26; May 18; wife, cat mom; foodie, designer, blogger, knitter, yarn junkie, Wordpress guru, geek extreme; Mac connoisseur and Instagram addict.


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Tag Archives: 2011

#reverb11 and #resound11 day thirty one – reflect

Posted on December 31, 2011 by phillynikongal • 2 Comments

I am a sad panda.

Today is the last day of the #reverb11 project. That being said, the prompt for today comes from the folks over at Geekin’ Hard:

Reflect - Take a moment to think back on your reverb11 responses.  Have you learned anything?  What surprised you about this experience?  Which of your responses was your favourite?

When I look back on #reverb11 this year, and compare it to #reverb10, this year was so much better. I admit, I was sad and annoyed when I received the inevitable email from Gwen Bell two days before #reverb11 was supposed to start about her stepping down and not doing it. But what I loved was all of the efforts to step up and make it a better #reverb11. Even though it was all done in a hurry and there wasn’t much planning involved, I definitely think this was a lot better this time around.

The variety of prompts, between all of the people writing them, was fantastic. I liked being able to pick and choose from various bloggers, such as Jaemie over at #resound11, Rebecca at Relish Life, Geekin’ Hard, and #WeVerb11. There was some overlap sometimes, but I found that if I went to another prompt writer, I’d find something I could get behind. So I want to thank them all for their wonderful contributions to the #reverb11 community.

I loved being able to rant more this time around. Not that I wasn’t able to last year, but last year’s prompts just seemed to be so forced. This year, I felt like I was blogging with a purpose, which is what it’s all about in my opinion. I could talk about anything, and I felt more comfortable about it. The #reverb11 project brought out some new thoughts for 2012, and it’s making me really look forward to the new year!

I am really really hoping that this community prospers into next year. I would hate to see it die a painful death like it almost did this time around. I may try my hand at some prompts next year, who knows. All I know is, I hope that this time next year, I’ll be wrapping up #reverb12.

Thanks for a great December, and I hope your 2012 is amazing. Happy new year everyone! <3

reverb11 resound11 relish11 weverb11 day thirty-one reflect

Filed Under: #resound11, #reverb11, Just Me

#reverb11 and #resound11 day twenty eight – forgive

Posted on December 28, 2011 by phillynikongal • 0 Comments

Today’s #reverb11/#resound11 prompt comes from the folks over at Geekin’ Hard:

Forgiveness - What’s one thing do you need to forgive yourself for this year?

A Letter to my Body – by Esther Fox

Dear body,

I am sorry that I’ve treated you pretty crappy over the last twelve months.

We were doing really good, you and I. I took you to the gym every morning and we spent time doing circuits and planks. Ohhh, remember those planks? They felt so good didn’t they? Oh and, how about those pilate balls? Sometimes you would kvetch about being stretched over those for long periods of time, but we worked through it. Ab crunches and free weights, those felt amazing. And the results we were seeing were equally amazing.

In 2010, much to your dismay, I stopped feeding you soda, primarily Diet Coke. You complained for a bit, and tried to get me to go back to it, but I stuck with it for over a year. It’s a shame we took that trip this past May to Philly, and I let you have that Diet Coke. It was all downhill from there. In my defense, we haven’t been drinking nearly as much of it as we were before we stopped in 2010.

I know you liked those morning walks we’d have with my mom at the gym. You were especially excited when I bought that heart rate monitor, so that we could see exactly how many calories we were burning. But unfortunately, money got tight, and we had to give up my gym membership. I know it was a mistake, but it was something that couldn’t be helped.

Body, I am making a promise to you. In 2012, we’re going to go back to the gym. Sure, we may have to start over from the very beginning, but it’s just you, me and the heart rate monitor. Back to basics. No more soda. Healthier choices. Real food. Three meals a day. And most importantly, I promise to treat you to a little TLC every now and then. I know your skin is dry and crackly, but I will fix it with some lotion. And maybe even some bubble baths, if you’re good.

For now, let’s just finish off 2011 so we can get to 2012. I hope you can forgive me for what I’ve put you through, because I am so excited to see what’s in store for us!

Love always,

Esther

reverb11 resound11 day twenty-eight forgive weight loss body transformation

Filed Under: #resound11, #reverb11, Just Me

#reverb11 and #resound11 day nineteen – then and now

Posted on December 19, 2011 by phillynikongal • 0 Comments

Today’s #reverb11/#resound11 prompt comes from Jaemie over at #resound11:

What was your life like a decade ago? How has your life changed since then? If you’re not feeling wordy today, why not show us some then and now portraits of yourself?

I gotta admit, when I got to thinking about this prompt, I got a little depressed. Also, I misplaced a lot of photos I have, so I don’t have any from the winter of 2001. I only have photos from 2000 and 2003. I’ll get to those later.

Let’s see.

This time ten years ago, I was a sophomore at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana. I was dating my now ex-husband Jason, and I was working at Kroger. I had a simple life, I guess. A job, a boyfriend, and my parents. My grandmother was still alive. My mom and her sister were still on good terms.

I had a small group of friends, and we would hang out at school all the time, in our little group. There was Stephy, Anna, Mable, She Who Shall Not be Named, Allie, Amy, Shelby, Sara, Another Bitch on my List of Bitches, Delphine, Nadége. I didn’t get into trouble as much as I did freshman year, but I did hang out with several people that I definitely DON’T hang out with now, for various reasons. It was also this year that I made friends with my now bestie Corynna, though that wasn’t really until the beginning of 2002.

