Get out there and explore!

I have lived in Boston for 7 months now and I feel like I know this city better than people who have lived here a lot longer than I have. One of the ways that I have gotten to do so much here in such a short time is by keeping a list. A bucket list, to-do list, wish list, whatever you call it. I call mine the See Boston List and I have added to it every time I hear of something cool I want to do. Then when you have free time and are looking for something to do you can remember all of those things. Slowly, I have worked at doing everything on my list.

 One item that has been on my list since I arrived has been the MFA; the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Now the reason it has taken me this whole time to go is because it is a $25 entry fee. A little steep for a museum, right? Don't worry; I didn't pay $25 to get in. The Boston Public Library offers discounted passes for all sorts of activities, but they book up really quickly. So one day I checked what was available and found that there was just one Saturday available that I knew I wouldn't be out of town. For $10 and a little bit of planning, I checked the MFA off of my See Boston List.

Exploring doesn't need to be expensive or difficult. Just go out and do something!

Work Place Positivity

I love these cards by Gabby Bernstein! A co-worker gave these positive spirituality cards to another co-worker and we all got to see the benefits. Each week we pick a new card; which ever one speaks to us. My first card threw itself at me (no, my co-worker was not purposefully throwing things at me) and I get to keep it at my cube for the week.

What is really amazing is that these card fit us. One of the girls picked a card about food, and it is just so fitting because all she ever wants is food! I need to find some peace and I get a card reminding me to take a breath and I will find it. Even if the messages don't continue to fit so well, I enjoy having an activity that I can share with the other ladies in the office. I can't wait to see what next week's card holds!

The trials and triumphs of training for a half marathon

I am currently training for my third half marathon. If you had asked me two years ago if I could run 13.1 miles, I would have told you no. I had no interest in doing it. Here I am going back at it for a third time.

Half marathon 1- I trained by myself and failed to meet my goals. I walked two of the 13.1 miles and was beyond disappointed with myself. I knew I could do better. I had to do another to be able to say that I RAN a half marathon. To me I hadn't really done it because I hadn't ran it.

Half marathon 2- I found a training buddy and made an amazing friend out of it. We pushed each other past those days where you just didn't want to or thought that you were too tired to run. That doesn't mean that the runs didn't suck, it was just someone there to keep you going and give you a high five at the end. She had never run a half marathon without walking and killed it. We ran it in 2:17, 21 minutes faster than my first time. The feeling was amazing.

Half marathon 3- I moved to Boston and left my wonderful running buddy behind. I think that might be why I had such a bad running week last week. My success is all on me again. There is no one but me to get me out and moving. I want to write about how my training is, what I am feeling and when I look back at this next time, I will be reminded that it was hard, but I got through it stronger than when I started.

Last week was week 5 of my 12 week training schedule. Not quite half way. My short runs are starting to become more time consuming at 4 and 5 miles and my weekend run was supposed to be 7. Since I am new to Boston, every run is new to me. I am working on finding paths that I like, but that takes time and some bad runs. I don't have a collection of mapped out routes that I can just hop on and do in a second. Work is stressful and I tried to give up sweets. I forgot how important hydrating is. I had a work trip to Toronto. Fall is hitting and the sun is rising later and setting earlier. All of these things led to my horrible, miserable training week. The type of week that makes you want to quit. I ran a total of 6 miles when I was supposed to get to 22. Maybe if I write about my bad runs, I can put them behind me and move on.

In getting back in this week, I want to keep my positive thoughts up there and remind myself that bad runs happen. I have a friend running a full marathon. She is crazy: all marathoners are crazy. She runs so much and yet she still has bad runs like me. It is ok. It happens to all of us. The bad make the good feel even better.

Here is to happier running!

Summer reading list

After a extraordinary book, I find myself dissatisfied will all of my new book choices. Nothing I randomly pick off of the shelf compares to that wonderful story I just read. Maybe having a list will help my pick a more suited replacement book. I hope this summer reading list can live up to expectations!

Hiking

While in Italy I went for a day trip to Cinque Terre. It is a set of five towns that are set up into the steep slope of the coast. The walk between each town took me between an hour and two hours. The views were amazing. I did stop to take a few breathers, those hills are steep.

I think that the next place that I go should be just as exciting. And I wouldn't mind getting some sun after this dreary Rochester weather. The first is Hawaii. I think it has sort of the same appeal as Italy.

To view more photos or to find more information, go to www.colorfulfootsteps.com/2011/12/18/hiking-oahus-stairway-to-heaven/ . I really would love to do this. I would have to take at least one day to take surf lessons. Maybe I should save up for this one.

This one has been moving up on my list lately. I want to hike the trail to Machu Picchu. The hardest trails can 13 days to make a trip. I am not sure that I would go that route, but I would like to try an intermediate hike.

One of my favorite magazines wrote a story about it. Check it out http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/peru/machu-picchu/alternate-trails/

Movie review

In the past few weeks I have seen a few movies that I want to share. They all fit into the category of chick flick, but I think that everyone could enjoy them. This post might make me look a bit girly, but I do have a guilty pleasure in romantic comedies.

First: The Vow

This movie, which is based on a true story, is about a women who loses all of her memories of her husband. The bulk of the movie is him trying to get her to fall back in love with her. I was sad the whole movie. I most likely will never watch it again, because it was so sad. I am glad that I watched it, but be prepared to cry.

Second: The Lucky One

This movie is based off of a Nicolas Sparks novel. Sparks has an ability to write incredibly sad books, however, this one is average chick flick sad. There was a good level of humor mixed in with the sadness. To me this ranked as an average chick flick. Both of these movies were good, but were similar. Even the covers look a bit like each other. The designer took some liberty and swapped the positions of the characters.

Third: A Midnight in Paris

I saved the best for last. I am not a huge fan of Owen Wilson, but he fits this character. He is a babbling writer who is in Paris for a visit. He has a rich snob of a fiance, who has rich rude parents. At the start of the movie Owen's character Gil is a Hollywood writer and hates it. He talks of staying in Paris and writing novels. Of course his rich fiance would never leave her comfortable live back in Cali for a cramped apartment in Paris. Gil has this set of adventures that show him a whole new side to Paris. There are some underlying ideas in the movie that are always good to be reminded of.

WIB Hosts Style Coach Leslie Brown

I was really looking forward to this week's meeting. When it came to be Wednesday and I was running late for class, I really wanted to put on sweatpants and not worry. I am so glad that I didn't. Leslie came into the WIB general meeting to give us some tips on what to wear in different situations. I think that all of the girls walked away with some wonderful information. I encourage everyone to check out Leslie's website: http://www.lesliebrownstylecoach.com