Salon de Maria Blog

This past weekend I had my first radio interview ever...which was pretty exciting as I begin to realize the power of Google and see how my messages are being spread out into The Universe.  I already knew that anything was possible with the Internet - one of the reasons why I have so many blogs and websites.  However, it wasn't until I got off the phone with The Get Real Girls of FM107.1 in St.Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota did I start to think...Hey, I can be famous! 

I received an email from Liv Lane who asked me if I would like to be a guest on their Saturday morning talk show.  Of course I said, "Yes!"  She had discovered me through an internet search "discovering your inner artist" and the first thing that popped up was an article I wrote over at The Good Life titled, "Discovering Your Inner Artist and Passion In Life".

So, who are The Get Real Girls?  They're committed to helping people make real life feel real good and to live with intention...Liv Lane has a great blog called One Year of Beauty and the basic premise is to make the choice to find beauty around you every day.  I like that philosophy and it's something that I've been doing...what about you?  Then there's Joan Steffend whose show on HGTV, Decorating Cents, is one of my favorite decorating shows.  Colleen Lindstrom is the third part of The Get Real Girls team who is a Life Coach in training and a yoga practitioner.

One of the main messages I wanted to get across in my interview was that life is too short (at least, life on Earth is!) to be doing something you don't want to do.  9/11 was a reminder of this and it was the years following that tragedy that I did a great deal of soul searching.  My mother also passed away when I was 14, so even at a young age I understood that it was important to enjoy every moment of every day.  Too many people get caught up in what other people want them to do that they forget what they like to do and what makes them happy.  If I had listened to those people who said that I couldn't make money as an artist or writer, I would probably still be working in the corporate world!

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If you're a sports fanatic like me or you just like watching athletes compete, you've probably been tuned into the Olympics.  I played Varsity basketball and volleyball, plus ran cross country during high school, so I understand what it's like to be focused on winning or doing your best. 

I am in complete awe of Michael Phelps, the swimmer who has, at the time of this writing, won 7 gold medals.  He had a vision and he dedicated himself to do what he needed to do to live out that vision for himself.  Seeing him win the 100 meter butterfly by 1/100th of a second was a solid reminder that anything is truly possible if you just believe...and stay focused on your goal. 

As I think about my own vision for my life and the things that I want to accomplish, one of the things I'm working on is staying more focused.  The past month or so I've been presented with opportunities to "make big money" and I've been so close to saying "Yes, sign me up!"  You're probably thinking that I'm crazy for turning down the chance to make big money, but let me explain...

Continue reading "Staying Focused" »

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When I was little I loved to color in coloring books.  I had one of those big sets of Crayola crayons and everyday I would sit down and color.  I definitely made sure that I didn't color outside of the lines and I always colored the sky blue and the grass green!  Those were my rules for art back then.

Fast forward 34 years later and I'm coloring outside the lines in every way possible!  I'm pushing the limits and discovering the endless possibilities of my creative talents.  I currently have several projects going right now which is taking enormous amounts of time, but I'm definitely having the time of my life!

However, no matter how busy I get, I'm learning to make time to do some coloring...

Continue reading "Coloring Outside the Lines and Living in the Moment" »

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It's been awhile since I've connected with this blog.  I've been engulfed with client work which hasn't left very much room for anything else.  No drawing.  No painting.  No making jewelry.

Just writing.

I seem to have reached writer's burnout - or information overload.

They say that you should be careful about what you wish for - because it may just come true.  Just a little over two years ago I was thinking, "Hmmm...wouldn't it be great to make money from writing?" 

Now I have enough work to keep me writing from now until eternity!  I don't want to come off sounding like I'm complaining about all the work I have to do.  I am truly grateful to be able to do something I love and get paid to do it.  I just miss the paint brushes and the jewelry making.

I was in the bookstore the other day and came across a magazine called Artful Blogging.  As I browsed through the magazine, I kept saying to myself, "I wish I could be art-fully creative right now." 

A little voice inside me says, "Why don't you do it right now?  You always have time to create art..."

I started making excuses for not being creative.  I have too much writing to do.  I have blogs that have been neglected.  There's a project that needs to be done tomorrow...

I finally told myself to shut up and started doodling....



Aww...Now I feel better!

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"The personal life deeply lived always expands into truths beyond itself."--Anais Nin

It's been a very busy few weeks for me.  Between working on my book, catching up with friends and family, doing work for clients, blogging here and there, watching the NBA Finals, and the U.S. Open - I'm just now catching a breath! 

Between it all, though, I still make time for myself.  Whether it's in the bookstore browsing through magazines or a little retail therapy (Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills is the best place for that - even if it's just window shopping), I manage to keep myself sane...


