Belated Refelections

My family and friends have never been known to celebrate holidays and special events (with the exception of Christmas and New Year's - those two are more or less concrete dates) on the actual date of the event.  In the past, have been known to celebrate my birthday (June 8th) as early as May or even as late as February.  Thus it only seems appropriate that my reflections on Thanksgiving should come at a time when most people are still recovering from Valentine's Day exhilaration or disappointment.

Even in college, it was always a significant challenge to make it home for the long holiday weekend (my school books alone would surpass the permissible 50 lbs. in a checked bag, which begged the question of how to survive without a change of clothes for several days).  Now that homework is no longer the center of the universe, my parents are able to come to visit for some quality time.  As wonderful as it is to spend time together, it is also fun because it forces me to be a tourist in my own city. 

Before living in New York City, was always baffled by how people living in the nearby area never seemed to have visited any of the famous sights.  Even more shocking was their shrugs of indifference and half-hearted explanation that "all those things will always be there".  The reason for this lack of enthusiasm, as has progressively become apparent, is because the sights are taken for granted through the ease of access.  It is a mindless activity to hop on a downtown subway, or even walk, to the Empire State Building, or take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, so much to the extent that it almost unappealing in its lack of a challenge.

Fortunately, with my parent's visit this past Thanksgiving was able to cross a couple of items off of my bucket list, including visiting Ground Zero and seeing the balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade inflated the night before (the inflation site is on the same block of the Natural Museum of History - a ten minute walk from my apartment). 

Line to get into the Macy's balloon inflation...it kept stretching down for blocks!

A parent's nightmare

M&M Factory

What do I do Now?

One of the greatest adjustments post-college was re-discovering the art of hobbies.  Four years of being a varsity athlete at Princeton meant that life consisted almost exclusively of studying, classes, practices, eating, and occasionally sleeping.  After graduating, discovered something that had only been previously coveted, but never actually attained: free time. 

Consequently, the idea of an office is still a novelty, for me at least, in that when you leave (generally speaking), you leave all work behind as opposed to merely transporting work between the library, when it closes at 11:30 p.m., and your dorm room.  Thus having the seemingly never-ending vicious cycle of constant work finally concluded, found myself unsure of what to do.  There were so many things that I wanted to do, that it was almost overwhelming.  Not since high school had I had any outside interests, and so carefully approached the subject like a five year old trying to gauge the deepness of the pool's deep end, first by daintily dipping in my big toe and then finally saying "screw it" and plunging in head first, praying that my floaties would bring me back to the surface.

Groupon and LivingSocial proved to have great discounts for fun events, but things can add up very quickly even with the discounts.  Reading is always an enjoyable activity, but sometimes I need to actually do something.  Inspired by a blog, trekked down Columbus Avenue to the Paper Source where I purchase some simple supplies in order to hone my artistic skills by creating my own personal stationery.  The end result was pleasantly surprising.  Point of the story is that in order to evade boredom you sometimes have to take risks, and other times it's okay to think small.  The only thing I can guarantee is that sitting around doing nothing is going to get you absolutely nowhere.

Simple stamps make a pretty compliment to good stationery paper for a personal touch.

Lining the inside of envelopes with wrapping paper adds an unexpected element of surprise.

It's the Little Things In Life...

For the first time in my 23 years of living, have actually craved warm weather (summer to be exact).  Of course I could sit down and psychoanalyze myself through an over analysis breaking down every aspect my life in order to determine the exact cause of my bewildering new mental attitude (although I strongly suspect that the sub-30 degrees weather combined with an internal office and lack of sunshine are all strong contributors), life is too short to get caught up in the mundane everyday trivialities.  Consequently am sharing a couple of things that I do for myself that makes me (and arguably every other girl on the planet) happy: flowers, exploring local eateries in my neighborhood, justifying a mani-pedi and a much needed "spa day", and when those just don't cut it: whiskey - mainly for those occasional days where it seems like the world is conspiring against you (not pictured).

Hydrangeas from a local florist.  Hint: you have to almost twist/rip the stems when trimming in order to prolong the life span of the flowers.

Either dangerously or conveniently located a block away from my apartment...I seriously contemplated going back for a whole pie!

Is there an insurance that covers stupidity?

Humans never cease to amaze me, more specifically the dumb decisions they constantly make.  These Darwinian errors never seem so apparent as when riding the subway.  I mean I fail to understand why people have to tote their dogs around as an accessory.  What is so ghastly wrong with letting a dog run around and use it's legs?  As far as the advertisement for dog plastic surgery goes...I honestly don't even know where to begin, but sincerely hoped that at some point Ashton Kutcher would pop out and tell me that I had been punked.  What's even worse is that one of the big newspapers recently ran an article on a woman who does everyday chores completely naked - including riding the subway (and that is the last time I will ever sit down in one of the seats).  I truly hope that all I can say is only in New York City...

