Reverb10 - Days 4-6

Like I said, I wouldn't be blogging about this everyday....I'm a girl who likes her weekends off, thankyouverymuch. But that doesn't mean I forgot about the challenge. So let's dive right in, shall we?

Day 4

December 4 – Wonder. How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year? (Author: Jeffrey Davis)

This one is easy - I moved to a new city! Granted, Chicago definitely wasn't unfamiliar territory, having grown up in lower Michigan and all. But I was able to reconnect with my desire to explore, on a low budget. I do have to admit that I've been lucky enough to travel around the country this year, from New York to South Carolina to LA and now landing, permanently, in Chicago. It's been a wild ride.

When I look back at all the excitement and even all the challenges that have come along with this year, I'm not sure I would change anything. It really has given me a chance to not only wonder about my new surrounding, but about myself as well. Those experiences are invaluable.

Day 5

December 5 – Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why? (Author: Alice Bradley)

Boy, this challenge is really making me lay it all out there, and it's only day 5.

This year, I let go of a few people that I once considered friends. This turned out to be one of the best things that happened all year. Mostly because, these people are highly toxic - this is speaking personally of course. Just because someone is toxic to my life doesn't mean they will be to others. Though I have a sneaking suspicion I'm not the only one who was affected this way.

Letting go of relationships, no matter how strong they once were, is never easy. But, you always end up learning something about yourself in the process. Noticing a trend here? It all dies back to day 1 - learning. The idea of letting go of toxic people from your life isn't so much about them as it is about yourself. There was a need to be a better person, and I couldn't do that with them in my life. Negativity surrounded me in the presence of these folks. In order to lead the life I truly believe in, it had to be done without them. Sometimes, thems just the breaks.

Day 6

December 6 – Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it? (Author: Gretchen Rubin)

What was the last thing I made? Like arts and crafts?

I'm going to stretch this one a bit, because the last thing I really made by hand was likely not this year. However, this weekend I did make my first family Christmas. Okay, so we made our first family Christmas. My fiance and I got a tree - granted, it's a 4 foot tall fake tree, but a tree none the less, and we decorated it with lights and beads and ornaments. We even got an "our first christmas" ornament. We used the left over LED lights around the living room window. It's only mildly festive, but it definitely feels like the holidays in our apartment now.

What I'd like to make time to make next year is an Etsy shop. In 2009 I sold a bunch of pictures, many of them right here on the blog, so I'd love to get back into my photography a bit more and start selling them, matted and framed, or even just the prints. I love sharing my photography with people who appreciate it. Hell, I even love sharing with people who don't so much ;).

So, I'm caught up now...Happy Monday!

Cheers!

-A

Review: Creative Wellness

Alrighty, so let's dive right in to the review, then we'll touch on the past couple prompts from Reverb10....you didn't forget already did you?

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A few weeks ago I headed home on a Thursday evening to spend a long weekend with my parents. There wasn't much planned, just a get away from the city and relax type of trip.

During this time I went to a place called Creative Wellness for a massage. Now, in college I lived just down the street from here, so it wasn't uncommon for me to come get deep tissue and therapeutic massages to keep my body nice and loose during runs.

But it'd been a while since I'd gone back, so I thought I'd make a last minute appointment for a relaxation massage. And let me tell you, I'm so glad I did.

Adriana was the only therapist with an open slot so I took it. She was absolutely incredible! I told her in the beginning what I was looking for and she nailed it. I walked away from that massage feeling more relaxed than ever. I even had a difficult time making it back to my car - I felt like I was melting.

The massage was average price for what you might expect, and worth every penny. Really, ever massage I've ever had there, even those sometimes painful deep tissue or therapeutic massages have been incredible.

Creative wellness also offer things like chiropractic care and other natural wellness, plus they have a cute little store inside the door with tons of yoga items and essential oils, so be sure to check them out. :)

On the way home I got this rush of energy and felt rejuvenated. Anyway, if you're ever in the East Lansing area and in need of a nice, relaxing massage, head over to Creative Wellness and ask for Adriana...you won't be disappointed.

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Reverb10 - Day 2

So yesterday's prompt was a difficult one. In fact, I didn't even Tweet about it because I was stumped.

December 2 – Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it? (Author: Leo Babauta)

In other words, what distractions in your life take away from your writing. And well, I can't really say there's anything that doesn't contribute to my writing. My thoughts are pretty well echoed over at my lovely friend Sydney's blog.

But, so I have my own answer, it's this: my wandering mind.

I have this tendency to over think everything, to have a million things going through my head at once, many of these ideas conflicting with one another. I've always been known to be an easy person to persuade, because on a lot of issues I'm still trying to figure myself out. Going back to day 1, where Learning was the theme of this year, I've made great strides in my progress, but I'm still getting there. I'm even starting to reintroduce yoga and meditation back into my daily life. It takes time and practice to get to know yourself - and I've found, these practices really clear my mind for some of the best writing I've ever done.

