Things I Learned in June

1. NYC is fab, but doesn’t smell good in the summer.

Probably not news to those of you who’ve been, but I haven’t visited Manhattan in 10 years, so when I met my mama for a short trip earlier this month, I re-learned the scent of hot garbage sitting on street corners. Luckily it has, like, a hundred thousand wonderful things to recommend it, so we didn’t really care. 🙂

Side note: If you’re planning a visit to NYC, I recommend a cupcake at 2 Little Red Hens Bakery, eating a hotdog at dusk in Times Square for awesome people watching, burgers at Shake Shack, Ellis Island, and visiting the Egyptian wing at the Met. 🙂 And on that note…

2. There’s graffiti from 1892 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

One of my favorite things about New York is the massive, sunlit room at the Met that houses a small (relative term!) Egyptian temple. It’s fantastic.

Apparently tourists have always loved it (even when it lived in its former Egyptian habitat) because, carved into the stone of the temple, we found tons of examples of 19th century graffiti. Just guys names with the year 1892 beside them. In this gorgeous temple!

Bet these guys didn’t know their names would be preserved in a museum. Can you imagine someone reading your initials in the dried cement of a sidewalk 100 years after you wrote it?

3. Our fire alarm can talk.

Learned this the hard way when it ran out of batteries and started beeping loudly and shouting, “LOW BATTERY!” BEEP! “LOW BATTERY!” Guess who can’t reach it?

4. The hubs and I are NOT pen soulmates.

At first I thought everything was good. We both loooove the deliciously inky PILOT G-2 pens. But, in a shocking turn of events, I bought him a pack of 0.5 width (thinking I loved them too) only to discover that I think they are the worst. It’s all about the gorgeous flowing style of the 0.7 for me.

The good news is, we will never steal each others pens. So that should keep our marriage strong. (Also, do you have a favorite pen, or am I the only one?)

5. I can actually remember to send birthday cards if I use my tickler file!

A tickler file–a term I learned from the Mind Organization for Moms program I joined last year (game changer–check it out here)–is just 12 file folders labeled with the names of each month. It’s like a mailbox where you can send yourself mail a month or 12 in advance. Every month I pull open my tickler and see what I’ve put in there–forms for the kids’ school, a registration bill for the car, and (now) birthday cards that need to be sent.

Now whenever I’m at Marshall’s I pick up a few fancy cards to add to my stash. Because I’m a firm believer that mail is one of the few remaining magics in adulthood. 🙂

6. How to make a blog header that’s media responsive.

What the what now? Don’t worry, I’ve been blogging for years and I still didn’t know what that meant. Basically it just means that my header (the little logo up top there ^^^) will change if you’re on a different device. It’s different on a tablet or smartphone than on the web, to make it easier for you to read.

I know that’s probably not exciting to most people… but it was hard to figure out how to do that, so I’m excited about it. 😉

7. How to do a headband braid.

For some reason this has always alluded me, but this month I finally nailed it. Once you’re done giving me an air-high-five (which, clearly, is a high five where your hands don’t actually physically meet) pop over and learn how to do a headband braid yourself. (Also–why do I look so sly in this picture???)

8. How to make a Honey Lime Balsamic Vinaigrette.

I’ve been questing to make my lunchtime salads more exciting–I’m not huge on cooking but I LOVE eating, and this dressing from One Lovely Life was a fun way to mix things up.

9. How to get the funky smell out of mildewy towels.

It’s pool season. Yay! I was so good and threw all our wet towels right in the washer when we came home the other day, turned it on, and forgot about it. Then I did that three more times. So Saturday morning I googled stinky towels and found out that there’s a simple, cheap solution:

1. Run your towels through a wash cycle with super hot water and 1 cup of vinegar.
2. Run them through a second cycle with super hot water and 1/2 cup of baking soda.

My towels were super smelly before, and came out fresh as daisies after their double-trip through the washer. Thank goodness!

10. How to STOP eating DESSERT every night!

My sweet-tooth is my achilles heal. My fatal flaw. The undoing of every healthy-living movement I’ve ever attempted. I’ve found that I can hit the gym, work till I sweat, keep up with Jillian Michael’s DVDs, eat salads for lunch, and happily down several bottles of water daily… but I couldn’t give up my nightly chocolate binge until I read Gretchen Rubin’s new book (about habits!) Better Than Before.

A lot of things clicked for me as I read about her habits and how she formed them (or kicked them to the curb), but the thing that hit me in the face is this: I’m what she calls “an abstainer.” It is way easier for me to have NO dessert than for me to try to have “just a little.”

I’m definitely not anti-treats, but I do want to teach myself that they’re just that: TREATS. Not meals. Not something to pour into my body whenever the whim strikes. But a treat. Something fun and yummy and out of the ordinary.

So I shifted my perspective, and took the decision away. Now instead of telling myself I “can’t” have dessert–which just makes me want it more–I tell myself, “I don’t eat dessert unless it’s date night.” It’s somehow easier if I think of it as “just not something I do,” even though I’d like to… Like, I’d like to adopt all the sad puppies on the Sarah McLachlan ASPCA commercials, but I don’t. It’s not that I can’t, I just choose not to. Does that make sense?

So why does it work? I don’t know! I’m sure this can’t work for everyone, but it’s pressed a magic button in me, so I’m sticking with it. Wish me luck!

((linking up with Emily P. Freeman))

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