I still meditate and say happy affirmations to stay grounded.  Even a little doodling in my new sketchbook allows my mind to stay calm and relaxed.  I even went to a party at an ocean front home in La Jolla where I met people who told me some phenomenal stories of traveling abroad. Of course, I had to take this photo of the beautiful California sunset...



After all is said and done, life is best lived when you enjoy it - and that's what I do each and every moment of the day no matter what I'm doing. 

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The flower is the poetry of reproduction.  It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life.  ~Jean Giraudoux

I find much inspiration in taking closeup photos of flowers.  Sometimes I feel like I'm channeling Georgia O'Keefe, the famous artist who was known for her paintings of flowers.  I think it started when I did an interpretation of one of O'Keefe's paintings for a drawing class in college. 

Another reason why I'm so fascinated with flowers is because they have so many things to teach us about life.  For instance, every flower is unique in its own way - as we are - and yet they are all beautiful...every single one of them.  There is no such thing as the "perfect" flower because in essence, they are all perfect. 

Pictured here are just a few of my latest additions to my flower photo collection...

 

 

Buy flower photo prints at my online shop!

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People are very surprised when I tell them that I have all these blogs and the first question out of their mouth is, "How do you manage it all?"  One of the reasons I get so much done compared to many people is that I don't have any kids, so that leaves a great deal of open time for me!

Well, I decided to take one day out of my life and keep track of everything I do just to see how I spend most of my time.  This is just one day out of my life...

8:00 am - Wakeup, meditate, have breakfast, and watch about 10 minutes of the Today show.  I normally don't watch the show, but I heard that James Ray was going to be on. 

8:57 am - Work on my book

9:35 am - Check email, moderate comments, and read article, "A Miracle Set in Stone". It inspired me to write about overcoming beliefs, so I started writing down notes for a future post at The Good Life

10:38 am - Checked "Customer Service" folder in my Google feedreader to see what everyone is talking about and to find any inspiration for articles on my customer service blog. Start writing...

11:42 am - Took a break from writing customer service article to Twitter.  Find out about Singapore Airlines' A380 cabins

12:00 pm - Go back to writing customer service article.  Revised it and looked for picture to include in post...Published!

Continue reading "A Day In the Life of a Blogger" »

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After a little break from jewelry making, I decided to explore the bead inventory and see what I could put together.  After seeing the same beads over and over, it's a challenge to feel "fresh" about creating something...

Usually when I start to make a jewelry piece, I don't really have any particular plan or design in mind.  In this case, I took out this little pendant I bought from a local San Diego artist.  She calls her business "While My Babies Were Sleeping" because she did all her work well, while her babies were sleeping!  I bought it a few years ago, but have yet to find the right beads for it.  So, I started pulling out beads to see if I could find a combination of beads that would "fit just right".

Well, after stringing a few beads on, I realized that it just wasn't working.  Usually I start to feel an adrenaline rush as I'm stringing beads together and creating the design, but this time I wasn't feeling it.  After a little while I decided to ditch the pendant and instead ended up with this piece pictured here. I call this necklace "Spring Fling" and it's now available at my Etsy shop!

Posted by Maria Palma at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It’s been awhile since I’ve written any kind of poetry.  When I was in grade school and college, I would write poems and song lyrics.  I’ll definitely have to dig through my storage and find those old notebooks to share some poetry with you.  

Well, I wrote a haiku about my latest online love:  Twitter.  This inspiration was spurred on by a challenge given to me by blogger buddy, Easton, of Visionary Blogging:

 

So, here it is... 

 

 

The next step will be to turn the haiku into a song…In the meantime, visit me over at Twitter and let’s “follow” each other ;)

Posted by Maria Palma at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

When I worked at Nordstrom we were required to write two Thank you Cards a day to our customers.  Back then it seemed like such a hassle - after all, any time away from the floor meant that I was losing sales.  However, it wasn't until I left Nordstrom and began working on my own business did I realize the power of Thank You.

I haven't been consistent in saying Thank You to my customers lately, but today I'm committing to reviving the art of the handwritten thank you note.  Here's an example of what I would write in a thank you card to a jewelry client:

Dear Miss Customer,

I just wanted to drop a note to thank you for your jewelry purchase.  I hope that you are enjoying the necklace!  If you have any feedback, please don't hesitate to call or write to me. 

All the Best,
Maria
"Salon de Maria"

Very short and sweet, but hopefully it puts warm fuzzies in people's hearts.  It's rare to get a thank you note these days - and handwritten to boot!

If you just don't have the time to create your own cards like I do, CardsDirect has Thank you cards that you can purchase online.

However, you don't have to have a business just to send a card - why not send a Thank You to a friend just for being a great friend? 

By the way, have I told you "Thank You!" lately for reading this blog?  I appreciate you! 

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