New Year, New You!

That is what they say every January when we all hit the "reset" button, right?  For whatever reason, this year the husband and I are taking this a bit more seriously.  So seriously, that we each jotted down our....dare I say it....resolutions for 2013!  I guess we are (ahem) older and wiser?

I have to be honest, I have always found New Year's resolutions to be kind of a joke.  Partially because I never think of any good ones - mine are usually really lame like, "I will floss daily" - but also partially because I do not think anyone ever actually sticks to them fully.  Sure, it is a positive action to think ahead and set goals for yourself, but doing it while you are shitfaced on NYE does seem a little counter-productive, no?

I digress....

The point is, this year we are more committed to becoming better human beings than we have been in the past.  Maybe after the Mayans went and botched the whole "end of the world" thing, we realized we might be around a little longer than expected?  Or maybe we are simply starting to buy into the idea of self improvement and continued growth?  Either way, we have made the executive decision to attempt to better ourselves.

How does this differ from a New Year's resolution, you may be asking yourself?  Honestly, it doesn't.  In fact, on paper, it looks more like a bunch of New Year's resolutions packed into one year.  Maybe it is?  The biggest difference, I would argue, is that much more thought has gone into what we chose to do this year than goes into your standard one-off resolution.  But then again, maybe I am just really bad at resolutions in general?!

What was both fun and interesting about this exercise was that we sat down and did our lists individually, then reported back to each other to share our thoughts.  Me being the obsessive compulsive type that I am, took to the Notepad app to create a clean, concise and organized documentation of what I titled "2013 Goals, Expectations and Resolutions!"  My husband, on the other hand, opted to categorize his lists in a simple email as "Fun" and "Personal" in nature.  Both were a success; however, more impressive was the amount of overlap we shared without having discussed anything!

No worries, I will not bore you with our lists in their entirety.  But for some added filler to this post, below are a few of the shared goals we have set for ourselves in 2013:

• Learning Spanish - at least conversationally.

• Being better spouses - this makes our marriage sound like it is in shambles.  I assure  you, it is not.  By this, we mean small things like my husband agreeing to one vegetarian meal during the work week for me (I am weird about meat).  Or me being more of a team player when my husband has one of his classic freak outs when technology fails him.  Small stuff like that....

• Taking better care of ourselves - mind, body and soul!  I am a work-a-holic.  That stops this year.  I am SO committed to creating more of a work/life balance for myself.  This will open up more free time to hit the gym, which will in turn make sure we are staying on track in eating healthy during the week (and, of course, cheating only on the weekends!).  Basically, just feeling better about ourselves overall.  Less stress, clearer minds...the whole nine yards.

• Making more of an effort to stay in touch with and visit old friends.  Sure, our schedules are always a bit crazy (it is only the second week of January and already my mid to late January, February and March is jam packed with work trips!), but we both want to be better about making the time to call and communicate with old friends.  Hell, some even live in the same city we do!

• Being better siblings.  My brother is only 3 hours away and I go months without seeing him.  He may even argue we go most of the year.  In my defense, I do talk to him quite a bit.  Multiple times a week - almost daily.  But still....I could try to squeeze in time for a day trip here and there.  My husband sees his sisters more frequently now that he travels to St. Louis often for work, but he also wants to be better about communicating and talking with them when he's not traveling.

You get the idea....  Certainly nothing too extreme, but definitely a good guide to a healthier, happier and more fulfilled life in 2013!

Friday Favorites - Holiday Edition

Alright, I am a little behind.  With all of the holiday travel and me being down for the count this past week with a wicked cold, the blog has been the last thing on my mind.  That being said, what better way to ring in the New Year with some Friday Favorites?

• Graham Jeffrey Stoneking - on December 26th, my brother and sister-in-law added a new addition to their growing family.  Weighing in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces, baby Graham was healthy and happy....with the minor set back of a broken collar bone.  Don't worry, he is doing well and healing just fine!

• Camera - woohoo!  We needed a new digital camera so desperately and were lucky enough to receive one as a Christmas present. 

• Verismo - we are definitely in the adjustment phase of figuring out how to purchase the pods in the most convenient and cost effective way possible, but this thing is pretty amazing.  Espresso, Coffee, Lattes.....the possibilities seem endless for what we are looking for.  Plus, you can run the hot water through the system for tea!  So far, we are digging it!

• Notepad app on iPad - where has this been all my life?  I even love the font.  This is a recently discovered asset, so I am still pretty jazzed about it.

