Galentine's Brunch

I was genetically programmed to host parties.  My mom is an accomplished hostess, so is my grandmother, and several of my aunts.  Of course no one tops Aunt Arlene.  She's the most crafty person I know.  She has a holster for her glue gun.  It's that serious.

My color palette inspiration [via].

Playa Del Carmen

My girls' weekend in Mexico started with Mexican Customs taking away my homemade egg salad in Cancun International Airport.  Who knew you couldn't take egg salad across the boarder?  Not this girl.  Once it was gone, I decided to give up trying to diet through the weekend (they also took my apples and bananas!) and headed straight for the nearest margarita and queso stand.  I never found one.  Perhaps it's an untapped niche market?  Fortunately there were plenty of beer vendors outside of the airport while we waited for the ADO bus.  (Insider tip: Purchase your tickets online in advance to ensure a seat.  At $14 USD it's a comfortable, economical way to get from the airport to downtown Playa in less than an hour.)

Paperless Post Bootleg

Inspired by the awesomeness of the hit comedy Parks and Recreation on NBC, my girlfriend and I decided to throw a Galentine's Day brunch.  This holiday is a play on Valentine's Day (obvi) but is exclusive to the ladies.  We'll be celebrating our friendships, completely independent from any romantic relationships we may or may not be in.  Unlike Leslie Knope on the show, we won't be making our guests hand crocheted flower pens, mosaic portraits made from the crushed bottles of each person's favorite diet soda, or a personalized 5,000-word essay on why each friend is so awesome.  But we will have lots of goodies to eat, a few games, and the champagne will be flowing!

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Happy

A couple weeks ago I watched a gloriously uplifting documentary called Happy.  Everyone should watch it (you can stream it on NetFlix) so I won't give away too much, but my key take-away was that the circumstantial things that happen in life only contribute to ten percent of your happiness level.  Your genetics make up a large portion of it (about fifty percent) but the remaining forty percent is tied to your intentions and actions.  To me, that's great news because it means I can do things to directly effect my happiness level.

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