Vernette January 28, 2017

#WeekendCoffeeShare: Celebrating My Half Birthday

I’m celebrating my half birthday today! Whoo hoo. #morelife

If we were having coffee, are you ready to party like it’s my half birthday? Because I am! And just in case you were wondering…YES half birthdays are a thing! Do a quick Google search and the interwebs will tell you that a half birthday is the day approximately six months (give or take a leap year or two) before or after the anniversary of the day you were born.

Why a half birthday?

When I happened upon the concept earlier this year, I had a light bulb moment! You see, my birthday is always bittersweet. I am always in mental count down mode to mum’s death, as she died eight days after my birthday. And I stopped feeling as joyous about my birthday as I used to prior to the events of 2010.

So, taking all of that into consideration, I thought, why not make it a thing, make it my thing? My half birthday would be the celebration where I could do something a little extra special for myself without the sadness that usually engulfs me on July 30th. I also have all the energy of firsts – first month of a new year to give the day some extra magic. Bonus: It will always fall around the end of January, right around payday. HELLO!!!

No half-baked celebration

Imagine just one birthday every year ah, but there are three hundred and sixty four unbirthdays! – Mad Hatter

The Mad Hatter was certainly on to something there. Life is too short not to take time to celebrate the journey. And that includes all the days that happen to be unbirthdays and in my case, a half birthday. Do you want know when is your half birthday? Find out here.

No birthday (half or otherwise) would be complete without a birthday wish. Thus, my 2017 Half Birthday Wish is that you choose a close friend or family member and go aaalll out – bake them a half cake or sing half of the happy birthday song – one of my close friends sang the birthday song for me today, croaky voice and all.

Or, sing the Unbirthday Song from Alice in Wonderland and add a bit more fun and give them only half of a present. Trust me, it will be the best half birthday ever!

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

If we were having coffee, it’s time for a birthday cake martini baby! Because this is no half-baked celebration. I promise to swap the amaretto for coffee liqueur. Because, this is #weekendcoffeeshare after all.

Needless to say, I super excited for this celebration and I’m looking forward to surprising some special people in my life on their half birthdays this year. I’m already thinking about what next year’s celebration could include – perhaps a mini vacation? Who knows and that’s the absolute fun part.

Now it’s your turn, how would you celebrate your half birthday? Please feel free to share in the comments below.

*****#WeekendCoffeeShare is an awesome link-up where coffee (or birthday cake martinis) is being shared over great conversations.

#WeekendCoffeeShare originated at Part Time Monster:

I started the Weekend Coffee Share last year after lots of feedback and several months of writing posts that imagined a conversation with my blog readers that started with the “if we were having coffee” line. The coffee share runs on the weekends, and there aren’t a lot of rules—-posts just need to be formatted like a conversation over beverages (we’ve had tea-drinkers and cocktail-hours as well as coffee) AND be written within the past week (so you don’t need to publish on the weekend to join the link-up). The hashtag #weekendcoffeeshare is in use all weekend on Twitter and Facebook, and it is sometimes used a bit during the week as well. ~Part Time Monster

Vernette January 23, 2017

7 for SEVEN: Glitter and Confetti Confessions

…every Monday, we post seven positives from the previous seven days of the week as a reminder of what we have so that the week starts out on an upswing. There is much truth in the belief that happy people attract good things, so it is important to start the week out right. Sometimes it’s the more grand, but other times, it’s the simple things.~ Key + Arrow

7 for Seven originated at Key + Arrow and here is my 7 for this week:

15K

Apparently when you consistently hit 10K steps, Fitbit prompts you to up the ante. So like the overachiever that I am…my new target is 15K. It’s a struggle. I am realizing just how attached I am to the little buzz you get when you hit your goal. 15K has been proving to be elusive…but I’ve stepped up my game and I have a plan for this week. So let’s see how it goes.

Feeling like it’s 2009

Well it’s official, I’m seeing figures on the scale, I haven’t seen since 2009. Yay me. Just the last 10lbs to go now and I will be in 2005 territory and well on my way to better health.

Road trips

These days, a simple pleasure I’m grateful for is being driven. So when one of my friends wanted company for a long drive, I was totally game. Turned out that the destination was actually to a mutual friend we didn’t know we had in common. Talk about an awesome turn of events.

Coffee with cream…in chocolate

Because I have the best friends and they know that I love coffee and chocolate and that I would be over the moon for coffee with cream flavoured chocolate!

Tiramisu

I had dinner with a couple friends on Friday night at an Italian restaurant I’ve been longing to go to. I don’t have to tell you, what the star of the meal was!

Rainy Days

I’m grateful to the precipitation gods, we’ve been having some rainy days lately and it makes me so happy. Because I’m a hardcore pluviophile.

Old Posts

I was looking for a link to an older post to add to this one and fell down a rabbit hole reading my own words. Hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.

I hope that by continuing to pay attention to the little things, the mundane details that make up all the blessings in my life and by sowing the seeds of faith and gratitude, I can truly carry with me and reap the rewards of “positivity + balance + bliss” throughout the days ahead.

Thank you for reading, I appreciate you! This is me blowing some glitter and confetti on you because you’re super blessed to have received the gift of another 86,400 seconds today, to spend any way you desire.

