Wanting Vs. Doing

I've always been a pretty driven person. I'm ambitious and hard working... If I know I want something to happen I'm usually determined to make it happen. I was always at the top of my class, I had a full time "career" job immediately out of college, I've traveled, have a great boyfriend, and buy myself nice things. Life was good. Except that I felt like I was drowning, and suffocating, and on an excessively fast moving treadmill all at the exact same time. And then I crashed. Left my job. Applied to graduate school. Re-learned how to breathe. And that's been great. Truly. Amazing.
I'm more well rested than I've been since elementary school. I'm happy, and relaxed, and well... just filling up list after list with wants. I am manifesting a whole future for myself, down to the nitty gritty details. And ya know, that's kind of fun.
Although now I'm stuck in this unproductive dilemma where I am wanting these things, and waiting for these things to happen to me, but not really doing anything to make them happen. And that feels really foreign. And flawed.
I know better than to sit around merely wanting and not doing. And yes, I needed some time to recover, to get my stregnth back, and reevaluate. But I think it's about time to get into action.
Here are the things I want:

• A new job. It doesn't have to be a fantasticly amazing job, with a super competitive company, where I can bust my balls to move up the ladder at an exceptionally speedy rate. I would like a job that brings me some sort of happiness, work with nice people, breathe, and make some money.
• To move in with the bf. This doesn't have to happen right now, but as some point in the not too distant future I would really like for us to get a place together. Yes I may have done everything wrong in the pursuit of this goal. There is a minor problem that we haven't fully, rationally discussed this while sober. And yes, I may have tried to bring this up last friday night while we were severely intoxicated. And when he said lets talk about this tomorrow when we are sober I may have said "noooo I want to talk about this nowwwww" (in a whiny drunk voice), and then I may have been so embarassed with my actions the that when he tried to bring it up the next morning I hid my head under the pillow and said "pleaseeee stop." So yea, I've been goin about that one all wrong. Its just awkward, and yes I'm aware that shows my immaturity, but I still want it. (eek!)
• Get into grad school. This is out of my hands at this point, so I just have to pray for the best.

(On that note, I guess I just have to pray for the best on all of these things... That whatever supposed to happen will happen...but in the mean time, it doesn't hurt to actually apply for real jobs, as opposed to just wishing for them to fall into my lap.)

One More Thing.. Chi-Town

Ok, I'm going to the gym for real now. I have my gym clothes on and everything... Swear.
But I just found out some really exciting news.
I'm going to Chicago in a couple weeks! I've never been. Granted I know it will be really cold, I've heard its a really great city, and I've always wanted to go.. and I'm just super excited!
The BF mentioned a few days ago that he might be going on a business trip to Chicago in March. And then he asked if I would like to come along (ya know, since I'm unemployed and basically live in a fantasy world where I pretend I'm a housewife.) Well DUH. I LOVE to travel, especially to places I've never been... especially with the BF (who has never been to Chicago either) and I love to travel even more when I don't have to pay for a place to stay (BF's company is paying for a room at the Hilton. nice).
So now I ask you...
What should I do in Chicago?? Do any of you live in Chicago? The BF will be in a conference from 9 to 5 every day, and so it will just be me wandering around the big city...
Any advice, recommendations, etc would be much appreciated...
In general I'm a huge fan of food, wine, shopping, and art museums.

What Haves & Have Nots...

Just found this on Musings From Wonderland and it looked like a self-indulgently procrastinating good time... And hey it's Friday after all.
10 WHAT'S:

1 What was the first thing you thought about when you woke up?
Phone was ringing.... It was the BF on his way to work, I cleared my throat to pretend that I was already awake.

2 What did you do last night?
Caught up on the tivo, did 3 loads of laundry (to prepare for the weekend), ate ice cream. Big night.

3 What is the most important part of your life?
God I wish I knew. I'm in a really strange inbetween space right now... I'm waiting to here if I got into graduate school (pleaseee!), I quit my job (but really need to find something new), I don't really know what I want to do with myself... but I'm really trying to enjoy the process, use this time to figure things out, and just appreciate the fact that I am truly happy. Even though half the time I get these ridiculous pangs of "oh my goodness I really want to move in with the boyfriend" (and one other thing)...

