the accidental new years eve resolution

canstock14468516IMG_5177.PNGOn New Years Eve everyone makes promises that by February or March we have forgotten about or just given up on. No, you are not going to drink three water bottles a day or eat a piece of fruit everyday or even start running if it is not something you actually force yourself to do or naturally want to do it. New Years Eve resolutions turn more into burdens because we have to do something instead of doing it naturally. That is why this year I completed something that most people put on their lists by accident, because I wasn’t even trying!

In 2015 I traveled. A lot. While making my list I kept remembering more and more places I went to!

IMG_5179January

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Jackson, Mississippi

New Orleans, Louisiana

Bayou La Batre, Alabama

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

IMG_5178March

Charlotte, North Carolina

Florence, South Carolina

Columbia, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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April

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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              May 

Atlantic City, New Jersey

                                                                   Ocean Grove, New Jersey

Summer 

After four years of primarily living in Philadelphia for school I made an effort to fall in love again with my hometown and visit towns around me. It was funny how after living near all of this for so many years, being away gave me a new love and excitement to travel to these places.

Ocean Grove | Belmar | Bradley Beach | Asbury Park | Avalon Beach | Monmouth Park Race Track |

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

New York

Connecticut

Boston, Massachusetts

This year I have learned to just say yes to every adventure that comes my way. I haven’t flown since I was a little kid and that was a big fear to get over but in just a few months I was able to transfer flights and pack like a pro. Some of these trips were planned for months in advance and others were planned very last minute. But because I forced myself to take time to leave my regularly dull and boring day to day life I hopped on a plane or in a car and just went. We can make up so many excuses on why not to go, why can’t we make up excuses to go?

Cheers to 2016 and hopefully new states and adventures to see!

decking the halls

My family and I have been working hard since Thanksgiving to get our house ready for Christmas! Finally after bringing up boxes and boxes upstairs all of the decorations are up! This year we have four trees up and all three floors are filled with Christmas spirit. This past weekend was our big Christmas party and the house looked beautiful!

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Continue reading “decking the halls”

now I understand why Peter Pan didn’t want to grow up

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Sometime last week a friend asked me if I was ready for this upcoming Wednesday. I looked at the text message and tried to remember what was happening on Wednesday. My usual schedule for that day is gym and haircut or a lazy day with some Netflix. I make a rule that I cannot go out or drink during the week or that will make life so much more difficult for the rest of the week. I had to reply, “What is on Wednesday?” after being confused why a friend would want to know why I was excited for the gym…. She replied “Your birthday party!”

I sat at my desk and laughed out loud. Where did these last 365 days go? How was it already my birthday? How did I accomplish so much in one year but not enough at the same time? Could I get just one more week of being 22 years old so I could get my life in order before turning 23? Can I make sure I have a clean room and my laundry is done?

Unfortunately life does not wait for you to have it in order and goes by even when you are not paying attention. On the 24th of December I turn 23 years old and that age is very old to me.

_________________________________________ Continue reading “now I understand why Peter Pan didn’t want to grow up”

i’m exhausted

It is a Sunday night and I am in bed under all of my blankets dreading tomorrow. Monday is always a dreaded day no matter what job you have or how much you love your life. Monday is a day to start fresh with goals and a fresh to do list. This past weekend was crazy busy with a big family Christmas party at my house that required days to clean and finish decorating the house, working on Saturday to help out in my moms office, a surprise visit from old college roommates & another Christmas party at a family members house.

I am going to bed right now with dirty hair and I am trying to see if I can get away with using dry shampoo tomorrow just for one more hour of sleep. Back in college I would schedule in my planner my sleep schedule because without planning my whole day out I would have never gone to bed to do everything I wanted to do in one day. Now in the PGL world my first alarm goes off at 6:30am and I am crawling to my bed around 10pm. Does anyone have any tricks on getting out of bed in the morning? I have not made it to work on time once in two months and it is not acceptable when I walk to work since can see my work building from my front porch!

