Author: Michelle Mercado

Michelle Mercado is a mother, wife, and full-time student at Ventura College. After being in the professional business world several years she returned to college to obtain a degree. She will be graduating in the Spring of 2024 with degrees in both Business Administration and Social Media Marketing.

Categories
Culture & Student Life

How To Build The Life You Love.

Do you ever feel stuck going through the same motions in your everyday life? You wake up, go to work, or take care of your family and hope you get some of your “To Do” list done. I completely understand because that was my life for a very long time. As a single mom, I was just trying to work and provide for my daughters. There was never enough time to do everything that needed to be done, leaving me feeling discouraged. Years later when I got remarried, my life only got more complicated. My plate was stacked so high that I didn’t know where to begin. I knew I wanted better for myself and my family so I decided to make a change. I read books, and watched YouTube videos, and here’s what I found.

Create a Plan by Building Achievable Goals.

Take time to sit and write down your goals. If you don’t know what your goals are then chances are YOU should be your goal. That’s right, you can be your own goal. In fact, this year, I am my goal. This year I have committed to putting myself first by building the life I love and was meant to live. During this process take time to write down “why” each goal is important to you. I am my goal because I am tired of feeling lost and want to feel better about my life and myself. Lastly, be very specific about your goals. “I want to lose weight” or “I want to make more money” is not specific and won’t get you anywhere. Since my goal covers different areas I have broken it down for you in the next step

Breaking Down Your Goals

Since my goal is “Me” I needed to write down exactly what that meant. 

  • I am going to lose 20 pounds by December 31, 2024, by working out 3 times a week, taking my dog on daily walks, and not eating past 9 pm. 
  • I am going to be more organized and intentional by developing better time management by creating a detailed calendar of everything that has to be done each day. 
  • I am going to build stronger relationships with my family by setting time for my family and working on my relationships with better communication. On this goal, I wrote down the current state of my relationships and where I’d like them to be by December 31, 2024.
  • I am going to build a stronger spiritual relationship by taking time to pray each morning and go to church every week. 

Write Down Your Plan

Now that you have everything broken down it’s time to write it all down. There are several tools people use to write down and organize goals. Here’s what I currently use:

  • Better Life Journal- I like to manually write stuff down and be able to check stuff off at the end of my day. I journal each morning while I have my morning tea, writing down what I am going to do during the day. At the end of the day, I take a few minutes to write down how my day went and any new thoughts or ideas. I’ve used multiple planners and journals but I have enjoyed the Better Life Journal by Dean Graziosi. 
  • Google Calendar- Create a yearly & daily calendar.
    • Write down every event planned for the year. (vacations, and special events)
    • Block and schedule time for each item that has to be done during the week for each of your goals. For example, I have timeslots for my daily walks, work, workouts, classes, and date nights all blocked on my schedule. 
  • Share your calendar with your family. By sharing your calendars you’re able to see each other’s free time and create events or tasks. 

Work And Manage Your Plan!

Brendon Burchard, a highly successful productivity coach recommends looking at your daily calendar every day. During your morning coffee or tea is a great time to review your plans for the day. By journaling daily, you’re able to monitor your progress. Remember, you manage what you measure. Now that you have done all the steps it is time to work your plan. 

Conclusion

These are things I am doing to build a life I love. Although there are days that I fall off the horse and don’t follow my schedule, I catch myself more often and get back on track. Studies show it takes about 30 days to create a habit. Also, watching videos and reading books by Dean Grazios, and Tony Robbins has been a great tool that I highly recommend. Find someone who inspires you to be your best self. By working on your plan daily you are working to create a life you love. 

If you are on a mission to build the life you love what tips or habits are working best for you?

Leave a comment

Categories
Food & Beverage

Pier City Cider: Out of the Ordinary

Pier City Cider is Ventura’s first hard cider company that opened the weekend of Summer Solstice in 2019.  Pier City Cider offers some great, beachy ciders in several out-of-the-ordinary flavors. 

