Currently: March

Reading: In The Dark- Loreth Anne White 

Listening to: The "Getting Ready" Playlist on Spotify

Watching: Besides the usuals, I watched Joker and well. That was DARK. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it if you've seen it! 

I'm currently binging High Fidelity re-make on Hulu with Zoe Kravitz and it's fantastic, especially the music!

Can't wait to see the Little Fires Everywhere adaption on Hulu this month! 

Procrastinating: Getting my flight and hotel for my work conference... which I really need to do today because I'm supposed to be leaving on Saturday! 

Looking forward to: Salt Lake City, Utah! I'm going to for a work conference, but have scheduled in some free time to check out the area as well. I've never been, so if you have any recommendations, please let me know! 

Loving: I FOUND THEM! Last month I was super upset because I handed in my laptop to get upgraded and thought the tech had deleted the only file saved on it, which was also the most important because of the sentimental value that I couldn't get back?! Well after some serious digging, I found the files, which had old text messages and pics, particularly those between Blue and I'd first pic and first texts! (I shared them last week if you're interested!) 

Fixing: My bank account. I got hacked! More on that Wednesday, but what a mess! 

Hearing: Birds. Which is nice because it means Spring is around the corner, but also annoying because there seems to be a dove outside my window that's been waking me up every morning! 

Borrowing: My friend's shredder. One of my goals for the month/year is to shred a bunch of personal/confidential material that's taking up space in my file cabinet. My friend had an extra one so I'm borrowing it for awhile. 

Feeling: A little stressed because my conference plans aren't finalized yet, a little rushed because I haven't planned what I want to do once I get there before the conference starts and I have to do laundry and pack and clean my apartment before, and I didn't exactly realize that it's THIS Saturday! 

Recommending: Getting your taxes done early. I get mine done at the end of February (I have a standing appt with H&R Block) and my NJ State and Federal returns were accepted within 24 hours, so I should be getting a refund soon! 

What's currently going on with you?

Linking up with Anne!

March Goals

Before I set some goals for March, let's see how I did in February, shall we?

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• Read 2 books: I read 4 and will finish #5 by the end of the month! Woot! 
• No Spend Month #2: Nope. I purchased a replacement lamp, and two pairs of pants from Target since I was staying at Blue's last weekend and didn't feel like going home to get ones I already own for Monday morning. 
• Organize crafts/gift wrap: Oh no... I'll do this tonight.
• Empty one plastic bin: Oops! Got about halfway through and then got distracted... Another one I'll get to tonight! 
• Track spending: ....hahaha, no. But I did start reviewing my bank statement more regularly? More on this next Thursday with Kristen's What's New With You? linkup. 
• Prepare tax documents: Yes, and going to get my taxes done tonight.
• Schedule quarterly self-care: I'm going to do this in SLC, though I ahven't booked it as of yet. 
• 2 New recipes: Oof. No. I made Snickers-stuffed cupcakes for Valentine's Day, but that was about it. Moving over to next month.
• Unsubscribe from 25 email subscriptions: Yes, but it was harder than I thought to pick which emails I no longer wanted to receive, especially from companies like BBW. I don't want to miss their semi-annual sale, when I usually but alllthecandles! 
• Research Iceland for vacation: No, I was too busy trying to plan my work conference for next month! I'm heading to Salt Lake City, Utah. I've never been there, so if you have any recs, send them my way please! 

So yeahhhhhh... I didn't do too great in February! I'm keeping my goals for March fairly simple since I'll be away for a week at a work conference, and honestly I'm more focused on work goals than personal ones right now. 

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March Goals:

Read 3 books

Count physical books

Track spending
Change all online payments to new debit card (14)

2 New Recipes

Research /Book? Iceland

Yearly Goal Progress:

Personal:

• Shred all the things: Didn't start yet
• Travel somewhere new: headed to Salt Lake City Utah for work! 
• Read 50 books: 6/50
• 12 Non-Fiction: 0/12
• 25 from my bookshelf (digital [50] or physical [need to count]) (5/25)
• complete BCBE 12: 6/10

Professional: 

• take/pass one Professional development exam: Took it, failed, need to schedule retake. 
• attend one professional development conference: Booked for mid-March! 

What are your current goals? 

