Blast From the Past: The One With the Big Orange Couch

If you are a Friends fanatic, just like I am, you will get the title...

This past October, for two weeks, Central Perk, came to New York City for the show's 20th Anniversary. And being such big fans of the show, we just had to go.

So, on Sunday, October 12, 2014- the last day of the weekend that Central Perk was to be opened, we decided to head out there. The line was BLOCKS long, and we waited for HOURS, but it was all worth it the moment our butts hit the very spot hit by the cast members' butts. It was all worth it. 

 

 

And the reasons are...

I can't tell you how much lighter I feel since "coming clean" about why I haven't been blogging. But to be honest, that wasn't just the reason, there were other reason as well. I have been busy, and like I had said in my last post, I will update you about what I had been up to this last year. Some reasons deserve a post of their own, which hopefully, I will get to. In the meantime, I will just give you a brief summary on what had kept me from blogging in the later part of 2014 and the first few weeks of 2015.

1. Procrastination- Plain and simple. In addition to being embarrassed about how I couldn't complete a challenge (Project 365), I, of course, put off addressing this. No explanation is needed for this. LOL.

2. Etsy- Since I knew I wasn't going to keep doing the challenge, I decided to start working on my Etsy store inventory. I didn't want it to be like the last couple of years when I was overwhelmed with orders, and didn't sleep. LOL. With that in mind, I knitted, and I crocheted... And I knitted and crocheted some more! It was all worth it though. When peak time came (late September to the holidays), I wasn't as stressed with trying to get orders out in time. In fact, I got all my orders done early, that for the first time in many, many years, I was able to finish my Christmas shopping early too!

3. Work- I have a full time job. (No, not my knitting... Although I probably do spend just as many hours, if not more, knitting as I do working my "real" job.) Sometimes when I get home after a long day of being on my feet and seeing patients, all I want to do is relax. This involves eating, watching my shows and working with yarn. Can you blame me if I want to rest my brain? There are times when the last thing I want to do is think about what I'm going to write about.

4. Cleaning and decluttering- This deserves a post all its own, but to sum up, I have been on a decluttering streak. I've been going through anything I have pretty much ignored for the last year or two, and I have been chucking things I do not need. I still have a way to go, but I have made some major improvements. *Pats self on the back.*

5. Baking- Baking! Oh, how I have been baking... Thanks to one of the hubster's Christmas gifts (a bread maker!), I have been baking like a fool! It just makes everything so much easier and cleaner. I have been baking not just bread, but pastries, as well. I don't think we have bought bread since around Christmas time. Thanks to my trusty bread maker, we have fresh bread all the time. :)

6. Playing my violin and my ukulele- For my birthday, my parents gave me an ukulele, and the hubs got me an electric violin. Of course, that used up some of my time... I have never played an ukulele before so I had my dad, mom, and YouTube teach me. LOL. I am much better now, I can read chords, and sing while I play, which was a struggle in the beginning. I would say more, but I think this also deserves a post all its own.

7. Family and Social Events/Gatherings- THIS. Some are blog worthy (in my opinion...), others are probably not. In some, I took photos, in others, I didn't... I do hope to be able to blog about some of them, but regardless of whether I get to blog about them, or not, I will forever cherish the memories.

So there, a brief (and very likely incomplete) summary of why I have on a blogging hiatus. It's just funny that the moment I got my own url (Did you even notice- www.misspamelajoyce.com???), is the moment I disappeared. Hahaha!

xx,
Pamela

Nice to Meet You Once Again.

Hello friend, it's been awhile, to say the least. I think I have avoided the issue (and this blog) long enough; it is time to address it... I stopped blogging because I couldn't keep up and finish the Project 365, and it discouraged me. I believe my last post about it was from May 2014- I just couldn't keep up with posting every day! But even though I was way behind in my posts, I still kept taking pictures daily for about a month after my last Project 365 entry. I kept taking pictures until it started to feel more like a chore than a fun project. Yes, a chore. Who likes to do chores anyway? Unless you're my sister, Peejay, who loves to do the laundry, I don't think you'd like it one bit. I know I don't, so I just gave up.