I think that's a dog...

No, really?!

and then there is no doubt...

 

State of Mind

"Happiness is not a state to arrive at but a manner of traveling."

Despite the fact that I did, in fact, spy this on the front of a Hallmark card, it deeply resonated within me.  It resonated with me so deeply that I actually had to purchase the card so that I could look at it on a regular basis as a positive reminder that life is not about the destination but the journey, and attitude is the compass guiding every step. 

The problem is that life seems to be one constant "to-do" list.  Paradoxically, instead of feeling accomplished every time the tip of a freshly sharpened pencil swishes across the blue-lined page, am overwhelmed by anxiety and stress since the to-do list quadrupled in the amount of time it took to finish that one simple task.

Having taken this past weekend to step back and reflect, the answer is prioritization.  Now to everyone this is a embarrassingly obvious life observation.  What is different, however, is making happiness a priority.  Every day I am constantly focused on what needs to get done, that the things like pleasure reading and learning to speak Spanish are perpetually pushed further and further down the list leaving me miserably surrounded with grown up stuff.  That's not to say that taxes, grocery shopping, and laundry should be forgotten.  There's nothing, however, to stop you from taking 20 minutes to leaf through a trashy magazine or read a chapter from that mystery novel.

When every minute of every day is planned, make sure to schedule time for happiness.

Volunteering with a couple of other paralegals at New York Cares Day

Our finished painting to be hung in the public school cafeteria to help promote healthy eating habits - painting proved to be a pleasantly unexpected calming therapy!

"An analysis of volumes of previous research on the subject shows a strong consensus that volunteering contributes to happiness by decreasing boredom and creating an increased sense of purpose in life.  Volunteers, on average, are twice as likely to feel happy with themselves as nonvolunteers." (Crist-Houran 1996) ~ 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People: What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It (David Niven,  Ph.D"

Mondays (Mornings) Suck

After two short holiday weeks, it's finally time to get started again with a full work week replete with grumpy NYC commuters, significant vitamin D deficiency, and long work hours.  So to help turn my mood around, I've included a couple of snapshots of unintentionally funny advertisements.  Hopefully, they will make you chuckle too!

Picture from a grocery store across the street from my apartment.  Sadly, they can't speak English any better than they can spell it.

If the point is to go all natural, then why are they "changing the meat we eat"?  I feel like this is counterintuitive

Talk about technicalities!  I guess Splenda really is not a sugar, but I still don't see how they can get away with that claim of "no sugar added"

Do NOT underestimate the importance of a good coat...

Christmas has come and gone, but the weather has finally decided to get into the holiday spirit a tad too late and a tad too enthusiastically for my taste. Temperatures have dropped to the low 20s, but the killer is the wind off of the Hudson River, which rips through your skin like the razor sharp teeth of a demoniac ice hound.

That is, unless of course, you have a long winter coat. Gone are the days when a North Face fleece was sufficiently warm while jogging between my car and the garage or high school building.

The keys to staying warm are: a hat (as much as I hate to admit it since hat hair is never a flattering feature on me), a coat that is log enough to cover your butt and thighs (preferably a full length extending all the way down to your ankles), gloves (mittens are actually a thousand times warmer, but am adamant in my refusal to give in on the account that they completely eliminate any dexterity), and foot coverage (lots of women wear black uggs to work for a more inconspicuous appearance, but if you insist on wearing cute flats do so at least with some kind of socks or warm leggings).

As a disclaimer, these are all things that my mother had constantly told me while I was growing up...unfortunately, it took a self-diagnosed case of hypothermia and what felt like (but probably wasn't) frostbite in order for the message to click.

New Year's Resolution 2013

Given my horrific job blogging in 2012, where I averaged maybe one blog per month, have resolved to write a short post each day during the week. The big problem is that my mind sporadically wanders and consequentially try to write a novel in a paragraph...as is happening right now. Guess that is what happens when every day is comprised of 1,440 New York minutes.

More importantly, want to share a recently learned, albeit important lifeskill: how to buy refills. Again, most of these insights are stating the obvious, which is exactly why they are so easy to miss. Case in point - for the past 23.5 years, have always bought one refill after running out of a certain product. The 1:1 ratio seemed the most natural and cost-effective management. Recently, however, have learned the the best way to shop is to buy at least two refills at a time for the following reasons: the product may be discontinued, you may never be able to find that product again, or the store may inconveniently be closed at a time when you most need the refill. Granted, it may be more expensive at the cash register, but it is significantly more convenient to not have to run to the store on a weekly or monthly basis. Plus, over time the amounts are the same costs.

Wishing everyone a safe, happy, and prosperous 2013!