So, this is one of the items on my "new adventure" list that makes me feel really silly, but I'm gonna write about it anyway. The fact that it was WAY more fun than I expected has convinced me.
New Adventure #8 was...a manicure/pedicure. Honestly, it was incredibly relaxing and fun. I've never had either before. I paint my toes and my mom used to paint my nails every once in awhile pre-high school, but I've never had it professionally done. Never really considered it. But between my new adventure year and a convenient Groupon, it seemed worth a try.
I went to Robert's Salon and Spa in Belmont. It was after work, and I was one of the last few customers in the place. I'd read reviews that the atmosphere was too rushed, but my experience was the reverse. I was welcomed and offered a cup of (admittedly pretty bad) coffee, allowed to choose a polish color, and seated for a few minutes before Lauren came over to get me. I soaked my feet in a whirlpool tub for a few minutes while she set up. She removed my poor attempt at toe nail polish, trimmed and shaped my toenails, scrubbed my feet with a lovely gritty scrub, massaged my feet and calves a little bit with oil/moisturizer, buffed my nails, applied a base coat, 2 layers of polish and a top coat. That probably took 45 minutes and was incredibly pleasant and relaxing. Lauren and I chatted, but I didn't feel interrogated or chattered at at like I sometimes do when I get my hair cut, etc.
She had me put on these silly disposable flip-flops and lead me over to a table to let my toes dry and paint my fingernails. There was less ritual here, just cleaning, trimming and shaping my nails, and again a base coat, 2 polish, and a top coat. She used a really awesome gel-style polish that hardened under a UV light. It left the nails perfectly smooth and shiny, and an awesome sparkly purple color! I can't stop staring at them; I get distracted every time I notice my fingers.
The whole thing took about an hour and fifteen minutes, and I enjoyed every moment of it. I'm so glad I didn't decide it was too trivial for my adventure project. I was skeptical, but it was a wonderful experience.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
New Adventure #7: Buying a Car
In general, I intend for my new adventures to involve activities I might not have tried otherwise, instead of things that would have happened anyway. This one was a little of both.
I totaled my last car on ice right after Christmas, and I had been looking for a new one (okay, okay, avoiding looking for a new one) since then. I find the process overwhelming. I'm not a "car person". I didn't really know what I wanted, or how to tell which cars were good or good for me. But driving Mom's huge, gas-guzzling Jeep finally got to me, so I resolved to make it a Learning Experience.
I bought my last car a year and a half ago with a LOT of help from my parents. They suggested models, went with me for the test drives, and did most of the negotiating. This time, I did it pretty much by myself. I asked for suggestions on which models to look at, but I narrowed the list, test drove, negotiated, and bought one by myself.
Introducing, my lovely 2009 Honda Fit Sport, Cupcake! That's right, Cupcake ^_^
It's a hatchback, which was one of my main search parameters. I often transport boxes, bikes, and furniture, and I was tired of fighting to cram things in, or balancing them precariously on the roof. Cupcake's rear seats fold flat without even removing the head rests! They're split 60/40, and I discovered the other day that I could fit (haha) a full-sized bike inside with the "60" portion folded down, and seat the bike's ride comfortably buckled into the "40" portion. Delightful!
I'm looking forward to many new adventures together with Cupcake
I totaled my last car on ice right after Christmas, and I had been looking for a new one (okay, okay, avoiding looking for a new one) since then. I find the process overwhelming. I'm not a "car person". I didn't really know what I wanted, or how to tell which cars were good or good for me. But driving Mom's huge, gas-guzzling Jeep finally got to me, so I resolved to make it a Learning Experience.
I bought my last car a year and a half ago with a LOT of help from my parents. They suggested models, went with me for the test drives, and did most of the negotiating. This time, I did it pretty much by myself. I asked for suggestions on which models to look at, but I narrowed the list, test drove, negotiated, and bought one by myself.
Introducing, my lovely 2009 Honda Fit Sport, Cupcake! That's right, Cupcake ^_^
It's a hatchback, which was one of my main search parameters. I often transport boxes, bikes, and furniture, and I was tired of fighting to cram things in, or balancing them precariously on the roof. Cupcake's rear seats fold flat without even removing the head rests! They're split 60/40, and I discovered the other day that I could fit (haha) a full-sized bike inside with the "60" portion folded down, and seat the bike's ride comfortably buckled into the "40" portion. Delightful!
