Prompt #2: 10 Likes and Dislikes

I'm not really clear about whether I'm doing 10 likes and 10 dislikes, or 5 and 5 - but I'm looking for material here so we'll go with the former.

LIKES (at the moment)

1. Autumn weather - minus the recent rain
2. Autumn outfits - tights, sweaters, scarves, boots - but not covering them up with a coat yet!
3. White eyeliner -
I've watched a few makeup tutorials with Halloween on the horizon and realized that I've been missing out on this.  It's amazing what a little highlight can do and I'm newly obsessed with adding this to my getting-ready regimine.

4. The current season of The Walking Dead on AMC - I get that this is counterintuitive after my "afraid of everything" claim, but it's true.  It's a total anomaly that can be blamed solely on the BF.
5. Blogging again
6. The house that sings Gangnam style - Watch it Here - I know... it's sort of awful... but hey! they aren't my neighbors!
7. Apple recipes on Pinterest - for all the apples we picked last weekend
8. Piperlime - I always rely on their "Rachel Zoe" picks for online shopping.  Sometimes you can't be sure what the quality of an item will be like when you get it, and I like that these have been vetted through an expert.  So far I've loved everything I've chosen this way.  BONUS - It's their birthday today.  20% off of everything!!
9. The game/app "Flow" - Play this on time trial and you'll be addicted like me
10. What you've been waiting to hear... one current like is: Headless Horseman Hayride & Haunted House! - I'm going to be honest.  I chickened out of sitting on the edge of the hayride after the first ghoul brushed my ankle and I ALMOST threw in the towel after house number one.  I stuck it out, though, and made it through ALL EIGHT parts.  They have some really impressive sets and costumes and there are a few stomach churning parts.  The actors were all respectful, though, and with the help of some friendly arms (read: I grabbed them against their will and wouldn't let go) I did it!  It was a fun time overall.


DISLIKES (at the moment)

1. The New York State Voter Registration people (thanks for the FIVE confirmations on my change of address - none of which tell me my new polling place)
2. Looking for/deciding on a Halloween cosutme.  Two more days.  EEEK!
3. Bathroom Attendants - I have felt totally accosted by these guys for years.  They're always in places where you'd never expect them, and you spend all your time in the stall feeling guilty about not bringing your wallet.  I don't want your two decade old Aqua-Net, and I'd prefer to get my own paper towel.  Thanks.
4. Rain - I didn't hate it so much until NYC.  Walking in it everywhere is no fun.
5. People who stick objects in elevator doors to keep them from closing - Why?  Where do you have to be that is so much more important than those of us already stuffed IN the elevator?  You really can't wait 10 extra seconds for the next one?
6. Peplum - Sorry guys.  I can't get on board with this trend.  I'm not about drawing attention to the muffin top area.
7. Tim Tebow
8. Those orange and black taffy candy things - aka the fruitcake of Halloween
9. That I don't live closer to "Mary's Place" - the most adorable hot dog stand with the most adorable little lady working there.  It was a stop on the Fall Fest tour, and though she claimed to be on Facebook, I haven't been able to find her.  The "restaurant" was basically a shed in her yard with some picnic tables and a sign.  She also had one of those push carts that you see vendors use in Central Park.  I like to imagine that she busied herself studying the week over week business growth our 13 hot dog order provided after we pulled away.
10. Never being able to find tights in my drawer without runs in them.

And there you have it!  Ten arbitrary likes and dislikes of mine.  Till tomorrow...

XO

FRIDAY!!!!

There's nothing better, right? 

Although it's dreary and rainy in NYC today, I'm in a fantastic mood.  It's payday, two out-of-town friends are visiting, and tomorrow I'll be partaking in all day "Fall-Fest"ivities upstate.  I'm actually so euphoric that I've stupidly decided to give myself another writing challenge!  Behold, another "it-looked-cool-on-Pinterest-but-will-likely-be-the-bain-of-my-existence-later" find:

 

That's right, baby!  PROMPTS.  I have no writers block-y excuses for sucking.  I'll admit right now that I may not do these daily (read: free weekends), but let's see if it at least improves frequency.

 

DAY 1 - Write Some Basic Things About Yourself:

 

I feel like you can get the basic-basics from my info blurb, but here are a few second-tier facts:

• I moved to Manhattan from Southwest VA/Northeast TN 6 years ago
• At that time I was coming for 1 year for "work experience"
• I met the BF here although we went to the same college
• I work in the media industry and I love it!
• HUGE animal person but currently no pets
• The greatest satisfaction in my life came from getting my Masters - I still want to do Ph.D.
• I have anxiety/fear about pretty much everything even remotely scary

Which brings me to my fear of the day (I could seriously have "Things I'm Afraid of Friday" and keep it going for A-WHILE):

 

THIS G-D-EFFIN' SCARY-AZZ ATTRACTION:

 

 

OK - Even I will admit that it looks a bit laughable after my dramatic lead-in, but I seriously do not do scary.  In signing up for the aforementioned "Fall Fest" I wasn't thinking clearly about the fact that the conclusion to the day would be this...  The Headless Horseman Hayride and haunted houses in Sleepy Hollow.  Allegedly it takes around 90 minutes to go through it all, and frankly, my heart might not take it.  The BF has done a decent job of getting my lifetime scary-movie count just into the double digits, but I'm not convinced I've reached the level of de-sensitization where I WANT someone chasing me with a chainsaw. 

