The “things” we have will come and go, but the memories... will be with us forever.

SNE WOMAN (THE MAGAZINE); Speaks two trends; the importance and value of promoting local businesses, products and services and the general growing concept of living one's best life.

SNE WOMAN (THE BLOG); Touches on general issues facing women today. Like the publication, it's meant to help you come away with a renewed sense of self. To encourage you to learn something new. A tip or suggestion that makes you say... “I need to try this.”, or, “I never knew that before”. Hopefully this blog will become another tool for you to use, that will help you focus on finding the right questions, in order to make your life better, live your dream easier, and become a happier you.



My name is Pat Paolino Cruz and I am the creator here. I am a single mom with three kids and come from a loud Italian family. My kids are Italian and Hawaiian. Very cool combo if I do say so myself. I wear many hats and have created several different businesses which have kept me very connected to women. I am not a blogger or a writer, however, I thought it was important to chat directly to you. We are all different, but at the same time, are all the same. It isn't easy to do what we do. To wear all the hats we wear. There are so many topics that we can discuss here, together, that will help us along our paths. My hope is that you find something in one of the posts to comment on and share your own views. To offer your insight and personal stories that may in some way, help create clarity in another woman's life who may also be reading this blog. And, ok, here is a bit of information upfront... Sometimes I get so busy and I before you know it, another week is over. I know you can relate. Those are the times I may not be able to give you my own personally written story, however, I will give you something I believe has equal importance. A topic that helps us discuss something I really didn't know that much about to begin with, but believe it's something we can all benefit from by reading.

You know how the Seinfeld episodes were described... “The Show About Nothing.” Well, I think this blog will probably go in the same direction. There is nothing earth shattering I want to say. Nothing that will be “breaking news” for the week. Just stuff. Stuff about us. Stuff for us. Stuff to help us become better women. And I say “us” because I am in fact, a woman, with the same issues you have. Possibly more...lol.... In any event, it isn't easy being a woman today. Sometimes I find myself up at three in the morning (as I am now), researching, writing, responding or doing general follow up work I wasn't able to get to all day. I did take a little nap from about midnight (when Criminal Minds, my favorite show, was over) until about 2am when I woke up and thought... ugh, I forgot to...(fill in the blank). I'm sure you do the same thing. It's not that I was busy all day long, working 24/7. It's that, I have kids. It's summer and they are home with me. I have a home office which makes it easy for me to work on my own schedule. It may be the middle of the night, but it allows me to sit and hang out with my kids, take them to the beach on a hot day or just enjoy a movie together before they go to bed. I don't remember my parents spending much time with me when I was a kid. They were busy, they worked a lot. I don't want my kids to have “un-fun” memories. I enjoy being the “go to the beach mom”, or the “go camping (yes, in a tent) mom”, or the “let's go to the fireworks tonight mom”.

I know it's hard because we all have so many responsibilities.... Chef, maid, worker, bank, taxi service, mother, daughter, caretaker, teacher, activities specialist. Sometimes I slack off. I know I am completely at fault when it comes to putting off work to spend a little time with my kids. I know. Terrible thing to do when you have your own business but you know, I decided a long time ago that I didn't want to punch a clock. I wanted to be accessible for my kids and be a little more of a free spirit if I could. If I have to choose what's most important to me, it's to let my kids remember fun times. Like any kids, they will probably still think I worked too much anyway...lol... and I do work a lot, however, I want them to also remember that I wasn't afraid to get dirty. To sleep on the ground in a sleeping bag with them or to take off on a moment's notice for a quick picnic in the middle of the day. I know lots of women don't have the luxury of taking off in the middle of the day to do something special possibly by themselves (a long pedicure, an hour in the park with a blanket and a book), with friends, a spouse or with their kids, however, nights and weekends count and no matter what time you do have, you need to make the best of it. If you want to do it, you will find the time. In the end, no matter what you do in life, you learn that people and the moments are all that matter. Do what you can, to make them good ones.

Ok, I see already that I wrote about nothing. Actually, I wanted to just spill a bit of what was on my mind and give you a bit of the way I am. Maybe you've gotten the gist of the way I am in previous posts but for some reason, I felt like I wanted to start from scratch and take you from this point on. Maybe it's because I am getting ready to go to press with the next issue of the magazine and it's like a new beginning all over again. What ever it is, I hope that you stay with us and take some time once in awhile to write a few comments down yourself about what's going on in your life and what you would like to chat about. It really is all about us... women... the glue that holds everyone around us together.... and we do it with four bones that we women sport so fabulously... Our Funny bone, our backbone, our cheekbones and most importantly our wishbone...

