Girls' Night

Girls's night: I drank lots of wine. Mom ate lots of cheese. We pretty much completed each other.

Except instead of being opposites that could complete each other, we are nearly the same.

Only, I am the extreme version of her. Lucky for me, I think she is pretty amazing.

I was somehow able to convince her to skip a traditional dinner and go straight to dessert post cheese. While mom discovered the joys of Salt & Straw I was hit on by two brothers, aged roughly 10 & 12.

I like to think they went home and fought over me... I did promise to drive them on our first date after all!

 

25 Handy Words That Simply Don’t Exist In English

1 Age-otori (Japanese): To look worse after a haircut

2 Arigata-meiwaku (Japanese): An act someone does for you that you didn’t want to have them do and tried to avoid having them do, but they went ahead anyway, determined to do you a favor, and then things went wrong and caused you a lot of trouble, yet in the end social conventions required you to express gratitude

3 Backpfeifengesicht (German): A face badly in need of a fist

4 Bakku-shan (Japanese): A beautiful girl… as long as she’s being viewed from behind

5 Desenrascanco (Portuguese): “to disentangle” yourself out of a bad situation (To MacGyver it)

6 Duende (Spanish): a climactic show of spirit in a performance or work of art, which might be fulfilled in flamenco dancing, or bull-fighting, etc.

7 Forelsket (Norwegian): The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love

8 Gigil (pronounced Gheegle; Filipino): The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute

9 Guanxi (Mandarin): in traditional Chinese society, you would build up good guanxi by giving gifts to people, taking them to dinner, or doing them a favor, but you can also use up your gianxi by asking for a favor to be repaid

10 Ilunga (Tshiluba, Congo): A person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time

11 L’esprit de l’escalier (French): usually translated as “staircase wit,” is the act of thinking of a clever comeback when it is too late to deliver it

12 Litost (Czech): a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery

13 Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan): A look between two people that suggests an unspoken, shared desire

14 Manja (Malay): “to pamper”, it describes gooey, childlike and coquettish behavior by women designed to elicit sympathy or pampering by men. “His girlfriend is a damn manja. Hearing her speak can cause diabetes.”

15 Meraki (pronounced may-rah-kee; Greek): Doing something with soul, creativity, or love. It’s when you put something of yourself into what you’re doing

16 Nunchi (Korean): the subtle art of listening and gauging another’s mood. In Western culture, nunchi could be described as the concept of emotional intelligence. Knowing what to say or do, or what not to say or do, in a given situation. A socially clumsy person can be described as ‘nunchi eoptta’, meaning “absent of nunchi”

17 Pena ajena (Mexican Spanish): The embarrassment you feel watching someone else’s humiliation
18 Pochemuchka (Russian): a person who asks a lot of questions

19 Schadenfreude (German): the pleasure derived from someone else’s pain

20 Sgriob (Gaelic): The itchiness that overcomes the upper lip just before taking a sip of whisky

21 Taarradhin (Arabic): implies a happy solution for everyone, or “I win. You win.” It’s a way of reconciling without anyone losing face. Arabic has no word for “compromise,” in the sense of reaching an arrangement via struggle and disagreement

22 Tatemae and Honne (Japanese): What you pretend to believe and what you actually believe, respectively

23 Tingo (Pascuense language of Easter Island): to borrow objects one by one from a neighbor’s house until there is nothing left

24 Waldeinsamkeit (German): The feeling of being alone in the woods

25 Yoko meshi (Japanese): literally ‘a meal eaten sideways,’ referring to the peculiar stress induced by speaking a foreign language

taken from here.

Big Bear

I've started to extend my weekend visits to Portland to include a work day as well. I will drive or take the train down on Thursday evening and then work remotely on Friday. It gives me more opportunity to connect with friends and family and, frankly, enjoy the city I love.

I often grumble about working remotely, it is slow and tedious. But the day I got to work with Mickey, remote wasn't so terrible.

He, along with Showtime pictured below, are some of my favorite friends. They are the older brother's I always wanted and between them and Vik... all boyfriends should be scared. Very scared.

Hand hug.

Choose Happiness

Yet another whirlwind weekend in Portland... clear skies, warm temperature, family, and friends.

It had the makings to be perfect and a great escape but bad news hit on Saturday night that left a bad taste in my mouth. It had me crawling into bed early that evening and distracted for much of Sunday. And now here I am, Sunday night, well technically Monday morning... it's nearly 3am and although my left leg is asleep my mind is wide awake.

I have three ideas I remind myself to live by:
1. Don't waste my time.
2. Take care of myself.
3. Spend time with people who make me happy.

I am worried that anything I type at this point will be a hodge podge of thoughts...

So all I will say further: Choose happiness. Every day. Every minute.

Long Walks

What matters most to me:
Doing what makes me happy with the people I love the most.

I am learning to cut out the clutter and the rift raft especially if I am using it as merely a distraction.

I love my sister, brother, and my dear friend, Elyse. To add to my love fest is a long walk, a minute to scrawl down some ideas, and a good iced coffee at my local shop.

What matters most to me may mean nothing to you but I hope you find your own "thing" and then fight for it. Make it your priority too.

Bake-A-Thon

This time last year:

It is so easy to get stuck in the day to day. Work has been all consuming and stressful. I had my pride take over and I took on a large project that I should have developed a team instead of doing it all myself. I am missing Portland and needing a vacation. Worst of all... my high bun is losing all oomph. (Kidding... not really.)

I was sitting on my bed looking into my closet trying to decide which dress will take me from a derby party to a cinco de mayo party and secretly wishing I didn't return that fascinator four months ago.

I pulled out my phone to catch up on instagram and saw a photo of a friend celebrating their birthday.

"Has it really been a year?"

May 5, 2011.

I can remember that day clearly. I was wearing a little red dress and spending the evening with my then boyfriend. Although I didn't know this then, I would be introducing him to my family the next day. The first time I had ever done so in my life, a big step in the world of "Adult Danielle." I thought this boy was the cat's meow.

In that moment:

• I was living in the suburbs of Portland.

• I didn't love my job but I was good at it.

• My family didn't officially include a brother yet.

May 5, 2012.

Looking back over the year, almost every aspect of my life has changed.

New city. New job. New family (well, expanded family).

• That boyfriend and I didn't work out but it did set a standard for future boyfriends and my "type". In case you haven't heard me say it, the break ups may get harder but the men sure do get better!

• That same boyfriend, ignited an interest in Portland. I spent the following months, up until my move to Seattle, learning and falling in love with that little city. Now in Seattle, I miss Portland but I am exploring where I live now and appreciating what I have.

• My job is fantastic, even if I sometimes complain. I am able to impact international business and create standards that are asked to be replicated.

• My family has grown. I now have a brother and fur nephew. Also, a Seattle family that I would be lost without. 

I am amazed how much we can learn and our capacity to change. I get lost in the day to day but in retrospect, I am not the same girl I was this time last year. I am better, stronger, and happier.

I am still sitting on my bed deciding what to wear to today's festivities. Just for the heck of it.... I'm thinking my little red dress.