Tag Archives: goals

Filling Up the Bucket

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Today in “I’m a Moron”: you know that camera cable I was looking for so I could write this post? IT WAS IN MY CAMERA BAG. Duh.

Anyway: two weeks ago, I flew out to Las Vegas for Jon and Steph’s wedding. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I will say that their wedding was lovely. The vows they wrote were very sweet, the decor was beautiful (all in my favorite color, purple!) and the reception was just the right mix of classy and fun. They had appetizers themed after places that were significant to them (i.e. Sam Adams and Fenway Franks for Boston, Bass and mini fish and chips for London, etc.) and table numbers with numbers that had meaning to them. They also gave away flip flops to everyone at the reception for dancing and had both a photo booth and an Elvis impersonator who showed up for one song! Also, it was kind of a weird mix of people at the wedding– a handful of people I knew from college, but many more I didn’t: Jon’s friends from home, Steph’s friends from home, Steph’s friends from when she studied abroad in London, Steph’s friends from when she worked in London for a couple of years, Jon’s work friends in LA, Steph’s work friends in LA, their neighbors in LA…you get the picture. But they were all so much fun! After an awesome bachelorette party, a day spent by the hotel pool (part of it in a rented cabana), and an after-wedding trip to a club in the hotel, I made a lot of new friends. We’re all in a wedding Facebook group now and want to reunite to party again.

It was great to see Jon and Steph, whom I hadn’t seen in awhile, again. It was also awesome to spend more time with Christina- after not seeing her for almost two years, I saw her for two separate occasions in one month. We enjoyed staying in a lovely hotel, played some slots, went to a cool aquarium, and ate some great food.

Also, I crossed a couple of items off my bucket list.

You have a bucket list? you’re now saying. Why, yes, I do. Housekeeping detail: if you read this blog in Google Reader or another method that’s not directly on the site, I now have a new design (it was time for a change) and some new pages. One is on me, the other two are on my bucket list and my travel goals.

I first made the bucket list (which includes the travel goals) the summer after college, just a couple of months before I started this blog. I’ve only modified it a bit since then, and I’ve accomplished some of the items on it–living in Davis Square, traveling to places like Philadelphia and San Francisco, etc. Some items on it are totally do-able (taking a Spanish class, joining a book club, spending the whole day reading a novel); others are harder (becoming a best-selling author, attending an award show, owning a boat). The travel goals range from typical (London, Paris, Rome) to more quirky and Katie-specific (Washington Depot, CT, which inspired Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls, and Quechee, VT, where I used to go skiing, in the summer rather than winter). As my life progresses, I will update you on which items have been accomplished.

So, what’s now been crossed off the list? Traveling to Vegas, first of all. But also?

I WENT TO A CELINE DION CONCERT.

…I KNOW. You’re jealous, right? Well, you should be!

Okay, in all seriousness, I know that it’s not a concert most people would make it a life goal to see. She’s not, and never has been, what the cool kids are listening to. Some guy wrote a book about her that’s subtitled “A Journey To the End of Taste.” Ana Gasteyer did a famous parody of her on SNL. Most people roll their eyes at the mere mention of her name.

You know what? I DON’T CARE. I’ve been a huge fan of hers since I was twelve. There is nothing the least bit ironic or guilty-pleasure-ish in my love for her. I genuinely enjoy her music. I love the things she does with her voice. I love almost all of her songs, from “Where Does My Heart Beat Now” to “Taking Chances.” I love that she seems like a genuinely nice person, and that while people sometimes trash her music, I’ve never heard about her doing or saying anything bitchy or controversial– and with her level of fame and the kind of celebrity culture we live in, the press definitely would have jumped on any story about that. I love that she takes her singing seriously, but not herself or what other people are saying about her, as you can see in these videos.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEggoXwoXEY]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7sTDpAtjEo]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pytrKPnhwlA]

And if you don’t believe me? Believe Michelle Collins (thank you, Megan and Rebekah, for introducing me to her brand of hilarity). She will never apologize for her Celine Dion love and neither will I!

The tickets were an early birthday present from my parents. The seats were awesome and did not disappoint. (They didn’t allow photos in the theater, so I have no pictures from the actual concert.) I could see her really well, and she sounded fantastic. She did a lot of covers, which surprised me- it was about half and half her own stuff and covers like Journey’s “Open Arms” and Janice Ian’s “At Seventeen.” One of my favorite songs she did was actually a French song called “Ne Me Quitte Pas.” I don’t speak French at all, but this is a sad love song, and she cried while singing it- it was surprisingly very moving.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxjYv0N6PoQ]

And of course, the finale was “My Heart Will Go On,” a favorite of mine since my days as a Titanic fangirl. It was amazing, and I didn’t stop smiling all the way to the airport.

