Snail mail and The Happiness Project

Ironically, my current blog entry is devoted to an individual who (I like to think) avidly reads my blog and, so, saw an opportunity that aligned with the whole gratitude journal theme that my blog is slowly (attempting) to evolve into. Granted, I kind of forgot about the gratitude journal theme with my last entry but… come on! Cubs… cops?! Can you really blame me? You can’t make this stuff up people! Haha. ANYWAY.

A special special SPECIAL thank you to my dear heart Xenia, who truly understands the wonders and glories that only snail mail can bring to an individual’s life. Seriously, I love checking my apartment mailbox now because of the package slips that I receive, primarily from Xenia. I mean, it’s one thing to receive letters and cards which are fabulous delights in and of itself. But packages?? Divinity itself.

With as much as I love love LOVE snail mail, not to mention snail mail PACKAGES, imagine my sheer BLISS at realizing that my latest snail mailed package was a BOOK… and not just ANY book… but TOTALLY a book that I’d been eyeing for the past couple of weeks but couldn’t justify buying as I’d just recently impulse bought a couple of other books which were so NOT good (it was my personal punishment for idly spending money). What book, you ask? Of all things: The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. Lakdsfjaklsdjf! I KNOW RIGHT?!?!? It gets even better… it’s a book that’s totally based off a BLOG!!! It’s like my dream come TRUE!! Anyway, it’s pretty apparent why Xenia would put two and two together… The Happiness Project is TOTALLY all about “how to be more satisfied with your life” and “how to be more appreciative with little everyday things” - if that doesn't scream gratitude journal, I simply don't know what does. And, while I do think I’m a fairly optimistic person who truly does try to focus on the bright side of things (hence this whole gratitude journal thing), I must say that this book is quite insightful. My personal favorite: she totally advocates for getting up an extra hour early in the morning. I’ve been trying to advocate this for YEARS to my friends, but have yet to succeed. I mean, it’s so PEACEFUL in the morning! And even Gretch (I believe the author and I are now beyond the first name, and onto the nickname, basis) discusses how much more productive she is in the early morning… AGAIN, something I TOTALLY advocate but which no one seems to buy. Sigh. Anyway. As long as the word is getting out there, I guess. Hmph.

Anyway, the avid reader that I am, the avid promoter of personal development that I am, the avid promoter of general happiness and gratitude that I am, the avid promoter of… blogs (let’s be honest here) that I am… you KNOW that it would take a LOT for me to highly recommend such a book. So, even if you don’t ever listen to me about the wonders and glories of the early morning (and I’m clearly not bitter at all), please do listen to me about this and PICK UP THIS BOOK ASAP!!! Perfect Mother’s Day present, if you will… see? Always a thinker… that I am. (Although, I’m sure, some do beg to differ.)

In conclusion, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU times a million, Xenia!!! Today’s object of gratitude? You would think (given the title of this entry), it would be snail mail or the book. No way. Today’s object of gratitude: the one and only irreplaceable Xenia herself. Alfkjalksdfjklsadj!! Love you!! Miss you!! THANK YOU!!! You are truly appreciated. J

the art of the sweatpant...

wowza! it's been a record long time for me to go sans a blog post! i know each and every one of you has been waiting on the edge of your seat so i thoroughly apologize in advance. haha. juuust kidding. anyway, after re-reading my (long... and growing longer by the minute) list of things that i dont like that most normal people do, ive decided to take a new approach with my blog. this stems from a conversation i recently had with a friend about the gratitude journal that i used to keep in high school. it's really quite a simple idea (that i, of course, pawned off the oprah, herself), that i must say made quite a difference on my life outlook. basically, i used to keep a notebook filled with random words or phrases of things that i was grateful for each day. my rule was to have at LEAST five things to jot down. and the best part about this was that it was the least time consuming thing ever (if i chose it to be) because it wasnt like i had to write out a whole "dear diary, today i went to school and ate a pbj sandwich for lunch and stayed late for x afterschool activity" entry. ive never been able to do that (which, i know, is quite shocking considering... well, the fact that i have a blog, for one. ha. but it's different to type out every thought you have rather than WRITE it out! talk about writer's cramp). but given how little time could be invested into this project, it's amazing how much more aware i became of, quite simply, the little things in life.

that said, ive decided to use my blog as a public sort of gratitude journal... in hopes of making everyone reading it just that much more aware and appreciative of all the little things in YOUR life as well! so, without further adieu... the first subject of my (informal) gratitude journal...

sweatpants!!

i know this may be the most random subject ever as my first gratitude journal component, but i have thought of nothing less for the past twenty four hours.

to begin, a little history: ive been a fan of sweatpants for all my life, but i believe high school was when the love for the sweatpants truly manifested itself into absolute adoration. this was due to the beauty of "casual" days at my lovely little private, catholic, all-girls high school. on said "casual" days, all 450 girls could nix the britney spears-type plaid uniform skirt and polo shirt for any and everything. and trust me, since it was all girls, there was not a care in the world. so, while some girls maintained some level of dignity and dressed down to jeans, i (along with quite a few others, i must say) took the liberty of donning... well, sweats. i mean, i really dont understand how some people consider jeans to be the most comfortable attire ever. never have i felt that way. how can you possibly top sweats, with their roomy legs, cloth material, and elastic waistbands? in short, you cant.

the adoration for the sweats only escalated in college. let me tell you, it was scrub. f'ing. central. but whatever. it was college. who WASNT a scrub 24/7? okay. dont answer that. and maybe i took things a little overboard (im going to very vaguely reference six days during freshman finals week here...)

now. why have i been thinking of sweats for the past twenty four hours? because last night (saturday), i had to attend this event requiring... ugh, dressing up. i know, i know. shouldnt girls be super excited to get all dolled up for a night out on the town? who knows- because i have certainly NEVER felt that way. i knew it was a bad sign when i started thinking about my sweats as soon as i got out of the shower... to begin this whole getting ready process. and the whole time i was bedecked in my little black dress (SO STEREOTYPICAL, I KNOW, RIGHT?! ugh gag me) for the evening, traipsing about in these heels that i swear were going to permanently cut up my pinky toes, all i could think about was coming home to the glories of my purple fleece pj pants... or maybe my light blue pj pants, dotted with snowflakes... or maybe my basic, unbelievably cozy, black yoga pants... okay, so can you already tell the problem here? here i am, putting about fifty times more thought into the sweats i wanted to change into than i put into deciding what i was going to wear out for the night. literally, about an hour before i had to start getting ready for the event, i went to my closet and took about two minutes to pick the dress. quite frankly, i just dont think dressing up is all that interesting. and so much CONCENTRATION has to go into simple MOVEMENTS... like going up and down stairs in heels? kill me. and making sure to suck in after youve eaten, like, a grain of rice? no thank you. oh shoot. this was supposed to be about how grateful i am about sweats... how did this turn into a vent session about dressing up? oops.

you better believe that as im sitting here, writing this entry, i am totally and completely bedecked in sweats... ive gone with the blue pj pants, dotted with snowflakes, in case you were wondering.