Are you giving up anything for Lent?

Linking up with The Peaceful Posse!

10 Things I Love About Blue

I wasn't going to post today but I couldn't help myself when I saw that my girl Leslie brought back the 10 on the 10th linkup, and this month is all about 10 Things You Love About Your Significant Other! So this was thrown together last minute, but here are 10 things I love about Blue, in no particular order! 

Intelligent
She knows a little something about everything, and a lot about other things. She can hold a conversation regardless of the topic, which is something I envy just a little bit. She also keeps up with the news and votes with knowledge. Swoon. 

Sillly/Witty/Makes Me Laugh
I've always said that my number one trait in a partner is someone who can make ma laugh. While that may not be #1 anymore, she certainly checks that box! Thi sis our first conversation the day after we met: 

Me:   The "gayest shit" you've ever done: 

Me:   This is Dani btw. It was nice to meet you last night! 
Blue:   Not bad as far as gay shit for a gay chick goes lol. The pleasure was mine :)
Blue:   I look like satan 
Me:   Lol. Is this better? 

Blue:   More chins than the Chinese phone book 

She's got a ton, and I've even written about them a few times, you can check out other Shit Blue Said here, here, and here!  

Beautiful, Inside and Out
She may not think so and is more self-deprecating than anyone I know, but I think she's beautiful. And as for inside, well, see the next one! 

Kind, Polite, Thoughtful

I've never seen her be rude to anyone and she even greets the train conductor every time, even though s/he often just grunts at us in return. She's also an awesome gift giver. She's not into stars or astrology or anything like that, but one year she got me a picture of the night sky on the date and location we met. It was the sweetest!  It's not always about big things though. Sometimes it's just having chocolate on hand when it's that time of the month. A little goes a long way! 

Hard Worker and Cheerleader

She's got a few years on me in terms of job experience, but she's always working hard and looking for opportunities to do more or be better. She even left a comfortable position for one with more work and more challenges. She also cheers me on in anything I want to accomplish, without being pushy. If I'm in training for an exam, she's offering to help me study and cheering me on telling me I got this. And she's there with flowers and pizza at the finish line!

Cooks

Not only is this a good life skill to have, but she's also really good at it and likes to do it! Works great for me because I don't like to do it... I'm great at doing dishes though! 

"Responsible" Adult

She's owned her own condo for 12+ years, regularly invests and makes donations, has a 401K, "Oh Shit" fund and vacation fund, and goes to the dentist twice a year. Those are just a few examples but basically, my girls' got her shit together, and that's VERY attractive! 

Jives With My People

I didn't realize how important this was until I dated someone who didn't have any interest in getting to know, let alone hang out with, my friends and family. Blue traveled to Puerto Rico with me to meet my best friend and godson, and we regularly hang out with my friends. (Sidenote: I get along with her friends too, and now call them my friends!) 

Good Listener

She'll listen to my rants, she'll listen to my wishes or dreams, she'll listen to my grocery listif I asked her to lol. And she actively listens, asking me pertinent questions in between, and she remembers! (Also helpful since I forget so much that I've earned the nickname Dory!) She also listens to my non-verbal cues, which is helpful since when I'm uncomfortable or distraught, I tend to ostrich, and she doesn't push me. 

She's a Good Partner

She keeps her word. She'll watch silly rom-coms with me on the couch or go to a show, and we have fun and genuinely enjoy each other's company regardless of what we're doing. That's a true gift :)

Happy Valentine's Day! 

How do you celebrate?

February/Yearly Goals

I've never been one for "New Years' Resolutions." They just sound too lofty, and I never remember them let alone follow through after late February/early March. Maybe my issue is that I've never fully committed to them, or that I had set goals that I didn't really care about. However, I have a few goals that I REALLY want to accomplish this year. So I'm sharing them, along with some monthly goals since that's my usual MO. Here's what I've come up with for the year: 

Personal:

• Shred all the things
• Register a Free Little Library in my town
• Get rid 100 items (5/100: lamp, keychain, socks, undies)
• Travel somewhere new
• Read 50 books: This is my Goodreads goal. I have some sub-goals though, like...
• 12 Non-Fiction
• 25 from my bookshelf (digital [50] or physical) (2/
• complete BCBE 12 and 13
• I want to limit reading challenges I participate in. Last year I think I attempted something like 7 different challenges, and towards Fall I just started feeling overwhelmed. This year, I want to keep to the "challenges" listed above. 

