I rarely look back on time and ask myself “where did the time go”. Because usually my life is full of adventure, new places, new people, new events and it never seems to be still. I like it that way. I like it that I take changes and try new shortcuts (and get lost and find something unexpected) or make fast decisions to do something fun. My family is my constant, my anchor, everything else is a moving scenery I enjoy.

I turned 35 last week. I had some medical testing done to see how well I am doing with my broken lungs on my birthday. And the first time I was thinking, where did the time go. I think I was just afraid to hear bad news.

There are days that I feel old just because how much I have seen of life, of world and of people.

Some days I feel very young, and I never want to give up on that “young” feeling inside me, that let’s me joke, take things lightly (at least not dwell on things if not able to be taken lightly) and see world as a constantly evolving place of unexpected beauty.

I try not to live in past, and almost more important is not to live in the future. You know, live in “then when”. (Like: “Then we will travel to Europe when our kids are older”, “Then I’ll treat myself a nice haircut when our car is paid off”, “Then I’ll quit my job and be a stay-at-home-mom if I get pregnant again”).

I wonder if those times ever come to people.

Sure, there are things I wish to do in the future, but if I focus on them too much, I’m afraid I loose today.

(No, I didn’t hear bad news last week. Well, no news actually. You know how they are, they never give out your test results, you need to wait to see your doctor. I will have my appointment later today.)

I was at the Blissdom Conference in Nashville last week too. I was there with Collective Bias and one of our clients, CoverGirl, and we organized a professional makeup, CoverGirl’s Smoky Eye Look for Blissdom attendees. Considering how many women we absolutely thrilled to get their makeup done, especially right before they got to meet Harry Connick Jr, I would say it was a huge success. I had a blast!

Erika Lehmann, Chic Shopper Chick,
is our face for the CoverGirl Smoky Eye Look
and she took this picture of us two.

And I have to admit, I loved working on the other side of the table – creating something fun for bloggers, instead of being on the receiving end as a blogger. I really realized how much more I love supporting other bloggers, helping them and promoting them – than doing that for myself. I don’t want to be a superstar blogger, but I want to help others to be that. I am not ready to give up this blog yet, I love writing here, but for the first time for a long time, I don’t feel pressure to do this-and-that to my blog. I like it as it is, and continue doing what I like to do with it, not what “I should”.

I rushed home on Saturday. My flights were cancelled due (upcoming) bad weather, so I took the first flight out on Saturday that I was able to and changed my route and was home already on Saturday evening. And was able to go skiing with my family at Hunter Mountain at Catskills on Sunday. While I somewhat felt I betrayed my blogging tribe by doing so, I knew it was the right thing to do.
As days go by and years go by, my anchor in life is my family, and that always comes first.

I recently hosted a writing contest to win a Blissdom Conference ticket. I was overwhelmed with the amount of great blog posts the contest received and even more so with the support these amazing women received from their communities.

I am happy to announce that the winner is Layla Palmer with her post Living Life to the Fullest – Giving Our Home TLC, which got 657 comments. Layla writes The Lettered Cottage, and I can’t wait to meet her in Nashville.

Thank you for everyone participating, commenting, and supporting each others! I am so happy with the response this contest got that my question is… which conference ticket you would like me to giveaway next…?

This is a Blissdom ticket I just bought – and it is waiting for a name change – to your name!

Skimbaco Lifestyle is hosting a writing contest with a BlissDom conference ticket giveaway, and the winner will receive this ticket to BlissDom Conference, held in Nashville on February 4-6, 2010.

Last year I had an opportunity to go to BlissDom, and I absolutely loved it. In fact I was one of the speakers, and I have received positive feedback on our session the whole year round. I am going this year too – and hoping to see as many friends and fellow bloggers there with me as possible.

ENTER TO WIN A BLISSDOM TICKET (Worth $307.46)

Write a blog post up to 400 words how you live life to the fullest, send it to katja.presnal@skimbaco.com and it will be published at Skimbaco Lifestyle. Ask your friends to come and comment – and the blog post with most commenters will win the ticket.

OFFICIAL RULES:
1. Write a blog post how you live life to the fullest and email it to katja.presnal@skimbaco.com with title “Skimbaco BlissDom post”

2. The post should be between 250- 400 words, and it can include photos. It is 100% under my judgement to post it or not to post it, if it has any type of material that does not fit Skimbaco Lifestyle, it will be disqualified.

3. You can add your own photo and bio with links to your blog & twitter etc. published under the post. These might be edited if too long.

4. The posts are published at Skimbaco Lifestyle in the order they come in – or if they need editing, it might take longer to publish.

5. Send your blog post by January 11th 12 midnight EST.

6. Ask your friends to come and comment your post and tell why you should win the ticket!

7. The Blog post with most commenters on January 22nd 12 midnight EST will win a ticket to Blissdom. The commenters need to be real people, preferable with links to their blogs/twitter profiles to verify they are “real people”.

NOTE: By sending your blog post and participating you are giving Skimbaco Lifestyle the rights to publish your blog post and any pictures you are sending, and you will accept these rules as stated here, including the fact that your blog post may be disqualified if it includes any material not suitable to publish at Skimbaco Lifestyle. BlissDom Conference has nothing to do with this contest, nor can be held liable for anything regarding this contest. This contest is sponsored by Skimbaco Lifestyle, and these rules may be modified regarding minor details.

You can use these buttons to spread the word and spread the love and ask people to come and comment on your blog post. Just remember to change the link to your blog post once it is published.

Good luck!

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