Reverb10 - Day 3

December 3 – Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). (Author: Ali Edwards)

Really, I'm supposed to only pick one moment? Well that's not an easy task.

Immediately upon reading this my mind jumped to the marriage proposal during skydiving...that's bound to make someone feel pretty damn alive.

But the more I pondered it, the more I started to overrule that first judgment. Mostly because, last January, I almost died. Okay, so it's not quite that dramatic.

While traveling to Florida for a little warm weather skydiving, I was testing out a new parachute and something went wrong. Something went really wrong. I looked up at what was over my head and knew it was bad. I had one option, but cut it free and deploy my reserve. After all, you do have a perfectly good reserve parachute ready for cases just like this.

So I cut the bad parachute away and before I knew it a wonderful, perfect reserve was above my head. I landed it perfectly and at the moment my feet touched the ground I felt more alive than ever. Colors seemed brighter, I was filled with adrenaline and couldn't stop smiling. Hugs came from my fiance and others we'd connected with on that trip. Everyone had concern and relief in their eyes - some were even filled with excitement from watching from the ground.

I felt my reserve for the first time. It was crisp and slippery - not like the nylon you're used to touching. The smell of jet fuel was in the air and early morning dew was still on the ground. All things I'm not sure I would have noticed on your average skydive. But more than anything, I was truly in the moment.

With less than 100 skydives under my belt I not only knew what to do in this emergency situation, I did it successfully.

It was a story I told for quite some time...and one you can read here if you'd like to hear about it a little more in depth (and a little more technically, too).

So there you have it.

At what moment in 2010 did you feel most alive?

Cheers!

-A

Reverb10 and Only Nails Review

Hey kids so here's the scoop on December: we've got this awesome little challenge going on called Reverb10 (<---click to find out more) that basically requires challengers to reflect on 2010 and plan ahead for 2011...or at least, plan what you'd like to see happen next year.

So you can blog about it, tweet about it, scream it from the rooftops, whatev. But I've decided that the first two options are going to work best for me. I may not blog every day about this (though, anyone who knows me probably assumes there's a good chance I will, aside from the weekends) so there might be some combined posts.

But, given that I also have a laundry list of reviews lined up, I've decided to combine my posts - Reverb10 + Review.

Enough about all that...these posts are going to be long enough as it is

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December 1 One Word.
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?

So I did tweet about this yesterday, but decided it deserved a bit of explanation - and I did fail to leave out that last part about next year's word.

My word for this year is definitely learning. You can see this just by looking over my blog posts for 2010, both here and over here.

I've learned more about myself since turning 26 than I have in all of my 20s so far I think. It hasn't been easy, but I've definitely done a lot of reflecting on the lessons that life has shown me and I foresee it propelling me into 2011 with a new outlook - and right into the arms of the word I think 2011 will stand for: growth. Both personal and professional in nature. I know where I want to go, the kind of life I want to live and the person I want to be, 2011 is the year to make all that happen.

Okay so enough of that, on to the review portion of this post:

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Only Nails, Westmont, IL

Moving to a new city can be difficult when it comes to finding all the amenities you love. I always stress about finding a good stylist (though thankfully, a friend from high school works at a nearby salon, so that was a no brainer on this move - more to come on that later) and things like dentists and doctors, but you tend to forget about all the little things you became so comfortable with in your former city, that is until you need one of those services.

So when it came time to get a pedicure, I was lost. I turned to Yelp to help me out with recommendations....this online review forum never did help me much in Cleveland, but here in Chicago, I turn to it more times than not.

It surprised me to see that there were a handful of nail salons within 5 minutes of my place that all got great reviews, however there was one that really stuck out. A woman from downtown Chicago mentioned that she ventures here every 3-4 weeks for her mani/pedi and it's only that infrequent because the polish lasts so long.

And it turns out, I can walk to this place from my apartment. Score!

So a few weeks ago I ventured over to Only Nails in Westmont for a pedicure. I have to tell you, it was one of the best I've ever had. I tend to be ticklish on the soft spots of my feet, so needless to say that whole pumice stone exfoliation step tends to have me all knotted up, doing my best not to burst out laughing.

The entire pedicure felt like this incredible foot massage! And the reviews didn't lie, my polish lasted a LONG time - it looked perfect until my next pedicure in fact.

What I also liked was the atmosphere - there was no pressure to talk to a chatty pedicurist, but at the same time, they were open and friendly. You can pretty much make the experience what you want.

And at $30, the price is right.

