The Summer of George

"I proclaim this...the Summer of George!" One of the most well-known Seinfeld moments in the show's run. And this summer is not the first time I have used this mantra for myself, and I am sure it won't be the last. But this summer I am taking it up a notch.  I not only have the whole summer off to do whatever I want, I have decided that I want to use this time to try new things and explore more options for myself. I want to rise to a higher level. This my friends, is going to be awesome. Obvi.

I am going to have my "Summer of George" by trying to new things and taking a few more risks that I wouldn't normally do. It's not anything too out of the ordinary, but for me, its something new and exciting that in the past I may have poo-poo'd or not even given a second thought to. Some of the things I have tried/am going to try are...

1) Yoga. I have been told by numerous people to try yoga. It would be good for both my mind and body. I have always been told that I need to mellow out and yoga would help me do that. I have been told it might help with my stomach/UC issues as well. I also know that doing yoga would increase my flexibility and strength which I would def love, especially with my running. However, my major problem is that I am a little ADD. This was always my fear with yoga. I was afraid I would be so bored because of the slow pace of class. I mean, I am used to hard core spin or kickboxing classes, not mellow yoga. But you know what, I decided I wanted to incorporate it into my weekly routine and go at least once a week. So far, I have been good and stuck with it. And surprisingly enough, I have felt it in my body. I sweat like I am spinning and my muscles definitely were feeling it the next day. It's been an awesome challenge. But I must admit, that it has not been mellowing for me.

2) Go on more dates. Here is my mantra on this subject: Be open-minded. Let me repeat: Open-minded. Those are usually not words that describe me. I often will meet guys that I am barely interested in for whatever reason it may be this time (mandals, bad teeth, etc...), and will turn down a date because I just can't see "it" from the get go. However, this summer I decided that I am going to actually...<gasp>...give someone a chance. I know, I know. Can you believe it? It's me growing up.

I even bought a Speed Dating Living Social deal with a friend that we plan to use before summer is over. I am sure I will get a good blog post out of that experience as well. Stay tuned! Remember...Open-minded. Yep, that's me!

3) Go to a Music Festival. I have mentioned before I am not so much a concert person unless I know like all the songs the artist plays. Therefore I have never been to an all-day music festival like Lollapalooza or anything like that. I have had a mild interest in going and seeing certain artists perform at shows like this, but never really thought it was my thing. Well there happened to be one here in NYC this past weekend that I went to because there were like three artists in one of the day's line-ups that I wanted to see. There also happened to be a Living Social deal for this festival. Major score! I emailed a few girlfriends and we all bought tickets. Catalpa here we come. My music festival cherry was popped! And it was probably one of the most fun things I have done all summer so far. My friends and I rocked out to Girl Talk like it was our job. He was the reason I wanted to go to that festival and he killed it. Let me tell you, if you can see Girl Talk, its incredible. Bring your dancing shoes (or go bare-footed like we did). I sweat through my dress and my legs were so sore the next day from all the dancing but it was so worth it. This festival was organized, clean, didn't have long lines anywhere, and the food was good. I would def do this one again and am now more open to attending others in the future. 

4) Try not to care so much about getting a certain number of hours of sleep. I know this one sounds dumb, but its true. I am a stickler when it comes to sleep. In my head, I have a bedtime of about 10:00 and I like to get between 8-10 hours. But you know what? It's summer and I don't have work. At all. Why should I care when I go to bed when I can basically sleep til whenever the next day? I shouldn't and I should just live in the moment. But the problem is no matter what time I go to bed, I usually wake up at 7:30 anyway. If I go to bed a 9, I wake up at 7:30. If I go to bed at 3 am, I wake up at 7:30. Because I am not a napper, this can create a problem and eventually this will all catch up with me and I will need just a day to lay around and do nothing. A cloudy, rainy day is preferable. I know in the end that staying up a few extra hours won't kill me, so I need to just relax about it and if I don't get 8 hours, I will survive. 

My only problem with this is that I don't want to fall into bad habits when the summer winds down and school starts again. When that happens, I need to then pick up my "bedtime" again because when I am actually working, I need my body on a pretty rigid schedule. But for now, I can loosen up a little and live it up. If I get only 4 hours of sleep, so be it.

5) Ride a bike in Central Park. This is something that has been on my to-do list for a while. One big problem though: I don't own a bike. Sadly, there is no room in my apartment to store one so I have never bought one. But that has not quelled my desire to tackle the hills of the Central Park. I am terrified to ride a bike on the streets of New York but the park seems safer. (I think!) And it would be excellent exercise. I already take spin classes but I want to do the real deal here. Perhaps I shall rent a bike one day and conquer this fear of mine once and for all before the summer is over.

This summer has been going great so far and I hope it only continues to get better. With the help of my improved "try-new-things" attitude (and even a little help from Living Social), I have been able to do some things that I wouldn't have even had a desire to do in the past. I want to experience new things and meet new people and these are just a few ways to do this. With about four weeks of summer left, I am game for almost anything so bring it!