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Very Inspiring Blogger Award #gratitude

veryinspiringblogaward

My buddy, the motivator of my journey into movie reviews, The Armchair Squid has nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award and I am almost speechless. It took me a few days to wrap my head around this and now I’m sharing it with the world. Thank you so much Squid for nominating me and providing me with a level of encouragement I didn’t realize I needed. You have made my week! 😀

Here are three things that have inspired me recently:
1)
Lemons. To me lemons have always symbolized opportunity, ever since I understood the phrase “make lemonade”. I’ve been dealt plenty of lemons recently, but have chosen to make lemonade at every turn. I just hope I don’t end up upsetting my tummy.

2) This driving dog inspires me for three reasons.

1. This is just so cute 8D.
2. Dogs are so willing to do things above and beyond, maybe even unnatural, to please the people they care about. I want to be more like dogs in that they can be so selfless.
3. If a dog can learn to drive a car, surely I can figure out a way to write a story that reaches into people’s hearts and makes them feel good. That’s all I really want, but it may be a bit much.

3) My sister who is also one of my nominees. Tori J. Jones inspires me in more ways than I have time or space to write here, and on top of all that, she’s the physical inspiration for the main female character in my book Eternal Curse: Giovanni’s Angel. Tori is a full-time mom, a full-time art student, a full-time cyber entrepreneur, daily –weekly blogger, and she volunteers her time at Church, the PTA, and women’s shelters. Maybe I should just write a story about her; it’s bound to me a phenomenal read.

My nominations:
I am well aware that these awards aren’t for everyone and also realize that some of the people I’d like to nominate may have already been nominated. In any case, I’m taking lemons and using them as an opportunity to honor and or promote a few bloggers who inspire me daily and weekly. Even if they wish not to participate, I’m proud to give them a shout out and say, “Thanks for inspiring me.”

M.C.V. Egan – an amazing promoter and advocate for peace; an all-around fun person
Stacy Rourke – wonderful sense of humor, wonderful promoter and author
Wiz Green – wonderful sense of humor and great promoter, makes everyone feel like a friend
Brian Feinblum – knows his stuff about the industry, excellent blogger
Tricia Drammeh – an amazing supporter of indies, all around wise and peaceful person
Derrick Ferguson – Mr. cool to me, excellent movie reviewer, blogger, and writer
John H. Byk – great entertainer providing interesting and fun audio interviews
The Geek Twins – my goto for geekess, fun stuff, but also thought-provoking
Beth – excellent book reviewer and blogger, the reason I check out many books
Bethany – a true blessing and reminder of the good things in life
Andrew Hess – another cool guy, great critiquer and promoter
Tori Jones – A renaissance woman (my sister)

The Rules for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award:
1. Thank the person who nominated you, and link to their blog.
2. Display the award logo.
3. Nominate 15 other bloggers (more or less) and provide a link where they may be found.
4. Go to their blog, leave a comment to let them know they have been nominated.
5. Mention three things that inspired you the most during the past few weeks.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Mira's Closet

Mira’s Closet: 11/24/14: Behind the Baubles

MClosetMira’s no fashionista, but she definitely has her own sense of style…
And now here’s an update on just that.


First an observation: I’ve been thinking lately about jewelry and baubles. I no longer think these are pretty useless items that exist solely to make pretty women look prettier; they also make not-so-pretty women look prettier. I kid, but seriously there is so much more to small, pretty, shiny accessories than meets the eye…Like my comic/nerd reference there? 😉

Anyway, here’s what I’ve concluded. These accessories and baubles don’t always have to be expensive and pure, but they can at best be significant. When a man wears and old watch that’s in good condition, it usually means that someone he cares about gave it to him. When a man break out his fraternity pin to wear on his lapel or on his tie and get choked up in the process, you know it’s not all about how it looks.

Then there are the more obvious female examples. A girl wears the earing she inherited from her mother, a woman pins a bright red and gaudy broach to her lapel because it represents a cause that means more than just a lot her. A grandmother wears a sparkling charm bracelet where each charm signifies one of her children and grandchildren. Not that I think there is anything wrong with wearing jewelry for the heck of it and wanting it to be pretty and stylish, but it’s nice knowing that sometimes there more to it than that.

Now here are some style tips/clips from
Torimy own personal fashion guru, trainer, and my physical inspiration for Mira.
Click images to see more.

FASHIONPLATE

DAILY DISH

 PHENOMENAL PHINDS

I hope you enjoyed this. Also check out Tori’s jewelry eBoutique: December 10.

For more on lifestyle and fashion check out:

Celebrity Trends at WhoWhatWear: http://www.whowhatwear.com/

Fashion Medley: http://thefashionmedley.com/ (content advisory)

A Beautiful Mess: http://www.abeautifulmess.com/

My Style Pinboard: http://pinterest.com/toinette_thomas/my-style/

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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About Toi Reblogs

Dear World | Daily dose of gratitude

It’s that time of year again to say thanks and be grateful. It’s always a pleasure to receive an invite to share my thoughts and feelings over at a Daily Dose of Gratitude and this year has been no different. This is a great blog to read whenever you need a little pick-me-up. Yesterday it was my turn to share again and I hope you will stop by and see what I had to say.

*Today’s letter is written by fellow blogger and wonderful writer Toi Thomas.*

Dear World,

Sometimes life gets hard in ways that are difficult to explain. You look around to your support group, the people you have in your life like family and friends, for comfort but sometimes it’s not quite enough…

To read more, visit: Dear World | Daily dose of gratitude.