Lifestyle

Quotes about Saturday

April 11, 2020 by Lisa Leave a Comment

Saturday in the park, I think it was the fourth of July.

We all know the classic lyrics for “Saturday in The Park” by Chicago. And if you don’t, here is the Spotify linkso you can give it a listen.

If I were truly writing this piece for it to be Pinterest worthy I would have made graphics for all of these quotes. I’m not looking for that kind of distraction, but can’t promise won’t read another piece from me that is filled with beautifully designed quotes. These quotes are making my Saturday a little lighter, something I can sink into and enjoy just for me.

“Saturday night is perfect for writers because other people have “plans.”
― Mike Birbiglia

“There was nothing like a Saturday – unless it was the Saturday leading up to the last week of school and into summer vacation. That of course was all the Saturdays of your life rolled into one big shiny ball.”
― Nora Roberts, Rising Tides

There was a time in the 1930s when magazine writers could actually make a good living. ‘The Saturday Evening Post’ and ‘Collier’s’ both had three stories in each issue. These were usually entertaining, and people really went for them. But then television came along, and now of course, information technology… the new way of killing time.
— Tom Wolfe

If you are a writer, Saturday and Sunday don’t mean anything.
— Clive Cussler

Checking In, Friends.

April 10, 2020 by Lisa Leave a Comment

Hello Friends,

What a time to be alive. I have been self-isolated since March 6 due to circumstances beyond my control and let me tell you, it has been interesting.

My job is in social media for a pancreatic cancer nonprofit so I have been watching the COVID19 virus take hold across the world for some time (early January). When all of this started life was pretty normal, by the end of February I was trying to manage family health issues. When March rolled around I was wondering if my son would be able to get home from his study aboard program in London. (He’s home and is missing the Big Smoke.)

I truly haven’t had much desire to write, but now find that it brings me comfort and I am hoping to do something small every day – whether it is something amusing/silly, or what is helping me stay sane as I work from home (which I have done for almost 20 years) while dealing with long-distance worrying over family and friends.

These little additions could be as simple as a quote I found particularly meaningful, musings on life, or things I find online that my family will probably roll their eyes at, but gave me a chuckle or pushed me to read further.

I believe it is the little things that will get us through this pandemic. A friend asked me about businesses carrying on and my thoughts on it. I believe it’s a good thing, y’all. We are all literally locked in our homes unless we are a essential employee and there are days I feel the walls closing in on me with alarming force. Seeing businesses (traditional, virtual, bloggers, etc.,) carrying on means we are moving forward when it feels like we are trapped in a never ending nightmare.

Moving forward is essential. We would not have survived the Great Depression followed by WWII if we weren’t resilient. Taking those steps, one at a time, no matter how wobbly they are, means we are getting closer to the other side. We won’t know what that looks like for a long time and the short-term unknown is terrifying. One thing is for certain — we will be forever changed as not only a nation, but as a world.

It is my hope that we come out a little more compassionate to our fellow humans, and that during this time of isolation, we show just as much grace and compassion to ourselves as we would to others.

Stay safe, friends. Let me know how you are doing and know that you are always in my thoughts.

Much Love,

Lisa

Open Kitchen Shelves

January 6, 2020 by Lisa Leave a Comment

I think I am in the minority when I confess to you, dear reader, that I do not like open kitchen shelves. They are pleasing to the eye when I first gaze upon their aesthetically pleasing utilitarian free-range displays of colorful porcelain. I want those open shelves. I crave having them in my home. Thankfully, this is where my practicality kicks in. If I had open shelves in my kitchen they would become a magnet for greasy dust build-up and would look like they were shoved onto a shelf without a care in the world.

open white shelves with bottles and dishes — Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

Now that I am an empty nester we don’t use as many dishes as before. Not like we did when the kid was home and I had a house full of teenagers. Back then I was lucky if there was a clean dish left for dinner.

Don’t get me wrong, we considered open shelves when we built our house four years ago. That lasted a whole hot minute. My dreams of artfully styled gorgeous crockery meant two things: 1) I need to learn how to style and 2) I would need to procure gorgeous crockery.

