Celebrating Dr. Seuss's Birthday Early

The kids I nanny for and I had an Awesome morning. We went to see The Cat in the Hat at the Booth Tarkington Theatre in Carmel Indiana. It was so good. I was looking forward to it because I went to high school with Patrick who played The Cat. He was brilliant, like always. He is such an amazing guy with a kind heart, and an amazing talent for acting.

I was a little nervous about taking a 14 month old and a 2 year old to a play but it was perfect! They loved it and sat and enjoyed every moment. They were laughing, clapping, and just totally enjoying themselves.

Proud Big Sister Moment 😃

You know when you have that moment when you realize your baby sister is no longer a child but an adult? I have had so many of those this past year with my baby sister Michaela. It's her senior year in high school and she has honestly blown me away with what all she has accomplished and the great head she has on her shoulders. She is gorgeous in every way and has an enormous kind heart. 

She is not only in high school and making straight A's but she is in cosmetology school, had a part time job (which she works way too much) and has her own MK business. She is so talented! She spent the weekend checking out the AVEDA aesthetition school where she hopes to attend in the fall for a 6 month program. At that point she will already have her Cosmo lisence and hope to be working in a salon during school. I mean what 18 year old would be that mature to know that's all a good plan? She is so smart it blows my mind. I love her tons and I am proud to say I'm her big sister and she looks up to me. 

Souper Tuesday MK style

I had such a wonderful evening yesterday as I got to have some girl time with my Mary Kay girlfriends. It's hard to get together sometimes with friends but when it is scheduled far in advance it makes it so much easier. After we enjoyed some awesome Weight Watcher Vegtable Soup (which was zero points) we had some "Crow" time and then training. When you are in the direct sales industry it is sometimes hard to stay motivated, but when you spend time in the presence of great women with your same goals, it makes it that much easier. My Mary Kay unit has truely changed my life for the good. My director is an amazing woman with a heart of gold. She is an awesome leader and great role model. Susan Finley is a priceless gem in my life.  The picture below is of my director and I at Seminar 2013. 

Keeping the Old, but Making it New

I had this beautiful, but not my decorating style, dresser from my Great grandmothers grandma, so you can imagine how old it is. People may think that it is totally wrong of me to even change anything on it but the way I look at it is I would either be putting it in the attic forever or repurposing it in order to use it everyday (which to me is a better reminder of a passed away love one than never seeing it again until you move). So after a long time of thinking I decided to turn the bench into a bench and use the mirror someday in our future child's room. 

The project began by me removing all drawers (repairing two) and then removing the mirror. I then cut off the legs. I sanded with an electric sander for what seemed like forever then wiped it down with a wet cloth. After it dried I began to paint the entire unit white. After three coats and allowing 24 hours to dry, I attached new hardware and assembled my new bench. It was so pretty! 

The last step was to get out my new sewing machine, which I just learned to use, and make a cushion and pillows. I cut out the shape for the foam, and sewed a cover for the foam cushion. Once that was done I made some pillows (I still have one pillow to make so the project is not totally done).

Overall I think it turned out great and we are using it every day. I may not show my grandma because she may get upset but I just wanted to be able to use it and display it in our home, so I made it into something useful. 

Happy Mary Kay Monday!

It's a "Mary Kay Monday"! I wanted to take some time to share a very brief bit of info about the amazing company I work for. I am an independent beauty consultant with Mary Kay Cosmetics. We are world wide and have been serving our customers for over 50 years. Mary Kay Ash chose to step into a mans world and create a company geared towards celebrating women. It's awesome to be a part of a company who acknowledges and rewards your hard work. She started the company with her life savings which was $5000. The company is built on the golden rule which is to praise people to sucess, and faith first, family second, career third. I'm so thankful for a company with these goals in mind. More to come next Monday!

Joys of my Job

I ADORE my job! I got to spend my afternoon pampering these two beauties with Mary Kay's awesome products!  It makes my day to put a smile on someone's face especially if it's because they are feeling beautiful! After facials, and manicures these two felt and looked beautiful. I think Rory will be having me back for her 7th birthday where we are going to do a spa themed party. How exciting? How many people can say they have this much fun at their job?

It's a Small World

You always hear the saying "It's a small world", and last night it hit true for me. It's so strange how life works! How is it that I was sitting around a table with 5 people, 3 of whom I have never met, 1 I met in a bathroom briefly, and the other my sister, and we all had a connection?

