Thursday, February 23

What's your walkability number

I found this great website where you type in your exact address and it gives you a walkability score for you house.  Mine is 42, which is "car dependent" it thens provides you with restuarants, schools, and parks nearby.  Atlanta's average is 56....I can't believe I am below average!

What is your walkability number? Check it out http://www.walkscore.com/. I think the next house I rent or buy will need a 75 or higher! I would love to be able to walk to more places.

[Pic from my garden] - that being said - I really love my home. I have this pretty little angel in my garden - it makes me happy!


Thursday, January 26

10 years...wowzer!

10 years ago in January Elliot and I went on our first date.  It is crazy to think of how long 10 years really is. Since we started dating, I have graduated high school, college, grad school, and lived in Raleigh, Santiago, Chapel Hill, Singapore, Mexico, Chapel Hill, and Atlanta. I could make this post sappy, but I just ate a banana and already feel gaggy. I love lists, so here we go:


In honor of growing up, here are ten things I want to do in the next ten years:
1)      Travel more (I want to go to New Orleans, Alaska, Maine, Buenos Aires, Rio, New Zealand, just to name a few)
2)      Learn to cook
3)      One day have a garden and grow veggies
4)      Remember to bring in my own grocery bags
5)      I have always wanted to be able to do a pull-up, one day I will!
6)      Host more often
7)      Learn Spanish (again)
8)      Floss every day
9)      Take more naps
10)     Work on my vocabulary, and use all my new fancy words to impress the world

Monday, January 23

IGA...what!

So in case you have been under a rock for 4 years, the economy stinks. So I am always looking for ways to save some cash. You may have read my past post exploring the discount grocery store of Aldi. Which overall was a nice surprise.  So I got adventurous and decided to check out IGA, another discount grocery store, and see if I was lucky again….I was not.

IGA was very odd, smelled kinda bad, many of the shelves were empty, the produce sparse, I am not even going to comment on the meat department. Overall, I felt the immediate need to run out as quickly as possible. I guess one plus, was there were a few interesting items from other countries, notice the pictures of ghee!

[note- I think I have been in nice IGA’s before, just not this one].









Wednesday, January 18

Fantasy Football.....


As we move in to 2012, it is important to reflect on 2011 and what you learned. Every year you should find something to challenge yourself. Some might try to learn a new language, others may try to learn to cook, do a triathlon, or workout to look good in pajama jeans. For 2011, I challenged myself by playing fantasy football.

You might say “Gaya playing fantasy football…are you crazy?” I have probably never watched a full football game in my life. A few of my girlfriends in Atlanta had a league going, and I decided to challenge myself.  I had no idea what a Tight End was, I am still confused if football is in halves or quarters….and I still don’t! ahahha.

I picked my players at first based on how they looked, but I found I had a bunch of quarterbacks and no other positions. Later, I learned the error in my ways, and started picking players based on their averages. There were 6 girls in the league, and guess what – I think I got 2nd place! I am not completely sure though, because the ESPN website is confusing sometimes (or most times!).

Lessons for next time:
  • If you want to be good, you should care (about winning and about the sport).
  • You should put a little money in the pot (we played without any cash on the table….so it is easy to stop caring).
  • You should set a reminder on your calendar to switch out players each week
  • Don’t emotionally attach yourself to a player or how good the player was supposed to be….if they start doing poorly, give them the boot.
  • Don’t pick players just upon their looks.
  • I won’t be trying to be a professional football player anytime soon, there are sooo many injuries, torn this, pulled that…no thanks!

What challenging stuff are you doing for 2012?