Working for the Weekend

I love weekends. Spending whole days with my husband and daughter is great (most of the time) :) There are times we go see family or friends, and sometimes we just lounge around in our pjs all day. 

If I love weekends you can imagine I especially love long weekends. Ah the three day weekend, is really something to relish. It gives you the best of everything. You have time to hang out with friends, family, and finally a third day to lounge around the house. It's like looking into another world where there's only a four day work week and rainbows in the sky. 

Now on this three day weekend it's easy for me to be so giddy having the day off that I may lose the meaning behind the holiday.  So I wanted to acknowledge the day. We don't just get a day off because the government loves us. Today honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. an amazing soul that did more in his life for society than most of us can ever dream.  

...Fool Me Twice Shame on Me

Back in February I shared on my blog about this site I heard about called Twice. It was an online consignment shop where you could send in your old clothes or accessories you didn't want and they'd send you a check or give you an online credit. 

I checked out the site and reviews, seemed like a nice idea, waste not want not. 

I was pumped, I'd get an online credit for a few items I didn't fit into anymore and buy some things at a good price. At least that was the idea...

I dawdled a bit in sending the clothes in, but then as the weeks went into months of not hearing anything back from the company I checked out and what I didn't realize when I finally sent in the clothes was that they had announced they would be closing their business soon.  :o

I felt a bit cheated, it was clothes I wanted to get rid of anyway but if I knew they would just keep them I'd have donated them locally instead of sending them to some company that I'm not getting anything from in return. Hopefully they went to someone who needs them. 

So my fellow consignors beware...follow the old adage, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I don't think I'll be trying this type of thing online anymore, retail store consignment is the way for me :)

Arty Party

I've gone to a couple of painting and wine nights in the city, always had fun but never really felt comfortable around a room filled with strangers. The teachers' guidance was welcome but fast forward almost two years in the future. I'm now a mommy and not only on a tighter budget but more careful of how I spend my time.

 Fortunately I have a great group of friends  that are okay hanging with and without my toddler in tow. 

I miss having adult parties but had the idea that an 'arty party' was a good way to have best of both worlds, fam, friends, and fun all at once. Make certain people don't get it confused with a painting party where you're inviting people to paint your apartment, be specific on the evite. I had some acrylic paints from days when I had time to paint. I went to Michael's craft store and bought some board canvasses and brushes, plastic party cups and playes to mix the paints. And with any party have wine and food :)

 Final step was what to paint? Our budget didn't allow us to hire a teacher, there are alot of people that will come and teach a group of your friends how to paint a particular picture. If it's in your budget go for it! I browsed YouTube and found a nice tutorial. This is the artist I liked her tutorial and got alot out of it http://youtu.be/1Lx5eYslYxo

However, I should have gaged my party goers, this painting was too detailed to be a good choice for a party like this. If I have another one of these down the line a simpler painting like one flower would definitely be a good choice. 

In the end everyones paintings came out great and each with a different feel or style to them. It was definitely a good time and since the video was a little too quick we had to keep rewinding, it definitely made for alot of laughs.  Also my daughter was able to enjoy this activity with everyone so that made it all the more special. 

Happy New Year

With a new year upon us, a renewed sense of hope has come about. I believe people this year will have faith that people who want to do good in this world are not few and far between. 

It's not always easy to know what the right course of action is, and where kindness is an innate human trait it has to be nurtured. Make a small habit out of being kind, help out around the house, share something with a friend, starting off small is easy. It could be something simple like sharing a link you know a friend would like, it lets the person know you're thinking of them. Eventually (in theory) you'll do these things without even thinking about it. 

It's not always easy in our daily lives to 'spread the love', some people can really test your patience but you'll live alot more blissfully if you don't let them stress you out. For example I wanted to yell at some lady the other day on the train, apparently she thought I was something intangible that she could push and lean on. I reminded myself that the train was crowded and she wasn't hurting me, I could have asked her to be careful but I continued playing with my app and was happy enough for the rest of the ride. However i found that after that encounter every other person that got in front of me or cut me off made my stress level increase. So how in the future can I avoid this, when I find the answer I'll let you know. Presently I'll continue to work on myself and hope for a better year ahead. 

A little creativity at a time

Usually on Pinterest i find myself repinning things other people have posted. I just started using some of my photos as backgrounds for sayings or just pretty landscapes and posting to my Pinterest page. These 'pins' even though they don't take long and aren't especially original give me a small sense of creative accomplishment. In my day job I never get a to be creative and this is a good forum I can quickly fit into a busy day/week/ life 😊 

Will they revolutionize the world or add something to the larger art community? Definitely not, but it adds just a little happy feeling of putting something positive out there. 

Performance Art

Arts Brookfield recently presented a performance art exhibit by Ernesto Pujol. I discovered the show because I work in the area and take my lunch breaks walking in Brookfield Place. I have to say I didn't even notice them the first day they were there...not sure if that was the choreographers' intention or if it's just that I'm in my own world when routinely walking around there.

Either way when they handed me the brochure for the art project I took notice of the 11 people surrounding the giant glass wall by the escalators, okay that's a lie it took me a minute or two to realize there were these people sitting around in white robes.

It was a cool concept but as the days wore on it was a little irritating, they were just sitting around writing, pretending to ignore everyone around them. Going about your own business is normal, there's too many people in NY so if you take notice of everyone it's overload, at least for me.  These performance artists sat at desks writing, their actions were uniform, somewhat serene. It was a little unnerving because they were supposed to be writing about those around them and what they saw, i started wondering if any of them noticed me or what they'd do if I walked over and read their notes, but I never did.

The show also reminded me of sci-fi movies and time travel/ parallel world shows and books, which added whimsy to an otherwise dull workday. I really enjoyed the performers, and the concept of the show. I'm not certain I got the idea in its entirety but for an average lady on her lunch break it was a great thing to see. The photo attached is from the official brochure for the show. 

Sent from my iPhone

Autumn so far

Autumn wasn't my favorite season as a kid, it brought on stress of a new school year, start of colds from cold winters. Now I find myself enjoying the crisp air, the layers to help hide the baby bump that hasn't gone away even though my newborn is now a toddler. 

This season seems to come alive through her, she's able to walk and run now so she's exploring everything. Going to the park and watching her be amazed how the leaves crunch underfoot. Warning her not to run too fast and helping her up after she loses her footing on a pile of leaves. I'm appreciative of how incredible this change of season is, from a weekend trip upstate with family, and seeing the bright reds and oranges draping the forest to the soft wind blowing my hair. I'm trying to focus on the positive, not really a simple thing for me. 

Of course there's always the downside of less sunlight and how its dark now by the time i leave work, but the good outweighs the bad so here's me trying to promise myself to focus on the good and beautiful side that nature gives for free every day.