Glamour Mag Inspires Love and Life New Year's Resolutions

Glamour had a little snippit with resolutions every lady can make and stick with this year, and no, losing that last 5 pounds isn't one of them. I thought some of them were so good that they were worth repeating here. These are my faves:

1. Don't let a week go by without telling someone that you love them. Out loud. Pets count. So does your reflection in the mirror.
2.If you can't find something decent to watch on TV, turn it off.
3. Always read the kid a book (and definitely pat the bunny).
4. All together now: This year there will be no drunk-texting of exes. (Also no drunk-tweeting or status updating--at least not until they invent the great Internet erase machine.)
5. Find out the dates of every election in your district. Vote in all of them.
6. For every time he initiates it, initiate it twice. (nothing like a little friendly competition-lol)
7. Buy a "good decision" piggy bank. Pay yourself a dollar for every time you skip the third drink, go to bed early or make the difficult phone call. At the end of the year, buy yourself a "good decision" present. You've earned it!
8. On January 2nd, sit down, take out a pen and a piece of paper and write down five reasons you would want to marry yourself. Doesn't that feel good?

My personal new year's resolution is to floss everyday. I figure, it's simple, easy to maintain, and has huge benefits for my teeth, AND my dentist will finally stop nagging me. Though, personally, with all the good decisions I plan on making this year, I might have to buy myself a good decision vacation, or a present every couple months to keep that pig from getting too full. Happy New Year! And here's to fresh starts and new beginnings!

Eyebrow Waxing

I went to the salon recently, and told the beautician that I wanted her to clean up my brows. In waxing speak, this is code for following the already established shape of your eyebrow, and just getting rid of any stray hairs that have managed to grow outside that shape despite the fact that you pluck and wax them away the second they appear time and time again. It was a reputable salon. I don’t trust my eyebrows to just anyone, after having several botched jobs when they came out too thin, uneven, or my forehead was waxed without asking even though I do not have a unibrow, and in fact my eyebrows are strangely far apart.

So, because the name and rank of the salon implied a certain level of skill and professionalism, I trusted this woman mere days before my sister’s wedding with a very important part of my face and expressions with little clarification on what I wanted her to do. Now don’t judge me, you know what I mean when someone has angry eyebrows or surprised eyebrows, and this could happen in real life if waxing went too wrong. After my experience, I will not be so vague with my orders.

This woman drastically changed the shape of my eyebrows, and made one shorter than the other by waxing off a key piece towards the center, altering the line up with my nose. As shown in the picture above, there is supposed to be a straight line from your nose up to the end of your eyebrow. Now, every time I go to the salon, I get lectured about over plucking that little section. But it just won't grow back! I need a little Rogaine, just for that one little spot.

Editor Schmeditor

Being hired as a proofreader, or editor is a funny thing. Sometimes it is literally comical to see the strange typographical errors that people make. Most of the time it is funny in the weird sense that you are a new person hired onto the team just to find the errors that other, more established employees hadn’t noticed. You are actually looking for the mistakes that your boss makes. Imagine doing that in any other position. I don’t think it would make you very popular around the office. But when you are specifically cast as a proofreader, it makes you a hero. People gasp about all of the spelling mishaps, and grammar missteps that you found, exclaiming what a great job you did! You saved the publication!

It’s a fine line that must be tread lightly when starting at a new place. You need to learn the standards of the company, and how strict they are with their grammar and colloquial expressions. For the most part, grammar is a really subjective thing. Everyone learns it one way, and uses it how they see fit. Any published author will tell you sometimes they throw correct grammar to the wind because it just doesn’t sound right.

People have their different pet peeves. Some hate the word “Get” in any context. In pretty much any instance, there is another verb that could take its place and sounds better. Some flip over the passive voice (which can be difficult to avoid). Others don’t condone parenthetical statements. Even the use of ‘once’ is a hotly debated term. Is it a time marker, or can it be used as another way of saying after? It really depends on your audience.

The truth is that most people don’t really know what “proper” grammar is, and will just trust you as the proofreader if you say it is right, a lovely little power to wield. Yet the standards of proper change based on audience, writing type (technical, promotional, academic, etc). It is a peaceful thing to go quietly through pages of text, fix the problems, and finish knowing the document is better after you have finished with it. At least in your eyes.

The Christmas Spirit

I got a chain email the other day, that was very typical of the Chrismas season. It was about a little boy who asked his mother if Santa Claus is real.

It was the best answer I've heard to the question so far. She told her son about how since he asked that question it meant he was old enough to learn about the Christmas Spirit. She used an example of a woman whose car she had hit in the grocery store, who left her go with instead of with information, with a smile and a Merry Christmas.

