Things that Make Me Smile

1) This is me blond. Apparently it's hard to go true blond when you have no color in your dark hair. Mostly it just looks like I've been outside a lot (some difference from my winter color) and looks most blond when it's curly and you can see the highlights. I think it would be good for me to shake myself out of what I'm accustomed to more often than I do.

2) My first road bike, complete with shoes that you clip in with. I rode 4 days in a row this week and day 4 was the first day I didn't fall over.

 ...So there have been a lot of first-road-bike bruises:

Talk about getting out of my comfort zone. I have an annoying trait of not dealing with frustration very gracefully (as in, when I don't get something on the first 1-2 tries, I get so irritated at myself). Biking has brought that out for me, so it's a good chance to try to keep that under control and shake it off. I admire people who hardly get frustrated at anything-- I think it usually holds you back from being good anyway.

3) Spontaneous trip to Duck Beach, NC! The week before Memorial Day, I was in DC for my friends' wedding reception. While there, I met some really fun people who thought they could find me a spot in the house they were renting. So I returned to DC the next weekend and drove down to the OuterBanks with them. We played hard and had a blast! It was so nice to meet new people and just get away.

4) New favorite workout song:
Titanium  "Shoot me down, but I won't fall. I am titanium."

These are a few of my favorite things. :)

Industrial Charm

Have I mentioned how much I love happening upon charming things in a city? Despite its size (or perhaps because of it), Providence has a lot of industrial charm going for it. These are my two favorite new pieces of graffiti this week. (Don't worry, I took the pictures when there weren't any kids walking by so as not to encourage delinquency. Not that I support it, but it is witty delinquency at least.)

Then there was this one:

(If you know what "pie" means in gangster speak, please don't tell me. 
Let me have my fun...)

I found Pie's twin in another place on a bridge:

I know it's graffiti, but I honestly love these little bits of character. I fall in love with a place by first finding my favorite running path and then, day by day, uncovering random flashes of vivacity. It's like the whole city is secretly a work of art that, once discovered, is a comforting 'inside joke' as I walk by each day.

What's your favorite mundane-but-charming sight/smell/sound?

The Year of No

I once started a book all about saying "yes". The premise of the novel was that, for a change of pace, the protagonist would say yes to any guy who asked her out. I don't know what happened to her (the book wasn't good enough for me to finish), but I'd like to release my own little challenge into the blog universe.

This is my year of no.

Not "no" to everyone or everything. Just saying "no" up front when I already know that that's what I want/mean. I tend to avoid or put off saying no, often with the hope that some logistic miracle will occur enabling me to do everything and be everywhere. I avoid saying no because I want to give a guy a chance and be open to possibilities. And sometimes I just don't like saying no because I don't want to deal with disappointing/angering (etc.) the other person.

If I say no, the world won't fall apart, I won't miss my 'one' chance, and I won't melt in any heat from other people's disappointment. (Duh, I know.) I've been thinking about this for the last several months, and I think this is a solid theme for my golden year. I don't have it down yet, but I've had some successes in being able to say no to bulldozing over the things that keep me centered just because that's what would work best for someone else that I want to help/serve/impress

And so, I suppose, it is also my year of a more thoughtful yes. Yes to spending time with the people I care the most about. Yes to staying physically and emotionally healthy and spiritually connected. Yes to using experiences as stepping stones toward my goals (no matter how uneven or unexpected) rather than accepting stagnation.Yes to Saturday morning social runs, to gym time, to a few projects that let me keep my head in the game of nutrition/exercise, and to speaking my mind with less worry about hurting other people's feelings. And definitely yes to meeting new people and going to activities, no matter who comes (or doesn't come) with me.

Happy golden year (and belated birthday post) to me! :)