Gelf-Care 30-Day Challenge Day 6: Trying to Find a Man

Gelf-Care 30-Day Challenge Day 6: Trying to Find a Man

When my friend Colleen invited me to do a vision board with her and some friends, I couldn’t respond fast enough.

It had been seven years since I’d done one and it seemed like the perfect way to kick off the new year and a great example of self-care. Clipping out pictures, headlines and copy from magazines that spoke to me and pasting them onto poster board imagining what my life will look like.

I was excited to get clear on my goals and do it in a fun, creative and no pressure way.

However, after a 15-minute walk from the subway and getting lost in the building, I arrived at the Center for Social Innovation pissed.

Gelf-Care Day 3: My Ice Cream Cake Cone-fession

Gelf-Care Day 3: My Ice Cream Cake Cone-fession

Since I’m all in on this month of self-care (Gelf-care) and my foot is bothering me now (oy), I decided to take a yoga class. The instructor, Mardi, talked about making space in your life. Something I am admittedly not good at.

  • I fill up my calendar with meetings and activities.

  • I have too much stuff in my apartment and need to purge.

  • My devices are constantly reminding me to upgrade my icloud storage because I’m almost at capacity. They’re like my own portable bouncer.

Gelf-Care Day 2: Embracing My Inner Altacocker

Gelf-Care Day 2: Embracing My Inner Altacocker

At the risk of sounding like an altacocker (that’s Yiddish for “old fart”), I woke up with a sore knee again. Oy! I used to do endurance events like triathlons, a century ride (100-mile bike ride) and the NYC marathon despite the fact that I HATE running, so this, as you can imagine, is incredibly frustrating.

Exercise has always been a huge part of my routine. It not only helps offset all the noshing (Yiddish for “snacking”) I do, it makes me feel good and it’s the very first thing I do when I wake up (after brushing my teeth and getting dressed, of course.)

Because of this Gelf-care (self-care) 30-day challenge, I decided to listen to my body and cancel my spinning class. It (pun intended) pained me to do this.

Gelf-Care Day 1: Ciao, Chow!

Gelf-Care Day 1: Ciao, Chow!

For many, the New Year spells resolutions. For me, I’ve done that with limited success. I’ve also tried coming up with a theme for the year only to forget it weeks later. I can’t even find my theme on my computer for 2018, so that tells you how committed I was.

That’s why this year I’m doing something different. A new 30-day challenge each month.

To kick things off, January is dedicated to “Self-care” aka “Gelf-care.”

See Ya, Bucko (2018), Hello 2019: A Year’s Worth Of New 30-Day Challenges

See Ya, Bucko (2018), Hello 2019: A Year’s Worth Of New 30-Day Challenges

Happy New Year!

I woke up this morning with a sore knee and a caramel wrapper on my nightstand. The sore knee (from spinning) was unusual. The caramel wrapper was not (although the number of wrappers was. I managed to throw out the others before hitting the hay.)

You could say, “One caramel wrapper is nothing.”
”It was New Year’s Eve.”
”Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Thanks for the encouraging words, but the truth is that candy wrappers, bowls of eaten ice cream, Sour Patch Kids bags and any number of downed desserts are a mainstay in my apartment.

These are my version of empties.

Letting Go (See Ya, Bucko Challenge) Day 6: MOFO FOMO

Letting Go (See Ya, Bucko Challenge) Day 6: MOFO FOMO

“People are the worst.”

I get why people say this, but I happen to love people (Most. Don’t get me started on the See You Next Tuesday in my life).

I’m curious about their lives, their stories, what makes them tick. I feed off of their energy. I am a true extrovert (I probably wouldn’t have gotten the Wienermobile job if I were a wallflower.)

When you’re gregarious, you’re drawn to events, parties, really anywhere you can engage with people. It fuels you.

Letting Go (See Ya, Bucko) Challenge Day 5: Face the Facts

Letting Go (See Ya, Bucko) Challenge Day 5: Face the Facts

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with something most children are afraid of. Clowns. I drew them all the time (mostly cross-eyed. I’m sure my 9-year-old self thought they were funnier that way). I dressed up as a clown for Halloween and I got my face painted as a clown once or twice.

Letting Go (See Ya, Bucko Challenge) Day 3: Who Let the Dogs In?

Letting Go (See Ya, Bucko Challenge) Day 3: Who Let the Dogs In?

For as long as I’ve lived in my apartment (14 years), they have not allowed pets in the building. The only exception was my neighbor who was a dog walker and the woman who had a bird in her apartment… illegally. Since that thing squawked all the time, I don’t know how she got away with it.

Sadly, the dog walker passed earlier this year and Lady Bird moved out years ago, so I haven’t seen any animals in my building for months… until Leo. I met Leo in the elevator one night and asked his owner, “How’d you get him into the building?” like she smuggled in contraband.

Letting Go Challenge Day 2: Sorry, Not Sorry

Letting Go Challenge Day 2: Sorry, Not Sorry

I was raised Jewish, but my father is Catholic, and his brother, my uncle Gary is a Roman Catholic priest whose name is Father Gelfenbien. Holidays at the Gelfenbiens are never boring and one year my uncle made us an Easter turkey stuffed with matzo meal (He’s a full-service kind of priest.)

Letting Go Challenge Day 1: Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Good-bye

Letting Go Challenge Day 1: Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Good-bye

For the past two years, I’ve had a framed poster hanging above my desk. It features a balloon and a simple message: “let it go.” Trite I know, but I bought it to remind me to do just that when I start to worry about things and hold myself back on other things like obsessing over sending an email.

I'm About to Do Something that Scares the Crap Out of Me

I'm About to Do Something that Scares the Crap Out of Me

10 years ago I went to Antarctica (don’t do it in a 1950’s Russian shipping vessel called The Antarctic Dream. It’s no dream. It’s a f*cking nightmare). While I was at the bottom of the Earth and truly off the grid, I wrote a note and a postcard to myself that simply said four words.

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