friday things: hello, 2017

maybe i am just one of those perpetually upbeat people. even when things are going kind of rough or i’m wearing an all black ensemble, i can’t really help but be a bit peppy. even in january. the change to the new year always puts me in a great mood of new beginnings and usually brings icy wintery weather to budejovice. (a view from this morning, above)

so! i thought i’d put in motion the first ‘friday things’ of the year! just some things that i’ve been into lately or have been making me happy.

1. this coat

i’ve decided this year i stop worrying about trying to blend in with people here and wear what makes me happy. this coat happens to make me happy, and i certainly didn’t even plan on seriously taking it home, thinking i would decide on a much more practical coat. but no – channeling my 2012-era wardrobe before leaving for europe where i didn’t have to wear practical khaki shirts and coats that match everything else!

2. the ballet

alex and i had a festive date night between christmas and new year’s and went out to the ballet to see swan lake… my first ballet performance attended in years. tchaikovsky is one of my favorites and the dancing was gorgeous… i think i fell in love with the ballet, you guys. other upside: not one word in any language was uttered during the performance – something everyone can enjoy!

we then headed out for cocktails afterwards – there is a fantastic new-ish cocktail bar in budejovice (žlutá ponorka – “yellow submarine”) that is about ten times fancier than anything else in this city and i think i’ve kind of grown to love it. ballet and cocktails – going to be a thing for this year. i’m just about ready to book tickets to my next show!

3. tamales!

it began when we popped into a burrito loco in prague a couple months ago for some quick, delicious eats and noticed… ohmygod, burrito loco has an entire back shelf full of mexican cooking products! hot sauces! beans! chilies! and most importantly: masa flour and corn husks – the two most important ingredients to make tamales, one of my favorite food staples that i’ve gone without for far too long.

in my childhood, we used to go over to our (mexican) family-friend’s house every christmas and help pull together a humongous batch of tamales, so christmas seemed like the greatest time to give it a try! they came out so deliciously – the masa was just perfect and we found a way to steam the tamales without a steamer (that only involved breaking one plate – do not ask when we were doing with the plate). this was a huge life win! this weekend, time to make bryndza pierogies because LIDL is out of the frozen ones. (we were so spoiled for awhile, there) apologies for the photo quality – sometimes you just gotta document something quick with masa juice all over your hands.

4. goals & happenings

my mom used to force encourage us to write “goal lists” for the coming year. while i think goals are important, i don’t really see too much of a point anymore to create some major goals if it’s not really striking me – rather, just continue the goals i’ve had for the past few years. however, things i’m looking forward to in the next year: 

another boat trip on the river
local trips in the czech republic when the mood strikes
my mother-in-law coming to visit this winter! (oh man, we’re super excited about this one)
working hard and saving a lot! (boring, but for me, winter weekdays are just made for working – it feels good not to be poor, haha)
flying to the united states and attending two weddings!
being in my first wedding party for one of my best friends! (always the bride, never the bridesmaid)
taking little trips during our time in the u.s.
revisiting a beloved place! (now, which one will that be? – nothing’s certain yet)
going to one new place (of all the goals or happenings, this one seems the most far-fetched, but anything could happen)

5. inspiration + language learning

personally, i feel the most inspired when i surround myself with very inspiring people, or it could be also books, musicians, biographies, videos… anything that sparks some creativity and life. over the holidays, i was completely unenthusiastic about my german studies (even though i had to communicate so many dreadful times only in german), but i realized the reason why i was uninspired was because nothing around me was calling me to it. i do need constant inspirational stimulus to stay on track with a hobby, and this is a good thing to remember going into the new year, not only for this year but for every year. as soon as i started watching more german films and youtube videos again, i felt my language ability ramp up and even surprised myself at my last lesson.

what sparks inspiration for you?

happy new year! i hope you are feeling full of inspiration and creativity after the holidays. this snow we’ve been having always helps!

ps, make sure you’re following along on instagram this year for more “updates between the updates”!