Absolutely Fabulous Women over 40!

Posted March 4, 2018 by Monica Graves

Last night I was honoured to receive an award for Community Support at the Fabulous Women over 40 awards ceremony at the beautiful Grand Victorian Convention Centre in Mississauga.

I was one of 40 women in the GTA being recognized for their accomplishments and contributions.

All guests received a program for the evening profiling each of the 40 women receiving awards. When I opened the program the first thing I saw was a special greeting from our Prime Minister. His words moved me, especially these (more…)

2018 is the Year of the Dog!

Posted February 25, 2018 by Monica Graves

Growing up in Oakville in the 70’s and 80’s, we had a restaurant called Mei Foo Gardens. They had these paper place mats with pictures of different animals on them. There was a rat, an ox, a tiger, a rabbit, a dragon, a snake a horse a goat, a monkey, a rooster, a dog and a pig.

I was so intrigued by the place mats as a kid! I loved to read them, they showed how (more…)

The Women I Come From

Posted February 18, 2018 by Monica Graves

Playing dress up when I was a kid was my most favourite game in the whole world. Slipping my little feet into my Mom’s high heeled shoes, drowning in her fancy satiny dress and then piling on all of her beautiful necklaces made me feel sooooo grown up. How exciting – I was instantly transformed into an adult and no longer just some little kid. My imagination took me to all kinds of places, I was going out to fancy parties every night, traveling the globe on my private jet and I had oodles and oodles of money in my fancy purse which meant I could have anything I wanted!

On weekends we would visit my Oma and I would play the game all over again – rifling through her wardrobe and finding even more beautiful treasures to prance around in.

Both my Mom and my Oma encouraged me to use my imagination to be whoever I wanted to be.

When I was 17 (more…)

What if you find out I’m a fraud?

Posted February 11, 2018 by Monica Graves

Who’s heard of the imposter syndrome?

It’s very common, if you’ve never heard of it you’ll probably be just as relieved as I was when a friend shared it with me.

Look it up on Google and here is what will pop up:

Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is a concept describing individuals who are marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a “fraud”. (more…)

Say Yes to All!

Posted February 4, 2018 by Monica Graves

Can you say “Yes to All”? I want to be able to say it!! Oooooh do I ever!

In 2014 I said yes to all when my Mom asked me if I would like to visit Wattens in Austria and see the Swarovski Kristallwelten.

A trip of a lifetime! YES! I was ready to be inspired, I knew seeing how the crystals are made would be so interesting. How DO they get that magical aurora borealis finish? I was going to find out!

Okay, clearly I did not do my Swarovski homework. There are no (more…)

My Bumpy Road to Love

Posted January 28, 2018 by Monica Graves

Hi everyone it’s me – Boink! My Mommy asked me to be guest blogger for this week’s blog. You know what I say to that? It’s about time!!! Is there anyone else who could be more important to be my Mommy’s first guest blogger? I don’t think so!

My Mommy loves how confident I am and how I always walk with my head held high. Sometimes I bark at my Mommy and Daddy just to get them moving in the right direction, like to the park or in the car or to take me up to their bed for snuggles all night long. I pretty much run the show around here and they are both very lucky to have me. You might not believe this but I wasn’t always this confident. Like my Mommy always tells me – (more…)

I have a new perspective!

Posted January 20, 2018 by Monica Graves

Let’s talk about January shall we?

It’s the 21^st already and usually by this time I am itching to get away from the cold and escape to Florida for a few weeks. This year with lots of plans and changes going on I have decided to stay put and focus on the work that needs to be done here.

Since the month began I have attended (more…)

You CAN change the world!

Posted January 14, 2018 by Monica Graves

With all of the ups and downs on the news these days I often find that the uncertainty of what tomorrow will bring can feel overwhelming. Most world issues are so huge that it’s hard to imagine how someone like me could impact change for the better. Do you ever feel like that?

I try to do my part every day through my business. I adore designing jewelry and making women feel even more spectacular than they already are.

A few weeks ago on Facebook I asked (more…)

2017 Best Nine

Posted January 7, 2018 by Monica Graves

Just yesterday I decided to pull off the glamjulz best nine photos of 2017 from Instagram.

There is a fun little website called 2017bestnine.com where you can type in your Instagram name and the site will calculate which nine pictures received the most likes in a one year time period.

I looked at ours and I was not in the least bit surprised. What jumped off the page (more…)