2011 - A year in review

January

Well, the atom bomb fell on my life (explained a little bit here)...

So I cut off all my hair, dyed it bright red, and all my friends took me out dancing.

February

I met JB - who has become one of my best friends. Everyone refers to us as "BESTIES," and the nickname has inspired hundreds of variants between ourselves and our circle of friends.

I stayed overnight in Providence to see Girl Talk with Allison and Joe.

We drank enough vodka to euthanize an army of Russians.

And paid for it appropriately epic hangovers the next day.

March

After six years of slinging merch and having beer spilled on me (part of my duties as band-wife) at Celtic punk rock shows on Saint Patrick's Day, I renounced the holiday this year and pronounced it "Je suis Canadienne!" Day. I spoke in nothing but the few French phrases that I know all day and toasted my Frenchness.

The first reggae night happened. The first of many epic dance offs at The Red Door.

I also packed A LOT of shit.

April

I moved back to New Hampshire, and into "The Dollhouse."

I reconnected with one of my best girl friends from high school.

I went to the Spotlight Awards with my Bestie, and sang karaoke for the first time in about 10 years. I rocked the shit out of "Piece of My Heart" with all of my friends singing the "WHOA, OH, OH'S" in the background.

May

I missed blogging and posted more content to Facebook than I care to admit.

I prepped for my first theatre auditions in about six years, and laughed how ridiculously young I look in my old head shots

June

I spontaneously sing Prince's How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore with my friend Jeremiah at The Chop Shop. This is the first time that I stepped in front of a microphone in 7 years. Jere and I continue to play music together every week from here on out.

I signed on to choreograph Midsummer Night's Dream for Shakespeare in the Park

I started Couch to 5K running program.

I RETURNED TO BLOGGING


July

I had a blast choreographing/performing in Midsummer Night's Dream as Cobweb

I was offered a role in the Rocky Horror Show LIVE

Rehearsed/Performed my ass off for Midsummer/Rocky while doing Couch to 5K.

Hurt my knee - had to put Couch to 5K on pause in the middle of Week 7 (of 9).

August

I became a BLONDE!

Danced my ass off in the Rocky Horror Show LIVE. A cult fan's dream come true! Never have I felt more like a rock star than the dancers' entrance each night during Science Fiction. The crowd screamed their faces off!

(Be warned, the sound quality is terrible - but the dancing is FIERCE)

There's a Light (Someone familiar is front and center - of course they filmed the ONE night that somehow I got stuck rolling through my straddle. Not the most graceful.)

Time Warp

Sweet Transvestite (BA-DOW!)

Rocky closed, I turned 29 (and feelin' fine) and Hurricane Irene hit New Hampshire (all on the same day).

September

Had an epic apple picking/pie bake off adventure with friends.

Started Couch to 5K over again from scratch.

My baby (*sniff* not anymore) niece Cayla got married, and I danced down the aisle with my sister and brother.

October

I attended Megan's bouncy castle birthday party...

And dressed up as Buffy the Vampire Slayer for Halloween.

November

Visited Liam's grave for the first time, surrounded by my bridesmaids.

Completed Couch to 5K (with the support of my sister and friends)! Victory is mine! Lost about 20lbs, three inches off of my waist, and about an inch everywhere else on my body. Feel fucking fantastic.

December

Busy as hell - sang Racing in the Streets w/ CJ at The Chop and he taped it for posterity.

Spent time with family and friends for the holidays, like my adorable nephew Aaron.

Was overwhelmed at the AWESOMENESS of my blog friends - who sent me stuff, and gave me a Christmas as wonderful as I ever had as a child for my first uncoupled Christmas in seven years.

***

This year started off like absolute shit. I had every reason and right to moan and groan and wallow in a stew of a sadness and anger. Instead, 2011 turned out to be a year full of lessons, growth, accomplishments and ultimately JOY. I realized that a) I am pretty badass and b) I am capable of over-coming ANYTHING. Most importantly though, I realized that my friends and family are even more amazing than I already knew them to be. My life turned upside down this year, and at the lowest point, I felt as if everything I had ever known had been taken away from me. After that point is when I began to feel the support of one hundred plus pairs of hands slowly pushing, nudging and guiding me back up to my feet. The support of my tremendous network of friends and family gave me the perspective to realize that when one has lost so much, there is only so much more to gain.

