Sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and be entertained. Whether it’s a TV show, live performance, or otherwise, all you have to do is enjoy. I don’t often partake in these things, but every now and then I want something rather mindless to occupy my time. That’s exactly what I’ve been doing in the hours leading up to the new year – just chilling out letting the TV shows fill my time and living room. I’d gotten worn out from all the reading and typing I was doing online, but didn’t quite want to sit around in silence. It’s been soothing to experience and exactly what I needed. For those times when you want to consume media, it’s great to let the entertainment take over.
365great Day 292: entertainment
November Favorites 2013
Well gosh, I better get my Nov favorites up before it’s time for the December ones!
1. fall colors – This was the month of gorgeous colors. Fall beauty was everywhere to be found and I loved it. It’s one of the things about having real seasons that I was looking forward to. I don’t know if it was the richness of the leaves, but I swear even the sky was more pigmented.
2. touchscreen laptop – I’ve been using my new ASUS laptop and now I’m used to having a touchscreen laptop. It’s a lot easier than trying to navigate the touchpad. It’s very convenient just to tap on what I’m looking at. Too bad not all my devices are like that – I’ve found I try to tap all other laptops now too, lol. It’s hard to remember when I’m using other laptops that they don’t have touchscreens. Hopefully everything will just have that in the future so I don’t have to keep track.
3. yoga – I’ve been going to yoga again and picking up my practice, which is wonderful. I like that I can choose from a range of levels depending on what I’m feeling. I’ve tried everything from Hatha Yoga for all levels to Power Yoga with some meditation thrown in too. I look forward to continuing with my practice and getting strong enough to do a handstand one day!
4. going home – It was so nice to return home for Thanksgiving and be reunited with my parents, cousin, and cats. It was the first time I’d been back since starting work out east and it was a welcome break. We also got a chance to get together my family and Panda’s!
5. Bruins football – UCLA’s program has finally been doing better and it was so thrilling to watch our team beat USC in our football showdown this year. Our crosstown rivalry is going strong and with the liberty bell securely in our possession, we can proudly say that we run LA. 😉
6. fun hair styles – For a long time, I’d just let my hair fall however it wanted. It’s the easiest to do and requires absolute minimal effort. I started to play around with some hair styles more recently, particularly a side braid, French braids, or a bun. I want to try a braid that wraps around my head, but I’m not quite sure how to end it so I’ll have to test it out.
7. revisiting New York (and the city) – After over a decade, I finally got a chance to return to one of my childhood homes. It was so nice to be able to share that with Panda so he can see some of what used to be my life. It also became an opportunity to explore parts of NYC that I’m not that familiar with. It’s the first time I’d been back to any of my old stomping grounds other than a brief visit to Penn State many years ago. I’ve never returned to my homes in Kansas and Missouri, but I sure do plan on it!
8. long sleeve v-necks – I find these to be so perfect to wear. They’re comfortable, warm, and flattering. I can wear them under another shirt or alone and throw on a jacket for extra warmth. I even use it during yoga if it’s an extra chilly night. It’s easy to dress them up or down and if I don’t want my neck so exposed, I just throw on a scarf. Simple, the way I like it.
9. pumpkin flavored – I almost never get pumpkin flavored stuff, but somehow I ended up trying a few this month and they were quite good! This was a pumpkin souffle I got at a happy hour. Very yummy. I also had pumpkin spice caramels and a pumpkin creme brulee snack. Maybe I should try more pumpkin things since I really enjoyed those foods.
What about you? What did you find yourself gravitating towards in November?
365great Day 291: latte art
Between the latte art I got today and the designs I’ve had at Urth Caffe, there have been many a drink that I almost didn’t want to consume so I wouldn’t ruin the cuteness. It’s so much fun when the food you get looks so good you aren’t even sure you should chow down. But of course, you bought them not just to look at, so taking pictures before you dig in is the best way to commemorate them. I had my first 3D art design today, which I enjoyed immensely. The 2D ones are still fabulous too and I’ll continue to get both whenever I get a chance. It makes the experience that much more memorable and noteworthy. I always like to enjoy my food and what better way than to appreciate the taste AND the visual appeal? That makes it great on so many levels.
