A few thoughts

The other night on my flight home from celebrating Buddy‘s first birthday, I thought about a few things:

• Above all, my family is the core of me. Hands down, they have been and will always be the most important people in my life. I can’t quite articulate my feelings for them, but I will sum it up to this: I love my family more than anything else in the world. They are my comforters, my nurturers, my challengers, and the people whom I sacredly love.
• I am continuously surprised how much I love Buddy. Saturday morning, I woke to my dad and Buddy walking down the hall, very sleepy. (And Tahn, OF COURSE). My brother and S2 had a holiday party on Friday night, so Buddy slept at my dad’s. He woke around 6am, and my dad brought him to me. Buddy was pretty confused why his Aunt Brittany was there and why he it was still dark, but he adjusted. I gave Buddy his bottle and then he was ready to go back to sleep. (Yes, you read that right. Buddy wakes up, eats, and goes back to sleep. He is my kind of child. Clearly, we are made of the same stuff). My dad thought it would nice if Buddy snuggled down with me and went back to sleep. After a short amount of time, Buddy finally settled in and fell fast asleep. (Details? Buddy was snuggled in as little spoon with his tiny baby feet squished in my legs. It was heaven on earth). In the past I’ve snuggled and slept next to other children; I was a nanny for 12 years – but snuggling with Buddy? The best sleep I’ve ever had. We awoke a little over two hours later, feeling great.
• Tahn is officially the best dog I have ever met. Yep, I said it. After being away from her for so long, meeting a bunch of other dogs, I can say that Tahn is amazing. She is kind, loving, obedient and fun. And? Next to Buddy, she’s the BEST SNUGGLER IN THE WORLD.

Snuggle Bun. 12am Saturday morning.

• Although I had some adjustments in my new life in San Diego, I really love it here. I can’t get over how beautiful it is here. Even today when it was raining and pouring, it was gorgeous. I love that I live 15 minutes from my sister and I get to see her at least once a week; I haven’t seen her this much for over 10 years. It’s really fantastic.
• The most important quality I look for in others is kindness. It all started a little about fours years ago when I walked into a dear friend’s home and on her entry way table she had a small sign, “Approach everything with kindness.” It was then I knew the man I walked through that very door with was not kind. It started off when I first realized on our second date that he was not kind to strangers,  three months in I realized he was not always kind in stressful situations, a year and three months I realized he was  not kind to Tahnee and ultimately, two years and one month into the relationship I realized he was not kind to me. I have since realized there are only two type of people in the world; those who make an effort to respond to others and in kindness and those who do not. I believe that many, many people are unkind. I’ve seen it for years. At work, in relationships I’ve been in and been witness to, in interactions with others. But, I’ve also met many people who are groundbreakingly kind. These people may not always be the best version of themselves, but they are authentic, real and intentionally kind. I strive to be this person everyday.
• I know one thing for sure: my instincts about a person, situation, or group of people have never been wrong. I can spot a bad apple from a mile away. Often I feel neutral about a person/situation/group of people. But when I have an incredibly bad feeling? I just know. After years of trying to ignore my intuition, I am finally embracing it and learning to appreciate it.

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Sarah and Brittany’s Week of Fun!

I’m super-crazy-busy on vacation this week, so I’ve had no time to blog and I barely have enough time to blog right now. I’m so super-de-duper-busy that I don’t even have time to call back the guy who is trying to date me (and that’s my story and I’m sticking to it…)

Anyways, my sister Sarah came home this past weekend to celebrate her birthday, S2’s completion of her oral exam, my dad’s retirement and his birthday. After our celebration, Sarah and I went back to San Diego for a few days (not a week, fine…) of fun.

Before we went to San Diego, Sarah stayed at my dad’s house and I stayed at my mom’s (there aren’t enough beds at either house for us both to stay together – unless I wanted to share a “double bed” sized air mattress with my sister and Tahn, whom both are guilty of totally hogging the bed and I wake up barely on the mattress). Sarah was missing her beloved dog Sami, so I let Tahn stay with her at my dad’s.

This picture was texted to me on Saturday morning.

