a little surprise

I came home from work tonight to find a few packages at the door - not unusual since I shop on-line for all the little things I don't have a chance to hunt down (the nice fekkai shampoo, or the special thymes body lotion), but one box was marked from my sister-in-law and it's not my birthday and I don't think she'd be sending me a valentine's gift.  So how completely excited was I when I opened it up to find the very scarf I accidentally sold to a stranger in a thrift shop a few weeks ago!!  Well ok, it wasn't 'the very one' because I'm pretty sure that person is still enjoying it, but she bought me another one and the same and I am oh-so-grateful.  Such a simple gesture can just be the icing on the cake to an already pretty good day.  (insert big smile here)




 

pump up the pain

I was thinking about how we take for granted having no pain day-to-day for the most part.  I realize that not every young or middle-aged person is completely pain-free, but for the most part, we move and shake pretty easily until we get up there in years. Older people clearly look like every step takes a major effort, like my father trying to tackle the bleachers at Jonathan's basketball games.  I cringe when I watch.  So then I have to wonder, why the heck do I inflict pain on myself willingly by taking the grueling power-sculpt class, or boot camp session or boxing workout and pushing myself to the limits?  And it's not enough that it hurts during the class itself, it really does, but for the following 2 days, every single step is wrought with pure pain and muscle ache!!  I must be trying to punish myself for something, but I can't think of why I would want to do this do myself willingly when only a few days earlier, I was hustling along happy as a pain-free clam.  I mean if I can see the future, I know that going up steps will someday hurt without me doing an exercise class the day before, so I surely don't need cause myself pain by choice now, right?  But as I near the end of the day 2 aftermath of the most recent muscle-shock class, I know that by tomorrow I will forget the hurt and in a few days the new some-cool-name class will draw me in because it sounds like such a great way to stay in shape and ouch, "no pain no gain" - the vicious cycle continues...

my music videos

Yes, it's true, I can actually remember when portable cassette players, CD players and walkmans  first came into existence and I was an early adopter, wearing headphones for running, exercising and of course, commuting.  It was amazing how the ordinary routine suddenly became a music video and MTV became HTV as I had my own videos playing any time I looked around!  The music truly changed my view of everything, from how I felt while I ran with the driving beat of the music pushing me along, to the mundane and usually annoying bus or subway ride that suddenly became more relaxing and groovy with the tunes playing.  Years later, I still enjoy running and riding the subway with my headphones on for that very same reason, but it has gotten even better because now as my inner music video plays out, I often see other people with their headphones on moving to their own beat and the video becomes more realistic as if there are now dancers in the scene!  So awesome.  As I bop along to my beat, I don't really care if I look like a fool (the good part about being older) because all I want to do is dance... 

confetti angel

No mater what teams are playing, super bowl is the one sporting even that gets my attention.  I cook 'super-bowl-esque' food, usually involving chicken wings but this year it was thin sliced steak with veggies.  I sit with the family and I watch the whole game.  Of course I watch all the commercials and it's one of the few times that I look at facebook to see all the comments.  This year, I can't even imagine what it must be like for poor mama Harbaugh and let's not even think about their next family gathering!   Beyonce ROCKED the halftime show and prompted me to instagram an old photo of myself with her and the destiny's child crew - I couldn't resist a little throwback photo :)  The power outage had me feeling sorry for the poor producer who is probably not going to sleep for weeks.   But my favorite moment of the night - during the ending celebration, one of the Ravens players made a confetti angel on the field!!  

#beyonce  #destinyschild #superbowl 

scarf search

You never know when a simple gift is going to end up being the 'wardrobe go-to item' and that is how it was with the scarf I received this Christmas from my sister-in-law.   It instantly became a staple in my wardrobe.  I wore it almost every day because it seemed to go with my vibe (as she told me when she gave it to me) and it was like wearing a piece of art.  Over a week ago, Tom, Juli and I decided to check out some of the 'second hand' stores that are very popular around here.  There are two -  both sell furniture and one of them happens to be also like a clothing thrift shop.  The place is a bit of chaos with everything packed in really tight and on a Saturday, it gets a lot of people traffic rifling thru the racks.  So I was wearing my coat and favorite scarf and I was trying to squeeze my way closer to take a picture of a lamp I was interested in, and I felt like I was going to self-combust (hot flash?) so I took off the scarf for a minute and put it down on a dresser while I took the picture.  I'm sure anyone can guess what happened - I left the store shortly thereafter and forgot to pick up the scarf.  The place NOT to leave behind something you really like is a THRIFT SHOP because after realizing my error and going to back to get it, I found that they sold it to someone lucky lady who is now the owner of my most special christmas gift and she probably got it for a song.  I have searched the web and found one on Etsy, but it seems to have been sold.  I finally decided to reach out to my sis-in-law to find out where she bought it so I could go get it again!  Now I wonder if I want it back so badly just because I can't have it, or was it really that amazing? (see photo to the left) Not quite sure, but the 'tree branch scarf search mission' continues....