Very Inspiring Blog Award!

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What?? A blogging award? Me? Cool!

Charlotte of My Crazy, New York, Post-Grad Life  nominated me for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award! I’m flabbergasted and uberly excited!

I’m not sure why I waited so long to get into the blogosphere – there are so many hilarious people I can relate to. It’s kind of awesome.

Rules to accept the award:

1. Display the Award Certificate on your website – done!

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2. Announce your win with a post and link to whoever presented you with the award – done! See above.

3. Present 15 awards to deserving bloggers – Listed below. Going to let them know!

4. Drop them a comment to tip them off after you have linked them in the post – next to do!

5. Post 7 interesting things about yourself – only 7? See below

  • I’m afraid of birds and other things that fly such as grasshoppers, bats, dragonflies, etc.
  • I can be an excessive and obsessive organizer.
  • I like cooking even though I rarely do it.
  • I hadn’t had red velvet cake until I was about 33 years old. Horrible shame.
  • I think pregnancy is gross, no offense to anyone.
  • I love books about prison, the Holocaust and slavery.
  • I get annoyed by stupidity easily.

Ok, all requirement done or nearly done! Thanks again Charlotte!

 🙂 tameramb

Common Sense is Not So Common…

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One of the best quotes I’ve ever heard, mostly because it is so very true!

You know my posts are usually pretty sunshiny, but I do have those days – don’t we all – when the things people do just annoy the crap of me.

So here is my list of “Please Don’ts”, because a list of “Things That Annoy Me” is not very Canadian of me 😉

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Thanks for sending me this cute and oh so true tweet Monica – Honorary Canadian!

Please don’t…. (Whoa – be careful, I’m writing in red!)

  • spit on the sidewalk
  • run on a crowded sidewalk
  • ride your bike on the sidewalk (yes, I’m a bit of a side walk rule Nazi)
  • ride your bike in the wrong direction in the bike lane
  • leave your doggy doody on the sidewalk
  • be rude
  • act like you’re entitled to something

Is this too much to ask? Please use your common sense, if you have it.

I’ll stop there. My next list will be a PLEASE DO!

Best Running Apps?

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I’m struggling people!

I’ve used 3 running apps and all seem to start well but end up not working out. I’ve tried:

Endomondo – Decent app, might go back to it, but it’s quite a battery drainer. Hopefully an update fixed that…

RunKeeper – Loved this one until the GPS went crazy! It had me running 7 minute miles! I wish! I really really want to use it again because it’s exactly what I wanted in an app. I loved the pause feature. I’m not super crazy about having exactly precise stats, but let’s get real, I don’t run a 7 minute mile.

Runtastic – Highly rated but I hate the constant advertisements to upgrade to the gold app. Leave me alone, I don’t want it. You can’t pause your workout either and that drives me crazy. If I want to stop for a picture I have to stop the workout and start another. Boo!

So I googled the best running apps… Number 1 comes up as RunKeeper! What??? Others have had the same GPS problem so I don’t trust the list…

Suggestions?

The Skin You’re In

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A walk past the coolhaus ice cream sandwich truck on my way to the park for a run spawned a nice afternoon with my friend Tina.

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After enjoying our amazing ice cream sandwiches we walked en route to Lincoln Center. Our conversation topics were varied, one of them being running/body image/self esteem/skin conditions. Okay, I know that’s kind of a big topic.

I shared my personal struggle with acne-prone skin up until maybe two and a half to three years ago. I struggled with breakouts and scarring for many years and it really seemed like nothing was working for me. I eventually chalked the trouble up to hormone imbalances. And thankfully perhaps a combination of hormone rebalances and some awesome products helped me and my skin out of its awful mess.

Here goes my second post to endorse some of my favorite products that I think really helped my skin. So if you’re having trouble or know someone who is, here are some tips and some of the steps I took. I know finding a new product can be daunting because of the crazy number of choices.