Meet Gary Stewart, the cider maker for Pier City Cider

The Inspiration for Pier City Cider

Four Brix Winery, a local winery, opened its doors in Ventura, California in 2011. Several years later, winemaker and one of the owners, Gary Stewart, began looking for gluten-free options that his wife, Karen could enjoy. His frustration with the flavors of traditional “Big Box” ciders lead him to start experimenting with making hard ciders at home. Gary wanted to create ciders that complimented Four Brix Winery. He continued experimenting with flavors until he found the perfect recipe for uniquely refreshing flavors that could be enjoyed with or without food.

Hard Cider Flavor Inspiration

Gary stated his inspiration for cider flavors comes from several sources. He often gets ideas from friends, patrons at Four Brix Winery, and drinks at bars and restaurants. One of Pier City Cider’s most popular flavors, Persimmon Lavender, was inspired when Gary had a persimmon lavender ice tea while visiting the Central Coast. Gary wanted to create ciders along the lines of a well-rounded cocktail. Because he wanted the cider flavors to have more complexity than your standard hard cider, he created flavors driven by fruits and different complimentary spices instead of the basic flavors you’ll find at your local grocery store. To this day Gary continues his journey to find new out-of-the-ordinary cider flavors. 

Pier City Cider, Out-of-the Ordinary Flavors

Gary is currently working on a new cider that will be released in the next month. The following 12 flavors are currently available for purchase at Pier City Cider. 

  • Blackberry
  • Caramel Apple
  • Hibiscus
  • Mango Chili Lime
  • Moheto 
  • Mule 
  • Oh Mai
  • Persimmon Lavender
  • Pina Picante
  • Rhubarb Honey
  • Sour Apple
  • Tamarind Ice

What Sets Pier City Ciders Apart?

Gary is extremely proud to be using fresh organic apples from Washington. Once the apples are pressed they are shipped within 24 hours and stored in stainless steel tanks. Gary is also very proud to only use natural organic extracts to flavor his ciders. Gary believes using organic apples in combination with organic natural extract gives the ciders their true flavors. 

Gary’s Hopes for Pier City Cider

Gary is planning on starting distribution on a smaller scale with the hopes of being in specialty liquor stores in addition to different restaurants. He is excited to continue to create new “Seasonal Flavors” and see where the road takes Pier City Cider. Gary strives to create ciders that are “just sweet enough but not too overwhelming”.

Where to Find Pier City Cider

Currently, you can enjoy a flight of 5 cider flavors or a glass of cider at Pier City Cider located at 2290 Eastman Ave. Suite #110 in Ventura, California. For those of you who love the ciders and are ready for a short-term commitment, Pier City Cider offers a cider membership. It is a simple 1-year commitment to purchase 3 4-packs in the Spring and Fall. The great thing about the membership is you’re able to mix and match your 4-packs with any flavor you’d like. You also get complimentary tastings for up to 4 people several times throughout the year and member pricing on glasses and 4-packs. Additionally, Pier City Ciders get a 10% discount on all Four Brix Winery wine purchases. For those not quite ready to commit, 4-packs are available for purchase. Please visit https://piercitycider.com/ for additional information.

Conclusion

Whether you’re a hard cider fan or not, it is definitely worth your while to stop by Pier City Cider and taste what’s on tap. You can enjoy your ciders with the great food served at Pier City Cider or by itself. It’s a great place to enjoy food, hear live music, play a game, or just hang out with your cider. Oftentimes, you will find Gary and his wife, Karen in the tasting room. Although Gary is often busy working in the back, he is always happy to take time to answer questions. You will find that Gary is one of the nicest and most down-to-earth guys you will meet, so don’t hesitate to say “Hello” and give your suggestions for new flavors on your next visit. You can visit their website at, https://piercitycider.com/.

Gary wants his ciders to appeal to 80% of the market as he realizes you can’t please everyone. 

I’d love to hear your favorite flavors and thoughts on the ciders at Pier City Cider. Also, what flavors do you think Gary should make next?

Cheers!