Tahn LOVES snuggling with her Aunt Sarah

I call Tahn my ‘shadow’ not only because she’s black, but also because she follows me everywhereIgo, all the time.  My dad refuses to let her follow him around the house, so she was giddy to have my sister (a.k.a. another version of me) to follow.

I tried to get a picture of Tahn and Sarah… and it wasn’t very successful.

Annnnnd finally:

Aunt Sarah and Tahn.

After our photo shoot, we caught a flight back to San Diego.

Well, not until we visited the wine bar at Oakland Airport:

On the Fourth of July, we went to Palm Springs and hung out by the pool:

We out with Sarah’s friends:

Back in San Diego, we caught Sarah’s dog Sami, eating Sarah’s birthday cake:

Yep. That's cake on Sami's ear.

We also got to meet up with some of my good friends for dinner. It was so much fun!

I flew back Wednesday night and spent the day yesterday with Buddy.

So far, a great vacation!

Taking a minute

After a very long, sad, uneventful, dull, end of winter and most of spring, I now have a jammed packed social calendar.

From the months of January until the middle of May, I was beyond bored. It seemed that everyone wanted to stay in with their significant others, and I, being single and all, found myself alone most Friday and Saturday nights. At first I enjoyed it. Living alone for the first time, I never had peace and quiet on the weekends. However, after a few weeks, the peace and quiet was no longer fun. Me, the 26-year-old who is usually in bed by 10pm was dying to go out. Dancing. To a Bar. To anyone’s house. I was anxious to get the hell out of the apartment that I love.

Since my friends were hard to nail down, I decided to join a Friday night bowling league. (Because I loved my dodgeball league so freakin’ much). Well, that was a disaster.

But, oddly enough, after my first weekend of bowling, my social calendar picked up. No, correction: it went from non-existent to full speed, in over drive. Normally, I would credit this shift in my friends because of the warm weather starting up and everyone wanted to get out of their houses and socialize.

Except, it was the end of May and beginning of June and it was 50 degrees outside and still raining. I spent Memorial Day Weekend in the rain. The following weekend, the first weekend in June, I spent in Napa County wine tasting for my dear friend’s birthday in the rain. (That was a fantastic weekend – full of gluttony). The following weekend, the second weekend in June, I spent at Bella Vista at a “start of summer” party. (That was truly wonderful – yet another weekend of gluttony). Then their was Britney. Then, last weekend, I spent one night in San Francisco, with one of my favorite people, (and some of my new favorite people), trying to not act like a hipster in the Mission District. The next day was Father’s Day, celebrating with my dad, my Grandma and my brother and sister-in-law (Buddy‘s parents).

And guess what? I have three more jammed packed weekends ahead of me. In fact, most of my weekends the rest of the summer are full of social activities.

I am not complaining.

I am actually overjoyed about all the fun I’ve had and I am looking forward to more. But, here’s the thing: previously my weekends were very mellow and I got to relax and recharge. Now that my weekends are so full, I am sleepy all week. So sleepy, I’m afraid to admit, that at 7:30pm tonight I almost fell asleep.

I also blame my sleepiness on the extreme 102-degree weather.

I am not complaining.

I was over the rain in April, so I welcome the heat. I welcome the hot nights, where (like I did on Friday night with Jessica), I can sit outside at 10pm enjoying a cold beer in a t-shirt and be perfectly warm.

But, I think my body has to get use to the heat. Also because of the heat, I haven’t been taking Tahn on any walks. We both miss them. Sorry Tahn. But it is just too dang hot. Even at 8pm.

So now I am taking a minute.

And it feels pretty good.

(photo source)

Health, Fitness and Food Blogs

First, it started with Lauren.

I met Lauren my freshman year of college back east. Lauren and I became good friends our second semester (she was a sophomore, and I was a freshman). She was my friend who was super smart, (she always beat me on tests), had a great music play-lists, was so great to be around, always talked about her running, and was a vegetarian.

I'm on the left, Lauren's on the right. This is circa 2004, people. On our way to my first and only trip to NYC.

Um. We're posing, people. It's Central Park. What else do you do in Central Park? (We're in the middle - Lauren on the left, I'm on the right).

