Month October 2015

Therapist…Yes, please!! 

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So I have mentioned my “dark age” in my 30 1/2 blog and I’m still not going to get too deep into that, but this blog is about how I found the most amazing lady who helped me throw out the bulls#*t people in my life and uncover what my personal insecurities were.

I was referred to Judy by a good friend who’s life was changing in front of my eyes. She had such a postive outlook, had growing self esteem and was comfortable in the life she was living. At this time in my life, I wanted to leave my job, move far away from the a$$holes, I was grasping for any way to drop some lbs and my marriage was on the rocks because I was so unhappy. If I could have, I would have quit my job, move to San Diego and drain my savings for full body lipo. Then I would be happy?! Ha! 

But a therapist, aren’t those for the extremely crazy?! Yeah, no! We all need a therapist in our lives. We all need someone to listen to us and even better, we need someone to be the voice of reason.

The first few months of meeting with Judy were rough. I didn’t want to admit my faults, I wanted her to tell me to run and I thought she had a magic wand to make things perfect. I just wanted her to wave that wand and POOF, everything would be better. Sadly, she fell short of my fairy godmother expectation, and DUH thats not how it works. I didn’t want to put in the time. It was work. It was my responsibility to change how reacted to what was happening around me. If I couldn’t change my environment, I had to change how I saw that environment.  We met every 2 weeks and I had lots of homework to do.

We had 2 major things we were focusing on; the break-up/bully friend/coworker and finding balance in loving my body and having self esteem. She went about things in a compassionate way, she was very black and white but still was gentle. I know for a fact, I can’t have a sugar coated therapist. I was raised with life being sugar coated and it will get you nowhere. She allowed me to cry, word vomit, question and throw a few F bombs. She even knew when I was holding back. I would say something with confidence, hoping to disguise the truth, and she just gave me a look…BUSTED!

After about 6 months of ah-ha moments and tough love, I started to realize how I wanted my life to be. Its not perfect and I struggle with the balance of IF, AND, OR. It’s much more difficult to control these things around certain people. But Judy has taught me how to re-think situations and not get sucked into the drama and negative, dishonest people around me. I learned to feel sorry and show compassion for the manipulative b’s that I thought were my friends.

Life is a roller coaster and so I’m at a time in my life again when I need her. She is the un judgemental hand to help you out of the dark. I’m not ashamed to admit I get depressed, eat my emotions and cry. I’m human. My life is no where near glitter and rainbows, but I have an amazing family, loving partner, super fun career and I have my health. I am grateful for what I have but sometimes you need someone to remind you and talk through the chaos.

Boston

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Day 1:

Ryan left the house at 7 am to get all of his work clothes from the dry cleaners. Well somebody there couldn’t get out of bed and open the store, so he waited almost 40 mins for the girl who said she was coming to show up and decided to come home. He was pissed. Our plane left at 9:55 am and he needed his suits.

We left for the airport deciding to stop at the cleaners to see if we were lucky and hooray she was there and “kindly” gave us 20% off for the inconvenience. Now off to the airport(8:15am).

Traffic wasn’t too bad, thank god and we entered Terminal 1, extended stay parking FULL. FML. We haul ass to terminal 2, park, wait for the damn light rail and finally get to terminal 1 security(9:12 am). Luckily we made it!!!


We checked into the hotel and started off to explore the North End! We first went to the Old Church and read the history of Paul Revere. We were able to see his house and tour through it.

Next up; dinner at Giacomo’s Ristorante, recommended by both of my sisters. This little Italian place already had a line 20 people deep before they opened. We were sat at the bar, which was a great view of the kitchen and the restaurant. There were lulls in the hustle of this place and I loved watching it. The culture was very friendly.

We enjoyed buratta, lobster ravioli and linguini. Oh and a delicious bottle of red wine!


Dessert!!! Mike’s Pastry was another place that came recommended. I was overwhelmed with the selection of cannolis. We picked strawberry and Oreo and walked to enjoy our treat on the bench by the water. Discovery: I dislike cannolis.

On the way back to the hotel, we found a supermarket. We stocked up on red wine and snacks and watched Pitch Perfect 2.

Day 2:

It was a pretty crap-tastic day. The hotel staff at the Boston Marriott Copley place is incredibly rude, their fitness center is sub par and the Starbucks doesn’t take my drink rewards. The weather is like a monsoon today. We stopped for lunch at Luke’s Lobster and had their Noah’s Ark which had tasting of lobster, crab and shrimp rolls. It was delicious. They use traceable, sustainable resources.


We couldn’t do any sightseeing, so I went with Ryan to help him set up his booth. As we were on our way, we decided to run so we didn’t get totally soaked.  My flip flops were too slippery, so I ran barefooted. FAIL! The side walk was polished and I slipped, feet flying over my head and landed hard on my nicely cushioned left cheek. It hurt like hell and was just as scary. We were drenched and my pants were soaked.


That night while Ryan was at work, I decided to venture out and take the “CHARLIE” to Core Power Yoga. Let me just say, their subway made me miss NYC’s. It was packed like sardines. I literally had 7 people touching me at once. It goes street level so it’s really slow. I almost missed my hot power fusion. But I made it to my mat! Thank God,this no good, kinda bad day was over.