I'm looking forward to many new adventures together with Cupcake
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
New Adventure #6: Campaign Event
Congressman Ed Markey came to my attention this
past election season when redistricting caused him to be running for the
House of Representatives for my district. I researched and liked what I read,
voted for him, and was pleased to see that he won easily. When I heard
he was running for John Kerry's Senate seat in the special election, I
resolved to dig deeper. I'd been thinking for awhile about getting more
involved in local politics. I wanted to hear Markey speak and see if he
was someone who's campaign I might want to get involved in. I went to
see him speak in Belmont.
The event was on a Sunday morning in a local Thai restaurant that had been emptied of tables and chairs. For the first half hour, about a hundred folks milled around drinking the provided coffee and tea, chatting, and being solicited to sign up as a campaign volunteer. I didn't know anyone, so I wandered around eavesdropping on others' conversations. Many were discussing current events, Markey's chances of winning, and their own political involvement. There were about 100 people then when Markey and his entourage arrived. After introductions from State Representative Will Brownsberger and Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, who amusingly kept referring to the much-older Markey as "the kid from Malden", Markey got up to speak.
The event was on a Sunday morning in a local Thai restaurant that had been emptied of tables and chairs. For the first half hour, about a hundred folks milled around drinking the provided coffee and tea, chatting, and being solicited to sign up as a campaign volunteer. I didn't know anyone, so I wandered around eavesdropping on others' conversations. Many were discussing current events, Markey's chances of winning, and their own political involvement. There were about 100 people then when Markey and his entourage arrived. After introductions from State Representative Will Brownsberger and Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, who amusingly kept referring to the much-older Markey as "the kid from Malden", Markey got up to speak.
He laid out his reasons for running for Senate. These were his top issues:
Items 4 and 5 are the reasons I'm excited about Ed Markey. This is a guy with an eye to the nation's future. We seem to have more than enough short-sighted politicians willing to sacrifice the long-term welfare of our country of our country for some political points today. Not Markey. He's focused on investing in science and technology, in clean energy and combating climate change. In short, he's working to create a country and a world that we and our children will actually want to live in. "The challenge for this generation is to ensure it has the wisdom to invest in the science and technology of the next generation, in clean energy technology, biotechnology, in telecom and cybertechnologies that gives us the lead," he said. I couldn't agree more.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
New Adventure #5: Moonlight Meadery
Alcohol always held a certain glamor for me. The pretty bottles, the tasty scents, and the grown-up allure. The only problem was, I couldn't stand the taste. So when I turned 21, I undertook a search for palatable alcohols. One of the varieties I've discovered that I like is mead.
Mead is believed to be the most ancient fermented drink, older than beer or wine. At simplest, it is a brewed solution of honey and water. Spices, fruits, and other flavorings are optional.
New Adventure #5 was a tour and tasting at the Moonlight Meadery in Londonderry, NH.
The tour was given with great enthusiasm by one of the brewers. There's not a huge amount to see, though some of the mechanisms like the bottle-filler are neat, but the process is interesting and the guide's excitement makes it worth it. The tasing was delicious. The Meadery sells about 30 varieties ranging from traditional (just honey), to those flavored with apples, blueberries, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and even hot peppers! I tasted 6, my favorite being Summer Love (they all have cute names), a honey-orange mead with vanilla. I'll definitely try more in the future!
The tour and tasting combination is only $15 per person, and you leave with a Moonlight Meadery wine glass that gets you 10% discounts whenever you bring it back. A delightful outing.
Mead is believed to be the most ancient fermented drink, older than beer or wine. At simplest, it is a brewed solution of honey and water. Spices, fruits, and other flavorings are optional.
New Adventure #5 was a tour and tasting at the Moonlight Meadery in Londonderry, NH.
The tour was given with great enthusiasm by one of the brewers. There's not a huge amount to see, though some of the mechanisms like the bottle-filler are neat, but the process is interesting and the guide's excitement makes it worth it. The tasing was delicious. The Meadery sells about 30 varieties ranging from traditional (just honey), to those flavored with apples, blueberries, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and even hot peppers! I tasted 6, my favorite being Summer Love (they all have cute names), a honey-orange mead with vanilla. I'll definitely try more in the future!
