If You're Going To San Francisco

Make sure you have as much fun as the man and I did our first day here.  We have walked the city, and seen great things that are not on tours.  We have taken a bus tour of the places we would have been unable to walk to and we did a tour of Alcatraz at night.

Most importantly, we have done all of this together.  This is shaping up to be one of the most relaxing and wonderful vacations I have ever taken.  We just seem to gel.  After seven a.m. that is when I am finally waking up and he is coming to terms with the fact that he has been reading for two hours while I sleep.

More to come.  Perhaps even a picture or two..

The Show Goes on...

I am one of those people who has a theme song for the day.  Today's is Lupe Fiasco's The Show Goes On.  Have I ever related my undying love for Top 40 Hip Hop before?  If not, I apologize. It is a bit weird for a girl like me.

At any rate, today the show does go on here.  It was a somewhat disappointing day.  Mostly because tomorrow is the big trip with the man, and it is alas, tomorrow.  I didn't get the phone call I wanted all day and when it came in, I missed it. To make matters worse, I have been up since five am.  This just proves that even the happiness warrior has an off day.  But like the song says, even if they turn the lights off the show is going on.  (Thank goodness that didn't happen today as well.)

But I digress.  I have found that this is a good running song.  It is a good go into work motivational song.  It is a good leaving from work unwind song.  There are many aspects, but I think the best part (aside from the hook that just grabs you) is the lyrics.  No matter what you have to keep going. 

So like the song says, This show is going on.

Does Success Bring Happiness?

I have been wondering about this subject a lot lately.  Will I be happier if I make more money, have more power, enjoy more prestige, or even have more friends and keep my condo cleaner?

I am beginning to think that success and happiness are not necessarily linked.  One can be successful and very unhappy, while another can be a complete failure and happy as a clam.  I almost believe that success can breed unhappiness if you let it.  While everyone should be able to enjoy what they define as success I think that happiness is more important to achieve.  Either way, success is a wonderful thing, if you let it be.  You just have to make sure that it does not become consuming.

Hopefully I will be able to better balance both success and happiness.  It is keeping sight of the important things that keep success from consuming me.  It will always be more important to me to spend time with my family and friends than it is to stay late at work and get a few more dollars.  I will always choose people over things.  These are my priorities.  I need to work on refining my definition of success to include these things.

It is going to be a good week!

This week should be pretty great.

I have had some great success as a Candle Chickie lately and get to brag about it at a meeting tomorrow.  I love the feeling of having an idea work out.  I told others about it, and now I get to talk about it tomorrow.  Tuesday is dinner with Lady and then the big trip is the rest of this week.

I do apologize for not being as diligent about posting.  I will be back to normal soon!

Another Great Night

It must have been the shoes.  The cute patent leopard print wedge.  I had a great PartyLite show tonight.  I played Price is Right.

It was awesome.  Sometimes, when things are seeming to not go your way, they turn around and work out.

Tonight was one of those nights.

Now if only I could sleep..

Change is in the air

Fall always brings about change.

I know that there are many changes in store for me soon.  I will be changing my wardrobe over from summer to fall and winter.  The fall and winter shoes will come down.  I have changed the decoration in my home for the season (I love pumpkins.  They contrast nicely with the green).  The weather is getting crisper and the down comforter will be coming out soon as well.

I cannot wait to see what other changes fall will bring.

I also changed up a favorite recipe.  I love taco soup in the slow cooker.  Here is the recipe.

2 cans diced tomatoes
1 small can diced green chiles
1 lb of ground meat (I used bison in this one, it was fantastic)
2 cans pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 onion diced

Here are the very difficult instructions:

Put everything in the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 8 hours.

Heaven in a bowl.

We are Family

Tonight I met with the ladies who will be accompanying me to what I affectionately call Aunties Weekend.

The women in my family and I have been going on a long weekend together for a few years.  It started out as a spa weekend but has grown to include more than just a spa.  We have been several places together, Washington D.C, Savannah, Las Vegas, Boston, Providence.  Each city has been a place that we all reconnect and explore.  It is nice to be surrounded by the women that have shaped my life.  I relish every moment with them (even the ones where someone has lost their plane ticket in security, or misplaced their room key).  It is always a good time or a good story right?

This next trip is another foray into Washington D.C.  This time to follow the John Wilkes Booth escape route, which will take us from Washington to Virginia to Maryland.  I will get a few states closer to my goal of visiting all fifty states, not to mention the laughter and memories that this adventure will provide.  It is nice to build a history of our own while seeing historic places.

I am looking forward to this.