Personal Goals | Practicing Just to Practice.

Yesterday afternoon, I picked up a paintbrush for the first time in a couple months. It was a beautiful day outside with the sun shining and temps hovering in the high 60’s, so I brought my cup of water, canvas pad, and watercolor paints out to the patio and got to work finishing up the painting you see above.

It took me a few strokes to get back to the patterned consistency I’d seemed to nail a couple months back, but I eventually did get there. I mixed my greens and whites and yellows, I extended a few branches, I added a little tin pot. I finished up and felt pretty good at what I'd created.

So, I began to brainstorm ideas for my next “masterpiece.” I went to my favorite watercolor artist’s Instagram page for inspiration, and after finding a simple painting of a glass of sauvignon blanc, I decided to paint what I know: margaritas.

I quickly Googled a picture of a classic margarita glass for reference, got my ruler in an effort to be precise, and went to town. Or, I tried to anyway. No matter what I did, I could not draw an even glass. When I started to paint the actual margarita, the colors bled into the blue outlined glass. Then I noticed that, not only was the glass itself totally uneven, but it was also completely crooked on the paper. That marg wouldn’t stand a chance on an actual countertop – it would be tipping right over!

Not going to lie, I had a brief moment of self-doubt. You know the drill: “

I’m not any good at this, why am I trying? I’m never going to be as good as XYZ. What’s the point?” Wah, wah, wah.

To get deep here for a second, I’ve never been “the best” at anything, even as a kid. I’m not self-deprecating, I’m just being honest. I swam for 10+ years, but I had zero interest in swimming for college, so I never pushed myself at swim practice. I always won my heats, but rarely went to finals. I did gymnastics for years and years, but hated the conditioning. I usually placed 7^th instead of 1^st. I played guitar as a teenager and went to lessons for the longest time, but never practiced during the week.

For some reason, no matter the project, practice bored me. I just wanted to perform, but rarely did I put in the real work…hence why there was always “someone better.” Even now, I watch fellow bloggers and Instagrammers build their audiences and showcase their craft and I think, “maybe they just got lucky.” In reality, they just don’t document their struggle, their practice. They didn't "wake up like this" - they worked on this.

My goal for the rest of the year (and my challenge to you) is this: practice for the sake of practicing. Write just to write, paint just to paint, run just to see how far you can get. Don’t make a goal, don’t aim to be the next big thing. Just practice, and see what you learn in the process.

Spring Break, 2017.

Not sure how I've made it to this point, but here we are -

IT IS SPRING BREAK, MY FRIENDS!

A few years back, I was working full time in sales with no intention to head back to school...ever. I remember looking at all my friends who were still in college and thinking, "there's no spring break in the real world! Enjoy it while you can because you can never get it back!"

Well the joke's on you, 2014 Samantha, because here we are at 10:30 a.m. on a cloudy Monday morning, chillin' on the couch with cinnamon cream coffee, with zero responsibilities on my to-do list for the day. 

I'm just a couple days into break and I've already had margaritas and late night pizza, split a bottle of wine with a friend over a cheeseboard, sat in touristy beach traffic and watched the sun set over the Gulf, gone to a Yankees Spring training game, and baked a new cookie recipe. 

On top of the goodness that comes with having a week off, Ryan took off a couple of days from work to adventure/sloth around with me over break, so I'm pretty excited we get to spend a bit of time together. We are definitely in staycation mode over here!

Our game plan for the rest of the week:

• Catch a matinee of Get Out on this rainy afternoon featuring $1 boxes of Swedish Fish and Raisinets.
• Possibly try a sensory deprivation tank? This is more Ryan's idea than mine...I don't know about spending an hour in a wet box, but I've also heard good things so we shall see.
• Have a Pho date with my mom...and by Pho date, I mean Pho, vermacelli, jasmine green tea, spring roll date. We don't mess around.

Still looking for a few fun things to add to our to-do list in the Tampa Bay area, so if any of my local readers have any ideas, shoot them over this way! 

If you're on Spring break, what are your plans for the week? 

Weekending, Unplanned.

It feels like we’ve had something to do or some place to be nearly every weekend in 2017. From weddings to birthday parties out of town, day drinking dates with friends to dinners out. This weekend should have been no different – we had plans to surprise Ryan’s cousin for his birthday in Tallahassee (about 4 hours north of us) and spend the weekend up there.

And then, as luck would have it, poor Ryan woke up feeling super sick Friday morning. Our plans kind of unraveled, and for the first time in what feels like forever, I had a weekend laid out in front of me with literally zero plans. So I made them up as I went along, and it’s shocking how great a weekend can be when you suddenly have nothing on your schedule.

Our plan-less weekend consisted of:

-       A halfway decent Thai shrimp soup. My first time attempting to make a fancy soup, and I think I’ll keep hunting for better recipes.

-       Pinot noir. If you know me, this is a big step. I’m a white wine drinker, through and through.

-       A quick and easy brunch shift. With school, it can be tough for me to help coworkers out when they need a shift picked up. Since my Saturday was wide open, I had plenty of time to make extra cash.

-       Homemade grapefruit margaritas and Pizza Hut pizza. Shortly after getting out of work Saturday afternoon, I looked at my phone and read a text from Ryan: “Pizza tonight?” Be still, my heart. YES. Pepperoni and jalapenos, please.

-       The farmer’s market and brunch with a good group of girls. Hyde Park Village (or what I call the Rodeo Drive of Tampa) hosts a farmer’s market during the first Sunday of every month, and while I normally don’t buy much, I splurged a bit. I scooped up an overpriced loaf of roasted red pepper bread, a giant tub of spicy pickled green beans, and a big mason jar full of homemade Fra Diavolo pasta sauce. Necessary? No. Delicious? Obviously. And of course, we brunched at a new little Mexican spot.

-       Catching up on Homeland and Big Little Lies. Homeland is finally past its notoriously slow part of the season and it’s getting crazy. I loved Lianne Moriarty’s Big Little Lies, and I’m absolutely adoring the on-screen adaptation with some of my favorite leading ladies (Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, etc.). If you’re on the fence about starting it up – DO IT.

-       Long workouts. I make sure I get to work out during the week, but I’m a bit of a procrastinator, so sometimes I feel like I’m rushing through my workouts. It was nice to take a bit of extra time on the cycling bike and not have to worry about how I’m going to style my sweaty hair before heading into work!

And biggest win of the weekend? I don’t think I'll be getting sick with whatever Ryan has! Here's hoping.

How did you spend your weekend? Was it crazy busy or relaxing?