Friday, February 28, 2014

February In Review

As I put this post together and list the things I've done this month, and books I've read I am realizing that January was much more active whereas February has been more cerebral. I was getting a little down about the whole thing when I remembered that February is a short month and I lost 14 good "Active" days to a healing foot tattoo. It wasn't like Dan and I were sloth like on purpose, though we did have some good naps and lazy weekend days, it's just that we had other things going on. While there hasn't been a frenzy of movement this month it has been incredibly full. Valentine's Day was above and beyond what I could have ever expected it to be and I'm so very grateful for that.

I did sign up for a gym membership a couple days before getting a foot tattoo. Not my best timing decision, but I'm excited that my days of foot rest are now about over and I can put on my sneakers again. The elliptical is calling my name.

Best of all, March is my birthday month and I have an awesome birthday planned for myself, I am taking 4 days off of work, two on each side of a weekend and Dan and I are heading to Palm Springs for three of those days... so excited. But more about that later. For now, here's February in Review.

I read:
- Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
- Manage Your Day-to-Day by The 99U Book Series
- Love Yourself  by Kamal Ravikant
- Wild by Cheryl Strayed
- You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero (for the 4th time, read. this. book.)
- Vagabonding  by Rolf Potts

Started reading but have yet to finish:
- Bread & Wine by Shauna Neiquist
- Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim

I watched:
- Pretty Little Liars /// still love this crazy show
- Friday Night Lights /// one more season to go

Tried new things:
- Popeye's
- I started listening to Podcasts, the one that I really like right now is SeanWes. He's an incredibly talented hand letterer as well as designer. He and Aaron discuss many aspects of being an entrepreneur. I started from the beginning, I think his cohost is someone else now, but I'm still on Sean and Aaron.

Dan and I adventured to:
- Griffith Park Observatory and the Old Griffith Park Zoo, we then went to Santa Monica Pier which was by far the best part of the day
- Wilderness Gardens Preserve
I treated myself to:
- a new tattoo
- a memory foam bathmat that actually dries my feet
February definitely heard a lot of crickets here. We'll see what March has to bring. (Besides my awesome birthday!!!)

xoxo

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

The Weekly

a weekly processing, a record. a mix up of currently, around here with a hint of time/money/energy expenditure analysis.

It seems it is half way through the month and all I've written is a round of for January. Don't think I haven't been drafting blog posts in my mind, but that's just it, they are drafted and never finished, in my mind. I wonder sometimes if it's because I don't have anything I want to write about but then I know, after looking at drafts saved from past days that this is not the case. There's a challenge that I'm not addressing, and when I do, I'll be more apt to post frequently.
And beyond my normal little hurdles to posting the internet at my house is on a rampage of pretending to work and then losing a signal at the most annoying of times. I keep trying to get it fixed but it is a little out of my hands.

Thinking about: Valentine's Day and how I use to be a bitter, bitter bunny. Totally admit I was one of those people that hated it just because I didn't have someone to share it with. I have had three decent Valentine's Days before this year. I probably could have had more but I was set on being bitter so there. Two were in high school, one of those with a boy who had asked me out 2 days before, at lunch he brought me a bouquet of red roses and an impossibly huge (for being together 2 days) teddy bear. Unfortunately our break up 2 weeks later blotted out the joy of that one. The second was a girls night out, I'm pretty sure we went dancing and coordinated it so we all said we were staying at someone else's house or something. I'm pretty sure that dancing trip took us up to Orange County. That was the extent of my sneaking around.
The third good Valentine's Day was a couple of years ago. The guy I was seeing and his friend were walking around Oceanside and asked me to join. It wasn't a typical V-day but it was cute and fun and I wore a dress. The three of us walked to Ruby's at the end of the pier and had milk shakes and french fries and laughed a lot.
This year... this year takes the cake. I am so so very grateful for the man in my life. Dan knocked it out of the park with flowers, heart shaped balloon, frog holding a heart sign that says "kiss me" shaped balloon, Ferrero Rocher chocolates, a gift card for the Kindle and something else coming in the mail (only the best art print ever of a gorgeous mermaid with traditional tattoos). I am so absolutely spoiled and it brought tears of joy to my face. Best Valentine's Day ever.

Adventured to: Wilderness Gardens Preserve off of the 76. It was a mellow walk for most of the trip, there was one hill and about 20 steps for the hardest of the trails, but mostly it's just a place to wander for a mile and then walk back. It had some green, which I appreciated very much.

