Just dance

Hi reader,
Just for fun let's come up with a quick list of activities that are relevant on cold, disgusting, sleet-filled Sunday afternoons:

1.  Binge-watch reality television
2.  Photoshop animal heads on human bodies and post online
3.  Make large quantities of borscht
4.  Organize sock drawer alphabetically according to color
5.  DANCE PARTY

So, while these are all totally excellent options, obviously (as indicated by the cap-lock) I feel a particular affinity for option 5. Why, you ask?  Several reasons--

First of all, reality tv turns your brain into shallow, consumerist mush.  Turn off your f***ing tv.  Seriously.  Second, making borscht turns your hands red.  Third, I already photoshopped animal heads and organized by sock drawer (totally confused about what to do with the striped socks--under "S"?  so I had to stop).

The captain of getting weird AND dancing: GAGA

Which brings us to dance parties.  Dancing in
general is fabulous.  Dancing out in public is fun, good exercise and really the only socially acceptable reason reason to hip bump with total strangers.  Dancing in the privacy of one's own home shoebox apartment is a different kind of nirvana because you get to be SO WEIRD.  And anyone who has been paying attention understands that I really appreciate any opportunity to be weird. So a Sunday afternoon dance party it is.  Check out the Timeout dance party playlist and go bust a move already--you don't learn how to twerk by just sitting on your a** and playing on the computer.

What do YOU like to do on boring Sunday afternoons?  Comment below.

Small Habits

Hi reader,
I was just scrolling through an awesome edutopia article called Cultivating Healthy Habits of Mind (in case you were curious about how teachers spend Friday night) and I thought they made some excellent points about habits:

1. A habit is a regular practice.  You don't think about habits, they are just what you do. You can improve or replace habits you don't like, because they won't go away on their own.
2.  "We form our habits, then our habits form us" -Brain Tracy (I have no idea who this is, just giving credit where credit is due)
3.  Small habits chained together are a routine.  Be intentional about the routines and habits you choose.

In reading all this information, I had two realizations. 

1. Habits are probably important

2. I think I suck at habits

Here's the thing.  My habits are lame.  I like to exercise, I try to volunteer, I enjoy reading education blogs in my free time, I read the Post (ok, I read Page Six and skim the headlines...isn't that what everyone means when they say they read the Post?), I shop for tops that make my arms look good....next stop, loser-ville, then crazy-cat-lady-junction.

In pondering all this, I realized I need to shake things up and knock it off with my stupid granny habits.  In the past (because let's face it, this isn't the first time I've had to drag myself away from this octogenarian habit abyss) I have tried to take up painting, piano, yoga, boxing, even jewelry making.  Here are some things I have learned about habits:

-It is nice if habits are easily transferable from place to place
-I enjoy when a habit enhances my travel opportunities and allows me to meet new people
 -Once a habit become a part of the routine, it naturally seems boring (see above).  That's because routines are boring.

Mentioning trying new things...flash mob?  Yes please! 

So...drum roll please...I realized I my habit is trying new things!  Now I don't have to feel bad about my half-used supply of jewelry beads, or the fact I hate yoga, or that I suck at painting.  I'm guilt-free! I was just trying a new thing!
I'll explore different neighborhoods, learn to make icing flowers, take a language class...Groupon, are you listening?  I'll be in your commercial if you ask nicely : )
I'm off to figure out what fabulous new things I will try this week...right after I finish reading my education blog and have some tea.


Reader, what are your habits?  Comment below! Also, check out the weirdest habits EVER at this link

#fabulous

Hi reader,

So I had a big pause in my social media usage this summer and fall.  Its funny how going through a break-up can make you so much less interested in what your friends ate for breakfast/saw at the museum/did with their husbands and children.  Honestly, I really enjoyed my time away the screen(s).  Even as I'm taking my slow victory lap return to social media outlets, I still can't quite deal with the way people think they know each other because of things they see posted on Facebook, etc. To clarify: someone you have never met before in your life, who you follow on Twitter, probably should not be referred to as your friend in casual conversations.  But hey, what the hell do I know?

The point is two-fold.  First, I would just like to
say that Dave Eggers paints a excellent picture of where the social media movement is headed in his novel The Circle.  Good books are getting harder and harder to find these days (probably because all the authors now write in 140 character hashtag ebonics) and Eggers brings his classic lyrical style to a very tech-obsessed world in the not-too-distant future.

#TGIF 

Second, as I'm trying to get back into Instagram and Twitter (Facebook is dead. Long live Facebook) I find that I am forgetting the language and sounding like a big dork. Or maybe probably I always sounded like a big dork and just forgot because I haven't used the programs in a while.  It is a different, less-considered and sharper mindset...people are exposed to such a small slice of you.  I want to make my slice #fabulous, but instead I'm pretty sure my slice is #dorkyteacher. I suppose I could have different accounts for fabulous and dorky teacher, but honestly who has the energy?  And call me old-fashioned, but while most people probably just call multiple social media personalities "good branding", I call multiple anything personalities "schizophrenia".

#deepthoughts #timetogooutside

Lean In

Hi reader,
What IS it about stalking ex-boyfriends and random third grade semi-friends on the internet that eats up so much time?  Le sigh.
In the interest of finding a different, slightly-more-productive internet black hole, I have discovered www.leanin.org
As a way of introduction (just on the off chance you were living in a cave when the Lean In book came out last spring) let me post some of the author bio from the New York Times book review here:

Sheryl Sandberg has been the chief operating officer of Facebook since 2008. At 43, she has already had a storied career: research assistant to Lawrence Summers at the World Bank; management consultant at McKinsey; chief of staff to Summers at the Treasury Department; and six and a half years at Google, where she rose to the post of vice president of global online sales and operations. 

