singing softly

good things on the way

2010-01-22T20:18:00.000-05:00

Dinner at Farmicia next Tuesday during Restaurant Week, yum!

Weekend in NYC with comped hotel room; tickets to 2 plays:

RACE with James Spader
The Pride with Hugh Dancy and Ben Whislaw

Kings of Convenience at the TLA on February 17th
The Clientele at Johnny Brenda's on February 22nd
Sondre Lerche at Johnny Brenda's on March 4th

and, today is all about "b"

2010-01-21T21:12:00.000-05:00

Budgeting, budgeting, and more budgeting. It's amazing how putting restrictions on myself and staying within limits actually reduces anxiety.

Busting & Bruising--as in, my knee, the same one I fell on 3 times last winter. Tripped trying to carry a ream of paper and a bunch of other office supplies up the stairs to my apartment. Good one!

Birthday! It's Dawn's birthday today, hurray!

Banter--crazy back and forth between my friends about, of all things, early 90s Paula Abdul.

Bed--where I'm going now.

this post brought to you by the letter "c"

2010-01-20T22:58:00.001-05:00

Today was all about:

Coffee
Coca-Cola
Cool (super-cool) hand painted red (crimson to stay with the "c" theme) sock yarn gifted to me by Jen.
Coffee (did I mention that?)
Cat (my sweet Zoe) cuddling
Compliments--unsolicited, at random--from two separate acquaintances I haven't seen in about a month about how good my hair looks. Thanks Pam at hush!
Correspondence
Crashing. Now.

nothing is certain, except...

2010-01-19T21:06:00.000-05:00

Had my Federal Income taxes finished before 7 a.m. this morning. Thanks IRS for sending me $1642 of my money back!

(every penny of which I am going to spend responsibly.)

$500 to savings
$1000 to pay bills
$142 for fun

monday morning mix tape

2010-01-18T19:29:00.002-05:00

lazy sunday...

2010-01-17T20:47:00.000-05:00

...much needed.

Slept in.

Read 2/3 of "The Road" and I like it WAY more than I had expected.

Watched 2 Netflix movies--"Children of Heaven" & "The International".

Finished 12 long rows of cable knitting on my current project (which is a secret due to gift giving plans).

Made reservations to go to Farmicia for Restaurant Week next week--yay!

Coveted many things at etsy.

All in all, a super-good day.

what not to wear.

2010-01-16T22:19:00.000-05:00

Inspired by the show, I had a purge/organize session today--two full shopping bags full of clothes for donation, space in the closet, and an empty drawer. :-)

you win some, you lose some...

2010-01-15T23:19:00.000-05:00

So, 15 day recap:

So far, finished 2 books in 2010, so I'm on schedule. And, I'm getting 3 books in the mail from paperback swap, so still no money spent on books!

Hmm, on the saving money in general and clothing fronts: one of the four allowed pairs of shoes already purchased BUT they were (1) on sale (2) completely comfortable and (3) cute & versatile. The shoe success trifecta!

I have been tracking EVERY penny spent, so I'll be able to do a realistic budget analysis at the end of the month--for the first time ever.

Feeling like 2010 is off to a good start.

2 down!

2010-01-14T22:25:00.000-05:00

...Books, that is. Reviews forthcoming.

And 3 books ordered from paperback swap. So, not doing so hot with the clothes/shoe shopping resolution, but making up for it with the book resolution. :-) Hurray for getting free books in the mail!

Tomorrow, recap of the first 15 days of the year. Is that all? The holidays seem like a million years ago.

I love it when a plan comes together.

2010-01-13T23:34:00.000-05:00

Four flights this week and every single one of them was on time--unprecedented!!

And I was just able to book tickets for my parents to go visit my brother & his family in California over Easter using frequent flyer miles. :-)

And, best of all, I'm home now. My kitty missed me.

oklahoma, you're ok...sorta...I guess...

2010-01-12T22:09:00.000-05:00

But seriously, people of Tulsa, you need to learn how to cope with snow.

Met a nice lady in a local yarn store who turned out to be a Philadelphia native.