Unfortunately, the college we attended wasn’t for me, so after my first year I moved back to California. Lauren stayed at school and graduated with a degree in Psychology, then ended up getting her Master’s in Public Health. Lauren and I stayed in touch via Facebook, and one day I saw a posting about her blog. Lauren’s blog is about running, health, and eating yummy and healthy foods. I occasionally read her blog, and was inspired to create a blog of my own. (Not a health or fitness blog, clearly).

As I became a blogger, I read Lauren’s blog more often as well as some other blogs to get inspiration. Then, I read this post. Lauren and her running buddies did a 2 day, all night relay race – yes, someone on their team was continually running. Throughout the night. It was insane! And inspiring. And motivating.

Through that post I found some of Lauren’s running friend’s blogs.

And this is where my new obsession with Heath, Fitness, and Food Blogs began.

It all started innocently, really. I enjoyed reading Becky’s and Tina’s blogs. They seemed like nice women, and they knew my friend Lauren. So I technically knew them.

And in their blogs, they have tons of great recipes, weight loss stories, and other inspirational nuggets that make me want to get up at 5:00am to go work out.

(Un)fortunately, I started reading every single Heath, Fitness and Food Blog that came my way. (Un)fortunately, most of the women who comment on Lauren, Becky and Tina’s blogs are also health-nuts who write similar blogs. (Un)fortunately, I started to read more and more each day.

Like my obsession with Facebook, I quickly became addicted with my favorite blogger’s post updates. I would check their blogs multiple times a day, waiting for a new post. One of the things some of the bloggers do is post what food they eat that day – let me just say I LOVE seeing what they eat everyday. Thus, many of them post blogs as many as 3 times a day – so I kept checking back for the next post. It started to become a real problem.

Good news, my friends. My preoccupation with Health, Fitness and Food Blogs has calmed down. The reason? Google Reader. It automatically updates me when each new post arrives and organizes the blogs all together in one nice, neat, little package. (It is way better then RSS feeds. It will change your life. I promise you!)

The other good news? Reading all of these blogs has motivated me to do two things I haven’t been doing a lot lately:

1. Exercise regularly
2. Cook at home

I had been eating out a lot lately because I was so sick of cooking for myself and I was so sick of the food I knew how to make. But, I have been encouraged by all the blogs! I have so many recipes to choose from that I just can’t wait to cook each night.

And tomorrow? My lazy self will get up when my 5:00am alarm clock goes off to go to the gym instead of hitting snooze like I’ve done so many times before. 🙂

I guess my new addiction isn’t so bad after all.

Viruses and A-Fib

Today was a normal Monday.

I woke up early, fed Tahn, got dressed, and went to my 6 am spin class. I came home, showered, made breakfast, and sat down to read my email and my favorite blogs. I opened my email and got this from my dad:

YOU HAVE A VIRUS!!!!
DON’T CLICK ON THAT LINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UNPLUG YOUR COMPUTER FROM THE INTERNET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I maybe kinda sorta freaked out.

I instantly called him, not knowing what to do. My dad told me that he got a “virus” email from me early Monday morning. I am a Mac user, and for over 8 years, I have never gotten a computer virus. It has been great. I loved to boast to people, “Mac’s don’t get viruses. That’s why I love them so”.

I went to work feeling deflated and sad. My computer was hacked, and I felt invaded. My privacy was compromised.

I decided to buck up, buckle down and work. At around 11 am one of my best friends, (whom I will refer to as TL), texted me. TL’s mom, who was recently diagnosed with cancer, was in the hospital with heart problems. I offered to go to the hospital with TL, she accepted, and in less than an hour, I was at the hospital with TL.

TL’s mom was suffering from A-Fib, aka Atrial Fibrillation, aka a heart arrhythmia. Basically, her heartbeat was beating way too quickly. The hospital treated the A-Fib with a very safe and routine procedure: an electric shock to her heart, which restored her heartbeat to a normal rhythm.

The afternoon at the hospital was stressful, but it looks like A-Fib is gone and TL’s mom is doing much better.

I dropped TL off at home, made dinner, and called my dad. I had to get this computer virus killed. He suggested some different anti-virus software. I found a few, downloaded one, and I am crossing my fingers that it killed the virus.