Make those seconds count!

I love hearing from you…what are you grateful today? Feel free to share below!

Vernette January 17, 2017

Books Books Books: What I’m Reading In January

I told GoodReads that I would read 15 books last year. I read more than that, but I set the bar low, so that I could get a quick win. Meh!

I just set a 2017 goal of 36 books. That’s me committing to read three books a month, which is absolutely doable! But the trick is, writing the review when I’m done.

**My 2017 Challenge: Write a short review on each book I complete and publish it! Here’s hoping I exceed this challenge.**

So this what I’m reading this month:

I’m Judging You: The Do-Better Manual by Luvvie Ajayi

I have been reading Luvvie’s blog, AwesomelyLuvvie.com, for a few years, so when she published her debut book, it’s no surprise that it’s been on my reading list for months. I received it as a Christmas present because I have the best friends! I’m looking forward to reading her “act right” advice and her laugh-out-loud observations of this thing we call life.

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Funny enough, this book was also a Christmas present from a friend many moons ago (seeing a trend here). I am re-reading it this year because I cannot remember what I thought of it the first time and I want to be more present to the present in 2017. This is the underlying message from the book, that all suffering originate from not living in the moment. You have to learn to let go of your regrets from the past and fear about the future.

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday

I have always admired the works of Marcus Aurelius and here is a book that combines the works of the great Stoic philosophers: Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca in bite-sized pieces. Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman have organized each month into themes. January is the month of clarity and the year begins with Epictetus’s insight into control and choice:

The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own…

and I’m still reading:

The Outlander Series – currently reading Book 5: The Fiery Cross

I got hooked on this book series because I binge-watched the show Outlander (all two seasons) on Netflix. I’m on Book 5, after having devoured 1 through 4 in one month. This is quite a feat because these books are actually tomes. I’ll admit I’ve lost a bit of my steam but I’ve spent so much time with these characters, I kinda miss them when I haven’t read a few pages in a while.

I love hearing from you…what are you reading? And do you have any recommendations on what I should read next? This is my invitation to you to share below!

Vernette January 16, 2017

7 for SEVEN: 3 Mondays Into the New Year

We are three Mondays Into the not so New Year – how are you feeling?

Isn’t it funny how the year does not feel so new just 16 days in? I swear to you, I am tried already. And I suppose it’s because you do all this work internally – setting goals and intentions and getting clear on exactly what you want to accomplish – then you have to live in the real world. And in this real world, it might be a new year but some people have their same crappy attitudes, at least in my office.

But I digress. It’s Monday and you know what happens in this space:

…every Monday, we post seven positives from the previous seven days of the week as a reminder of what we have so that the week starts out on an upswing. There is much truth in the belief that happy people attract good things, so it is important to start the week out right. Sometimes it’s the more grand, but other times, it’s the simple things.~ Key + Arrow

7 for Seven originated at Key + Arrow and now let’s get into my 7 for this week:

Baby talk.

My nephew has been saying ‘ma-ma’ and ‘da-da’ for about 6 weeks now. The words are just baby babble, not really identifying his mama or his dada. But lately, he has been trying to imitate the words hello – he only has the ‘oo-oo’ part but *fingers crossed* he will be saying the actual word soon. Every time I see him, it’s a lesson in wonder and love. I am so grateful that this little light chose us to be his family!

Helping Hands.

On the way to Mass on Sunday morning, my sister stopped for gas, even though we were cutting it close for time. As we were finishing up at the pump, a guy approached her asking if she had jumper cables because he needed a boost to start his car. We couldn’t start it at the pump, so two guys helped push his car unto the road. My sister and the guy made quick work of getting the clamps attached and with a rev of her engine, the guy was able to get enough juice to start his car.

He was so thankful that we assisted him, even apologizing for ruining our Sunday. We assured him he didn’t. We got to Mass with two minutes to spare. Everything happens for a reason. If I had opted to drive us, we would not have stopped for gas and thus would not have been able to help the guy. And we both reasoned that if we were late to Mass because we stopped to help someone on the way, Jesus would not have minded in the least. The guy got help, we made it to Mass on time and we got to put some good karma into the world. #Winning

10K every day

You guys I did it! I made 10,000 steps every.single.day. last week. And I will have you know that these steps did not include my other gym workouts – spin, weights and yoga. This was simply me making my step goals for the week. I was properly tired by the weekend, but it made my sleep so much better, so no real complaints here.

Dinner with my Sister.

Because even though we speak everyday, dressing up and going out to eat and catching up over a really nice dinner is an extra special treat. Bonus: When she pays!

My Cohort of Awesome.

I have surrounded myself with people who reflect my light and who are able to shine their own light when I am being pulled into the darkness. I will be forever grateful for these wonderful people who have allowed me to be part of their journey here on earth. This journey would be hella boring if not for them!

Coffee Love.

I’m 7 for seven on getting my coffee to cream ratios just right!

Planning vacations for the rest of the year.

Man am I looking forward to aaall the long weekends 2017 will bring and I am joyfully planning travel for the upcoming months. These first 16 days have been an eye-opener and boy have they renewed my resolve to prioritize self-care and relaxation this year.