Come visit us at www.womenworthknowing.org!
That web address has been directing you to this WordPress blog until recently. Now, you can find all the WWK content in a happy little website.
Hope you enjoy!
I’m going to do something a little different here. I have written out about six introductions to Anita, but I don’t feel like I can do her justice with my words. You see, Anita is an artist, and her work has just knocked me out. Instead of clogging your brains with my impressions [fantastic, wonderful, admiring impressions] of Anita, I just want you to experience her like you would an installment in a gallery. Anita, you are so lovely!
Meet Anita
Anita Namara
Age Range: 22
Preferred Job Title: Artist
Industry: Art
Who are you? I’m still discovering who I am at this stage of my life but I would describe myself as a growing artist.
Tell us about your artwork: I like to work in different mediums and i love trying out new ways of creating art so my artwork is a collection of paintings, digital work, clay, and film.
What inspires you to paint? I look at each art piece as a challenge and painting and capturing the likeness of a human being is what inspires me the most.
Which artists do you wish you had hanging on your walls, and why? I love and have been inspired by artists like James Rosenquist and Roy Lichtenstein who found a different and unique way to incorporate the human figure into their work. Thats what i aspire to do in my own work and especially in my paintings….
Describe your family: My family consists of many people but in my immediate family are my mother Rosemary, my 20 year old sister Brenda, and my very energetic 7 year old sister Hope.
What does the first hour of your day look like? The first hour of my day changes depending on what I have planned for the day but I like to have a cup of tea before I start my day.
The last hour? I like to learn something new before I go to sleep so I usually read a book in the last hour of the day.
What makes you feel successful? I feel successful when the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the day have been accomplished.
What brings you joy? New Experiences, little children, good music, good art, creative people and creative environments all bring me joy.
What women do you admire? I admire and I am inspired by women like my mother who make the lives they want for themselves against the odds.
What do you like best about your closest friend? She is not afraid to tell me the truth.
What do you like best about yourself? I like that I am a person who is driven but also easy going.
What advice would you give boys about girls? Be a gentleman and treat them right!
How do you overcome adversity? I overcome adversity by staying positive, reminding myself that I’m not the first person to come across a particular problem, and that if other people were able to overcome it, then so can I.
How do you want to be remembered? I want to be remembered as an example of someone who went after her dream and made it happen.
What follows is a mini-gallery of Anita’s work. You can see more on her website AnitaNamaraArt.com. Anita also takes commissions. If you would like information on purchasing her art, or commissioning a work of art, contact her at AnitaNamaraArt@GMAIL.COM.
We were thrilled to present June Graham as our speaker for the April WWK event. June spoke on how she turned her dreams of finding a job she was happy doing, into the reality of a beautiful, wildly successful jewelry design business.
June Pillay-Graham, owner of June Bijou, was born in South Africa and raised in the United States. In 2002 she launched June Bijou. Her signature wire wrapped rings were one of the first items she perfected as a blossoming designer, since then she expanded the collection to include earrings, necklaces, and bracelets for every occasion including bridal. A repeating motif throughout the June Bijou collection is June’s love of circles. June believes, “circles are clean, classic, the perfect shape, and circles compliment most faces. They represent so many things, but most of all the connection we all share.”
Part 1
Part 2
Another great meeting in the books! Women Worth Knowing added a gentleman to the group today, and loved having him. Mark is definitely a man worth knowing. I am especially fond since he introduced my husband and me.
June Graham of June Bijou jewelry, and the online column Note Worthy spoke on chasing down your dreams and making them reality. I love June’s story so much because I met her before she had a dream at all. It’s amazing what can happen in a few years worth of time, and I am delighted to be able to call June a friend.
We also met Jennifer Meyers, June’s partner in the creation and writing of Noteworthy. As it turned out, in this wee, tiny, small world, Jennifer and I have some interesting things in common. Even more interesting, Jennifer and Mark knew some of the same people.