And splurged a little bit as a treat.

Might have to consider returning the shoes I impulse bought in NYC last week. But they're REALLY comfortable and super-cute. And they were on sale.

Budget analysis when I get home tomorrow.

Ahh, home...

lesson learned

2010-01-11T21:58:00.000-05:00

Most of the things that I worry about really don't happen. And worrying doesn't stop things from happening anyway.

deep in the heart of texas

2010-01-10T19:12:00.000-05:00

Yep, that's where I am, Houston to be exact. But let's talk about what was awesome about today (since I just found this cool little 99 cent iPhone app called Gratitude Journal:

1. Flight took off on time AND landed one hour early! I had my rental car, stopped for a coffee, got a little lost, and was still checked into my hotel room before my flight was supposed to land.

2. Super-nice employees at National Car Rentals.

3. It is not ridiculously hot here!! That's a first for me & Houston; the last time I was here there was a heat index of 110. Not even bearable. I actually need a coat here!

4. Room upgrade!!

5. Even though my TomTom GPS didn't recognize the address of the hotel (it's fairly new and I don't think the road is even recognized by the satellites) the GPS on my iPhone kicked in to save the day. I <3 you iPhone!!

So I'm going to try to do this every day--not necessarily here in the blog, but on my phone.

up in the air

2010-01-09T20:01:00.001-05:00

File under: pleasant surprises--logged on to USAirways website today to check in for my flight to Houston tomorrow, and found out I made Platinum status (minimum 75, 000 miles flown in a year). Now I get a 75% mileage bonus for every flight. Nice!

Also related, I read the book & saw the film "Up in the Air"--both recommended. Mmmm, George Clooney--why don't I ever meet fellow frequent flyers who look like him?

oops...

2010-01-08T21:05:00.000-05:00

...8 days into the month, and I'm $89.50 over my clothing budget for the month ($100). Time to reign it in.

Oh, and I already bought one of the four pairs of shoes I'm allowing myself for the year. This is NOT going to be easy.

Feeling good though that I'm giving myself this reality check. It's a start!

meilleur.repas.jamais*

2010-01-07T20:44:00.001-05:00

*translation: best lunch ever

"poire volant"--"flying pear", a champagne cocktail with pear liquor

butternut squash soup with crumbled roquefort & walnuts

"grilled cheese"--made with 18-month comte (gruyere) reserve & white truffle honey--amazing

mesclun salad with vinaigrette

at Artisanal (East 32nd & Park)

Gorgeous. Comfort food at its best.

Oh, and did I mention the background soundtrack? Nina Simone, Billie Holliday, Astrud Gilberto.

A little slice of heaven on a Thursday afternoon.

sorry NY, I don't <3 you...

2010-01-06T22:47:00.000-05:00

...but I really like you. Can we just be friends?

guilty...

2010-01-05T20:00:00.000-05:00

7 deadly sins that lead to hoarding

uhoh, I definitely don't consider myself a packrat, but I'm guilty of all of these except #6 (my car is free of clutter--probably because I got used to being without a car when I didn't have one!).

That's it--first thing when I get home, the box of magazines from 2009 and before is going out to the recycling bin!

who knew?

2010-01-04T21:08:00.001-05:00

"One of the secrets of getting more done is to make a to do list every day, keep it visible, and use it as a guide to action as you go through the day."

Jean de La Fontaine

Um, well, apparently Monsieur La Fontaine did, along with pretty much 75%* of the rest of the world. But I actually made a list of everything I had to get done tonight, and what do you know, only 2 things left and they're both fun! Got tomorrow's list started too; this is part of goal #3: reduce clutter (that's mental and physical clutter) and stay organized.

I know it sounds bizarre that at my age I've never regularly used lists to organize myself, but well, I haven't. It's truly a wonder I get anything done at all when you think about it.

Better late than never...

*completely fabricated statistic with no actual data to back it up.

if the shoe fits...

2010-01-03T19:49:00.000-05:00

"Life is too short for cheap wine and cheap shoes."