Loving: My new tattoo despite how difficult it is to walk with it. Day 1... Day 2 and there on should get better and better.

Signed up for: A gym membership. Don't worry, I'm almost as surprised as you are. It's right by my house, it's $10 a month and I'm actually really stoked on it. My planning could have been better however. Not suppose to wear sneakers for at least 10 days... guess I'll be doing my work outs at home, barefoot for those days.

Cooking:
Sugar Cookies in heart and X and O shapes
Upside down banana cake/bread in my cast iron skillet
Pra Ram
Pancakes that just aren't quite working out

Learning: How to clean a cast iron skillet, after cooking banana bread in it I cleaned it like a normal pan, probably wasn't suppose to do that. It still has banana slice imprints on it too. I think it's time for some coarse salt and then I'll need to re-season it.

Anticipating: My birthday weekend. Not to be ungrateful for this weekend. I am just really excited for a Palm Springs adventure!

Read/Reading:
You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero (for the 4th time)
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Bread & Wine by Shauna Neiquist

Randomly Searched: how much to tip a tattoo artist. It came up with a bunch of different answers. I went about 20% because my tattoo is beautiful. (if not incredibly painful)

Feeling: The pulsing of my foot. I cannot say this enough, the foot is the worst spot for me thus far, and I covered all the hard parts of it. From the outside edge that's close to the bottom, to around the ankle, to the top bony area to... and this is the worst the second day, the area where your foot bends, the front ankle if you will. I'm usually pretty good about zoning out and being able to pay attention to the vibration instead of the needles after about 10 minutes, but this time, NOPE. I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting older or what. But ouch.
Also worth mentioning, my foot is just a puffy thing right now, and when I walk it feels almost gelatinous on the top, like a thick layer of pudding moving back and forth. Weird? Yes.

Planning: Something big to come by the 1st of June. That's my deadline, I'll write it in big numbers and hang it on my wall.

Motivational quote for the next week (and possibly all of my life):
Start where you are.

xoxo

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

January In Review

(Image was lost in the switches)

The first month of abundance: I didn't spend a lot of intentional time with my word for the month of January. I spent a lot of it getting thoughts out of the way, reading more than I expected to, and getting my butt to work. Every once in a while I would remember abundance, and I would breath it in and out, abundance of time, abundance of opportunity, abundance of funds to do the things I want to do... I know there's a lot more work to be done though. I know there is a better way to connect and believe in abundance. While I wasn't exactly working on abundance in January I was doing a lot of things and seeing a lot of places! January looked a little like this...
I read:
- Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
- Allegiant by Veronica Roth
- Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
- Choose Yourself by James Altucher
Started by did not finish:
- Slow Sex by Nicole Daedone

I watched
:
- Nashville /// From the beginning to the most recent episode, I am hooked!
- Girls /// Not feeling it anymore, brings me to a sad and anxious place I don't want to be
- Pretty Little Liars /// sucked me back in like a hoover
Tried new things:
- I ate lobster
- Went to the chiropractor (more on that later)
Dan and I adventured to:
- Kate Sessions Park
- Old Town to see Heritage and Presidio Park
- Lake Calavera and went for a hike to the top
- 1000 Steps in Laguna Beach and it kicked my butt, and my calves
- Cleveland National Forest and walked a small train
- Cabrillo Monument
- Enzo's BBQ. We eat there pretty regularly... we order it to go and then have a little picnic on my bed.
I introduced new habits:
- flossing /// I know I shooouuld do this, but getting around to it just doesn't happen all the time
- writing 750 words a day /// I was really good about this for a while, like almost 100 days in a row and then I forgot one day and I was sad and didn't come back to it. So now I'm back to it.
- going to bed by 10:30pm /// I'm working on going to bed earlier so it will be easier to wake up earlier eventually. One step at a time.
- drink 6 glasses of water a day /// I've quit Diet Coke, again, and 6 glasses is a goal that I have to work for but doesn't feel as impossible as 8 glasses. Like with the earlier to bed, earlier to rise, one step at a time.
Despite not paying too much attention to my word this month I did seem to do a bunch of things. I found myself rushing from one to the next though, so in February I am looking to slow down a bit and savor more. I want to spend less time seeing if places or things meet up to my expectations and more time seeing what is. February, in my quest for the feeling of abundance, will be about seeing what is and enjoying it to the very last drop.
xoxo