First step was a few sessions of microdermabrasion to remove the disgusting dead skin off my poor face. I simply bought a groupon and off I went to get a good face vacuum at Red & White Spa in SoHo.

Next I went to get some new face products at Bloomy’s. I was actually just walking through one day and this very entrancing sales associate for Borghese lured me to their shop for a free mini-facial. I was sold. After the 15 minutes of the Cura-C scrub/exfoliating, toning and moisturizing, my face actually had a glow so I knew I had to purchase the Cura-C skin care line. After these first two steps, a few months and probably some hormone changes, my skin changed remarkably. I am forever grateful to that girl at Bloomy’s.

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I used the whole cleaning regime, which I believe is not available anymore but has been replaced by some other products on the line.

After a couple of years of using the Borghese line (which apparently is too long to use the same product – duh me!) I noticed my skin was looking and feeling blah. It was winter after all and I was using a product for far too long.

So, I purchased another groupon and went for an exfoliating facial at The O’Live Organic Spa on 23rd Street. The lovely spa-titians use organic skin care products made in Hungary. I decided to try these Eminence products after my amazing facial hoping these products were the boost my skin needed in the dry winter.

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Night cream! Used for about 3 weeks and then stored in fridge for later use.

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For day time to calm skin. No SPF, but it’s in my tinted moisturizer.

I used this camomile daily moisturizer for about two months and decided I should get a third alternate in my new skin care cycle so I went to Sephora and bought a little set of Origins anti-aging products.

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Love this set!

I love the facial cleanser and purchased a regular size after using the whole mini. I love the mimosa moisturizer because it’s very light but meets the needs of my skin. At night I’ll add some of the serum after applying the moisturizer and will use the charcoal mask every in a while to really smooth out my skin.

I hope the products I use can be useful to you. The right product can be life changing, kind of like that snicker doodle and strawberry ice cream sandwich I had. 😉

Family Time

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How many of us live away from our families? I know there are millions who do, and there are various reasons for doing so.

I moved away from my family in western Canada seven years ago for two reasons. First, I needed a change in my life because I was feeling stagnant, and this lead to the second reason – a career location change.

In this age of technology, it is easy to keep in touch via email, text, FaceTime, or Skype no matter how far away you are from loved ones. But really, never underestimate the value of a few days of real time together. I just wrapped up a few days of NYC time with my brother, sister in law and 9 year old niece (nephew had to stay home to work). I think to say that we had a lot of fun is an understatement. We spent our days walking and walking and talking and talking and eating and watching people and experiencing many neighborhoods in the city. In three and a half days we covered a lot of ground and I was happy to be part of some irreplaceable memories.

Some of the highlights from the week:

– strolling through Central  Park and the watching very active animals in Central Park Zoo

– eating!!! Dinner at Guy Fieri’s new restaurant, Waffles & Dinges, S’Mac Mac & Cheese, cupcakes from Sprinkles and Baked by Melissa (family also sampled from Cake Boss), PJ Clarke’s, Hill Country Chicken, Brooklyn Ice Cream Shop

– walking the High Line and noticing the interesting architecture

– some shopping at Dylan’s Candy Shop, FAO Schwartz, Toys R Us, Century 21, Yellow Rat Bastard

– taking the short ferry ride to Dumbo and strolling through the neighborhood I started my NYC life in when I first moved here

– walking in the rain

– seeing the Broadway version of Annie

Although this plentiful list of our few days together is incomplete, the best part was catching up! Thanks T, B, and K for coming to my neck of the woods! Imagine if all families got along as well as we do…

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Mostly :)y Weekend

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My weekend was really quite satisfyingly relaxing and moderately productive which made me pretty happy. But of course amidst the happiness, there were a couple of thumbs down moments which is bound to happen with so many people living in the same space as I do. And I have to say, my thumbs down moments are pretty lame. That’s why I can’t and won’t really even file them as complaints because no one was injured, thankfully, only minimally traumatized.

