Day 118

It's easy to forget that the sunshine is always there, somewhere, buried deep behind the cloudy skies and constant snowfall during a Cleveland winter. But today was miraculous: the sun was shining brightly the entire day! So bright, in fact, that I had to wear sunglasses on the drive home and could hardly even see the highway with the glare from the sky. I even took time to take in the breath taking (never thought I'd say that in reference to Lake Erie) view of the Cleveland skyline when I was near the cafeteria window this morning at work. It's incredible what a few rays of sunshine can do to boost your spirit. Wanna know something even more incredible? Reaching out to people with a few kind words can have the same overwhelming, positive, radiating effect. Take the time to share something cheerful with those around you. You may be shining so brightly that you'll need to invest in a new pair of shades!

:)

Day 117

Ready for this? I spent a little time looking into the books on my "to-read" list on Amazon.Com with the intention of purchasing them. Naturally, I got side tracked and ended up on the website for one of the books at the top of the list, The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. It turns out that her book is nearly identical to what I have spent the last few months doing! Over the course of one year, she created a blog for the sole purpose of identifying happiness in her life, and increasing positivity within every day. Here is an excerpt from her website: (The Happiness Project)

Filled with practical advice, sharp insight, charm, and humor, The Happiness Project manages to be illuminating yet entertaining, profound yet compulsively readable. But The Happiness Project isn’t just an engaging and provocative book. Gretchen’s passion for her subject jumps off the page, and reading a few chapters of this book will inspire you to start your own happiness project.

Gretchen has a wide, enthusiastic following, and her idea for a “happiness project” no longer describes just a book or a blog; it’s a movement. Happiness Project groups have sprung up from Los Angeles to Enid, Oklahoma to Boston, where people meet to discuss their own happiness projects. More than a dozen blogs have been launched by people who are following Gretchen’s example. On her companion website, the Happiness Project Toolbox, enthusiastic readers track and share their own happiness projects.

By the way, her book, published in December 2009, was instantly a New York Times bestseller, and she has a book tour scheduled for all over the country! She was also recently on the Today show. Wow. This is such an inspiration!

Day 116

Before going into a few things I want to note about today, I have to mention a few things that I learned this past weekend.
1.) Never, ever, ever, sit in the front row of a 3-d action movie. It's a disastrous combination (I think I literally spent 24 hours recovering from nausea and the headache that I had during the entire movie from craning my neck while trying to remind myself that the characters were not actually popping out of the screen two feet from my face.) By the way the movie was Avatar, which I highly recommend. I'm not really into sci-fi (at all actually) but I thought it was phenomenal.
2.) It's official, my new favorite indulgence at Starbucks is a cinnamon dolce latte with soy milk. I've even upgraded to a grande (usually I only get tall drinks when I order it hot, grande for an iced drink.) This is the perfect solution to beating the 8 degree winter blues.
3. ) I may have made the best $1 investment of my entire life on Sunday, when I decided to purchase my first "idea journal." I believe this will help connect the dots of my constant flow of ideas (I don't think my brain knows how to turn off!) And hopefully I can start to make sense of all the wild ideas I've had lately.
4.) My new destination of choice for this year is Washington D.C. (Yes, it may have something to do with the fact that The Lost Symbol takes place in D.C. and the entire book focuses on all the secrets hidden within the city.) Regardless of that fact, I am almost embarrassed to admit that I have been all over Europe but haven't even seen my own nation's capital! Yikes! I think it's time I pay a visit to the city and see what this country is all about!

I think that's it for this weekend. As far as today goes, I have a few songs I heard on the way home (as I was sitting in traffic, trying with all of my will power to be patient and remember what I wrote the other day about "slowing down" and admiring what's around me.) The first song is ridiculously cheesy, but actually makes a good point. It's Kris Allen's "Live Like We're Dying."

I couldn't help but think of this blog the entire time I was listening to it. So I decided I had to include some of the lyrics in case you don't have the chance to listen to it (but I recommend that you do!)