So here are the basics:

Service: ***** (5 stars, enough said)

Atmosphere: ***** (quiet, friendly)

Quality: ***** (polish lasted a long time, incredible foot/leg massage)

Comfort: **** (4 stars, only because the pedicure chairs didn't have heat...bummer)

Price: $$ (I've had cheaper, but nothing this good for this price)

Long story short, I definitely recommend this place if you're in need of a pedicure, or even just a little relaxation away from home.

Cheers!

-A

I don't care

Have you ever noticed that when someone says something like, "I don't care" or, as I stated last night, "I don't give a crap!" there's this part of them that does seem to care?

"Whatever, I don't care." *rolls eyes*

Maybe it's just me, because I see that happening to me all the time (read: I'm the one stating my indifference). Thing is, it's not as if I truly don't care, it's more that I don't want to care.

There's a part of human nature - or maybe not so much nature as a behavior that we're grown up to act out - to be curious about other people. I've found this happens especially when you move away from some place or you have friends who move away from you, or when you become estranged from someone or some part of your life...we like to check up on that stuff, even though we know we really shouldn't waste our time with the past.

Things like social media make this such an easy thing by allowing us to hold onto some parts of our past, no matter how much they shouldn't matter, to keep them in our lives - even to the smallest degree.

So, those things that you "don't care" about are also those things that pop up in your Facebook news feed or in Gchat, reminding you.

And sometimes, no matter how much we want it, we have issues cutting these ties and moving on. Fear of change, I suppose?

Regardless, there are some aspects of my life that I have consciously removed, both from my consciousness and from social media. And if anything resembling that part of my past life pops into existence, I promptly remove it with a smile and continue on. Of course, there are times where it comes up in conversation and I politely mutter, "I don't care" and walk away. Or, like yesterday, "I don't give a crap."

Problem is, part of me does still give a crap, no matter how much I wish I didn't. Guess you can't help but look back on those things in life that didn't go as you planned and wonder how it could have been if... you know? Not always in the sense that you're missing something now, or that it could have been better in any sense of the word, but just that it could have been different - especially if you did something you weren't proud of.

I guess, it's all about learning from those situations, hence the reflection, and knowing now that your happiness in this moment and in the future is all that matters.

This is precisely what I've done. So I will continue to tell you that I don't care until I believe it myself.

Cheers!

-A

Playlist update

So for those who have been following along for the past couple years, I like to give an update on my playlist of the moment every now and again. This time around, I'm going to focus on artists rather than just songs. It's nothing special really, but I've found that music tends to play a rather large role in my life these days...especially as a commuter.

I don't like people, so headphones help me avoid them at all costs :). Ok, so that's not entirely true, but I do like to chill out to music on my way in and out of the city.

Here's what's tickled my fancy lately.

1. Collective Soul - Something told me to download one of their albums a couple weeks back and I've been hooked ever since. Run has been on the top of my playlist but I like pretty much everything of theirs. It's motivating and soothing all at the same time.

2. Angels & Airwaves - These guys have been a staple in my iPod since 2008. There's no wearing these songs out.

3. Theory of a Deadman - These guys came into my life via Pandora. Believe it or not, it was a Boston station, and so I downloaded their latest album and have started peppering songs into my playlists. Their music is real. I like that.

4. Owl City - Though I have to be in the right mood for Owl City, I still find that turning 'em up during a hectic work day can really help me get the productive juices flowing, so to speak.

5. Boston - From #3 above you probably already guessed this was coming, but I've usually got a good classic rock band on hand...right now it's all about Boston. There's something about closing your eyes and just listening to the sounds. Feelin' Satisfied is a great starter song for that practice.

6. Sick Puppies - Like Theory of a Deadman, their music is very real.

7. Sublime - just because it's fun.

8. 30 Seconds to Mars - This is one of those bands that I've found people either love or hate. I used to be undecided, but they have a good sound and I find that I'm rather drawn to it. So, rock on Jared Leto.

So tell me dear readers, what bands are on your playlist right now?

Cheers!

-A

Doing nothing

As I was reading a book on my way into work this morning (for those unaware, I take public transportation, so I was not, at the same time, endangering the lives of others) I came across a chapter that discussed how Americans have the inability to relax.

It went beyond just that, but this first-hand account from an American who spent some months over seas, living in Rome, talked about how the American culture breeds us to be these gittery people, in more ways than one.

This really hit home as I find myself rather exhausted these days. I've found that there are moments where I crave doing nothing, literally.

It seems, that to most, "doing nothing" means plopping your body down on the couch with a bowl of popcorn watching TV or a movie. Well folks, reality check, that may feel like nothing because it's "lazy," but it's not nothing...it's watching TV.

The American culture has this way of making us feel like we should be consuming our days with something productive all the time. And with typical religion that most of us either grew up with or our families instilled in us from morals that were passed down through generations, if we're not actively doing something, we feel guilt.

