My Summer Happiness Project Cost $26

Before my 40th birthday (in 2012), I read Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project book because I wanted my 40th decade to be focused on Happiness! If I was healthy enough to live a full life, I should be grateful and happy doing it. I turned to Gretchen's New York Times #1 Bestseller to put some framework around my personal Happiness Project and got working.

One thing that has always made me very happy is the beach and all that comes with it - collecting seashells, walking in the waves, waves, water, seagulls, sand. I love all those things. So part of living in Evanston and getting Happy meant spending as much time as possible at the beach! I aimed to be at the beach daily, day or night, even if for just a short walk. And most days, I come close to visiting the beach everyday!

Summer time beach visits are somewhat tricky as during certain hours a pass is needed to access the beach, which has become MY beach. Had I not read the Happiness Project, I might have allowed the need to pay to access the beach to make me mad or annoyed, but instead I chose to be grateful for the pass. See my logic below.

Thank you Gretchen Rubin and your great work! I now fully realize that "Happiness is choice, not the result of how life treats you."

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I bought my beach token before June 14 and it cost me $26.

So far this summer, I have gone to the beach at least 20 times. Over the entire summer, I will visit the beach at least 40 times putting my approximate cost per visit at around .65 cents.

What does the beach look like? See below. (And I walk to the beach, so there is no transportation cost.)

This beach makes me very happy, so does living in Evanston and so does buying a beach token and so does writing this blog and so does dark chocolate and so does eating fresh fruit from my garden....

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Thank you for reading my blog Evanston Newbie, a blog dedicated to helping you too fall in love with Evanston, just like I did. If you have any questions or need to get in touch with me about this blog, Evanston, or anything else you can email me at thelisadshow@gmail.com. Also feel free to send me announcements about upcoming Evanston events and I will promote them here!

Just like the Jeffersons, we’re moving on up!

One fun fact about El Paso, TX, (my previous hometown) is that Sherman Hemsley from The Jeffersons lives there. Sherman and I used to live in the same town. And like Sherman, my family recently moved on up from a two bedroom to a three bedroom apartment. It’s not every day that you can find things in common with a celebrity! But I digress.

The transition from a house to an apartment was big enough for my family, but for the last year, we have been living in a space ½ the size of our home in El Paso and it has been a challenge. Or should I confess that mainly it was a challenge for me as I couldn’t have anyone over for dinner, also I had to walk around the neighborhood to have private phone calls. Now that I think about it, more walking and less eating socially is probably why I lost 41 pounds in a year.

What our new apartment affords us is space to host guests (comfortably) and the luxury to entertain guests in our dining room! “It’s so nice not to have to eat in the kitchen” said my son during our first dining room meal! And it’s true!

We’ve spent the last year working on being appreciative of our apartment and living space and learning to just be grateful in general (all part of my personal Happiness Project thanks to Gretchen Rubin). How wonderful then to transition to a bigger apartment exactly one year after our arrival in Evanston, one year more grateful and ready to really appreciate a bigger space.

What does this have to do with you? Buy the furniture we no longer want! After making yet another living transition, we’re getting rid of all kinds of furniture and are totally willing to haggle. And because we don’t have a driveway to host a garage sale in, everything is for sale on CraigsList.com!

China Hutch, $500

Desk Lamps, $40

Bathroom Hamper & Shelves, $75

Bathroom Shelves, $50

Bookshelf, $75

Metal Kitchen Shelf, $40

Espresso Machine & accessories, $75

Thank you in advance for your help lightening our load and for reading this blog!

Happiness Project Rule #1: Schedule Time for Play

One day while sitting on the lawn at Dewey waiting to pick up my children from school, I overheard a very tall mom talking to a friend about an upcoming basketball game. If there is one thing that makes me listen up, besides discussions about food, it's discussions about pick-up basketball. Lori, the very tall mom I mentioned, was kind enough to answer my barrage of questions and invite me to play bball with the ladies on the third Thursday of every month.

This development in my life so early into my Evanston experience was a major victory in that it covered several of my glaring needs all at once; the need to make new friends, the need to exercise even if just once a month and the need to play with others!

Pictured here are just some of the ladies I meet with once a month to play at a church gym on Chicago Ave. There is a huge range in our abilities both as basketball players and athletes. For instance my face is purple by the end of the game (which is only 45 minutes) because my cardio situation sucks, but I'm a really strong ball handler so it evens out...at least I think so. Our games are always fast, fair and fun and we play to 10 points, two games in a row.

If you want to start playing with us, send an email to thelisadshow@gmail.com and I'll put you in touch with our team captain Kathy who runs the show.

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Thank you for reading my blog "Evanston Newbie", a project that I am using to chronicle my new life in Evanston. Do you have favorite Evanston bakeries, bike shops, events, summer camps that you can recommend? Send me an email at thelisadshow@gmail.com and I will post my review on this blog. -Lisa Degliantoni