Friday, December 31, 2010
Now It's Time To Say Goodbye...
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Year In Review - Concerts
1.I started off the year, almost immediately, by winning a pair of concert tickets on Twitter (from Livenation) to see SafetySuit and Parachute. I had just discovered Safetysuit when Livenation Tweeted the ticket giveaway, so imagine my delight when I won the tickets. I wasn’t at all familiar with parachute, though I later realized I actually knew a few of their songs. The concert, in a small club venue, was fantastic! Both groups were great, but Safetysuit really blew me away, and I became a fan.
2. Very shortly after winning the above tickets, I also won tickets to see Timbaland at the House Of Blues in Boston (another Twitter contest, I started off the year on a lucky streak). Unfortunately, I can’t really tell you these tickets were worth the price of admission (yes, they were free)…the concert was horrible. Quite easily the worst concert I’ve ever been to, and that’s saying a lot. The opening act, Honor Society, however, were pretty good.
My review of both the above concerts is here.
3. After that concert left such a bad taste in my mouth, I knew I’d have to somehow find a way to revive my love for live music. Unfortunately, I had a while to wait, but in June, I flew to Pittsburgh to meet up with a friend and spend a few days with her, and to attend the Lifehouse/Daughtry concert.
Opening up for the two bands was another band I’d never heard of before: “Cavo”…I fell in love immediately, and have since become a big fan. Lifehouse, of course, stole the show as far as I’m concerned, but my love for them knows no bounds. Daughtry were good, but I felt that the acoustics in the building or something was off…I could barely hear Chris Daughtry’s voice over the guitars and drums. I was a bit disappointed. Still, overall, the concert was totally worth the trip (as was my time with my friend, of course).
Rihanna, on the other hand, put on a great show....when she finally decided to grace us with her presence, that is. The fact that we had to wait over an hour and a half between Ke$ha's set and when Rihanna finally took the stage was simply unacceptable to me...Still, the show itself was entertaining...
5. A few nights before Rihanna's show, however, I attended what would become one of my two favorite concerts of the year...John Mayer. I did a full review of that concert here, so I won't repeat myself, except to say that I LOVED IT!
6. And a few nights later, I attended another fantastic concert. Maroon 5:
(another $10 show, which, let me tell you, I would have paid full price for this show). The show was fantastic, full energy, and one of those concerts that make you realize what makes live music so great! Plus...Adam Levine:
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Goals for 2011
Last year, I posted my “Goals for 2010”. I’ve decided that New Year’s Resolutions are silly, nobody sticks to them anyway, but I like the idea of setting “GOALS” that can be achieved, or at the very least, worked on.
What follows is my list from last year, and my…um…progress if you will:
1. Finish that novel – WELL…let’s be honest here…I’m pretty sure I didn’t touch “that” novel ONCE all year…okay, maybe once, or twice…but yeah…Not so much with the finishing…
2. Stay Healthy – DONE and DONE! I’ve managed to maintain my weight all year, staying within a 3 pound difference every time I weighed in. I didn’t manage to lose the “last 5 lbs” I’m determined to shed, but in all honesty, I didn’t really try all that hard. My focus this year was on maintaining, and on eating better. I did really well with the eating better until the last few months of the year…but, even then, I maintained the weight because of working out. Speaking of working out, I think I surpassed all my expectations this year. Not only did I stick to a pretty regular 3 to 4 day a week work-out schedule, but I can safely say I officially became a “runner” this year. I ran my first 5k on Thanksgiving morning with a time of 31:33, and I have {{GULP}} signed up for a 5k on New Year’s Day…
3. Put God ahead of everything – I’m going to check this one off as a success. It’s a work in progress, my faith, but I feel that this year I grew by leaps and bounds, and found myself centered in God in all things. I have a long way to go, a lot to learn, plenty of changes still to make, but I believe this year God WAS ahead of everything, within everything, above everything and scattered throughout everything I said or did…
4. De-Clutter – I am also going to check this one off as a success. In fact, with the exception of the few items still sitting on my home office floor, waiting for a destination (donation center, friends who may want them, dumpster I can’t carry them too because they are too heavy), I’m done. I literally went through EVERY SINGLE thing I own, and de-cluttered my house. Of course, there’s still certain things I need to go through in stricter detail (my books, my paperwork, cd’s, etc.) but the big stuff is done.
