A Look Back at 2011

It's New Year's Eve, it's New Year's Eve!  You know what that means - time for reflection!  Reflection....or reminisce....should be my middle name.  It's been quite a year.  I'm not quite sure where to start since it's definitely been a roller coaster year.  I just want to thank all of my family and friends that have been there through everything this year.  Sometimes you have to realize that not everything can be dealt with on your own.  It's been a year where everything could have changed forever (in a negative way).  I am thankful that it all worked out in the end, but there were some intense dips on this roller coaster ride! I want to acknowledge it, and that's all.  I'd rather focus on the positive.

I just want to highlight some of my favorite moments and memories of this year.

First of all, I am so thankful to have seen my nephew Abriel this summer.  It's been quite a few years.  That story is quite a journey in and of itself.  Although it makes me sad that he's so far away, I was excited that I got to see him this year.  It's amazing that he's thirteen already.  My goodness, I still have the picture of him as a rowdy baby on my desk :)  I hope that I will be making more trips to see him.

Sunset in Louisville, Kentucky (the only pic I
snapped while I was there for a conference!)

I'm thankful for all of the wonderful trips and places I got to visit this year.  I went to Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia; Louisville, Kentucky, and Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee.  On all of these trips, I enjoyed my time with family and close friends, and met new friends.  I also got on a plane quite a few times this year, and all by myself, too!  This is quite the accomplishment since I don't really like to fly.  I'll give myself a pat on the back for sucking it up and being a big girl.

It's been fun working in my new job.  I have great coworkers and busy days that keep me focused.  I really appreciate all of the wonderful opportunities that have come my way this year and all of the awesome people I have been able to meet along the way.

My Connecticut Huskies won the NCAA basketball championship this year!  Yay!!  Gotta love my UCONN Huskies!

My best friend got married....in a SURPRISE wedding I helped her pull off during her housewarming/holiday party.  I didn't think we'd be able to do it, but we did.  I'm so very happy for her and am so happy that she let me in on the secret!  This small ceremony reminded me that all you really need is love, love, LOVE!

I'm sure there are many more personal moments that happened throughout the year, but these special ones stick out in my mind as I reflect on 2011.  I'm surprised at myself actually.  I thought I would write much more.  Sometimes when you've had a difficult year, it's hard for that to not take up a huge part of your "yearly memory space."

I am hoping 2012 will be a wonderful year full of new beginnings and major changes.  I will be the first to admit that I am sometimes afraid of change.  Guards and walls are up, but I think 2012 is calling for a surrender.  When it comes to the serenity prayer, I feel like I have serenity and wisdom  (maybe) somewhat down, but that courage bit is a challenge.

Happy New Year everyone!  Blessings, love, peace, happiness, and much laughter to you all! xoxo

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." - Oprah Winfrey

"Spending Out"

I recently finished reading "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin.  It basically is a personal story of one woman's pursuit of happiness.  I enjoy reading these types of books (Hello, Eat. Pray. Love!).  Unfortunately, Gretchen was unable to just drop her life and travel around the world as Ms. Elizabeth Gilbert did so I was curious to see where her personal journey would lead her.  It really is a simple book.  There was no earth-shattering revelations here other than the simple things that she did which made her happy.  She focuses on the typical day to day:  family, work, relationships.

Some of the favorite things I took away from this book were her emphasis on de-cluttering and what she called "spending out."  It's the end of year and a good time to de-clutter, go through the closet, and pull out those things you don't need or want anymore.  I love the feeling of purging the extra useless items from my space.  I haven't gotten all feng-shui just yet, but I just feel so much better knowing that I don't have random things all around.  This physical clutter (even if it's not really much) begins to turn into mental clutter.  I can't seem to focus until things are in order.  Again, this was not earth-shattering advice, and I'm not saying that what I'm about to bring up next is either....