Of course, I can also picture my grandmother stopping in for a visit. Nearing 90, she has issues many women her age have — she forgets things on occasion and is moving slower. But, I can also guarantee the one glass she would grab off of my beautifully styled shelves would send her to the sink in search of a bottle of Dawn dishwashing liquid and a scrubber. Hazel knows a thing or two about household storage and this would be a calamity in her eyes.

The kid still comes home frequently and is, at best, a bull in a china shop most days. I think the chips in our cups and dishes have increased due to his shorter visits. He has been gone just long enough for all of the bad habits of college life to kick in while the established good habits leak out of his brain to make room for something… When I ask him what he learned, it’s the same answer he’s given me since kindergarten — “I don’t know.”

There is also the issue of clutter. The older I get, the less I like clutter. It exhausts me, so I take time every day to tackle spots that are clutter magnets and clear it out. (I’m cleaning out my closet soon – if you don’t hear from me in a month, send help.) The less clutter you have, the more organized you are and since I am not the naturally organized woman my family members are, I will do anything I can to stay on track of organization. This means hiding dishes behind a cabinet door as the stacks, no matter how neat they are, look like clutter.

There are a few instances where I would try open shelves. If I had odd-sized spaces where a cabinet wouldn’t work, or if I was a master of vignettes. I do have collectible dishes that I can display, but there are usually only one or two pieces out at a time. A friend told me I might like them better because I cook a lot and they make it easier to put my hands on the things I need, but I learned long ago to approach cooking with organization, so I gather everything ahead of time.

What are your thoughts on open kitchen shelves? Love or hate them?

Thoughts on Music — My Fantasy Album of Cover Songs and Concert

December 4, 2019 by Lisa Leave a Comment

I was driving home from Maryland yesterday and had quite a bit of time to think while simultaneously flipping through the free Sirius XM music channels on my rental. (I’m an avid Sirius listener, so this little perk made my 10+ hour trip much more bearable.)

When there are long periods where I am trapped in the car, my mind wanders to things that would make most normal humans question what planet I dropped in from. Most of the time, you do not want to know. This time it was much more simple.

My brain shift was to music.

Music in an important part of my every day and has been an integral part of my life since birth. I come from a family of bluegrass musicians and cannot remember a time when someone was not playing music, or it was blasting out of the radio, or the vinyl was spinning on the turntable.

If I’m in a bad mood, I turn to music. Good mood, music. Sad, music. The only time I don’t listen to music is when I am writing, but as soon as I stand up from my desk the music is back on.

I was whizzing down the road listening to 70’s on 7 when Grand Funk Railroad started wailing “we’re an American band” and the only thing I could think was “I like this song. I’d love to see the Foo Fighters cover it.” After that, my brain created a Foo Fighters cover album of songs I enjoy, but suspect I would enjoy their versions even more.

My Fantasy Foo Fighters Cover Album

Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” — I’ve seen them cover this in concert with Joan and the YouTube videos aren’t enough to satisfy me.
Grand Funk Railroad “We’re An American Band”
Prince “Darling Nikki” — I have no idea why. But I think it would be a good cover.
Kiss “Cold Gin”
Aerosmith “Toys in the Attic”
Mott the Hoople “All the Young Dudes”
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers “Refugee”
The Clash “Train in Vain”
The Runaways “Cherry Bomb”

That’s just the beginning. I was in the car for a long time, going stir crazy, so I also decided that I would like to see the Beastie Boys do a show with a rotating lineup of supporters to cover MCA’s rhymes. No one will ever fill his shoes, and I know there will never be a new album as the band technically disbanded after MCA died, but this is my dream so the concert i would want to see on stage with Ad-Rock and Mike D would be:

LL Cool J (especially on “AWOL” from Paul’s Boutique)
Chuck D (Ch-Check It Out would be perfect for him)
Big Daddy Kane
Grandmaster Flash
Kurtis Blow
Slick Rick
Melle Mel
Ice Cube
Ice-T
Dr. Dre
Joseph Simmons and Darryl McDaniels a/k/a two-thirds of Run DMC

While none of this would ever happen, it is nice to dream and I’m thankful I can tune into the Foo Fighters and the Beastie Boys anytime I want to.

