I've been pretty good about not shopping for months now, but for my birthday I let myself go a little wild at a warehouse sale for Manduka, the pricey yoga equipment manufacturer. Their most popular yoga mat is $100 -- $128 for the extra-long. I've been using a cheap $12 mat from Marshall's for a couple years now, and putting yoga towels on top ( Read more... )

It's weird not going into an office every day, or having a steady paycheck, but I have to say, I really don't miss dealing with the office politics and general BS that goes on in my (former) division. My manager and the creative director, with whom I worked closely, were both freaking out last week about the safety of their own jobs and also ( Read more... )

Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be happy and in love again.  I shouldn't care, and there are plenty of times when I don't.  But today I found myself missing AG -- the AG of happy times, when I was madly in love with him and believed he felt the same way.  I also really miss having someone in my life, but I am of the mind that it's very likely my ( Read more... )

I'm not a regular reader of graphic novels -- I think I can count the number I've read on one hand. That said, I do own a few that I quite like (thanks to browsing around Giant Robot), and recently learned of some titles that sound really intriguing. There are also a few that I've heard about over the years, and so I've decided to compile them all ( Read more... )

This year, I want to:

• Buy ukelele (I have my eye on this one, on sale!)
• Take uke lessons (at Red Pelican, perhaps?  I like that you buy blocks of four lessons at a time.)
• Knit something
• Learn improv (my first class starts in February!)
• Join running club, sign up for a triathlon (maybe this easy one?  Or this more challenging one?) and complete it

Over the next three days, I hope to:

• Go through my books, DVDs and magazines and do some culling (must try to be ruthless; I've run out of shelf space). Check -- although it seems like I've barely made a dent!
• Re-order some of my closet space and find more things to get rid of.
• Put away the clean clothes that have been sitting in laundry baskets for ( Read more... )

• Frame art that I've collected over the years FAIL -- This year, for sure!

• Hang said art on my walls; heck, hang something on the walls FAIL -- I must do it this year!  I do have stuff framed from years past...they're just leaning against the wall in my study.  I will hang stuff up this year!

• Finish the first draft of my novel (ugh, I said this last ( Read more... )

My plans/goals/resolutions for this year:

• Employ the cardinal rule of improv and say "Yes and..." whenever possible. Blind date? Sure! Invitation to a party where I won't know anyone? I'm there!

• Make more eye contact with people when I'm out and about -- and smile.  I have a tendency to look absently above people's heads or through people when I'm ( Read more... )

'Tis the season for giving. It's my sister's birthday today, and my dad's birthday was just ten days ago. We've had some nice family meals as a result, and I got to do some fun shopping for birthday gifts. Yesterday we had a birthday brunch for my sister at a restaurant with white tablecloths, and in the afternoon there was a gathering of ( Read more... )

Recently I ordered a birthday gift for my niece from Gilt.com, and while I was at it, threw in a purse that I've had my eye on for years. There are occasional flash sales for this particular bag, but I've never managed to get an order in before it sells out. Until last week. I already have two other slouchy, oversized bags in the same color, but ( Read more... )