But she brought up the idea of using what you have. "Spending out" she calls it.  Sounds pretty basic, huh?  It probably is to most people, but I have always been someone who likes to save stuff - save it for a special occasion, save it so as not to waste it, etc.  But why?  Why not use it now?  Silly examples:  candles and stationary.  For years, I have collected notecards, pads, stationary of all sorts, but never wanted to use it all up.  Now I have boxes full of paper just sitting there, never having been used.  And candles, my goodness, candles!  Tealights, votives, jars - all of these are screaming "USE ME, USE ME!"  So I have been doing that recently, and it feels great.  Why does something so silly and simple feel so good?  Because a purpose is being fulfilled is my guess.  

I guess I just realized that being a "saver" can actually be wasteful.  Appreciate what you have - the here, the now.  Appreciate the beauty.  Don't let those things just die in a box.  Everything has a purpose and that purpose should be fulfilled.  Here's to lighting those candles and sending those notes!

Oh how you've piqued my Pinterest!

Oh Pinterest...how crazily addictive you are.  When I first learned of Pinterest, I just saw it in people's Facebook status updates, "Thank you Pinterest!" attached to a picture of Christmas jars....I didn't get it...Then I did some research and saw that it is a virtual pinboard where you can post things you find on your own or repin from other posters.  Very cute idea.  Once I got my formal invite to join, it was on!  There I was scouring the web for inspirational and cute things to post - recipes, books, ideas for my dream home, etc.  I really have come to love it.

I've come to love it so much that I got a little giddy when one pin I posted had 91 repins!  Woo-hoo!  Why does this make me happy?  I have no idea.  It's pointless really.  A pin board is something you see as valuable and inspirational.  Who cares if others want to share my pin?  I mean really......I do!! Just being silly, but it's a cool site.  I've got several crafty ideas from there, and plenty more I'm willing to try.

A few random things I've noticed about Pinterest though:

1.)  I'm not trying to judge people's boards and stuff, but some of these things do concern me.  One of them being boards devoted to fitness and physical appearance.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with posting fitness tips - I love it, it's great, hoorah.  BUT, I do have a problem when people have boards of pictures but nothing but incredibly skinny people - like model skinny, not realistic, unhealthy unskinny.  One girl had a whole board with just captions of "Hot," "Wanna have those legs!", etc, etc.  For whatever reason, it all just slapped me in the face.  We always hear how the media plays into body image and whatnot, but this site makes it very clear as it's right in your face.  I just want to comment on some of the pins and type, "THIS ISN'T CUTE OR HEALTHY!!!"  Blahhhh.....but what really threw me over the edge was a massive repinning of a fitness regime.  It seemed innocent enough at first until you continued to read through the list of about 50 tips.  It actually was a list of how you can be a successful anorexic or bulemic.  I hope that sh.... was pulled from the site real quick.  Ugh.

2.)  Maybe I don't like to jinx stuff - maybe it's just me.  I'm not going to post baby things or plan my wedding until those things are actually in the works.  Okay, I will call myself out on the whole dream home thing.  I am posting things for the home, but that is something that is technically always in the works.  But nurseries and wedding dresses, not until it's somewhat of a near reality will I be posting stuff.  Hopefully I will get to do this one day on Pinterest as it will be super duper addictive.

Here are a few things I've made recently:

A paper wreath

Birdseed ornaments!  So cute and so easy to make.

Initials from magazine paper.  A homemade gift from me to my coworker for Secret Santa: "Something Made of Paper" day.

Rudolph cupcakes!

Happy Holidays everyone.  I'm already scouring Pinterest for next year's ideas!

xoxo

A Halloween Baking Story

Once upon a time, two friends met up to bake for Halloween....

They were successful in making these Frankenstein cupcakes.

However, they failed miserably in trying to make melted witches.....

Po desperately hoped that they would throw them in her mouth instead of the trash can.  Po was sad.

The END.

Reflections on 9/11

Today marks the ten year anniversary of September 11, 2001.  I always say it, but again, time flies by so fast.  To think that it has already been a decade...wow.  The memory is still very vivid and I imagine it will stay that way forever.

I graduated high school in 2001.  My graduation gift was a trip to New York City.  I grew up in Connecticut but never really got the chance to visit New York and do all of the touristy things like visit Times Square or watch a Broadway show.  So I finally got my wish in June 2001.  We stayed in the Ameritania Hotel which was right above the David Letterman show studios.  We visited the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, and of course, the World Trade Center.