On Sunday night I plan what days I can go to the gym, my weekly hair appointment, and what night I will go to Wegmans to go food shopping. The highlight of my week is going to the gym on Thursdays and then going to Wegmans for a late night food shopping. It is so nice with no one being in the store and I can get everything without feeling rushed or being trampled trying to get juice. My planner looks more like to do lists than a calendar. I plan what day I can set time aside to paint my nails… I only work 40 hours a week but realize that in the PGL of being an adult, there is a lot of personal and home maintenance that goes on. I learned the hard way recently how bad it can be when laundry is not done in a timely manner.

The clock keeps ticking one more minute closer to Monday and dreading it does not properly define my feelings towards tomorrow. This past weekend involved lots of fun but a little too much partying and no sleep. Six days in a row of working and less than eight hours of sleep. Anyone who knows me understands that is not a good combination!

Thank goodness it is a short week because of Christmas! This year, all I want for Christmas is an entire day to sleep in my bed! Let’s see if a full night of sleep is possible before the year is over…

Tis’ the Season

IMG_5064 (1)Tis’ the season for pretty Christmas lights everywhere! It is impossible not to get distracted while driving because I am looking at peoples homes and not the road. Not good I know! I am lucky enough where I can walk to work and this warm winter we have is a blessing because cold weather and I do not go well together. On my walk home I love to walk around our towns Main Ave because all of the trees and stores are decorated in lights.

I have been trying to find someone to drive around and look at lights with me because I love to see how each home is transformed with Christmas decor.

I was born on Christmas Eve so with my birthday following on a big holiday that the entire world celebrates makes it easy for my parents to have led me to believe that the whole holiday was for my birthday. There was one birthday I was probably four years old we went to Disney and my parents told me the whole firework display and the park decorations were for my birthday. It took me years to connect the dots that the celebrations were  actually for someone else’s birthday…

My town on Christmas Eve has a big event in a park that was across the street from my childhood home. Santa would come on a firetruck and bring a bag of cookies and we would sing songs. My family actually personally knew the Santa so the whole park and town would wish me a happy birthday and sing to me. For a little kid it was a magical experience.

Even though I am now technically an adult every Christmas season the decorations and lights bring back the magic.

*I still believe*

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Hi, my name is Rosie and I’m a nice person…

A big part of my job is customer service and with that is a lot of talking on the phone and interacting with people. The office opens at 8:30 in the morning and by 9am I am already dealing with town emergencies and handling situations. This month we have had one of our properties broken into, the beach vandalized and alarms going off in buildings causing the police to come to my office to the rescue. That is a lot of chaos before finishing my first cup of coffee in the morning!

Some days I am very chipper on the phone but when it comes to Friday I am exhausted and my patience is depleted. Being nice is just part of my personality. It always has been. There are times when people call my office very upset and need someone to blame. I have been yelled at for leaves on the ground, ugly electrical wires hanging in the street, and for the lack of parking in a square mile town. It is a lot of concerns and being yelled at to just grin and bare it. But no matter how I complain I always take it like a good sport and answer the phone happy as always.

By using my own connections and networking I am working on a very cool project with my job that involves fundraising. Working for a nonprofit ~*fundraising*~ is like a magic word that brings joy to all involved. I was CC’d on a few emails of having my name, contact info, and agenda forwarding to different people higher up in the company. Which is amazing when I kept getting emails of my name being forwarded! But I noticed something that took away this deserved excitement. I was introduced as a “Very sweet, nice young lady trying to do good for her job…”. Is that how I am viewed to others? Do more experienced people in their field only see me as nice and sweet? I do not want to be nice and sweet when I am negotiating a deal or contract. I want to look ambitious and like a powerful businesswoman that I went to school for.

For the first time, my personality which, I have always viewed as my charm, is actually more of a fault and hurtful in my career. There is no solution to fixing my personality but I hope to see my work presence being more powerful than a sweet young lady one day.