Tag Archives: five things

Now that I have my laptop again, I’ve run out of excuses

Posted in Thoughts by

These FIVE THINGS (14) are brought to you by the end of the year.

It’s the end of the year! If that wasn’t clear. Did you finish all of your resolutions? I didn’t set any big goals for myself, other than to read widely – which I did – and to write one of these posts at least once a month … which I’m now doing to complete that goal. So without further ado, here are FIVE THINGS from 2013.

— Thing One —

I was in a legit book club.

Usually my book clubs consist of me and a girlfriend or two, having tea and talking about books that we’ve read and what we thought. However, this year I was a part of a book club consisting of a group of women who read theology books together and discussed it chapter by chapter. We did The Good and Beautiful God and are currently reading Theology of the Body.

I am also a part of a small group who is reading through The Ragamuffin Gospel together (I absolutely love this book!!!) . It has been a LOT of fun.

— Thing Two — 

I completed NaNoWriMo!!!

The good thing about telling everyone who asked me “What’s new?” during the month of November about NanoWriMo was that it motivated me to finish.

The bad thing about being verbal about it was getting asked to read what I wrote. I’m gonna be honest, I don’t like it. It’s a rough, rough, rough, rough first draft, with plot holes and dialogue that I do not enjoy. But, it’s a rough, rough, rough, rough first draft and I did it! I finished it! I am extremely happy!

But, I do feel a little bad that no one will really see it, especially after all of my talk about it, soooo, here’s a tiny peek. Please do remember that this is a rough(x4) first draft. Also, I suppose I just revealed it, that’s my writing blog. As you can see, it’s pretty sparse, you can criticize anything that’s already on there (if you’re bored, or something). I’m probably gonna move to Wattpad … I haven’t made my mind up yet.

— Thing Three — 

There were some firsts this year!

I gave blood, became an organ donor, planned a bridal shower – probably one of my biggest accomplishments this year – went to a speakeasy and attended a jazz festival where it felt like I stepped back in time.

I taught someone to drive a golf ball and actually found out that, after not practicing for a VERY LONG TIME, I’m quite good at driving now. I wonder if the same will happen when I get back on the snowboard?

Went to Wyoming, got cowgirl boots.

Planted tomatoes with great success!

There were a few more firsts, but those are the big ones that I can think of at the moment.

— Thing Four — 

There was death, there were births, there were weddings. Illness, wellness … I noticed life a lot this year. I felt it more too. For some reason, I feel that this year, of all years, I’m finally an adult.

— Thing Five —

I finally said “yes” to someone.

Oh that cat’s out of the bag! But calm down, there’s nothing to see here (no, seriously, nothing else to see or hear). I just needed to do it, and I did it. I stepped out of my comfort zone, met someone fun and we went on a couple of dates (literally). And that’s all there is to the story folks.

Those who know me on a personal level will understand why this is even worth mentioning, since I’m  always saying no (did I mention that I attract strange folks? That’s part of why I always say no. Especially to that one guy who was my dad’s age that invited me up to his “farm”. Yeaaaaah. No thanks. ). So … I said yes, once. That’s a step, right?

Well, 2013 was quite a year, I’m looking forward to 2014.

~*~

He says the best way out is always through. And I agree to that, or in so far as that I can see no way out but through– (A Servant to Servants by Robert Frost)

Five Things (13)

Posted in Bookish by

This is a different sort of five things … these five things are all about NaNoWriMo!

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I don’t remember when I heard about NaNoWriMo, but according to my page I’ve been a member for about 5 years, so I imagine it was 5 NaNoWriMos ago.

Last year I decided that I was going to be a participant for the first time. I started off really well, my idea made me excited which was great, but then around day 13, with almost six thousand words written, I lost steam. This year, when I decided that I would do NaNoWriMo again I wanted to try to learn from my mistake from last time and do better. Now that I have completed my 50,000 words goal, I can say that I’ve learned a lot about what I thought my writing style was and what my style actually is, and I have to say that I’m a little surprised!

