Giving...

Every year around this time the same thing happens to me... I realize that the phrase, "Its better to give then receive", is SO true! How is it that year after year I forget how much fun it is to buy gifts for the people you love.

Earlier this week it dawned on me how close it was to Christmas... AND that I had not done a lick of shopping yet! After a one minute panic attack, I realized that the shopping was the easy part, it was the figuring out what to get each person that is the hardest! But luckily I stumbled upon a new site that helped me find the cutest gifts for all the special people on my list (well at least the ladies)- www.etsy.com. I am sure most of you have heard of this crafty site, but this was my first time to really take the plunge and make some great purchases. It was so fun finding unique things that I felt would fit each person's taste and for the most part everything was very affordable! The site is set up to make the online purchasing and shipping very easy and I even got some personal notes of thanks from the vendors themselves. I am a little nervous about everything getting shipped to me in time for my trip back to Texas, but I have been monitoring my purchases status on the site and some were already shipped out the same day I bought them.

I love the feeling of excitement when you really like what you have picked out for someone and can't wait to give it to them... let's just hope they like it as much as I do!

Happy Holiday Shopping to All-
S

Breathe...

I have never been a huge yoga enthusiast, but a couple months ago I decided to give yoga a second shot and was surprised to find that I not only enjoyed it, but was super sore the next day. Since then I have been making an effort to include a once a weekly yoga class into my regular exercise line up. Besides discovering how truely inflexible I am, I have realized how bad I am at breathing.

Breathing doesn't seem like something that should be hard, or even something that you should have to think about (I mean hello that is why we have a medulla oblongata). But I ask you this... when was the last time you breathed? I mean REALLY breathed- deep and long, in and out, eyes closed and letting the breathing take over and relax you. I bet for most of us it has been awhile. Now that I have been exposed to the hyper focused and controlled breathing that yoga tends to emphasize I realize that most days... I am not breathing.

Yes, I am alive and getting the air my body needs to function, but so frequently I am running around way to preoccupied with the daily stresses and tasks that I never take the couple of minutes every so often to relax and take a deep couple of slow and therapeutic breaths that can be SO rewarding.

So I am challenging you, along with myself, to slow down and remember every once in awhile to just breathe.

S

The Holidays: Love-Hate Relationship

I do love this time of year. However, as I have gotten older I have noticed an interesting predicament. Every year people get all excited for the Holidays... time to be with friends & family, time to celebrate, time for cheery holiday music, and most importantly time off work. But I ask you this question... why is it that by mid-December most people are hanging on by a very thin thread?

Is it the money pressure of all the gift giving? Or is it the busy schedule of parties and traveling? Maybe it is ALL that time with family? Or even worse... dread of the Holiday pounds creeping on?

Whatever combination of Holiday related factors it is that turns us into scrooges... I am putting an end to it this year.

Call me a Pollyanna (thanks for the inspiration Hales!) but I have so much to be grateful for in my life that I don't want to spend one minute of this magical time of year in a grump. The second I feel any stress or negativity coming on I am going to fight it off by thinking of all the wonderful things that far out weigh whatever blip in the radar may be bringing me down.

Just some food for thought. And writing it down makes it more of a commitment to myself- so there you have it.

S

P.S.- more frequent posts to come as I have once again decide to re-commit myself to the pleasures of blogging :)