Then, I checked my email. Apparently, many people in my address book got the same “virus” email from me. I got some emails from people I hardly hear from and it was nice to have a connection with them again. But, I also got an email from someone whom I haven’t seen or spoken to in years, and frankly, I hoped I would never have contact with again.

Although today was as abnormal as it could be, I had a good day. I learned that my sweet Mac computer isn’t invincible, that there is no where on Earth I’d rather be then with my dear friend in need, and that when my day is jolted, my friends step up to help me. (Number 3 came and took care of Tahn when I was at the hospital. Number 3 fed Tahn, walked Tahn and gave Tahn lots of love).

And, I am deeply sorry if you got a virus email from me.

Please disregard, and as my dad said, “DON’T CLICK ON THAT LINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

_________________

*Editor’s Note: Thanks to my medical consultant (aka my brother) I realized that I was calling TL’s mom’s condition V-Fib when in fact, it was A-Fib. My mistake…

Week One

My name is Brittany, and I’m a Facebookaholic.

I haven’t been on Facebook for over a week and I really, really, miss it. What this week without Facebook has taught me is not that I miss seeing my Facebook “friend’s” posts, but I miss updating my status. I have a whole week of status updates in my head and I just have to get them out:

I am loving this weather.

Tahn would really like a walk tonight but I am just not feeling it.

I LOVED my yoga class tonight.

Dodgeball! Dodgeball! Dodgeball!

Feeling defeated. (Editor’s note – I was referring to losing a dodge ball game – it’s all good now).

So tired today…

I am turning into my brother. I am making everyone I know listen to Britney Spear’s new CD and asking their opinions.

Beautiful day!

Phew. I feel better. Well, do I? What did the world lose by not seeing those status updates all week? The people on Facebook who usually comment on my statuses are people who I normally see or talk to on a regular basis and I usually tell them about everything I post. So, why do I need to post?

Actually, not posting my status forced conversations where there previously wasn’t. Usually, I would go to tell a friend something, like, “We lost our dodgeball game last night”. And they would say, “Yeah. I know. I read it on Facebook”. Facebook, while at times is great at spreading information to all your friends, usually handicaps most relationships. Facebook has taken the excitement out of many conversations. As opposed to telling your friends you are engaged, people usually post it on Facebook and then get a huge amounts of comments – which I bet would be more fun to receive over the phone or in person. Or even in a text message. (And I hate text messages. But, I think it would be more personal than a Facebook post)

In addition, I really only allow a handful of my Facebook “friends” to view my wall/ status updates. I do this because I feel I don’t want everyone I am Facebook “friends” with to see what I am posting about. Which, really negates why we are friends. If I don’t want you to see what I am posting about or a picture I added, then tell me again, why are we Facebook “friends”?

Because of the stupid Facebook Shenanigans. (One of my favorite bloggers coined that phrase and I love it). People use the “friending” and “unfriending” of Facebook “friends” as such an important measure of how others feel about them. Like “accepting” someone to be your friend actually means something. News flash: many people will “accept” you to be their Facebook “friend” just because they don’t want to hurt your feelings. Then, after sometime goes by, they “defriend” you.

So then, I have two questions:

1.      Why would it hurt your feelings if someone didn’t “friend” you on Facebook?
2.      Why do you care?

Okay, I ask these questions not only to you, my dear readers of 45 people, but I also ask them of myself. I admit that I have “accepted” people and then “defriended” them after some time has past. I didn’t want to hurt their feelings. However, I have never cared when someone has “defriended” me. I actually think it’s ridiculous. And very silly. If you and I are friends, you know it. We don’t have to be linked on a social networking website for me to prove that to you.

This week of not being on Facebook or Twitter (Twitter! I can’t forget about you?! Twitter, you are my favorite because you are 100% status updates. Oh, Twitter. I miss you!) This wee has not only shown me that I love to update my status, or that being someone’s Facebook “friend” really means nothing about anything, but it also has shown me how much time I waste on Facebook. I realized that every morning I probably spent anywhere from 1-15 minutes on Facebook. At lunch, I would also spend another 1-10 minutes on Facebook. And in the evening, I could spend another 10 minutes on Facebook.