Choose your priorities carefully... Wishing you happiness in your day!

5 Simple Tips to Achieve Beautiful, Radiant, Summer Skin

Summertime is when we want our skin to glow, with radiant and flawless skin. It’s not always easy when the sun’s harmful rays are beating down on our delicate skin. Medical Aesthetician, Susan Perry, provides her expert tips to get that glow and prevent the number one cause of wrinkles, age spots, and premature aging – UV radiation.

Susan Says…

1.Check expiration dates: Check the expiration dates on your sunscreens. It’s a good idea to replace yearly and buy new ones to match to your skin type and needs. After you have thrown out the old ones, are you left with a great sunscreen that you love to use every day? Do you also have one for sport, for your body? Be sure to have the sunscreen for any occasion, on hand.

2.Best 2 in 1 product: Use a daily moisturizer that includes a full- spectrum SPF when you are indoors, near bright windows, or driving. UVA penetrates windows and damages unprotected skin. Elta MD sun care line provides a complete spectrum of sun care products, one for every skin type, and unique need.

3.Renew: Exfoliation revs up the circulation, removes dead skin cells, and gives your skin a glow. Light peels and microdermabrasion are great in office treatments. For take- home treatment, try a lovely citrus scrub for the face. Some of my favorite at-home products include Microdermabrasion Cream by Physicians Complex, BioMedic Micro Exfoliating Scrub for the Face and Body or Deep Thermal Cleanser from Societe.

4. Keep skin clear: Toners can also help clear away surface oils and grime while at the same time, they refresh, firm, and cool the skin. My favorite toners include Obagi Toner which is fresh and botanical for all skin types and Societe Conditioning Prep which tightens and brightens.

5. Protect: A typical white t- shirt gives about SPF7 and when it is wet –about SPF3. Columbia and Land’s End Sportswear offer lightweight clothing which protects up to 97.7% of harmful UV rays. These items of clothing are perfect for summer sailing or hiking.

This summer, be sun-smart and take care of your skin. Follow these five easy tips, and get skin that radiates all summer long!

About Susan Perry:
Originally from England, Susan completed her training in Applied Aesthetics and Physiatrics in London. She has been working with plastic surgeon, Dr. Donald Brown, since 1993.Together, she and Dr. Brown created one of the first medical skin care programs in the United States. Throughout her career, Susan Perry has been dedicated to continuing education and has attended many advanced training schools and seminars. She is devoted to exploring the latest, most advanced skin care techniques and products available, eagerly integrating the most effective and promising of these into the practice.

Start getting ready to save some pennies for holiday shopping...

Here are a few little tips to help you put some pennies aside for the holidays. Thank you to billshrink.com for this information.

Lay Off the Starbucks = $160 savings over next few months

A tall coffee at Starbucks approaches $2.00. If you drink one of those every weekday, you’re spending $10 a week, $40 per month and roughly $520 per year. (And this is one of the cheapest items at Starbucks!)

If you absolutely need a caffeine fix every day, consider making your own coffee. After about $15 to buy the coffee maker and the filters, a bag of coffee only costs $8 and will keep you awake for weeks.

If you’re not a coffee drinker, see what other “daily luxuries” you may enjoy. Whether it’s micro-brewed beer, gourmet chocolates or a Ben & Jerry’s addiction, cutting back -- or substituting a cheaper alternative -- can easily buy a few gifts for the family.

Bottled Water = $78 savings over the next few months

Water is one of those things that you should try not to pay for. With 2/3 of the world covered in water and filters that convert “tap water” to filtered water (such as a Brita) for about $20, you should stick to filling up a water bottle rather than shelling out $1-2 for bottled water. If you buy bottled water a few times a week, you can save over $200 a year and about $80 by the time Christmas rolls around.

Gas = $87 savings over the next few months

BillShrink.com found that gas prices vary as much $.50 per gallon in the same neighborhood. This means that by simply driving to a nearby gas station, you can save $260 a year. Use BillShrink’s gas comparison tool to find the cheapest gas on your commute for the next 4 months and you could be looking at an extra $87 bucks in your pocket.

Ease Up on Eating Out = $520 savings over the next few months

Eating at home is not only healthier, but it is also much cheaper. When you eat out, you are paying a mark-up for not only your meal and drinks, but also for the service that comes with it. Try staying in two nights a week and save about $30 a person. If you continue this until the holidays, you’ll have saved $520 – enough to treat the whole family to a nice Christmas dinner.

If cutting out dinner is too hard, try packing your lunch rather than going out and dropping $6 during work. This will also save you about $30 a week and by combining the two, you’ll double your savings and have some delicious leftovers to bring for lunch the next day.

