Cookies, Babies, Hobbies & Europe

Has the New Year kicked off in FULL gear for anyone else? I mean, can I get a minute?

Lot's of excitement already in 2015. This weekend I am off to see my longtime best friend's newwest bundle of joy. He is 4 weeks old and couldn't be more adorable. We are also celebrating her other son, Alex's second birthday at the Crayola Factory!

So so so much work travel this month; Philadelphia, Boston, Pittsburgh - oh, my! It is a must for me to start the year in a good place with my teams. 

I get to make a short pitstop in my old stomping grounds of Washington DC to see some old friends and another new baby edition. If they makes their arrival this month! Fingers crossed!

Oh, fellow bloggers. I am having my very first Cookie Exchange Party. I thought it would be a fun "after the holiday" get together party. Food, cookie decorating, drinking, etc. If anyone has had one, would love advice, input, feedback and all that jazz. I am currently looking for recipes and drinks.

As we are on the New Year trend ... I have a goal of SAVING. I have been pretty good about it and have definitely been spending a significantly increased amount of time at the gym. Win?! The negative? I HAVE to find some hobbies. Hobbies that aren't super expensive. I am pretty open to new things and not picky. I love photography and have a great camera. I took painting for awhile. So, thoughts, idea?? Send 'em at me!

The saving fun comes from the fun Eurotrip in 97 days. Is it lame that I have a countdown? I need motivation, ok? :) http://itsalmo.st/#eurotime

I am going with my bestie from college, Victoria. She is moving back to London (home). Tickets are purchased and itinerary is final! Check out where we are going. Any tips or tricks are welcome. 

#V&S

Happy New Year - Bring on 2015!

Looking at my blog, it is only appropriate that I give it a facelift this month. New year, new look! So, that will be coming soon.

I can't believe November AND December passed so fast. I will wrap them up quickly!

November weather was amazing. I think we left off with my mini reunion with my fave DC ladies. 

November slowly cooled down. Fall weather is my favorite weather. You break out the boots, the scarves, the hats. Ahhh. The pumpkin everything. :) I had an amazing Thanksgiving with some friends in NYC. 

December was BUSY to to the most accurate. Kicked it off with a visit to the ballet to see the Nutracker which was pretty beautiful.

Followed that up with a work/play trip to Portland, Oregon. First time there. I loved it. I mean, what is there to not like about wine, specifically red Pinot Noir wine. I mean, really. Try arguing with me. LOVE at first taste. I would go back a million times and always be happy. This girl loves some quality wine. So, yes, I enjoyed a few days pre work trip with two of the ladies I work with, enjoying all the food and wine Portland has to offer. Yum!

A day after I got home from Portland my dad came to visit the Big City! Talk about a quick turn around. In the past 10 or so year, I haven't really spent much 1-1 time with my dad, but I really appreciate the time with him. We did SO much. All the "true" tourist stuff and some pretty unique things too. I would like to think he really enjoyed himself and the time we had together. I know I reall cherished it.

My birthday came, big 29! I think I celebrate in my favorite way ever! We went to Queen of the Night at the Paramont Hotel. It is a dark debutante ball, an interactive immersion theater. Check out Youtube for videos.  We got all dressed up - see below and went ALL out. I love it and would hands down pay the price to do it again.

Then we moved on to Christmas. Sam and I celebrated in true NYC fashion at a day spa aka bath house (a fancy one - get your mind out of the gutter)! It was nice, relaxing and everything we wanted. We did a super low key dinner and movie day with the cats.

New Year Eve fell in line the same way. We have done the fancy parties and dinners and well, we just didn't want to do that this year. Crazy, right? Nah, we just wanted simple.

I don't really (or have chosen not to) set resolutions. I always, sadly, break them. I already started working out WAY more. Sam checks in on me, which is a great motivation. Other than that I am VERY strictly budgeting myself. No more Starbucks (wipes tears). I bought myself a coffee machine for work. No more weekly mani/pedi. Sad, but so very true. I am breaking habits that can easily be broken. I am doing this for good reason ...

I booked my first international trip to Europe! One of my nearest and dearest BFFFF from school is moving back home to London. :( So, I am going back with her and taking just shy of 3 weeks off work to travel with her. Tentative schedule is London - Brussels - Bruge - Amsterdam - Germany - Italy or Switzerland (still deciding) and France. Wow, wow, wow. I never thought this would happen. As soon as the flight was booked I couldn't stop thinking about it. The planning hasn't stopped, the research, the everything. I know, to some people this may not be a big deal. Growing up my parents BARELY traveled out of state (once, maybe twice) so to travel out of the country was an unknown. :) Any advice is welcome!

I Failed At Blogtober

So, let's talk the obvious. I failed at Blogtober.

Unfortunately life happens and A LOT of life happened in October. I could give you a million reasons why I couldn't pull it off, but it came down to work being the busiest month yet (with lots of travel). My focus has definitely been elsewhere. One thing I did realize is that I blog and enjoy it when not forced. Ha!

Someone near and dear to me lost a very important person in their life. It has been a completely new experience for us to navigate together. I can't even pretend to understand the thoughts and emotions they are going through. It is hard, isn't it? Not being able to physically do something for someone who is going through loss.

Aside from that, October brought WAY more work/life imbalance than I thought. 90% work, 10% life. It is that time of the year. I won't do much complaining. I still love my job. Sometimes I just feel like I could have lots of me.

