My First Meetup Event

In my last post, I mentioned that I was taking part in my first “Meetup” event. I’m happy to say it was a success! There ended up being about 16 of us, and we met up at Mitchell’s Fish Market in Newport, KY for dinner and cocktails. Everyone was very pleasant, and a few of the other women were attending their first event as well, which made it less terrifying. I was initially worried meeting up only an hour and 15 minutes before the movie might make the schedule tight, especially for having dinner, but there was just enough time to eat, drink, and converse with the women I sat near before we headed into the theatre.

One thing I was happy to discover was that a couple of them were parents of young children, and are still making the effort to have adult time with new and old friends. I’m glad to see more of the people in my life taking that kind of time. I’ve always dreaded the thought of having to completely give up my social life when I decide to have children or to have every event I plan be about “the family.” I understand that I won’t always be able to find a babysitter and there will be times when I’m just plain too exhausted to go out, but it gives me hope for my own future. (On a side note, I hope the way I said that didn’t sound too self-centered. I know someday my life will revolve around my family. I just believe that me time and couple time is just as important to maintain).

For dinner, I ordered the Bourbon-Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon, their current featured dish, and while it was good, I have to say it was overpriced and overrated. I’ve had salmon elsewhere for a much better price that I was equally pleased with, if not more so, and I absolutely love seafood, so I feel like I’m a decent judge. I also had a martini, the Pomegranate, as part of the Happy Hour. It wasn’t bad, but a bit sweet for my taste to have more than one. Overall, it was a good experience, but the restaurant itself wouldn’t be my first, second, or third choice for a night out. The wait staff (in the dining area anyway) were very friendly; however, and offered great service.

For the movie, the host had chosen Fifty Shades Freed. This normally wouldn’t have been a first choice for me, but I thought it would be a hoot going with so many other women. Plus, I had already seen the first two movies, so I would be able to follow the story. (I mean, I had to see what all the fuss was about since I hadn’t read the books), But honestly, the movie was dull. The first and second movie had some interesting sexy scenes at least, but in this one, even those scenes were vanilla. It was all vengeful plot and relationship building. BOR-ing. Lol. Maybe if I had read the books, and could get more into that back story that’s often missed when one only sees the shortened movie, I could understand it better. It just wasn’t for me.

The highlight of the night, though, had to have been when the host of our party kept yelling butt plugs at the top of her lungs. This was due to a scene in the movie where they briefly show a drawer of different butt plugs for Anastasia is to choose from, or at least what we all agreed were said sex toy. Eventually, one of the employees asked us to “move on” after pointing out that we were next to the door of one of the family movies. Probably not our proudest moment, but it definitely added to the fact that I’m looking forward to more of these meetups. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures this time. I have to get better about that!

12 Resolutions: Better Late, Than Never

I’m ready to blog again. I missed all of January, which is typically considered the time of year when we (at least as far as the United States or any country that celebrates the New Year on January 1^st is concerned) come up with our resolutions for the year. What we want to change, add, or subtract. The term resolution really doesn’t end up holding much weight, though. It’s the commitment to not only creating a goal, but also adjusting our lifestyles and habits, which ends up making a permanent difference.

I suspect that’s why a lot of people fail to uphold their resolutions throughout the year. It’s not always easy to make permanent changes, whether positive or negative ones. Our brains tend to be creatures of habit, preferring to hold onto the status quo, even if it doesn’t always serve us the way we would like it to. It likes what it knows.

I mentioned in my last post that I’m on Part 2 of my weight loss goal this year, and I’m finally making a commitment to getting out of debt for good. I will make things official; however, mainly so I can hold myself accountable down the line. So here are my 2018 “resolutions” (in no special order):

1. Make writing a daily habit.

2. Lose more weight, and become stronger and fitter than ever before in the process.

3. Stick to my “EveryDollar” style budget, and pay off as much of my credit card debt as possible.

4. Improve my self-confidence in all aspects of my life.

5. Find a job that makes me feel valued and pays me what I’m worth.

6. Socialize more and make my own friends.

7. Improve my cooking skills, as well as my knowledge of wine, beer, and spirits

8. Be more creative through various avenues (painting, papercrafting, etc.).

9. Take 10 or so minutes every day to quiet my mind and let it be at peace; “Meditate.”

10. Learn to be a better communicator, especially in my personal relationships.

11. Try a new restaurant at least once per month (I’ll do a review!) I went to Frida’s in Covington, KY last weekend, but didn’t take any pictures. The Jalapeno margarita was excellent, with just a touch of spice to give it a nice kick! Their tacos were also very good. The highlight was probably the Brussels sprout taco. It was sautéed Brussels sprouts with smoked peanut sauce. It may sound odd, but it was delicious!

12. Try something else new as often as I can. I specifically want to do more things outdoors this spring and summer, like hiking.

There you have it. I think a lot of these things can occur together, like hiking contributing to fitness and weight loss, which is nice to think about. In fact, I will be working on #6, #11, and #12 this evening by attending a “Girls Night Out.” I found this event on Meetup, which I joined a while back, but never really used. For those who may not be familiar, Meetup is a site and app that allows people to form groups and create events for social and business networking purposes. Tonight, I’m joining a bunch of strangers for dinner at Mitchell’s Fish Market (a restaurant I oddly haven’t been to yet), then seeing “Fifty Shades Freed.” It should be…interesting.