What I’ve Learned — Week 36

February 8, 2019 by Lisa Leave a Comment

Hello, friends. It’s been a while since I’ve shared what I’ve learned. There are four or five versions, maybe more, of this blog post sitting in my drafts, but those showed a side of me that only my journal ever needs to see. I’m finding that reeling myself in is even more important in these tumultuous times in our world. Not only for my peace of mind, but yours as well.

What Have I Learned?

Think before I speak. I think that this might be one of the most common phrases uttered by all parents that no child ever listens to. It took me years to recognize the why of this important lesson.

In the early days of social media, we shared willy-nilly, without thought, as there just wasn’t that many of us online. In a weird way, it felt safe sharing with total strangers. Today, everyone shares not only their innermost monologue without thinking about the consequences that their speech may have, but they share increasingly vitriolic speech that we used to only hear from internet trolls.

The power of language and its affect on others can’t be overlooked. As someone who writes for a living, I often think about what I am saying. I have always been hyper-aware about what comes out of my mouth, or via my fingertips. And I find myself being even more aware knowing I can make a profound statement, or get my point across, without being cruel.

Self-care is important.Yet, I have issues with the phrase self-care. I feel it’s used too often as a buzzword guaranteed to generate clicks with promises to sell some magical fix that will help us feel human and not so zombie-like.

I’ll be quite honest with you, there are days that I count myself lucky if I get a shower and dump some dry shampoo into my hair. We all have those days. Ascribing to an intense listicle in a magazine or on a blog that fuels my anxiety because I can’t check everything off makes me feel even worse on days when I am spiraling.

If getting out of bed is the best you can do that day, get out of bed. And if self-care is staying in that bed, with the covers pulled up to your ears and a pillow over your head, do it. Of course, if you’re my friend Amanda, self-care is getting out of bed at 4 am to go to a fitness boot camp at 5 am. I will never, ever understand that, but it works for her.

Disconnect.Spending time disconnected from my devices and the digital world is good for me. This has been a hard lesson. It took me going to Mexico for a week (more on that in a later post) to learn just how obtrusive digital media and the sound of my phone, or any phone, really is and the effect it has on my own personal mental health.

Therein lies my problem. I work in all areas of digital media — strategy, community management, SEO, advertising strategy, online reputation management, etc., I am paid to be connected.

For the time being, I am trying to make sure that I’m not living and working in a digital haze. But, it’s tough. That’s where the self-care portion comes in. My phone automatically turns on do not disturb at 9 pm and I disconnect. No phone in bed or laptop in bed (which I am definitely not any kind of role model for, but I’m trying), real books, and my journal at night. I stopped watching TV so I can further disconnect.

Move more. I’m currently obsessed with how many steps I take in a single day. I realized after my trip to Mexico when I was disconnected and spending lots of time walking in nature that I was happier than I have been in some time. For a full week, I took long walks, navigated narrow paths, climbed steep hills, and felt alive. My resting heart rate dropped by two points!

I’ve learned that I have to move more. Not just for my sanity, but for my general health and well-being. When you’ve spent the last two years going through rapid, early-onset menopause, everything changes. I thought I had caught up to all of the changes, but who am I kidding? It is going to take a long time to catch up from that hit on my body. Sagging skin, hair loss, pimples combined with wrinkles — the joy of growing older is real.^ (My friend Brian invented the sarcasm font. If you ever see me use a ^ after a sentence, I am being sarcastic.)

That is all of this week. I suspect there are many more editions of this series left in me. For the past two years, I have been on the path of personal growth and developing my own awareness in order to be a better human. Let’s see where it goes.

XOXO

Quotes about Saturday

Saturday in the park, I think it was the fourth of July.

Like this:

Checking In, Friends.

Like this:

Open Kitchen Shelves

Like this:

Thoughts on Music — My Fantasy Album of Cover Songs and Concert

My brain shift was to music.

Like this:

What I’ve Learned — Week 36

What Have I Learned?

Like this:

Connect

Lifestyle

Saturday in the park, I think it was the fourth of July.

Like this:

Like this:

Like this:

My brain shift was to music.

Like this:

What Have I Learned?

Like this:

Footer

Connect