5. Fall In Love – Well, this one was long shot. After all, it’s hard to set a goal that isn’t solely dependent on you. It takes two to fall in love, and I am only one. I could have fallen in love this year…I was open to it. I opened up my heart, let down my defenses, put myself out there. I mean, for goodness sake, I even asked someone out on a RUNNING date. But alas, it was not to be. There’s always next year…
Speaking of next year…it is time for my Goals for 2011…
Goals for 2011
1. WRITE. I’m not even going to attempt to fool myself into thinking I can “finish that novel”…but I’m going to set a goal for myself that I WRITE. That I spend some quality time with my novel, with my characters, with my brand new netbook purchased solely for that purpose. Included in this writing goal is also my blog, and a few other writing projects I have in the works…
2. Run a 10K. Yep, I did that…I put that out there. Because well…why not? After all, I thought running in general was an impossibility for me, and then, in 2010, I ran my first 5k. I’m starting off the year, quite literally, running a 5k on New Year’s Day…so a big goal for 2011 is to run, run, run…all year run, build up my stamina, increase my pace, and run a 10k. I’m shooting for the Turkey Trot I did as a 5k in 2010…there’s a 10k option, so…why not?
3. Continue to stay healthy. Going along with the 10K goal is my goal to keep working out regularly, and to work on my diet. By diet I don’t mean “lose weight crash diet”, I mean daily eating habits. I need to change my lazy habits of just grabbing whatever is handy, which leads me to poor choices sometimes. I need to plan meals, and educate myself better on what I should be eating, and what I should not…
4. Find a church. I have faith. I have an amazing faith family, friends, community. I have regular faith sharing meetings with friends, where we worship and we pray and we share. But I don’t have a church. I won’t get into all the details behind why I can’t go to the church that has been my church for decades…let’s just say that the priest and the services don’t give me the nutrition my faith requires and leave it at that. But this means I am without a place to worship on Sundays. Sometimes, during the week, I will attend lunch time services at a church within walking distance from my work. Once a month I attend a church service in Boston on Friday night geared toward young adults (20’s and 30’s) which I LOVE. But I have yet to find a place where I feel welcome and fulfilled on Sunday mornings. And I need to. I want to. I must.
5. Do something new every month. I’ve been thinking about this a lot, because I’ve been doing a little bit of this the last few months. Doing things I’ve never thought I could do. Doing things I just have never gotten around to doing. Trying new things, or experiencing things everyone seems to have done, but I for some reason, have not. This includes silly things such as watching movies that are “Classics” but I’ve never seen (A Charlie Brown Christmas, for example, which I watched for the first time ever the other night), to more serious tasks (such as that 10k), to everything in between…ice skating, skiing perhaps, flying a kite…the possibilities are endless.
6. Travel to Europe. Okay, so this one is a bit of a cheat, because I have a trip to Portugal pretty much planned in October. I have friends from here getting married there, and a group of us are planning on traveling together to their wedding. But my goal is to turn this trip into a lengthier stay, and hopping over to Spain, France, England, Italy…pretty much any other country I can make it to on the airfare across the ocean. Now I just need to find a willing travel companion, and…well…the funds.
7. Be more charitable. This doesn’t necessarily mean financially, although that too. But I’m thinking more along the lines of trying to live the talk…do more for others, give of my time, be more a part of this world we live in, in a giving, unselfish, charitable way.
8. Spend more time with my little sister. She turns 18 this coming year, and I feel that with our busy schedules, we don’t spend as much time together as we used to. It’s perfectly understandable, but I have to make more of an effort to be present in her world. I’m the constant she needs, the positive influence she has, and I have to remember that and make more of an effort.