And gain I did.

I hope that you and yours have a safe and delightful New Years!

Sometimes...

You just have to do a fist-pumping happy dance in your car to Depeche Mode.

Here's some 80'stastic for your day:



Oh, and you're welcome.

The Two-Thirds Life Theory

Oh neglected blog space...has it really been almost four weeks since I've visited here?

Weeks ago, I read a most excellent blog post over on Pink of Perfection about narrowing life's priorities. I meant to blog about it, in order to chime in my own two cents, but because of narrowed priorities for the holiday season, I neglected to!

Thus brings me to the 2/3 theory of my life:

One could separate my life into three categories - work life, social life, and home life (housekeeping, exercise, blogging, cooking). I have come to the conclusion that only two-thirds of these things function at 100% at any one time. The pie-chart above illustrates the current state of affairs.

Work?
Great.
Social life?
Friggin' stellar.
Home?
Sarahpocalypse.

These categories will rotate spaces - and I will always ATTEMPT to juggle each of these three simultaneously, but inevitably one gets dropped.

My house is a pig sty.

Side digression: I was hanging with some friends in Beantown this week (SOCIAL LIFE=FRIGGIN' STELLAR) discussing astrology. I am a Virgo - and I am the WORST kind of Virgo, especially when it comes to house-keeping. Here is why...

Virgos tend to be perfectionists and neat freaks. I am not a neat freak (see the 2/3 theory chart above)...however I am a slob that desperately WANTS to be a neat freak. Eventually my home/office/car will become so messy that I get too paralyzed to clean it, because cleaning it the way that I want it to be cleaned (think tooth brush scrubbing grout with bleach) becomes too monumental task. Thus perpetuates a cycle of mental self-flogging.

All of this reaches a breaking point of course - thus causing a shift in the 2/3 Life Theory Pie Chart.

Hence, I will probably not be attending a New Year's Eve party this year. You will likely find me listening to ABBA and scrubbing the tub.

A Totally Local Christmas Wishlist

Tis the season folks! It's my favorite time of year, and Christmas is in full swing here at "The Dollhouse." My tree and wreaths went up the day after Thanksgiving (pictures soon), I've been to see my friends perform in a production of A Christmas Carol, I had my third annual Christmas Card Writing party this morning (with over 20 people milling about my little apartment -WOWZA) and gifts and merrymaking are being created.

During the last few weeks, I was impressed to see the national advertising campaign, Small Business Saturday, generating buzz about supporting local businesses during the holiday season. Inspired by this idea, which I try to support year round anyways, I thought it would be fun to create a totally local Christmas Wishlist.

If Santa's workshop were based in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire, these are the presents that I would like to see show up under my Christmas tree!

STUFF

1. A Full-Subscription "Beer Card" for Throwback Brewery's Unafraid of the Dark Farmer's Stout and Porter Series, $75

Starting the first week in January, Throwback Brewery will begin releasing a unique batch of dark beer every two weeks, until the end of March. Each beer will feature an ingredient grown at a local farm, or, in one case, an ingredient made by a local organic business. There will be six stouts and porters in total, including the following combinations; Chocolate Ginger Stout, Chai Porter, Fennel Flower Stout and Hidatsa Squash Porter. The remaining two beers are still in the testing phase, but honestly WHO CARES?! They had me at chocolate ginger stout...

Throwback is taking a very interesting approach to rolling out these limited edition brews. They are selling “beer cards," which act as a subscription. A full subscription (68 ounces) costs $75 and half subscription (32 ounces) costs $40 (this does not include the price of the bottle). The benefit to getting a card is that the subscriber will have first access to the brews as they are released. Cards are sold at the brewery during growler hours, or over the phone at (603) 379-2317.