• NFL Playoffs - Cincinnati squeaked in thanks to the epic fails by Baltimore and Pittsburgh down the stretch.  Hey, I will take it!  This weekend, the Bengals enter the 2013 playoff picture as an actual contender....at least in my mind.  Who Dey!

Disclaimer: Hey, blogspot.  How about you fix the kinks in the photo insert capabilities?  Friday Favorites needs access to this in order to successfully be published!  Apologies for the lack of aesthetic luster....

 

 

 

BIRTHDAY WISHES!

Happy 29th Birthday to this girl (the one on the left)!  Make this 2 for 2 in embarrassing Friday photo ops, Cass.  To be fair, I am also throwing myself under the bus on this one as well.  You are welcome!

 

 

Friday Favorites

Oh, hello there blogosphere!  Once again, I am falling short on my duties as a "blogger" - whatever that means... 

• Birthday Celebration - last Saturday, I celebrated 29 years young with my parents and in-laws.  It does kind of sound terrible when you put it in writing, but everyone gets along so well and we always have a great time when we get together.  It was good to see everyone!  We went to an amazing chef's tasting dinner at Ripasso, immediately followed by some sketch comedy entertainment at Second City.  It was perfect!

 

• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? And Other Concerns - Mindy Kaling's book is what I currently have in rotation in my iBooks library.  I do have to say, it is no Bossypants by Tina Fey, but is still a funny, quick read.  Who doesn't love Kelly Kapoor?!

• Mom Wear - This was too funny not to post - sorry, Cassie!  It has been brought to my attention that my best friend is turning into my mother.  By that, I mean she has now deemed it acceptable to sport matching sweat pants and sweat shirt combos as "around the house" attire.

I have no idea why this will not load right side up, but I hope the integrity of the picture remains in tact.



• Unexpected Gifts - I received two pretty stellar unexpected gifts this week: a sweet shark mug from my friend, Olivia (I am obsessed with sharks, have been my whole life), and a new pair of shoes, compliments of Hope Solo!

 

 



• The Movies - I cannot tell you how long it has been since I have seen a movie in the theater.  Not to be a downer or anything, but I have not been since well before the whole Dark Knight Rises fiasco.  So...it has been awhile.  We are going tonight to see Argo, which I heard is an amazing flick.  I'm excited!

Tis The Season To Be THANKFUL!

THIS POST WAS SITTING IN MY DRAFTS FROM A FEW WEEKS BACK.  I MUST HAVE FORGOTTEN ABOUT IT...STILL, IT IS APPLICABLE FOR THIS WEEK'S EVENTS!

OK, I am not afraid to say it....I hate when people jump the gun on upcoming holidays before a then-current holiday is experienced.  PET. PEEVE!

As I was making my way to the train this morning, I was inundated with the excessive Christmas advertising on the radio.  And then, when I hit up Starbucks later in the day, I realized they are already utilizing the Christmas, excuse me, "holiday" cups that just so happen to be red with subtle hints of the Christmas season: such as snowflakes, etc. 

While I do love Christmas time and everything about it, the point is that we are skipping over a very important holiday - THANKSGIVING! 

This is way too important of a day to be overlooked by marketers.  C'mon, people!  It already has such a limited window of exposure with Halloween and Black Friday (do not even get me started on that.....), let us not forget what this day actually means!

Be THANKFUL for everything in your life - your family, your health, your happiness, your successes, even your failures - for they allow you continued growth.  If nothing else, be thankful for your very existence, am I right?!

And in addition to being thankful for what you have in your life, let's go ahead and keep those who are less fortunate top of mind why don't we?  Do you plan on making 500 pounds of food this week, only to come to the realization that you have way more leftovers than would be deemed necessary to feed an army?  Maybe donate some of that good fortune?  Or maybe use your time to volunteer for an hour instead of baking that 3rd (and most likely unnecessary) pie?

Food drives are such an easy way to make sure you are contributing to a necessary and worthwhile cause.  Head over to Time Out Chicago for some great ideas on how you can get involved (if you are local).  Other national organizations like The Salvation Army and No Kid Hungry are always active and a great resource for various programs that allow you to give back as well, no matter the time of year!

WOW - I really went off on a tangent there....  Sorry!

Here's to all of us having a happy and enjoyable time this week with friends and family!  But please.... do take the opportunity to be THANKFUL before we hop right into Christmas.....

 

Friday Favorites

Wow - it has been too long.  It seems to have been a theme in the blogging world over the course of the past few weeks, however, as many of the blogs I follow have been slacking on posts as well!  In an attempt to ease back into it, I give you Friday Favorites!

• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 - Yes, within the past month I have somehow become a....FAN?!  To be fair, it happened by accident.  My husband was traveling one weekend, and I sat down on the couch to find there was NOTHING on TV.  Well, except for New Moon.  I realized later that this was the 2nd installment, so I felt I needed to see the 1st one to really "get it" - this was, of course, not really necessary.  In any case, fast forward a few weeks and I have now been caught up to speed on all 4 of the films to date; however, unless you are living under a rock, you are aware that the 5th and final film released this week.  Naturally, I am now curious as to what all of the hype is about - Bella is a vampire now, guys!  I admit, I am slightly embarrassed that I would like to go see it....

• Kentucky Derby 2013 - YES, YES, YES, YES!  And one more YES! for good measure...  On Monday, when we all should have been honoring the many Veterans of our great nation, a select group of us took a break at noon to participate in the private sale of Kentucky Oaks/Derby 2-day ticket packages.  And?  NAILED IT!  2013 is already off to a fantastic start!

• Birthdays Galore! - November is a BUSY month for birthday celebrations.  I am going to take this opportunity to get caught up on all of those I missed, and those left to come, this month:

• November 2nd - Happy Birthday, Jinna!
• November 4th or 5th (I know, I cannot remember the exact day, Oops!) - Happy Birthday, Austin!
• November 8th - Happy Birthday, Elliana!
• November 9th - Happy Birthday, John!
• November 13th - Happy Birthday, Grandma Glo!
• November 24th - Happy Birthday, Jason!

....I THINK that covers it?

• Wedding Bliss - Congratulations to Carli and Casey, who tied the knot on November 10th, 2012, in Naples, Florida!

• Slapsgiving - No, no one actually gets slapped like Barney in How I Met Your Mother.  This is, rather, an epic event that we founded around the same time the episode aired.  I guess we were all out of creative ideas at this point in the year a few years back?!  Nonetheless, 2012 marks the 3rd annual Slapsgiving festivities in Chicago!  We are currently working on putting together the menu and I am so looking forward to it.  More on this next week....

Rock The Vote

If you are like me and had way too many unavoidable work obligations to find the time to participate in the early voting, today has been on your radar for quite some time.  Requiring the stealthiest of strategies to navigate the crowds, you really do have to have your game face on to conquer the polls alone...

Lucky for me, the voting location in my district is about a block away from my residence.  Phew!  The drawback?  I got there when the polls opened at 6am to make sure I would be dressed and ready to rock n' roll for work immediately after.  As I stood there in line, outside in the cold on this fine Chicago morning, I could not help but think....

"Employers really should be doing a much better job of encouraging their employees to get out there and vote...." 

Political beliefs aside, employers should be clear that they are willing to be a bit more lenient with their employees to ensure everyone who wants the opportunity to have their voice heard is able to do so.  Quite frankly, it is a very simple task - a mindless practice even - to implement in an election year: inform your employees that if they need to come in a little later or leave a little bit early to make sure they are able to get their votes in, by all means....  Seriously, this could not be easier to do.  Unfortunately, I fear that many employers out there either do not care or simply do not choose to do so.  That, I find to be complete bullshit.  

Now let's not twist my words here, I am not saying I think everyone deserves a free day off to vote in the election per se (although, with all of the ridiculous holidays sprinkled throughout the calendar year already, I do not think 1 day every 4 years would kill us....), but I am saying this: employers should be accepting of the fact that the polls can be very time consuming, and if an employee needs an extra hour due to crazy lines and/or a missed train so they can participate in the election - that should NOT be a big deal.  And not only should it not be a big deal, it should be encouraged that this is, in fact, OK.  That the employer understands the situation PRIOR to it becoming an issue and having an employee opt out of the voting process entirely, only because they could not find the time in their work day to make it happen.

So I wonder... How many employers took the time during their Monday morning meetings yesterday to address this point?  Sure, I am confident that there are some companies out there who recognize the importance of getting out there and making sure their votes count.  Sadly, I think the majority would be categorized as the exact opposite, with this topic of discussion never being addressed at all.  Sigh....

Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent...whatever.  That makes no difference...  VOTE.  Do not take for granted this inalienable right.  There are still many  people living throughout the world who continue to fight the battle in hopes of gaining the right to a free election - remember that.  Who are we to turn the other way and disregard this privilege? 

Take pride in the fact that your vote matters and, regardless of the end result, know that you were a valuable contribution to the outcome of the Presidential election.