When you have The Sassy Steel Magnolia spot light aimed in your direction, you’re not only sending out great inspiration for all, you’re taking over the Music Snack as well. Casey has a knack for finding artists and music that speak to you and immediately you’re hooked. She suggested a song by this artist a few weeks ago and I found myself listening to it on repeat over and over for nearly 3 days. (and I can’t stop replaying this song, too!) Turn your speakers up and get ready to smile. This one’s a good one!

-•-

I chose this song because not only is she one of my favorite artists (highly recommend entire Careless Love album), but the words to the song correlate with the time period in my life when I realized there was a life to be lived. And there was no better time than the present.

Madeleine Peyroux’s “Don’t Wait Too Long“

(if you have trouble viewing this video, please click here)

-•-

I hope you have all greatly enjoyed having Casey here at The Sassy Steel Magnolia this week. I can not thank her enough for sharing her awesome-ness with all of you! I’ll have to get her to come back soon, indeed. Make sure to stop by A Five Leaf Clover to say hi to Casey and her Savannah crew….there’s always something cookin down in that River Town!

One of the perks of having your own blog is introducing your readers to people you find inspiring, those you look up to and those who are just all around awesome. It’s really one of my favorite parts, and today’s guest post comes from one of those people..

I’ve known Casey for at least ten years now. She’s one of my Sister’s closest friends, a former team mate of mine as well as my former dance coach, current East Coast transplanter, and writer of A Five Leaf Clover. I’m very fortunate to have her just down the road in Savannah and also that she agreed to writing a post for me. She’s someone who always finds art in every aspect of life and isn’t afraid to admit her emotions. I knew she would send a great piece our way and I hope you all enjoy!

—

When asked to write about tapping into a side or strength that I had no idea was there, there was a story from my past glaring at me and I knew, in reality, I had no choice. To be honest with myself, I was most shocked to discover the emotions I was capable of portraying after… dun dun dunnn… you guessed it, “the breakup”. Now, before you suddenly get bored with the cliché of the scenario, allow me to explain that my focus here is not on the actual breakup, but the period that ensued afterwards, where I felt more alive than I ever felt in my life.

I dated a guy who for all practical purposes I will call Tom. It started at the end of college and while we had a lot of fun it was obvious within the first few months that something wasn’t right. I tried to break up with him early on but he always managed to talk me into giving him another try. So I did. For about FOUR years. Looking back I was disappointed in myself for staying in a relationship so long when I knew deep down it was no good.

But the routine of life is numbing sometimes and I was going through the motions.

However, I felt far from numb when Tom broke up with me. I didn’t see it coming and might as well have gotten smashed into the ground by an army tank (aka: hit by a Mack Truck). Immediately I fell into a serious state of depression that neither my mother, nor my best of friends could pull me out. Weight fell off as my stomach was so knotted up I had to make myself eat. I literally had no cellulite on my ass and during any other time in my life I would have considered it a miracle, but it only reminded me how sad I was. Hyper aware of all sensations around me, my mind was working overtime, analyzing every thought. One night I found I had put my razor in my eyeglass case and while I laughed out loud, I decided I was freaking losing it.

What completely threw me off was how low I got considering that even in the depth of my depression I always knew that Tom and I weren’t meant to be together. But the girl that I am, it was more of a control issue, of which I had none.

It took a couple of months, but eventually I decided something had to give. I forced myself to do something. Anything. Go somewhere. Meet someone. Cook something.

Even if I didn’t like it, even if I was just on cruise control, I had to do something for myself.

It didn’t take too long before new experiences began to shine a small ray of light into my world, despite my resistance. My new goal was to make myself happy… in the most hedonistic way.

I enrolled in photography classes at a local university because I always had a passion for taking photos. I had a 22-year-old making friends with my answering machine until I finally decided to call him back. I chopped down my first Christmas tree, had neighbors over for dinner, and drank White Russians during the Big Lebowski with friends I once had little time for. Soon I felt not just more like myself, but more alive than I had in years.

During my rebound I created a Top 10 lifetime list that I am proud to say has already seen some action! A couple of years ago I saw Radiohead perform live in Atlanta, and just last week I swam with dolphins in Mexico! Next year I have plans to visit the wine country of California! Life is too short to not live it with intention.

The end of this story, my dear readers, is a happy one. I can’t leave out the fact that a new guy came into the picture who more than added to my happiness and we will be celebrating our one-year wedding anniversary in a few months! While it’s still easy to get into a rut of day-to-day living as a married couple, with full-time jobs and the like, Michael helps me bring it back to the good stuff. Like a mimosa on a Saturday morning.