4 What would you rather be doing right now?
I should be at the gym right now. In a perfect world it would be sunny and 80 degrees out, the BF would be done with work for the day, and we would be hanging out at the beach, sharing a pitcher of Blue Moon (with lots of orange slices). Oh how I miss summer.

5 What did you last cry over?
Hmm. I really can't remember. I think it was a couple weeks ago... probably some stupid little fight.

6 What always makes you feel better when you're upset?
Making a plan. Planning a trip. Getting dressed up, going out for cocktails. Oh and hugs are always nice.

7 What's the most important thing you look for in a significant other?
That we "get" each other. He understands me (most of the time), and I understand him... he brings out the best in me. I once dated a guy who really brought out all of insecurities, and made me needy and just gross, I realized that I didn't like who I was around him. That was a red flag. Then he dumped me, which in retrospect was the best thing he could do for me. That relationship taught me a lot about the dynamics of relationships.

8 What are you worried about?
Getting into grad school. Finding a way to make money. Finding a career. Building a life. Sort of everything right now.

9 What are you looking forward to most in this week?
This weekend! Spending time with BF... We are spending the day in Malibu tomorrow, and going out to dinner at a restaurant that overlooks the ocean (that has oysers! I love oysters.)

10 What are you thinking about right now?
I swear when I finish this I'm going to go to the gym. I really want to shower, and I wont let myself shower until I finished working out.

NINE HAVE YOU’S:

1 Have you ever won anything?
Ehh not really. I consider myself blessed but not necessarily lucky. I have a really good life, and things always seem to work out for me, but I never win raffles or anything like that. I'd choose a blessed life over random luck any day though.

2 Have you ever had a broken heart?
Yes. And I learned more than I could ever imagine. As horrible feeling as it was, its amazing to know that time really does heal all wounds. It still blows my mind. And it has led me to having healthier and happier relationships.

3 Have you ever been out of the country?
Yep, I've been to Europe, Canada, & Asia. (I've never been to Mexico which is sort of funny since I've lived in Southern California my whole life.)

4 Have you ever done something outrageously dumb?
Easy answer. Yes. I reguarly suffer from "blonde moments" or just simple lapses in judgement. Here is just one example (don't judge me). I once dropped a phone in the toilet, realized I needed to dry it out/ sterilize it... and for some rediculously stupid reason that is still unbeknownst to me, I stuck it in the microwave. It blew up. DUH. At the very moment I could not believe how stupid I was... That was a while ago, but sadly not that long ago. I'm usually not that idiotic.

5 Have you ever been back stabbed by a friend?
Yes.

6 Have you ever had the cops called on you?
No.

7 Have you ever dated someone younger than you?
I've had four serious relationships in my life. Three of them were younger. Which is bizarre because I've always been mature for my age. The BF is my first serious boyfriend who has been older than me. and I love it.
8 Have you ever read an entire book in one day?
YES, I love that feeling.

9 Have you ever sang to someone personally?
Yes, but only after drinking too much. I have a terrible singing voice.

SEVEN WHEN’S:

1 When was your last shower?
Yesterday.

2 When did you last see your mom?
Yesterday.

3 When was your last time you saw your dad?
Last May. Wow, I just realized that was 9 months ago. This is the longest I've gone without seeing my Dad in my entire life. Weird.

4 When did you last dress up?
Last weekend for Valentines Day/ BF's birthday.

5 When was the last time you cried?
I can't remember...

6 When did you last go to the movies and with who?
He's Just Not That Into You. Last Sunday with the BF & our friend Jay.

7 When did you last listen to music?
Yesterday.

SIX WHERE’S:

1 Where does your best friend live?
I have a few best friends. One lives in Orange County, one lives in Connecticut, one in Boston. I have some really good friends who live around here, but my oldest and best live away... it's sort of sad. The BF is probably my real best friend these days.

2 Where did you last go?
Century City Mall, yesterday.

3 Where did you last hang out?
Umm, besides at my place? At the BF's on wednesday night when we cooked dinner and watched Top Chef & Lost.

