I like to consider myself “organized on the inside” but not necessarily organized on the outside. What do I mean by this? My desk at work and my room at home may not be the neatest and most organized (I think that living a life obsessed with color-coding, organizing, and labeling is hell on earth anyway), I make a point to remember important days that mean a lot to me and have a mini-celebration to honor people and moments passed.
People that know me realize that I love to celebrate everything and anything I possibly can. I also love traditions.
Examples:
- I like doing little things on Mark’s half-birthday for him. Nothing crazy, but it’s always fun to celebrate milestones of all sorts. I call it his “birtha-half day.”
- Heaven days: on days where close family or friends went to heaven, I do something to honor them. On my Grammy’s heaven day, I wear her ring and I drink from her crystal glasses at dinner. Sometimes I eat things that I know she loved to honor her. On my friend Ryan’s heaven day, I will try to be as lazy as possible (I know he would encourage this) and focus on enjoying nature and animals. On Nellie’s heaven day, I try to laugh as much as possible, enjoy my favorite shows on television, and try not to let anything bother me the whole day.
- Engagement and dating anniversaries. Mark and I don’t make a huge deal out of either of these two days because we now have a bigger (and better) anniversary to celebrate– our wedding anniversary. We still make a point to acknowledge these two days though… and talk about fun moments we had in New York before, during, and after we got engaged.
- Mother’s Day. I know almost everyone and their mother (hah!) celebrate this day, but I really like to get creative. I think doing something interesting and unique every year is always appreciated more than I realize.
This is us in the middle of the night...
- Valentine’s Day Elves. This is something that Mark and I started 2 years ago. I’m sad that my dad no longer lives near me (he moved to another state about 3 years ago) because he hasn’t been able to experience the magic of the Valentine’s elves. On the night before Valentine’s Day, we make gift baskets for our moms (and my step-dad Charlie) and we sneak into their houses after they are asleep to deliver them. This way, when they wake up in the morning, they have a beautiful (and often delicious) assortment of goodies to start their day off with.
- m&m Christmas: every Christmas morning I must incorporate milk chocolate m&m’s into my breakfast. This means m&m pancakes, m&m brownies (yes, brownies for breakfast; anything goes on Christmas), or just handfuls of those little gems.
- “Vacation-mode”: When I’m on vacation I allow myself to do whatever I want and simply blame it on vacation-mode. Sleep in until 1:00pm? Eat crap all day long? Drink a bit too much? It’s okay, anything is allowed when you’re on vacation.
I think it’s fun to come up with new traditions, develop new ways to celebrate, remember people you love, and always remember the times in your life that define who you are today.
So, what was I doing 2 years ago today??
Getting engaged here!! Gramercy Park, NYC
…Because forgetting about days and people that made your life what it is means forgetting about what you are here to do…
April 23, 2009 at 8:26 am |
valentine’s day elves are so cute!
April 24, 2009 at 6:22 am |
i am RIGHT there with you on this. my room may be a tad disheveled, but i can remember appts. and people’s birthdays like it’s my job!
beautiful post as always
May 2, 2009 at 1:17 am |
I found your blog from Ashisfit, and love it! I am the exact same way – organized on the inside, but have never found a way to articulate it. Thanks! I love the V-day elves idea, too!
May 2, 2009 at 7:42 am |
I read this post when you first published it and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. So sweet.
May 2, 2009 at 6:40 pm |
Our quirks!
I am just as organized on the inside as I am on the outside. And my room is a mess. Teehee!