Tag: Random

Here’s the TV shows I keep up with these days:

Drama:

–Nashville. A special mention here — I highly, highly recommend Nashville on ABC, y’all! The acting, music, production and plot are all a solid A. Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere each earned Golden Globe nominations, and it’s clear to see why. I was upset when ABC canceled GCB, but this is far, far better, and if you’re a country or rock fan, you’ll love the music. (Here’s a Spotify playlist: spoti.fi/TmZogN )

–Once Upon A Time. Great addition to ABC’s lineup now in its second season. Because this is a TV show based on fairy tales on the ABC network, you’ll see a lot of references to fairy tale characters we’re used to seeing in Disney classics — but there are a lot of other mentions too. Nearly all of the Disney princesses are accounted for at this point — Snow White, Aurora, Cinderella, Belle, Mulan…just a few more and we’ll have the whole list!

–Revenge. This is one I didn’t think I would love at first, but it’s gotten me hooked. Madeline Stowe is amazing, and I wish I had the steely resolve of Emily Thorne.

–Mad Men. I got into this very late, via Netflix, but I am eagerly awaiting Season 6. Still need to watch episodes 6-12 of Season 5 as well.

Comedy:

–Modern Family. This is one that my husband and I eagerly await together. He’s not a fan of my dramas, and I’m not a fan of his, so it’s nice to have at least one show we can watch together.

–Family Guy. See above, except it’s a cartoon. (:

–The Office. Sticking with it til the bitter end this season. It’s hard to watch these days, and I find myself distracted and doing other things while it’s on, but I’d like to see how it ends up.

Shows I Used to Watch:

–Gossip Girl. I followed the entire series until the abrupt season finale in December. XOXO. Blair and Chuck forever.

–Grey’s Anatomy. I started watching this show in its first season, during my last semester of college in 2005, but I willingly gave it up toward the end of Season 8, when the plots were starting to really jump the shark, and the cast had changed so much that it wasn’t the show it started out as anymore. I haven’t looked back.

–Private Practice. Like most Grey’s fans, I started following this when it debuted, but gave it up at the same time as Grey’s and don’t miss it.

You’ll see that reality TV is absent from this list. Occasionally I’ll watch an episode of Biggest Loser, Bachelor/ette, and in the past I’ve followed Idol, but I’m just not into reality in general.

What are the shows you follow these days?

My Happy List: January 2013

1. Mango pup
2. Walt Disney World
3. Flip-flops
4. A great book
5. Salt air
6. Hydrangeas
7. A whole day off with my hubs
8. An unexpected gift
9. Caramel
10. The Crimson Tide
11. My sorority
13. My nephews
14. Our April 2009 wedding
15. “Keep Calm and Carry On” artwork
16. Chai
17. A warm fluffy fleece jacket
18. Pedicures
19. My newly natural hair color
20. “Nashville”

I Am a Princess on Disney Video

Disney put together this great video celebrating girls and what being a princess is really all about — being strong, trustworthy, compassionate, brave, and loving.

Thank you, Disney, for reminding us that “princess” isn’t just ballgowns and tiaras.

Every once in a while, an ad actually does strikes a chord with me. And I just happened to be the right demo for this one: Married, female, 25-34, the owner of a chocolate Lab, and thinking about having a child, maybe. Is it bad that I tear up every time I see this ad? Subaru hit the mark here.

My husband Brian and I recently passed the 14-month mark of our time living here in Orlando. At the end of August, we made the much-anticipated move from an apartment to a rental home. We’re really enjoying it — we have a pool, a garage and more square footage for not a lot more than we were paying for the apartment.

Due to Brian’s erratic work schedule  — thankfully no more overnight shifts, though — I sometimes have some time to kill on my own. I lean slightly more “I” than “E” on the Myers-Brigg, so I generally like to recharge and do productive things on my own when I can. Here lately, when I’m home from work but he’s working a late or weekend shift, I’ve been swimming, spending time with our dog, reading, and doing some freelance work.

But sometimes a girl has got to get out of the house. And that’s when I’m reminded that while I have many contacts at work, a loving family, and friends from college all only a text away, sadly, I don’t have a whole lot of close friends here in Orlando. — certainly not anyone I could text and say, “Hey, let’s meet for drinks/dinner/theme park cavorting in an hour.”

I think this is for a lot of reasons — I definitely have some new acquaintances here in town, but most wouldn’t prioritize me because they have kids and I don’t, or they have an established group of friends already. And that’s OK, though sometimes I grumble inwardly a bit.

Another thing is when friends or family from out of state visit Orlando, because everyone does at some time or another. When they do, I don’t expect them to change plans just to accommodate me tagging along — they’re on vacation!

So, all that said, I’ve learned to enjoy myself solo. Tonight, Brian was working, so after work I headed to Epcot to see what all the hubbub was with the 30th anniversary celebration. I hiked in from the parking lot just in time to see Disney legend Marty Sklar talk for nearly two hours about the building of Walt Disney World and Epcot. It was, in short, amazing.

After that I headed to Boulangerie Patisserie for a ham and cheese croissant, and picked up a Napoleon to go for Brian and I to split at home later. Then, I caught IllumiNations with a special 30th anniversary tag at the end. Also amazing.

