Category: Fun

my favorite lunch activities

Posted on by jplatt27

I need a break around lunch time every day.  I’ve realized that I don’t need to use my hour lunch break simply to eat lunch. I can really maximize the hour by using it to clear my head, get some sun, fresh air, some movement for my body. Though I love going out to lunch on occasion, some of my favorite lunch time activities have nothing to do with food.

Here are some ways I love to spend my lunch break:

get my hair cut: I’m pretty sure getting my hair cut at lunch is one of the best ideas I’ve ever had. I feel immediately relaxed when I walk into the hair salon. It’s like a little spa break in the middle of the day. And then you go back to work with nice hair. Do it on a day you have a date night…bada bing.

go to the library: Sometimes I’ll go to pick up a book I’ve put on hold and other times I like to go and just look around. There’s something about discovering a good book at the library and then checking it out.  I just got this for FREE.  Woah.  Still blows my mind and makes me super excited.

go for a nice long walk, just letting myself wander: Earlier this week I went for a walk around the block that turned into a 30 minute walk into a neighborhood I hadn’t walked through before.  I started walking and got this feeling of I just want to keep going.  So I did. Look at this amazing house I stumbled on…

walk around a bookstore: Bookstores have a totally different energy than libraries. I love wandering around bookstores too, looking at all the new books on the tables. I don’t usually buy things during my lunch hour, just like to go and peruse. It totally takes me away for a little while.

read a novel: I like to take a book outside and read or go sit in the kitchen or the lobby of the building for a change of scenery. But even taking some time to shut off my computer monitor and read at my desk is a nice change of pace.  Good quiet, relaxing time.

Talk to me:

What’s your favorite thing to do during lunch?

Looking for new things to do to light you up during lunch? Take a look back at your inspiration list for ideas.

begin again

Posted on by jplatt27

After hearing Taylor Swift’s Begin Again on the radio multiple times, I finally really listened to it and came to appreciate it. I love this song so much for the message, the truth behind it.

We often let our past relationships and experiences shape our beliefs about how things are and will be in the future, about how we are and will be in the future. We let our significant other’s view of us shape our view of ourselves and what we believe to be true about ourselves–whether we are funny or not, pretty or not, that we do or do not look good in navy blue. The beliefs of the other person become our own.  And it’s understandable that this happens.

The surprise we have when we realize that something new is true.  That a different reality is possible.  That it doesn’t have to be that way. And that’s what this song is all about.  The beauty and hope of a new beginning. A new paradigm.

vacation state of mind

Posted on by jplatt27

This weekend Mike and I went to Charlottesville, VA to visit our friends Jess and Peter.  We left Saturday morning for a nice drive, stopping for Bethesda Bagel on our way out of town.

When we arrived, Jess had lunch waiting for us.  We sat down to a hearty lunch of chorizo, spinach, and cannellini bean stew with french bread.  What a nice welcome.

{Afton Mountain Vineyards, the mountains, the fresh air, amazing!}

Right after lunch we headed out for some wine tasting at two of Peter and Jess’ favorite wineries in the area: Pollak Vineyards and Afton Mountain Vineyards. Luckily Peter and Jess are veteran wine-tasters and brought snacks for the car ride in between–I was feeling the wine after the first round and started housing Chex-mix. I don’t know what it is, when I drink a lot I can. not. stop. eating.

We went back to their house for some down time before heading out to dinner.  We had dinner on the Downtown Mall before going to see Michael Jackson tribute band, Who’s Bad.  It was such a fun night–so different than anything we usually do.

On Sunday morning we relaxed before heading to brunch.  And when I say relax, I mean I really relaxed. I laid in bed reading Gone Girl all morning.  It was so amazing.

My state of mind was so different than a usual Sunday morning.  I was completely relaxed, the only thing on my agenda was to read my book. I didn’t have any of that gotta-do-this, should-do-that anxiety that usually plagues me on weekends. Nope, just lay here and read.  I think it’s because we were on vacation.  Vacation mindset is so different than normal life mindset.  Just relax, hang around, no expectations or pressure to produce anything, to do anything other than enjoy yourself.

