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I am never short o’ reasons why I love being a freelance/self-employed creatrix o’ awesome – freedom, afternoon naps, being creative on my terms – but this year I’m stepping up. Oh yeah.

Check me out. In the next few weeks I’ll be launching two brand-new ventures: www.SASSYology.com and www.MissSASS.com, after the success o’ my first 10 children’s books, my first grown-up girl book, SASSY Sorcery, will hit the shelves and sprinkle girl-kind with glitter and make-life-better-ness, and as if that’s not enough goodness for one girl to possibly stand, I’ll be unleashing a series of new School O’ Sassy Arts programmes, including: Write Your Book o’ Wonder, if writing and publishing a book is your absolute thing du jour for 2012 – you are going to freakin’ LOVE this!

In order to make sure I’m the most kick-ass, stepped-up, lycra-wearing cheerleader with awesome bangs that I can possibly be, I’m amping up my inner-business-girl. Don’t get it twisted, I take what I do very seriously, but ’til now, I’ve done it in a very whole-istic, let’s-do-it-and-see-how-it-turns-out kinda way, it’s served me well, but I don’t want to fly by the seat o’ my pants anymore, nope, if I’m flying anywhere, I want it to be 1st class with a glass of pink fizz, thankyouverymuch.

I’ve recently connected with a very beautiful lady, Corrina Gordon Barnes, who recently wrote about things you can do each and every day to improve your energy for your business. As I mentioned last week, every day before I sit down to write, I light a candle ask for a li’l guidance for the day a head and get to it. But over the last couple of days, I’ve been thinking of other ways that I could really…y’know, connect. Connect with myself, with my creative muse, with my spiritual home-girls, with my intention to work, with my body…

Now, I have a few connection processes that I really love like: listening to my 3 favourite go-for-it girl songs that I LOVE to play at super-high volume because they always change my state from ‘meh’ to ‘I’m freakin’ awesome’ – I Walk with the Goddess by Kelliana, Stand Up by Jessie J and Defying Gravity from the musical Wicked, journalling three pages of automatic writing each morning to clear my head space, going for a walk in the forest, swimming and doing my pilates for indie rockers DVD, but I was really struggling to find something I could do absolutely every single day, no matter what, that would raise my energy, change my state into ‘I mean business, damn it!’ and mostly make me feel good, because really, that’s what it’s all about. When I feel good, I do good.

Now today is a coaching day, a day that I am both coached and that I coach my own clients, none of which involves actual face-time so usually, I’ll pull on a very comfy pair o’ very unflattering leggings, a hoodie and scrape my hair back in pony-tail. Dita Von Teese I am not. Seriously? Have you seen that girl at the gym? Amazing.
Anyway, while you’d NEVER catch Dita in comfies, it got me to thinking about my absolute love and passion for make-up and how the act of applying lipstick alone, is like an actual sacred practice for me. Does it raise my energy? Absolutely. Does what colour I choose to wear effect my mood and how I act? Hell to the yeah. So today, before starting work, I have applied a delicious slick of Rockalily’s Rockette Red, blown myself a little kiss in the mirror and told myself I’m foxy. Superfluous? Yep.
Has it upped my awesomeness for the day? You betcha baby!

What, if any, rituals or ready-for-work practices do you do each and every day? Would love you to share!

So, I’ve been given a gentle nudge by a few minxettes to update y’all on my weight release journey that I started earlier this year…

Now I’m nothing if not honest, so here’s the deal.

Firstly, I got complacent.

I’d released 56lb – hurrah – and thought to myself, do you know what? I can take a break now, surely? The doctor was pleased with me, I was feeling lighter and brighter in myself and I deserved some time out, right? Wrong.

Y’see, while the releasing weight bit was actually do-able, the head and heart stuff? Well that’s a whole other plate o’ food…

I might of released some weight-age, but what I hadn’t done, was change up my story. Y’see, when your story remains the same, yet you try and change up your behaviour, life falls out o’ whack. Now, as a life coach and girl who helps others to transform and grow, I felt a bit o’ a failure. Why hadn’t I realised that to shed the poundage for good, I had to change my thinking, my programmed beliefs about food and my body? Thing is I had realised, it’s just that, well…that shit’s hard work.