The tour and tasting combination is only $15 per person, and you leave with a Moonlight Meadery wine glass that gets you 10% discounts whenever you bring it back. A delightful outing.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
New Adventure #4: Paint Bar
Have you been to a
paint bar? I think they're a brilliant. The idea is to provide a fun and
social painting experience to non-painters. All the supplies are
provided - paint, canvas, brushes, easel. You sign up for a session to
re-create a particular picture, and an instructor guides the group
through every step, telling you what brush to use, which paints to dip
in, where to draw lines, shade, etc. It's very simple and structured,
which was great for me since I haven't painted since elementary school.
But it's also flexible enough that everyone's painting comes out
unique. Some of the more experienced people were obviously
improvising around the guided steps and creating something a little more their own.
Karen and I signed up for a painting inspired by Monet's "Bridge over a Pond of Water Lillies". The place was pretty crowded and it was difficult to move around, but there was a stool and easel for everyone once we got settled in. The first half hour is for finding your spot, getting a smock and paints and settling. There is wine and beer for sale, and I highly recommend getting a drink. It adds a lot to the social atmosphere. The instructor was energetic and funny. She encouraged positivity and wandered around helping and giving advice in between steps.
Here's what I created:
It's sure not a masterpiece, but I'm not ashamed to hang it in my living room. I think that's pretty awesome for my first painting experience! I'll definitely be going back, and I think I might even try painting on my own. (Huge for me - I've never thought of myself as an artist.) Another potential hobby, oh no!
Karen and I signed up for a painting inspired by Monet's "Bridge over a Pond of Water Lillies". The place was pretty crowded and it was difficult to move around, but there was a stool and easel for everyone once we got settled in. The first half hour is for finding your spot, getting a smock and paints and settling. There is wine and beer for sale, and I highly recommend getting a drink. It adds a lot to the social atmosphere. The instructor was energetic and funny. She encouraged positivity and wandered around helping and giving advice in between steps.
Here's what I created:
It's sure not a masterpiece, but I'm not ashamed to hang it in my living room. I think that's pretty awesome for my first painting experience! I'll definitely be going back, and I think I might even try painting on my own. (Huge for me - I've never thought of myself as an artist.) Another potential hobby, oh no!
Here's the website of the place we went, The Paint Bar in Newton. If you want to try it, I suggest signing up for their mailing list so you're notified when they post the next month's schedule. They're booked almost solid for months out!
There's a similar place in Natick. I haven't been there, but it looks from the schedule like it's a little less busy:
http://www.palettesnatick.com/
Friday, February 1, 2013
New Adventure #3: Zumba
So, I have a new activity...again :-)
After many glowing recommendations, I finally tried a Zumba class. If you're not familiar, Zumba is an aerobic dance fitness class. An instructor leads the choreography, which draws on latin, hip-hop, Bollywood, martial arts, and belly dance styles, among others.
Check out this video (not the class I went to, just a good example):
There were 6 women in my class, including me. Two looked to be in their 20s, two in their 30s, and 1 in her 60s. The teacher was a happy, friendly girl about my age. Everyone was dressed in workout clothes (yoga pants, tank tops or tee-shirts) and sneakers.
I had no idea what a good workout it would be! The instructor played one song after another for the full hour with about 30 seconds break between songs to rest and get a drink of water. That's a lot of dancing! Each song had its own choreography that the instructor taught as we went. My instructor favored pop-top-40 kind of songs, with some latin and bollywood thrown in. We even danced to "Gangnam Style" :-)
I felt really silly at first trying to mimic the instructor, but I decided pretty quickly to just embrace the silliness and really get into it. The class built up from simple moves to complicated ones, so I had a chance to get the hang of it before the choreography got hard. It was awesome fun! I think lots of my contra friends would really enjoy it. It's similarly energetic, easy to pick up, and fun!
Anybody want to try it with me?