Professional: 

• take/pass one Professional development exam
• attend one professional development conference
• enroll in Master's program (I'm still thinking about this one)

Financial:

• Pay off ALL student loans 
• Sell 52 items on Poshmark
• Close storage units/ stop payments
• buy a car

Health/Self Care: Schedule one health-related appointment and one professional treatment (mani/pedi/spa) each quarter. 

So those are my yearly "goals." And here are my monthly goals for February!

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• Read 2 books (1/2) 
• No Spend Month #2 (So far I've only purchased groceries, but I need a new lamp sooo...)
• Organize crafts/gift wrap (I purchased a "gift organizer," the least I can do is actually set it up! )
• Empty one plastic bin (I have several giant plastic bins that are nearly empty!)
• Track spending 
• Prepare tax documents
• Schedule quarterly self-care
• 2 New recipes (I already have one planned for Valentine's Day!) 
• Unsubscribe from 25 email subscriptions (11/25)
• Research Iceland for vacation

Do you make New Years' Resolutions? 

What are your current goals? 

Linking up with The Peaceful Posse!

January Reads

I’m still in the reading slump that I started the year with. I was hoping that finishing the book I started in December would help, but it hasn’t. My priorities are just elsewhere right now, and though that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it does make me a little nervous about reaching my reading goals. More about those on Thursday. Here’s the few I got through last month. 

My True Love Gave To Me: 12 Holiday Stories- Holly Black, Ally Carter, Matt de La Peña, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Rainbow Rowell, Stephanie Perkins, Laini Tayler and Kiersten White: 4 Stars
library hardback

This one took me some time to get in to after my novella consumption at the end of December. However it's YA, and I really enjoy that genre. Of course, I favored some (way) more than others, and I'll admit that I hadn't read most of these authors besides Rainbow Rowell and David Levithan, but now I definitely want to! Here were my favorites: 

Midnights- Rainbow Rowell

A boy and a girl meet every NYE at a party/girl likes boy and boy hardly notices her until *this one NYE*  Swoon. Perfect intro for this collection. 

It's A Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown- Stephanie Perkins

I really liked the snarky banter between Marigold and North. 

Welcome to Christmas, CA- Kiersten White

I liked Maria's angst and her visible softening as the story progressed. There seemed to be a bit of magic realism with the food but in this case, I didn't mind it. I wanted to know more about Ben and where he came from, but that mystery also added to the story. 

Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus- Myra McEntire

Bad boy falls for the pastor's daughter and tries to be better after nearly ruining the Christmas play. Super cute. 

What Alice Forgot- Liane Moriarty: 4.5 Stars
own, hardback

My third book by this author and possibly my favorite. Loved the originality, how the story unfolded, and how it kept me thinking about it long after I turned the last page. The unfolding of Alice's memory, the snippets that come in short-circuit shocks or the feelings that she gets when passing certain places or a particular smell... that's what sold the story for me. 

It Started With Paris- Cathy Kelly: 3 Stars
Netgalley

This is the first novel I've read by this author, but I have another I also received from Netgalley waiting for me in my queue and I'm not really looking forward to it. I liked the synopsis of this one, especially the Love-Actually-esque many characters connected/intertwined, but there seemed to be two very distinctive stories in this book, with no connection at all (well, the one lady was hired to make the wedding cake for one of the main characters, but that hardly seems like a "relationship" especially since they only meet/interact with each other once). The secondary story delved into much deeper issues overall and should have been separate. But overall, if I need to make a chart to keep track of all the characters, there are too many characters! See evidence: 

Currently reading: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter- Erika L. Sanchez

What are you reading? 

How do you get out of a reading slump?

Linking up with Steph and Jana!

What's New With Me: Hibernation Season

I've always joked that after December I go in to "Hibernation Season," but it's completely true! I hate going out in the cold, and I'm a bit over "people-ing" after celebrating my birthday and then the holidays with friends and family. Don't get me wrong- I love seeing all of my nearest and dearest, but especially as I get older, I feel the real need to rest and reset afterwards. I've definitely become more of an ambivert/introvert with age. I ain't mad about it, but I do need to recognize this and do what's best for my mental health without forcing it. 

