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).

Status:
In progress
My notes
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). Accomplished above & beyond during my Staycation (December 2010)! Glorious.
• Spend an entire weekend without a phone or computer. No email, Twitter, Facebook, or blog(s).
• Send (or buy & take) flowers to 3 people. (0/3)
• Get pregnant.

Decor/Craftiness (11):

• Set up a reading nook. Chair in place by large bay window in the bedroom, bookshelf right next to it. However, I feel it needs a couple more “touches” before it can be a real reading nook. UPDATE: Screw it. It’s 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. My momma bought me one for Christmas 2010!
• Make an outfit by myself.
• Alter an outfit by myself.
• Send out 25 pieces of handwritten mail. (??/25)
• Re-do our bedroom furniture (some sort of paint/treatment & new knobs).
• Paint a room purple.
• Plant flowers without killing them. 3/28/10 I planted petunias in my front flower beds. If I can manage to keep them alive until we sell the house, I consider this item successful. UPDATE: They were still alive when we left our house, however, I really slacked off on them as I was packing up to move. I’m excited to plant some at our new place & give them extra TLC.

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. Began 3/13/10. UPDATE: Have decided that this is one of those things that will never really be complete, but always a work-in-progress/goal. I did a huge throw/give-away as I was packing up for our first big move this summer, which I’m counting as The Purge. However, this is a continuous goal for me, to always be cleaning out and getting rid of things I don’t need and/or that no longer serve a purpose for me.

Leisure/Entertainment (13):

• Attend 3 concerts. (1/3) Lady Antebellum @ the Houston Rodeo.
• Go to a Trader Joe’s.
• Go to a Farmer’s Market. Went to the tiny Famers Market in my new town, & it was charming! I’m hooked.
• Go to a State Fair.
• See 3 theatrical performances. (1/3) Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps @ the Alley Theater in Houston.
• Go on a romantic picnic with Michael. Too many to count!
• Watch 25 of the movies on this list (that I haven’t seen). (0/25)
• 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). Flights & hotels for San Francisco & Napa Valley are booked, now accepting restaurant/winery/etc. suggestions! Amazing trip! I am in love with California (don’t tell Texas).
• Go camping once. With my parents in Canton. Does an RV count?
• Go to Chicago (to visit Julie!) Trip taken in October 2010. See this post for more details.
• Go on a crazy trip (Vegas, Atlantic City, etc.)
• Go on a cruise.

Writing/Reading (7):

• Get something (anything) published. I have my very own column, published bi-weekly in two cities (!!). I’ve also had several other things printed in East Texas publications. 
• Write a poem for my husband.
• Write a short story & post it.
• Journal 25 times. (?/25)
• Enter a writing contest.
• Read 10 books on this list. (0/10)
• Read 25 books (15 in addition to the 10 on the list previously noted). 

Blogging (3):

• Video blog (vlog) 25 times. (3/25)
• Finish my list of blog goals by April 28, 2010. Post to come soon someday (maybe).
• Create a new list of blog goals by April 28th, for the next 3 years. Post to come soon someday (maybe).

Food/Drink (22):

• Make 10 PW recipes (ones that I haven’t tried yet). (??/10) Yellow Cupcakes with Sticky Chocolate Icing, Flat Apple Pie (but I used a pre-made pie crust, which I would not recommend), pizza crust.
• Become a vegetarian for 2 weeks.
• Try 5 new cocktails (not simultaneously). Irish coffee, Bailey’s & cocoa, Wild Orchid, Italian margarita, classic vodka martini.
• Try 5 new kinds of ethnic cuisine. (3/5) Since this is my list, I’m totally going to count Chinese food in Chinatown (because it was a completely different experience than other Chinese food I’ve had), pasta with rabbit & lamb at an Italian restaurant (Tra Vigne), & duck legs at a French restaurant (The Girl & The Fig).
• Cook with 10 new ingredients I’ve never used before. (?/10)
• Plant/grow something edible and then cook/eat it. Four Little Pots kit purchased, can’t wait to try my hand at it! I have my first little sprouts! UPDATE: All my pots died. Will try again this spring.
• Make my own jam.
• Make my own pickles.
• Prepare a holiday meal by myself.
• Enter a cooking/baking contest.
• Try 10 new chicken dishes (and by “try” I mean make myself). Chicken Beer Bake from SLC*, Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken BBQ, Layered Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole, Sunshine Chicken. UPDATE: Sort of lost track. Have made at least 10 at this point.
• Try 15 new restaurants (fast food doesn’t count). Ruthie’s BBQ (Navasota), La Casita (Navasota), Enchilada’s (Dallas), Zenna Thai & Japanese (Dallas), Iron Works BBQ (Austin), Lola Restaurant (Houston), The Spot (Galveston). I have now lost count after our vacation, but here is a list of San Francisco restaurants: Persimmon Cafe, Little Star Pizza (Divisadero location), Lori’s Diner (around Union Square), the Buena Vista (Fisherman’s Wharf), Gott’s Roadside (Ferry Building), Sam Wo (Chinatown), Pier Market (Fisherman’s Wharf). Here are the Napa restaurants: Mustard’s, Tra Vigne, V. Sattui (winery with a deli). Sonoma: The Girl & The Fig. I would say In-N-Out but I already told myself fast food doesn’t count.
• Make Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon.
• Try 5 new kinds of cheese (preferably paired with wine). Italian Rustico with Peppercorn, paired with a Malbec; Brie, paired with a Sauvignon blanc; Gouda, paired with a Shiraz; FRESH mozzarella (made literally seconds before we ate it), with a Pinot Grigio (I have had mozzarella before, but never like that!); Texas-made Smoked Gouda from the Farmers Market (YUM).
• 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. Thank you Stephanie! I love it.
• 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). Began 3/9/10. Finished 4/7/10!
• Join a gym that has a great aerobics or yoga-type class & stick with it for 6 months. Joined the university gym, have been attending various classes (most dedicatedly: spin). Loving it so far.

Photography (7):

• Do the 365 picture challenge. Began July 13th, 2010. UPDATE: Have abandoned the project for now. May try again in the future.
• Do a boudoir photo shoot for my husband.
• Do a “Trash the Dress” photo shoot for myself. 4/9/10! Post to come soon eventually.
• 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. House listed as of 3/28/10. Contract on 4/28/10. Set to close on 5/28/10 – what’s with the 28th?! UPDATE: House closed on 5/28/10, we’re all moved in.
• Pay off the Honda Toyota 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). I purchased GAP Sexy Boot X-Long jeans online before Christmas, but they were too long/small/big/short/etc. After many returns & finally getting “just the right ones,” I have a dark pair to wear with heels & a lighter pair that I had tailored to wear with lower heels/boots. LOVE! Still looking for a very light pair (maybe Levi’s) to wear with flats/sneakers.
• Purchase NARS lipstick in Jungle Red. My girl Reen had some sent to me! I love her!
• 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. See this post.
• Try being a brunette for awhile. See this post.

*SLC = the (All-New Ultimate) Southern Living Cookbook

Note: All cities are in Texas unless stated otherwise.