Mental Post-Its

Thoughts, Notes, and General Mental Mayhem

Category Archives: Fun


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My Theme for 2013

2013It’s interesting. I’ve been mulling over my 2013 theme for over a month now, but from the moment I started thinking about it, one word instantly came to mind. I wanted to continue thinking about it more to make sure I was certain I wanted to use it, but still, the same word came to mind. It’s kind of been stuck there. So, I guess maybe my word found me and I just had to settle into it.

SIMPLIFY.

That’s what I’ll be working on and toward for 2013. I like using verbs because I feel the implied action gives me momentum. It keeps me moving forward.

Last year, it was PRIORITIZE. This year, I wanted to continue the same thread while also getting a bit of a fresh start. I definitely needed a break from the craziness that was 2012. I feel SIMPLIFY does that. It just so happens that it also goes nicely with our 2013 theme for The Orange Conference, Focus. 😉

This tradition of a theme/word for the year is loosely based on the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. My friend, Daron, came up with the idea, and he as well as several of our friends have continued it. The basic idea is that instead of merely looking back at the year to see what happened at the end, you start the year by looking ahead to see what you think the year might be about. Then you use the theme as a lens in which to view things throughout the year. At it’s basis, it’s a way to be proactive/responsive to the year, and not let the year just happen to you. It’s an intentional way to live rather than reactive—which is how I prefer to live.

I’ve decided I that I also want to live more simply, which was an underlying inspiration for my theme. Some days, this seems incredible difficult. “Stuff” just seems to find it’s way home with me. A new kitchen appliance. A piece of furniture. Picture frames. Gadgets. Books. Clothes. The list goes on and on. I somehow keep adding to my Amazon Wish List. But in the end, I usually end up with some form of buyer’s remorse. Not only are 99% of these things not needed, but many days I just get sick of having too much. I hate looking around at all my junk. I realize more and more the excess and accumulation of the society to which I belong. Realistically, if you came by, you probably wouldn’t say that if you saw my apartment. I don’t have piles of things around. I don’t like clutter. I periodically give items to Goodwill and clean out my closet. But much of what I have, I just don’t need. And as my heart becomes more attuned to global issues, I think I begin to understand that I can do so much more if I have less. Those are things would never cause me remorse.

I feel like SIMPLIFY will be a sort of cleansing for me—on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels. I’ve already started incorporating it into many areas of my life, down to small things like unsubscribing from some email lists. There are numerous ways to SIMPLIFY and I hope to tackle many of them over the next 12 months.

Here are just a few of the ones that have already crossed my mind, with more to come, I’m sure:

  • Getting rid of more stuff. A couple of items include my coffee table and dining room table, because really, I don’t use either for anything other than setting decorations on.
  • As noted, unsubscribing from email lists.
  • Paying down more debt. I started off pretty good last year, but medical expenses and a couple other extraneous items did more damage.
  • Going through my budget, yet again, to see what I can cut back on.

I’ve even done a couple of things that may seem counter-intuitive to SIMPLIFY. I printed a reading list to read through the Bible chronologically, since I’ve never read it that way, and started using the service eMeals.com. These two things were done more as a way to automate habits that I was already in or wanted to be better at, without really taxing me mentally. I’m not one that loves and craves routines, but I think incorporating these two processes into my life will be really good. They will allow me to refine past routines, which I think fits nicely with SIMPLIFY.

My song and verse for 2013 came to me during the church service last week. I love it when that happens because it feels natural and promised. The song I’m using is “Be My Everything” because of it’s repetitive nature and message. It is what SIMPLIFY sounds like to me based on those two words. My verse, on the other hand, doesn’t necessarily go with the theme. Frankly, I just really liked it and kept repeating it in my mind:

Matthew 16:18, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” ESV

Quite honestly, I think I just sat at home sick so much in 2012 that the action in this verse makes me want to get up and get out there. I’m ready for a little hell-gate prevailing.

So, that’s it. There you have it. That’s what I’m looking forward to in 2013. Realistically, I know curve balls will come and life will happen, and I’ll just be along for the ride most of the time.

But I’m hoping I can keep SIMPLIFY in mind along the way.

I’m hoping this theme will give me the ability to channel my thoughts and actions.

And I’m hoping I can come to you in 11 months or so saying that I have have less, and have lived and given more.

 

Okay, and if I get to do a little hell-gate prevailing in the meantime, so be it. 😉

 


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Happy Holidays!

Here’s just a simple little holiday greeting from me to you. It recaps some of my year’s highlights. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Enjoy!

And here’s to hoping 2013 is even better!

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2012 Reading List

booksI’m sure I’ve mentioned more than once that I do not enjoy to read. However, I feel like it’s important and I do like to keep learning, so here we are. If only they’d make more movies about books! 😉

Here are the books I read and listened to over this past year. I mostly listen now since I have a long commute, and can get through books easier (faster) that way. It’s hard for me to sit and read at home; there are just too many good movies and TV shows, which I’d always prefer. But here you have it—my list for 2012. I was hoping it’d be a little longer, but I was home sick a lot this year and therefore didn’t listen to all the books I wanted to. So I’ll have some catching up to do next year.

