Saturday, April 26, 2014

I have gratitude today for...
* a beautiful morning for driving across FL. I dropped John off at the airport around 8:30 and headed to Port St. Lucie. The drive was gorgeousIt was a lot like the country part of our drive from Jacksonville to Ft. Myers. Beautiful open farm land, more cows than you can imagine and no traffic. I listened to my iPod on random (25,000 songs) so I heard a little bit of everything. 
* finding a cute place with an outdoor patio to meet Melany for lunch in Port St. Lucie West. It was pretty incredible to see her after all these years (15)! It felt like no time had passed, and now I regret it took me so long to reach out. We have, and always have had, so much in common. I think it's pretty cool after so much time, we were able to talk about real-life things with each other. We are hoping to get together when she comes to NJ in June. 
* an easy hour and a half drive from Port St. Lucie to Cocoa Beach. It was cute when I got there, the kids didn't know I was coming so they were surprised. 
* drinking wine and hanging out with Jeff & Megan. We had black bean nachos and guacamole for dinner. It was really good and I'll definitely try making the same thing at home. Of course I'm telling myself I have to do a few weeks (at least) of clean eating before summer starts. 
* Jeff being ok when he fell of the top of the car trying to get on the roof "because the view is so cool". I'll pretty much do anything but it didn't seem like a good idea to me. As I was going to check it out he fell and I was really worried he hit his head. He didn't and he was fine---he was very lucky.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

I have gratitude today for...
* Brooke writing back to me about the "It Works" wraps, I'm thinking about trying them out for the beginning of summer. 
* booking my return flight from FL. I'm excited it works out for me to visit Megan and the kids for a few days. 
* emailing with Jillian about this weekend. We're so excited for them to visit!
* a great phone interview with a company I'm really interested in. It's in a new industry and I really hope it works out. I have another interview next week! 
* beautiful weather today! I ran some errands before yoga and actually enjoyed driving around and getting in and out of the car. Thank God winter is over!
* talking with Kerry for a few minutes before class started. 
* the restorative yoga class I went to tonight at Spirit of Yoga. It was so relaxing and calming, I loved it. I will definitely try to go again. 
* posting some fun pictures on Facebook for TBT and "Siblings Day". I have no idea if it's a real thing or not but all of the pics people were putting up were fun to look at. 
My "TBT" picture- Nursery School Picture Day 1984

Sisters!
* watching Parenthood tonight (without DVR'ing). I couldn't wait to watch until tomorrow. Best show on TV!

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

I have gratitude today for...
* a bagel from Bagels N Cream for breakfast. Still the best bagels I know of!
* talking with Ian for a while on my way to Long Island. It was a pretty easy drive---very little traffic and it was nice to see the sun!
* thinking of Mom-Mom as I passed the exit for Syossett. I wish she was still here. 
* a great lunch with Jenny, Linda, Steven & John at Miller's Ale House. We discovered there are a few locations in PA and I'd definitely like to go back. The desserts were amazing! Steven, John & I talked for a while after the girls left about what's going on with ICORP. I'm just telling myself everything will work itself out. 
* no traffic on the way home from Long Island!
* picking up the table from Pier 1 I ordered last week. I can't wait to put it together and finally have the area in the foyer decorated. 
* getting an email from Jess---she had the baby!
* making myself do the elliptical and then doing some strength exercises. I ate a lot at lunch today and felt lethargic and full when I got home. The workout helped! I've been watching "Minute to Win It" on mute and listening to loud music and I've loved it. The show is fun to keep me occupied and you can watch without listening to the sound. 
* Andy making dinner- tacos and fresh guacamole. By the time I worked out and showered, I was actually hungry. We watched American Idol after the Phillies gave away their game...again. It's going to be a long season!
* chatting with Megan and confirming my visit for the end of the month. Woohoo!

Monday, April 7, 2014

2014

Best Picture Nominees:
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street

Mission Possible?


