Tantalizing Tahoe

I spent this past weekend celebrating a good friend's bachelorette party in South Lake Tahoe, one of my favorite summer destinations!  If only summer could last forever (and if only I didn't have to worry about that pesky full-time work schedule...)!

Tuesday Tune

No other reason for this song choice except for I can't get enough of it... STILL (even after all these years since it was released)!  Enjoy Nelly Furtado's acoustic version of Say it Right and also a really awesome cover.

Olivia Joules' Guide to Life

Olivia Joules is my hero.  Or, one of them.  I'd like to thank Helen Fielding for creating her and making me laugh out loud (LOL).  This has been posted on my fridge for the past couple years:


1.  Never panic.  Stop, breathe, think.
2.  No one is thinking about you.  They're thinking about themselves, just like you.
3.  Never change haircut or color before an important event.
4.  Nothing is either as bad or as good as it seems.
5.  Do as you would be done by, e.g., thou shalt not kill.
6.  It is better to buy one expensive thing that you really like than several cheap ones that you only quite like.
7.  Hardly anything matters:  if you get upset, ask yourself, "Does it really matter?"
8.  The key to success lies in how you pick yourself up from failure.
9.  Be honest and kind.
10.  Only buy clothes that make you feel like doing a small dance.
11.  Trust your instincts, not your overactive imagination.
12.  When overwhelmed by disaster, check if it's really a disaster by doing the following:  (a) think, "Oh, f*ck it" (b) look on the bright side and, if that doesn't work, look on the funny side.
 If neither of the above works then maybe it is a disaster so turn to items 1 and 4.
13.  Don't expect the world to be safe or life to be fair.
14.  Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.
15.  Don't regret anything.  Remember there wasn't anything else that could have happened, given who you were and the state of the world at that moment.  The only thing you can change is the present, so learn from the past.
16.  If you start regretting something and thinking, "I should have done..." always add, "but then I might have been run over by a lorry or blown up by a Japanese-manned torpedo".

Happy Friday!

I'm super excited to be heading up to Lake Tahoe this weekend to celebrate with my good friend at her bachelorette party!

Have a doggone good weekend!

Never!

Awakenings

(Readers beware:  Sarah McLachlan's new album is my newest love and I can't help but to share her words here.  It's not hard to get lost in her lyrics, voice, and music.)


"Oh I wanna learn, I wanna know
Will our history crush us or can we let it go?
I'm not so willing anymore to bend
Still pleasing and conceding
but I'm not gonna lose myself again."

Tuesday Tune

Putumayo's Reggae Around the World is one of my favorite collections.  Zeca Baleiro's Salao de Beleza is the best track on the album.  Check it out:

Starting Off Right

"Everyday is a chance to inspire, act and succeed."

[Seattle from the Space Needle - January 2004.]


Instead of dreading every Monday morning (AKA 'The Sunday Night Blues'), why not see them as fresh starts?  Mondays aren't just back-to-work days - they mark the beginnings of a new week.  And new weeks bring new opportunities to get things done, have some fun, read a new book...etc.

Loving My Daddy-o

This quote, from one of my favorite books, pretty much sums up my dad.  Poor guy has too many females in the house and, yes, that is including the pets.


"It is not unknown for fathers with a brace of daughters to reel off their names in order of birth when summoning the youngest, and I had long ago been accustomed to being called 'Ophelia Daphne Flavia, damn it."  -Alan Bradley (The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie)


Although, with my dad it sounds something along the lines of:  "Su-, Ji-, Gyp-, aaaccchhh, Pi-, Bel-, BAAAHHHH, Danielle?"

Happy Day

"The art of being wise is to know what to overlook."  

[William James]

Enjoy the weekend!

Go Gridsters!

Over the weekend I participated in my very first public scavenger hunt (sponsored by Mastermind Hunts).  It was nothing short of awesome!  

Wow, I haven't had that much fun in a really long time.  Not that my life is void of exciting experiences.  But I'm talking about the real, one-hundred percent, uninhibited, fearless, innocent child-like fun!  

For three and a half hours my team, The Gridsters, were roaming (and running) the streets of midtown scavenging for clues and solving riddles.

All I can say is I know what I'll be doing for my birthday next year!

Tuesday Tune (My Love)

How could I NOT have a post in celebration of Sarah McLachlan's newest release?

Dream... and then DO!

There are a few places I'd like to visit before this summer is through.  My excuse?  I don't have enough time!  Weekends seem to be swallowed up months in advance.  True, wedding preparations are time consuming and often need to be completed on the weekends.  Not to mention the weekly errands and chores that need to get done.  All of this combined with working full-time often leaves us "too tired" to do the fun things.


Pmmmfff.


What works for me is scheduling in advance.  I have about six calendars I use to organize my time.  Anal?  OCD?  Impersonal?  Perhaps.  But also comforting.  When I schedule something I can stop worrying about wanting to do do that thing - all I have to do is await the day!


The article Don't Think; Do: Your Dreams Will Thank You by Tammy Wise courtesy of Whole Living Daily inspired me to think about this subject in depth.


