Things To Be Grateful For: February Edition

I want to do something different.  At least once a month I want to stop the whining, stop the complaining, chill on the anger (granted I vent a lot more on Facebook than here), and just focus on the good stuff.  Take some time to think about what makes me smile, what makes me happy, and what makes me glad to live the life I have. That way when I get stressed out or upset when things don't go my way I can look back through this and feel my heart warm up and everything will be fine again or at least closer to fine.

I want this to mean more than just a list of cliched but true things that I'm grateful for, friends, family, health, employment, etc... although I VERY MUCH AM grateful for them, I just want to be more specific, and I also want to appreciate the little things in life that can make the difference in a person's day.

So this is what is making me happy this year so far:

• Dance Parties! Two weeks ago I hung out with a friend from HS that I got back in touch with through Facebook, and I've been having a blast getting reacquanted.
• New Friends! My buddy from HS introduced me (re-introduced? apparently we knew each other in HS but don't remember each other) to a new friend and I feel like I've met my long lost twin. Its weird but I feel like I've known her forever already.
• My mom's 50th birthday. I love my mom more than anyone in the world. She's everything to me and I hope she has at least 50 more years with me.
• Chunky Monkey Cupcakes, I sort of invented the most amazing cupcakes ever, no big deal
• Clean Sheets: is anything more cozy and relaxing than the first night with clean sheets on the bed?
• Brews with my bros... seriously unfiltered drinking with boys who have your back no matter what because they're family.
• Finally reaching 500 Sephora points and scored some pretty new OPI nail polish
• Best Friends: Dinners in the village w/ my BFF and her hubby, wine/book club parties w/ Lacey & Joaquin... its what makes things more interesting.
• Meeting a good friend over the phone. Even though we won't meet in person until NEXT SPRING I feel like we'll be great friends for life.
• Fabulous hair and and the extra fabulous friend who does my hair and makes me laugh at myself and all my silliness
• Learning how to control or maybe loosen my grip a little and talk MYSELF down from anxiety attacks (at least the little ones)
• Sleeping all the way through the night. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, its blissful

So that's the short list. There is so many other things/people/events that are great and that make me furiously happy, but I want to leave some stuff for the rest of the year too.

Marilyn

It’s weird where inspiration strikes you, the mood it can put you in, and the thoughts it provokes in you.

I was at work the other day checking my facebook page, I know bad employee, but I swear you can only stare at a contracts for so long before your eyes go crossed and your brain turns into egg salad, that’s the story I’m sticking with anyway.  Back to facebook, I was looking at my page and I saw that it recommended that I “like” Marilyn Monroe.  As my cursor hovered over the suggestion I stopped and thought to myself “Do I really *like* her?”  Yes, I realize that it’s just a social network and it doesn’t really matter if I like something there or not, but it made me think.

I will not dispute her beauty; she was a physically gorgeous woman, so much prettier than many of today’s beauty queens.  I don’t even want to debate whether or not she was a good actress, I’ve seen a couple movies she was in and I was entertained.  I just can’t decide if I like her.  I wouldn’t ever want to be like her, and I’d be disappointed if any of my friends or family members looked to her as a role model.

Now I’m one of the first people to say that you shouldn’t put celebrities up on a pedestal and hold them as role models, but this woman has inspired so many females from when she was still in the limelight, making movies and headlines, up to now.  Young women are getting facial piercings called that are reminiscent of her mole; it’s even named after her.  I don’t have any issues with facial piercings within reason, I had a nose ring in college that I would probably still have if I wasn’t allergic to it, but I did it because it was something I liked and I wanted.  I didn’t do it because I wanted to look like someone else.

I didn’t do it because I wanted to look like that incredibly beautiful, but probably very short sighted Silver Screen Queen of the past.  She died of a drug overdose at 36 years old.  I’m only 6 years younger than that right now.  She’d been married and divorced multiple times, was an addict, unreliable and unpredictable.  She was a woman-child who lost her way. 

In reading Wikipedia articles about her she seemed like she was such a sad tragic character.  She appeared bright and bubbly on the surface, but there was turmoil behind that iconic face.  I think the people who find her life enviable are the same people who think that Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet” was a romantic love story about two teenagers, when it was a deep tragedy.  It wasn’t so much of a love story as it was a cautionary tale.  It was about politics, blood feuds, and what happens when pride gets in the way of common sense.

So the question remains.  Do I like her?  I’m still on the fence.  I feel sorry for her I guess.  Her life was a stream of opportunity lost and poor decision making.  She may have had all the money, fame, love of a few good men, and the adoration of millions of fans for all eternity, but her life just makes me sad.  She had everything people claim to want, but I don’t think she was happy.

25 Random Facts

I did this 3 years ago when that 25 random facts email went viral and everyone (celebrities included) posted their facts.  It was fun then, and it can be fun now.  I was reminded of it when a friend of mine recently re-posted her facts.  I updated mine (some have changed in the past 3 years) and have made it current for my 30 year old self.  Feel free to send me your random-ness, I'd love to read them too.

1. I have hair that is longer than shoulder length for the first time in 20 years and I'm loving it (even in the moments when it makes me crazy and I'm tempted to chop it all off)
2. My favorite perfume is Philosophy's "Falling in Love" because it smells like cotton candy and summer.
3. I have a beautiful Fender acoustic guitar that I have no clue how to play more than a couple cords on.
4. My car's name is "Tiny Tim" he's a white 2005 chevy aveo hatchback (and this girl drives a standard... hence it being a boy)
5. I once went all the way to Madison WI to go to a Cal Poly football game.  Was a super awesome trip and I'm glad I had the opportunity to go.
6. I've never been outside of the USA for more than 10 minutes (mom accidentally drove past the last SD exit in the early 80s and we had to turn around on the other side of the border)
7. Yes I am distantly related to Dennis and Randy Quaid
8. No I've never met them
9. I've seen 4 of my top 5 favorite bands in concert (seen: Bon Jovi, Garth Brooks, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Gary Allan; not seen: Green Day).
10. The bass player for one of my favorite bands (CCR, they've broken up now but are still a favorite) has posted on my facebook wall... pretty much to tell me that I can't come hang out at his house when he checked in at home and I commented about it. It was an awesome/embarrassing moment.. more awesome though.
11. This isn't any easier to do than it was 3 years ago.
12. The movie "8 Seconds" ALWAYS makes me cry
13. I'm allergic to cats
14. My favorite footwear = boots, flip flops, or nothing
15. I've read all the Harry Potter books at least twice, and own most of the movies (all but year 2)
16. Baking is one of my favorite activities
17. I hate not having my toe nails painted
18. I just purchased my first iPhone, and I think it was one of my best buying decisions in a really long time.
19. I have a red swingline stapler on my desk like the one in the movie "Office Space"
20. The only professional sporting events I have been to have been baseball games, and I'm not a baseball fan... have always had an awesome time at the games though.
21. I prefer red to white wine, coors light to bud light, and 7&7s to vodka cranberries.
22. I'm not afraid of flying, but take offs and landings make me nervous
23. If you ask me about the Pinwheel Incident of 1999 I'll deny any knowledge of the event in question
24. The first CDs I bought were Green Day's "Dookie" and John Michael Montgomery's "Life's a Dance"
25. Black and White or Sepia tone photography is my favorite.