of different carpets or rugs at one certain place. Found this place via Enpundit. It is a house of Laurie Frick who is an artist, which is located in Austin, Texas.

(images source: enpundit.com)

Say "I Love You"

I found this article called "7 Creative Ways To Say 'I Love You'" by Diana Denza on All Woman Stalk. Many of us find it hard to say "I Love You" to someone, although we really love the special someone. It's not like we're not sure whether we love that person or not but those words can often come out so hard to be said. I guess it's because there are some of us who are not really good putting feelings into words and sometimes it is easier for us to just show it without saying anything. But I was wondering whether that person will know or not how we truly feel for them when we can't even say the words "I Love You". Maybe these tips below will be able to show how we love someone by doing the certain things below =) 

7 CREATIVE WAYS TO SAY ‘I LOVE YOU’

1. Tape It
One undeniably creative way to say “I love you” is to give him a video he’ll cherish. You’ll need some basic video editing skills for this one: first, gather your cutest photos as a couple. Put them in a video slideshow complete with your favorite tunes. For the grand finale, get on-camera and tell him exactly why he’s such a great boyfriend. When your flick ends, say “I love you” to his face. Believe me, he won’t need a video to remember that!

2. Frame It
I’m sure you’ve snapped tons of photos with your beau, so now it’s time to get crafty. Order this inexpensive frame –it’s only $9– at dinotalk.com. What makes a plain white frame so special? Well, you can record your “I love you” directly onto the frame. Your guy can play it back with the press of a button. Plus, you can even decorate your handy photo holder, making it all the more personal.

3. Leave A Note
Another creative way to say “I love you” is to leave him a few notes –and not just a “buy milk, honey” on the refrigerator door. Now’s the time to pull out your best stationery and get to work! Write a handful of lovey dovey messages and think of hiding spots he won’t go through immediately. For example, his sock drawer (if he’s already dressed), a book he’s planning to read, and his coat pockets are prime places. I’ve done this for my girlfriend and she still has every note saved (as in, she found them charming).

4. Make A Playlist
Calling all music buffs: Don’t wait another second to create your perfect love-song playlist. It’ll be music to his ears! Light some scented candles, prepare dinner, and turn it up as soon as he walks in the door. Just don’t be surprised when he brags to his buds about how good he’s got it!  There are tons of songs that you can then use for your wedding, if you two do end up tying the knot later in life!

5. Enter The Blogosphere 
If you’ve been together for one year or more, a creative way to say “I love you” from anywhere at any time is to create a blog all about the life you share together. Ground rules, no complaints about your loved one, posts that include personal information like home or work addresses, or scandalous photos. Start by posting your favorite photos and love messages. Send him a link and login info at a time when he’s feeling stressed out (like a hard day at work). It’ll be an instant mood-lifter! Update it at your discretion and encourage him to keep checking back for more. Who knows? He might be inspired to leave you a few romantic messages of his own!

6. Order Take-Out
I know you’ve probably ordered takeout a zillion times before. But hear me out: Even though you’re ordering from your go-to Chinese restaurant, dessert will be a much different story. Make sure that you pick up the order (alone!) and swap the usual fortune cookies for custom-made ones. You can order them at tankinz.com. Since the message is customizable, they should all say “I love you”. He’ll be wondering how you managed to pull it off, you smart cookie!

7. Say It With A Latte
One last way to creatively say “I love you” is with a latte stencil. Yup, those do exist and one can be found at etsy.com. My girlfriend and I are total caffeine addicts, so if you’re anything like us, it’ll be fun –and romantic– all around.  These are fantastic little hints that let’s him know that you love him!  It’s so different and unique too!

(article source: allwomenstalk.com - image source: favim.com)