So, here are five things that I learnt while doing NaNoWriMo:

  1. I’m not a plotter. I have ideas, and most of them are half baked. I know how I want something to start, and I have a general idea about how I want something to end, but I don’t necessarily have a clue as to what happens in the middle of these things and I realized that it’s OK. Last year I tried to map the story out beforehand, this year I decided to write whatever came to mind and I found more inspiration when I allowed myself to have more freedom.
  2. Last year I tried to make my characters do what I wanted them to do and a lot of times that meant that I didn’t know what they wanted. I know it sounds strange, but this year I let them do whatever they wanted to do and sometimes they surprised me. Now before you check me into a mental institute, I think the idea here is the same as above, letting the story flow as opposed to controlling the story actually works better for me.
  3. The rule of absolutely NO editing was important in helping me move forward. There are people who can go back through their NaNoWriMo manuscript in November and move things around and add and remove things and still finish on time. I am not one of those people. When I do that the perfectionist in me takes over and I want to make the piece I’m editing perfect and that slows me down.
    There were times in this manuscript when I was cringing at my dialogue because I thought it was too cheesy or awkward and I had to stop myself from going back and re-writing large amounts of texts because, in the end, NaNoWriMo is about writing and meeting a goal, I would have 11 months to edit, to update dialogue and fix inconsistencies.
  4. I needed to talk to people about my story and what I’m doing. It was easy for me to keep last year’s project quiet. I don’t usually talk to people about my creative endeavors. I did tell a couple of writers what I was trying to do and they were encouraging but this year I went big. I told almost everyone I could whenever it came up in conversation. “So what have you been up to?” “Well, I’m attempting to write a novel in 30 days.” I found that this actually helped me. The more people I told the more real the task became until I knew that I would disappoint myself if I didn’t complete it.
  5. This year I wanted to finish it because I wanted to finish. I know that sounds strange but I’ve attempted to write down stories many times, but I never finished them. This year I decided that I wanted to finish something so that I can show myself that I can write a first draft – even if it never sees the light of day.

I think the most important thing I learnt throughout this exercise was that writing makes me happy. It was stressful, I spent a lot of time doing it but never once did I regret it, writing always brought me joy.  

~*~

Five Things (12)

Posted in Ballet, Bookish, Cultured, My New York, Plateful by

This post is brought to you by Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – particularly the part where Hermione accidentally put cat hair in her polyjuice …

Next month is NaNoWriMo and I’m probably not going to do one of these Five Things posts … unless I’m in procrastination mode, then I’ll probably do quite a lot of them! 

Harlequin Teen Rocks!

This was my second Harlequin Teen event and I feel so privileged to be a part of their community! I got the opportunity to attend a wonderfully bookish event at Trump SoHo where we had a spectacular view of lower Manhattan as we heard about some new releases and received news of Julie Kagawa’s new series! I absolutely love Julie Kagawa, so being one of the first to hear the new of her new series was exciting.

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Wedding, the Last

The final wedding of the season! The music was fun, the friends were awesome and the couple was radiant! I’m so glad I got to witness the joining of these two! Woot! 🙂

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Oysters taste … slimy?

I tried raw oysters for the first time! I won’t call it slimy, though that’s the popular opinion, I think silky might be a better word. It was a fun experience and I loved it so much I went again the following week!

My friends and I went to the Mermaid Oyster Bar in SoHo, they have a happy hour menu and their oysters were fresh (and delicious!) I tried both the East and West Coast types… I don’t think I have a specific preference, the west coast was meatier, so perhaps more filling.

Mermaid Oyster Bar also gave us a cute little chocolate pudding dessert and a Fortune Teller Fish when we received our bill. The chocolate pudding was made with dark chocolate and was delicious! A perfect end to the meal.

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Hiking! 

I went hiking twice in October! I love walking so hiking is pretty much one of my favourite things to do. The first hike was pretty easy, we went to Mohonk and took a wrong turn and ended up at Mohonk House – which is beautiful. The second hike was Breakneck Ridge and is more rock scrambling than hiking, that was awesome!

They were two very different hikes, the first one was more relaxed pace and you could chat the entire way. The second, while you could make stops along the way took more concentration as you had to figure out how to get up and then back to the road. Both completely different, but both lovely. 🙂

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Cinderella!

The San Francisco Ballet was touring NYC and performed Cinderella – I got to see it! 🙂 It was fun and sassy! I especially loved the carriage scene – great concept!

Chistopher Wheeldon's Cinderella

image via Daniel Brodie

~*~

Five Things (11)

Posted in Thoughts by

This post is brought to you by the fading days of summer – and Back to School season.

Summer is over, and I’m completely swamped. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I leave you five thousand words for September.

Broadway Week

20130903_184008In which I saw both Annie and Cinderella. Both were good!

Wedding the Third

20130908_161656A fun, and exhausting, but mostly spectacular wedding weekend.