Now, I’m not afraid o’ hard work, not at all, in fact I thrive on it, but when it involves having to do some digging into the deep, dark shadow-y stuff that I’ve spent a substantial part o’ my life trying to keep locked away, well, that’s crazy hard. So for a few months, I ignored it, but when, like me, your weapon o’ mass-self-destruction in life has been self-sabotage, you’ll know that, unless you put down your weapons and make self-love your weapon o’ choice indefinitely, you’ll start to hear the whisper o’ seductive self-sabotage-y-ness in your ear. Now, I know ALL about self-love, I’ve written books on it, yet, it still feels like something I dabble in. I LOVE the skin I’m in, yet I still seem to struggle with feeling worthy enough to be healthy and happy in the world, which is why it’s words o’ sabatoge-y-ness were sounding a li’l something like this:
“You don’t think you can actually be a size 14, do you?”
“You might as well eat a chocolate bar, because this healthier happier you isn’t really you, is it? It’s not like it’s going to last, is it?”
“You’re from a council estate, what makes you think you can be someone who’ll be able to eat organically and nutritionally, who do you think you are?
I slowly felt myself slipping back into my old attitude of despair, thinking I had absolutely no choice but to accept defeat, give up on myself. Then, something clicked. I was standing in front of the mirror and I made a decision.
“I am not accepting this. I am no longer playing at this level now, I’m healthy and happy, and I want more of it.”
So I did ‘the work’.

In fact, I’m still doing ‘the work’ and I’m thinking that I’ll always be doing ‘the work’.

Some of my belief systems around how worthy I am o’ success and happiness are so hard-wired and need a LOT of work, but that’s okay, because I’m a girl o’ SASS – Spiritual, Authentic, Sensual & Sensational – and girls o’ SASS know how to lock and load their awesomeness to make amazing things happen. Fact.

So, I’m now locking and loading. I gained 11 of those 56lb during the self-sabotage-y wobble (I’ll be writing more about what to do when your weapon o’ mass self-esteem destruction is self-sabotage next week) and I still have 3 stone-age to release to make the doctor types happy and to substantially ease the Endrometriosis, but I’m on it. I’m eating yummy, healthy nutritious food, I’m reading lots of books about emotional eating and transforming thoughts, learning all about how to eat to balance my hormones which’ll aid healing my Endrometriosis, and swimming, belly-dancing and burlesque-ing, I am a girl o’ SASS after all!

EXCITING NEWS: Sassy Minx is soon to get a swanky new look to coincide with the launch of my brand new book series, SASSYology, to make sure you don’t miss out on all the updates, news and most importantly, freebies, go ‘like’ Sassyology over at FB and ‘follow’ me, I’m Misssassyology, on twitter!

Ohhh, there is so much to love this week, I just don’t know where to start…

Jason Vale is my homeboy
Meet Jason Vale. I was given his book 7lb in 7 days to read last week, and since reading it, I’ve just bought his book Slim For Life and wowzers, I’m going to do something big and scary and say it out loud – this book changed my life. Pretty big statement, right? But I’m totes serious. I’m not one for diets or diet-like books but this is not a diet book, in fact it’s unlike any other book I’ve ever read. It will give you total freedom around all food so you will never have to battle mentally, or physically, with what you eat – or don’t eat – again! OHMYSTARS, I thought I was educated, but this book is like a total revaluation in eating – cannot recommend it enough! Will be raving about this a lot more in the future…

Feather hair extensions
Although I’m more 1950’s rockabilly than 1960’s hippy-girl, I do dig the Pocahontas look, and it turns out this summer the latest hair trend is feather hair extensions. Celeb types like Miley Cyrus and Jennifer Love Hewitt were working them at Coachella, and while neither of these are my icon du jour, I do love the idea of adding a rock chick style to summer waves with Hairaisers Colour Flash Feather Hair extensions. They come in a variety of 10 different colours, and cost £3.99 at www.hairaisers.com Result!

Impulse and Barry M goodness
I have a BIG love for all things Barry M, and they’ve gone and made our handbags a whole lot more sweeter smelling by hooking up with Impulse to create three limited edition handbag essential packs – Into Glamour, Very Pink and Tease – there’s one to suit every mood and occasion. Obviously my fave is the Very Pink fragrance which comes complete with a yummy strawberry scented and flavoured pale pink lip gloss; and the good news is, it’s £3 so they won’t break the bank either!

The fabulous range of limited edition Barry M lip glosses are only available from 26th April – 11th June. Get your hands on the must have beauty accessories for 2011 for the unbelievable price of £3.00 (RRP). Available in Boots (26th April – 17th May), Superdrug and Tesco (7th May – 11th June).

Girly goodness in Mumbles, Wales
So, my gorgeous gal-pal Lucy, the clever creatrix behind Juicy Lucy, are working on a super-secret project together and she invited me to go stay with her for a few days so we could start to make it happen…The fact that I got to call it work, seems a li’l rude to be honest because I had the best time! Lucy and I went for beach and cliff walks – wow, Mumbles is SO beautiful!

