A Southern Californian's Lament

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Many are already embracing the coming of fall with Pumpkin Spice lattes, scarves and boots, and perfect 60 degree weather ...

... It was 100 degrees today in Los Angeles, bringing on a serious case of the grumps. I found myself positively chartreuse with envy (That Thing You Do! anybody?) of everyone in the Northern Hemisphere who will soon get to experience true autumn, with the leaves underfoot, their reds, greens, and browns waving in the October breeze like little flags welcoming The Great Pumpkin.

Let's face it, I'm not envious, I'm flat out jealous. I love Southern California and it certainly has it's perks (... not freezing in the winter, world class museums/restaurants/beaches, Disneyland...) but it is highly lacking in seasons.

To that end, rather than wasting the day as an unproductive mope, I took some time and put together a list of things that excite me about my favorite season:

1, 11: Quintessential New England towns in the fall get me all in a lather where I want nothing more than to tramp around the leaf strewn streets discussing Melville and Hawthorne like a third Gilmore Girl. I would adore living in Stars Hollow.

2, 6: Pumpkins and Halloween! Just call me Linus, but spending the night in a pumpkin patch would be a dream come true. I'd pack cozy blankets and sleeping bags, a picnic to include hot cider and candy corn, and lay under the stars and do my best not to freak out that a Scarecrow will come steal my soul in my sleep. Alas, most pumpkin patch proprietors would consider this trespassing so I will have to settle for a day-time visit. I'm not sure I have the skills to do a Hogwarts Crest design on a pumpkin like this picture, but I'm going to give it the old college try! I often end up not doing much for Halloween, but the past two years I've been able to go to Mickey's Halloween Party at Disneyland. I won't be able to attend this year, which depresses me enormously, so I'm going to have to work hard to find a new way to celebrate this year. Breaking out the decorations early may be a good way to start.

3, 15: I'm no foodie, but there is something about the fall that makes me want to eat healthier. Perhaps because many of the best dishes feature lots of greens and oranges, my two favorite colors. I'm encouraged to attempt these two recipes this season: ratatouille and vegetable soup seem simple enough, though I'm sure I can find a way to make it complicated.

4, 9, 10: Not much is more perfect than getting cozy on the couch with a great movie, while the wind howls outside and rattles the windows. "You've Got Mail" is a perennial favorite but is most welcome during the fall. "This place is a tomb. I'm going to the nut shop where it's fun." Love it. A new favorite is "Arsenic and Old Lace", a delightfully quirky 'horror' story in which Carey Grant's character, Mortimer, discovers his aunts have a silly habit of killing people and burying them in the basement. The fall is also the time when Hollywood releases their last bids for Oscar nods. One such film that I'm very excited about is "Lincoln" featuring Daniel Day Lewis as our 16th and (arguably) greatest president.

5, 12: The only thing greater than cozily watching a great film is curling up with a good book - any time, any place, preferably in a comfy chair by the fireplace. I CANNOT WAIT for JK Rowling's debut adult novel: The Casual Vacancy. Hidden corruption in an idyll English village? Always a winner with me!

7, 8: Peacoats, boots, sweaters, scarves, layers! I love it all. As a naturally modest individual, I always feel more comfortable when fully covered, which makes wearing sweatshirts in the summer looks awfully silly (still do it though). Such awkwardness fades away in the fall. I only wish I had unlimited funds and could make such fun outfits like these a reality in my closet.

13: Pumpkin EVERYTHING. Pumpkin cream cheese muffins and pumpkin bread from Starbucks, pumpkin pancakes from Mimi's Cafe, toasted pumpkin seeds the day after carving my Hogwarts Pumpkin ... I want it all!

14: Last, but certainly not least: baking. Baking in the fall is more like a prelude to Christmas baking, more about practice and getting back in the habit before the serious business of Christmas baking takes over. Trust me, December rolls around and it's like I'm a Keebler Elf with all the cookie baking I do ... but in and of itself, baking in the fall is soothing. Sometimes things get crazy around the holidays - working on the perfect costume for Halloween, stressing over time-off at Thanksgiving, struggling to find the perfect gifts at Christmas - it gets a little crazy at times. I find baking to be great therapy with a delicious treat at the end instead of a bill.

It has just occurred to me that I left out the greatest thing about fall from my collage and my list . . . 'Fall Back'! 'Fall Back', the end of Daylight Savings in which we gain an extra hour of sleep, is my third most favorite day of the year (apart from Christmas and my birthday)! Nothing trumps sleep. 2:00 am, Sunday, November 4th - calendar is marked!

Now that I've listed a few of my favorite things (Julie Andrews should be singing in your head right now), I'm making it a mission to find fall in Southern California where ever I can. I've already made tentative plans to visit Julian, a picturesque mountain town outside of San Diego famous for it's apple pies, to hunt down the perfect pumpkin - I can't wait!

