I’m back from a long weekend, fully rested & sufficiently birthday-ed. Thanks for all the tweets, notes, & comments – they made my day even more special. I’ll be doing a recap post later this week; our weekend was so fun & romantic.
Today is Michael’s birthday. The love of my life is 31 years old, and even sexier than the day I met him. Yes, I’m still working on the next installment of our Love Story, so I’ll save the sappiness for then, but I do want to wish him a happy birthday. I love you baby & I can’t wait to celebrate the coming years with you.
[photo by Cio]
For my 24th birthday, I decided to put together my own version of 101 in 1001. 1,095 days = 3 years. Unless there’s a leap year somewhere in there. I didn’t bother checking.
Start date: My 24th birthday: March 5th, 2010
End date: Midnight, March 4th, 2013 (I love a good deadline).
In progress
Complete
Personal (7):
Get my wedding dress preserved.
Get a manicure & pedicure at the same time.
Get my cartilage re-pierced.
Spend an entire day alone, in my home, in my PJs (sans guilt).
Spend an entire weekend without a phone or computer. No email, Twitter, Facebook, or blog(s).
Send (or buy & take) flowers to 3 people.
Get pregnant.
Decor/Craftiness (11):
Set up a reading nook.
Buy or make a headboard for our bed.
Host an actually productive “Craft Night.”
Makeover a room (mine or a friend’s) for a certain budget in a certain timeframe (like on HGTV).
Obtain a sewing machine.
Make an outfit by myself.
Alter an outfit by myself.
Send out 25 pieces of handwritten mail.
Re-do our bedroom furniture (some sort of paint/treatment & new knobs).
Paint a room purple.
Plant flowers without killing them.
Organization (5):
Effectively organize all my printed photographs.
Effectively organize all my recipes.
Effectively organize all my music (iTunes).
Effectively organize all my digital photos.
Purge my house of everything I don’t need.
Leisure/Entertainment (13):
Attend 3 concerts.
Go to a Trader Joe’s.
Go to a Farmer’s Market.
Go to a State Fair.
See 3 theatrical performances.
Go on a romantic picnic with Michael.
Watch 25 of the movies on this list (that I haven’t seen).
Attend or host an awesome Halloween and/or costume party.
Watch the Star Wars trilogy with Michael. (No, I’ve never seen it.)
Sing Karaoke in public.
Host a tea party.
Follow a season of basketball with (for) my husband.
(Miraculously) learn how to dance.
Travel (6):
Visit New England (& maybe NYC).
Take an awesome vacation with Michael (hopefully Napa Valley).
Go camping once.
Go to Chicago (to visit Julie!)
Go on a crazy trip (Vegas, Atlantic City, etc.)
Go on a cruise.
Writing/Reading (7):
Get something (anything) published.
Write a poem for my husband.
Write a short story & post it.
Journal 25 times.
Enter a writing contest.
Read 10 books on this list.
Read 25 books (15 in addition to the 10 on the list previously noted).
Blogging (3):
Video blog (vlog) 25 times.
Finish my list of blog goals by April 28, 2010.
Create a new list of blog goals by April 28th, for the next 3 years.
Food/Drink (22):
Make 10 PW recipes (ones that I haven’t tried yet). (1/10) – Yellow Cupcakes with Sticky Chocolate Icing
Become a vegetarian for 2 weeks.
Try 5 new cocktails (not simultaneously).
Try 5 new kinds of ethnic cuisine.
Cook with 10 new ingredients I’ve never used before.
Plant/grow something edible and then cook/eat it.
Make my own jam.
Make my own pickles.
Prepare a holiday meal by myself.
Enter a cooking/baking contest.
Try 10 new chicken dishes.
Try 15 new restaurants (fast food doesn’t count). (2/10) – Ruthie’s BBQ, La Casita mexican restaurant
Make Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon.
Try 5 new kinds of cheese (preferably paired with wine).
Learn to grill.
Cook duck.
Go to one of the Food Network celebrity’s restaurants.
Order takeout to be delivered to my house (not pizza).
Take cooking lessons with my husband.
Acquire my dream KitchenAid mixer.