This is what is fun about events like ours–you never know who you are going to meet, or what you’ll take away. I’m looking forward to power tool classes, but I’ll tell you more about that later.
I was very happy to report that The Outside Lane’s cafe press store has made $40 toward the purchase of underwear for the Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center. Remember that we will collect our Panty Raid purchases at our May 21 meeting.
Look for June’s video to be up shortly. You’re going to love her.
by Jamie
I’m going to say an ugly word. It’s ugly, but necessary. Budget. I know it’s horrible, but girlfriend you need a budget.
If you don’t already have one, please take the time to set up a household budget.
People with budgets tend to spend less on their “extras”. I don’t have science to back this up, it’s just common sense.
My husband and I have a household budget. We plan out how much we intend to spend on certain types of items, how much we plan to save, mad money, and so on.
I won’t go over my budget numbers with you, because your situation and mine differ. I will tell you what we budget for on a bi-weekly and a monthly basis.
Hair cuts
Clothing
Auto care
Our long term savings (our happy little nest egg)
our 401k
Our short term savings (used for gifts, minor car repairs, vacations, school costs, and eye care)
Groceries
Minor medical expenses (prescriptions, over the counter meds)
Dining out
Lawn care
Kid’s allowances
Mad money for my husband and myself
Dry cleaning
Tuba lessons for our son
It’s up to you what you budget for and how much money you add to each category you choose, but being prepared helps you stay on track.
I can promise you that as far as grocery shopping goes, a budget is a must. If you set a budget, you’re less likely to over-spend.
Another good tip is to pay for your groceries in cash. Go to the ATM and pull out the amount you want to spend. If you’re keeping track of what you are placing in your cart and how much money you have to spend then you will be less likely to go over your budgeted amount.We have a lot of exciting new articles coming up on WWK (including the profiles I need to get posted!) and I am very happy to introduce you to Sally.
Sally and her husband, Bob, have been trying to have a baby for a few years now, and they’ve not met with success. I know several women who have struggled with infertility, and have seen how hard it was for them to manage the social expectations of motherhood with their strong desires for it, when it just wasn’t physically possible. Sally mentioned her journey to me, and I asked her to write about it.
I’ve asked several of my friends to share their own reproductive journeys: Single women with children, women who have adopted, women who were able to carry a baby to term after several miscarriages, women who are still trying to have or adopt children, and women who have chosen other paths. Every one of their stories, and every one of their choices is valuable and important, and I believe they will touch you. If you are in a similar situation, I hope their stories encourage you. If you are not, I hope their stories open opportunities for empathy and compassion. And who knows? Maybe one of you knows an answer to a question facing our friends.
Look for more from Sally, coming soon. For now, this is the beginning of her story.
With every new sitcom or reality show coming out these days, the word “infertility” is becoming more common. While it’s not viewed like any other disease I can think of, it often feels every bit as devastating. Over the past 2 and a half years, I have wanted to find a way to shout from the rooftops how badly this disease sucks, and until now, I hadn’t found my voice.
I do know that I am not the only one. And neither are you. So, for those of you who walk this road with me and those of you who just want to know what to say to someone with this struggle, you are not alone.
Infertility covers a wide range of issues, both male and female. And in the world of a couple trying to cope, it spans a ginormous sea of emotions. It can make you hate the pregnant woman you see in the grocery store. It can make you cry and scream and stomp your feet when you see another sonogram picture posted on Facebook. It makes you question your every move in life up to this point. And it can take your breath away to hear your mother sob because she can’t find the words to tell you.
No one understands. No one can possibly understand your situation…because it’s yours. And every case is different. I have friends who have suffered from reccurring pregnancy losses, and others who suffer from secondary infertility. People you hear about with chromosome disorders or endometriosis. You can hear the worst story you have ever known, and still, no one will ever understand where you are.
For me, there are no answers. A healthy couple with every possible medical test and no answers. Maybe 15 years from now there will be new discoveries that can help someone in my shoes, but for now, there is just no test that can diagnose why I have never, in my life, been pregnant. I have never been pregnant. Those words are hard to swallow knowing that daily my odds of getting pregnant decrease even more.
