Happy Birthday Neil!

Today I am thankful for Neil Diamond. After all, he does turn 71 today and why should we not celebrate 71 years of amazing?

I have loved Neil Diamond for most of my life. I have had his greatest hits since I was sixteen and have unabashedly loved that CD ever since I got it from my mom's Columbia House CD club. Seriously, he is the Jewish Elvis...and if I am being honest, I like him more than the Christian Elvis.

In seriousness, while I am grateful for the Jewish Elvis's amazing talent, my gratitude for him comes from some of the happiest/silliest moments soundtracked to his music. Sweet Caroline reminds me of karaoke nights and dancing my (fancy)pants off at weddings. Shiloh reminds me of when I learned of Shiloh Jolie-Pitt's birth at my friend Lauren Bogar's Carlisle apartment and we simultaneously burst into the chorus of Shiloh.



May a Diamond be forever...

Jake Ryan: the one that got away

Today I am thankful for good friends and sexy characters from John Hughes movies. This week seemed so, so long. Ridiculously long, but in fairness it is the first full week that I have worked since early December. And the week was ending on Friday the 13th; it doesn't really seem like a recipe for success.

So my day starts off by not going to the gym and not being able to find my coffee card when I am getting coffee number three of the day in the work cafeteria (aka the Galley...gotta love the nautical theme.) The coffee card is this amazing little thing where you buy nine coffees and get the tenth one free. Those of you who know me well know that I love a nice deal. So I am standing out the line fishing through my wallet searching for my card when the guy in front of me in line buys my coffee. I love a random act of kindness even more than I love a good deal. And then he proceeded to give me some nice little gossip about my old department. I could get used to having a French Roast Sugar Daddy!

Work was work--it was a long day to end a long week, but the train ahead of mine was running late enough that I didn't have to wait at the train station to get home and get ready for dinner with my sister from another mister Jen Maule! Jen made an awesome dinner and in the course of our sparkling dinner conversation I commented on how it would be kind of amazing if for my thirtieth birthday I was sitting on a dining room table a birthday cake from Jake Ryan.

So we watched Sixteen Candles. I am tremendous fan of the entire John Hughes franchise; none of his movies get old. Ever. However, if I had to pick a favorite Sixteen Candles would be in tight contention with Ferris Bueller's Day Off. How can you not love Jake Ryan? Or Farmer Ted? Or young John Cusack? Or the Donger?

All in all, my Friday the 13th turned out to be pretty lucky: a French Roast Sugar Daddy, a very late train, Jen Maule, and {sigh} Jake Ryan. Oh, if he were here...

Inconvenient Truths

This post is a little late. You see, today I am thankful for sixty degree days in January. Maybe it's a fluke, maybe it's global warming, or just maybe it is something to embrace and enjoy. It was simply too nice to sit inside and blog when I could be outside and love the day.

I had a fairly productive Saturday planned. You know the fun stuff like GCL (gym, cleaning, laundry.) However, after teaching ninety minutes of swim lessons to Ardmore's toddlers, I decided to take a jaunt into Philadelphia to enjoy the beautiful day. I made the right decision--GCL can wait until it feels like January again. Once in town, I got some coffee and enjoyed a nice little stroll from 30th Street Station down 19th to Pine and from 19th and Pine down to the river. It was the first time I had a daytime stroll down Pine and wow, it's a beautiful street! Antique Row, Old Pine Pres, and gorgeous, gorgeous homes combined with the energy of the street made for a great day. It seemed like the whole city and their dogs were out for a walk. After making it to Pine and Front, I moseyed up to Tiffany's to pick up my clean and knot free necklace. What a day!

So Saturday January 7 I am thankful for freakishly warm days in January, Pine Street, and the wizards at Tiffany and Co that can unknot my necklace when I do dumb things like leave my necklace in my swim bag. Hooray!

2012: The Year of Living Thankfully

So it's 2012 and I decided a while ago that this would be my year of living thankfully. This is going to be my year of whining less and writing more. While I hate the forced feeling of resolutions and the initial fervor that often dies a couple weeks in (think of the gym on January 2nd and now think of the gym after MLK day,) I do like the thought of making a change for the better.

So I resolve for 2012:

• Write something that isn't a to-do list at least three times a week
• Find something to be thankful for in every day
• Lift weights more regularly.

This blog is a nice nexus of the first two...as for lifting weights, ask me about that after MLK day...

Here is what I am thankful for today: my newly green powder room!

After having a taped and ready to paint bathroom for over two years I finally committed to a color...bright green because I thought it would be fun with the blonde wood and pink counter tops. What was the impetus to finally get around to painting my loo? I am getting my house appraised for a potential refinance and I don't want the appraiser to penalize (or judge me) for having bare walls in the powder room.

As a child I couldn't ever really get behind coloring...I wasn't really artistic, I didn't have the attention span to finish coloring anything and I thought (think) staying in the lines is lame. Now translate that to a piece of property that you own with paint that can do damage to said property...for me painting is hell with slightly less noxious fumes. That being said, I put on my Cure station from Pandora powered through soothed by the sweet vocals of Robert Smith.

In sum, I am thankful that I have powder room that is an incredible color, that I have the ability (if not always) the willingness to paint, that I didn't damage my house or myself in the process of painting and that I will probably pay someone when the time comes to paint the main bathroom!