Doing a little driving

I drive the same route out of DC every day. Left out of the parking garage into an alley with a dump truck that says "Tenleytown Trash." How does an independent dump-truck company stay in business? Left on Kenyon into the heart of the never-ending construction. The same women every day holds the sign that says "slow." I wonder what it is like to know that you could be replaced by a bucket of sand. Why has she worn a turtleneck sweater everyday since the beginning of the summer? Left on 14th Street. Why do they even bother putting the "no left turn sign" up? Cruising past the new park on the left--which may or may not be named after Barack Obama--I wonder why it closed for a few weeks after its grand opening for what appeared to be a complete renovation. I am sure a consultant/former girlfriend of Marion Barry was involved. Next comes the gas station with the worst coffee in the world and Clifton Terrace. Rumor has it that the boys and girls from this apartment complex are beefing with some young'ens from another complex on Girard. What could the issue be? Do they even remember? Down the hill and approaching U street the traffic usually gets a little wacky. Bicyclists rocket down the hill past the McDonalds that was recently closed for a health code violation and traffic snarls as cars and buses navigate turning with pedestrians and no turn lane. Evasive manuevering and to the other side of U past the cleaning crews lining up for their shifts. Poorly timed lights lead to stopping at P and waiting only to stop again at Florida and contemplate a parrallel park & pit stop at Caribou Coffee. Florida passess and Thomas circle is ahead. A few mornings a week the ambitious and dedicated are running up the steps at the the National Christian Church. WTOP tells me that I-270 is backed-up and god help you if you are on I-95 heading into the city. Left on M street and two more Caribou coffees and one Edible Arrangements (gross?) later I cruise by Steph's work after a left on 19th. A quick exit and kiss from my passenger and its a right on K. Under a traffic circle, possibly running a light and left towards the Watergate. The homeless shanty town under the overpass is really impressive. It's not that its vast but rather that the small area appears to have several tents that are interconnected. I believe that one person has made their own personal mansion in this little space. Why do the cops never mess with this particular District denizen? Oh well, on the highway now crossing the Potomac. Rowers cut through the water on their early morning routine. I think back on my time rowing, realizing that no matter how little I miss it, some of the most surreal and serene moments I've experienced were on the water. With the Potomac behind me, the buildings of Rosslyn take up the view. All I know for sure about Rosslyn is that it is the Las Colinas of Northern Virginia and that it's best avoided.

How We Spend Our Time...

Have you ever thought about the amount of time you spend doing each activity of your daily life? I know it is a question I have pondered more frequently... mostly since realizing how much time of my life is now spent at work. Below is a link to an amazing graph illustrating how people over age 15 spent their time in 2008.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/31/business/20080801-metrics-graphic.html

It is especially cool to see how the graph changes as you click on different demographic breakouts.

Just a little food for thought :)

P.S.- is it the weekend yet??!!

Some Favorites....

Okay- so to get me through any slow day (in this case a Monday) I turn to one of my new favorite jams. Something about this song just makes me happy and energized- I also have a very fun desk dance that gets the blood moving. The band is called Passion Pit and while the song below (Sleepyhead) is my favorite- their whole new album is amazing.




Another fun find is this crazy wedding video- I am sure most of you have seen it by now since it was all over the place, but in case you haven't here it is. I love the idea of making the ceremony personal and more of a celebration.



Lots to do this week before my sister comes into town on Thursday! So excited... maybe my next post will be a full menu of options for visitors to choose from when they come visit Kev and I. Especially since I just found out that Em and Amber are coming in Oct- so excited about that as well!!

P.S.- I love secrets :)

Summer Fun

Okay- so here goes again.. I really want to keep this blog going and the past couple months it has most certainly fallen off my radar. BUT I am back, and my new approach in unapologetic- I am literally going to write about anything and everything I want with no concern for whether any one who reads it will find it boring, trite, annoying or anything other than exhilarating.

What have I been up to the past couple of months you may ask? Well let me fill you in...

We kicked May off with the DC Cares Servathon- a whole day of service where we volunteered and cleaned up an old apt building in our neighborhood that was going to be used by a local non-profit for families affected by AIDS and needing assistance- super fun and rewarding. The rest of the month is pretty much summed up by 2 things: rain and NYC. Kev was working up in NYC for the entire month and I got to visit twice; many a good times had.

June flew by like crazy and the highlights include... Race for the Cure 5K, Ogilvy Pirates Softball games (I was the resident pitcher!), weekend trip to Bethany Beach, Steph takes the GRE, and the great annual week long Beach retreat to Sea Isle City. We had a blast in SIC (haha) and it was so nice to relax, spend time with friends, be beach bums, and booze hounds. Loads of pictures on facebook- especially of the booze hounding courtesy of Tanya's amazing camera (we all had camera envy).

July started in SIC and we made it back to the district on the 4th for the spectacular fireworks frenzy which we had perfect seats for on our 8th floor balcony. Seriously, I have never seen so many fireworks- it was pretty amazing... not only the nation's spectacle, but also the hundreds of small private displays that were exploding in every direction as far as the eye could see. Work got a bit crazy after that and dominated my life, but there was an entertaining roof bbq and late night dance party at Wonderland that slipped its way in as well as mandatory Monday night Bachelorette watching (I don't care what you think of me- I love that show & all the drama!). Last weekend was pretty relaxing as we caught up slightly on our movies (Harry Potter & The Proposal- both good... the 1st more so).

Lots of fun thing coming up too: Matt & Rachel come to visit, then Regan, then Kev's mom... and my car! and a fun family wedding over Labor Day weekend.

Can't believe summer is almost over- more to come soon!