2. A book, or a gift certificate from River Run Bookstore

River Run Bookstore is one of the few remaining independent bookstores in the Seacoast - located in downtown Portsmouth, NH. They offer a fine selection of new books with an emphasis on fiction, history, poetry and mystery. They also have a great children's section, and hold over 100 events a year.

Unfortunately, River Run has befallen some hard times as of late. I, and many others, consider River Run to be a vital hub for community activity here in the Seacoast, and people have rallied to help save the store.

River Run offers FREE SHIPPING to anywhere in the country via their e-bookstore. I have many books on my wish list both here and here.

3. Music, Media or a gift certificate from Bullmoose Music

Bullmoose is a fantastic local chain, and the go to place for music, movies and more. I am always on the hunt for new music, and I stopped subscribing to cable years ago, so I enjoy picking up movies and tv series on DVD


SERVICES

4. A Gift Certificate for Services at Acorn Organic Salon for up to $150

Acorn Organic Salon was developed based on a need for more healthy, natural hair choices. Located in Dover and Exeter, NH, Acorn was the first of its kind in the New Hampshire Seacoast. Owners Laura Mackay and Allison Degan have created a “green” salon that has extremely high standards of reducing toxicity, reusing materials, and recycling.

Lately, I've been dyeing my hair very different from my natural color, which I love, but upkeep is EXPENSIVE - and gurrrrrrrl, I am getting mad. crazy. ROOTS! The amount that I requested would cover a full color, a cut and a bomb tip for the deserving ladies that work at Acorn. The phone number for the Dover salon location is (603) 617-3830.


GOING OUT AND ABOUT: My budget is EXTREMELY tight lately, to the point where having a single latte or a cocktail could jeopardize my ability to pay rent. While I don't mind rocking a glass of water everywhere I go - I support the following establishments wholeheartedly, and would love to see their business thrive during the holidays and beyond.

5. A Gift Certificate (Any Amount) to Adelle's Coffeehouse

I love going out for coffee - but when my belt tightens it's the first thing on the budget chopping block. Adelle's, in my opinion is simply the coolest coffee house around. Adelle’s has coffee, espresso drinks, italian sodas, and tea, as well as seasonal favorites like lemonade and cider. They believe in keeping it local, and their coffee and tea comes from local businesses in the New Hampshire seacoast.

Even when I can't afford to splurge on a "fancy coffee," I try to support Adelle's as much as possible. I'll often buy a pound of Seacoast Coffee Company beans there for my every day java fix.

6. A Gift Certificate (Any Amount) to The Coat of Arms

Established in 1994, the Coat of Arms has built a reputation for offering some of the finest imported beers and ales available in the US. This is the pub that my friends and I most frequent gather, especially for the weekly trivia night. They serve the most delicious mulled cider in the winter time!

7. A Gift Certificate (Any Amount) to The Orchard Street Chop Shop

The Chop Shop is a top-notch steak-house, but I have never eaten in their main dining room. Instead, my friends and I regularly hang out at the more casual "Top of the Chop" lounge upstairs, where we play music and perform at the acoustic open mic nights.

8. A Gift Certificate (Any Amount) to The Red Door

When I want to splash out and get a really fancy cocktail, The Red Door is the place that I like to go. The last time I was there, I got a concoction called "The Dragon" which consisted of Bacardi dragonfruit and lime juice, garnished with cayenne. DELISH. The atmosphere has the intimate chill feel of someone's living room.

Now, I am of an age and disposition where I do not enjoy dancing at some of the more "meat market-ish" bars in town. The Red Door, has live music and DJs, several nights a week, and is an enjoyable place to go dancing, because the people that dance there really bust a move, instead of focusing on getting picked up. Much more my scene!

And that concludes my Totally Local Christmas Wishlist. I hope that you enjoyed reading about some of my favorite businesses in the Seacoast region. If you do not live here, I encourage you to look around your own community for businesses worthy of your support, and make your spending dollars count!