 

Dear lord what did I get myself into? 

 

I'll update first thing next week (assuming survival).

 

XO -

 

Honey

 

 

 
 



Oktoberf-m-l

I had a whirlwind of a weekend and an equally full calendar waiting for me this week.  All of these commitments aren't making it easy for me to keep up with writing - but I'm trying to make good on my promise this time!

Friday night the BF made chili and we stayed in.  It was so nice just to relax at home!  The bad news was that I had a 6am wake-up call on Saturday for New York Cares Day.  This is my third season volunteering for NYCD with a group of ladies and I truly enjoy it.  I do not, however, understand why I keep signing up for things that force me to set an alarm on Saturdays.  #FAIL



Painting the fence at PS 81 in Brooklyn

We got assigned to the outside fence around the school so we set to work painting at 9:30am sharp.  We worked straight through until 3:00 and only barely got the thing done.  I hope the kids, staff, and neighborhood residents are pleased with the fresh new paint job!

After wrapping up, I met up with some friends in Williamsburg.  We wound up at Radegast which is a giant German beer hall.  I love me some German (wurst, pretzels, HB, YES) so I was excited to get in a little stateside Oktoberfesting.  The only drawback was that I had pre-planned a similar celebration at Zum Schneider in Manhattan for the next day.  Let's say I did a LOT of "Prost!"ing this weekend and I think I've had my fill for a while.



Hashtags: #NoMoreSausageOrCarbs #GiveMeAVegetableSTAT

Last night after work we went to a little event put on by Urban Girl Squad.  I REALLY dig the concept of this company.  It's basically a "meetup" for women and provides an environment to meet new friends/contacts while participating in a fun activity.  I felt like the crowd was largely new-to-the-city and a bit younger, but I would absolutely recommend it to anyone just settling here.  I had my sorority alumnae association, but if it weren't for that I have no clue how I would have gone about meeting other girls. 

We got a quick lesson on making jam/jelly and chutneys and then had a mixologist put together some cocktails with the jam. 

Blackberry-Currant jam cocktails by Danny McBride

I've got to be honest - this dude had a serious chip on his shoulder.  We got more of a venomous lecture on bar-behavior than a lesson in entertaining.  I feel like the crowd was sophisticated enough to know that you tip 20%.  It was a bit condescending. 

The lady who did the jam demonstration, by contrast, was lovely and I will definitely be visiting her at the Union Square farmers market soon!  Check out Beth's Farm Kitchen if you ever need a cute 100% local-made treat.

 

In conclusion... I DID IT!  Two posts in a single week.  Things are looking up!

 

XO -

Honey

Guess Who's Back?

I keep meaning to come back to this blog...  I talk about it and think about it.  I just haven't DONE it.  I think it's mostly because I'm ashamed of my 365 days of posts failure.  If you're just tuning in, I set a goal on the eve of my 29th birthday to write one post every day until I turned 30.  I think I made it about 6 weeks?  That might be generous!

It was supposed to motivate me not to squander my youth and to try many new things.  Make no mistake - I kept VERY busy - I just stopped sharing the experiences daily. 

In retrospect, I think maybe it was for the best.  I catch myself all the time - so busy with the business of documenting my life that I forget the business of living it.  At times I feel like if I don't instagram this or tweet that - if I don't check-in - it never really happened. 

We had this exact conversation at my book club recently (Selection: I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron - highly recommend).  In her opening essay Nora (we're on a first-name basis) talks about how she was present for countless significant moments in history, but can't recall the experiences with any detail.  In discussion we decided that we pack our lives with these moments, hoping to create some sort of meaning, only to have them disappear into oblivion later.  Understandably, there's something about that that doesn't sit well with us as a species.  I think maybe our generation has learned to cope by documenting it all...  Uploading everything to a cloud where it can't be lost and forgotten.

Make no mistake, I'm truly glad that I have a handful of mobile uploads to supplement my memories of a jam-packed year, but maybe the holes in coverage really serve as evidence that I succeeded at living.  It shows that I looked at one more gorgeous view of the Manhattan skyline, savoured one more delicious meal, and had one more laugh with a friend where my face wasn't buried in a viewfinder or my smartphone.

With that being said - and on a totally unrelated note... I just realized it's my PAULA-VERSARY!!!  See: The Holy Grail  What better occassion to get back into writing?

It's been nearly a year since my last post of any substance, and it was substantial indeed.  Ms. Deen has been through it this year, but I must say that I still love her.  My fan-ship is unwavering.  Take that, Anthony Bourdain!

Looking forward to sharing (and sometimes not sharing) my daily musings again.

XO -
HoneY