4 Where do you go to school?
Claremont Colleges

5 Where is your favorite place to be?
On vacation with people I love. There is something so relaxing about being removed from your normal life.

6 Where did you sleep last night?
In my bed?


FIVE DO'S/DOES:


1 Do you like someone right now?
Yes

2 Do they like you too?
Yes

3 Do you ever wish you were someone else?
Hm.. once in a while, I guess?

4 Do you know the muffin man?
Umm.. Can I be the muffin girl?

5 Does the future scare you?
More than anything it excites me. I have so many things to look forward to...


**FOUR WHY’S:


1 Why are you best friends with your best friends?
We've shared so much together.

2 Why did you start your blog?
Partially as an outlet, it's really nice to have a place to just indulge yourself and share whatever you want.. and partly because I just loved reading other peoples blogs, and I didn't want to be a creeper.

3 Why did your parents give you the name you have?
My Mom always thought the name was "beautiful." She loved the name so much that she named all her rabbits or guinea pigs (she can't remember which) Laura when she was young. So I guess I'm named after rodents. Awesome.

4 Why are you doing this survey?
Procrastination...

**THREE IF’S:


1 If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
To instantly transport myself places. I would never have to sit in traffic, never be late, and could travel anywhere I wanted. I would also be able to instantly remove myself from awkward sittuations.

2 If you could go back in time and change one thing, would you?
hmm.. I don't think so. Oh wait yes. I would have gone abroad in college. That's my one single regret.

3 If you were stranded on a deserted island and could bring one thing what would it be?
My BF, and my computer.

**TWO WOULD-YOU-EVER’S:


1 Would you ever get back together with any of your ex’s if they asked you?
No way.


2 Would you ever shave your head to save someone you love?
Definitely.


**ONE WISH:


1 What would it be?
My real long term wish is a secret. but for now, I wish to go on amazing trip with the BF this summer (either to Costa Rica or to Europe).

Ok, now I tag whoever wants to complete this fun meme. These are seriously good questions, got me thinking.. I'd love to read everyone elses answers (because I'm nosy like that).
And have a fantastic weekend Lovelies!!!

Art Tour

Since today is a 20something bloggers video day, with the theme of "something that I love," I am going to royally fail on two accounts. First, I haven't the slightest clue how to video blog. Sadly my computer is far smarter than I am, and while I do have a built in little camera, and have mastered video chatting & photobooth-ing, i have no idea how to make an actual video of myself. (Perhaps this is for the best?)
Secondly, I am totally stealing the idea for this post from one of my favorite bloggers; EP over at Stylish Handwriting gave a video blog about the art in her house (which is obviously way cooler because she's a professional & all) so here is my lame attempt to show you something I love, a photo tour of some of my favorite pieces of art in mi casa (not only am I run on sentence queen, I am apparenly now bi-lingual.)
This is one of my favorite paintings. It was done by my Mother (who happens to be an artist), and I love it.
Another one done by my Mom (purple is my favorite color).
A hand made sign I found at a street fair in Seattle. I fell inlove with it, bought it, and then had to figure out how to bring it on the plane home. (It means "I love you" in French.)
This was a horrible job on my part.. It's one of a series of 3 photographs I have of Italy, that have been hand tinted.. It's actually really pretty in person.

My parents brougth this back from Greece. I loved the colors and "adopted" it.
This is actually in my bathroom. It doesn't have any windows, so this is my fake window view.. classy, i know.
I got this from a San Francisco art show/ street fair. It was cheap (maybe $15), but I thought it was adorable, and it reminds me of how much I love San Francisco.

My mom painted this for me from a photograph I took in Nantucket. (I love lighthouses & Nantucket.)
Another Jacquelyn Fox (my mother) creation.. Click on her name if you want to check out her super cute website! (btw we have differnt last names, in case you were wondering.)
This isn't exactly art... but its filled with things I love. Photos of friends, family,cards, & concert tickets... the flowers in the bottom right corner are from V-day.

So there you have it my lovelies... a tour of some of my favorite art (inside my house).

