27 Things Update

Well we're coming down the home stretch and I only did a little more than half the things on my list this year. Unfinished projects...it's pretty much the story of my life.

2. Travel to a new country- Failed, but I did visit a new part of a country I'm tired of visiting: DR.

3. Take swimming lessons- By the time I finally got moving on this...it was way too cold to swim.

4. Find my own go-to cafe- Didn't really need to before. Now that I'm freelancing I might make an effort to shower earlier, get dressed and get the hell up out of this house.

5. Finish the hallway photo gallery- What can I say? I'm lazy and I don't mind how it currently stands seeing as how nobody else is coming over to see it.

6. Design 5 greeting cards each month- What was I even thinking with this?!

8. Write a letter to one extra friend each month (eight)- Is it bad that the eight I did write were all in one month because I tried to keep a leg on this thing?

12. Tell one person I love them every day...and mean it- Saying "I love you" is HARD. Remembering to say it even though it's known is also hard.

14. Have a sleepover filled with junk food and chick flicks- Time...where did you go?

15. Host a cocktail party- Does it count if it was a party for one? What?! Drinks at the club are expensive!

16. Plant sunflowers in the spring- I tried, I really did, but they were not cooperating so I just let them die. I'm so nurturing :)

23. Speak up- I think I added this because I was running out of good things for the list. Blah.

24. Face three fears (one, two)- Hmm, well I went rock climbing at a gym with A. today despite my lame fear of falling. Does that count?

Image: flickr.com

The Social Butterfly Effect

Like I mentioned before, a funny thing's happened since I was laid off: my social life has gone through the roof. Now I determine the days of the week by what activity I've got going that day. I say yes to most things - even if I'm dead tired - and have introduced spontaneity into my life. And somehow in between the blogger meet-up, party bus fun and holiday cocktails, I started hanging out with someone new.

A guy someone new.

And you know what? I haven't self-combusted yet. After all this time of closing myself off to the idea of moving on, I've finally realized that I'm ready for it. When I flirt (and man, does it feel good to do that again), there's no regret afterwards. When I receive a message from him, I don't wish it were from Mr. First instead. At some point in the last six months...something changed and I hadn't even noticed.

Yes, I've already freaked, the internal alarms have sounded and I keep wanting to keep my distance. But despite all that, I've also opened myself up, thrown care to the wind and decided to just go along for the ride. I'm enjoying all those little firsts you gather when you get to know someone new, the excitement that comes in discovering what makes this person tick.

So, I guess I'm dating again and let me tell you, stepping away from the fear I've been carrying all along feels so damn liberating.

Image: flickr.com

Number 17: Cut My Hair

For the last several months, every time someone said "Your hair is so long" I'd reply with "I'm chopping it off!" And yet for some reason it took me a while to actually go through with it. I hadn't substantially cut it since early last year, but I knew I wanted a change. Besides, it's just hair that will grow back. No need to be so attached to it.

Still, my breath caught in my chest when my hairdresser grabbed my wet curls and just chopped a good two to three inches right off the bat. Then as she went through snipping and trimming the layers, I felt better. This was a chance to cut out the old and start fresh...

Le Lezioni d'Italiano hanno Finito...per Adesso

Last night was the final lesson in Italian Step 3, which means I have my Tuesday nights back! I must confess that I completely slacked off in this course. First was the horrible 7:30 PM- 9 PM time slot, which meant I didn’t get home ‘til at least 10 PM starving but too sleepy to eat much. And then my coworker/ partner-in-Italian-crime couldn’t sign up for this level so I lost interest and fast. Shame on me.

But I refuse to give up on my polyglot dreams so during this two-month break before the next level starts up, I’ll try to read through the three chapters (in our textbook Oggi in Italia) that we covered over the last two months. I might or might not do the homework I missed, which were all but the first two (what?! I’m a busy woman so don’t judge me). But honestly, I will probably resort to Barron’s Learn Italian the Fast and Fun Way. This is how my coworker and I started learning on our own last year during our lunch breaks. In fact, we may have only studied through page 55, but we still breezed through level 1 (because we’re awesome).

The book makes it fairly simple to learn the language (as well as all the others they have in their collection: I bought the French one as well to brush up) and the cute cartoons keep my interest because apparently I’m a child with ADD who needs colors and pictures to understand concepts. Hey, whatever works!

Image: overstock.com

A Pup's First Birthday

Happy Birthday, little Toby! At first I thought you were this timid little thing because you were so incredibly shy. Lord how that's changed! Sometimes I want to give you back and other times I want to squish you to pieces. Thanks for taking the salty tears like a champ and for making these strolls through the park so much nicer.