Make homemade bread from scratch without enlisting the help of a bread machine.
Host a fancy dinner party.
Fitness (3):
Run a half marathon.
Do the 30 Day Shred every day for 30 days (just to see what happens).
Join a gym that has a great aerobics or yoga-type class & stick with it for 6 months.
Photography (7):
Do the 365 picture challenge.
Do a boudoir photo shoot for my husband.
Do a “Trash the Dress” photo shoot for myself.
Make a wedding album.
Make a honeymoon album.
Get a DSLR camera.
Take a photography class.
Money (3):
Complete a “No Spend” month with Michael.
Sell our house & move.
Pay off the Honda and look into replacing the Saturn with a Baby-Mobile.
Fashion (8):
Buy a classic Little Black Dress that I will wear for years & years.
Buy a classic pair of COMFORTABLE black heels that I will wear for years & years.
Find the perfect pair of jeans (they’re out there, I just know they are).
Purchase NARS lipstick in Jungle Red.
Apply false eyelashes without swearing and or requiring assistance from anyone else (i.e. my sister).
Wear something ridiculously fashionable that makes me feel silly out in public.
Become a redhead. Temporarily.
Try being a brunette for awhile.
What are some of your goals for the next three years?
Comments on 95 in 1095.
From Jess:
You have totally inspired me! Time to come up with a list of my own…and creating a blog is totally one of my items! And, if you ever decide to travel to New England, let me know. I’m in Vermont and could make some reccomendations for you :) I love your blog!
From Jill:
Allow me to recommend some black heels. Nine West Nuncio. They are not too high, not too low. I wear them pretty much everyday. I’m currently on my 3rd pair!! GOOD LUCK :)
From Mae:
I love this list, very inspiring! Bread is not as hard as you might think, it’s actually pretty easy! It’s all chemistry, so if you can follow instructions you can make bread. And soooo yummy.
Oh, and I recommend you don’t grill the duck! My father in law tried it. Charcoal duck.
From Cio:
I have a list too :)
http://cioavacado.tumblr.com/post/234356223/30-in-3
‘member when you made me try sushi?? :P
I think we had one or two that are the same. We should try them together.
Love you (and Happy Birthday Michael!)
From Cio:
Also that second “Happy face” was not suppose to be a happy face. It was suppose to look like this > : p
From Rachel:
What a great list! I like how it’s totally doable.
Happy birthday!
From Kara:
These lists are such a great idea. I don’t think I could ever push myself to be ambitious and finish one, but some of my goals to complete in the next three years is buy a house, get married, travel somewhere new and find a job that I will love to death.
Good luck with all of yours! I’m sure you can do it!
From sarah:
True story: a while back I e-mailed you friend Cio after seeing her stuff on your page about a boudoir session. She replied and I still haven’t gotten the nerve to set it up.
Also, how do you not ever order take out?!?!?
From sarah:
Happy birthday, Michael!
From Kathleen:
Reading through your list and I have so many comments…
-Please invite me to craft night
-Want to take a sewing class with me? Or are you awesome and already know how?
-I guarantee you that my youngest brother can get you free tickets to plays at the Alley Theatre
-We have camping gear now! Let’s go camping together!
-Half marathon…wow!
I love lists like these. I’m working on mine, should post an update soon! Good luck and keep us updated!
From Kyla Roma:
I love your goals!
On these: Make my own jam. & Make my own pickles.” we should talk, I have awesome fast recipes that can get these done in an afternoon =)
From fallingfromprams:
I did a boudoir shoot once and it was amazing. I suggest a female photographer because the male photographer made it too much like porn and not soft and sensual.
From Tabaitha:
Love the list.
Love Trader Joes.Good, fresh food and great wine.
Yay for Half Marathons.
Can’t wait to see how everything goes.
From Beth:
I’m concerned about your list!!!
I love your list and the fact that you have even sat down long enough to create such a nice list (all because I’m far too ADHD to do such a thing…)
I noticed one inconsistency that I don’t want to get in your way…How are you going to preserve your wedding dress AND do a “trash the dress” photo shoot?
