Atlanta Boat Show

Hello Everyone! 💖💃😊

I went to my first boat show at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta yesterday. I must say it was an enjoyable experience. It was a pretty cold day so it was best to stay indoors, which made this event the perfect one to spend your day at. It was a huge event with lots and lots and lots of boats. Did I say lots of boats?

Here is a look at the map of how the boats were displayed.

There were one hundred and thirty (130) boat exhibitors, and too many boats for me to count. The prices ranged from $50k or so and upwards. I saw boats there were up to $600k. Those were beautiful, and oh so luxurious. 

There were a few cabin cruiser boats. Cabin cruiser boats are just like mobile mini vacation homes that you can use to take the entire family on waterborne adventures. Even with small cabin cruisers you have the flexibility to visit to new ports, spend long weekends enjoying the boating lifestyle, or just kick back for a day of swimming and relaxing on the water. 
Take a look at these videos of this cabin cruiser boat I saw at the show.

Luxurious huh? I must say, this life motivates me to work harder than I work today. 

Here's a snippet of a small area I was walking by. The show was huge.

Anyway, lets get to a few pictures and my outfit check.

I leave you with this quote about boats and life:

"I am the master of my fate and I am the captain of my boat. While ups and downs are a part of everyone's journey, how you face it makes you the person or artiste you are." - Jubin Nautiyal

Wine Tasting at VSOP Olive Oil & Vinegar Taproom

 January 11th is not a particularly good day for me because I lost the most important person in my life when I was 5years old on this day. However, we do our best not to stay down, and I know that's what she would have wanted for us. We often wonder how life would have been if you were still here, Mama.

This week has been busy with events.
Today I went to a wine tasting with the British American Business Council in Georgia. It was at a beautiful gourmet grocery store in downtown Norcross called VSOP Olive Oil & Vinegar Taproom. 

When I walked in, I was checked-in (because I registered) and I was given the list of all the wines we will be tasting, and I was sent over to the counter to get my wine glass. When I got there, I was asked my name, and my name was written on the wine glass. I thought that was different and cool.
Then...the wine tasting started.


I attended this event because of a few reasons:

1. I used it as a networking opportunity, although, unfortunately there were very few people in my age range.
2. I'm a lightweight when it comes to alcohol, but it was an opportunity to learn about Spanish wines.
3.I wanted to find a new hangout spot.
4. According to Gordon Shepherd, a Yale neuroscientist, he has the proof in his recently published book, Neuroenology: How the Brain Creates the Taste of Wine, that - "it activates several of your senses (sight, taste, and smell) and challenges your mental cognition. Wine tasting also gets the jaw, throat, diaphragm, taste buds, and olfactory receptors involved as they all team up to relay information to the brain. Your brain then starts working overtime by tapping into your memory, assigning value, and creating emotion and pleasure. This type of deep engagement in which several of your body’s systems work together with the brain to solve a problem is healthy and promotes mental sharpness".

The options were 5 Spanish wines. All of the wines were dry, but decent enough that I could drink them. I threw away the list they gave me, before I created this post. If I had not, I would have listed all of the wines. Sorry guys.

Overall, it was an decent day.
By the way, where do people who are in their lates 30's-mid 40s hang out in the Atlanta area?

Here are a few of my pictures

I had a professional looking outfit on.
I wore a white sweater with a drape collar, a high-waist purple pants, and a white peacoat, paired with brown boats. My outfit is not very visible, this is a reminder that I should take better pictures the next time. 

"There’s nothing I would rather do than share a glass of wine with you" - Anonymous

2023 - A Year of many firsts

We said goodbye to 2023 forever just yesterday.

2023 was just an okay year for me. It was not a good year nor was it a bad year. 

I traveled for personal reasons when I could find time to take off from work. 2023 could have been better, but I am thankful it was not worse than it was.

As someone who over the past five years, has always created vision boards for everything I want in life, and improve or update the board as items on the list come to pass, I would say there were several firsts for me in 2023 according to my vision board. I highly recommend vision boards. They help me keep my eyes on the prize and chase my goals. According to my vision board - I had a lot of firsts. Don't lose hope if you don't achieve it by the time you expect to. Don't forget, once there's life there's hope.

Now let's talk about a few of my "firsts" in 2023. I cannot name all of my firsts, but I will share a few.

I volunteered at several organizations in 2023 - something I had never done in my well over 35yrs of existence. I learned, I had a great sense of fulfilment, and on one instance I cried when I realized how much we were helping to save lives in developing countries. Volunteering for meaningful organizations is the key.

Next....

2023 is the first year I have traveled for work. I had three official trips in 2023. Two of which were to cities I have never been to. One was to a totally new state - Oregon. It's always a good thing to explore a new city/state.

One area of my life that was not 100% new, but kind of a first was the area of communal prayer. I have been a churchgoer all of my life, I was part of a small family prayer group in 2011. 2023 was a year of communal prayer for me, both within the US and International. I would say it started in 2022, but definitely intensified in 2023. I participated in a few prayer groups daily and one family Bible study group.
If you know me, you know that I have no one but God. My problems in life can only be solved by God. All of my problems in the past were solved by God, somehow. Interestingly, most were solved when I least expected it. 

Lastly:

#NYEParty

I went to a New Years eve party at a restaurant I had visited a few times. I have celebrated most NYEs out of the US, and the ones that I am in the US, I usually spend them in Church or on my bed and go to sleep. This was my first NYE party. EVER... I must say, I enjoyed it. I danced the night away. Who would have thought so? 💃

Overall, I wish 2023 was a better year. I learned a lot, met some very interesting people who made me think. I allowed God to prune my list of acquaintances and guess what - I made some new unexpected acquaintances. Let's see if they turn into friends.

Thank you 2023. Goodbye 2023.

My theme for 2024 is: SURRENDER. There are two areas of my life that I am totally surrendering to God. I will not be praying about them anymore. They are both in His Mighty hands, because there's nothing I can do anymore.