Month: January 2018

The Music That Gets Me Excited

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I am not sure about you but I am really excited 2018 is here and we are moving forward once again. 2017 wasn’t horrible but it felt very draining to me. I am glad that I am able to move on now. So to keep my forward moving happy momentum, here are 5 songs.

What are songs that get you excited?

  1. The Pointer Sisters: I’m So Excited
  2. Three Dog Night: Joy to the World
  3. Hot Chocolate: You Sexy Thing
  4. Wham!: Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
  5. Jackie Wilson: Your Love (Lifting Me Higher)
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New Places to Try

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I have been busy about town (when I can get away from the office), trying new things and here are some of my new favorites.

  1. If you love Mexican but with a slight upbeat flair, you will like Holy Taco in Lake Oswego. 
  2. Want to try something other than seafood out at the beach? Try Nana’s Irish Pub in Newport. 
  3. For something quick and healthy, I head over to Freshii in Lake Oswego. 
  4. When needing to stock up on supplements or bone broth protein powder, I don’t go to Whole Foods by my house but travel to Beaverton to Natural Grocers. Their selection in this area is unbeatable. 
  5. Pottery painting was last year; this year try woodworking at Lovejoy in Hillsboro. 

It Brought a Smile to My Face

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Don’t you just love those times when you are going about daily life but something stops in you in your tracks and you can’t help but smile and in some instances laugh? I like to think of those moments as fist bumps of happiness—a gentle reminder that all is not lost in the world and we will still have much to be happy about.

Here are 5 things that recently have done just that.

  1. This picture made me laugh. I am a little surprised the dog was so well-behaved. 
  2. I love this quote and I love this picture. A great reminder that attitude determines much more than we think. 
  3. I am a grown woman and am not interested having bubble gum pink hair but . . . I decided to relive my former younger years and add a highlight of pink to my hair. The rose gold hair color I have now makes me smile and laugh. Here are some ideas in case you want to give it a try. 
  4. I recently went and saw The Greatest Showman and while it was a good show cinematically, it also had a great message about staying positive.
  5. Most recently I have just watched an Ellen episode where Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep are promoting their new movie, The Post. This clips should bring a smile and some laughs.

A New Year Equals New Ideas

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Yes, it is a new year and with it comes the need to renew life by purging the old so you can revive. We all like to be the phoenix. I like the idea of new year resolutions but I hate the fact that they seem to peter out within a few months. I would attribute the fizzle to setting lofty goals that aren’t really defined. For the last few years I haven’t even bothered because I don’t want to feel bad about myself come March.

Then a light bulb came on when I was talking to girlfriends before Christmas. A couple of us have been followers of Gretchen Rubin for years and we all love her book, The Happiness Project. One of my friends follows her podcast and shared with us an idea called 18 in 2018.

The idea is that you make a list of things that bring you happiness–your own happiness project. The list can be as complicated or simplistic as you want. Remember . . . it is your list so put down really what would make you happy.

Each of us made a commitment as a group that we would come up with 18 things and share them with each other. I will state this–all of us struggled to get to 18. However, once my struggle to come up with 18 was over, I had no problem coming up with at least 7 more things!

In all honesty I can’t share with you my full list at this time (because it is in a notebook I don’t have with me right now) but I will share with you 5.

  1. Take an actual vacation. I have taken time off of work to get things done at home, or prepare for visitors coming, or for entertaining visitors, or for visiting family. While all of those reasons to take time off are great reasons; I would really like to take a vacation. It doesn’t have to be long and it doesn’t have to be far. I just want to pack a bag and go to a new place where I can enjoy the local life, relax and not have to make difficult decisions.
  2. Buy or make a new slip. Yes, I wear a slip when I wear a dress and honestly you should too. I love the slip that I currently own because I can wear it with every dress I own but it is probably 20 years old and it has seen better days. It doesn’t just need to retire; it actually needs to be allowed to die. The problem is; I can’t find a replacement ANYWHERE. I have looked. I actually do own two other slips but I really just want a new version of the one I love so much. Enough is enough. It is time for me to bite the bullet and actually track one down or just make one (I can sew).
  3. Be more conscious about using my reusable shopping bags. I have at least 6 of them and I use them for everything under the sun EXCEPT for grocery shopping. For the longest time it was because I didn’t have them on me when I was at the store so I remedy that and put them in my trunk. Now I forget to bring them in with me and only remember when I go to put groceries in the trunk. I need a reminder sticky in my car. LOL!
  4. Switch dressers. In my bedroom I have a closet and an upright chest. In the guest room I have a dresser. For some reason I have decided that I should use the closet in my room for my clothes and shoes and the dresser in the guest room for some of my clothing items that need a drawer. The chest in my room is full of random things like notebooks, souvenirs, and adapters. Why I think those things need to be near me when I sleep is beyond my comprehension.
  5. Try a new cooking style or food in the kitchen. I love to cook and I am pretty decent at it but there are some things that I stay away from only because I am unsure of how it will turn out in the end. Right before Christmas I decided to give in and try something I have never made before–cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls aren’t high on my list of something I enjoy eating, mostly because the ones I have eaten haven’t been great. I really hate rolls that have icing on them and then they are labeled as cinnamon rolls. I also hate it when cinnamon rolls are too dense because the yeast was off. No matter the reason, I just avoid them. But I caved in and decided to try my hand at making them. They weren’t too bad. Everyone liked them and I am glad that I tried but now that I have done it, I want to try other things that are new to me.

If you want ideas or you want to hear the podcast–go to gretchenrubin.com or click on the link below. Happy new year!!