2007 kind of came and went (or is going by) in a blur. Not much of an exciting year for me personally, but many happy events with friends: engagements, weddings, newborns... all signs that we are getting older and moving on to the next stage in life.
And onto the start of a new year. I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions... never have been, and probably never will. The way I see it, if you're going to set your heart on achieving something, just do it. Why does it have to happen at the start of a new year? And why do you need to make a resolution to accomplish something? Is it any less meaningful if you were to set goals for yourself in March, June, or November? Self-improvement is something that can happen at any time. I just don't think we need to wait until New Year's to do it. Besides, knowing me, I would've forgotten what my New Year's resolutions are by the time February comes around.
Speaking of February, our trip to Costa Rica is set. I just hope there's no snow the week we're gone. We'll have to let our next door neighbor know, so he can call someone to shovel our sidewalk in case there's a storm. Our flight and half the hotels are booked. We're waiting to hear back from a couple of other hotels in San Jose, as well as from some tour companies for day excursions. So far, the plan is to spend a couple of days in San Jose, with day trips to a coffee plantation, La Paz waterfall, rainforest hike, Poaz volcano, whitewater rafting in the Río Reventazón, and maybe Irazu volcano, if we're up to it. We also have 2 days scheduled in Manuel Antonio, where there's a National Park and some beaches. Temperature is in the mid 70s, but cooler at the night time and where the volcanos are. I'm looking forward to the warm weather. Plus, February is supposedly the driest month of the year in Costa Rica. I remember we were originally going to go there for our honeymoon, but decided against it b/c June was in the middle of their rainy season. Guess we're making up for that by going there for our 8-year anniversary (from when we started going out).
Monday, December 31, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Life in the Burbs
Why life in the burbs, you may ask? Two simple reasons: a) for lack of a better imagination on my part in titling this blog, and b) I'm not in New York City anymore. Well, I haven't always had a life in the "burbs." I've been a New Yorker all my life... up until a year and a half ago, when M and I decided to re-locate to New Jersey to take advantage of a job opportunity that came up enabling me to stop traveling. To this day, I still don't think we've gotten to the point where we can stop considering ourselves New Yorkers.
The term "burbs" really came from all the friends who teased us for leaving the most "happening" city in the world... not that I blame them. Moving to Jersey was one of the last things I thought I'd do. I remember the days of working at PwC, when I had to commute to NJ on a daily basis. My coworker and I would complain to each other about how much we hated it here (imagine her surprise when I told her I was now a NJ homeowner). But life in the burbs is not without benefits. We do have a nice spacious house, as oppose to living in a shoebox in NYC (although that also means more to clean and maintain), we don't have to worry about alternate side street parking (or having our bumper hit), there's more greenery, you can actually inhale without being injested with car fumes and pollution, and we don't have to worry about heavy neighbors stomping on the floor upstairs or loud neighbors with their TVs blasting next door. It's not NYC, but it suits us. As in everything in life, it just takes a little getting use to.
The term "burbs" really came from all the friends who teased us for leaving the most "happening" city in the world... not that I blame them. Moving to Jersey was one of the last things I thought I'd do. I remember the days of working at PwC, when I had to commute to NJ on a daily basis. My coworker and I would complain to each other about how much we hated it here (imagine her surprise when I told her I was now a NJ homeowner). But life in the burbs is not without benefits. We do have a nice spacious house, as oppose to living in a shoebox in NYC (although that also means more to clean and maintain), we don't have to worry about alternate side street parking (or having our bumper hit), there's more greenery, you can actually inhale without being injested with car fumes and pollution, and we don't have to worry about heavy neighbors stomping on the floor upstairs or loud neighbors with their TVs blasting next door. It's not NYC, but it suits us. As in everything in life, it just takes a little getting use to.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
My First Entry
A lot of people have been bugging me about starting a blog of my own (rather than spending my time reading theirs). I've always given them the excuse "my life isn't interesting or exciting enough." That still hasn't changed, but alas, here I am, writing my very first entry... I have succumbed due to boredom.
M (my husband) and I are trying to plan a trip for early 2008... probably in the Feb or March timeframe. Some slight date restrictions: a friend's wedding lands on 2/2/08, Chinese New Year falls on 2/7/08, and I'm a bridesmaid for another friend's wedding on 3/15/08, which means that I will need to be available for a bridal shower sometime in late Feb. Hence, our plans for a 2-week getaway to South America or Asia will need to be postponed. I did some research yesterday and looks like Costa Rica for a couple of days may be a strong possibility. Airfare is pretty inexpensive (although the flight times suck) and I still have some Marriott points left over from my days of traveling to stay at the Courtyard in San Jose. But the best part of it is I don't have to renew my passport yet (which expires in April 2008) b/c Costa Rica only requires the passport to be valid for 30 days past the entry date... not like most countries that require up to 6 months. M isn't crazy about catching a 6am flight and returning past midnight, so we'll see if this actually happens. We may resort to a more expensive flight in exchange for better flight times. All I know is I'm in dire need of a vacation... haven't been away since our cruise in February 2007... well, there was Sweden in April 2007, but I was working there, so it doesn't really count as vacation.
M (my husband) and I are trying to plan a trip for early 2008... probably in the Feb or March timeframe. Some slight date restrictions: a friend's wedding lands on 2/2/08, Chinese New Year falls on 2/7/08, and I'm a bridesmaid for another friend's wedding on 3/15/08, which means that I will need to be available for a bridal shower sometime in late Feb. Hence, our plans for a 2-week getaway to South America or Asia will need to be postponed. I did some research yesterday and looks like Costa Rica for a couple of days may be a strong possibility. Airfare is pretty inexpensive (although the flight times suck) and I still have some Marriott points left over from my days of traveling to stay at the Courtyard in San Jose. But the best part of it is I don't have to renew my passport yet (which expires in April 2008) b/c Costa Rica only requires the passport to be valid for 30 days past the entry date... not like most countries that require up to 6 months. M isn't crazy about catching a 6am flight and returning past midnight, so we'll see if this actually happens. We may resort to a more expensive flight in exchange for better flight times. All I know is I'm in dire need of a vacation... haven't been away since our cruise in February 2007... well, there was Sweden in April 2007, but I was working there, so it doesn't really count as vacation.
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