We may be "too tired" or "too busy" at this second but we are likely to regret not choosing to accomplish something in the future because of these excuses.

Aloha!

Have a fabulous sun-filled weekend!


[View of Waikiki, Oahu, HI.  June 2005]

25 Instant Energy Boosters

Real Simple magazine is simply refreshing.  I'm sharing the "25 Instant Energy Boosters" below, in hopes it inspires you to read the featured article by Eleni Gage in July's issue (some headlines may seem odd without the full explanation).  I mean, who doesn't have trouble getting out of bed in the morning when faced with 9+ hours at the office?  Sometimes we all need a boost of energy!

1.  Tackle a dreary, do-I-have-to-get-out-of-bed day with a burst of color.
2.  Get a whiff of citrus.
3.  Follow this eat-for-energy timeline.
4.  Get the giggles.
5.  Dab on a jasmine-infused fragrance.  (My personal FAVORITE.)
6.  Sit up straight.
7.  Enjoy your daily Cup of Joe - or a healthy handful of Hershey's Kisses.
8.  Pop a peppermint.
9.  Be nice to a stranger.
10.  Rise and seek sunshine.
11.  Oil the squeaky lock.
12.  Beware of energy vampires.
13.  Forgive and forget.  (Tough one for me!)
14.  Show your hands some love.
15.  Exhale.
16.  Pull your hair.
17.  Do interval exercise in the morning.
18.  Crank up the Michael Jackson.  (Or Lady GaGa?)
19.  Write a thank-you note.
20.  Embrace the three-minute meditation.
21.  Fill a vase with fresh flowers.
22.  End your shower with a burst of cold water.  (The best.)
23.  Think like a golfer.
24.  Turn your world upside down.
25.  Settle in for a rejuvenating night's sleep.

The Little Things

I really enjoy my mid-day lunch break.  I love sitting in the sun and feeling the warmth after being stuck inside my cube all morning.  I love to slowly munch on my lunch and sip iced-tea.  I love to lazily read my book and people watch at the same time.


Warm weather lunch breaks make my days!


What do you do on your lunch break?

Tuesday Tune

I stumbled upon a fabulous radio station on iTunes called Cafe Monet (filed under 'Ambient').  It makes the work day fly by... most of the time!


Cafe Del Mar - Luminous - Make it Happen

Welcome Back, Work Week

I'm dreaming of a white... sand beach!  What a dangerous thought on a Monday.

[Magen's Bay, St. Thomas, USVI.  April 2009.]

Felicity

If she were real, we would be best friends.

"I guess I'm learning, little by little, that we decide what our lives are going to be.  Things happen to us, but it is our reactions that matter."

Forgive Me

"Forgiving someone or something that hurt you is really an act of kindness for yourself."


While I've always known I tend to hold grudges (which isn't the healthiest of habits), I've only recently uncovered that perhaps the real issue is the inability to forgive.  To say the least, I struggle with forgiveness.  It sounds silly but I feel like if I forgive someone then it makes the hurt they caused me to never have existed.  This, of course, isn't true.  But I find that the act of forgiveness is something that needs to be practiced.


"...forgiving does not mean you will let yourself make the same mistakes twice..."


Whole Living Daily is Whole Living's blog and everyday multiple articles are posted on a variety of topics.  It seems I am literally learning (or discovering) something new everyday.  One of yesterday's articles, Forgiveness Isn't a Feeling, It's an Act, really hit home for me.  As obvious as it is, I never thought of forgiveness in this way but I look forward to releasing some of my pent up hurt.  After all, keeping it with me isn't helping me live a better life!


[Photo is of Washington Park, Portland, OR.  July 2009.]

Time of Your Life

"In the time of your life, live—so that in that good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life your life touches. Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding place and let it be free and unashamed.

Place in matter and in flesh the least of the values, for these are the things that hold death and must pass away. Discover in all things that which shines and is beyond corruption. Encourage virtue in whatever heart it may have been driven into secrecy and sorrow by the shame and terror of the world. Ignore the obvious, for it is unworthy of the clear eye and the kindly heart.

Be the inferior of no man, or of any men be superior. Remember that every man is a variation of yourself. No man's guilt is not yours, nor is any man's innocence a thing apart. Despise evil and ungodliness, but not men of ungodliness or evil. These, understand. Have no shame in being kindly and gentle but if the time comes in the time of your life to kill, kill and have no regret.

In the time of your life, live—so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it."

-William Saroyan (The Time of Your Life)

My Weakness...

...(or one of them) is listening to heart-stopping, amazing, one-of-a-kind, covers of my favorite songs.  Especially when they're acoustic.  Thank YOU, youtube!


The other day I stumbled across Juliana Richer Daily, julianaeveryday's youtube channel.  I listened to everything and (no surprises here) my favorite covers are:  Hide and Seek (Imogen Heap), Bad Romance (Lady GaGa), Such Great Heights (The Postal Service), Samson (Regina Spektor), and Fast Car (Tracy Chapman).