Yeah, gotta start
Looking at the hand of the time we’ve been given here
This is all we got and we gotta start thinkin’ it
Every second counts on a clock that’s tickin’
Gotta live like we’re dying
We only got 86 400 seconds in a day
To turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell ‘em that we love ‘em while we got the chance to say,
Gotta live like we’re dying

And if you plane fell out of the skies
Who would you call with your last goodbyes
Should be so careful who we live out of our lives
So when we long for absolution, there’ll be no one on the line

(Chorus)

Like we’re dying (x4)

(Chorus)

You never know a good thing until it’s gone
you never see a crash until its head on
All these people right when we’re dead wrong,
You never know a good thing till it’s gone

And lastly, the only song that kept me sane on the drive home was The Isley Brothers' "Shout!" The energy in this song is infectious! And I swear it can cure any case of impatience you may have while you're sitting in traffic. Happy Monday!

Day 115

I saw the movie Leap Year this weekend (for those of you who haven't seen the preview - it's a silly romantic comedy that is predictable as any other would be!) Anyway there was one good takeaway from the movie, a particular scene that stuck with me. At one point in the movie the guy (that the main character is unknowingly falling for) asks her, if you had to evacuate your house because of a fire, and you had 60 seconds to get out, what would you grab? Naturally, this was a direct statement foreshadowing what was to come, because later in the movie she is faced with this decision. So I got to thinking - if I had only 60 seconds, what would I take (assuming my family and dog was OK!)? I still am not sure if I know the answer to this question. I think it's easy to think of the things you "need" in your daily life (purse, cell phone, keys, wallet, camera), but what about everything else? Books, clothes, photos? Home videos, DVD's, scrapbooks? Childhood toys, souvenirs from Europe, artwork? It's a tough question, and I think it really gets you to think about what you value as the most "important" things in your life.

Day 114

It's winter, it's cold, and I don't want to go outside (unless I have to), so you know what that means? I's perfect reading weather. I'm currently reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, as well as The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. I recently read The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (which just came out as a movie, although I am skeptical if I want to see it.) And I have a list of several more that I am going to try and fit in between now and the time I head back to school and have zero free time!!

Outliers: The Story of Success- Malcolm Gladwell
The Art of Thinking- Allen F. Harrison
Pilgrims- Elizabeth Gilbert
The Happiness Project- Gretchen Rubin

Anything in particular you're reading right now?

Day 113

I figured out why I don't like driving in the snow: I'm incredibly impatient and I don't like anything slowing me down. I often feel like I have a million things that I need/want to do, and sitting in traffic is an incredible waste of time since you can't really multitask! So anyway, I got to thinking about all of this as I was sitting on the highway today on my way home. It turns out that driving in this weather causes you to do two things: slow down, and have a heightened sense of awareness. You're often forced to drive at less than half the speed you normally would, and you find yourself paying more attention to everything going on around you - the falling snow, the pace of traffic, the movement of your tires against the pavement, and the cars pulled over on the right hand lane with their hazard lights on. It turns out any of this can be applied to everyday life. How often do you take the time to slow down? Or to increase your sense of everything going on around you - including matters with friends, family or events. How about someone you know, pulled off on the side of the road, because they need a hand? Take time to slow down. Spend a few minutes everyday as if it were a northeast Ohio blizzard. I think you'll become more aware of what really is going on around you, and what you need to do to s l o w things down a bit in this crazy, fast paced world of ours.

Day 112

There's nothing like a great playlist to wake you up in the morning, keep you occupied on your way to work, listen to while you're running, or simply just play as background noise as you're going about your daily life. I currently have several playlists that I listen to regularly but I've put together a list of my top 5 songs (along with a link to YouTube.) Enjoy!

1. Free Fallin' - Tom Petty
2. Dreams be Dreams - Jack Johnson
3. All You Need is Love - The Beatles
4. Hey Baby - Dirty Dancing
5. Perfectly Lonely - John Mayer

What's on your playlist?

Day 111

I discovered something new today. W ell actually two things. One, I do not like Carrot Coriander soup (it's obscenely spicy!) and two, "The Art of Thinking." It turns out that the way my brain functions (for example, oh hey here's an idea wait no that's a better one what is it I have to do after work oh I remember now did I send that email oh what's for lunch today hold on what was that idea again? - or something like that) - is actually labeled as synthesist: sees likeness in apparent unlikes, seeks conflict, interested in change." Now besides the second part (I really think I am the opposite of a "conflict-seeker") I would have to agree with the rest of the statement and the funny part is, I never really thought about the way I think as an "art" but I really like the concept! Anyway I encourage everyone, as always, to discover new things about themesleves and check out this link if you have a moment. I know the next book on my reading list will be The Art of Thinking and I would love to hear from you if you're familiar with it!