That time I beat everyone at everything

20130915_113350Spent some cousin time, bowling and laser tag!  (and beating them in both)

San Gennaro Festival 

20130918_133951Ate so much while walking through the festival with friends and workmates.

Five months of cycling

Screen Shot 2013-10-01 at 6.34.32 AMI feel pretty good about myself right now.

~*~

Five Things (10)

Posted in Thoughts by

These five things are brought to you by all that jazz!

The bee’s knees and the cat’s meow! 

Twice a year, Governor’s Island takes a step back in time to the era of flappers, speakeasies and jazz. Michael Arenella & his Dreamland Orchestra throw a 1920s themed party where men and women dress up in their 1920s rags and picnic on Governor’s Island lawn. This year I got to partake in the celebration.

I didn’t go in costume even though I purchased a dress from Modcloth for the event. I decided that I didn’t like it and ended up sending it back the week before. I did buy a cloche hat from Modcloth, and I had my pearls, so I felt a bit in the spirit of things. To be quite honest, I felt a little underdressed for the event, so many people went all out, I was impressed!

I took a picnic – fruits, cheese and crackers – with me and my friend and I had a feast! We got a spot close to the dance floor and spent a few hours eating, chatting, people watching and having an all around good time. I’m so happy I went, I almost didn’t, ALMOST, but in the end I am so happy I did go! It was exciting, there was a contagious excitement in the air. I am looking forward to next year, I hope to attend both sessions.

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Wedding, the first

The first wedding of the season happened on the first weekend in August and I caught the bouquet. It was a sweet ceremony, the food was delicious, the bride was gorgeous and the groom was dashingly handsome, and there was a lot of dancing with friends, overall it was a fun time!

I didn’t mean to catch the bouquet. I was hiding out in the back, minding my own business, when it came flying through the air at me. I stepped out of the way and it landed with a thud on the floor. I looked around and no one was picking it up so I did, unthinkingly, and tried to hand it off. No one would take it, so I was left with it.

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Wedding, the second

The next wedding happened the following week, in Wyoming. To get to Cheyenne we flew into Denver and then drove to Cheyenne. The morning of the wedding we ran the 3K in support of breast cancer. I didn’t run the entire way, but when I was running I didn’t feel winded at all, which in itself is a success. The wedding happened that evening, and it was a great time. I enjoyed hanging out with old and new friends, we had some fun times in the city.

Cheyenne is really fun! There was a farmer’s market that day, so after the run a few of us ventured into the farmers market and I came away with some jam, tea and a taste of the best organic, grass fed, real cow meat I’ve tasted – ever.

Oh, did I mention that I got me some cowgirl boots?

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632 on Hudson

I attended a networking event at 632 on Hudson, the food was catered by Gotham Bar and Grill – it was delicious – but the place was the best! The place was amazing. So beautifully laid out, each room had a different feel to it but it worked. I spent some time on the roof with my coworker, chatting and enjoying the view. It was a lovely time, I’m so glad I got the opportunity to attend.

Showers galore!

Along with all the weddings comes showers and I got the opportunity to plan and implement my friend, J’s, shower! It was supposed to happen outside, but with the threat of rain we moved it indoors.

I like event planning, I like coming up with ideas and seeing them come together so it was a lot of fun for me planning this event. But, at the same time I grew to appreciate event planners. It’s a lot of hard work! There are so many little things and details that you need to consider in order for things to go out without a hitch. If I’m being honest, I must have been running on adrenaline all day long because I’m not sure how I managed to pull it off! Everything came together, everyone had a good time and in the end that made me ridiculously happy!

The party was hosted by a friend of ours, who helped a TON in the setting up! When the guests arrived, we served them drinks – I found this great virgin mimosa concoction online, and I knew my bride loved OJ but not alcohol, so it was a great find. You mix 2 parts OJ, 1 part Seltzer water and 1/4 part Elderflower syrup. The elderflower syrup is what makes the drink. I discovered this wonderfully delicious drink/syrup only this month!

We played the wedding taboo game, but instead of clothes pins or hair clips we used bangles. We also played  the he said/she said game and I got the idea to use mustaches and tiaras from a blog online. We gave away jewelry trees for the big prizes and necklaces for the smaller ones, and these gifts made the perfect – non floral – centerpieces (I have a thing about flowers off the plants).

The food was catered by a woman from the church and it was delicious. I’d recommend her to everyone! She doesn’t have a website but I can pass her information along if you want someone to cater for you.

Planning events are difficult, but seeing happy guests is rewarding. Hats off to all you party planners out there!

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