A Great Weekend

The much anticipated Valentines/ BF's birthday weekend certainly did not disappoint. In fact it exceeded my expectations in every fantastically fun way. So much so that I was incapable of doing anything yesterday but recovering (basically I was just ridiculously lazy and didn't leave the house all day.)
Since the BF's birthday is actually on Valentines Day, we decided to celebrate our V-day friday night. We went for an incredible dinner at Darren's, a delicious new restaurant in Manhattan Beach that we had been dying to try. I had scallops with saffron & apple risotto (yum) & the boy had lobster... we split a kobe beef appetizer, and drank a bottle of 1984 cabernet (his birth year!), which was a gift from my parents. This picture is ridiculously awkward. We had already finished dinner and were about to leave but I wanted a picture of us at the table.

After dinner some of his friends met up with us and we all went out to a local bar to have a few more drinks before his actual birthday at midnight..
Saturday was pretty chaotic. The BF's family wanted to spend some time with us (him) on his birthday, so we drove down to his Grandfather's house (about an hour away) for some homemade pizza (I helped his mom make it!), presents, & cake. This of course took twice as long as we had planned, and from there we went back to the BF's house to get ready (in about 3 minutes), and then to our friends house for drinks & cupcakes before karaeoke.
Our fabulous friend Julia made the most hilarious cupcakes (with all of our faces and inside jokes on them) & the cutest gift ever (phimo clay magnets of ourselves, and the word "babe" because we jokingly always call each other "babe" because we think its hilarious, and they always make fun of us...)

She is so thoughtful & creative! Thanks Julia!!!!
We then went on to the Brass Monkey, which was asbolutely packed (on Valentines Day!), and proceeded to embarass ourself with lots of karaoke...

It was a great night. The BF had an absolute blast, and kept thanking me for organizing everything for him (so sweet!)... and although we woke up Sunday morning on a deflated air mattress (apparently there was a hole), in our friend's living room , feeling like death ... We proceeded to drive to China town, stuff ourselves with Dim Sum (chinese dumplings) and then see He's Just Not That Into You. I'm pretty sure I'm the luckiest girl in the entire world because I was able to talk my very hung over boyfriend & his best friend into seeing the biggest chick flick of all time with me. Amazignly we all loved it, and declared it a great hang over cure. (Further proving my theory that guys actually do enjoy chick flicks.)
After all that we went back to his placed and passed out by 9pm to the sound of the rain... it was a GREAT weekend.

The Bag Game

Well the much anticipated weekend is almost here, and our super duper Southern California weather has turned to rain... great.
It's hard enough to find the perfect outfit, but throw weather into the mix and I'm officially stumped. I have no clue what I'm going to wear for our V-day dinner tonight or the BF's birthday party tomorrow? A parka? I'm not accustomed to the whole stay warm & dry mentality.

The lovely Lisa tagged me in "The Bag Game." And being a bag lover, how could I not play?
Here are the rules so you can play too...

1) Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying as of late. No, you cannot go up to your closet and pull out that cute little purse you used back before you had kids. I want to know what you carried today or the last time you left the house. No cheating!

2) I want to know how much it cost:) And this is not to judge. This is for entertainment purposes only. So spill it. And if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I’d love to hear it.

3) Tag some chicks. And link back to this post so people know why the heck you’re showing everyone your bag.

My bag:
The Story: This is my go to, almost every single day, bag... It's Bottega Veneta, and I've had it for a couple of years. I love the woven two shades of brown, and the super soft leather... I also love that the inside lining is turqouise suede. It holds a ton, but is light weight, and not super bulky. It's basically the perfect bag...
(A peak inside... the color is much better/ more torqouise-y in real life.)
And now the contents of my bag spilled out on the floor... (I threw away a couple old reciepts which, I promise you were not very interesting.)
Sorta Clockwise from the top:
Wallet, mini-Luna bar (for when I need a little snack), raspberry mint Orbit gum, make- up (guerlain bronzer compact, bobbi brown concealer, burt's bees chapstick. Smith's Minted Rose lip balm & Lip Fusion gloss in "glow"), hair clips/ hair tie, Purrell hand sanitzer, my keys (with my gym swipe-y card on there), Blackberry aka crackberry (with finger prints on the screen. gross), moleskine notbook, pen, kate spade planner... there you have it!