So, now that is is November .... It has been so busy! I had a friend from college move to the city. I have to tell ya, this has been pretty damn great. I have a friend, one that loves spontaneity and is loving being in the city for the first time. I love the willingness to go to any neighborhood, any day, for random activitities. It makes me feel lively, the way life in this city should be lived.

I had a mini - 48 hour reunion with some of my best friends from DC. We all now live in different cities from NYC, St. Louis, Raleigh and one that just returned back to DC from Savannah. Crazy how we grow up and move away. Life. It was so refreshing to be around those people. I miss each of them like crazy. I miss drinking bottles of wine with them and having Sunday dinners. I miss cuddling with the dogs and all the crazy memories I built with them my 4 year stint in DC. Growing up sucks sometimes. Even though leaving is bittersweet, we made promises to visit one another and I have no doubt we will keep to those promises. Looking forward to the next trip.

The next month is busy too. Thanksgiving, Christmas, work trip to Portland (with a few days of pleasure), and a visit from my dad.

Yep, I am knocking off another item on my list - wine tour in my favorite place of willamette valley, Oregon. I couldn't be more excited than I am. Myself and two co-workers are going to go. Then, hit up a million places on our "must do" list.

After that, my dad is coming. My relationship with my dad is .. strange for a better word. Growing up I was the epitome of a daddy's girl. Then, time when on and things changed. It was strained for a number of years. Nothing sucks more than being proud of yourself, but not having the vocal support of parents.Regardless, my dad has visited me in DC and now NYC and I couldn't be more proud and more excited to show him my city and my life. I have so many fun activities planned for his visit. I am happy to be able to share this with him. Now, if only I could get my other parent to come ... another day, another blog post.

I think I may be done for the day. I have treated today's blog post like my diary. Apologies.

10 Things You'd Tell Yourself When You Started Blogging

Another day, another blog entry. Secretly (well, not so secretly), I did not think I would be able to keep up. I delayed here and there, but overall enjoying this challenge.

Today's Monday #blogtober entry is "10 things you'd tell yourself when you started blogging." I think that is pretty easy and I may not even have 10. I started blogging as a challenge to myself. I have a list of things to accomplish before I am 29. Who knows why I picked 29 and not 30! It was a personal goal and I didn't really have micro goals within it. But, here are some things I thought about before I started.

1. Simplicity is best. I think I did the opposite of what most do. I wanted this to be easy. I "do" digital marketing as my job - SEO, PPC, coding, design, etc. I actually wanted my blog to be plain and easy. I didn't want it to be another job. Hence the extreme blandness of the blog.
2. Connect with people through writing ... ok, I am still working on this one.
3. Accomplish my list of 28 things to do before 29 and blog about them all. This has obviously become something more extended for me.
4. Be real. No topic was hands off. This was a place I could write and share my feelings and not be judged.
5. Be consistent. This one, I have struggled with. There would be times when I blogged frequently and then go a month or so without.

I think that sums it up. I don't have 10, but I think that is just fine. I have really come to enjoy doing this. 

Chat tomorrow!

Stacy

Fall Bucket List #blogtober

Fall is by far by favorite season and living in New York makes it that much better.

Who doesn't love boots, sweaters, beanies, and scarves? Oh, and don't get me started on the hot drinks ... Coffee, hot chocolate, PSL (pumpkin spice latte - sorry Megan). 

Now that we have covered what I love, let's talk about my Fall Bucket List.

1. Go for a last Fall hike outside the city.

2. Take the boat to Randall Island for Oktoberfest

3. Participate in some beer fests around the city

4. Cuddle up and watch movies

5. Find 5 new baking recipes for fall delight

6. Use my crockpot 1 x per week!

7. Take a trip to a B & B in Vermont. 

8. Finally give in and buy a good black leather jacket

9. A visit from my dad to show him the city

10. Attend an NFL game in NYC

Wow, I guess I had a lot more than. I thought! Cheers to fall from the comfort of my living room (window open) enjoying 50 degree weather. LOVE!

Until next time ...

Stacy

What I Can Live Without #blogtober

A day late ... I know, I know.

Yesterday's post, that I'm doing today is "what you can't live without."

Let's kick it off! My phone. High maintenance, selfish, silly? I don't think so. I love what my phone offers me. I live so far away from all my family members and some of my best friends. My phone allows me to many great amenities. I am able to talk, text and facetime everyday with friends and family if I choose. I do not think I could go without.

I'm also following in Megan Hyde's footsteps and saying that I could also not live without my compassion. It keeps me real and brings me down to earth. Sometimes I think I show it too much. I can only do so much to help make people and situations better but I wouldn't give it up!

Until next time ...

Stacy

Blogtober - Dream Jobs

Dream job when you were little - what is it now?

Would you know that I can't remember exactly what I wanted to be when I was little. I do remember loving to dress up and dance. I could say I most likely wanted to be a dancer, ballerina. Every little girl wants to look beautiful in a tutu, amazing makeup and dance to music.

For now, I will settle going to the Ballet in NYC.


Now, at the ripe age of 28, I am an Area Director of Digital Marketing for the Northeast Kimpton Hotels (Boston, NYC, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh). Fancy new, huh? I, without a doubt, love what I do. I manage the search marketing strategies for the hotels aka how you show up on Google. I am involved in web design, paid media and so many other dorky, cool things. 

For now, I love my job. Maybe someday, if I think of some completely awesome business idea, I will have a startup. Who knows!