Today, I want to give this monster a voice. More people should know about infertility, more insurance companies should accept this as a true disease, and more of us suffering from it shouldn’t feel the shame that we do. Too many times, the stories we read and hear about are of successfully overcoming infertility. Rarely does someone offer you the insight of someone in the midst of the battle. I am here to do just that.
Part of my vision with the Women Worth Knowing Project is to share information that we can find useful, from a perspective that is attainable. To that end, Jamie is sharing her tips of Domestic Engineering with us, right now focusing on how to save money with coupons. And now, Kristin is joining us to talk about cooking.
I met Kristin as a coworker, a few years back. She was so kind, and helpful, and she saved me from making a very bad decision about the confusing insurance policies offered at our company. She is another of those wonderful women I’ve been delighted to stay in touch with over time. We even discussed running a little personal chef business. Kristin and my friend Emily being the chefs, me being the driver. No one wants me cooking their food.
That didn’t happen because of me, but if I were going to have anyone in the world cook my dinner, I would call Kristin because I know how much she cares about what she is doing. Without further ado…
Hello there….I’m Kristin. I like to cook. I LOVE to cook. I get excited over baking. If someone would donate to me a lifetime supply of butter, flour, sugar, and all sorts of chocolate, I may be able to quit my job and bake daily. As it stands, this isn’t the case. So, I find myself continuously explaining myself when checking out at the grocery store with 10 lbs of butter! Creating something wonderful to share with friends and family is such a comfort to me….a form of instant gratification. When work goes bad, bills pile up, and the world seems to be turning the wrong direction, I find comfort in following a tested recipe that will give me exactly what I expect.
This is usually the case…. But as recently experienced, not always. About a week ago, nothing would cook right. Fish are about the worst thing you can mess up, everything smells. That happened. I also was successful at both burning and undercooking a single batch of brownies. HOW? I have no clue. But I spent the rest of that week ordering out for dinner and realizing that these kinds of things happen to most people. I realized a lot of people are intimidated by the kitchen, scared of messing up or too tired to find the brain power to think something up. This is why I was excited that Lane asked me to write for WWK.
I have no training in cooking, nothing notable giving me credit to write about cooking….I just have a feeling. I find confidence in the fact that a pizza is only 30 minutes away should I have to throw everything out! I’m happy to get the opportunity to share the ins and outs of my kitchen with you. I am not sure where these postings will go, but I thought I would start by sharing a list of spices that I always have on hand. Pretty much any combination of these creates a decent flavor for meats (chicken, beef, pork, fish, shrimp) and even vegetables. I try to make our dinners consist of a meat, a starch, and a vegetable. Having these spices allows me to create something easy and last minute without having to find a recipe.
Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Cumin, Rosemary, Thyme, Basil
Heres an example: Chicken seasoned with salt, pepper, and rosemary paired (sprinkle chicken with seasoning and bake in a little olive oil over a medium heat skillet) with garlic brown rice and roasted basil zucchini (wash and cut zucchini into ¼ inch coins, toss with a tbs of olive oil and a sprinkle of basil and salt; bake in the oven or in a medium heat skillet).
Something simple that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare, and doesn’t have to come from a box! Try it out this week, and share with me any combinations you come up with!
Great news! The Outside Lane’s cafepress store has made $25 so far this month! Rather than just giving 50% of the proceeds toward our charitable outreach, I have decided to use all of the profits to buy underwear for the Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center.
If you’d like to be involved in the project’s outreach, this is a great way to do it.
We have several different styles and lots of different art to choose from. Some of the shirts are pictured below, but there are also hats, mugs, bags, and fun stuff for babies.
Jamie, from Dash of Domestic, is back:
You’ve got coupons, now what? Brave soul, fear not! This is the last start-up post on couponing. I may talk about coupons again in future weeks, but I’m done with the newbie set up posts.
Women Worth Knowing 