My relationship with Jason was…interesting, to say the least. Christmas 2001 was our first Christmas together. His dad hated my guts (because of the whole Jewish/Mormon thing), but we stuck together. There was a lot of times when I questioned our relationship, even then. But what can I say? We were young and in love. So we thought anyway.

The main differences between now and then is that, well, I was 15 at the time. And I was also half my current weight. Not sure if that was healthy for me at the time, but as you’ll see in the photos below, there’s a big difference.

So how has my life changed since then? Well, I’ve been through 2 divorces. Many jobs. Several major changes at school. Relationships. Friends with benefits. Broken friendships. Rekindled friendships. Eight moves. New love. And now a new start to life about to happen. I guess you can say a lot has happened in the last ten years. Well, a lot is an understatement I suppose.

Let’s see some photos now! As I mentioned before, I couldn’t find any of my photos from 2001. They’re buried in photo boxes. I was able to find one from freshman year and one from junior year. Pretty close enough.

reverb11 resound11 day nineteen now

Me and my first boyfriend Charles, Homecoming @ CHS 2000. (RIP, 2/17/07)

The above photo was taken right before the Homecoming dance, with my first boyfriend, Charles. In February, I’ll write a post about Charles. He was hit by a car while riding his bike in 2007. RIP.

reverb11 resound11 day nineteen now

Me and my bestie Stephy before CHS Junior Prom, 2003

In the above photo, my best friend Stephy and I right before junior prom in 2003. I went stag that year, because Jason wanted to wait to get all dressed up for my senior prom. Honestly, I had more fun hanging out all night with my good friends.

And then, here I am now. Well, sort of. This was taken back in March of this year, when I went out to Arizona to visit. This is me and Diele.

reverb11 resound11 day nineteen now

Diele and I at Sanrio, Arizona Mills Mall, March 2011 (man do I miss my long hair :( )

reverb11 resound11 day nineteen now

Filed Under: #resound11, #reverb11, Just Me

#reverb11 and #resound day two – vices

Posted on December 2, 2011 by phillynikongal • 0 Comments

Well! I had three emails this morning with three different prompts! I didn’t really see how Geekin’ Hard‘s prompt this morning had much to do with reflecting on 2011, so I decided to go with the #resound11 prompt for the day, which was “Vices”.

reverb11 resound 11 day two vices bad habits diet coke

Did you slip back into any old habits that you wish you hadn’t? Did you gain any new habits that you wish you would have walked away from? Did you discover the evils of Nutella? ‘Fess up … we won’t tell.

This prompt may sound dark and dreary, but we’ll be back to our sunshine selves tomorrow. Take today to reflect on a vice (or two or twelve) that you’d like to give up in the new year.

Way back in 2009, I made a goal to stop drinking soda, specifically Diet Coke. Up to that point, I had religiously been drinking it since I was three. Yes, three years old. I am now on the cusp of 26. 23 years of aspartame and artificial caramel coloring. If that doesn’t make your skin crawl, I don’t know what will.

In fact, I did stop drinking Diet Coke and soda altogether for a whole year; May 2010 to May 2011. For that time, I only drank water and unsweetened iced tea. Oh and, the occasional lemonade.

In May of this year, 2011, Mr. Fox and I travelled to Philly, where we grew up, and all bets were off. I still feigned off Diet Coke, but I started drinking the sugared (well, the shit with HFCS in it) crap again. Coke, Sierra Mist, all that jazz. I am not blaming the fact that I went to Philly for my reversion back to old habits, because it was my lack of willpower. I can attribute it to the food I was eating as well, but I won’t. It was all Esther.

So of course, it was only a matter of time before the idea of pumping my veins with high fructose corn syrup started to disgust me, and I started drinking Fresca again. I was still drinking the unsweetened iced tea, but I was also drinking Fresca. Fresca was the first non-Diet Coke diet soda I had when I was younger. Still attempting to push Diet Coke to the back of my mind, but entering back into the diet soda category.

And then something snapped. Mr. Fox and I were at Qdoba one day, and without even thinking about it, I put Diet Coke in my cup. It was all over. The taste was heavenly. Kind of like that caramel macchiato that you know you shouldn’t drink but you drink it anyway because it just tastes so. damn. good. A guilty pleasure of sorts.

reverb11 resound 11 day two vices bad habits diet coke

Granted, I don’t drink it nearly as much as I used to. But the fact that I reverted back to my old ways to drink it disgusts me. I was perfectly happy with my fruit-infused waters and unsweetened iced teas, but I just had to have that taste again.

So, there’s a little less than a month until 2012, and I am making an effort to reintroduce water and iced tea back into my body, and cast away the evil formaldehyde in a can. It’s not doing anything for my health, that’s for sure. I think back to last year when I trained my brain to think that the water I was drinking tasted like a syrup-y sweet can of Diet Coke, and realize that it will be just as hard to do now as it was back then.

But I am up for a challenge. I would be lying if I said it would be an easy one though, since I am sitting here with a can of Diet Coke next to me.

smh.

reverb11 resound 11 day two vices bad habits diet coke

Filed Under: #resound11, #reverb11, Just Me