Now I'm going to tag...
Sarah at Sarahbelledotcom
Erin at Stylish Handwriting
Amber at Amber Alert
Lens Impressions by bFlat


...and Happy Valentines Day everyone!!!

Accomplishing Something

I officially submitted my grad school application today. It feels good to complete something so long in the making.
I started thinking about graduate school a few years ago. I knew as a psychology major, graduate school was probably in the cards for me at some point. Senior year came and I just could not bring myself to apply. I felt so naive about the "real world" that I wanted to just soak up some experiences before jumping into another academic pursuit. Despite everything this past year, the job from hell and an incredibly stressful 8 months, I'm so glad I took this time. I have always been on the type-A track. I graduated from high school at 17, finished college in four years, and forged ahead, full force to adulthood. It never occurred to me to do it any other way. I wanted to get there as quickly as possible. Wherever there is. And the sad (funny? crazy?) thing is, I still feel this way. More than ever. I want to be there already. I am enjoying the process. I am so grateful for everything I have learned this year. The amount I have changed and grown since last May sort of blows my mind. For the first time in my life I feel like an adult (sort of.) And you know what? I kind of love it.
I can't help that I love knowing almost as much as I love the idea of being there. I love knowing that I am back on track, going in the right direction. (The whole maybe I want to work in advertising blip is thankfully over.) I love that soon (next fall) I will be working towards my future. (Fingers crossed that I get accepted.) I love that I have had this time (for the first time in my life) to figure out exactly what I want. The kind of life I want to lead. Who I want to be. I love that I know how I want my future to look. And who I want to be with (swoon). The days of dreaming (maybe one day I'll be super rich) are over, and have been replaced with realistic plans, which I like even better. Some day we'll get married. I'll have a job where I actually help people. That I find ridiculously interesting and rewarding. We'll buy a house. And plan vacations. And have lots of little munchkins. And I love that.
I'm in a good mood today. I feel good about myself. I feel that in my heart of hearts I'm doing the right thing. And that's a refreshing feeling, one that I didn't feel for a while... and last night was lovely. (BF and I had dinner with my parents here to celebrate his birthday. The food was OMG delicious, and we all had a really fun time.) I made a huge pot of french onion soup today, and it's delicious and I reek of onions. and that's kind of gross. And tonight I'm going to watch The Bachelor which I tivo'd and have been dying to see since Monday.. and yeah, life is good. Can't complain.
In the interest of goodness, I've been wanting to start posting some of my favorite things. Just because I love it when other bloggers do it, and I'm a huge copy cat...
So without further adieu...
FIVE (completely random) Things I would rather not live without (first I wrote things I can not live without, but that seemed a little high maintenance, and actually a lie, because i technically could live without them, I just don't want to.)

1. Muji Pens. OMG. I love these pens so much. I first found these in Tokyo when I was there a couple years ago. I bought about a billion (true story). I was extremely happy to discover a few months later that a Muji store was opening up in New York. While I don't live anywhere near NYC, I have friends who live there who now bring me Muji pens because they know how much I love them. (I have also turned a few of my pen loving friends on to these spectacular treasures. Seriously, they are the best. I've tried everythingggg.) My favorite are the push top .5mm in all the beautious colors.

2. Lotion, creams, moisturizers. My skin is so dry. Think Sahara deser (or Palm Springs for us LA folk). I've been using eye cream since I was 18, not because I'm afraid of wrinkles (because I don't think eye cream really helps all that much with wrinkles anyway) but just because the skin around my eyes burns, it gets soooo dry. (tmi?)
These are my favorite loition-y substances for the moment (in order by eyes, face, hands & body):


3. Philips Sonicare Elite Toothbrush. I don' feel clean unless I have brushed with my sonicare. It's the best toothbrush ever. Take it from a girl who really values oral hygiene. (hygiene is a gross word though.) I want to upgrade to the new sonicare that comes with a magical bacteria killing machine soon, because that is awesome...


4. Calendars. Planners. Well, actually I love all list making/ organizational devices. I do not discriminate. I love my moleskine for random thoughts, but I especially love my Kate Spade Planner. It's the perfect size and the inserts are adorable.