Quit Smoking = $347 savings over next few months

The cost of smoking is not getting any cheaper with an average pack costing between $4-6. If you smoke four packs a week, you’ll pay over $1000 a year. Since quitting smoking is easier said than done, it may be worth it use some of those savings on nicotine patches or gum to help you quit.

The caveat of this strategy is that you’ve got to want to quit smoking in order for this to work. While you can save some money doing this, you’re not going to be able to use that as motivation alone. You’ll need to weigh the other benefits of quitting as well and determine the reason why it’s time for you to quite now.

Turn Down the Monthly Fixed Costs = ~$200 savings over few months

According to BillShrink, most people are overpaying for their cell phone plan. By simply visiting BillShrink or other comparison sites, you can quickly analyze your wireless, credit card and cable plan. If you’re paying for more cell minutes or texts than you need, you could be losing $420 a year and the same goes for the cash-back rewards you could be missing out on from your credit card and the extra channels you pay for that you never watch on your TV. By only paying for what you use, you could save nearly $200 over four months.
If you already have the best plans for you, feel free to call up your phone or cable provider and try to negotiate a better price. Since it is cheaper for them to retain current customers than get new ones, they want to keep you from leaving and keep you happy. See if they have any specials that will entice you to stay.

And if you still find yourself short of Christmas cash, just remember: you can always sell things on eBay. After all, getting rid of old stuff is the best way to prepare for this year’s new stuff.

WHAT ARE "YOUR" PRIORITIES??

Do you ever think about how you prioritize things every day? It seems as if those priorities can change from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute. For instance, plan a meeting, school calls, your child got hurt at recess. Meeting changes, drive to school, drive home or in an extreme case the hospital which you know will take up the remainder of your day so you had better cancel all of the other appointments you thought were a priority today because this takes true "priority".

How we prioritize things in our life is determined by a number of factors. It's not just about what we "want" to do. It’s not just about something having a high or low priority, It’s not just about how urgent or how much time something requires. Yet we don’t just randomly decide to do one task over another, Even as we grow older and our situations change (we become richer, older, healthier, etc.) so do our priorities.

Consider how the following effects your life and the choices you make.

Single parent vs two parent home
Small children vs grown children vs no children
Healthy parents vs older in need of assistance parents
Living close to family vs family in another state
Single vs married
Going to college vs starting work for financial stability
Job vs career
Self employed vs. punching a clock
High pressure job vs relaxing no stress job
Great salary vs just getting by with your paycheck
Having to work to pay the bills vs having enough to pay the bills and enjoy life
Choosing to pay your electric bill vs taking your kids to dinner
Lifestyle of being 25 vs being 45 vs being 65
Staying home to enjoy some quiet time vs visiting friends or a big night out
Doing laundry vs watching television and some down time
Planning for college vs planning for retirement
Planning grocery shopping vs drive through at McDonalds
Hour to exercise vs hour to read a great book in your spare time
Taking a ride to visit older grandparents vs taking a ride to an amusement park
Creating a savings account vs spending money and enjoying life everyday
Working from a home office vs working at your business office
Answering emails, phone calls, etc. vs getting to work that is demanded first
Planning your day vs the day making the plans for you
Making decisions yourself vs having others make decisions for you

Emotions also play a major role in decisions of choosing your priorities and should not be taken lightly. The more important a priority, the more it can become a highlight or casualty of the emotions of others. Not everyone will agree with what you believe your priorites are. Sometimes parents or employers will voice their opinion and/or decide for you what your priorities need to be depending on your age and work status.

It's just amazing to me how many outside factors come into play when you are planning what to do with your "own" time. Sometimes it's just impossible to keep up with everything that has to be done in the course of the day. However, if you think about the things that are most important to you at the time they are important, that will help you get by.

I was reading a post on someones' blog and it was just "real" so thought I would share it with you;

My priorities are to have fun and enjoy myself and my new apartment. But somehow I find myself sitting at this desk, working from 9 to 3 pm each day, bored out of my mind, and still sleeping near boxes that I haven’t been able to unpack. I hate desk jobs. I really need to reconsider this. How are we supposed to survive the office world? I think I’m really depressed. Plus my hair is falling.
(Read more: http://self-help.thehappyguy.com/2009/06/18/misplaced-priorities/#ixzz0zz8gT9Bu)

To me, there seemed to be one decision I have recently made that affects the way I plan my day and choose which things will take priority over others...

Enjoy every minute of where you are right now because you will never be at this exact moment again. Know your priorities are and have the courage; pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say “no” to other things that are not as important to "you". You know what they are because you have a bigger "yes" burning inside.

Pat