Day 110

After sitting in hours of traffic to get to work, and watching the snow fall the entire day anytime I passed by a window, I was NOT looking forward to the commute home. Solution? Avoid traffic by staying after work to attend the first spinning class of the year. Result? Great workout, fabulous 45 minutes to end the day, AND managed to beat the usual 5o'clock hour of traffic jams. See what a little innovative thinking can do?!

:)

Day 109

I saw a commercial the yesterday while I was watching TV and had to google the name of the organization, Mercy Corps, to share it with you. The message shared in this video is a great one - it's a question of how do you view the world? Do you see destruction or survival? Poor and hungry or courageous? It's pretty powerful - click here to see it.

Day 108

Happy New Year! I want to start with apologizing for slacking the past week. The holidays are always a busy time and I decided I needed a break from blogging - a chance to devote myself to spending more time with family and friends and less time sitting on my computer! But now that it's the beginning of a new year, it's a great time to reflect on all the wonderful things of 2009 and admire what is to come in the next twelve months. I'll start by reflecting on this morning.

I woke up today. And by that, I don't mean I woke up to an alarm and jumped out of bed. I mean that I woke up from the state of mind I've been in for the past 20 years! What a way to start the new year. I woke up not just to a new day, month, year, or decade, but to something bigger and better than all of that. I woke up to opportunity, possibility, love, friendship, change, optimism, excitement, happiness, and a promising year full of all of those things. Today is not just the beginning of a wonderful new year, but instead is something that I've been searching for a while for... the idea of embracing what each day brings - no matter what it might be. It's a scary thought to completely submit yourself to embracing happiness, sadness, whatever it is - but to think if you started each morning with the way people often go into each year: resolutions, reflection, and new hope. What if each morning you woke up with the idea of making today the best it could be, being the best version of yourself, and sharing joy with everyone around you, rather than waiting until next New Year's Eve to declare your "resolutions." Can't each day be a new chance to do all of that? Why do we have to wait until December 31 at midnight to begin living our lives? If every single day we woke up and honestly tried to be the best person that we could, what a wonderful beautiful life that would be! And so I think, with this new "awakening" (if you can call it that), I am going to do just that. And the real challenge here is that it's not going to be a "here's to 2010" sort of thing - but here's to living my life from here on out - being and doing the best that I absolutely can - with friends, family, myself, and the world around me.

As I reflect on the past year and decade, I can honestly say that all of my experiences and stories have led me to exactly what I just wrote: beauty is surrounding us, and it is up to ME to witness it every single day, rather than waiting for it to somehow appear in my life. What's better than looking out to a driveway full of newly fallen snow? Or watching the sunrise on my way to work? Or enjoying a cup of coffee and catching up with an old friend? It's all so wonderful and exciting and I can't even contain my eagerness to share that with everyone!

I hope that each and every person has a chance to reflect on what the beautiful things are in their own life - and to realize that sometimes it's the unexpected little things that you will find astounding. Cheers to a new year, and more importantly, a new, uplifting attitude toward each and every day. Happy 2010!

Here are some of my favorite moments of the past year:

- My first view of the beach in Cannes, soon to be one of my favorite places in the entire world.

- Returning to Paris and revisiting the city that I first fell in love with when I was 12, and witnessing the same unchanged beauty eight years later.


- Standing in the same spot where the Berlin Wall once divided East and West Berlin, and appreciating the luxury of freedom.

- Discovering some of the most beautiful hidden places in France.

- Seeing Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, and realizing that hey, they are just people too.


- Seeing my campus (and the world) through the eyes of a 14 year old.

- Learning to appreciate the differences between my life and my family in NY (and remembering why I don't hunt or eat meat!)

- Trying new things...


- ... and keeping tradition with the old.


- And lastly, starting this blog.