That means I was spending as much as a half an hour everyday on Facebook.

That could count towards another 30 minutes of sleep, or 30 minutes of reading, or 30 minutes at the gym, or 30 more minutes of walking Tahn. Anyway you look at it, I realized Facebook is a waste of time.

I have another week in my cleanse, and I suspect, just like last week, this week may not be any easier. I think, in fact, it may be even harder. But, I am excited to see what I learn next….

#reverb10 – Make

I’m apart of this really cool online interactive reflection – bloggers all over reflect on a word a day from December 1- 31. It’s called #reverb10. You should check it out. I started slightly late – on December 4. So far, I’ve been doing the prompts privately in a journal, but I’d thought I’d share a few along the way. Today, I’d like to share my thoughts for today’s word:

December 6 – Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?
(Author: Gretchen Rubin)

Make. This year, the best things I’ve made are friends. I have friends I’ve made in the past years who are wonderful, fantastic, supportive and lovely. I wasn’t particularly looking for more friends when 2010 began.

In my surprise, during my days at the office, I have slowly developed a number of friends through work who have become very special to me. Initially, these women were great mentors and great teachers in the work world. Now, they are not only special to me because of their professional wisdom, but also their dedication to being my friend. I look forward to seeing them everyday, hearing about their lives, family and friends. I have grown so close to them and I value their amazing friendship.

Another friend I met through work has also been a gift in my life. She has continuously invited me to a number of social events, where I’ve got to meet new people, learn new things, and gain more experiences. It has been fantastic to get to know her and her husband.

And the last friend that I’ve made this year that is really special to me is my yoga instructor. Not only does she have a spirit unlike anyone I’ve ever met, but her passion for peace and yoga has been inspiring and so influential.

I’ve made these friendships with conversations, sharing thoughts, sharing hardships. Speaking secrets, giving hope, spending time.

This year, the best things I’ve made are friends.

A Thankful Heart

I am truly thankful.

This week was Thanksgiving, known for Turkey, friends and family. For many, Thanksgiving can be very stressful. Family can be tough. Although you love each other, spending time with family can be quite challenging.

I’ve a few stressful and challenging holidays in my life (especially since my parents got divorced). And holidays tend to be a nerve-racking event for me. “How will this one go?” I wonder. “Maybe this year will be really great” I hope. But, sometimes, the holiday seems to be less than desired. I’ve tried to lower my expectations for all family holidays, and just try to have a good attitude. Every year, the planning of which parent we see when can also be very stressful for my siblings and me.

To be honest, I really wasn’t looking forward to Thanksgiving. I have had a lot on my plate, and I just didn’t want to have a stressful holiday. Often, when I predict the holiday will be good, it tends to be bad, so I tried not to make any predictions.

Tahn and I saddled up and drove home to celebrate the weekend. I had two Thanksgiving dinners planned- one with my dad and one with my mom. And this year, both Thanksgiving dinners were fantastic. Not only was the food unbelievable at both, but, I really enjoyed myself.

Then, last night, I was invited to a third Thanksgiving dinner hosted by some of my wonderful friends – and it was also a blast and the food was delicious.

Here I am thinking, how many people get to go to three great, fun, and delicious Thanksgiving dinners? How many people have great (and sometimes flawed) loving families as well as amazing friends?

Although my immediate family is far from perfect, they are pretty fantastic. I had a moment this weekend of being extremely grateful for each of them:

-My dad: always my best friend and dedicated, devoted supporter. He bends over backwards to make my siblings and me happy. I had so much fun cooking with him and just “being”.

-My brother and sister-in-law: wonderfully supportive, loving and inspiring. Also, they are expecting their first child to arrive very soon, which bring so much joy and happiness to our family.

-My mom: always supports and loves me unconditionally.  This Thanksgiving, I really enjoyed talking with her about my life and hearing her thoughts.

-My sister: although she lives further away and did not make the trip this year, I feel so much closer to her than I have in a long while and it is so incredibly wonderful.

Often I think, “The main reason I have such a fantastic life is because of the parents and family I was born into”. And this year, I have to say that I am even more grateful than ever.
I am truly thankful.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, too.