Happy New Year! 2—0—1—8!
A Monday, a full moon, a fresh start... everything feels good and right.
Listening:
"Audrey (Spending All My Time With You)" by The Shacks.
"After Hours" by The Velvet Underground.
"Wild Heart" by Stevie Nicks
Reading:
Mistakes You’re Going to Keep Making Forever.
The Anti-Resolution Revolution: 5 Vows You Can Keep.
9 Ways to Be a Better Person in 2018. Accept the things you cannot control. We reported on the wedding of 98-year-old Gertrude Mokotoff and 94-year-old Alvin Mann, who, like so many couples before them, met at the gym. The groom, who also earned a bachelor’s degree in history last year, shared this advice on living a long life: “Of course, one part of it is medical science, but the bigger part is that we live worry-free lives; we do not let anything we cannot control bother us in the least.”
Of All the Blogs in the World, He Walks Into Mine. I'm such a fan of this couple through and through.
I'm into wishes. (image by Julia Rothman via nytimes)
Craving:
After spending most of December eating all the treats—favorite's including mom's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, magic cookie bars, peanut butter blossoms, and Christmas carrot cake; an outstanding chocolate macaron from Ladurée; a homemade birthday peach pie... the list goes on—I'm ready for our lucky New Year's Day dinner (and hopefully leftovers): Hoppin' John. We're mixing it up this year with Black-Eyed Pea Chile Verde.
I love green food. (image by Gentl & Hyers via bonappetit)
For those uninitiated: "Hoppin' John, also known as Carolina Peas and Rice is a peas and rice dish served in the Southern United States. Eating Hoppin' John on New Year's Day is thought to bring a prosperous year filled with luck." The peas = pennies or coins. Leafy green vegetables = more wealth. Cornbread = even more wealth, the color of gold.
If you're looking to eat your way to a better year: 10 Foods That Will Bring You Good Luck in the New Year.
I support the idea of cake being good luck. (image by Shay Harrington via bonappetit)
Wearing:
The theme lately is warm feet. Birthday and Christmas brought me new boots (amazing black hiker boots, beautiful black Chelsea boots, and perfect for sloshy weather brown snow boots) and new socks (a running pair, a medium height/thickness pair, and a heavy duty pair—all Smartwool). Stepping into a new year right!
Watching:
Want to see: "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." "The Shape of Water." The new Netflix Chappelle specials: "Equanimity & The Bird Revelation."
Saw and loved: "Ladybird." Yes, finally, perfection.
Enjoying on a regular basis: "The Great British Bake Off." I'm one episode away from seeing every episode that exists. Highly recommend season 4 on Netflix. "The Big Family Cooking Showdown." My parents and I have been watching an episode a night and drooling. I want to eat all the things.
Treasuring:
Reflections. I'm not worried about great, big, overwhelming looks back on 2017, but I am holding onto the best of times in my memory. I traveled more than usual (Maryland, New York, California, Washington, D.C.). I got out of my comfort zone constantly (making huge changes, moving, moving, moving, trying, exploring). I made new friends (several incredible people came into my life in new, exciting, challenging, loving, heartwarming, and creative ways). I spent more time with family. I wrote more. I got incredible job opportunities. I felt great amounts of love and fell in love and cried about love and created things from love (direct, indirect, abstract, solid, complicated, superb). I found many things that gave me a spark, and to realize how long the list is, even though so much of it felt incredibly difficult, I'm taking that as a win.
Freshness. I am looking forward to this new year—the idea of novelty, crispness, and possibility buzzing around. Cheers to more of the best.
Great words, as usual. (via @adamjk)