52 Weeks of Gratitude - Week 6 - The City You Live In

I don't know how to answer this because I currently don't know where I live. Short version - I came to Chicago to work in October and stayed through the holidays. Three months with my family and closest friends is making it very hard to pack and head back to LA right now. 

Chicago is a great city, in case you've never been. LA is trickier, but it's my home now, too. How am I supposed to choose when huge, equally important parts of my life live in both places? I know that's not really an answer and an overly complicated answer all in one, but there it is.  At least I’m grateful that I have two places to love?

Morning Reading

I find a ton of inspo in Danielle LaPorte's work. She's a modern day sage for sure. Here is a link to her most recent (I think?) post, a series of questions for you to look back on 2016: http://www.daniellelaporte.com/your-deeper-year-in-review/#

I think it's so important to take stock of the current year before the next begins, even if it's a year like this one that did nothing but royally suck the entire way through. (I seriously cannot remember a year that was worse except the one when my ex and I split up.) Well, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it was just such a trying, exhausting, complicated 365 days that I'm so ready to say goodbye to them and never look back. (Does anyone else feel older? I'm so exhausted that I can barely form a complete thought much less type actual sentences.) Next year has to better.

No matter how this year treated you, I hope that 2017 brings only great things your way. 

Happy Holidays!!!

photo: harperfinchdesigns.tumblr.com

Who Knows How Far She'll Go? - My Thoughts On Moana

Can we just take a moment to discuss Pua’s absolute adorableness? I want to squeeze him. (I also might have ordered a plush one for the pups because I want that cute lil’ face hanging around the house.)

I’ve watched the movie twice now and still break down into tears when I think about it. The music! The Rock! And, most of all, the story. I love that my nieces and friends’ daughters are going to grow up with this exceptional heroine. Moana is an incredible role model for them.

This post is most certainly not a rant about the other Disney princesses. (They're great!) I just believe that Moana has the potential to speak to kids in a different way. Children absorb and internalize stories differently when they’re young, and hopefully when my littles go out into the world, full of fire and ambition, they’ll have no doubt that they can achieve all their dreams because Moana did just that. (Obviously, movies are only a small part of a child’s development, but I’m still glad such an inspiring story is out there for them.) She’s brave and adventurous while still remaining loyal to her family, her friends, and – most of all - herself. We should all be so lucky to have her moral compass.

If you haven’t seen it already, I hope you get the chance soon. It’s definitely worth it. (But be sure to bring Kleenex!)

52 Weeks of Gratitude - Week 5 - Something Someone Gave You

One of the best birthday gifts I ever received was a mixtape. (Yep, I'm super old.) It was my birthday and the boy I was "not dating" asked what I wanted. He was super into music, so I asked him for a tape of his fave songs because I thought it would be a good way to get to know him better. (I'm not sure why he didn't burn them to a CD  - maybe the car I was driving only had a cassette player? I don't think that's true, but really can't remember. Still... crap I feel old :) )

The tape was absolute perfection. He was a very thoughtful guy, spending many an hour deciding if songs "went" together or not, ensuring that the overall combination played well. However, what made it even more special was that he typed out the lyrics to each track, and then wrote a small paragraph describing his reasons for choosing it. SERIOUSLY. It's like a novel and yes, I kept it. (Did I mention that each song has its own unique font that he felt fit the tone of the music?)

We didn't last (now he's practically married to one of my best friends), but it's still the most romantic gift I've ever received. There's something so special and intimate about it. It's one of the rare moments where someone gave freely of themselves to me, and it changed who I was as a person.

52 Weeks of Gratitude - Week 4 - A Family Member

holiday prep + dog having surgery = a week behind in this challenge

Anyway... Is this prompt a bit of a throwaway, piggybacking off of last week's, or is it just me? 

As I said last post, I have a great family. We experienced some big losses when we were young and those moments shaped who we grew up to be. Thankfully, it's pretty drama-free humans who just like to hang out together.

All that being said, my cousin, M, was the first person I thought of when I saw the prompt. She's the most maternal, kindest, soul. And a great baker ;) She's always there for everyone and is the glue of our family. 