What’s next to be crossed off the list? I don’t know, but I’m ridiculously glad to have checked these things off my list. What an awesome trip this was.

My Summer To-Do List

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Note: I will be posting soon about Jon and Steph’s beautiful wedding and all the fun I had out in Las Vegas, but the cable for my digital camera has gone MIA, so it will have to wait until I find it…grrr.

Anyway, I was just talking with people last night about how summer weekends fill up so quickly. During the rest of the year, sometimes we struggle to come up with plans, but summer weekends are so precious that we claim them for various activities right away. In July, I already have two different parties and my cousin’s wedding on three separate weekends.

But that hasn’t stopped me from creating a list of goals for things I want to do this summer. Despite having lived in the Boston area for my entire life, there are lots of fun things I haven’t taken advantage of here.

So here’s my list. Friends, if you’d like to join me on any of these adventures, please let me know! I’d love to have some company:

-Go to the beach (of course- who doesn’t want to do that in the summer?)

-Have a picnic

-Fly a kite (which I haven’t done since I was kid)

–Canobie Lake Park (haven’t been there since high school)

-Take a boat out to the Boston Harbor Islands

-Castle Island to get some food at Sullivan’s (last time I tried to go there I was bitten by a dog…hoping for better luck this time!)

-Solo trip to NY (okay, don’t join me on that one)

-Trip to Portland, Maine

-Day trip to Rockport, MA (the commuter rail goes right there!)

–Arnold Arboretum, which I hear is beautiful

-Franklin Park Zoo (already have plans to go there in a couple of weeks!)

-Museum of Science

-New England Aquarium

-Isabella Stuart Gardner museum

-Walk the Emerald Necklace

-Duck Tour

2009 Recap

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Almost the end of the year- and the decade. (Did we ever settle on a name for the decade that’s about to end?) My mom and my sister and I have decided that the last few days of the year are like Mardi Gras—you spend them indulging in all the bad habits you want to give up in the new year. So the past few days have been spent eating junk, not exercising, staying up too late, not getting writing done, watching too many reruns of 90s sitcoms, and bringing work home with me.

2009 was an interesting year for me. Outwardly, it doesn’t look like a lot changed or anything monumental happened. I’m still single, I still have the same job, and I still have the same apartment with the same roommates. But internally, a lot changed for me. As you remember, I started the year feeling a bit overwhelmed. Not long after that, I started experiencing symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder—something I’d experienced in the past but hadn’t expected to return. That pretty much dominated the early months of 2009. Eventually I realized that I needed help and started seeing a therapist, which has helped a lot. I’ve had some personal epiphanies and gotten better at being able to talk myself out of irrational worry.

I am still single, but I’ve made way more progress on that front than in any previous year. I don’t know if it’s my increased confidence or if I’m just meeting better guys, but most of the dates I went on this past year were not horrible. Even if they were dates with guys with whom I didn’t want to pursue relationships, they gave me hope that a relationship could be in my future.

I have the same job, which I still love. I did, in 2009, apply unsuccessfully for two jobs within my company that I didn’t get. The second time, I came very close to getting a job that a lot of people applied for, which was encouraging (although the long interview process left me kind of drained). But my mindset, when it comes to work, has improved a lot in the last year.

I had a lot of fun this year, too. Continued to sing in the Somerville Community Chorus, took a terrific Grub Street class that encouraged me to continue what I’m writing, had some drinks with friends, had some drinks with colleagues, sang some karaoke, went to some fun parties, joined my company softball team, which was a lot of fun even though I sucked and we lost most of our games. Saw some good movies, listened to some good music, watched some good TV, and read a lot of good books, which will probably warrant their own post.

I feel more secure in my friendships than I have in a long time. I’ve had a lot of neurotic doubts about my relationships with friends, which I’ve documented here, but I feel like with every day that goes by, I’m more convinced that people are more alike than different, and that most people are worth getting to know, and that those who are kind outnumber those who are unkind. Not to be cheesy and quote a ten-year-old movie or anything, but “it’s hard to be angry when there’s so much beauty in the world.”

And not to become one of those people who prefaces everything with “my therapist says,” but my therapist recommended making a list of ten goals for the new year—just ten, which for a compulsive list-maker like me isn’t many. I’m not going to say what they are, but check back here in a year and I’ll let you know if I’ve achieved them.