I remember us walking towards the WTC, our feet hurting from walking so many blocks, but being amazed at the height of these buildings.  I was a little nervous because anyone who knows me well knows that I am afraid of heights.  It wasn't until we actually got in line to go up the elevator that I realized no one was allowed on the outside roof (I thought it would be similar to going to the top of the Empire State building).  The man who guided us in the elevator was telling my parents about some salsa dancing event that occurs outside on the promenade at night.  We flew up to the floor and I remember being so afraid to even go near the windows.  I felt like I was going to faint.  But eventually, I got over it and peered down at the city below.  It was amazing. 

Three months later and those towers were crumbling to the ground.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  It was my first semester in college and I had just left my apartment to go to my math lab.  I hadn't heard anything on TV before leaving and everyone else was in class as usual.  But I will never forget a male student in the corner saying, "The Twin Towers are gone."  I was confused more than anything, hoping that he was wrong or playing some kind of sick joke.  But he was right.

A few years after I had graduated college and was working full time, I went to a week-long crisis responder training.  It was a tough week, and at the end of it all we had the chance to put our skills to practice.  We simulated a group crisis intervention session (GCI) and our instructor had us sit in a circle and talk about where we were on 9/11/01.  After about half the circle shared their story, the instructor told me to get up and lead the rest of the group.  After a moment's panic and hesitation, I got up.  I asked the next person to share their story and the woman goes on to share that she was actually in one of the Towers on the 17th floor when one of the planes struck.  She goes on to share through her tears that she froze.  She remembers someone helping her out of the building.  After that, she says everything just moved in slow motion like a movie.  I could not believe that this practice session had just turned into something very real - and I happened to be the guinea pig facilitator....So what do you say?  What did I say??  I don't remember exactly but I said something to her and the group.  All I remember is her coming up to me and giving me a hug.  But really, she was the one that needed to be applauded.  I can't imagine what she must have gone through.  What she shared was very real and not sugar-coated at all.  While there were many heroes in New York that day, she also experienced and lived through seeing people at their worst.  Nobody can judge her reflections on that day.  It was her experience and she was strong enough to share it with a group of people she had only known for about 35 hours at the point.  I hope she is doing well and that she has some sort of peace of mind on this anniversary.

I remember 9/11 and always will.  I will always think of those people who I had a quick interaction with on a bright and hot summer day in June 2001.  I was just a high school graduate ready to move forward with my life, just wanting to visit a city that inspired me.  A city that still inspires me to this day....

Rest in peace to all those that lost their lives on September 11, 2001.  I love you New York City.

Introducing Cake Pops!

They are a major pain in my neck but...they are cute!  You basically crumble a cake and mix in some frosting and then form and chill the actual balls of cake.  Then you get to dip them in some melted candy coating, pop them on a lollipop stick and you are good to go with whatever design.

These were chicken cake pops I made for my coworker's son's birthday.  The candy coating was difficult to work with on my first try so I tried my best to spoon it around and make it look like "feathers."

Basketballs - this time for my boss's son's birthday!  I piped the basketball lines on with melted chocolate.

Baby Shower Cake Pops!  Candy necklace candies were used for the pacifiers!  :)

Investing in a candy melting pot was a good idea.  It made it a whole lot easier to dip and coat the cake pops!  Yummy!

Blog Title Regrets?

The reason I named my blog "Feathers in My Hair" is because I loved the various fascinators that English people wore at weddings.  It was a random thing I thought about when I had to choose a name for my blog.  I thought it was cute.  I thought it was whimsical.  Now, I'm just like, "Why????"  Apparently, literal feathers in your hair is all the rage right now.  Just one or a few long feathers serving as a strand of your hair.  I don't know what I think.  All I know is that I much prefer the visual of having random feathers just sticking out the top of your head.  Just my opinion.  If you're going to be silly, go all out!  To me, having a feather strand or two that ALMOST blends in with the rest of your hair is right there on the verge of taking yourself too seriously.  I'd rather have the feather factor be all up in my face rather than realizing later that "Wait, you have a feather in your hair!"  Own the feathers, put more in, let them shine!

P.S.  No regrets.  "Feathers in My Hair" is what it is.