I don’t know if anyone else feels this way, but I cannot believe that November is over and it’s about to be December! It seems like the month absolutely flew by… and I think that’s because of how busy it was for me. I had something going on almost every day, in addition to work – it was a really crazy month!
I thought it might be fun to do a little recap of the month… touch on things that I’ve mentioned, and some that I haven’t had the chance to.
City of Tomorrow Challenge
Working on the proposal for this challenge has taken up most of my free time this past month, but it’s absolutely been worth it. I’ve never done anything like this before, and I feel like I learned so much and really pushed myself out of my comfort zone. I don’t have any business background, but I definitely learned the importance of making connections. So many people were so generous with their time and energy, helping us learn, but also putting their support behind our idea. In some ways, it felt a lot like “The Little Engine That Could” – we just kept chugging along, taking it one step at a time and just making sure we kept going.
The finale event, where the winner will be named, is actually tonight, but regardless of whether we win or lose, I am so glad that we took part in this.
Accessible YOUniverse
It’s crazy that a year ago this week, I debuted my idea for Accessible YOUniverse at the Health Activist Expo (read about that here). While I may not have mentioned it in a while, that doesn’t mean I have forgotten about it! Over the summer I got official fiscal sponsorship (which means that under a parent organization I can operate as a nonprofit and accept tax-deductible donations, etc.) and have been spending time this month working on getting the website up and running. Hopefully I’ll have more news to share about this soon, so stay tuned!
Favorite Purchases
My online shopping may have gotten a little bit out of control this month, and I’m not sure it’ll really slow down much in December, as I start to buy holiday gifts! But I did pick up a few things this month that I really love. I love this sweater from Madewell so much that I bought it in another color during the Black Friday sale – it’s so soft and comfy. I’ve switched from makeup brushes to a Beauty Blender recently, and really like the way it makes my makeup look. This gift set comes with two sponges, two cleansers, plus a traveling case – it’s an amazing deal. I picked up this blanket from Target on a whim, and it’s one of the best impulse purchases that I’ve made in a very long time.
Fiddler on the Roof
I saw Fiddler in the Roof over the weekend at the Benedum. I always love going to shows, so it was nice to have one to go to over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, What made it extra special was that the cast dedicated all of their performances while they were here to the Jewish community, after the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting. It’s not even “my” community, but it’s been so touching to see how Pittsburgh has banded together in support. While the circumstances that brought out the true Pittsburgh spirit were awful, the city really does have something special – we consider fellow Pittsburghers family.