9. Cook more. As I said in a post last week, I don't cook often, but I plan to do that more this year, in fact, I plan to attempt a new recipe once a week...
10. Fall In Love. What? Eventually this is going to happen. I’m going to add to this one this year…fall in love with someone who will love me back. Date more. Continue to be open, and trust that the right one will come along…and have fun in the process.
So there you go…what are your goals for 2011?
Monday, December 27, 2010
Popinjay - Humble
This week's Popinjay prompt is "Humble". I chose to go with the definition of the word as a verb:
Us mere mortals are left to huddle up in the warmth of our homes, and watch as nature takes over for a little while:
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Julie & Julia and Karina
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
If I Was Married To Beyonce - A Christmas Gift Wish List
My Christmas gift wish list this year was pretty simple really. I asked for items I’ve wanted for a while, but won’t buy for myself because they aren’t really “necessities” so much as “luxuries” or…fun things that I don’t really need, but want. I also asked for winter running gear, some dvds and cds, and those typical types of gifts.
In truth, I love giving gifts a whole lot more than I love getting gifts (no, seriously, I really do), and when it comes to receiving gifts, what I love the most is when I realize the thought behind the gift. Yes, I’m one of those people who firmly believe it IS the thought that counts.
BUT…that being said…I too have a fantasy wish list. You know the one…the one we all have, if money were no object…the one that is so ridiculous we can’t help but laugh at ourselves, knowing full well that even if money were no object, we still wouldn’t spend the insane amounts of money required to own those fantasy items, because…well…it just seems wrong. Yep, that one.
The list we would hand Beyonce if we were married to her. Because earlier this month, for Jay Z’s birthday? Beyonce bought him this:
And what that is is the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport, a sports car that cost about $2 million. Yeah...
Right…so…here’s my list Beyonce:
1. Barbie Foosball Table –Because come on! How fun is that?? Who doesn’t want a Barbie foosball table in their living room?
2. Celtics Season Tickets – It may not seem like the biggest of luxuries, but I CAN’T AFFORD THEM…and I want them. I want to go to all the games. And, if you really love me Beyonce…you’ll get me the seat right next to Donnie Wahlberg’s Season tickets seat…
I’m just sayin’…
3. A pair of Christian Laboutin’s
and a pair of Manolo Blanick’s.
Because, let’s be honest, I’m NEVER going to spend that much money on a pair of shoes. EVER. It’s just not going to happen. Even if I could afford them, I would never be able to talk myself into believing that one pair of shoes is worth more than one month’s mortgage payment. However, I would like to won a pair of each of these, because I? Am a shoe girl. And a shoe girl needs to have a pair of each of these designer shoes in her collection…because well…just because.
4. One of these:
Because, if I'm going to have designer shoes, they should have somewhere special to go, right?
5. A digital SLR camera. This would be a nice one:
This is on my list of things I must buy for myself some day...but you know...if Beyonsanta wanted to get it for me instead, I wouldn't argue...
6. A Mediterranean Cruise. 'Nuff said, right?
7. An African Safari - yes, there's a travel theme forming here...but I figure, once I have the digital camera, I should go some beautiful places to take pictures, right?
and finally...
One of these:
Oh, what? Like you didn't see that coming? IT IS a fantasy wish list, after all. ;-)
What's on your fantasy wish list this year?
All joking aside, all I really want for Christmas this year is what I want every year...to spend time with my family, and be surrounded by love and joy.
Merry Christmas everyone!!!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Popinjay - Strong
Monday, December 13, 2010
Popinjay - Distant
I had a hard time with this one. The weather has been pretty frightful, so I haven’t really been inspired to get out there and take photos…if it’s not nasty wet and rainy out, it’s downright frigid.
SO, I thought long and hard about what Distant means to me…and how to represent it in a photo…
Distant (according to Dictionary.com): 1. Far off or apart in space; not near at hand; remote or removed; 2. Apart or far off in time; 3. Remote or far apart in any respect; 4. Reserved or aloof; not familiar or cordial.