I don't mean a connection like we all got along, yet we truly did, I mean we all had a connection with someone we knew or from places of others we knew. Talk about the power or networking.

This "get together" was planned for me to meet my sisters coworkers, Mike, Belen, and Nathalia, as well as them to meet my new friend Natalia. Both Natalia and Nathalia are from Columbia, Belen is from Ecuador, and Mike is from Cincinnati. As we sat around the table we found out that Natalia's Dad is from the same tiny town in Ecuador that Nathalia is from (small world), that Belen looks almost identical to one of Brian and I's friend, Renee, and Mike's high school friend is a friend and frat brother of my husband.

It's so crazy that the world is so big, yet you are constantly running into people who know people you know. It's crazy how God places people in your life at one moment and then allows you to meet the "connection" later. I mean even when dealing with people from across the world. He truly works in mysterious way.

TGIF

Thank God it is Friday! It has been such a crazy week. The toddler (2 1/2 years old) that I nanny for has been on the best behavior EVER today! I love Fridays because it's almost the weekend but at the same time I know that when I come back on Monday, he will have forgotten that when I am here, I am the "boss", and we will start all over until next Friday when he will be a perfect angel. Monday and Tuesday are the worst. He doesn't listen and hits, and kicks me. The worst part is that if I say he needs to stop or he will have a time out, he says (in this "bratty" voice) "I don't care," which really burst my bubble. (Then he goes to timeout)

I'm very excited because today I'm going with my sister and some of her coworkers to happy hour. It's a special happy hour because a few weekends ago I met a girl in Broad Ripple who in from Columbia, and has the same name as one of Chelsea's coworkers who is also from Columbia. So tonight the two will meet! I'm so pumped it will be like having two Sofia Vergara's in the same room :-) I'm sure not as extreme but still cool experience.

I always have a great time with my sister Chelsea. There are so many words to describe her but here is a list of the top 10:

1. Kind hearted- she is one of those animal lovers who cries when she sees an animal shelter

2. Accident prone- she has had 3 broken arms (2 required surgery) torn ACL, and meniscus

3. Dare devil- she once ate a frog liver in biology while dissecting it

4. Wild child- he motto in life is "I will try anything once"

5. Prankster- she loves to play jokes and get a rise out of people. (Ketchup incident) 

6. Bold- she tells it like it is and if you don't like it too bad

7. Ditsy- she is very smart just lacks in the common scenes sometimes, she doesn't always think first

8. Smart- I know totally contradicting the last one, but she is a Purdue Grad and did really well in school.

9. Outgoing- she has never met a stranger

10. Likable- everyone who knows Chelsea loves her. 

Excited for a fun weekend starting out with some "sister time".

Welcome to my Blog

 I thought I would use my first post to tell you all a little about myself and why I decided to have a blog in the first place.

My name is Shantel and I currently have my own Mary Kay business as well as I am a full time nanny to two awesome little ones (soon to be three). I also own my own event planning business (eventsbyshantel). I just began another journey with making trendy fashion accessories, and that business is called Shantel and Lace. Pretty much I'm a "jack of all trades".

I am married to my awesome husband Brian and our 2 year anniversary is this coming May! We have been together for a little over 6 years, and we are so in love. Currently we don't have any children but see them in our future for sure.

I decided to start a blog because I think it would be a good place to share ideas, and info.  Some people say I am "creative" [Ashley ;-)] but I don't think I am "creative" I just think I am a problem solver. If I have a problem I solve it and in order to solve it, you sometimes have to be creative.

I am very family oriented  and have a close knit family. I am the oldest of three girls. Chelsea is my younger sister and she is 23, and my baby sister is 18 and he name is Michaela. Chelsea just graduated from purdue! and Michaela graduates from high school in May, and beauty school in June. I'm so proud of them both. We all spend a lot of time together. I have amazing parents that I love a ton. (Mike and Yvonne). My extended family is incredibly supportive and loving. My brother in law Brandon is in college right now and working full time! I'm very proud of the hard worker he is.

I try to follow the Mary Kay philosophy everyday which is faith first, family second, career third. This is sometimes hard but I am only 25 and I am a work in progress. I have made mistakes, and I continue to, but I always try and learn from them to not make them again. I think boundaries are the key to life, and respect is necessary when it is earned. I believe people should live their life being happy, whatever that means for them, and the only exception is if their actions are causing physical/mental pain to themselves or those around them.

I hope you enjoy my blog :-)