Weekly Goals #26

Hey loves! I hope you had a fantastic, utterly stellar weekend! I had a pretty great one myself. Saturday, I woke up early, on my own (which is the greatest feeling ever) and got right to work. I've really grown into my Saturday morning routine (which I described in a recent productivity post) + I'm actually getting stuff done on the weekend! It's so lovely.

Saturday night, I went out with H on our quasi-Valentine's Day date. We made yummy pancakes, and he indulged me by making mine super underdone, just the way I like them. Then we headed off to a concert for some local bands. We had a great night!

Last week, in my weekly goals post, I really enjoyed sharing some of the things that made me laugh that week + a lot of you did too! Let's be honest, Monday's just need more laughter. Here's some more silly things to get you through today!

 

How did I do last week?

Last week was just crazy. Classes were pretty much insane and my computer just decided to be a douche on me, basically all week. Not cool. Point is, my wishes didn't go all that great + I'm just trying to make excuses. I made a goal to go running and ended up just going once. But ya know, I didn't specify how much sooo I was sort of successful? 

My goals for this week:

But I finally found a plan that I think should be good for me. I'm past a couch to 5K plan, but a 10K is a wee bit ambitious these days. In my previous/better running days, I was using Hal Higdon's 1/2 marathon plan. Obviously, that's not a good choice for me either, but I did find a couch to 8K plan that I'll use. Because I'm not training for any specific race, I'm definitely not exercising six days a week, because that's just unrealistic and I'll get frustrated with myself if I set the bar that high. My goal is to run two miles on Monday and two miles on Wednesday. I definitely hope to step that up in the coming weeks but, this week is pretty busy, plus from Thursday on, I'll be in Michigan and there's no way I'm running outside there. 

My second goal is to actually finish that nonprofit website, you know, the one I meant to finish like three weeks ago? To be fair, I don't actually have a deadline until the end of February, but I want to finish it as soon as possible. 

That's about it! What are your goals for the week?

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Weekly Goals #25

Heyyyy nuggets! Happy Monday. Yeah right. Actually, I had a pretty good weekend so I'm not too stressed going into Monday. On Thursday, my computer just decided to peace out on me + wouldn't turn on or cooperate with me. Let me tell you, I spend a whole lot of time on the computer and that was super stressful. I was panic-emailing all my clients telling them I'd be back as soon as possible + I'd try to make sure I didn't lose their designs and in general, trying to stay sane. Thankfully, all my clients are lovely + rational people + no one got mad at me :) On Saturday I got my computer up-and-running so I worked through the weekend to catch up on lost time. 

Despite all that, my weekend was really nice. I had a lovely date with H that involved watching SVU (fact: I'm actually addicted to watching SVU) + eating a whole lot of Qdoba. So duh, that was good. And that put together with the fact that I got some nice sleep + eno (hammock) time, I'm one happy girl! 

In my effort to keep things that way for the rest of today, I've decided to share some sort of funny things along with my weekly goals on Mondays. Guys, I'm telling you straight: the humor section on Pinterest = GOLD. I'll tell you a thousand more times; it's just beyond great. Please tell me someone else thinks this is as hilarious as I do: 

This is how I felt every. single. moment of the Superbowl.

Guys, I'm just sitting at home alone, laughing out loud. I feel like a weirdo.

Okay, let's be serious. Back to the actual point of this post now. Since it's Monday, it's time to set my goals for the week and recap how I did on my goals from last week. 

How did I do last week?

Last week, I made three goals: to continue writing posts ahead of time/stick to my editorial calendar, be at least 80% done with my drunk driving awareness campaign site for a local law firm + to continue practicing journaling. 

Number one? Booyah. I'm not as far ahead as I would like to be, but I'm currently about five posts ahead of schedule, which I have to say, feels AWESOME. I never really understood the point of writing ahead of time before I tried it, but I'll admit that I'm officially a believer. Now, whenever I'm in the mood to write, I'll sit down for a few hours and crank out 2-3 posts, just like that!

Goal number two (making progress on my charity site) was pas bon this week. I only finished two pages out of ten for the entire site. But I'm okay with that. My "due date" that I've made for myself is still more than a week away + with all my computer issues, my design time had to be focused on my more immediate clients. 

Goal number three was also a success! I'm really not a big fan of journaling, but I'm learning to like it. I journaled three times this week + I'm really proud of myself!

My goals for this week:

A few days ago, I shared my goals for all of February. The hardest of those goals for me will be to continue building a habit of running, so I'm going to focus on that this week. I really have a love-hate relationship with running. I hate the actual act of running, but I love the pride that comes with running further than I have before, the strength I feel in my body + the endorphins. This week, I'm going to run three times, even if it's a short, mini, 15 minute jog. Whatever gets me outside + moving.

I'm just gonna stick with that for the week! That'll be tough enough.

What are your goals for the week? Do you run (help!)?