We're a very guilt-ridden society, turns out. I'm living proof of that. No matter what I do, I have this way of making myself feel like it's not enough - sometimes I even throw that back at others, as if it's them making me feel this way.

It's a sickness, I know. But admitting it is the first step, right?

Anyway, this isn't about me. Well, maybe it kind of is, but it is my blog, after all ;).

What it's (mostly) about, is the act of actually doing nothing - something I think I've been craving. The closest I came was last weekend when I decided to get a massage. For 1 hour I was nearly completely relaxed, with the exception of my brain that, to be truly honest, never really takes a break. Could be the source of my exhaustion...anyway, again, back to the topic.

The book noted that we Americans live in a culture of entertainment. When we do "nothing" we want to be entertained. (going to add my own thoughts here...this is not the book speaking) In other words, we don't take downtime to reflect on what's taking place in our lives. That gets pushed aside so that our time not spent actually working, or doing chores, or other life necessities, is filled with things that occupy our mind to the point where we don't have to take the time to learn and absorb what the world has shown us.

This is one of the things I really liked about yoga. Even though you were working out, there was this quiet peace about it. You had time to think, to reflect, to improve upon yourself. Something that, generally, we don't do enough here in the States. It's go, go, go. If we're not productive, we feel bad about that. And when there's too much downtime, there's too much guilt and that my friends is why we have psychiatrists.

Okay, so I very quickly jumped to that conclusion, but there could be some merit to that...think about it. If you have too much time on your hands, what do you do with it? Go out and find something to do, right? Spend money. Spend time with friends. But what happens when that money runs out and those friends go to their jobs or are busy. You've got downtime. You think. You get yourself and your mind into trouble. If it weren't for this guilt, I truly believe this society would be better able to literally do nothing every now and again and get some benefits from that.

Just a theory, of course.

But I find that there are a few people out there who think in a similar way. A quick Google search brought about a couple things that raise my eyebrows. First is an article from Zen Habits (if you're not following him on Twitter yet, I'd make it a point to). Here he talks about The Art of Doing Nothing, and how to master this practice. The second item in Google's list was a book called the Art of Doing Nothing, and it's about making time for yourself in a culture of overachievers. I didn't read much into it but honestly, this might be the next book on my list.

Both of these resources likely site and/or pull ideas from Eastern cultures and religions. I've found that these cultures have a way of being much more in tune to themselves, in a much different way than we are. Americans are bred to be proud, self-absorbed and arrogant. Eastern cultures have a way of making people self aware and generous with themselves and others. These, of course, are very broad generalizations...though I do believe there is truth to it.

Anyway, there's really no conclusion to this, it's just something I found interesting that I wanted to share with y'all on this Friday!

This weekend, if you can find the time ;), take even just 10 minutes to do absolutely nothing. Do it for yourself.

Cheers!

-A

New life: Love

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my life here in Chicago yet? Just thought you'd like to know.

Contrary to the tone of my last post, I love just about everything life has to offer me here.

• I love my apartment complex and the access to racquetball and a gym to help blow off steam.
• I love taking the train to work, having a chance to relax on my commute rather than sit in traffic. It gives me a chance to read and get absorbed into my music.
• I love finally being in the same city with (some) people on my account teams. It makes all the difference in the world seeing people face to face.
• I love the opportunities I have to build the life I want here...opportunities that either didn't exist in Cleveland, or ones that I was being held back from, for one reason or another.
• I absolutely LOVE that I have friends in this city already. Skydiving friends, friends from college and high school that I've already reconnected with. I love having solid friendships in my back yard.
• I love the availability of yummy foods on every corner. Between the Italian Delis and readily-available sushi, I'm in heaven. Though I still have to try out some of these cupcakes I've heard so much about.
• I love the shopping. The outlet malls. Even though I'm not much of a shopper, it's so great to have options should I need them.
• I love being back in the Midwest where people are, in general, friendly and not as closed off as they are in Cleveland. I've yet to hear anyone say or act as if they have enough friends.
• I love that for the most part I've been able to quickly fall into a routine. It gives me structure during the week, something I constantly craved throughout my inability to settle in when I lived in NE Ohio.
• I love that people here care about hockey and basketball just as much as football. These are sports I missed watching with people who get it. Texas and Ohio were very much football states.
• In that same breath, I love that I'm out of Buckeye country...not so much that there aren't Buckeyes around, but because there are Spartans around too. There's a special connection among us Spartans.
• I love the abundance of photography opportunities. I can't wait to do some more exploring.

Those are just the off-the-top-of-my-head things. I've never been more excited about building a life in any of the cities I've lived in before. I've never felt more at home than I do here. I love my new life here. Just thought I'd share.

Cheers!

-A