This woman had Christmas spirit she said, a special attitude and feeling that spreads over people this time of year. It's a time when people do random nice things for each other. Instead of yelling, they smile and say it's ok. They buy gifts to show their appreciation for having people in their lives. It's a sentiment that stretches around in kindness, and people use Santa Claus as a way of reminding themselves of this special loving sentiment once a year.

It's true. I have noticed people on the subway nodding and making room instead of scowling and elbowing. More doors are being held. More music is being played. Everyone is jaunting off to one party or another celebration. It's festive. It's magical, and the Christmas Spirit is all around.

Wintuk

Tonight I had my very first experience with Cirque de Solei, and I have to say, it was as fantastic as everyone has told you. I saw Wintuk at Madison Square Garden. It was a mixture of circus act, christmas story, and acrobatics that had a little something for everyone. It is one boy's quest to find snow, and the magical dreamland he encounters while looking. There is limited dialogue, a narrator who could really be done without, and mostly breathtaking dance and feats of nature.

Trampoline stunts were performed, that looked like the person was just flipping end over end over end without traveling across any space. A woman twirled more hula hoops than you could count around her barely moving frame. A man walked a tightrope. Women dangled and twirled in tandem from ribbons twisting from the ceiling. People bounced off of giant wooden rods, and a woman and a man climbed inside a giant hoop to spin around the floor. All to the tune of winter scenery and live music.

There were puppies, a little romance, cops and robbers, and even angry snow monsters. This show truly has a facet for any audience. And, *SPOILER ALERT* at the very end, to complete the magic of the evening, it snows, actually blizzards down tiny tissue paper flakes. Everyone I was with was beaming with the joy of the season, and the wonder at how people can actually do those things with their bodies. I loved it, and I am thinking about signing up for a trampoline class at Chelsea Piers sometime soon!!

Tonight I Joined the Zumba World

I've been hearing about Zumba classes from friends for months already, but my gym doesn't offer them, so I figured I would never have a chance to see what it is all about. Well, I am home for the Thanksgiving holiday, and a new fitness studio has opened up in my town. To promote their classes, they are offering a three free classes trial where you can try any three classes before you decide to join. One of my friends is considering becoming a member, and she invited me along to try out a zumba class. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity, since I have been curious about it for quite some time.

I went to the class, and was a little nervous. I'm generally a little slow to catch on to new dance steps and have been known to be a little clumsy in aerobics classes. I blame it on being left handed, I always tend to want to go the opposite direction of everyone else. The music started pumping, and I knew I would like it, even if I did look totally off rhythm while enjoying it. It reminded me of spinning class, with the hip hop and techno tunes to keep you amped up through what is bound to be a tiring experience. The instructor was definitely a former back up dancer. She was totally jacked, and she was wearing baggy orange pants with a tight tiny tank top. The outfit really gave her away, and the fact that for a middle aged woman, she could really gyrate those hips. Also, she did not stop bouncing up and down for the entire hour class. This made her dance moves slightly difficult to follow, since the mambo is a little difficult to pick up in one class anyways, add a bounce step and I'm totally lost. At least it gave me something to blame my missteps on.

The song would change every 5 minutes or so, and ranged from Mambo #5, to Get Low by Lil' John (we really did get low), to My Hips don't Lie by Shakira. The moves went from the grapevine to salsa to merengue steps, to tango moves, to the plain old booty drop and shoulder shimmy. I do not recommend going with anyone who you are not comfortable literally shaking what your mama gave you in front of. We did the Beyonce shake your booty while popping our your chest move--this was one I was actually OK at, and I learned that twirling your hips is really all about the core rather than just the butt. It also brought in some traditional aerobics moves in between dance segments like the lunge-bounce-clap, and squats. It felt more like fun than working out, though I really broke a sweat, and we'll see how sore my legs are tomorrow.

Bottom line is that you get over the embarrassment of dancing in a brightly lighted room with mirrors everywhere within the first few minutes, and everyone is more into figuring out their moves than watching yours. While some of the moves feel like rubbing your tummy while patting your head, I am confident that if you went weekly it would become much easier. At the very least you will definitely learn some new dance moves, or improve the ones you've got! Hey, it's way more fun than running on a treadmill and staring at a wall for 40 minutes.

Another reason to be Thankful this Thanksgiving

It may actually help you sleep! Researchers in Manchester, England surveyed 401 adults, and those who had the highest levels of gratitude slept longer and better than less grateful participants. Gratitude in all areas of your life helps to decrease the number of negative thoughts which can delay sleep while drifting off. Count your blessings, and soon, sleeping even more soundly might be among them. (Good Housekeeping, November 2009)