It wasn't a complete failure though. I did accomplish one of my main goals for doing this in the first place, which is to familiarize myself with my Panasonic Lumix GF2. I can now say, with some degree of confidence, that I can take pretty decent pictures using the manual controls of my camera... Not great, but good enough. Let's face it, I am never going to be a professional photographer anyway so what I probably do know is enough for what I need my camera for. That doesn't mean I am not going to try to better myself in photography, it just means that I am not going to stress myself out trying to take pictures daily. Plus, it was really difficult looking for different things to take pictures of since I am surrounded by pretty much the same things every day, as evident of the pictures I've posted.

But enough of that, it is all in the past. It is now 2015, I am back, and I am just going to move forward... For the next few posts, I will be talking about what kept me busy for the parts of 2014 that I have been M.I.A., and of course, I will be talking about my 2015 goals. For now, I will leave you with this picture of my adorable goddaughter, Lizzie.

(Very, very, very belated) Happy New Year!

I hope you had a great 2014, and I hope you have an even better 2015.

xx,
Pamela

The 52 Week Money Challenge (Weeks 51 & 52 Update)

Week 51 - June 27, 2014
Week 51 - July 04, 2014

Current Savings : $1378

(Image courtesy of: www.savingeveryday.net) - I'm just adding the red check marks as I go along.

I just made the last installment (deposit?) a couple of days ago. *Cue in the confetti, applause, and the celebratory music.*

Aaaahhhh!!! I am now $1378 richer!!! But not for long since I am probably going to use that money to pay down one my credit cards. :/

I may change my mind on what I will be doing with the money since I won't be touching it until this Friday, July 11. I want the last $52 to sit with the rest of the money for at least a week before I give it all away. :(

Now that this has ended, what have I learned?

1.) I am capable of saving. There were times that this was hard particularly towards the end when I was putting away about $200 a month. But I was able to somehow make my budget work, which brings me to...

2.) I am capable of budgeting. Or at least prioritizing and moving my money around to meet the financial goals for the month. This was actually very eye opening to see how much money I have (or do not have) for the fun stuff. I still have a lot to learn. Newbie, right here...

3.) I am capable of committing. So many jokes, but I am not going there. I started this project with the hubster and the siblings, but I am the only one who stuck through it. Props to me! I can commit and follow through!
Sidenote: I know I have been slacking on my photography project, Project 365, but after this I am once again motivated.
(In my defense, I have kept up with the picture taking... for the most part... I just got a little lazy posting them. But I promise I will. In fact, I give myself two weeks to be caught up in everything Project 365 related. There. Now that I blogged about it, I can't break that promise. LOL.)

4.) If I put my mind to it, I can achieve it. Because of the amount of debt I had acquired over the years, it seems like my goal of financial independence seems unattainable. But completing this project gives me hope. I know it will take time, and it won't always be easy or pleasant, but I know that I will get there...

...which is why I will probably be using this money towards paying down my debt. I know most people do this so that at the end they can use the money to splurge on something they really want (Hello, Chanel bag!), but the truth is I can't think of anything practical I want to use this on. Throughout this last year, I learned to be more practical when it comes to spending. So, no... I won't be going on a shopping spree with this money (or anytime soon).

I could put it in my savings account but I would rather use it towards my debt. Plus, now that I know that I have the discipline to put money aside for the sake of saving, I will be doing this on a regular basis. Actually, my sisters, friends and I are starting another one similar to this, so even though this particular project is ending, another one will be starting.

On that note, Good bye 52 Week Money Saving Challenge! It was a pleasure and I will miss you. Maybe I'll see you again in the future. :)

xx,
Pamela

The 52 Week Money Challenge (Weeks 49 & 50 Update)

Week 49 - June 13, 2014
Week 50 - June 20, 2014

Current Savings : $1275

(Image courtesy of: www.savingeveryday.net) - I'm just adding the red check marks as I go along.

Two more weeks... :)

xx,
Pamela