Thursday, November 21, 2013

365 Days of Gratitude

I have two blogs. Did you know that? This blog is my processing blog; it's where I write out my thoughts and whatever is going on in my life. For the most part by the end of a post I have a point and some kind of learn... I figure if you are still reading it then you must be getting something out of it... Right?! :)

I have another blog; one that I don't really share but that I would like to with all of you. My second blog began 370 days ago...

Veronica's 365 days of Gratitude 

My first post was on November 16th, 2012:
Welcome to my 365 days of Gratitude blog!
Yesterday it occurred to me that I am grateful for so many things in my life. I could easily write this in a journal for my eyes only, however something compelled me to do in online in blog format. I believe this to be two fold;1. I get to share what I am grateful for and perhaps empower others to think about what they are grateful for.2. It's a way to keep myself accountable to posting everyday. I realize that no one is going to be patrolling my blog to make sure that I post everyday but I'll know if I did or not, and I will be accountable for that.
So day 1; I am grateful to have to outlet for my gratitude!

I decided to keep this blog relatively private; which really means that I didn't share it on Facebook like I do with this one. I think partly because I wasn't convinced that I would actually succeed in writing a post for 365 consecutive days. In all honesty I didn't. There were a few times where I would miss a few days; then I would sit down and write a post that had something for everyday that I missed.

In the end I did succeed. I wrote about something I was grateful for for the last 370 days!!!

Were there some days that it was a little harder to come up with something? Yes. Will those days always exist? Most likely. Is there still always something to be grateful for? Absolutely!

I plan on continuing my gratitude blog because I realized that another 365 days are waiting for me to be grateful for them! I still won't share my posts on Facebook but if you'd like to follow along feel free :)

Friday, November 15, 2013

Alone in NYC

Technically speaking I was travelling alone in NYC for the last few days. However, in a city with over 8 million people (all five boroughs) it's actually a little hard to feel alone. Scratch that, it's next to impossible to feel alone, especially when there are seven people touching you on the subway as you are shuttled from one part of the city to another.

I have spent the last few days here in Manhattan and I really do enjoy it, for the most part anyway. I stand by my sentiment of not wanting to live here however I could easily spend a month at a time in the city every few months getting a major dose of arts, culture and food!

This week was a test for me. I tend to travel with people. I have never really been very good at spending time alone, especially when travelling.

Monday I spent the day catching up on emails and sleep. Got into the city that night and went to my first yoga class in over three months with a friend; Pure West- nicest yoga studio I've ever seen! The next day I went to a class on my own, wonderful. Then cabbed across the park to the upper east side where I would be staying with my cousins for the remainder of my trip.

I was determined to go and see at least two broadway shows while I was in town. So Tuesday night I headed into Times Square around 6, walked right up to the TKTS booth and bought myself one ticket to Rock of Ages- awesome show full of sex, drugs and rock & roll! It's perfect to bring a guy who is not into musicals too. This was the first time I ever went to see a show on my own, I've never even gone to a movie alone before.

Wednesday I got even more bold! I went to the Guggenheim museum alone! I have always wanted to go to the Guggenheim because the design of the building has always intrigued me. I am so grateful that my cousin gave me his museum pass for the day and I got to go for free. It was mesmerizing. Afterwards I headed to Times Square again walked right up to the TKTS booth and bought myself one ticket to Phantom of the Opera; a broadway classic.

After my second show I walked to Grand Central Station, easily one of my favourite places in the city. It's such a beautiful building and I could stand on the balcony and watch the people walk around for hours! Met my friend Christy from the ship and then headed to the village for dinner and drinks.

Thursday morning I had breakfast with my cousin before heading to the airport for my next trip.

Lessons learned while in NYC:
  1. I am a big girl who is perfectly capable of keeping myself company.
  2. I love connecting with friends and family and genuinely make an effort to do so when I travel.
  3. I will never wait in line for tickets at TKTS again! Even if I am not sitting only five rows back the show is still sensational and even if I'm with a bunch of people we can get individual seats all over and then talk about the show afterwards!
  4. Work out a little before getting to NYC because I walk a lot while in the city and have shin splints right now...
  5. People watching is one of my favourite things to do wherever I am but in NYC it's incredible.
  6. Remember to smile, it won't mess up your hair! (This was taught to me by a singing group on the subway. I thought it was pretty clever!)