Talk about lemons to lemonade

First let me say that if you've already seen this, sorry, please forgive me, it's new to me.

I just recently stumbled upon the blog SallyTV and she has the most amazing looking wall in her dining room, and an even more amazing story behind it. Back in February of last year Sally was in the process of choosing the colors to paint her dining room after a paint company had offered up some paint. Long story short, they flaked out, she said "f it" and came up with a new plan. A new plan that totally kicks the arse of a regular ol' painted wall. 

She had all these paint chips that she used to create an amazing wall in her dining room. Here it is before, during, during, and AFTER! I'm in love with this.

{Images from here, here, here, and here}

I've seen a lot of beautiful things created with paint chips, but this definitely takes the cake.

Now that's what I call turning lemons into lemonade.

Library love

My local library branch

I love the library. If you aren't utilizing your library, you should be. They have so much to offer, especially if you live in a big city. There are the obvious financial and greener benefits to borrowing books from the library, but there are so many more. I get CDs from there. I get cookbooks from there that I'm considering buying so I know if it has enough recipes I like before I purchase it. If I'm traveling somewhere I'll usually buy one travel book I can thrash, but then get others from the library. They have movies. They have DVD how-to guides {this is how my mom taught herself to knit}. They have magazines. If you have kids, they have storybook readings and singalongs. I could go on. Oh wait, I will. They sell overstocked and old copies of books and magazines for crazy cheap. You know those out of print Domino magazines that go for an exorbitant amount on eBay? I got some copies for $0.10 each. Jealous?

So maybe you're thinking, "I've been to my library, they didn't have ________ {insert your option: much, anything new, what I was looking for, etc.}" This is why I said "especially if you live in a big city." In San Diego you can search for your heart's desire on the internet from the comfort of your home, put it on hold, they'll send it to your nearby branch for free, and send you an email to let you know when it's ready for you to pick it up. Sounds easy right? Yeah, 'cause it is. A trip to the library can literally take me less than 5 minutes.

Now maybe your excuse is that when you last used the library you racked up a $20 fine. If it becomes a regular resource for you and have a hold list of things you want at all times, you'll want to make trips to the library. I was excited today because a Delta Spirit CD I had requested was in, which made me get off my arse and return my checkouts three days before they were due. Don't get me wrong, I've definitely racked up my fair share of fines, but I look at the fines as waaayyy cheaper then if I had bought even a quarter of what I borrow. Plus, any money I have to pay in fines goes to a really good cause, keeping the library up and running.

Obviously I don't know about the particular workings of your library system, but I urge you to check it out.

Options a plenty

Today's checkouts

"Resolutioners"

For the purpose of this post I have created the word "resolutioner." A "resolutioner" is someone who on January 1 resolves to "lose weight" {they usually make this resolution every year}, hits the gym for a brief period of time and then will not step a foot inside until the following January.*

My delicious breakfast

I'm not much of a New Year's Resolution kind of person, as evident by my breakfast this morning. I typically hate the "resolutioners" that make going to the gym more stressful.* I mostly take classes, they challenge me in a way that I just wouldn't challenge myself, and a lot of them are really fun. Seriously, REALLY FUN. Well, the "resolutioners" come in and fill up all the available spaces making it necessary to get to the gym at least 30 minutes before the start of class to reserve your spot by getting a pass. I mean, come on, the gym takes new members all year long, not just in January. It's just a bit annoying that "resolutioners" do it all at once. In the past this has irked me to no end.* This year though I will look at the extra 30 minutes at the gym as an opportunity to hit the elliptical.  Which also means I will have the opportunity to:
- Burn more calories {helping to drop that holiday weight}
- Warm up {increasing my workout intensity in the class}
- Listen to new music I've recently downloaded {that's just fun}

*Just to clarify...   I think it's great when someone sets a goal to live a more healthy and active lifestyle, and even better when they stick to it. I just find that, for many {myself included}, it's a constant struggle and therefore it should be a continuous goal. 

I just thought of another reason why I should be grateful for "resolutioners." They come in, pay, continue paying long after they stop coming, thus affordable gym membership for me!

{Oops! I almost forgot} 2011's first sunset

Last week I pondered what the first sunset of 2011 would look like {here}. While it's not the fiery sky January 1, 2010 had to offer, it's still quite gorgeous.

Happy New Year!!!

from here

from here

I hope you had a safe and happy new year. I said goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011 at good friends Lisa and Aaron's home. We devoured a mexican feast, had drinks flowing, toasted at midnight with Veuve Clicquot, and played games till the wee hours of the morning. I had held onto my bottle of Veuve Clicquot for far too long, waiting and waiting till an occasion seemed worthy had me worried that it might have gone bad, but much to my delight it was still de-lish! I'm hoping that's a good omen. I plan on making 2011 my year!

2010 WooHoos and BooHoos

A. My lifelong friend Gaby and her little cutie pies

B. Beau's first solo sail

C. Saying goodbye to Jenny

2010 WooHoos:

• Graduating with a Master's in Accountancy
• Having the opportunity to see a couple of friends I hadn't seen in about five years {See A}
• Finally becoming technologically current and welcoming the addition of HD LCD TV viewing, DVR, and the iPhone into my life {Oh how I love all of thee!}
• Successfully selling some items I held onto for far too long on eBay
• Hosting Christmas
• A couple of winning trips to Vegas {Oh the dice, they call to me}
• Beau's {as in my beau, not really his name} maiden solo sailing voyage, and his first year of participating in OMBAC's OTL tournament {Because when you love someone, aren't their successes your successes?} {See B}

2010 BooHoos:

• Not landing a dream job
• Friends moving away {See C}
• The Chargers season

Not landing a dream job, or any job for that matter, put a lot of financial stress on Beau and me. Besides the financial stress it also really does something to your psyche to not be working and feel ongoing rejection. Whenever I got down I forced myself to think of all the great things in my life. Of course the standards: family, friends, etc. But more specifically the fact that while it's been tough living on one income, it hasn't caused any major problems in Beau and my relationship. When money troubles is listed as the number one cause for divorce, I consider myself extremely fortunate.

Overall 2010 was a good year, but I'm sure hoping 2011 will be even better.

What will 2011 bring?

This was the sunset on January 1, 2010. 

Isn't it so beautiful? Like I need to ask. If your answer isn't some version of "Hell yeah!" then there is something seriously wrong with you and you might want to contact a therapist. So first I thought, I wonder what the sunset will look like on the first of 2011? Then it got me thinking about overall how the years will compare. Which led me to do a little reflecting...

Too much to talk about now. I'll go over the highs and lows tomorrow.

Old Year Resolution - No more sitting on the sideline

My love for blogs came late in the blog game, but when it came, it came hard and fast. As my love intensified so did the urge to create one of my own. But what should it be about? I don’t know. I don’t really have a focused theme or voice so maybe I shouldn’t do it. Well, far too often I find reasons to not do things {I’m guessing you might relate}, so here I am unfocused voice and all. After all, I am a firm believer that each day is a chance to get closer to being the person we’d like to be.

This blog will simply be me, who I’d like to be, and how I try to find joy everywhere to have a happy life. Like Abraham Lincoln said, “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Oh yeah, that's right, that's me in a bounce house. Five year olds have nuthin' on me.