That's not to say I lock myself away completely come January but instead of going out I invite other people to come visit me and just plan less in general. Blue bought Yahtzee which I realized I've never played before, so we spent a few nights playing that. Michael and her boyfriend came over for dinner and Scrabble one night, and I actually won! Woot! 

Another friend group decided that we should meet up monthly and one person would choose where we went/what we did, in alphabetical order. The first person was Blue, so we decided to host a potluck brunch. She made 2 different quiches (taylor ham and swiss and broccoli and cheddar) which were a hit. I made Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls (done in 30 min and delish, highly recommend), someone made some ridiculously good french toast monkey bread type thing, so we shared our maple syrup aged in bourbon-barrels which was off-the-freakin-chain. Not boozy at all, but definitely tasty! Other items of note: rainbow bagels (and fixins), BACON (5 lbs... and we ate every last piece!), chocolates, and of course mimosa/screwdriver fixins! 

Blue and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary in the beginning of the month, marking my longest relationship ever. I sent her flowers at work to embarrass her and (finally?) gave her a spare key to my apartment, which I have also never done before. We went out to dinner at a new-to-us tapas/wine bar that night, and the following weekend we went to brunch at one of our favorite restaurant/cocktail bars followed by seeing Alanis Morisettes' "Jagged Little Pill" on Broadway. Honestly, I didn't have any expectations for this show. I loved the album, but didn't see how were they gonna turn an album into a story/Broadway show. Welp, they did it. It caught me by surprise. It hit me in ALL the feels and it BLEW ME AWAY. It also addressed a lot of serious issues of today (as opposed to 25 years ago when it was released-can you BELIEVE that it's been that long?!) So yeah, if you have the opportunity to see it- do it. You won't be disappointed, even if you're a fair- weather fan of the album. 

Let's see...what else? Well, Blue and I both had a head cold near the beginning of the month... and then we both had a 24-hour stomach bug (on separate days) somewhere in the middle of the month that was AWFUL. But thankfully only 24 hours. And I couldn't miss out on the Dolly Parton Challenge that was all over IG, so here is Keebler in all his (white-undies) glory!

What's new with you?

Linking up with Kristen! 

Currently: February

view from work; hence random guy at the bottom lol

Reading: Sweetgirl- Travis Mulhauser

Listening to: Ready- Alessia Cara

Watching: The Super Bowl! Did you guys watch? I love a close game... and as much as I was rooting for the 49ers the Chiefs certainly earned it, coming up from behind. I see how they got the nickname the "Comeback Kings!" Well deserved, for sure. And that halftime show- AY DIOS MIO! That was hot- even my straight friends thought so!

I'm also watching Fortune Feimster: Sweet and Salty on Netflix, 9-1-1: Lone Star (helllo, Rob Lowe!), and Zoe's Extraordinary Playlist 

Procrastinating: studying for my exam on tomorrow! I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous. Nothing will happen if I *don't* pass, but so many opportunities can open up for me if I do, one being moving up professionally, and if I don't get that opportunity in my current workplace, it would give me leverage elsewhere. 

Looking forward to: My "self-care" event of the quarter. I still haven't decided what exactly that will entail, but it's looking like either a massage with my spa gift card or a manicure, both of which are sorely needed! 

Loving Hating: That I gave my personal computer in to my IT department the other day, and they deleted my most important/sentimental file... it was a copy of my very first texts with Blue...and our very first pic, taken on the day we met. I AM SO UPSET. THIS is why I don't upgrade my shit! 

Embracing: A heavier work load. I know, a weird thing to embrace for sure. But I'm hoping it will lead to bigger and better things in my professional life! 

Tasting: Some days off soon! I have a three day weekend this week, and a four-day weekend next week! 

Wearing: Most days a plain sweater, work pants (black, brown or gray), and tall boots.

Preparing: My tax documents. I have my appointment scheduled for the end of the month. Also prepping some index cards for my exam tomorrow- does anyone else still use index cards to study? I've lived by them my entire life!

What are some of your "currentlies" this month?

Linking up with Anne!