Now that I’ve had a taste of this vacation mindset, I’m inspired to incorporate this mindset into my normal life. It’s certainly going to be a challenge.  Just this morning I woke up feeling like I should be doing x, y, or z even though it’s President’s Day and I’m off today.  I’ll have to continue to remind myself that I will get things done and that relaxing, when done fully, is so worth it, so enjoyable.

Am I the only one that has this problem?  

 

 

 

my favorite outfit

Posted on by jplatt27

On my business blog yesterday I shared an exercise for self-reflection based on your favorite outfit. Here are my answers:

What is your favorite outfit?

My weekend morning outfit: Gap G-flex yoga pants, a cotton tank, and a long cardigan

What do you like about this outfit?

I like that it’s comfortable but also looks put together.

How does this outfit make you feel?

Relaxed but motivated to go do something, cute (these pants look good on my butt!), like myself, cozy

How do you move in this outfit?

Confidently, with ease, with a little pep

What activities can you do in this outfit?

Run errands, read a book, go to my favorite coffee shop, go to yoga, lay on the couch, relax, cook

——

Tell me some of your answers and then head on over to www.cupofteacoaching.com/blog to read part two of the exercise!

back from a long holiday

Posted on by jplatt27

It’s been over a month since I wrote!  December was a doozy for some reason–just lots going on and since I haven’t been doing a great job of managing my SAD, my energy for anything that wasn’t completely necessary was pretty much nil.

But, I’m back from 9 days in PA and this break has brought my writing brain back.

I guess I’ll start where I left off: Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was great this year.  We changed things up slightly and it worked out perfectly.  We relaxed through lunch with Mike’s family, not looking at our watches with one foot out the door the entire time. Then, I took a nap for an hour or so.  As soon as I woke up I was ready to go to my Dad’s to see my family! We got there around 6:30 and ended up staying ’til 11:00! Because I wasn’t tired and itching to go to bed the whole time, I was fully present and really relaxed into the evening.

I’m into this casual, come and go when you feel like it thing.  It’s much more my speed.  Though we still went through all of the same activities we have for years, the mind-set was different. And that changed everything.

I’m glad to be back.  Looking forward to catching up with you all much more frequently in 2013.

Love, love, love!

and it's november

Posted on by jplatt27

Hi friends!

Long time, no talk.  Apparently it’s November.  Wow.  I feel like it was August like 2 weeks ago. Though I think of a lot of things I want to share with you, I just do not have the same energy or attention span this time of year that I do in spring and summer. Sometimes I just want to put my hands up and just say I’m hibernating through winter, see you when it’s sunny, but I do like writing and I figure it’s better to write sporadically than not at all for 5 months.

Here’s what’s been going on…

  • Life is busy and I feel like I’m just plugging along one day at a time but days are passing like three at a time.  I’ve been working hard to manage my energy through this season and I had a good thing going for a while but this week just knocked me out.  Hopefully I can pick it up next week.  With daylight savings on Sunday, I think I’ll be much better at least through Thanksgiving so I may have to try too too hard.
  • Mike was away for two weekends in October and I felt kind of guilty but I really enjoyed the weekends to myself.
  • I had my second coach training module last weekend. Wow. A lot of realizations, a lot to process. Lots of coaching skills to practice. And now back to complete sentences… I am so lucky to be doing my coach training through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching. The trainers and the other women in my cohort are amazing. The curriculum is transformational and fascinating. I am so excited to be starting a new career in coaching.  I originally wanted to be a teacher because I wanted to help people.  I’ve finally found the way I can and want to make a difference.
  • WE BOUGHT A CAR! Though this was one of our financial goals, this whole thing came up very quickly.  Like 10 days between when we started looking and when we bought.  Much more on this later.