Weekend smile 🙂 moments: 

– good run Saturday morning

– started watching New Girl from the beginning which made both my husband and I laugh

– finished reading my book

– nice weather on Saturday

– made a decision about the appropriate curtain rods we needed for the windows (which I had been putting off for months), bought them AND put them up

– cleaning nooks and crannies

– cooked a yumm-alicious dinner for hubby

– got a call from a special friend

Weekend thumbs-down moments:

– scarred by the ridiculously expensive and mediocre breakfast at Ben Ash after my great run (booooo!)

– near collision on the CitiBike by a delivery guy speeding around a corner into the bike lane and another dude going the wrong way in the bike lane (I hate – and rarely do I use that word – but I hate bikers who break the rules of the road!!!)

– lots of dog poop on the sidewalk (grrrrr!)

Words of advice to myself and others who get annoyed by these little moments:

– take a breath

– think of something to smile about 🙂

– be thankful for those who make you happy

 If you haven’t smiled about something today, there’s something wrong with you. Turn that frown upside down.

Go out and get a cupcake. Come on, who doesn’t love cupcakes 😉

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Ancestors

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Do you know where you blood comes from? I don’t mean scientifically, I mean your ancestry. If you don’t, you should find out. Kind of like that show they have about celebs finding their lineage. It’s pretty cool.

My dad’s parents are from Ukraine. They entered into Canada in the 1930’s and upon entering the spelling of our last name changed so it’s a little harder to trace roots. Googling is pretty useless, maybe I will need to try ancestry.com at some point. Not sure if they can find info in the old country though.

My mom (and her mom and her sisters I think) put together a family history book with her side of the family’s lineage. I’ve known that my ancestors were pretty important, well, one in particular anyway. I wonder if any name throwing will have it’s perks…

So on “Summer Vacation Thursday #4”, my field trip was with my friend Kristen. She lives in Brooklyn so we ventured to Green-wood Cemetery, knowing that at the end of our exploration, we would be enjoying beer from Brooklyn Brewery. Yes, the brewery was holding an event there in conjunction with Brooklyn Historical Society. This year is the cemetery’s 175 year celebration, it was the site of The Battle of Brooklyn during the American Revolution and Kristen just happens to live a couple of blocks away.

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Why am I telling you this? Well, I have ancestors at this very important, historical cemetery which also holds some of the Roosevelt family. I have always been pretty good at codes…

These are some photos of my ancestors and a couple of pictures from my family history book.

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Pretty cool right? Also, you can stop by my ancestors’ statue in Central Park at 72nd Street.

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Thank you http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/things-to-see/south-end/samuel-morse.html for the image.

Don’t you want to know about your blood?

I Could Do That

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My husband and I have this ongoing “you could do that” conversation when we are watching TV or out and about watching people. Similarly, as recently as this morning, my friend Tina says the same “I could do that”! I’m sure there are many people who say that, well at least think it but strangely my neurons fire at the same time and in the same way that Tina’s do. Not only do we have similar tastes and hankerings for life’s great adventures, our brains seems to house these similar “I could do that” thoughts! Woooooooooo!

For example, my husband and I will be watching a show like the Today show and my husband will say “you could do that”. And by “that” he means, host a show. And of course I agree. I could do that!

So here is my list of “I could do that”:

1. Host a show like “Kathy Lee & Hoda” – seriously! How do I get that job, honestly?! Sit behind a table, drink wine in the morning and read from a teleprompter and talk about what I did the night before with my BFF? Ya! I could totally do that! (#tbt photo)

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Circa 1999ish?

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2. Be a director. Telling people (well, children) what to do is what I dooooooo. Now I just need to attach the big $$$ to it. I love telling people what to do! But if I was a director, when someone do something the way I wanted, I could probably just fire them. Awesome!

