Life By Kristen

Summer Lovin’

( Apologies if the Grease song is now stuck in your head!)

I’m not the biggest fan of summer. I mean I like it, and during the frigid days of February, I dream about it. Summer is probably tied for second with winter in my lineup of favorite seasons (#1 is fall, #4 is spring because allergies). I like being able to enjoy outside in the shoulder months of the season, but here in New England, July and August often are grossly humid and hot. Apologies to those who live far South from me and have humidity for more months. I cannot imagine how you survive.

The past few weeks have been filled with that hot, humid weather that has you sweating just from breathing. Despite this, it’s been some of the best few weeks of summer I can remember. Museum visits, lunches outdoors, walks on the less sticky days, reading outside on my swing in the backyard. We finally went blueberry picking as a family, which was tons of fun.

This past weekend, we spent a lot of time indoors in the air conditioning being lazy, which was glorious by itself too. I posted over on Twitter a few Saturdays ago that hot summer Saturdays look a lot like cold winter Saturdays– lots of inside time in the A/C, reading and binge watching a show ( a few weeks ago we got sucked into some HGTV marathons and hunger pains was the only thing that broke us out of it– and got us out of the house!)

Shamefully, I haven’t made it to the beach yet, which is slightly embarrassing since there is one about a 10 minute walk from my work and I drive by at least 3 on my commute. I remember we practically lived at the beach each summer when we were kids ( probably because it was inexpensive!) and as an adult I think of ten other things I could be doing since the ocean is always there– definitely something I take for granted.

Halfway Through the Year?!?!

6 months through the year, 6 months more to go.

My word of the year: embrace.

I think I’m doing pretty well with capturing the spirit of the word and working towards my goals.

Credit card debt- GONE.

Backyard cleanout- DONE.

I’ve baked bread. I finally got on Instagram to force me to take more photos.

Working on  A LOT of house projects, including realizing hiring people to do some of the nagging tasks may be the best use of our money. Time and sanity is worth investing in, especially when doing work at house after a full day of work is the actual worst and most exhausting thing.

Overall, it’s been a good year, though realizing that it’s a year of action towards anticipated changes, whatever they may be. The second part of the year will definitely be focused on making strides towards those changes and focusing on my health ( which isn’t bad, just could be much better). I’m being kinder with myself, trying to get rid of the ‘shoulds’ and just enjoy, relax, and embrace.

How’s your 2016 coming along?

Mantra, Lately

What I’ve been reminding myself of lately

From Marie Forleo instagram

Silence- Rothko

via Instagram Design Crush

Considering I had a revelation about life while staring at Rothko’s at the Rothko Chapel in Houston in 2011, I would say this is certainly true.

Curious Mind

There are endless things that fascinate me. As a curious person and lifelong learner, there is always something I’m googling or reading up on.

Flocks of birds that move together in amazing, mesmerizing motion called murmurations ( like these).

The way newborn animals like horses and giraffes get on their feet within the first few minutes of birth.

People who have super interesting career paths.

The fact that human beings are the only animals with chins!?!? 

The list could go on, but a lot of my fascinations are generally based on things I can’t quite comprehend. Like when we watched The Martian, I was captivated by all the space science, physics and math talk. It’s like their speaking another language to me ( especially since I’m terrible at math), but I’m just captivated by it. Q and I watched a fascinating documentary Particle Fever  about this huge atom collider in Switzerland. I couldn’t even try to explain what it does, what they’re trying to prove, or anything remotely related to the science of it, but it caught my attention and interest like nothing else. Maybe in my past life I was some sort of scientist.

I think part of it is the general awe of how much is in the world– how much we know and constantly learn about science, nature, space, and so on. But also how much there STILL is to learn. Again, as a curious person this is endlessly fascinating to me– that somewhere in the rain forest of South America there is a little tiny insect or frog that no one has found yet, but that someday will be discovered and someone will name after their mother.

I love this about myself, this quest for learning. Seriously, the above link to the article about chins nearly blew my mind and I talked about it with whoever would listen, even bringing it up totally randomly in a work meeting that had nothing to do with chins ( other than looking at a photo of someone with a large one). It’s one of my quirks– something that the smartphone and iPad have only intensified since I can look up my random musings of life right away. Side note: this may be one of Q’s biggest pet peeves with me as every time we watch a movie, I’m usually right next to him looking up the real story behind the plot or some random historical fact.

In any case, this love of learning just about anything is making me realize, as I think about my next career move, that I could do almost anything and probably love it. Well, minus science or math. But my interest in these topics makes me realize that while I could not be a practitioner on the subjects or even explain them very clearly to people that my love of learning and passion for knowledge puts me in a great spot to support folks who do amazing things and help others get excited for them too. I still don’t know what the next step is for me, but owning the fact that as long as I’m challenged and learning on a pretty much daily basis, makes me feel confident that whatever happens next will feed that part of who I am.

Greetings February

Apparently, the groundhog did not see his shadow this morning, so 6 weeks of spring-like weather await. Seeing as it was in the 60s in my end of New England yesterday, I believe it. Fingers crossed the mild weather continues and that no snow storms come February 22-23rd to New England or Mid Atlantic as the loan show objects for my new exhibition are traveling on those days. Hopefully I didn’t just jinx myself.

In any case, February! This month my main focus is a no-spend month. Of course there will be regular bill pays, groceries, and some needed supplies like toilet paper, but otherwise, no buying for me. I did some hefty sale shopping after Christmas and am actively trying to pare down my wardrobe, so mostly this month is about no clothes or shoes shopping. It also works out well that as this month ends, then it’s my birthday so I can think very smartly and strategically about what I want to buy myself to celebrate, besides my annual birthday massage ritual. I’m trying to ’embrace’ the belongings I have and see how I can make various clothes and accessories I have already work for me, instead of running out to whatever retailer to get something to fit some imagined hole I think I have in my closet.

This month, with its 3 day weekend without Little Man right in the middle, is a great time to ’embrace’ our house and see what improvements we’d like to make this year. I’m eyeing some changes to our living room/dining room setup and something to do to bring some color into my very beige kitchen (more to come on this). Over the weekend a coworker took a table and chairs off my hands that has been languishing in my basement for a few years ( a hand me down from my brother that never worked in our space) and since I’ve been spending more time down there to exercise, I’m thinking of ways we can use the basement more for family time.

Other than that, work, both my full-time job and freelance writing, is in a bit of a busy push which is great, if exhausting. Nice to feel challenged on an almost daily basis!

What’s up for your February plans?