Last month, during the Academy Awards show, I realized we (I) had not seen one of the best picture nominees. I feel like every year during the awards show I vow to watch all of the movies nominated...and then never do. 

Over the last few years, with DVR and Netflix, we've watched fewer and fewer movies. I don't really enjoy going to the theater (uncomfortable chairs, uncomfortable temperatures, noisy people and their eating of popcorn, wrinkling of candy wrappers, etc.) and we're almost always into watching a show. It takes a lot less commitment to watch an episode or two of a show on Netflix than it does to watch a 2-3 hour movie. 

However, there is something about getting lost in a movie. To me it's not as good as getting lost in a book, but it comes close. Once the movie grabs your attention, time flies by. If the movie is any good, it will leave you with intense feelings and thoughts and you will feel like it was 100% worth your time. 

This year I decided to make an effort to start watching more movies. I thought it would be fun to keep track of my progress here. The plan is to start with 2014 best picture nominees, and work backwards through previous year's nominees.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

I have gratitude today for...
* getting an email back from Precision Kettlebells saying they would extend my Groupon since there's no way I'll use 18 classes by May 11th.
* getting the house cleaned up this morning before Megan & El got here.
* watching last night's Nashville episode. I guess that show is my guilty pleasure because it's definitely soap opera like, but I love it anyway!
* a great afternoon with Megan & El. We stayed here for a while catching up and shared a bottle champagne. El brought chips and dip and I put out some fresh salsa to go with them. They filled me in on all of the Park Power drama and how bad it's gotten there. It really is crazy to me how quickly things fell apart there, and I am really glad I decided to move on.
* going to lunch at Han Dynasty. I've wanted to try it since Erin mentioned it last week. It was pretty good---not the best I've ever had (they're ranked in CNN's Top 50 Chinese Restaurants) and definitely not as good as YangMing. Nevertheless, we had a good time continuing our conversation about everything that happened at Park Power and had some good laughs too.
* a fun time at the Flyers game with Andy tonight---they lost which was a bummer but we saw Jeff Pilcicki and had some good bad-for-you stadium food.


Wednesday, April 2, 2014

I have gratitude today for...
* working on job search stuff most of the day---there are a lot of positions out there that I think I am qualified for. Now it's just a matter of figuring out what the right one is for me. 
* Jenn L. telling me she'd pass along my resume to her boss at Genex. 
* Phil Phil announcing summer tour dates for this summer with O.A.R. Excited to see him in July!
* talking with Jeff about the comp with the company I've been interviewing for. I am grateful for opportunities that are coming my way.
* going to another class at Precision Kettlebells. Today was a great workout and I liked the instuctor. I'm a little intimidated when I go there because everyone knows each other and I'm the smallest (and probably weakest) person there, but I know I'm getting a lot out of it so I'm going to keep going. 
* picking up Book Yourself Solid & I'd Rather Be In Charge from the library today. I am looking forward to checking both of them out. 
* using the chicken already made from the weekend for chicken quesadillas, and Andy made guac. We watched the Flyers game and American Idol. 

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

I have gratitude today for...
* Mom telling me she booked the house for Thanksgiving in Holden Beach. Glad to know we're definitely going this year!
* Martha sending me info on an opening at her company. It took over an hour to apply on-line but hopefully listing her as a referral and reference will help my chances of hearing from them. 
* connecting with BJ on LinkedIn. I haven't talked to her since I left Comcast but she is someone I'd love to catch up with. 
* going for a walk around our neighborhood before dinner. I walked for 45 minutes, looked at all of the different houses, saw some deer and listened to music. It was nice to feel the sun shining and to breathe in the fresh air. When I got home I went in the basement and did some planks and strength training. 
* the sirloin coming out really good. I marinaded it overnight in raspberry wine walnut dressing (or something like that) and then seared it on the stove top and cooked through in the oven. I roasted asparagus and made quinoa as sides. Everything was excellent!
* being able to get DMB tickets through Warehouse Instant Ticketing for Steve.