28 going on 30s
Was it really my birthday today? It feels so surreal. At times I marvel that I’m now 28 though (more recently) sometimes I kind of am ready to just be in my 30s already. I guess I should enjoy the next two years before that big 3-0 hits for real and I can’t go back to these crazy 20s. 😉
And now I’m comfortably in bed snuggling with Missy. I think she’s pleased I finally went to bed… she’d been waiting over an hour for me!
365great Day 290: shooting ranges
Playing around with guns in a controlled environment is really fun. I love trying out pistols, revolvers, and rifles. They’re powerful enough that you get a thrill, but not so crazy that they’re intimidating, like a semi-automatic. You can make a contest out of it with your friends, seeing who has the best aim, and you can blow off some steam while you’re at it. It’s pretty rewarding when you actually get some great shots off and nobody needs to get hurt. I don’t think I could ever shoot at a living creature, unless my own livelihood depended on it (but maybe not even then). I much prefer the safety of a shooting range, whether indoors or out in the middle of nowhere. I’ve tried shooting at clay pigeons before (those bright orange discs) and I’m not very good, so I think I’ll stick with immobile targets. I mean, it feels great when I can actually get a bullseye so why set myself up for failure with a flying target?
365great Day 289: reunions
Ok, I’m going to break a cardinal rule of mine and post a picture of others (I usually choose ones where you can’t tell who they are or I don’t post them at all – sorry PBs! Hope you don’t mind). I just got back from a mini reunion with my pledge bros for AKPsi and I wanted to share that. While it was only about a third of our class getting together, it was nice to at least see some familiar faces again after all this time. It’s been years since I’ve caught up with many of them and I feel so out of touch with their lives! Here we are 7 years later and so much has changed, yet they pretty much all look the same to me. That’s good, right? It’s nice to be able to reconnect with them briefly and revisit old memories. Oddly enough, we ended up eating at a place with great meaning for us completely unintentionally. What an appropriate setting for us to get together again. It’s great to see how they’re doing in their lives now and I hope to have more reunions for all those friends I’ve lost touch with.
UK Vacation Day 8 Recap
I can’t believe it’s been nearly four months since this trip and I’m still updating on it. Only two more to go after this one!
Day 8 was a chill day, with a late checkout and leisurely stroll from the hotel to the train station. We swung by the Co-operative, a grocery store, and the House of Fraser, a chain that reminds me of Macy’s. We wandered along the quiet of Rose Street and found ourselves some cookie tins commemorating Prince George at the train station. The train from Edinburgh to London took most of the day and once we were settled back, we got dinner at Nando’s. Since we got drink vouchers at the hotel, we stopped by the bar to get drinks (sodas) before calling it a night.
[Miss some? Read about Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, and Day 7 recaps.]
365great Day 288: Wolfram Alpha
Wolfram Alpha is a pretty cool computational engine. It’s my go-to whenever I have a factual question about a date, scientific information, data about our world, or things you might look up in an almanac. You can ask mathematical questions, historical questions, scientific questions, and so much more. It’s a powerful source of information if you know what questions to ask. I tend to use it most to learn more about dates, like what day of the week I was born (a Monday, which coincidentally is when it’s occurring again this year – I always thought it was a Tuesday though). I’ll sometimes reference it when I want to find out about moon phases or when sunrise and sunset were on a given day. It’s amazing the wealth of information you can draw from it and I’m glad to have it as a resource. It’s great for enhancing your learning!
Hello Fresh Week 50 Delivery review
Has it only been 2 weeks since this delivery? Gosh, so much has happened that it feels like a distant memory. (Interested in trying Hello Fresh? Use my referral code to get $20 off your first order: 9CAMJS)
Hello Fresh is just under $70 per box and comes with 3 meals of 2 servings each. That’s less than $12 per meal serving. Boxes are sent weekly unless you choose to skip (which is very easy to do). They offer a referral code that gives $20 off to both the person you referred and for your next order.
I had fun with these dishes and would definitely consider trying them again, though I’d want to incorporate some carbs into the shrimp one.
[This post contains affiliate codes. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]