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!