This weekend we’re taking it easy. Mike has a fractured rib–ice hockey really welcomed him back–so we’re not doing too much.  Tomorrow we’re going to take a nice long drive in our new car to Magnolia’s at the Mill. Hopefully we’ll see some nice fall leaves on our drive.

I’ll be keeping myself busy with the following: writing and launching my business website, my first vision board party for potential clients on Sunday, and I ordered 4 books that came today. It’s going to be a good weekend!

Talk to you soon!

Question for you:

Naming cars–yes or no?  I say yes! My first car was Geoffrey, yes with a G. He was a junker but boy did I love him.  My next car was Chloe but that name never really caught on.  I’m ready to name our new car–I’m thinking Stella, Zoe, or Rhae–but Mike’s not feeling it. 

 

a new kind of saturday

Posted on by jplatt27

Free Saturdays are few and far between for us so when we have one, we almost don’t know what to do with ourselves.

That’s what happened this Saturday.  We woke up late (about 9:30) and moved to the couch for Scandal and a sub-par batch of our go-to pancakes.  Great start to the day.

But then what?

“What should we do today?” we kept asking each other.

Should we go for a hike? Go bike riding? How about a trip to the Newseum? We threw out a bunch of ideas, none of which had any excitement behind them. We couldn’t even decide where we wanted to go for lunch.

Finally I was like let’s just relax for a little bit and we’ll make a move when we’re ready to make a move.  It’s clear we don’t know what we want to do and everything just seems a little forced.

So we hung out around the apartment. We straightened up a little bit, got back in bed for a little bit, and then I showered and spent time doing my hair.

Around 1:30 we left our apartment to get lunch outside at Open City. It was a gorgeous fall day and we sat outside chatting over coffee and breakfast food.

It was so nice to just sit and chat, really chat. Quality time has been a little sparse the last two weeks and I found myself loving the time, just the two of us, nothing to do but enjoy each other’s company.

From there we went to the grocery store (boo-yah for getting that done early in the weekend) and came back to relax before heading out to dinner.

I love this kind of Saturday.  It’s almost the opposite of my other favorite way to spend a free Saturday: get up; go for coffee, a bagel, and some reading at my favorite coffee shop/bookstore; head to yoga; come home and relax. I love being a morning person and heading out before the hustle and bustle of the day.

But there’s also something to be said for just going with the flow.  In just doing what you feel like doing, when you feel like doing it.  Not because you feel like you should do something just because you can or because it’s a cool thing to do.  No, if you don’t feel like it, don’t.

We’ll see what type of Saturday we feel like when we wake up on our next free one in two weeks. I’m going to remember the joy we had in this type of Saturday and not put pressure on myself to do something just for the sake of doing something.

How do you like to spend a Saturday? Do you feel pressure to go-go-go or are you more go with the flow?

 

weekend to myself & a challenge

Posted on by jplatt27

After three consecutive weekends of visitors and travel, I was looking forward to having a normal low-key weekend to relax.

Mike happened to be traveling this weekend for work so I had the weekend to myself.  Bonus! I kind of feel bad saying it but then again I don’t.  I really need me-time, time alone to just do my own thing.

Friday night I laid low and relaxed at home–watched Grey’s Anatomy, called my sister, got in bed early at my normal time to read.

Saturday morning I woke up early thinking about my business so I did some brainstorming and drafting in bed. Then I sat in front of my happy light and watched an episode of Super Soul Sunday. I love Super Soul Sunday and highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it.

I went back to sleep for a little while. I love doing that.

When I woke up, I re-started my day with a little more energy. I went to my favorite coffee shop for some reading.  I perused the bookstore for a little while and even treated myself to a new book.  Then I went to Body Flow–haven’t been in forever so that felt great.  After that I decided to go to Bed Bath and Beyond for some velcro rollers.

