Balconies on warm days. The promise of that, anyway. That’s what I celebrate today:
(I only opened the door for about 3 seconds to take this photo. Brr. Is it spring yet?) I’m pretending that table is littered with wine (bubbles) and snacks (cheese) and it’s about 60 degrees warmer than today. When this was this actual scene (a very similar looking table) last summer at a friends house on several late Friday afternoons, her kids called them our “work meetings.”
I just went for an early morning run through the blue-skied city:
About halfway through beating feet, a guy walking toward me pulled a cigarette out to light up. When our eyes met, he looked at the cigarette and back at me a couple times. Right as I passed him, he put it back in the box.
Yahoo!
Maybe it was a coincidence, and maybe he lit that stick up two seconds later. Either way, I’m hoping our unexpected quick interaction made him stop and think for a minute about smoking.
Happy Monday!
Want to make a positive impact? Keep going out into the world and doing what you love.
By “chase” I mean I walked out of a long day of being packed inside on a major downsizing project, saw this amazing looking sky, and drove toward it for a bit like an excited kid on a treasure hunt. What’s that they say about never losing your sense of wonder?
Interesting that we all too often make life complicated and spin fast when what we could really use is just a few simple quiet moments in the fresh air to stare up at the sky.
It’s fun to stop and think about what really matters and what we’re running around for, eh?
None of us can beat Father Time, not even those of us with good looks, charm, buckets of money, or who are strong as an ox. While this mighty beast of a timekeeper has full control, holding his finger on the button that decides whether we are here or gone, the one thing he cannot control is what we do with the minutes we’re gifted.
Don’t wait. There’s never the perfect or right time for anything in this crazy life. The time is now. Make a toast to honor yourself in this new year, and continue to toast to every day.
(I’m not sure I thought I’d ever type either of those things.)
It was an accidental first class booking, or at least, lets assume so- and it was the best accident ever. The night before my flight when I saw “first” in the email confirmation, I jumped for joy, spun around, called to confirm that could possibly be correct, squealed, clapped, texted a few people with lots of smiley-face emoticons, screeched, and then of course, could not stop singing & dancing to this:
We flying the first class
Up in the sky
Poppin’ champagne
Livin’ the life…
All 50 states and 17 countries, 20+ years of travel and I have never once flown first class until now. What?! Seems crazy but true. Never a bump up, freebie, not one single “Attention ladies and gentleman in the concourse…we have overbooked! If anyone would kindly volunteer to give up their seat, we will put you on the next flight in first class, love you forever, give you a unicorn, and award you a 6 billion dollar voucher for your next flight.”
Never.
I always say I have really expensive taste, but I don’t practice it/use it often. I’d rather spend $500 going out to 10 lunches or dinners with friends, or on 10 gas fill-ups for my car to go see my family, than on a first class upgrade- but man, after my experience last week, I can sort of see what all the fuss is about. (And from what I understand, my first class experience was pretty low-key compared to overseas flights/flights on newer planes.)
Giddy me boarded so early it was still dark out, but that didn’t stop me from ordering a mimosa pre-flight, just because I could:
…and then another as soon as we took off:
…you know- just because I could…again.
It was so fun. Mimosa at 6:48am felt a bit strange, but the triathlete guy sitting next to me had 2 Baileys with coffee, so I convinced myself I was still a responsible adult on a Thursday morning watching the sunrise:
The window could’ve used a little cleaning, but I was in heaven, streaks and all. Then a bit later, this gorgeous blue view:
For a small town, coach-flying, minimalist girl- this was a treat like no other. What kind of 37 year old get’s that excited about a first class flight? Me. Loved every minute of it. For all the fancy freshest-ever food & wine I’ve ever consumed, and all the highfalutin events I’ve ended up at somehow during my adventures, I’ve likely rolled up in a $20 dress and driving my 2004 Honda Civic with 220k miles on it. I hope I never turn a shoulder to my frugal habits or my nerd-alert excitement for occasional posh things either. It’s a good things to experience both sides, feel spoiled- and still always remember what’s truly important. For now I still feel high from that flight and I can’t wait to squeal and screech like a kid when the next bonus thing like CLT>LBB drops in my lap.
So fun.
When did you last get all buzzy and fuzzy because of a treat?
I went floating today. Blue skies, perfect temperatures, peaceful setting, poofy clouds…as nice as it could be. It was great to just lean back, breathe, and be in nature on the water, taking in the scenery:
I kept looking up and thinking of a certain few people I know, who would’ve given anything to be spending a beautiful day on the river.
Here’s to never taking any days for granted.
“Beginnings are usually scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s what’s in the middle that counts. So when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up. And it will.”