::if it comes down to picking one my vote is for the photo shoot!::
Do you have two wedding dresses? Or are you going to preserve the ‘trashed’ dress? <-that would be really interesting, bet no one has done that before
From Julie:
haha, I thought the same thing as I was reading the list!
From Emily Jane:
Great list! And I can’t wait to hear about your birthday weekend. I hope it was all sorts of wonderful :)
From Kari Anne:
GREAT list! I can honestly say…that I’m almost 35 years old and never made a list of goals with three years to complete it…I LVOE IT!! You go girl! And I know that you can do it!
I’ve done a 9 month list before…but only once…when I was pregnant with my daughter…and that was 10 years ago… I had certain things that I wanted done monthly (I’m a little OCD and very anal about it when it comes to certain things) and they were…
I should try a year long time frame…see how I do on that…then reach out for a two year and then three year… I do one year time frames at work all the time (most of them are 8 week time frames in my profession) but…I should be able to do one for personal reasons too…LOL…
(Oh yeah…thank you so much for the kind words yesterday about losing my dad…I went home and thought of SO MANY more memories from when I was younger… Thanks again!!)
From mandy:
I love this list! Its so full of many wonderful and excitnig things. I have been thinking of doing my own 101. Best of luck!
From Rachel:
Wow! Dang girl! THAT is a list! However, you forgot “conquer all of the known world with charm”, :D. Relating to one of the items though, check this blog out for how to make bread (http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=1616). It’s insanely easy (you could probably do it in your sleep) and it requires no bread machine. Actually it’s a book, but it started as a blog, and most everything is posted on the blog.
From Nora:
Fabulous list. I love it.
I think you should include a trip to me on that list (or we can go on a crazy trip together). I mean, people just randomly fly to StL all the time… (or not, but still, I tried!)
Seeing lists like this makes me want to do one but I’m not sure I’m together enough for that :) Maybe some day.
Can’t wait to see what you look like as a redhead for a few days.
And happy belated birthday to Michael!!!!
From Julie:
I can’t believe you are going to try red hair again! Your list is super fun! Good luck!
From Victoria:
LOVE your list!!!!
I made my own recipie book and it is in a regular binder and I typed up all my recipes and have them printed out on cute paper in a plastic cover sheet :) Very sensible when your hands are dirty and you point to something on the page :) Easy to clean
I TOO want to make Julia Childs Boeuf Bourguignon, if you need the recipe, I will give it to you, I got the book for my birthday :)
When you are in New England you need to go to Quincy Market….FOODS GALORE!!! Cheers is around there, and it is across the way from the 2 oldest restaurants in Boston…aka Bahstun! Mike’s Pastry’s has AMAZING canollis!!! And you must eat A LOT of Lobstah! Lobster Rolls are AMAZING and totally worth the price! It is very beautiful during June/July time :) I’ve been twice and L O V E it!!!!! :)))))
You can get your list done!!! I know you can!!!
From Victoria:
Oh yeah and you MUST go to Dunkin Donuts, Cheers (which is connected to Quincy Market), Papa Gino’s for Pizza, and like I said Mike’s Pastry…AMAZING!!! :)
From marli:
i totally bought jungle red after reading one of joanna goddard’s posts.
http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2009/08/headbands.html
best of luck with your list. it was super fun to read. thinking i might need to do one too… i turn 24 in a couple weeks =)
From johanna mcshan:
ok. i love goals. its the only way a procrastinating unregimented person like myself gets anything done. i will be borrowing this idea. :) thank you kindly. BTW, i thought you said it would be a 10 year rain check for maternity pictures? Liar!!!
From mrssjohnson:
Great list! Definitely might have to steal, er borrow some for my next list.
I’m interested in doing a “trash the dress”- do you have anything spectacular that you want to do or just whatever?
From steph anne:
Love this idea!! I wish Tyler and I did a trash the dress session right after the wedding. When do you want to get pregnant – soon or closer to 2013?
From ladiethrift:
Wow! how inspiring. Good luck with all this… I better start compiling my list..
From sarahthe:
Loving your list. I could shoot your boudoir session for you! I’ve done several sessions and been happy with the results. Since you’re nearing the end of your 30 day shred, this could be the best time to do it!