At the end of 2009 I found myself pondering these questions – 1) who do I want to give back to and 2) how do I want to give back. I knew pretty quickly on that I wanted to help women and children. I ended up choosing two organizations – Save the Children and Grameen Foundation. Both of these organization currently have an A rating with Charity Watch. Save the Children was an easy decision for me – I’ve been involved in the lives of children – be it babysitting, nanny, juniors rowing coach or photographing them since I was 11 years old – perfect fit!

Grameen came on my radar when a Facebook friend referred them to me. In regards to helping women I wanted help them in power and better their circumstances. I started researching micro loan organizations. The majority of the people helped by these organizations are poor women who want to make a change in their lives and the lives of those around them. Hard part was finding a micro loan organization that truly did what it said it would. With the combination of my friend’s referral and their Charity Watch rating I’m confident Grameen Foundation is an excellent match.

Here’s my plan for donating: Complete a session with me this year and I will donate $25 to either Save the Children or Grameen Foundation in your name. I would like you to help me choose which charity you would like the money to go to. For those that have no preference, in December I will evenly divide the money and donate to both organizations. I’m really excited to start giving back in this way and thank-you for helping me make it happen!!

The past 2 years I have been using themes to define my upcoming year. 2008 was the year of “play”. I realized I had forgotten how to enjoy all the little fun things I so enjoyed as a kid. I made it a point to play when ever possible. To that end – I finger painted in the yard with one of my nieces, slept under the stars in the backyard (ok I added an aerobed – my back isn’t as forgiving as it use to be!), rediscovered skinny dipping, got lost in a corn maze and made a snow angel. I had a blast but more importantly my creativity was revived – new ideas came – it was a rebirth of the person I had loved and forgotten – me!

2009 was the year of “being bold”. When you get into a rut you forget to put yourself out there, blinders get put on and change becomes a thing of the past. I wanted to break new ground and went bold in many ways. I formed a partnership and new business – Strawberry Road, finally bought the hot red lipstick I talked about doing for years, physically visited the work sites of complimentary vendors to my industry and asked if they would be interested in a collaboration and I made the decision to move to the Baltimore, Maryland area (still putting the pieces together on that). In each case being bold and moving out of my current comfort zone has been a great success which in turn has made being bold something to be excited about and not feared.

I love to try new things or put a new spin on something I’ve done previously so when I read Chris’ post I thought it was the perfect way to revamp the way I do yearly themes. 2 words came to me immediately. The 3^rd one took more thought but I finally found it. As my work and personal life are so interconnected you will see that my words can and do refer to both areas of my life. Here are my 3 words for 2010.

(Before I share – I learned a really cool trick from a Seth Godin post – go to google – type in define: then a word you want the definition of and it pops up an answer – so cool!!)

define:sleek – well groomed and neatly tailored.

To me this means every aspect of both brands – Lil Blu Dragonfly and Strawberry Road – is tight. The message, the look, etc – is so well put together that you know who it came from and it brings certain expectations and emotions before you even get into the meat of it. For me personally it means making sure that I too have a completed pulled together look when I walk out of the door. I tend to fall into that category of working from home in yoga pants and fleece – when people meet me there is a disconnect between what they see and who I am – I need to be sleeker.

define:ownership – relation of an owner to the thing possessed.

This one comes from conversations I had with a particular person this summer. I met a man who is a contractor and during our conversations it always struck me how he took ownership of his gifts, skills and workmanship. He wasn’t afraid to come out and say I am very, very good at what I do and proud of it. It really impressed me and made me realize 1) I am good at what I do and 2) that I literally wanted to be like Mike – be proud and take ownership in myself and skills. In 2010 I’ll be tooting my own horn more. On the flip side I acknowledge that when I mess up I have to take ownership of that as well.

(PS: Mike really is good at what he does – I’ve seen his work first hand. If anyone in the Baltimore, North Shore area is looking for a reputable, reliable person to help with a home improvement project contact me and I’ll pass his contact information on.)

define:remarkable – unusual or striking.

In my industry we are a dime a dozen. There are photographers in every town and street corner now. I know that for me to continue to grow and work with the people I aspire to work with I can’t be like everyone else – be it marketing, style or presentation. I have to find a way to stand out of the pack and be remarkable. But, and here’s the key – remarkable in a way that is completely me and shows my true self.

So now I have my three words to guide me through the year. As a reminder and to keep me on course I plan on doing something that helps me focus when I work on particular projects. I take a dry erase marker and write what I’m focusing on onto every mirror, window and dry erase board I see. So don’t be surprised if you walk in my bathroom this year and see the words: sleek, ownership and remarkable staring back at you in the mirror.