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Everyday Avenger Travel Notes

You Have to be Brave…

Pacific Ocean view at the Ritz Carlton at Laguna Niguel

You have to be brave with your life so that others can be brave with theirs.

It is one of those sayings that just stays with me. It follows me around. It encourages me to be brave so that I can help others be brave as well.

As I read the announcements about this year’s Mom 2.0 Conference, that one line hit me like a ton of bricks. Ok, I’ll admit it, it made me cry. My friend Carrie, one of the organizers of the event, had already been telling me that I really needed to join them. When I saw that sentence, I knew it was where I needed to be.

It is hard to believe that it has already been 3 weeks since I flew out to California for that amazing weekend. Things seem abundantly clear now, and while I’ve been quiet here, there is much going on below the surface and behind the scenes.

That line still resonates with me. I think I need to make a sign and hang it in my studio. It sums up how I feel and how I think all women should feel. Be brave. Inspire others. Dream big.

Photograph taken at the opening party at the Mom 2.0 Summit, overlooking the Pacific Ocean at the Ritz Carlton at Laguna Niguel in California, May 2, 2013.

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Everyday Avenger

A Blank Slate…

Flying Home above the Puffy CloudsAs I sat at the Mom 2.0 Summit last weekend, it became abundantly clear what my next step for my personal blog needed to be. Surely http://www.theloclab.com/ is my only way to widen my knowledge about business and also my language on how to communicate to my people. Whenever people saw my t-shirt or my business cards, they commented on the Avenger of Sexiness.

My little business has been going great ever since I got this Stripe Payments system for when people decided to purchase items.

Over the past few years, it is who I have become. It is who I want to be, and what I want to write about.

Armed with that knowledge and insight from last weekend, I took the plunge last night after 13 years and 1 day of blogging under BigPinkCookie to announce that I am moving my site to this name, embracing my Avenger of Sexiness status. It wasn’t a choice made without a little bit of fear – after all, I’ve been BigPinkCookie for so long! However, it was a decision made with such clarity that I have no doubt that it is the right thing to do.

Moving forward is always a good thing. I can’t wait to share the adventures of being a Hot Mama photographer!

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BlahBlahBabble Everyday Avenger

13 Years and 1 Day – Changing the BigPinkCookie name…

Avenger of Sexiness Cards

13 years ago yesterday I wrote the first post on this site. The First First Post. It is incredible to me to think that this site has been around now for 13 years and 1 day.

More incredible to me is the fact that I’m in the process of leaving behind the BigPinkCookie name after all these years.

Yes, you read that correctly. I keep trying to “revive” the blog, and I realized while I was at the Mom 2.0 Summit this past weekend that a revival was not what I need. I need a fresh start. A new identity that matches the rest of the changes in my life.

This blog has seen me through so many great times, so many amazing things. I met Mike, we bought a house, got married, Jason grew up, we bought a house in the Heights, we sold our old house. I made new friends, friends that have been with me through a lot of things.

This blog has also seen me through some really hard times. Maybe that is the baggage that I’m feeling, that I don’t want to carry around any more.

Most of all, I have changed. 13 years ago I was working for a web design company. Then another, then a round of being unemployed, time at a law firm, back to school, years as a wedding photographer plus a boudoir photographer.

In 2010, I started working with Jeff Jochum, first through two workshops where I realized I *REALLY* wanted to focus on photographing Hot Mamas, and over the next year or so of coaching with him I discovered … well, I discovered ME. (Matter of fact, the move to the Heights and the physical changes all started after that time.)

I’ve never felt more like myself since … well, for as long as I can remember. I now own my own business, happily working as the Hot Mama photographer. I love my life. While BigPinkCookie helped me get to that place, who I am now is the Avenger of Sexiness. I help Hot Mamas grow their confidence and rediscover their beauty … all while I am doing the same for myself.

It was fascinating watching how “Avenger of Sexiness” resonates with other women as they read my business card or commented on my t-shirt at Mom 2.0 last weekend.

That was when it hit me. This blog? It needs a change. A fresh start. And that all starts with the name. As soon as I can get the geek-fu magic to take place it will become AvengerOfSexiness.com

Writing that out makes me feel like I can breathe again. I’ve known for 4 months now that I need to do something BIG with the Avenger of Sexiness concept, and this change is just the start of it. I don’t know what the future holds, but I can’t wait to find out!

I’m not sure what I am doing with the archives. I don’t know how it will all work. Don’t worry, I promise you won’t get lost trying to find me. For now, consider this post a line in the sand. From here on out, I am the Avenger of Sexiness!

PS – if you have any suggestions of what I should use for my Twitter name, please let me know. @ChristineBPC makes no sense if I’m no longer the BigPinkCookie. To be honest? That is the only part of this name change that is freaking me out!

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4-Hour Body BlahBlahBabble Food Gluten Free Paleo Picture Time

Brussels Sprouts…

Brussels Sprouts

I had been on such a roll here with daily posts, and then one day, I slipped. One day lead to two, which lead to over a week. Yesterday I realized that not posting here daily was actually adding to the grumpy mood that I was in. It seems I do need to keep a rhythm going, to keep the habit up. It gives me something to strive for, even when I feel like no one will notice.

(If you notice me slacking off again, nudge me, okay?)

The reason that I pieced this all together? Brussels Sprouts. More specifically, Caramelized Brussels Sprouts with Bacon. Writing that post last night was like opening up a flood gate. I didn’t want to stop writing. Then it hit me how much I missed it.

As I looked at all the comments that flooded in, I learned that the Brussels Sprouts, which no one seems to care about and they are the most hated vegetable on the planet, is actually pretty well liked. Well, by my friends at least.

Things aren’t always what they seem. Don’t give up. Do things that are good for you.

Not a reminder I expected to get from a vegetable, but I’ll take it.

As we start the month of May today, I’m about to hit the 18 month anniversary of starting up 4-Hour Body, going gluten-free, and changing a lot of things. I plan to reflect on that a lot this month. One of the things that has changed? I’ve learned to have a new appreciation for foods I always thought I didn’t like – including Brussels sprouts. Pretty amazing to look back and think about!

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BlahBlahBabble Picture Time

Happy Birthday, Jason! The Setting Sun on Childhood…

Galveston Texas Sunset

As of Sunday, Jason is officially an adult. He turned 21. I still find it a bit hard to believe. Really? 21??? Where has the time gone?

I started blogging when he was 8 years old. Mom bloggers weren’t even a thing yet. I shared bits and pieces of his life here online, but not many. Eventually he was at an age where I decided that his digital life should be in his control, his story, not mine. So I shared even less.

Looking back, sometimes I wish I had shared more, that I had journaled more. But I didn’t, and life shouldn’t be lived looking backwards anyways.

I remember waking up on his 18th birthday, while he was a senior in high school, and cheering because I had made it to 18. Now here we are at 21. This day doesn’t have the same victory lap feeling to it. Maybe because he has spent time out on his own now. Adulthood is ahead of him. So much possibility. It is a strange transition as a parent, that is for sure.

I am really proud of him and the man that he has become. I can’t wait to see where he goes from here!

Photograph taken in Galveston, Texas. One of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen there. Taken in October, 2012. Click it to view it larger.