Start Here: 5 Things I Learned From Internship Hunting // You Know You're in Germany When... // My 11 Quirks

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Weekly Wishes #24

Hello loves! Happy Monday! Ew. Mondays. I saw this on Pinterest the other day and just about peed myself since I'm pretty sure that's me on Mondays. Poor lady. Side note: if you ever need a good laugh, the humor section on Pinterest is gold. Gold, I tell you. Last week, I just pitched a hissy fit because I was stressed about my move (which okay, I know isn't for like eight months, but still) and generally made everyone around me miserable. Half an hour on Pinterest? I'm just peachy. You know it's sad when Pinterest cheers you up more than friends...

Annyyyways, I'm gonna attempt to start my week off right with some of those weekly wishes. But let's recap. Last week I made two goals: successfully transition back into classes and stick with my new checklist system. I think I aced both of them! I didn't have to stay up too late with class work and I used my checklist every day but one! And since it seems like some of you are curious about this mysterious checklist system, I'll be sharing it in the next few days!

Moving on, I'm setting a few goals for the upcoming week! Firstly, I've been basically Wonder Woman since last weekend, actually getting things on my editorial calendar and written ahead of time. Someone please congratulate me. I want to continue writing posts in advance so that things can be a little more consistent around here.

I also have a project that I'm working on that I'd like to work on a lot this week. I'm making a drunk driving info site for a local law office + I've got a few more pages and some code to finish up. My goal is to finish or be at least 80% done by the end of the week!

My third and last goal (because even three goals might be more than I can handle) is to practice journaling. I go in and out of phases where I journal regularly and then not at all. All in all, I've more or less decided that journaling isn't the thing for me. I generally get impatient with it and it frustrates me to go back and look at what I wrote in the past. But with the current transitions in my life with moving and all, I think journaling is an important habit for the stage I'm currently living. I've been focusing on just taking fifteen minutes ever day or every other day to reflect on my day, not only the bad things but also the good. This week, I'd like to journal at least a page every other day.

What are your goals for the week? Do you journal?

Start Here: 6 Reasons Why I Love to Travel and You Might Too // How to Track and Organize Blogs You Sponsor (Free Resource!) // Top 10 Travel Adventures of 2013

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Three Must-Read Memoirs

This is a post I originally shared at The Nectar Collective. Today I'm linking it up to Book Chat over at the Tangerine.

Today, I’m super excited to share with y’all some of my favorite nonfiction books. Now, don’t get scared! These aren’t textbooks you struggled through in school or anything of the sort. These are just memoirs, biographies and stories. I like reading nonfiction because true books remind me of reading blogs. I get a little peek into someone’s life that is way different from mine and sometimes that can really be entertaining or thought-provoking. Most nonfiction books that I like fall into three categories: slightly nerdy, moving or funny. Today I’m going to introduce you to one of each.



The Slightly Nerdy: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Henrietta Lacks was a poor black woman in the South in the mid-1900s when she developed cancer and underwent treatment at John Hopkins Medical Center. She passed away but unknown to her–or her struggling family–her cells were being grown and sold around the world. The book follows the family more than the science aspect as Skloot introduces us to Henrietta’s family and their lives. This true story touches on themes of crime and racism as Henrietta’s daughter comes to terms with deceit and injustice since Henrietta’s cells change the world but her own daughter can’t even afford healthcare.

Quote: “She’s the most important person in the world and her family living in poverty. If our mother is so important to science, why can’t we get health insurance?” –Deborah, Henrietta’s daughter

Why You’ll Love It: It’s just enough science that you feel like you’re learning a little, but enough crime and drama that you won’t want to put it down. Rebecca Skloot makes her characters so real that you’ll really feel like you know them by the end of the book.

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The Moving Memoir: Beautiful Boy by David Sheff

Called a “fiercely candid memoir,” Beautiful Boy traces Sheff’s journey dealing with his son Nic’s transformation from a joyful, athletic, good-natured, and kind Honors Student to an out-of-control delinquent addicted to crystal meth.

Quote: “I’m not sure if I know any ‘functional’ families, if functional means a family without difficult times and members who don’t have a full range of problems.”

Why You’ll Love It: This book is sad, but I also couldn’t stop reading. He balances out the heart-breaking moments with stories that make you love Nic. In the first few pages, Sheff shows you just how great his son is and how he the addiction devastated him. I will never read this book again but I truly believe everyone should read it. Definite trigger warning though, if you couldn't gather that.

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The Witty Tale: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

If you like humor, you have got to read David Sedaris’ books (I’ve heard Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls is hilarious as well). In this book, Sedaris tells a series of short stories from his life on all sorts of topics ranging from bull fights and learning French to family bands. It will make you laugh all along the way.

Quote: “I find it ridiculous to assign a gender to an inanimate object incapable of disrobing and making an occasional fool of itself. Why refer to lady crack pipe or good sir dishrag when these things could never live up to all that their sex implied?” –On Learning French.

Why You’ll Love It: It’s hilarious. What more reason do you need? Plus every chapter’s a different story so you can flip open to a random chapter, read for fifteen minutes, get yourself a good laugh and be on your merry way. If you can, find the audiobook at your library--it's hilarious in his voice!

What about you? Have you read any of these books? Do you like reading memoirs?