I’m hopeful about the new year and the new decade. I think it’s going to be a great one.

Much Better Than Resolving to Floss

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My new year’s resolution is to acquire more hours in the day. Miraculously. Once I have those hours, this is what I’ll do:

-Finish the novel I’m working on
-Finish the short story that’s been rattling around in my brain for years
-Spend more time trying to get nonfiction published
-Try to get an agent
-Try to get short stories published
-Take Grub Street classes/seminars
-Go to writing groups
-Post in this blog more often
-Cook more often and try making things I’ve never made before
-Read more nonfiction, since I mostly read fiction- in particular, I’d like to read more about religion, international relations, and economics.
-Watch more educational TV
-Go running more often
-Go swimming more often
-Go to classes at my gym (like spinning and yoga)
-Explore more of Boston (and Somerville/Cambridge—I’m still learning the geography!)
–Donate platelets once a month
-Volunteer on a regular basis
-Try bars and restaurants I’ve been meaning to try
-Learn more about designing web sites
-Watch more movies
-Watch more TV on DVD
-Go to more events like concerts and plays
-Improve my Spanish
-Find ways to meet more new people
-Get eight hours of sleep a night

Yeah. So I’ve kind of fallen behind on all of these things. It’s quite unfortunate. There’s so much I want to do that I feel like I don’t have time for. Maybe I just need to learn how to manage my time better, or maybe it’s just because I’ve been busy at work lately, but I feel like I haven’t done anything I’ve been wanting to do over the last year. So therefore, I’m moving on to Plan B: more hours in the day.

Random Items on My To-Do List

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It’s been a busy couple of weeks. Christina, who got a teaching job in Southern MA, moved out. Two days later, my new rooomate Stephanie moved in. And a day after that, I started a new job at a different publishing company.

So there are only four months left in the year. And there are a lot of things I want to do in those four months. I have writing goals, but a lot of other random ones, too. Among them:

-Get a passport
-Make fudge
-Organize all the stuff under my bed (I have all these folders full of old stuff I don’t need anymore. I am a ridiculous pack rat.)
-Go to New York to see a show
-Go to a Red Sox game (this might not be so much a goal as a wish, but still)
-Buy some TV shows on DVD (I’m thinking The O.C., Sex and the City, Season 4 of Gilmore Girls, maybe certain seasons of The X-Files)
-Get a better haircut
-Go to the dentist
-Go skating at Frog Pond
-Do more movie/game nights with friends

It’s weird that it’s almost September. Even though I’m not in school and haven’t been for over a year, September still feels like I’m about to start something new, like a good time to make goals. Or re-dedicate myself to old goals. No matter how random they are.

525,600 Minutes

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Not to be cheesy and start off 2007 with a Broadway song or anything, but…

Five-hundred-twenty-five-thousand-six-hundred minutes

Five-hundred-twenty-five-thousand moments so dear

Five-hundred-twenty-five-thousand-six-hundred minutes

How do we measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets,

In midnights and cups of coffee

In inches, in miles,

In laughter, in strife

In five-hundred-twenty-five-thousand-six-hundred minutes

How do you measure a year in the life?

Well, it would be nice to measure my life in seasons of love. But frankly, I think that would leave a lot of details out.

2006, honestly, was not the best year of my life. Certainly there were good things. I’m currently in my first apartment, which is fantastic, and I have terrific roommates and an all-around awesome living situation—but of course, I only have it because college, like all good things, came to an end. The year ended with my professional life in a good place, but not before it caused me a hell of a lot of stress. And while I made new friends, I also grew apart from some old friends. I guess things balance themselves out, but I ended up feeling like the year had a lot more downs than ups.

I’ve never really put a lot of importance on New Year’s. I always tended to think of September as more of a time for change, since it was the beginning of the school year. That was when I resolved to make my changes.

But now that I’m out of school and am beginning a new year, I feel strangely energized. I’m really in a mood like I can accomplish things now. I’m not psychic or anything…but I really do feel like a year from now, I’ll be in a much better, happier place.

As for the last night of 2006, I spent that first at The Cheesecake Factory with some friends (including my friend Bridget, whom I hadn’t seen since graduation) and then at my friends’ apartment.

They say what you’re doing at midnight on New Year’s Eve indicates what you’ll be doing for the rest of the year.

If that’s true, I’ll spend 2007 playing Crazy Eights and kissing a shot glass.

But you know what? It was a really cute shot glass—purple on the bottom and shaped like a mini-martini glass.

So I think that’s reason enough to hope.