Now that I've found a way to make the most of this Autumn, I encourage all of you to make the most of the season as well!

Can't Stop, Won't Stop!

The Disneyland Half Marathon is only 11 days away and I didn't run last weekend. I am about four months and eighty thousand words away from having a completed manuscript by the end of the year. The George Foreman grill I bought five months ago is still in the box. The last time I updated my blog was back in May.

Hi.

Clearly, it's time to re-evaluate those goals I set back in January.

I really like goals - especially the making of them. The process of creating a strategy for success, planning the timetable, and developing a focus is exciting to the point of intoxicating, all that potential floating about in the ether. It's thrilling!

The execution? The discipline? Those things are a whole lot harder! It's apparent that I'm very nicely suited to be somebody else's life coach, but not so much my own.

The root of the problem is most likely that I bit off more than I can chew, started choking, and refused to let the EMT perform the Heimlich. Now I'm blue in the face and have only myself to blame. I set a lot of lofty goals with unrealistic time frames, resulting in a certain degree of guilt on my part. Subsequently, I started eating my feelings in the form of whole loaves of sourdough bread covered in Nutella. Delicious, but depressing.

What is the solution?

New goals, of course! Only, this time, no pressure, no schedules, no deadlines.

It's very strange to be goal-oriented yet discipline-deficient, but discovering this interesting personality quirk has been invaluable. I do not regret overwhelming myself with goals, since the point was to experience new things and achieve my dreams, but I do want to stop feeling bad about not being on schedule. This self-imposed guilt I've been carrying around has been weighing me down so much that I've practically shut down entirely. This is not good.

The following are the methods I've devised to pull me out of my funk:

1. Twitter. At this time, my twitter is mostly used to stalk Zachary Levi and trade Friends quotes with Audrey - both worthwhile pursuits, but I think it's time to take my Twittering a bit more seriously. The plan is simple: create a presence. Social Media is a huge marketing force and there may come a time when my future livelihood will depend on what kind of following I have. So . . . follow me (!) - @DaNikster46 - and I'll be pleased to return to the favor.

2. Bucket List. I've been thinking a lot lately about my Bucket List - things I want to do before I die (Just in case you were at all unaware what a Bucket List was. And if you were, you should put 'crawling out of my cave' on yours.) - and there are things on that list I've been putting off for no good reason. It's time to actively work on that list! A few notables are: 1) Sky Dive, 2) Do Las Vegas, 3) Conquer a video game, 4) Become a proficient swimmer, and 5) Hike Half-Dome. Let's do this!

3. Write Seriously. I write, but it's erratic. I'm looking for consistency. Recently, a friend recommended me on Twitter as a new writer - such an honor! - and it got me thinking: am I really a writer? Does one have to be published to be considered a writer? Or work in the publishing field, or have been an English major? What are the qualifications? It's all of these things, some of these things, and none of these things. Writing can be a lifestyle choice, a calling, a part of one's soul. First and foremost, for me, it's a decision. I said sayonara to a career in cancer research to write - it follows that I've got to write. What does this mean? More blogging. More tweeting. Finishing my novel. Actively pursuing a career in publishing and not giving up, however long it takes.

4. All Other Goals Still Apply. I'm not giving up on my other goals - running, reading, cooking, etc. To start, next weekend I'll be running a half marathon. October will bring a reprisal of The Warrior Dash with my best friend and my brother and I will give it our all at The Spartan Sprint in December. I think it's safe to say I've become a runner. Hooray!

Dirty = good!

When it comes to my reading goal, I'm about 16 books off track, but I'm still reading - always reading! - and have read 48 books so far. Can't stop. Won't stop! Finally, I'm certainly no Betty Crocker and probably never will be - future husband, hope you like to cook or have an abiding passion for spaghetti - but I'm very pleased to say that I haven't had a freezer meal in ages. I may not cook, but I'm very proficient at boiling pasta, which is enough for now.

I feel good about these decisions and I look forward to where they're going to take me. What is most important is that I'm happy with these choices and that is really the point, isn't it?

Cheers!

Taking it to the streets

What's this? A blog from Nikki? I thought she fell of the face of the earth.

At least, that's certainly what the last couple of weeks have felt like. Some changes have happened at work which have hugely impacted my free time and extra-curriculars, making the last month or so feel a lot like this:

(Photo from here.)

The beauty of life is that it is ever changing, as unpredictable as the weather or Lady Gaga's next wig. Which means that we must always adapt to its challenges, or, like the elephant above, end up with our heads in the sand, praying for the waves to drag us out to sea.