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Thanks Google for the image

3. Be Supernanny. Yes I’m a nurturing teacher, but tough love is where it’s at. And I’ll stop there…

4. Create monumentally hilarious characters for reoccurring SNL skits. I’ve already been told I look similar to Kristen Wiig, and have a similar demeanor and mannerisms. Not sharing my character and skit ideas for obvious reasons. 😉

5. Assist celebs in purchasing useless, expensive crap that no one needs. Enough said.

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Thank you again Google & realtor.com

This is a short list, for now, and I actually think that my list of “I couldn’t do that” is much longer… Unfortunately we are always our own worst enemy making these things happen or not happen!

Obsessions

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images-2Obsessions.

We all have them, come on, you know you do. Here are some of mine and just so you know, I have them all under control…

1. The internet: hours upon hours of both productive and unproductive time. Because of the internet I am obsessed with planning trips and reading a lot of useless information. I am also obsessed with looking for awesome races and signing up for them. At least some exercise comes out of it. Thank you google for al the images below.

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2. Cupcakes: Buttercup, Sprinkles, Baked by Melissa, sometimes Crumbs, not so much Magnolia or Butter Lane but I’ll still eat them. If I’m traveling, I will find a cupcake shop. Portland, Mexico City, DC. I’m a bit disappointed in myself that I didn’t get the cupcake in Austin from the toaster trailer. I was too full and I knew that it would have melted in the heat. But.. I would have licked the bag.

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3. Books: I love going to the library and checking out a bunch of books that I know I can’t read in the loan period. So I keep renewing them. And renewing them. Then I go to Barnes & Noble and I take pictures of the covers of books I want to read and add them to my list on Goodreads. Yes, I’m OCD like that.

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4. Certain TV shows: Arrested Development, Pretty Little Liars, Mad Men, and now Hollywood Game Night and Orange is the New Black. I watch shows over and over. And over and over. And over. This actually goes for movies too. I won’t get into the list of my re-watches…it’s pretty long.

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5. Purging: I love getting rid of things we don’t use. Clothes, books, tools, housewares, etc. I will sell them or take them to Goodwill. I like to live in a fairly clutter-free environment.

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6. Planning: anything. Coffee, movies, outing, trip, dinner (hahaha, no laughing), gifts…

7. Projects: I need to satiate my ADD with tons of projects like making jewelry, finding another program I can take (thank you internet), PD workshops, writing, organizing and reorganizing closets, whatever! Of course I decluttered my project shelf a couple of weeks ago to simply things. Yes, I’m OCD like that.

What are some of your obsessions? I may like to add them to my list.

Lost Soul

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I really become annoyed when my day is not as productive as I want it to be. By productive, I’m not even sure what I mean. Cleaning? Finishing a book? Doing errands?

Today I felt like a lost soul when I didn’t complete my unimportant list of to-do’s OR in the order that I wanted – yes I’m OCD like that. I’ll blame it on the rain. Milli Vanilli did.

My plan: run, shower, take the bus up to Target, stop at Lord & Taylor, J. Crew and Gap, Food Emporium and possibly Sports Authority then come home and get dinner ready for Brett, read (book is due tomorrow and need to finish) and maybe watch my new obsession, Orange is the New Black on Netflix. Sounds like an ADD day to me!

My day turned into: run, shower, headed out to bus but turned back for umbrella because maneuvering an umbrella and bags from Target would be a disaster.

Left again with my umbrella and walked in what felt like circles because I couldn’t decide if I should go to places where I would need to try on clothes with wet feet so went to Food Emporium then went home to drop that off. Had to wash off my dirt splattered legs too.

Then I left again after the rain was finished. Went to Gap – no luck, Lord & Taylor and picked up a nice little Michael Kors tote, J. Crew – no luck, made a quick stop at the NYPL – no luck, and totally forgot about going to Sports Authority.

Got home and ate food that shouldn’t have been eaten which I didn’t want to do today, read, and started listing my unneeded teacher books on Amazon to sell. As I’m doing this, I hear Brett’s key in the door. Oops.

By no means am I complaining about my day; after all, the heat wave is over, I have my health, and I did run and shower.

Hope your day was calm and productive!

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