Because sometimes life itself, with all its complications, is enough to celebrate.

—

A HUGE Thank You to Casey for stopping by The Sassy Steel Magnolia. Such an incredible story from quite the phenomenal woman, I hope you all enjoyed! Make sure to keep an eye on her, Michael (and Sam – the most awesome German Shepard you’ll ever meet) over at A Five Leaf Clover. And of course she’s not done here at The SSM, her Music Snack will be up bright and early tomorrow morning to help you get over the hump on hump day!

Often we get so caught up in daily routines that we forget the excitement and possible serendipity which can occur from saying the word “Yes” when we would often have replied “No.”

The usual excuses come into play – I’m tired. I have to work tomorrow. I have to do laundry / clean house / catch up on sleep / etc. etc. I know this, because I’m very guilty of doing it more often than not. I forgot how fun saying Yes can be when saying No seems so much more convenient at the time. But…….life doesn’t happen quite as easily when you say No and let those excuses hold you back.

So this week (and hopefully a lot more often)…..

• Just say Yes •

Ignore any reason you may try to come up with and just say YES! Some of the best times of your life will come from saying Yes, so why not start now? Go have those drinks. Take that afternoon off and get a mani / pedi. Call that boy you met the other night for a dinner. Go see that movie you were invited to at the last minute. I think you might be surprised what happens when you say Yes a little more…

—

*Note: as I’m typing this it’s 11:32 on a ’school night’ – aka I have to work tomorrow – and I just got back from going out to a semi-last minute dinner and drinks with friends and having a great time. See…..saying Yes when you’d normally would say No can be a truly great thing sometimes ;)

Indulge in your inner-child. Buy yourself a balloon.

{ because it’s the little things in life that add up to the big ones }

Last Sunday my good friend and I spent the afternoon aimlessly wondering around one of my favorite places in the Lowcountry – Sullivan’s Island. Here are just a few of the pictures I took on my iPhone.

Sullivan’s Island is truly one of my all time favorite places to be, not just in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, but of anywhere I’ve ever been. What’s one of your favorite places to go? Somewhere you find yourself being completely content and happy just walking around for hours, even if you’ve been there a million and one times before. Why not go visit one of your places this weekend? If you do, make sure you come back and tell us about it. Maybe your spot could be next on the exploring list..

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. - Pablo Picasso

Shut up & put your money where your mouth is!

…that’s what you get for Waking Up in Vegas.

Thank you, Katy Perry, for making a song that pops up on my play list always right when I need it to.

(if you have trouble viewing this video please click here)

{ Thank you Anne Taintor for always making me smirk. }

Nearly every woman has picked up a  Cosmopolitan magazine a time or two. Some ladies have stacks of the magazines they’ve saved from over the years. Keeping them as references with favorite articles tabbed and the best tips circled. Wouldn’t it be great if there was one resource which housed the best of the best of this timeless magazine? If only the top seat of the magazine hand-picked these articles and put them all into one book for us to keep with in reach. Good thing for us Editor in Chief, Kate White, did just that! For this month’s Book of the Month, I chose White’s

You On Top: Smart, Sexy Skills Every Woman Needs to Set the World on Fire

Formerly titled How to Set His Thighs on Fire, White compiled 86 of her favorite lessons learned during her first 8 years being the Editor in Chief of this world famous magazine. Covering a wide range of topics from Love, Life, Men, Work and of course Sex, this book is a great reference for anyone who’s ever referred to herself as a Cosmo Girl.

It never hurts turning to the Toss Out Your Five-Year Plan chapter and reading “But there’s a danger in being so locked into a life scheme that you miss an opportunity that’s smack-dab in the road in front of you or a new adventure that beckons you from a mysterious side road off to the right or left.” (doesn’t that alone make you want to drop the 5 year-er?) Or reading about how to get the perfect smokey eyeshadow look or How to Find the Time to Do the Things You Really, Really Want. I do love the chapter where Kate talks about Serendipity — we all love a little Serendipity in our lives — and she’s right, it really is in ‘direct proportion to the amount of time your butt is off the sofa.‘

I’ve passed out a few copies to a couple of friends as gifts and have even lent mine out a few times. I love picking up this book and skimming through the pages looking for the right trick to put a little pep in my step, and I think it’s something that many of yall will enjoy as well!

–

Hope you’ve enjoyed February’s posts. As always, thank you so much for stopping by! And keep an eye out, there’s some really great things coming up…

*besos ~ Jennie B