Let me know if you have any questions about any of these books! I’m happy to tell you more about them.

And what should I put on my list for 2013?

 

(Note: Amazon links are affiliate links.)


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D.I.Y.ed Beauty

I’m not what you’d call crafty. I mean arts and crafts, ribbon drawer, scrapbooking, just-whipped-it-up-with-a-button-gluestick-and-tulle kind of crafty. If you’re talking mischief, scheming, shenanigans, or pulling capers kind of crafty, I’ve got it all day long. But recently I got a little inspired after creating a banner of sorts for a friend’s wedding shower (big congrats, Jess!). So, while I was perusing Pinterest the other night, and that’s all I do usually is peruse, I came across a blog with all kinds of DIY beauty treatments. I sorely wish I could get a facial/mani/pedi on a regular basis, but it’s just not in the budget, so I decided to give this chick’s suggestions a whirl. Mostly, because I already had a lot of the stuff at home, which is one of the perks of DIY beauty treatments, cleaners, etc.

The site is Petit Elefant and it’s got all kinds of info on beauty and many other subjects. It would take months to try everything out! Well, first of all, I just wanted to try the “How To Pore Strips” because I had a couple of breakouts I was very unhappy with, and the process sounded really intriguing. I would say overall it was successful. It was also successful at ripping off the top layer of my skin, though. Here are a few tricks from me to you on this one. First of all, spot treat. Don’t get out of control and put it everywhere on your face unless you are really careful to avoid your eyebrows and hairline. (Yep, I did that all wrong and have thinner eyebrows and a receding hairline to prove it.) Second, do this right before you shower and instead of peeling it off as she suggests, wipe it off in the shower as the warm water will help dissolve it. Otherwise, I’ve never had my legs waxed, but that’s what I imagine it to feel like. I would definitely try again though, now that I’m wiser.

It was an interesting experiment, and I was on a roll (of one, but it felt good) so I kept going. Next I tried the “How to Make Lip Scrub at Home” and “A Little Suga for the Tootsies.” The lip scrub was delicious! I realize that’s not the point, but it’s a bonus. The foot scrub also made my hands and elbows feel nice, so also good there. I felt like I stepped out of the shower a new person!

I realize I’ve only tried each of these once, but I would do them all again to get better results. But I do feel like all of them were successful, at least a little. And I felt better about the way my skin looked after, which is half the battle of beauty anyway.

So give it a try or one of the others, and let me know what works for you. Or send me your own beauty tips. I’m up for new ideas! I gotta ride this crafty wave as long as I can – which will probably be just a few more days, so hurry!


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“Seized the Day” in NYC

My best friend from college, Heather, and I haven’t taken a trip together in years, so this past week we went to NYC to see Newsies and have some girl time. Below is a little about what we did and a few photos. It’s so hard to summarize a great trip, so just trust me–fun was had!

THURSDAY:
–Arrival at Newark: I recommend flying in here for the ease of using all trains to get to the City
–Anything Goes (with Joel Gray!): Plans changed for this evening because Heather’s plane was cancelled. Unfortunately, par for the course since she always seems to have some sort of travel disaster. So I killed time at the theatre! Anything Goes is old school Broadway, so it was fun getting to see a classic.
FRIDAY:
–Chelsea Market for lunch: too many great shops and restaurants to describe! I even saw the market where Rachel Ray shops.
–The High Line Park: Our friend, April, who lives there took us to this really cool park/greenspace which has been converted from an old elevated railroad track.
–Shopping and Walking: The weather was beautiful so we continued outside with a couple of stores, mostly window shopping and enjoying being in NYC.
–Coffee Bean Pitstop: My favorite West Coast coffee chain now has three NYC locations, so I dragged Heather there a couple of times.
–Dinner at Bocca di Bacco: Delicious Italian cuisine and great decor. Too bad we weren’t super hungry!
–Peter and the Starcatchers: Brilliant, inventive staging! Really fun show.
SATURDAY:
–Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market: Found a couple of great jewelry buys and had a blast just looking at everything.
–Hester Street Fair: Lunch was hard to choose amongst all the great vendors, but we settled on a Mexican grilled cheese sandwich with cabbage slaw from Little Muenster. Yum!
–Walk Brooklyn Bridge: Heather’s never taken this walk, so we made it over there. Beautiful day for it!
–Dinner at Pier 9: Delicious seafood! We had more of an appetite this night, and I was sooooo glad.
–Newsies: The culmination of the trip, and so worth the wait! It was awesome, and we were giddy as schoolgirls!
SUNDAY:
–Left for Newark: All good things eventually end.