5. Ok this next one I actually could not live without. No exaggeration. My MacBook Pro is the love of my life. The Boyfriend is a close second, but this baby has my heart... forever.
p.s. I still have not gone to the gym yet this week. Don't judge me. I'm going tomorrow. I swear.

Procrastination

I really need to finish this grad school application today. I have been "working" on it for the past month. Which means I have gotten 3 letters of recommendations from former professors (a fairly difficult task since I am no longer in school), my official college transcript, and have gone to the information session (& met with a professor)... Other than that... NADA
It's not that its difficult per se, its just that, well, when it comes to writing my personal statement I have no idea what to say... I can talk about myself to no end, and blog till the cows come home, but when its time to sit down and actually write it... zip. completely blank.
I know this is what I want to do. I know that I am prepared for it. I have experience and the perfect educational background for it... and yet.... how do I put that in writing???
I'm just procrastinating now. I need to go grocery shopping and do laundry... and I think that tomorrow I'm starting work at my Step Brother's law firm for the next week or so... So this really needs to get sent out today.
Whats wrong with me??????
Plus I don't know what to wear out to dinner tonight. Or for our Valentines Day dinner on Friday night. Or for the BF's bday party on Saturday. Oh, and I need to send out a facebook invite to all our friends for his party... ok, enough procrastination. It's game time.

Ski Trip

Mammoth ended up being a lot of fun...
We skied (well I skied & every one else snowboarded), we drank margaritas (yum!), played games, accidentally locked our keys in the car and had an all around great weekend.
My initial concerns about skiing with the boys were (somewhat) valid... There were some tears when stuck in waste high powder on a black diamond run, but they were quickly alleviated when we established a system of taking the ski lift up together, establishing a time and meeting spot at the bottom of the mountain, and then going our separate ways. I had my ipod and blue runs to keep me content, the boys had their "fresh powder" and tree trails... a good time was had by all.
We arrived Friday night, stayed in, made dinner and played games. Skied all day Saturday. Went out Saturday night. Were on the mountain by 8:30 on Sunday morning, since we were planning to leave Mammoth by 2 for the 6 hour drive ahead of us... by about noon I was pretty exhausted (and sore!), so I decided to take the gondola down to the village while the guys stayed on the mountain.
This led me to a fabulous wine bar (The Side Door), which happened to have one of my all time favorite wines. I spent the next couple of hours eating shrimp cocktail, drinking two glasses of chardonnay, and watching the snow fall. Now that's what I call vacation.
Once the boys were all "boarded-out" (I'm pretty sure that's not a term, but I like to try and sound cool) they met up with me, and we packed up the car. Somehow amidst the chaos of trying to jam a lot of stuff into a rather small car in the snow, my lovely bf managed to leave his keys on the dashboard and close the doors. Enter auto-lock feature, and voila we were locked out his car, in a parking lot, in the snow...
Long story short, AAA came through like a champ (we went to get some food and the tow truck guy was there in 45 mins), had the door opened in about 30 seconds, and we were on our way.
Mission accomplished. I slept like a baby for 11 hours last night, I was exhausted and sore.



And now here we are, just another Manic Monday... This is going to be a super busy week. I've got to finish a grad school application which is due Friday. At some point this week I'm going to start doing some work for my Step-Brother's law firm, reviewing documents, as a way to earn some extra money. Tomorrow the bf and I are going out to dinner with my parents to celebrate his birthday. Friday night we are celebrating Valentines Day, and then Saturday (real Valentines Day) is the bf's 25th Birthday, which we are celebrating with friends and karaoke at his favorite dive bar.. Somewhere in there I need to make time for a few gym visits, all that fun means lots and lots of food and drinks. Eek!

Thursday Thoughts... The Good & The Bad

Good: I finally went out and bought a new bed skirt/ dust ruffle for my bed... I've been meaning to do this since I moved back to LA almost nine months ago.

Bad: Have you ever tried putting a dust ruffle on a queen size bed by yourself?! Holy goodness, it was hard. My knees are bruised and I almost broke my neck... Lesson learned: Mattresses are really frickin' heavy.

Good: My bed looks about five thousand times better/ more polished. (Why did I wait so long? Oh wait, read above.)