Maybe I came out with all of this:

 

I also stopped at Marshall’s and picked up a mirror for our bedroom, something I’d been meaning to do for a while. (It was in my letter to myself). It felt kind of bold at the time because I went into Marshall’s on a whim and was in and out of there with a mirror in about 10 minutes.  I didn’t call Mike, I just gave myself permission to make a purchase like this. Go me!

Then I came back and relaxed, finished the episode of Super Soul Sunday, talked to Amanda, tried the velcro rollers, helped Chrissy make a budget, talked to Becca. Nice little afternoon.

Here’s how the rollers came out:

I think I’m digging this!

Saturday night I had a dinner meeting with some friends–I’m coordinating their wedding in two weeks and we went over all the details.  Looking forward to sharing more about that soon!

Sunday morning I stayed in bed until I absolutely had to get up to get ready.  My new friends Kristen and Rachel came into DC and we went to Tryst for chaippucinoes (chai with espresso).

During our conversation we were talking about reaching out to people we’re not close to share support, information they may be interested in, etc.  We each had people in mind that we’d thought about reaching out to but for some reason or another just hadn’t–mostly because we thought maybe it would be weird.

I know from experience, from comments on the blog and from personal Facebook messages, how much a little note like can make someone’s day. So we decided that we would each reach out to some of those people this week and that’s where the challenge comes in.

Challenge

Are there certain people you follow religiously on Facebook? You read their statuses, look through an entire album of photos even though you haven’t talked to them in real life for a while?  I know, I do! For most of us, it stops there.

But it doesn’t have to.  This week I challenge you to reach out to one of these people.  Send a note to say hello, to let them know that you’re thinking about them, and whatever other positive things you want to say.  Make this your own. Make someone’s day.

So what do you say?  Are you in?

 

four sisters

Posted on by jplatt27

I had a great time last weekend and this weekend was just as good!

My sisters were here!

We didn’t really do much–we just wanted to be together and that’s exactly what we did.

We spent Friday and Saturday nights just lounging in my apartment, calling our brother on speaker phone for a lively discussion on Friday and watching the Kardashians and Married to Jonas on Saturday.

We had lunch at Matchbox on Saturday followed by dinner at Open City on Saturday night and great conversations flowed during both meals.

I love these girls. I hope that one day we’ll all live close to each other and have be able to hang like that all the time.

weekend in the city

Posted on by jplatt27

Last weekend I went to New York for a girls weekend.

I took the bus up on Saturday morning and navigated myself to Jen’s apartment on the Upper East Side.

Not kidding when I say that the only reason I didn’t get on the subway going the wrong direction was because when I looked at the photo in. my. phone. I realized the sign said downtown. Yikes.

We met up with the girls at Max Brenner.

Even though it was three in the afternoon, I had to get the chocolate chip pancakes. They did not disappoint.

Then we wandered around for the afternoon/early evening before having dinner and drinks.

On Sunday morning, we planned to meet for brunch at Hannah’s apartment in Brooklyn. Jen and I decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge on our way.

It was a gorgeous day, perfect for a walk.  Also perfect for brunch outside on the terrace followed by a visit to a nearby park.

Mid-afternoon, I met Amanda for another walk, this time in Battery Park.

We also stopped for a snack and had some delicious sangria and great conversation at a perfect window seat.

After my afternoon with Amanda, I headed to meet some of my favorite people from high school for dinner.

After some debate we decided as a table to go for the Sunday Supper: whole fried chicken and a bunch of sides, an appetizer, and dessert! Great decision.

Monday I spent the day with Jen. We got bagels, mani-pedis, stopped in to see her mom and 4-month old niece, had Thai food for lunch, and did a little shopping.

I wanted to show you my manicure–I went a little trendy and got one different color nail–but I forgot to take a picture and now they’re all chipped.

I hopped on a 5:00 bus back to DC.

I read O, The Oprah Magazine, and watched an episode of Downton Abbey. We made great time back to DC getting in around 9:20.

It was a great weekend filled with some great girl time.  Love girl time.