September 12, 2009

We're going through a lot of changes right now with our business and the past several weeks have been the most stressful that we've ever been through. I'm sure we'll get through it as we always do. I just tell myself every morning “This too shall pass.” (Actually, I say that about fifty times during the day.)

What does that have to do with the World's Happiest Cities?

Well, since you asked, I'll tell ya. While in the middle of this huge transition, I find myself thinking about what it means to really be happy and to have true inner peace. I even wonder if it's possible to live a stress-free life? Could you really live a happier life just because you're living in a different environment?

I've always wanted to go to Rio de Janeiro, but since I heard that it was voted The Happiest City in the World, I WANT TO GO NOW!!  This might even get put at the top of my bucket list above Rome. (Don't get hissed off at me BigSis, I'm not ditchin' our dream vacation to Italy.)

I'm really curious to know what makes a city the happiest city in the world? For starters, just look at the place.

Leblon Beach

Stunning views

Rio de Janeiro

Ipanema Beach (Flickr Photo by over_kind_man)

Forbes recently named the Top Ten Happiest Cities in the World. Here's the complete list.

1. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2. Sydney, Australia
3. Barcelona, Spain
4. Amsterdam, Netherlands
5. Melbourne, Australia
6. Madrid, Spain
7. San Francisco, USA
8. Rome, Italy
9. Paris, France
10. Buenos Aires, Argentina

It's sad that there's only one US city on the list. The results were compiled from 10,000 online interviews from people living in twenty countries. Still, the concept of happiness is pretty tough to quantify. This study is more of a survey of the respondents' perception of happiness than actual reality.

The study says “Brazil is associated with all the qualities of good humor and good living and Carnival”. Carnival is very important- it's the classic image that people have of Rio, and it's an image of happiness.

You can actually buy an apartment in Rio for $25,000 and beachfront homes just an hour away for less than $250,000. That's a heck of a lot cheaper than here in California! Now all I need to do is figure out how people make a living there. I think I need to take a trip there to check it out.

I don't think HayHay would mind too much if we uprooted him to move to Brazil. The surfing is supposed to be pretty good in Rio!

~LilSis

August 9, 2009

Have you ever had such a totally random thought that immediately afterward you wonder where on earth it came from?

I had one today.  I was finishing up with my quick and dirty weekend makeup routine when I glanced down and saw a pair of small silver hoop earrings.  For some reason, I thought it would be fun to put the small hoops in next to my larger hoops.

As I pick them up to put them in, I realize that it's been a gazillion years since I've put an earring in my second piercing and they aren't even there anymore! No evidence in site of them ever existing.  I don't know why I thought of that today. I wonder how many years it takes for a piercing to close up?

Luckily, I've never haven't taken the little diamond stud out of my upper ear cartilage piercing that's been there for over 15 years or I certainly would have forgotten that it was there.  I got that piercing while in the midst of a ‘cabin fever' craze in the middle of winter in Upstate New York because I had to get out of the house. So, it's sentimental. 🙂

~LilSis