Me

In 2009, I bought 10 pairs of shoes. I'm sure to some that seems like just a drop in the bucket, while to others, it seems extravagant. From where I sit, it's somewhere in the middle, but as I think about it, at least 50-60% of those purchases were unnecessary, by definition making them a bit of a luxury. Don't get me wrong--I love and wear every pair, but did I NEED them? Not so much.

So, in support of resolution/goal #2 for 2010, which is save money/be a more conscious consumer, I am officially announcing: I will buy no more than 4 pairs of shoes in 2010. Yes, my hands are shaking as I type this, but seriously, this should not be a hardship. In fact, it will ensure that the pairs I do buy are even MORE fabulous (if that's possible).

Another area I've identified for cutback is book purchasing. I can't even put a number to that--or don't want to think about it at least. So, the rule for books: no more than 6 new books in 2010. How to do it? First, the resource of my own bookshelves which hold more unread books than I care to admit. Second, paper back swap, which is a great resource. Currently, I have 36 credits there (a credit=a book) to spend. Third, while it's not always the most convenient, there's always the library! I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that these book and shoe limits can save me close to a $1000 a year.

Wow.

That was a hard but much needed look at reality.

just start

2010-01-02T19:00:00.003-05:00

"Perfectionism is the enemy of action. Kill it, immediately. You can't let perfect stop you from doing. You can turn a bad draft into a good one, but you can't turn no draft into a good draft. So get going."

Leo Babuta, zen habits

So, why did I feel the need to start a blog at all? Well, a couple of reasons actually:

1. To get into the habit of writing every day, no matter how little or how imperfect or how banal. Because some days, I hope my writing will be lovely and interesting, but, well, see above quote.
2. To document for myself things that I would like to accomplish in 2010, and my progress towards these goals. I hope that this blog will outlast 2010, but one year at a time--365 days, 8760 hours, and yes, 525,600 minutes.
3. Accountability--to myself, but also to my readers (note the optimistic use of the plural!)
4. Really, with the amount of traveling I do, I'm starting to worry that if I don't make a note of where I am (geographically/physically speaking) I'm going to forget where I am, where I've been, and where I'm going. Today I am home--Philadelphia, PA.

ok, so goal number one (in terms of the first one I'm mentioning, not in any order of importance) for 2010 is read 50 books. While this is an average of about one a week, I know it won't literally be one a week. I mean, I'd like to get through both Ulysses and Les Miserables this year, and I KNOW they aren't going to be one week books.

Plus, let's face it--sometimes I spend hour upon hour in planes and stuck in airports, prime reading time. Um, except for when I fall asleep. Or tune out with my iPod. But one of the strategies I've implemented for the days when I work at home is that 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. (at least) are "technology-free". This came about to keep me from walking away from my computer when I was done working and strolling all of three steps over to the TV and flipping it on, only to get sucked into some Law & Order SVU rerun. Don't get me wrong; I'm not anti-television as a rule, just against the time suck it can be if one is not careful. And I'll be honest, within the first 5 minutes of watching Detectives Benson & Stabler, I can pretty much tell you who did it. I'm not proud.

This goal is ambitious for me, but achievable. I read 30 books in 2009 without really setting any kind of specific goal surrounding it, so working actively at it should give me the edge. I've started out with The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I was about to say that I've never read anything by Oscar Wilde, just seen some of his plays, but, err, I think that I have just seen movie adaptations of his plays. ...Dorian Gray is his only novel.

I'm also reading Cleaving by Julie Powell (of Julie & Julia fame), but I need a break. Don't want to put any spoilers in here yet, but...it's not my cup of tea. Or cut of beef, as the case may be. Plus, I started it in 2009, so does it even count? My blog, my resolution, my rules; I'll figure it out.

You can follow along with what I've read and am reading via the good reads link at the side of the page. Better yet, join and add me as your friend!

Tomorrow--how many pairs of shoes DOES one girl really need? Stay tuned!

five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes

2010-01-01T22:29:00.000-05:00

"Did the ironing in a cowboy hat; felt as fresh as the paint in this new flat..."

"Happy New Year", Camera Obscura