Sort of bad/ Sort of good: It's raining outside.

Good: Great excuse to make my new diet hot chocolate (Swiss Miss). All the comfort of hot cocoa on a rainy day, only 25 calories.

Bad: It's no where near as delicious as real hot cocoa. It's kind of lumpy. (But hey its only 25 calories so I'm not complaining. that much.)

Good: I'm going on a little ski vacation this weekend. I haven't seen snow in a year! And I'm going with the bf, to celebrate his 25th birthday (which is next week.)

Bad: I haven't skied in two years, and the last time I skied I took a really bad fall, and so I'm still a little freaked on the whole thing. And the bf is really good & risky snowboarder. And we are going with four other guys (and no girls), all of whom are really good snowboarders. (I normally like hanging out with the guys, except in a situation like this where it would be nice to have a girl to ski the easier trails with.)

Good: Skiing = Exercise. Since I ran on Monday, skiing two days this weekend will keep me in line with exercising three days a week goal for February.

Bad: Since I knew I would be skiing 2 days this weekend, I did not go to the gym today... even though I could have/ should have. hmmm

Good: I finally got my hair done yesterday! No more roots! Hooray!
Bad: My hair looks like crap right now, because I was out in the rain. So no picture. Sorry.

So there we have it. The ambivalence that is my life right now.
And just for kicks... I found this old doggy Halloween costume in a drawer, and couldn't resist.

The Letter Game

Two of my favorite bloggers Danielle & Jill (both of whom I was lucky enough to meet and have dinner with last summer) were playing The Letter Game, and it looked like fun. You list ten things you love that begin wih your assigned letter. I wanted to play, and now you can too! Danielle assigned me the letter G, which is actually ridiculously hard... you can comment on this post and I'll assign you a letter so we can continue the chain.


:


Gifts... Whether it's giving, recieving, or just gift wrap.. Love it all.


Girls Nights... This was before the Spice Girls Concert (notice the peace signs.)

Gardens... Especially the Getty Gardens (for a double G!)

Gold... Jewelery. Love it.


Gwyneth Paltrow... We have the same birthday & she is lovely.

Google...Where would we be without google?

Grapes.. They make wine, and are delicious frozen for a summer treat.

Greek Islands... (Haven't been yet, but it's on my top five list of places I would love to travel.)


Games... I love having Game Night parties!


And one last G... Gratitude... because I'm greatful for you! Now play too!

*I thought of one more word that starts with G. Gym... And I really wish that I could say that I love the gym, but honestly, that would be a lie... and I really dont want to lie to you. Maybe someday I'll love the gym, but for the moment the love is just not there.

Fabulous February

For some reason I am really excited for February this year. Perhaps its Valentines Day? Or the ski trip this upcoming weekend? Or maybe the fact that I went to a fantastically fun super bowl party yesterday to start the month of right?? Regardless, I'm happy to be done with January, which as far as months go is just sort of a detox from all the excitement and indulgences of the holiday season, in my opinion...
So to start off February with a bang (and because I was incapable of writing my new years resolutions) I'm going to make a list of goals/ resolutions to accomplish in February:

• Work out three times a week (no excuses!)
• Complete & submit graduate school application (due Feb. 13th)
  
• Run 3 miles straight on the treadmill without any walking/jogging/ breathing breaks
  
• Challenge myself while skiing this weekend
• 
  
• Celebrate the bf's 25th birthday!! (Resolutions can be happy too, right?
• 

• Celebrate Valentines Day with this boy! (I love Valentines Day)
• 
• Celebrate the best puppy in the world's 2nd birthday! (Nattie is turning 2!
• 
• Have a better plan for the future (some sort of job where I can make money before/during grad school?)
• Take more pictures (I used to be so good about taking pictures, lately I've gotten really lazy, which is sad because I love pictures.)
• Eat healthier (Cook more, eat out less.)
• And most importantly... be happy! Find the right balance between challenging myself & not being so hard on myself if things aren't perfect, settled, in place, etc.. I'm trying to enjoy the process, and not be obsessed with the end result.

So, lovely readers, what are your goals for February? Have they changed at all since January 1st?