And I did all of this tonight alone, not caring what other people thought of me as I wandered the busy theme park solo.

But, I will say this: If you’d like to invite me for dinner/drinks/cavorting in the parks, I’d happily tag along. (:

-K

Position.

Persistence.

Patience.

These are the three Ps of obtaining your goals and dreams for your life.

1) Position yourself to be in the best place possible. This is where research and hard choices come into play. Whether you feel you need more salary, to lose 100 lbs., or to obtain a specific job, you will need to make sacrifices to position yourself to obtain your goals. Learn as much as you can about your goal, and decide what you need to do to put your best foot forward. If you think moving to NYC will help you get that dream magazine job, you may need to make that leap. If you want to get a raise at work, you’ll need to take on more projects.

2) Be persistent and open about your goals. Pestering others (in a good, productive way) may come into play here. Being open about your feelings and goals to those who can help you comes into play here. You’d be surprised at how many are flattered by your attention and questions, and will welcome you and offer help. And tamping down those negative feelings is essential here. Lose the anxiety and come to terms with the fact that you CAN do it.

3) And finally, be patient. Sometimes things take time. I think it’s a Millenial trait to expect what’s awesome right now, and if you don’t get it, to move on until you find it. But really, good things often do come with time. Whether your goal is to run a half marathon, get hired by Google, or have 3 kids, it all takes time. And try to enjoy yourself a bit along the way.

I’m not someone you would point at and say, “Hey, fat girl!” but I’m getting close.

I’m inspired by The Jen West Quest. Jen is around my age, and in 2010, she shed about 50 pounds over the course of about 6 months.  Her starting weight is pretty close to mine.

I’m also inspired by friends like Stephen Vinson, who I’ve seen transform over the past couple of years. 

So, my goal? To lose 55 pounds in 6 months. Yep. 55 pounds. This is 35 pounds of post-wedding weight, and another 20 pounds beyond that. No bikini photos like Jen (girl, I love how you bruise up the way I do), but I will keep myself accountable and post how much I’ve lost each Sunday.

I’ve decided to start tracking my workouts and calories again using an app. In the past, I’ve used SparkPeople and LoseIt with minimal to moderate success. Now, I’ve downloaded My Fitness Pal (which is also a weight loss community a la SparkPeople) on iPad and iPhone to log every calorie and workout, and already I’m finding it easier to use and more intuitive than other apps. I’ve programmed it to share my weight loss to Twitter automatically.

My daily calorie goal is 1,320. If I work out, I can eat more than that, as long as what I’m burning puts me around 1,320. That makes me happy, because it promotes balance. Sure, I can eat a greasy hamburger every once in a while, but I better put in a workout to balance it all out.

This is all pretty notable because I turn 30 in roughly 6 months. So Fit by 30 is the name of the game.

-K

I’ll admit, I’ve been feeling a bit run-down lately. I’ve had the sniffles, allergy issues, headaches and digestive issues, to name a few. I’ll also admit that I’ve not been taking the best care of myself. I’m not eating wonderfully or working out enough. So of course it’s taking a toll on my body.

Stress sucks. Even after 4 months at a great new job, I’ve realized I’m still getting over the effects of working 12-hour days in local news and sleeping with my phone by my head. And after a year in Orlando, I’ve yet to take a vacation, other than a few days to see family over the holidays.

So, this is where that all stops.

Next month, we move into a new home. I plan to:

• Take time for myself and use our pool to workout and relax in.
• Look at local gyms with 24-hour access so that my husband and I can work out any time.
• Cut back on the crappy food I’ve been eating and start fueling myself more nutritiously. 
• Start planning a vacation — a real one — with my husband for our next anniversary.

What changes have you made to combat stress in your life?

Over the weekend, I sent off paperwork to sell our first home in Alabama. If all goes well, that chapter of my and my husband’s life will be over come Monday. It’s hard not to get nostalgic about the time we spent in that house. We got engaged and married while living in that house, and brought home Mango as a 4-lb. puppy. We had great neighbor-friends, and built a lot of memories there.We also put a lot of work into the house and fixed it up as well as we could.

So to see it handed off to someone else is bittersweet to the core. It’s compounded by the fact that my parents chose to leave their house, 6 miles from our old house, and move to South Carolina, close to my sister and her family, and just a 5.5-hour drive to where we live now in Florida. They left this week — the same time that our house is selling. It feels as though together, we’re closing the door on Alabama. And that hurts, because as much as I love Alabama, my husband and I both needed career moves that weren’t there for us.

So now, over the past couple of months, I’ve been watching my employer from the time we lived in that house, al.com, reorganize and shape itself into a new digital-first news organization. It’s hard not to get a lump in my throat and ask, “What if?” What if we had stayed in Alabama and kept our house? What if I had stayed with al.com and could be a big part of the new organization? Or, conversely, what if I wasn’t…?

But the choices we make in life are just that. I could not have predicted what al.com is doing a year ago. And I also can’t predict what good things are yet to come from our move to central Florida. I have high hopes about the coming months and years. We’re settling into a house next month with a garage, and a yard, and a pool. My husband is building a career as a chef.

And me? I’m going for my dreams, asking for what I want, and trying until I succeed.