Morning Reading

So interesting! I wonder if in five years AI will be more common in homes. (I think about ordering that Echo all the time!) My mother works in assistive technology and I can't help but think about how many of her clients are going to be helped by innovations like this. It's miraculous.

https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10102577175875681

Bookshelf

Here are the books that I've finished lately. All were a little outside of what 'd normally choose, but I liked them all very much. They'd make good gifts for any readers in your life, if for no other reason than they're different. 

If you've read any of them, let me know!

Some great offers from Book of the Month:
 Free one month trial to Book of the Month with gift subscription purchase

30% off 3 months at Book of the Month + free tote

$5 for 1-month memberships

52 Weeks of Gratitude - Week 3 - Family

I preface this post with the fact that I love my family. We have a difficult relationship, but I wouldn’t know what to do without them. They’re great people and have helped make me the person that I am.

           

For the first time in five years, I’m home for the holidays. I’m so grateful that I could take the time to be here. I feel like I’m getting to know everyone all over again (or for the first time when it comes to some nieces and nephews). I mean, we talk on the phone almost everyday and FaceTime when we can, but it’s no substitute for actually being together. No matter how you try, not being in the same room for many years takes a toll on relationships. It’s bringing up a lot of questions for me – What is really important? What does it mean to be successful in my life? How do I even define “success”? (I know - way to be all grateful and zen and full of holiday cheer…)

I have no fucking clue what I’m doing and all I keep thinking is that I am too old to be feeling this way. But even though everything seems TBD at the moment I’m happy to be where I am right now. 

'Tis The Season - My Top 5 Holiday Movie Faves

Confession - I've had the Hallmark Channel on 24/7 for a week now. I'm completely addicted.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE cheesy holiday movies. There are obviously too many good ones to choose from, but I made a list of some of my favorites (in no particular order).  Happy watching!

1. Home Alone - So great for a million reasons, but I really love it for the music. Best soundtrack ever.

2. White Christmas - I decorate to this every year. My absolute favorite Christmas movie of all time.

  

3. 12 Dates of Christmas - So light and cute, and even though you know where it's going it also makes me wonder what the best version of myself is, instead of doing what's just "good" enough.

4. A Season For Miracles - Just the freaking cutest. It's been on Hallmark a bunch lately. It's full of Christmas Spirit and has little Mae Whitman in it.

5. The Polar Express - I was slow to like this one, but it's really so beautiful - both visually and emotionally.

What are your faves?

52 Weeks of Gratitude - Week 2 - Spouse/Significant Other

This one is gonna be a quick one, guys 😉

My ex and I have been apart for 10 months. I left for a lot of reasons, but mostly it was because I was disgusted with the person I was becoming. I could barely look at myself in the mirror. When I was with him, I felt weak and bitchy and just generally wanted to puke. I kept thinking that I already learned those relationship-y lessons in my 20s, and I knew better now. If I continued to repeat patterns that didn't serve me any longer, they weren't mistakes. They were just my life. I walked around with that idea every day until I couldn't take it anymore. He thought everything was fine, so...

I'm much happier without him, but it's a quiet happy. I feel like a different person most days. I haven't dated much this year, and sort of don't want to. I'm not ready to have someone else in my space yet. I want to do what I want all of the time, and it's way easier to do that single. I'm not quite sure that's the most healthy or balanced approach to life, but it's working for me. And for that, I'm very grateful.

                                   

Could this be more gorgeous?

via House of Turquoise

52 Weeks Of Gratitude - Week 1- Why Start This Challenge?

I assume people start this type of challenge on January 1st, another New Year's resolution to add to the pile... However, I've been struggling with gratitude a ton lately, and with Thanksgiving right around the corner it seemed fitting to start now.

Still, that rambling intro doesn't really answer the "why" part of the prompt. The short version is 2016 sucked. SO. VERY. VERY. VERY. MUCH. No joke, the entire year was just blow after blow of utter awfulness. Job suckiness, relationship suckiness, family suckiness. Truly terrible shit happened. 

I know, I know - that's life. I get that. But the thing is, I don't want to wake up miserable every day. The way I see it, I have two choices - stay in pajamas with my animals, coffee/wine, and my Netflix queue or actually try to figure out what's not working in my life and cut that shit out. I truly believe that we get more of of what we give attention to, so the plan is to be more mindful of my blessings and see what happens. At the very least, things can't get worse.

So... GRATEFUL! FOR A WHOLE YEAR! (I'm not really that excited, just a sarcastic mocker with good intentions.)