Where'd You Go, Bernadette [book review]

So this is a book review. I've stayed away from book reviews from a long time because I thought I'd have to use phrases like "a novel that subverts conventions" and "affecting characters" and all sorts of phrases that actually tell you nothing about the book and why you should wanna read it. But this is my version of a book review.

The book is called Where'd You Go, Bernadette. Here's the cover.



Here's the basics: Fifteen-year-old Bee got good grades in eighth-grade. And what did her parents promise her? A trip to Antarctica. Yep, that's right. The only smallish problem is that Bee's mom (Bernadette) is agoraphobic and pretty much hates people and socializing and being in public. To her, spending time on a cruise ship is just too much to handle. So Bernadette disappears and Bee has to go halfway around the world. To some, Bernadette is crazy, but to Bee, her mom is her best friend.

Why you'll love this book: It's so funny--but intentionally. It's like it's smart funny and it makes me feel smart that I think it's funny. There's a lot of dry humor and sarcasm and that's just splendid. This book is very creatively written too. The book is made up of all of Bernadette's emails, receipts, journals and instructions to her virtual assistant in India (who turns out to be in the Russian mafia) and more that Bee "compiles" to make the book.

My favorite quote: “This is why you must love life: one day you're offering up your social security number to the Russian Mafia; two weeks later you're using the word calve as a verb.” --Bernadette

Basically: this book is funny, involves Antarctica, the Russian mafia and drama. Please, just read it. It was a great book.

Awkward book review done.

Over and out.

Catching My Eye 07.

The best of the interwebs:

♥How to make your t-shirts look semi-ladylike.

♥This super duper cute elephant and hot air balloon throw pillow. Literally, anytime you see anything with an elephant (or rhino or whale or dinosaur) on it, please just buy it for me. I'll love you forever.

♥This writer made me laugh by rejecting his rejection letter.



♥This jelly.

♥Is there any land in America at all? This map makes it look like all rivers.

♥Here's that permission you've been waiting for.

♥McDonald's suggested budget for employees shows just how hard it is to get by on minimum wage.

♥Your sneezes sound like choruses of angels giggling. --Emergency Compliments.

♥You might have missed: Three Must-Read Memoirs ♥ Things I love about me +why that's not arrogant ♥ A reading playlist ♥ Sponsor CMS in July/August.

Catching My Eye 06.

The best of the interwebs:

♥I know this is super old stuff, but this video of Jimmy Kimmel getting Coachella attendees to lie about their music knowledge cracks me up. Probably something I'd do though--I hate admitting when I haven't heard of a band. Anyways, I was cracking up.

♥We all know we should go to bed early and get up early, but how often does that really happen? Here's 7 ways to get in bed earlier tonight.

♥Clearly, I still can't stop thinking about Iceland. Take me there!



♥This Spanish restaurant allows unemployed patrons to work for an hour in exchange for a meal.

♥This awesomely education infographic shows ten top destinations in the world that may be disappearing and why you should visit them while you still can.

♥Beautiful faceted, geometric tattoos on The Uniqueness of Being's feature called Tattoosday.

♥You might have missed: Let's Make Things Pretty: Free Fonts ♥ 4 Genius TEDTalks ♥ In Which I Try To Make You Like Something Weird

Don't forget these two super important things!!

I'm holding an awesome Adventure Lovin' Giveaway AND Call Me Sassafras has ad spaces on SALE for super cheap!

Catching My Eye 03.

This week: I moved to Michigan for the summer, leaving my friends and the boy behind. ♥ Started work assistant managing an ice cream shop ♥ read lots ♥ enjoyed the first few beautiful Lake Michigan beach days of many to come ♥ played endless games of Taboo with friends ♥ made multiple late night McDonald's, Target and Dollar Store runs with friends ♥

Now for the best of the interwebs:

♥Is summer keeping you from actually getting stuff done? Here are 16 ways to get motivated. You can also check out my Weekly Wishes and see what kind of stuff I'm trying to get done. My favorite way is #11: Start small. Really small. If you want to start a habit of exercising for half an hour a day, exercise for five minutes a day, and only that. Make that a habit, then move to ten, then fifteen, then twenty, then thirty. Easy peasy.

♥This gorgeous peach statement necklace. Or, this supercute trio of seaside themed earrings from The Northern Sea for $12.

♥The Minimum Wage Machine gives a brilliant social commentary on the minimum wage. By turning a crank, the machine releases a penny every 4.97 seconds...the exact same as minimum wage, which many people earn for much harder work than turning a crank.

♥If you consider yourself intelligent but still "normal", check out TED's list of 180+ books any human being should consider reading.

♥Because sometimes nature is just too weird, this website [WTF, Evolution] chronicles weird animals & plants and captions them with witty remarks, like this.

“Check out this awesome dance move I invented.”

“Oh god, evolution, please stop doing that.”

“What? It’s called ‘pronking.’ All the springbok are into it.”

“I can’t take you anywhere.”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMIiB9DnRXg]

♥If you've ever worked in the service industry, you will crack up at this (or even if you haven't). On this site, the staff chronicle the antics of crazy restaurant customers."

♥You might have missed: Wake Up, Allie [a playlist] ♥ Weekly Wishes #2 ♥ A Packing Playlist