DAY 3: 

Please refer to COASTAL MINI-VENTURE blog! And a bruise is starting to form on my left cheek!

DAY 4:

I hate hurricane Joaquin. It’s raining and freezing, which means no sight seeing for us today, hence this blog being written at this very moment. I’m listening to the Presidential News Conference and I’m not going to lie, this world scares me. Earlier I watched the news about the Oregon shooting. This country is messed up. Our political system is run by $$ and I’m over it. Rant done.

We had dinner reservations at Island Oyster Creek Bar. I have learned that oysters taste like ocean unless covered in sauce!!! The restaurant was close to Fenway so we walked down an ally, saw the sign and called it good. Too windy and rainy and dark. Oh and my bruise on my butt is a great shade of deep purple.

DAY 5: 

Last day here; still freezing cold but no rain. I got my body kicked in yoga sculpt, at least it was better than sitting in my room. Ryan got back from his conference and we debated on walking around…yeah nope. I think we were both over being cold and bored. It was a nice balance to just lay in bed together. If anyone knows me, that’s like pulling teeth. I could tell Rysn needed to decompress, so I compromised.

We ended our last night in Boston with our anniversary dinner at Deaxave, an amazing French restaurant. Go figure next to our romantic table for 2 was a group of IT college guys; loud, cocky and clueless. They were cute little dorks, I mean you could tell how they were raised. It’s a Saturday’s night, you’re in college and you go to a fancy French restaurant? Oh well. The food was rich and amazing and we had great conversation!  Cheers to 4 yrs!

Dear Boston,

You didn’t quite meet my expectations, but that’s OK. I still like you and would consider returning, if you have better behaved weather.

Sincerely,

Angela

Coastal Mini-Venture 

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This little day trip was almost a full adventure but we had time constraints on the rental car and Ryan needed to get to his conference. Scary part is I was the driver…in a Fiat 500…that was lime green…driving in downtown Boston. Dang I should’ve gotten a picture.

We started in Boston and took the Tobin Bridge to Revere Beach Blvd. The Revere Park right at the roundabout. It was such a windy day so hardly anyone was out. We continued to drive on Revere a Beach Blvd through the cute little town until we jumped onto 1A to Salem.

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Once we arrived in Salem, we went to the Salem Witch Trials Memorial and walked through the cemetery. Most of the names were very familiar; Bishop, Nurse and Good. The witch trials were so sad, yet walking through that cemetery was creepy. If I were any of those men or women who were executed, I would for sure come back and haunt those people, witch or not! There were some interesting buildings around town. Due to time, we only explored for about 30 mins. Next stop; Gloucester. IMG_4422

We took hwy 128 into Gloucester, the city were the Perfect Storm took place. The Fisherman’s Memorial was beautiful. It sat right on the water with gorgeous views. It was such an interesting town with winding roads. Next we drove to the Eastern Point Lighthouse. The road to get there states PRIVATE PROPERTY, but we drove through. I am so glad we did. Holy crap, were these homes beautiful. It was like driving through Pebble Beach 17 mile drive. Gorgeous coastal homes with magnificent views. The lighthouse was really pretty, but it once again was so windy, we didn’t stay long.

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I really wanted to go up to Rockport to Halibut State Park but it was another 20 min drive up hwy 127 and at least a 20 min hike to the coast. It would’ve been beautiful, but I picked going to the apple orchard instead. If you have more time, I’m sure its worth it. So you either continue on 127 after Rockport to meet 128 or stay on 128 from Gloucester, once on 128 take 133 though Essex and Northgate Rd to Argilla Rd.

Once again due to timing we skipped taking Argilla Rd to Crane Beach, boo. But we stopped at Russell Orchards. I finally, in the 10 years that I have been with Ryan, got him to an apple orchard.  We didn’t walk the orchards, but we had some delicious apple cider and walked through the farm. The kids there were so rude to the animals, just screaming and yelling at them. Both Ryan and I were crossing our fingers that the animals would bite them, yeah, yeah, yeah we are so horrible. But I’m sorry, stupid kids don’t need to be all up in the animals face.

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The shop had a lot to offer. Fruit wines, various apples, cider donuts and fudge. I refilled my cider and we hit the road. Enjoying our donuts and caramel apple fudge, Naughty! It was a fun little coastal trip. We were a bit too early for the leaves to change, so looks like we are going to need to repeat!

Friday Favorites: Palettes!

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Ok, so I will be the first to admit I hate doing my makeup. I honestly can’t stand girls that take more than 3 minutes to do their “everyday” look. Its simple, one color shadow, liner, mascara and tinted moisturizer. Who has time everyday to prime, contour, coverup and blend? If you do, I can suggest some other activities for you. I believe a woman’s daily look should be natural and fresh. It’s so funny to me how some people I know are almost unrecognizable without makeup. Why wear so much?

Now when you have a fun night out, that is a different story. I like to do special event makeup INSERT my Urban Decay NAKED palettes!

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These palettes make creating a pretty eye really easy. I own NAKED, NAKED 2 and NAKED smoky! Only missing NAKED 3. I love that I can try out multiple shades and they come with great application brushes, Another reason these little ladies are fabulous, is with all of my traveling, I can easily pack them up. I order them off Sephora.com. This way I can get my 3 samples! WIN!