What kept resonating in my head was the phrase “a distant memory”…
So, I give you just that…a distant memory, times gone by, a sunnier, more relaxed time…
Summer at Lake Winnipesauke, and two swimmers getting ready (in full scuba gear) to swim for what seemed like HOURS while my friend and I relaxed on beach chairs...ahhhhh
Be sure to stop by Michelle's to see what other distant photos people came up with.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Book Review(ish) - One Thousand Gifts
My dear Twitter/Bloggie/hopefully one day real life friend Michelle Pendergrass recommended this read for me.
One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are - Ann Voskamp
What I read was the egalley/pre-published version of the book.
What follows is not so much a book review as it is my reaction to the words themselves.
From the very first words of the book I was drawn in. The beginning paragraph was captivating, engrossing, and so very poetic, I knew I wanted to read more.
By the end of the 1st chapter, I’m already in tears. But fully, completely involved in the story, in the pain, and in the questions…I want to read more.
By page 40 I can’t seem to stop reading, I lose sense of all around me and am completely immersed in her words, her beautiful, mesmerizing prose.
By page 122, I’m feeling filled up, inspired, excited to participate in my own life with the vigor the author is expressing in hers. I have all the same questions, all the same doubts, all the same struggles. I have all the same hopes, all the same desires, all the same grains of faith.
By page 141, I’m making a list. No, not a list of graces, though that will surely come soon enough, but a list of names. Names of people I will be gifting this book when it is released next year.
By page 167, I am craving that childlike wonder, and professing to live like a child. Every day. To see the world through the innocent and joyous eyes of a child.
By page 188, I’m in tears once again, and wanting to thank God for my friend, the one I call The Disciple, because she won’t hesitate to stop and hug a homeless person on the street.
By page 201 I realize I’m nearing the end, and I don’t want it to end…so I stop for the day, save the last 40 pages for another day’s grace…
By the last page, the acknowledgements, the Thank You’s…I am again in tears. Feeling blessed for having shared in these intimate moments with the author. And I am ready to begin my own list of One Thousand Gifts…and beyond.
This book is beautiful, full, enriching.
EVERYONE should read this book. Everyone.
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
All The Boys - Chasing the White Rabbit
It happened again. Not for the first time in my life, I’ve been faced with one of those moments when I feel that I’m just a little late.
Or perhaps, a lot late, as the case may be.
Either way, once again, my timing is off.
And I could sit here and tell you that I know, in my heart, that it isn’t about my timing anyway, God’s timing has its own pace, and it’s not mine to question.
I could sit here and tell you that in my brain, I know this, and I know that my time too, will come.
But at this moment, I feel like I’m chasing the white rabbit down the hole screaming once again, “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important…non-date”.
See, the thing is, I keep meeting the perfect guy for me. Or so I think. And then that annoying, and grammatically incorrect Alanis Morrisette song starts playing in my head…
“It’s like meeting the man of your dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife”…Isn’t it Ironic?
No, it’s not ironic, in fact, it’s just plain cruel.
This vicious cycle of meeting “the one” only to realize he is someone else’s “one” started so long ago, I’m beginning to believe the universe hates me.
Shall we visit a few of the exhibits?
Exhibit A: and perhaps the most heartwrenching of all: The Soulmate (go on an click if you want the FULL story). To this day, I portend he was “the one”. I loved him with all I had. He too, loved me. But prior to meeting me, he’d given his heart and soul to another, and when she ripped it to shreds, he swore never to get married again. So, when I came along, fantastic as our relationship was, it stagnated. There was no moving forward with a man still stuck in the past…I was too late.
Exhibit B: A few years later, I received a visit from a male friend who had moved half way across the country many years before. We had been friends for nearly a decade, and never once had I thought of him as anything more, though I realized by then that he, perhaps, had at one point or another hoped I would. Either way, that day, as he sat in my living room, and we chatted amiably, it hit me. YES, there it is, it’s him. He’s the one. How had I not seen it before? But now I knew…now I could tell him. Almost instantly, as soon as I realized this, he turned to me and said “I have something to tell you”. Heart beats faster as I listen in anticipation… “I’m getting married” he says. Once again…I was too late.