Thursday, January 17, 2013
2012 Reading Roundup
So, I didn't come close to my goal of blogging about every book I read last year, but here they are:
Title Author Date Completed
How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere Larry King 1/8/2012
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern Stephen Greenblatt 1/16/2012
Dune Frank Herbert 1/30/2012
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Philip K. Dick 2/22/2012
Foundation Isaac Asimov 3/10/2012
Life Itself Roger Ebert 3/25/2012
A Quiet Revolution Leila Ahmed 4/28/2012
Hunger Games Suzanne Collins 5/6/2012
Catching Fire Suzanne Collins 5/12/2012
Mockingjay Suzanne Collins 5/13/2012
Space Chronicles Neil Degrasse Tyson 5/22/2012
Einstein's Dreams Alan Lightman 5/28/2012
Fifty Shades of Grey E.L. James 6/2/2012
Fifty Shades Darker E.L. James 6/15/2012
Illusions Richard Bach 7/22/2012
Interview with a Vampire Anne Rice 8/20/2012
Anne of Windy Poplars L.M. Montgomery 9/5/2012
Anne of Ingleside L.M. Montgomery 9/7/2012
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich Timothy Ferriss 11/10/2012
A Concise History of the Middle East Arthur Goldschmidt Jr. Lawrence Davidson 11/21/2012
Jonathan Livingston Seagull Richard Bach 11/25/2012
Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking Malcolm Gladwell 11/25/2012
The Dictator's Learning Curve William Dobson 12/2/2012
The Poetry of Robert Frost Robert Frost 12/31/2012
That's 24 books: 7 sci-fi/fantasy, 7 other fiction, 4 socio-political, 1 memoir, 2 history, 1 poetry anthology, 2 pop-sci. Given that the last few years' reading was almost exclusively fiction, I'm very pleased with that.
I shoot for an average of one book every two weeks. I fell a bit short this year, as I usually do, but not by too much. And these books averaged longer and more dense than most years. (Notice the spike in November when I swore off Reddit for the month :-)
The highlights were: The Swerve, Life Itself, Hunger Games (my favorite new fantasy of the year - was also impressed with the movie, The 4-Hour Workweek (a scam, an instruction manual on how to run scams, and a deeply thought provoking book on what's important in life - all rolled in one), The Dictator's Learning Curve (a fascinating examination of how repressive regimes are getting more technologically and socially savvy), and The Poetry of Robert Frost (my first foray into poetry - inspired a new fascination with the genre).
I'd love to lend any of them to you, assuming you don't mind my notes in the margins!
Title Author Date Completed
How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere Larry King 1/8/2012
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern Stephen Greenblatt 1/16/2012
Dune Frank Herbert 1/30/2012
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Philip K. Dick 2/22/2012
Foundation Isaac Asimov 3/10/2012
Life Itself Roger Ebert 3/25/2012
A Quiet Revolution Leila Ahmed 4/28/2012
Hunger Games Suzanne Collins 5/6/2012
Catching Fire Suzanne Collins 5/12/2012
Mockingjay Suzanne Collins 5/13/2012
Space Chronicles Neil Degrasse Tyson 5/22/2012
Einstein's Dreams Alan Lightman 5/28/2012
Fifty Shades of Grey E.L. James 6/2/2012
Fifty Shades Darker E.L. James 6/15/2012
Illusions Richard Bach 7/22/2012
Interview with a Vampire Anne Rice 8/20/2012
Anne of Windy Poplars L.M. Montgomery 9/5/2012
Anne of Ingleside L.M. Montgomery 9/7/2012
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich Timothy Ferriss 11/10/2012
A Concise History of the Middle East Arthur Goldschmidt Jr. Lawrence Davidson 11/21/2012
Jonathan Livingston Seagull Richard Bach 11/25/2012
Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking Malcolm Gladwell 11/25/2012
The Dictator's Learning Curve William Dobson 12/2/2012
The Poetry of Robert Frost Robert Frost 12/31/2012
That's 24 books: 7 sci-fi/fantasy, 7 other fiction, 4 socio-political, 1 memoir, 2 history, 1 poetry anthology, 2 pop-sci. Given that the last few years' reading was almost exclusively fiction, I'm very pleased with that.
I shoot for an average of one book every two weeks. I fell a bit short this year, as I usually do, but not by too much. And these books averaged longer and more dense than most years. (Notice the spike in November when I swore off Reddit for the month :-)
The highlights were: The Swerve, Life Itself, Hunger Games (my favorite new fantasy of the year - was also impressed with the movie, The 4-Hour Workweek (a scam, an instruction manual on how to run scams, and a deeply thought provoking book on what's important in life - all rolled in one), The Dictator's Learning Curve (a fascinating examination of how repressive regimes are getting more technologically and socially savvy), and The Poetry of Robert Frost (my first foray into poetry - inspired a new fascination with the genre).
I'd love to lend any of them to you, assuming you don't mind my notes in the margins!
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