So basically, this woman Sheryl Sandberg absolutely kicks a** at every job.  She is gold standard career porn for a work-oriented gal.  The book explains, in very simple terms, how she believes it is possible for other women to kick a** at every job (albeit probably slightly less impressive, non-Ivy-League-educated a**).  Honestly, the book drones on a bit for my taste, but she does make some very important points about how women and gender roles shape the work force. 

But of course, no book should be JUST a book these days.  Which brings us to the website www.leanin.org. Let me preface this bit by saying I expected the website to be the dumbest thing available to the human public since Sharknado. I was pleasantly surprised.  Some of the "Expert Lectures" make wonderful, reasonably gender-neutral points about time management and career advancement. 

Anyway, did I mention I'm trapped inside due to a snow storm?  I'm off to find my knitting. Stay warm and gainfully entertained on this whizbit contraption we call the interwebs. 

Sing it sister...#truth #wordstoliveby #notsurethisquoteisorginal 

2014: Year of Bliss

Hi reader,

Already, not even 20 hours into the new year, I find I am struggling with how to make 2014 the best year yet. Going out to mimosa brunch and discussing (loudly, in front if small children) how to make the year suck less d*** than 2013 led to some revelations on my part.  I think bliss, much like fabulousness, is a simple question of attitude.

In order to have a wonderful year, I need to put on my best heels, smile and get ready to boogie down. When life gets in the way of my fabulous, high-heeled dance party, I need to fall back on my bliss strategies.  What bliss strategies, you ask?  Read below:

1. Deep breathes. I quit smoking 10 years ago, but I find that taking a deep breath break is still a totally integral part of most days. And by that I mean on the days I don't take deep breath breaks, I'm pretty much a total b****.

2. Mini massages at the manicure place. I've just gotten into this in the last couple years.  Specifically, when I went to get my nails done with my cousin and asked her why the hell she would waste $15 on a ten minute massage. Turns out it's totally worth the extra $15 dollars.

3. Drinking lots of water. Which would increase my water consumption from almost nonexistent to just below acceptable.  Theoretically, I have also heard this decreases snack consumption and increases pooping?  And pooping is fabulous.

4. Taking time to relax. In general I am not a hugely relaxed person, but I do love baths. And increasingly I find I love lying in bed and staring at the wall--which is either a sign that I am getting much better at relaxing...or a sign of serious clinical depression/early onset dementia.  Only time will tell....

5. Buy a new pair of heels for the boogie down. Dance parties are a totally central part of the bliss. It is impossible to be depressed while you are dancing.  Especially while you are dancing in totally fabulous shoes.

It always comes back to the shoes...

What do YOU do to keep up your bliss? Share below!

New Years Resolutions

Hi reader,

I'm sitting in the airport waiting for a much-delayed flight back to freezing cold NYC. Eventually, (after a bagel sandwich and half a Starbucks) I got bored of watching the poorly-attended-to children wreaking havoc on the terminal and my mind wondered to the topic of New Years Resolutions. I think it speaks volumes that I can never remember mine from one year to the next. It must be because I do such a fabulous job of achieving them that they become seamlessly integrated into my life by the time Dec 31 rolls around again. Right? Obviously. 

So in the spirit of making my life continually more fabulous, I'm throwing together a resolution for 2014 and writing it down here before these airport children go totally Lord of the Flies and kill us all...if I make it back to New York in one piece, I'm going to date. I need to do it soon, because 30, single and bitter/sarcastic is turning out not so fabulous. Even if dating is not totally fabulous, it just may out-do hanging out at home on Friday night with my pet lizard, researching the history of the bassoon on Wikipedia. 

(Just incase you thought I was kidding about the lizard)

You are my witness, reader...2014 will be the year of weird and (hopefully) hilarous (as opposed to suicidally tragic) encounters with the world of dating again.

Your turn-what will you do to make your life more fabulous in 2014? Comment below.

Queens of Fabulous

Hi reader,
After a lovely, leisurely vacation morning of catching up on the Today Show, I would like to give some serious respect to Hoda and Kathy Lee. This delightful duo certainly qualify for a queens of fabulous nomination--here's why:
1. Hoda and Kathy Lee make me laugh.  And not just any old type of laughing, but the kind I like best--"they-are-so-outrageous-in-making-totally-valid-commentary-about-life"type of laughing.
2. Hoda and Kathy Lee know how to make fun of themselves.  This is a VERY important component of being fabulous. It is NOT fabulous to be a total b*tch on wheels anytime someone brings up one of your shortcoming.  It IS fabulous to understand your shortcomings well enough that you can bring them up yourself!  The light sprinkling of self-depreciation in the 10 AM-11 AM hour makes them extra funny and relatable.
3.  Hoda and Kathy Lee always look pulled together.  And hot. Nough said.
4.  Hoda and Kathy Lee are honest with each other and everyone else that comes onto the show.  The ability to be honest (especially in a way that is sharp and funny) is totally, endlessly fabulous.
5.  Hoda and Kathy Lee make their own fun.  No matter how silly the subject, these ladies have a blast.  They relate well to each other and have a totally powerful chemistry that makes you want to be involved in whatever they are doing.

Let's raise a (10 AM) glass to these queens of total fabulous!  We love you, Hoda and Kathy Lee!!