Exhibit C: A few years ago I took a trip to meet up with a friend in Savannah. My flight down was a nightmare, started off by a mechanical issue on the plane, which would undoubtedly have made me miss my connecting flight. Along with 3 other passengers I was pulled off the flight and sent running to another airline, to board a different flight. One of these passengers was a man. A man I almost instantly clicked with. We chatted amiably as we waited for confirmation on this new flight, and in the process I discovered he was married. Moving on, I rushed to catch the flight, while he stayed behind to work out his own flight details, missing that flight. I chalked it up to just an unimportant meeting, until 2 days later, in Savannah, I ran into him on the street one night, just walking around. Again we chatted for a bit, and the chemistry between us was obvious, electric, cruel. He invited my friend and I to join him and his friend for a drink, but thinking of his wife, I declined and moved on. Annoyed with the universe…again, too late.
Exhibit D: More recently, there have been a myriad of friendships with men that have appeared in my life. All wonderful men. All men with whom there is chemistry, and friendship and…nothing more. Because each of these men, as it turns out, has already found a wife, a girlfriend, a partner. As a friend, I am happy to realize they are not for me. In fact, some of these wives, girlfriends, etc. are friends of mine as well, and as a true friend, I am glad, because I wish nothing less for my friends than what I would expect for myself. Therefore, if I feel these men contain some of the qualities I would want for myself, I can’t help but be thrilled my friends have found them. And the truth is, these guys really aren't "the one" for me, not at all...Still…I can’t help but think…if only…too late…
There are more such examples…so many, in fact, that I almost laugh now at the ridiculousness of the joke. Because it has to be a joke. Why the Universe would choose to place these men in my life, sometimes in the most unbelievable of circumstances, only to then just as quickly yank them out…can only be a cruel joke.
And again this weekend, it happened.
Attending a church event, I saw a man. A man I’d seen before, in a completely unrelated environment, with nothing but “faith” to connect the two events. No friends in common, no towns in common, really, nothing to connect the two events, but God.
I will not lie that for a moment (or several moments) I allowed my mind to get carried away, thinking “I wasn’t even sure I’d be attending this event today, and yet, here I am, and here he is…what are the odds? Could this be one of those ‘signs’ I’m learning to notice more of?”
The excitement of promise bubbled in me. Until, suddenly, I noticed his wedding band.
Go on, laugh with me…because really…what else is there to do?
Monday, December 06, 2010
Popinjay - Imperfect
I thought about this one a while.
Obviously, when I hear the word “imperfect” my first thought is: Myself.
Because I am not perfect. By no means am I perfect.
I am flawed. I am broken. I am a work in progress.
My life is not perfect.
It is chaotic. It is rushed. It is sometimes painful.
My house is not perfect.
It is messy. It is disorganized. It is too often too quiet and empty…lonely.
My friends are not perfect.
They are hurting. They are struggling. They are sometimes distant.
My family is not perfect.
We are loud. We are crazy. We are learning as we go.
My world is not perfect.
But it is my world. My family. My friends. My house. My life.
I am hyper critical of myself, not so much of the rest of the world around me (family, friends, house and world escape the critique).
I am never truly satisfied with what I see when I look in the mirror. With my attempts (and failures) at healthy eating, regular exercise, temper control, humility.
My imperfections stare out at me with unblinking fierceness, like a spotlight on a stage.
And yet…
My faith is a strong faith, and my God created me, and this life I live. If He formed me, in His image, then how can I possibly be any less than perfect?
My “imperfections” are what make me me; unique, one of a kind, and most of all, His.
No, I am not perfect, but I am Imperfectly Exactly Who I was Created to be.
And I’m perfectly happy with that.
(self-portraits are a big part of "letting go" for me...this one is a little older....Drama (the kitty) is quite a bit bigger now).
“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect, it means you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections”. - Unkown