I slept in a gorgeous attic room that overlooked the sea – sigh, I had so much fun playing with her beautiful sons and it was so inspiring to team up with another creatrix and get our creative-girls on – we got so much done – fun times! Ohhh, and before coming back to England, I also got a chance to take a sneaky peek around the Fairy Factory, where all the magic happens – it was filled to the brim with pink deliciousness!

Lolita Lempicka – The First Fragrance
Since Miss Aimz and I visited the Ohh-la-la Paris, I have been a huge fan of the Lolita Lempicka range, it reminds me of kisses, macaroons and burlesque-y goodness. Which is why I’m VERY excited by this new romantic and feminine fragrance. It combines Lemon Zest & Apricot Nectar for full fruity tones with floral Jasmine and Violet Woody notes – so, freakin’ pretty!
Lolita Lempicka Eau de Toilette, £39 for 50ml – available nationwide from 1st July 2011.

What have you done today to show yourself some serious lovin’? Care to share?

WANT, NEED , MUST HAVE

It’s Freaky Friday next week, and what with Halloween casting a spell over the whole weekend, here are the things I want to go broke for;
Skull Cameo ring, £12.00 from Temporary Secretary
ASOS spikey gem fascinator, £18.00
Topshop make-up eye palette in Petrol, £12.00
Freckles black suede shoes £65.00
Rosalind lace dress, £295.00 at Whistles

SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND

He will be crawling all over you – excuse the pun – in no time, with this sheer silk chiffon set from Coco de Mer with its revealing peepholes in the bra and knicker. Add a twist of Black Widow seduction by whispering stories from ‘Five minute Erotica’ by Carol Queen, and no doubt he will be trapped in a web of lust!

JET SET

I have just got back from Egypt. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t spend most of my days by the pool at the fabulous five star Sultan Gardens hotel in Sharm El Sheik with a colourful cocktail bought over by the waiter, and a massage in the spa. However I did make a trip to Cairo, which is one of the most diverse places I have ever seen. I didn’t see many of the prettier bis of the city, but I did get to see the pyramids and the sphinx which made me go all tingly just because it is a bit magical, despite getting harassed by a man on a camel, when my beau went down into one of the triangular shaped wonders. We also went quad biking in the desert – I say ‘we’ but I clung to him on the back as I don’t drive and sailed down the Nile which didn’t look as exotic and luscious as I thought it would, but was still an experience, nevertheless! In fact, Egypt is something that has something for everyone, and I don’t think you could run out of things to do!

EAT ME

Finally, I have discovered a great foodie blog this week-its called Bakerella, and its basically about a lady in America who showcased her experiments with baking and decorating and she was actually the inventor of the new cake ‘Cakepops’ -like the cute ice cream ones above. There are lots of recipes on the site, and LOTS of pretty pictures so you can get inventive in the kitchen too. Its so kitsch, I LOVE it!

Have a great weekend!

WANT, NEED, MUST HAVE……
WANT:The Ugly Betty of shoes, these are absolutely on my AW wish list, and is OFFICE at its true best.
NEED:Cunning lipstick by MAC. I usually go matte, but I think I will add a gloss to this and make my lips really slick and sticky.
MUST HAVE: Ribbed tights. From Mui Mui to Prada they are the only thing to wear on your legs this winter. I REALLY want these from Johnathon Aston, not only are they a lovely shade of grey, they are also embellished. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend after all!

SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND……
You don’t need much more than a bit of dishevelled hair, some eyeliner and this bit of kit from Mimi Holliday- combines two of my favourite things; leopard print and pink. Not only that, it goes up to a GG! Hooray! Add some Durex Play O gel, which has been designed to stimulate and increase desire, and it’ll deffo be a weekend for Oh la la!

EAT ME
You can bet your bottom dollar that Beetroot is absolutely in stock at your local greengrocers, but not only that, it is a super food so good for you. This rich, velvety soup can be eaten hot or cold and is pretty easy to make. The only thing I will say, is make sure you wear gloves when you scrub the skins, because you don’t want to stain your manicure!!!

You need; 450 gr of Beetroot, 15 g butter, a finely chopped onion, a litre of vegetable stock and some goats cheese.
1.) Gently rub the earth off of the beets under a cold tap and boil them until soft and ready-this can take about an hour!
When done, run them under the cold tap again and remove the skins which should come away easy.
2.)Foam up the butter and add the chopped onion and let them soften up in a deep large pan, and bring the stock to the boil.
3.)Put the beets and the stock into a pan and season any which way you like. Then blend. I bought a cheapee hand blender to do this, I suggest cutting the larger beets in half though, because otherwise you run the risk of it going over your outfit!
4.) Serve in bowls, and add a round of goats cheese.