I don't know about you, but when life starts getting rough, I break out my new favorite adage: "Keep calm and organize." With the new hours at work, I've had to re-evaluate my work out regimen, my writing schedule, when to fit in chores, grocery shopping, laundry, etc. and it's been rough. But the last two weeks of experimenting have definitely taught me one thing: To-Do Lists are wonderful!

I love lists. I will add things to a list solely for the satisfaction of being able to cross that puppy off. There are few things so satisfying as visual affirmation of having accomplished something. Since I create a lot of lists, I go through a lot of paper - usually scraps, but still waste - and I wanted something a little more permanent. Enter Pinterest. I found a great and simple make-your-own dry-erase board and voila:

Yes, that is my green ruler from elementary school, stamped with my name in case anyone is confused who it belongs to.

I used the same paints from this post ($1.99 each), since I like uniformity, and found some really pretty scrap book paper from Michael's, $0.39 a page. I have a handful of old, inexpensive picture frames bought from Target during my college days, so being able to re-purpose one of them is a bonus. I would recommend using the Sharpie on the back side of the glass, as I've since discovered that erasing the dry-erase marks sometimes removes the Sharpie marks as well.

Happy Listing!

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Now to my next topic: running. Due to the past couple weeks' craziness, I've only managed to fit in one 2.5 mile run. It was not pretty.

Yesterday, I was invited to join a sunrise boot camp down at the Santa Monica Pier, run by Slim Body Fitness. Having not had a decent work out in two weeks, I was surprised that I didn't die there on the beach within the first twenty minutes. However, it did give me a swift kick in the rear and a fat knock to the noggin'. Running is not enough, I need to work on my core strength as well. My new resolve is to run on the weekends and hit the gym for interval training during the week, focusing on strength training and cardio.

Up til now, almost all of my running has been at the gym on a tread mill. Tread mills are great, but they can't substitute for the real thing. It's not only important to take your run to the streets (or park, beach, trails, etc) for the fresh air and interesting scenery, but to get a real idea of how to keep pace. It's a lot harder keeping pace when you don't have a machine to drag you along when you get a little tired.

Today I got my first real taste of long-distance running. Thanks to Map My Run, I found a 5 mile run at a local park that I decided to take for a spin this morning:

It went fairly well, save for when I got lost inside the park, when I was supposed to stay on the periphery, which led to a little bit more walking than I wanted while I was climbing up hills to try and figure out where I was. At the end of it all, I managed to do 5 miles at a 15.48 pace. Not too shabby!

It seems like Mud Runs are all the rage now. I'm always learning about new runs, ever since I participated in the Warrior Dash, and I've come across a few interesting ones:

For the Zombie enthusiasts, there is the Run For Your Lives race, where Zombies jump out at you from practically nowhere and try to take your "life flag".

For those who enjoy getting messy, but maybe not muddy, there is The Color Run, which looks very cool (and pretty) indeed!

And for those with a more militant bent, there is the Spartan Sprint, where "Gladiators" await you with fake-jousts to try and knock you off the course. My brother, ex-Marine that he is, decided this was the run for him and it didn't take much convincing for me to join in. For the Southern Californians out there who want to participate, the race is the first weekend in December, plenty of time to gird your loins and sign up!

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And now: writing.

I am proud to say that one thing I have successfully implemented in the last two weeks is writing every day. I take my moleskin and my lunch and chill in my car with the windows down, making the most of the SoCal breeze while it lasts, and spend a good 50 minutes writing on my lunch breaks. On Sundays, I bring it all together on my computer to tweak and edit.

I'm nowhere close to where I want to be in my writing, but I feel good about it. I'm learning as I go and have only to go up!

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Progress Report:

Words Written to Date: 6830 (28.45% of Weekly Goal)

Miles Run to Date: 53.05

Average Pace: 14.03 minutes per mile

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A Word on Writing

Blah.

Eloquent, I know.

This is just a quick post to discuss how far I am behind in all my goals. Ugh.

The ugly truth of it is that I have only written 1411 words in the last six weeks, only 11.8% of the 12,000 I should have written, were I still on track.

I am 6 books behind on my reading goal.

I've only run 4.25 miles in the past two weeks and I should be running at least 3.5 miles by now, three times a week.

I'm not even going to get into how I haven't managed to cook a single recipe or that I have three unfinished projects waiting in the wings.

To be fair, I have had some things come up that took away from my time - a short vacation in Texas, a trip to my hometown for my nephew's birthday, a much needed Audrey Hepburn marathon on a Saturday. Which leads me to my conclusion:

It's okay.

I'm behind, so what? I may be behind, but I have not given up. Life is allowed to get in the way because that is the point, isn't it? To live this life, the only one I've got, in a way that brings satisfaction and completeness.

There is nothing wrong with falling behind, so long as I keep on working. I may or may not catch up, but I will get there in the end, if a little later than I had originally planned.

. . .