Day 107

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!! It's a beautiful day here in Ohio and we are getting ready to head up to New York to visit family and this will be my last post for a couple of days. (There is no cell phone reception up there I can't even imagine what it would be like trying to find an internet connection!) It will be a nice way to "disconnect" from technology for a couple of days and have time to do nothing! I hope everyone has a great weekend.

P.S. Don't forget to continue sending your top moments of 2010 to candice.deforest@gmail.com

:)

Day 106

Yikes this week has flown by and it has completely slipped my mind to update! It's funny how being on Christmas "break" can sometimes end up being busier than any other time of the year trying to fit in time with family and friends and of course baking and cooking holiday favorites. Anyway the past few days have been a whirlwind catching up with people who are in town for the holidays and attempting to finish up Christmas shopping (somehow I thought I was done three weeks ago, turns out I got ahead of myself!) The stores are always so crowded and traffic is always backed up everywhere you go but for some reason it's a comforting feeling knowing it's "that time of the year again."

I'm finding that each year it becomes more of a challenge to get into the holiday spirit. As a child, you look forward to setting out cookies for Santa and indulging in treats and receiving gifts. But then it eventually becomes obvious that there is more to it than that and then suddenly you're sitting here wondering what exactly?! Well I don't have all the answers, and I never will, but I came to a realization with help from those around me. I receieved a letter the other day from one of the sweetest people that I know, my friend Ann-Helen who lives in Norway. She spent several months living with our family in high school and although I haven't seen her since, we have remained in close contact over the years. Her letter said that Christmas is a time to take the time to make people in your life feel special, but that is something I do every day of the year. It was really comforting to hear that and it brings me to my point: Christmas is just another day of celebration. In all honesty, everyday should be like Christmas! Taking time to catch up with friends and family, trying new recipes, traveling to see relatives, and reaching out to people in need. Why should it be limited to one particular season? I guess what I am saying is that sometimes there is a lot of hustle and bustle around this time of year, so much that you forget what it's all about and suddenly it's "over" and everyone is ripping down decorations and lights and running to the store to exchange and return unwanted gifts.

Take a step back and really enjoy this celebration. I challenge everyone to keep the festivities and celebrating each and every day, and not be limited to the few short weeks of December.

Day 105

Back to work today! Great start to the week!

:)

Day 104

One of my favorite Christmas songs: Carol of the Bells

Day 103

As much as the snow drives me absolutely crazy, there is nothing like spending a day baking cookies for the holidays while it is freezing cold and snowing outside. I started the day by braving the weather and going to pick out a Christmas tree, and then spent the entire afternoon baking (and eating) way too many cookies with my cousin and Grandma. It was a great way to spend my first day back at home for the holidays!

What do you love about the holidays?

Day 102

I'm heading home today! It's hard to believe that it has already been four months.. but it will definitely be a rude awakening when I step off the plane to cold, wintery, Cleveland. And on that note, here is a song that I had to share: Home for the Holidays

Day 101

Today was designated as "fun day" as my friend and I were in desperate need of a day to relax and have fun. The funny part about it was we literally planned every second of our day and it wasn't until about 11 p.m. that we realized our idea of "fun" is quite the opposite of "relaxing!" But it was a great day nonetheless and we were able to enjoy the Christmas lights and decorations while we were out shopping and had a lot of fun taking it all in. I think one of the best ways to get into the holiday spirit is to just take a few minutes to look around at all of the great things you are surrounded by! You'll be amazed at what you'll find.

Day 100

I survived fall semester!!!!!!! What a great way to celebrate "day 100" of the blog. After a crazy semester I can say that it has helped a lot to spend a few minutes each day reflecting on all the positive things surrounding me.

:)

Day 99

It's that time of the year again... time to reflect on what the best things about 2009 were and as many people often do, compile a "top ten list" of a random category. I could sit here all day and write an enormous list of all the wonderful things from the past twelve months. But that would be boring! I want to hear from YOU! What were your top moments of '09? What were the most intriguing innovations, ideas, happenings, and events? What inspired you every day? What did you see or hear that was beautiful? I'm compiling a list in the next few days so send all your wonderful thoughts my way. Candice.deforest@gmail.com.