2018 brought a New Resolution directed to not planning things as much as I did in 2017. I found that my time planning, gets the best of me and I don’t fully enjoy myself once that planned event finally arrives. I love to plan so this is hard for me. I feel like: to have the best outcome you have to plan something at some point in time, so I can’t cold turkey quit the whole planning game, just quit enough to get joy out of my adventures.

January flew by, we were hungover from the holidays and the next thing I knew February was gracing us with her presence. The month of the Aquarius and Pisces, is always very special for my family, as my little sister was born an Aquarius and I was born a Pisces. It gives us more than one reason to celebrate in the month of February, of course I cant forget the love of Valentine’s Day as well. However; do you ever have that one birthday girl/boy who feels that they dont want a party, or a cake. They express they really don’t know if they even want to celebrate!! WHAT! I get so aggravated with these few people, and my little sister is the worst. She celebrated big when she was younger and somewhere along the timespan she decided her birthday was no longer important. I attest everytime that I am Blessed she was BORN, because for selfish reasons, I got to become the Big Sis! I love being her bigger sister, I mean who cares if she likes being the little sister, I still got what I wanted, hahaha, and it was my birthday shortly after hers, so getting what I want was pertinent.

Speaking of my birthday, it didn’t go off without a hiccup here and there. The trip was supposed to of started with a visit to my sisters, and slowly turned to a short visit with her and then an adventure to the City, with one of my gal pals. We got to travel with my mother to my sisters and that was a blessing because it allowed me to not worry about her travel, and I got to spend some much needed time with her. She caused me to have sore ribs for days after, because of her commentary on the plane “Were coming in HOT!!!” The whole scene probably had everyone else on the plane wondering if we had a drink before we boarded. YOLO right, I mean I was with my mother….who would kick 3 women off a plane for laughing hysterically?

Visiting my big sis was bittersweet, and made me miss her more than I do on a daily basis. She is bringing my nephew into the world very soon and I couldn’t be more proud to of seen her growing belly and what she has done for Sebastian’s nursery. I wanted to move in there as soon as I got the sense of how homey and cozy it is. That is one thing my sister has a major skill in, making a place feel like home. Her next skill that I’m sure will come naturally as decorating her homes is going to be BEING A MOM! She will be a pro, I can already tell, not because I’m a mom, because I’m not, but because I have some of the best friends who are moms, and I cherish all those moms, including my own that surround me. They show me how strong and willful they are every day and for my sister that will come naturally because that’s the exact person she is in everyday life. Love ya sis, both of you!

Now let’s get back to the adventure that brought me to this post in the first place. New York City is a crazy busy, musically talented home, for more people than I could ever imagine, and it’s the most inspiring place I have been yet. Don’t give me too much credit, I have only been to a short list of places, the Caribbean and surrounding countries, Vegas, mostly all of Florida (it is my home state) and parts of the states that are north of me. I have always wanted to travel, but seem to fall short in that area, often. Luckily I’m still young and my husband posses’ the same love of wanting to travel, therefore not all is lost. I took a journal with me on this last adventure, but I found myself not using it, not even once. Instead, I did a ton of reflecting on my life, where I am with my past goals, and what I wanted for myself and my family. Reflecting is one of my favorite things and this time it took me getting to a city where I felt everyone was moving too fast to stop and do the same. I find inspiration in their fast pace, and carefree spirits. Of course they deal with the same issues on a daily that we all do, there is something about the city that seems like they have it together. NY’er’s aren’t even really NY’er’s… they are all sorts of people, tourists included, that fill the streets and coffee shops with their endless chatter and constant checking of their phone screens. I found myself in a bit of the same boat with my phone, only because, NY/Manhattan is one city that is not easy to navigate. I felt discouraged a lot trying to get around from spot to spot, but often just laughed it off, and took it as a sign that I was meant to travel that Avenue, twice..aha. We discovered truth in “The City that never sleeps” phrase, as our first night outing took us to a hole in the wall Karaoke Bar. This place was the term of inspiration, we were greeted as one of the regulars, but known as the ladies from FL. New Yorker’s are not shy when it comes to their voices or dancing, we were able to hear some of the best in the city, and they lit up a room like you wouldn’t believe. The team “After Work Theatre” were in the house, and they definitely made their presence known. Journey and Aretha to Play Scripts and Ballots filled the bar and I couldn’t help but stand and cheer them on with every song they picked. They were so talented and the groups mentality totally resonated with who I am as a person. They supported one another, and even supported us, complete strangers. By the middle of the night, we were a part of their team, and it was so refreshing for our first night in the city. The conversations that were had that night…were both inspiring, and intellectual in the same. The free spirits that filled the room, reminded me that everyday people are reaching for their dreams and setting goals to accomplish them. I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “Why did she have to go all the way to a different state, to make this assumption, I know everyday that I can set goals and conquer them?” Well let me be clear, I do this often on my own from my own hometown, but seeing life through different prospectives can awaken something you may have forgotten. This was a reflective trip, and I was truly looking to be reinspired, somehow. Accomplished would be an understatement, and I’ve only expressed my first night in the City. Phantom of the Opera, was breathtaking, we cried like babies, and I didn’t want to leave. The cab rides were actually a bit refreshing, I was able to bring home some Andretti skills of my own. The Churches, ohh the churches. Side note: I have this weird obsession for an old church. Back to…the churches all sat as they should: beautiful, eerie, and waiting for a photograph to be born that resonated all the beauty they encaptured, see below. We became our own food critics throughout our stay, we ate at numerous resturaunts and places. Can I tell you that I am such a picky eater, but this time I opened my pallets and just went with it. I was supposed to come home needing to go on a diet, but my only hiccup on the trip, landed us bed bound for a couple days fighting the flu. Needless to say a diet was no longer needed, as the weight continued to drop I only wanted to eat a full meal without forcing myself to. We ate cannolis, churros, fine italian pasta, Sweeny Beef Filet, Mexican Burritos, Humongous Burgers, and we even got in our breakfast almost every morning. Regret: we didn’t eat the damn pizza, luckily it will be there when we go back!

I have to admit, this go around not only did I not plan, but I really enjoyed myself when I realized how much extra time I had to explore my surroundings. We still hit up most of the hot tourist spots, but more importantly we let ourselves become part of the scene and we took a back seat to planning. However, it did come in handy with the popular spots when reservations were required, although we didn’t force ourselves to do it. Still have the WIN.

Did I mention the city was completly a spontaneous deicsion? So far 32, has been an adventure, and as always there’s more to that story; but what I wanted to say was said, and that’s really the only reason for my blogging 😉