Priorities

A couple of years ago an employee from another department was talking with me about his dilemma having enough time for work, school, and personal life. Fortunately he was still very young, recently started college, and didn't have as many bills or responsibilities as he would have in his thirties. I gave him some advice then, which turned out to be advice for myself that's I've tried to remember over the past couple of years: I told him to find out what his priority was, focus on that, and then whatever came behind that in order accordingly. I told him to feel good and confident in his decision, to not feel bad about having a priority, and to not apologize for it - not even to himself.

Last week I took a me-cation alone for a few days to clear my head and think of my priorities. With all the things I do and love to do, two things were at the forefront of my mind: health and education. My top two priorities are my health and my education, and I need to feel good in that assumption, and to not apologize to anyone, including myself, for making those my priorities.

For my health, this involves exercising consistently, minding my nutrition, getting sleep, and keeping myself in a positive mental state. For my education, this involves my college courses, independent research, teaching others, reading and observing topics of health and marketing. I am rediscovering my soul and passion this year for the arts, dancing, and entertainment events, which I can incorporate in my heath (dancing) and education (both at work and school).

Other things I love doing that I don't plan on giving up in my life, such as travelling and being a personal wellness consultant, need to come after these initial priorities. At first thought I don't even want to type those words, or think about what they mean, or feel I have to step back even a little bit of those things. Then I remember my advice and know I've made the right decision, and not apologize to even myself.

Running around trying to do everything all at once isn't going to get you anywhere. If you want to get ANYTHING done, and done well, you need to prioritize. In the end, I know I will be more productive and happier.

I already am this week. :)

Yours in health and happiness,

Samantha Marie

12 Simple, Delicious Salads to Bring to Work

Pear, quinoa, walnuts, chickpeas, and spinach leaves

I've made the same salad, or slight variation thereof, for about 90% of the days I've worked over the past three years: Spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes, shredded mozzarella cheese with a balsamic dressing. Usually I'll add a healthy fat like nuts or avocado on top. Sometimes I'd sprinkle in dried cranberries or another fruit. Occasionally I'd switch the mozzarella to feta. Other than that, I was in desperate need of a salad intervention.

Taking inspiration from my Quick & Easy Food Ideas Pinterest board, I gathered together a top twelve list of simple-enough salads I can easily make for work over the next month to get out of my rut. Having a wide variety of salads to choose from that shared similar ingredients is ideal for me to try different things without having an extensive food inventory. I used this blog as my shopping list for the week:

Cucumber & avocado caprese salad

Pear, pomegranate, cilantro, onion, lime salsa

Pears, cranberries, feta, walnuts, romaine, balsamic dressing

Apple, cranberry, walnut, feta, spinach, honey dressing

Pomegranate, cranberry, walnut, goat cheese, mixed greens with balsamic & olive oil

Shaved Brussels sprouts, cranberries, avocado, Parmesan, mixed greens, lemon vinaigrette

Cucumber & feta salad

Chicken, tomatoes, feta, mixed greens

Jicama, citrus, pomegranate, watercress

Strawberry, avocado, shaved almonds, kiwi with honey-lime-yogurt dressing

Last Day at My Third Gym

Today marks my last day at my third gym.

It also marks my last day of being a non-manager in a corporate business in five years.
Next week I enter into management again for a business other than my own, and my fourth gym in a year and a half. I've met a lot of exciting people, thoughtful people, passionate people and even a couple mentors during my time at this current company so far, and I look forward to taking this next step and reaching out to have an impact on even more people.

It's been an interesting road to get here. I was just a couple months shy of 19 when I entered my first management role, just before I started working for Nordstroms. I was promoted into department management about six months after I began working there, and stayed in managerial roles until five and a half years ago, when I stopped working full time and began my decline into illness.

Perhaps my aspirations were too high when I thought I could advance as quickly and easily into this new industry fresh off two years of mostly bed rest. My personality traits of persistence, stubbornness, perfectionism, impatience, and my new-found traits of happiness and positivity certainly got a work out during this time. Patience, for the most part has been my teacher. We definitely have a love-hate relationship. More like it loves me and I hate it, but I appreciate the values it has shown me. You respect the process more.

Alas, I won't be out celebrating this weekend. A quiz on Monday will have me playing catch up to studying, and begin brainstorming for a term paper while I begin to pick out classes for spring semester. This of course is more than okay with me: I have a wine tasting trip coming up soon, the holidays (hopefully with my family at some point), NYE, my birthday and Las Vegas, so I need all the hibernation & saving pennies I can get.

Workouts are in the works for December. Let me rephrase: Hardcore workouts. The last couple of months of the year are the slowest time for gyms, but not for me: Yes, you want to eat lots of delicious holiday food, but you also want to look amazing in your festivity outfits, right? My celebration season ends about a week after New Years too, so all the more reason for me to keep going hard through the end of the year. I'll be sharing some of my journey and ideas for you to keep inspired during these cold winter nights.

Ready for this next chapter. :)

~Samantha Marie

What It Means to be a San Francisco City Girl This Week

THE GIANTS WON THE WORLD SERIES! YAYYYYY!!!!!

I have home town love for my teams, win lose or die. But it sure is fabulous when we win!
Being a city girl this week also comes with the usual school (midterms!), work (interviews for a promotion!) and getting a Halloween costume (I don't have time to shop!.) I did however manage to do okay in all three departments, and - despite being at work during Game 7 - managed to watch the last three minutes with a crowd of fellow gym-goers as we caught the last out.

I got off work at 9:30pm, and when I walked outside ten minutes later, it was like New Years Day. Horns honking, fireworks going off, random loud explosions, and of course - bus schedules disrupted. My friend had called me about 9pm to meet her downtown with the celebration in the streets. This of course sounded like fun, but the reality was I knew the "celebration" was going to get out of hand, and I was all the way across town with buses that weren't coming for awhile.

Home was my destination, with a full backpack of school books, a change of regular clothes, some interview clothes, and my empty lunch box that I cram 3 meals into every day. I tried on my Halloween costume for the first time, and realized I needed some white stockings to complete my Dorothy outfit. By the time this was done, I needed to finish unpacking and repack my lunch for work the next morning. My 20 minute Pilates DVD I've been trying to do at night would have to wait another day. It was time to decompress, so that I could be refreshed to get up and do it all over again.

Congrats Giants! Got another interview tomorrow. Happy Halloween everyone!

~ Samantha Marie